<Episode 105>
“…”
I bit my lip and clenched my hands tightly. I could feel my expression contorting.
Of course, as I feared… they had followed me.
“The Crown Prince of Nisha has requested an audience…”
Alcype’s face hardened as she murmured in a heavy tone.
“…We’ll have to comply for now.”
She quickly left her seat, issuing instructions to Rezeck as she departed.
“Stay with the ladies and do not leave your quarters.”
“…Understood, Your Majesty.”
I watched her retreating figure with a growing sense of guilt.
They must have been following me. If only I hadn’t boarded that ship that day…
I nervously bit my lips and looked back. The passage leading to the royal forest was tightly sealed.
I had to think quickly. I needed to find a way to protect the two relics without losing them.
***
Alcype Dryad took her place on the throne, forcing herself to remain composed despite the tremors of unease coursing through her.
Soon, a figure entered the room—neither frivolous nor overly imposing, his presence was calm yet commanding.
The Crown Prince of Nisha, as beautiful and dark as the night itself, stepped forward, his pale silver eyes locking onto Alcype.
“I come to pay my respect to the Ruler of Dryas.”
He said, placing a hand over his chest and bowing deeply, displaying the courtesy due to a foreign sovereign.
A tense silence, filled with an unsettling sense of danger, lingered in the audience chamber.
“It has been some time since I last saw the Crown Prince of Ilkai.”
Alcype said in an even tone as she addressed him.
“What brings you to Dryas so suddenly?”
Suppressing the boiling hostility within her, she posed the question calmly.
Khalid Ilkai responded in a quiet voice, his words cutting through the tension like a blade.
“I believe you already know the purpose of my visit.”
So it’s true.
Alcype gritted her teeth, letting a brief silence hang in the air before replying.
“Know? I must apologize, but I am not as insightful as the Crown Prince of Ilkai. I have no idea what you mean.”
She spoke in a deliberately nonchalant tone, brushing off his words.
“I know that you are sheltering Lady Rose Hacardella.”
Khalid stated without hesitation, revealing his intentions without a hint of pretense.
“What nonsense is this, Crown Prince of Ilkai?”
Alcype’s voice turned cold with anger, her expression hardening into something formidable.
“Do you dare to accuse a sovereign ruler with such baseless conjecture? Dryas, though smaller in power than Nisha, is an independent kingdom. I am under no obligation to answer your questions, let alone explain why the heir to Hacardella would be in the Gracian royal palace!”
“I am not here to engage in futile arguments, Ruler of Dryas.”
Khalid interrupted, his calm demeanor unwavering despite Alcype’s fury.
“I have come to propose a deal.”
“…A deal?”
Alcype’s grip tightened around the armrest of the throne as she muttered under her breath.
“A fair exchange, causing no harm to either party… a sort of negotiation.”
A negotiation.
“…What kind of negotiation, and at what price?”
The unease pressing down on Alcype only grew heavier as she posed the question.
Khalid met her gaze and responded.
“You are still trying to gauge my intentions. The purpose of this negotiation is simple. In exchange for what I seek, I offer a pledge never to invade Dryas again.”
“What?”
Alcype’s brow furrowed in disbelief as she repeated his words.
“…Never invade Dryas again?”
“Yes. As the Crown Prince of Ilkai and commander of Nisha’s military forces, I give you my word.”
Alcype couldn’t bring herself to trust him.
What kind of nation was Nisha, after all? Since its founding, it had been steeped in plunder and invasion, a history marked by deceit and violence. The concept of honor had never existed in their culture.
As Alcype grappled with her doubts, Khalid continued, his voice smooth and unyielding.
“So, in exchange for my pledge, I ask for two things: the safe transfer of Lady Rose Hacardella…”
“…!”
“…and the relic of water you’ve been keeping.”
The calmness in Khalid’s voice made his demand all the more chilling.
Ah, of course.
Alcype’s expression froze, her icy gaze fixed on Khalid. There was no way the Nisha royal family would abandon their schemes.
“What if I refuse your offer?”
She asked in a low voice after a long pause.
“Will you invade Dryas immediately?”
Her voice carried a mix of contempt and fury.
“Not immediately.”
Khalid replied, his tone still devoid of emotion.
“But when the opportunity arises, we will not hesitate.”
His pale silver eyes gleamed coldly as they held Alcype’s gaze.
“We will achieve our goal, no matter what.”
His voice was steady, yet the weight of his words was unmistakable.
“…A goal, is it?”
Alcype Dryad let out a sharp scoff, her voice laden with fatigue and exasperation.
Leaning against the throne, she made no effort to hide the twisted emotions surfacing within her.
“How impressive. Such wickedness and greed—it’s almost admirable at this point. …Do you truly think I would allow the nation my ancestors entrusted to me to be so easily trampled?”
Her voice, which began as a low murmur, ended in a fierce roar that echoed throughout the grand audience chamber.
Facing the searing gaze of the enraged queen, Khalid lowered his eyes.
“You saw it with your own eyes, did you not? The reason why Hacardella fell so swiftly and utterly.”
“…!”
And with a cruelly respectful tone, he recounted the tragedy.
“It was because that nation’s own people turned their backs on it first.”
A storm brewed in Alcype’s vivid green eyes, shimmering with suppressed rage.
“And the sentiments of Dryas’s people are also beginning to waver.”
Watching her turmoil with unrelenting calm, Khalid offered a courteous bow before taking his leave.
“With that, I shall take my leave for today.”
As he turned away, he spoke once more.
“Ruler of Dryas, may you make a wise decision.”
And so, the audience chamber emptied, leaving Alcype alone.
Her expression, clouded with intense confusion, was rigid with tension.
***
“What sort of person is the Queen of Dryas… typically?”
Alcype had summoned us after Khalid Ilkai left, requesting Rezeck and me to come to the audience chamber.
Leaving Marie behind, I walked through the royal palace with Rezeck. Feeling a mix of anxiety and curiosity, I asked him.
I couldn’t imagine what Khalid Ilkai might have said to her. I couldn’t dismiss the possibility that the Queen might betray us.
“Her Majesty values honor and trust above all else. She would never deceive or betray someone with lies.”
“Is that so…”
Rezeck replied without a moment’s hesitation.
As a member of the royal family, he must know her character well.
Feeling slightly reassured by his firm assertion, I followed him silently to the audience chamber.
***
“You’ve come, Rezeck. And you as well, Lady.”
As expected, Alcype, seated on her throne, greeted us with a deeply troubled expression.
“What did the Crown Prince of Nisha say?”
Rezeck’s voice, dripping with hostility, referred to Khalid Ilkai without even the faintest hint of courtesy.
“…”
After a moment of silence, Alcype spoke in a heavy tone.
“He proposed this: in exchange for guaranteeing that Nisha will never again threaten the peace of Dryas… I hand over Lady Rose Hacardella and the Relic of Water.”
“…!”
So, this is their move.
Biting my lip, I was consumed by a terrible anxiety as I looked at the Queen of Dryas.
…Alcype Dryad, what decision will you make?
“…Is that so.”
Meanwhile, Rezeck’s voice, cold enough to freeze one’s blood, cut through the air.
“Your Majesty, what decision will you make?”
“…Rezeck.”
Alcype called his name with a conflicted expression, but Rezeck pressed on.
“I, too, am a member of the Dryad royal family. Yet, if peace must come at the cost of betraying an old ally and cutting off their final lifeline, it would be nothing but disgraceful treachery. Such a proposal must be rejected outright!”
He shouted, his voice full of icy anger and unyielding hatred.
“…”
Alcype lowered her gaze, pressing her hand to her forehead as if overwhelmed.
As the heated debate continued, I found myself lost in thought.
‘The Spirit King intervening in the mortal realm has been strictly forbidden since ancient times… Our only hope is to protect the Relic of Water bestowed by the Naiad to the very end.’
From Rose’s memories, I knew that the Spirit King could not meddle in the affairs of the mortal world.
Even if we summoned the Naiad with another spirit mage’s help, we could not rely on their assistance.
Ah, does this mean I truly have to sacrifice one of the relics—either the Relic of the Forest or the Relic of Water?
“Your Majesty, make your decision!”
…But even if Nisha promised not to invade, Dryas would still fall someday, consumed by the disaster they would bring.
Choosing the lesser evil would leave us with nothing.
The conclusion was clear: Khalid’s proposal cannot be accepted. By any means necessary, both relics, still untouched, must be preserved.
“…The Master of Origins, the Spirit King of the Forest…”
At that moment, a plan flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning.
“…Lady?”
When a person is pushed to the very brink, they’re often seized by mad ideas they would never consider in their right mind.
“Queen of Dryas, can you summon the Spirit King of the Forest?”
Thus, consumed by desperate resolve, I made my plea to Alcype.
