I Will Become the Queen of the Enemy Country

Even after Karan left, Elise lingered in bed. She had become lazy since deciding to inscribe magic circles on Karan’s body.

Perhaps her subconscious was working to avoid the task of inscribing the magic circles.

But she couldn’t put it off forever. Counting the days, she realized it was almost time for Besti to arrive, so Elise forced herself out of bed.

She dressed simply. By then, Karan had still not returned.

Since Karan would have at least said something if he was going somewhere, Elise tilted her head curiously as she opened the door.

“Your Highness, why aren’t you coming in? Oh, Haltbin is here. Hello.”

“Ah… yes… It’s been a while, Lady Elise.”

Haltbin’s greeting expression was gloomy. It was unlike him, as he usually welcomed Elise cheerfully.

Elise belatedly noticed the atmosphere in the corridor.

Karan’s face was also serious. Though he tried to smile at Elise, it was evident he was hiding something.

“Your Highness, has something happened?”

“No, Elise. Go back inside.”

Karan tried to push Elise’s back without meeting her eyes. Elise braced herself against being pushed and asked Haltbin.

“Tell me what’s going on, Haltbin.”

Caught between Elise asking him to speak and Karan silently insisting he shouldn’t, Haltbin just rolled his eyes, unsure what to do.

Then Elise’s interrogation began.

“Is there a problem with the gate?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“Did Uls cause trouble?”

“Uls is doing well.”

Then what could it be? As Elise pondered, one person’s face came to mind.

“It’s about Iris. Have you found Iris’s whereabouts?”

Elise had asked Karan to track down the missing Iris.

“We haven’t found her.”

“Not that either? Then… Ah! Is it about Besti? I think it’s past time for Besti to arrive.”

Elise finally found the answer. Haltbin looked at Karan. Karan was rubbing his forehead.

“Yes, it is about her.”

“Why do you look like that, Haltbin?”

An ominous feeling began to well up from the bottom of her feet.

“Elise, let’s go inside. I’ll tell you.”

It was Karan who saved Haltbin, who was just biting his lower lip in difficulty.

He gestured to Haltbin as if telling him to leave quickly, then wrapped his arm around Elise’s shoulders and entered the room.

Click. As the door closed, Elise slipped out of his embrace.

She gazed at Karan with a grave look. It was a gaze more frightening than any verbal urging to speak quickly.

Karan closed his eyes heavily, then opened them and pulled Elise into his arms before speaking.

“Don’t be shocked, Elise. And promise me.”

“What, Your Highness?”

“That you won’t blame yourself.”

Elise couldn’t readily answer. The formless foreboding began to take concrete shape.

“Please, Elise. Promise me, okay?”

Elise nodded. It was a halfhearted nod, but Karan was grateful for even that much and gently stroked her hair.

Then, in her ear, he calmly explained what he had heard, trying not to shock her too much.

He could feel Elise’s surprised intake of breath through his embracing arms. Soon, Elise’s back began to tremble slightly. Then Karan’s shirt became soaked.

Her silent sobbing made Karan feel like his heart was being torn apart.

Instead of telling her not to cry, Karan offered his chest for her to cry as much as she needed.

****

Elise, who had been crying in Karan’s arms, collapsed from exhaustion.

When she opened her eyes in the dark room, the first thing she saw was Karan.

He was sitting in a chair by Elise’s bedside, watching her.

“Your Highness, have you been there the whole time?”

Elise’s voice was hoarse. Karan shook his head as he poured and handed her some water.

“I just came.”

In fact, he hadn’t left her side for a moment since she collapsed, but Karan lied, not wanting to burden her heart.

Elise, noticing this, let out a small, empty laugh.

A moment of silence fell. Elise turned her gaze to look out the window. Her eyes were deep as she stared into the darkness outside.

What could she be thinking? He hoped she wasn’t blaming herself.

Just as Karan was about to call out to her,

“Besti…is dead, you say.”

Elise spoke first. Her voice was devoid of energy, making it impossible to read her emotions.

If only she would scream, cry, or get angry instead. To Karan, her calmness seemed more precarious.

“That’s right. We’ve taken good care of the body. Elise, I think it would be good to hold the funeral when you feel up to it. Besti would want that too.”

Elise nodded.

“I’d like the burial site to be in Dex territory. Besti has many followers there. They will mourn for her, and they’ll take care of her grave for a long time. So she won’t be lonely.”

“You’re right. I’ll have it arranged that way.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Not at all, Elise. She met with misfortune while coming for you and me. It’s what I should do.”

“Then may I make one more request?”

“Of course.”

Karan immediately regretted saying that. Elise’s request made him regret it.

“Please let me catch the person who killed Besti.”

Karan’s mouth fell open. Elise had been watching Karan’s face intently from some point.

So she didn’t miss the fleeting look of dismay that crossed his face.

“You know who it is, don’t you, Your Highness?”

“Mon…”

“It couldn’t have been monsters. They were warriors carefully selected by Your Highness. If monsters had appeared, they would have found a way to at least save Besti and send her here. So it must have been someone much stronger than monsters. Someone skilled enough that the warriors couldn’t even create a small opening to escape.”

“Elise…”

“Your Highness, you know, don’t you? Please tell me who it is.”

Faced with her tone of strong conviction, Karan closed his lips.

Karan had planned to tell her the culprit’s identity after she had somewhat recovered from the shock.

But as always, things didn’t go according to his wishes.

Karan took a deep breath before naming the person who killed Besti.

“It was Iris.”

Elise didn’t seem surprised. It seemed as if she might have known, but that wasn’t the case. She simply lacked the energy to be surprised.

“I see. Iris… did this. Did she leave any traces?”

Since it had come to this, Karan decided to tell her everything.

He brought over a letter he had placed on the bedside table.

He handed Elise the letter from Iris, which he had wanted to read first but couldn’t due to a magic seal.

“Whatever is written in it is all nonsense. You know that, right, Elise? That woman is insane. She’s not in her right mind.”

Elise nodded halfheartedly as she placed her hand on the letter. The envelope, recognizing Elise, opened itself.

Elise took out the letter from inside.

{It’s all your fault. This woman died because she told you the future. Now that you have no one to help you, everything will go back to how it was.}

The short letter contained all the reasons why Iris had killed Besti.

Iris believed there was a special reason for Elise’s success. And she found that reason in Besti.

Besti was a shaman, so she could foresee the future, and she passed that information to Elise, which is why Elise was so successful, or so Iris thought.

‘When on earth did Iris find out about Besti’s existence?’

As Elise pondered this, she remembered her engagement ceremony.

Ah…

When she and Besti were talking, she had found the rustling bushes strangely distracting. Could Iris have been there?

Although Karan said it wasn’t her fault, Elise was certain that Besti’s death, at least, was her responsibility.

If she hadn’t met Besti, if she hadn’t invited her to the engagement ceremony, or if she had just ignored Besti’s request to talk that night…

“Elise.”

Karan interrupted her thoughts.

“There’s not just the letter Iris left.”

Karan handed her a second letter.

“What is this?”

“It was found in Besti’s bag. It’s a letter addressed to you.”

Elise threw away Iris’s letter that she had been holding and opened Besti’s letter.

{To the esteemed Lady Elise,

If you are reading my letter, I must be dead.

Yes, this is my will, Lady Elise.

You might wonder why a sudden will, but it’s not sudden at all.

Even before going to your engagement ceremony, I knew death was coming for me.

As an inadequate shaman, I couldn’t pinpoint the exact date, but with years of study, I could at least sense that my end was near.

Please don’t think that you had any influence on my death.

This old woman’s death has nothing to do with you, Lady Elise.

So don’t be sad, and don’t be angry.

Instead, Lady Elise, I ask that you steadfastly continue on your path.

Only you can stop Ragnaros.

Please treat this old woman’s death lightly and weigh heavily the lives of those who will live on.

Because you exist, this old woman can leave this world without regrets.

I sincerely hope you achieve all that you desire. And I fervently wish that your end is your happiness.

That is my last wish.}

Elise’s shoulders shook. Tears fell onto the letter in her hands.

Karan reached out his hand but then withdrew it.

Now was the time to let Elise fully mourn Besti and accept the sincerity contained in her will.

He quietly kept his place. Elise cried until dawn broke.

Just as Karan’s heart was about to be completely torn apart and burned away, Elise stopped crying.

And she spoke with a voice worn out from crying.

“I’ll draw the magic circle tonight, Your Highness.”

Elise’s eyes shone with determination.