Pervez Castle had almost nothing left that could be considered valuable. Anything of value had already been sold in the past to purchase weapons and provisions.
“My hair is unnecessarily long… should I cut it and try to sell it?”
“Who would buy your greasy hair soaked in sweat?”
“Then… should I sell the sword?”
“Are you crazy? The Lure Tribe might be gone, but now the Iggram and Pheer tribes are likely to emerge. If you sell the sword, what will you have to fight with?”
Once again, the two sighed deeply.
They had endured suffering to the brink of death to barely win the war, yet it seemed that only death remained before them.
If she could end everything by sacrificing herself, it might be better. However, Aisha bore the burden of the fate of many who lived miserably just because they were born in Pervez.
“What should we do?”
As Aisha murmured like a sigh, the door suddenly creaked open.
A man with a monstrous appearance, his hair unkempt like Aisha and Decker, covered in blood-like stains, entered.
Even amidst the gloom, Aisha greeted him with a slight lift of the corners of her mouth.
“Oh, Hector. What’s going on?”
“The boys have found some Lure Tribe corpses. We were hoping for dried meat, but luck gave us something like this.”
He held out a shabby leather pouch containing several small trinkets made of gold.
“It seems that even within the Lure Tribe, some tough guys have come out for the final showdown.”
As he clenched fist, he proudly examined Aisha’s face.
Aisha hesitated, unsure of what expression to make as she looked at the gold nuggets stained with blood.
“They didn’t know this was gold?”
Hector chuckled at her words.
“They aren’t that naïve. But think about it, my lady. Who is in Pervez would exchange gold nuggets for something to eat?
“The ones who found it should keep it. Why did they bring it to me?”
“I didn’t steal it. They brought it because they wanted to give it to you, my lady. They probably swiped some dried meat on their own.”
Aisha found it hard to believe that these guys, who rarely touched silver, willingly handed over gold nuggets.
In the current state of Pervez, even if they were given gold nuggets, they couldn’t obtain meat or flour. While there might be a few houses with stockpiled supplies in underground warehouses, no one knew when they might starve to death in this situation. In such circumstances, it was unimaginable for them to exchange their lives for a mere glimmering metal scrap.
“But if we go to Elsir, we might get something…”
“If we go to Elsir, what, with this small gold nugget, can we get enough food for a month? What about after that?”
Hector chuckled and said, “There’s no one else but you, my lady, who can exchange this for something more valuable.”
With that, he abruptly extended the pouch containing the gold nuggets toward Aisha.
Decker nudged Aisha’s shoulder as she hesitated even to accept the gold nuggets her subordinates had retrieved by searching corpses.
“Hector is right. You’re the one who can turn this into flour, Aisha.”
Aisha swallowed dryly, feeling the desperation of her realm, the ancient promise of the emperor, and the gold nuggets appearing just before utter despair.
[Go, Aisha. Only you can save Perbaz!]
Voices echoed in her ears—her father’s, her brothers’, her fallen subordinates’, and the people of the realm. It felt as if they all spoke as one. No, perhaps this was the voice of a god.
Aisha, hesitantly, took the pouch that Hector lightly shook, as if urging her to take it quickly.
“Alright. I’ll definitely bring back something, whatever it takes.”
“Having some meat would be nice too.”
Hector, who hadn’t tasted meat for a long time, seemed to be thinking of juicy rabbit meat, his mouth watering as he chuckled.
Aisha smiled back at him.
A few gold nuggets obtained by searching the bodies of enemies.
It could hardly become everything to Pervez which had guarded the imperial border for over 28 years to obtain.
***
When Pervez sighed even after winning the long war against the Louer tribe, the capital of the Chad Empire, Zyro, was in full swing with a celebration.
This was because Crown Prince Carlyle had once again returned victorious from the war in the southern part of the empire.
“Long live! Long live! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”
Although it was still early spring and the cold had not yet subsided, the cheeks of the people chanting “His Royal Highness the Crown Prince” were flushed red with joy and excitement.
The Crown Prince, Carlyle Evaristo, was loved by all the people of the empire. He was not only the Crown Prince, but also the sword that protected the southern part of the empire.
Just by raising his hand or nodding his head occasionally, the people cheered as if their hearts were full.
“Oh, beautiful god of slaughter! Your head is covered with the blood of your enemies, your eyes contain the shining sun, and your lips are covered with the wine of victory!”
The faint sound of minstrels singing the “Hymn to Carlyle” could be heard from among the crowd. They would sing their hearts out today and earn a good income.
“Your Highness, we will be entering soon.”
As they approached the palace, Lionel, Carlyle’s comrade and friend, approached him and whispered. However, Carlyle’s expression, which seemed bored, did not change.
“So what?”
“You must dismount before entering the Soleil Palace…”
It wasn’t that Carlyle didn’t know, having experienced the inauguration ceremony several times, but Lionel had no choice but to give a trite answer. His throat felt parched.
As soon as they turned into the Soleil Palace alley, low-ranking ushers rushed over to take the reins and lower the footstool. Seeing this, Lionel briefly hoped.
‘He wouldn’t refuse to get off after all of this.’
However, Carlyle exceeded his expectations.
“If this is how the emperor’s authority is established, He should have made me walk as soon as I entered the palace grounds.”
And then he spurred his horse on and jumped over the screaming ushers as they crouched down.
Then the priests who were waiting in front of him rushed over and shouted.
“You can’t go in like this!”
“You must perform the purification ceremony before entering the Soleil Palace, Your Highness!”
When those who returned from war went to meet the emperor, they had to perform a ceremony in which they sprinkled their bodies with a special incense.
It was meant to dispel the remaining killing intent and remove the resentment of the dead that had been buried on the battlefield. But Carlyle always thought it was ridiculous.
He had never avoided the ceremony itself, but today was different.
“How naive to think that something like that can drive away the evil spirits that have attached themselves to me.”
Carlyle snickered and walked past the priests.
The ceremonial officers and priests, unable to force him off his horse or make him perform the purification ritual, were flustered and didn’t know what to do.
In the meantime, Carlyle lightly rode his horse and arrived in front of the ‘Iron Gate’, which could be considered the real entrance to the Soleil Palace.
He stopped because he couldn’t pass without it being opened from the inside, otherwise he would have ridden through here as well.
Lionel, who had diligently followed him, rebuked him in a low voice.
“Why are you acting like this today, Your Highness!”
Lionel had always known that Carlyle even made fun of the Emperor, his father, but today it seemed particularly severe.
Without unfurrowing his slightly furrowed brows, Carlyle stared at the closed door in front of him and said.
“I don’t feel good today.”
“Yes? What don’t you feel good about?”
At that moment, the gatekeepers and knights of the middle gate approached and began to disarm Carlyle.
The heavy sword that had taken countless lives of enemies was the first to fall from his body, and the hard plate armor that covered his shoulders, chest, back, thighs, and shins was peeled off one by one.
Unlike his body, which seemed to fly away in his leather armor, Carlyle’s heart was heavy.
“It’s strange that my gentle and kind mother is so quiet.”
Only then did Lionel’s expression become serious.
The ‘mother’ Carlyle was referring to was not his biological mother who died shortly after giving birth to him, but the current empress who came in after that and gave birth to the second prince, Matthias.
And as one could tell from his voice full of sarcasm, he did not like the empress.
Of course, the empress and Matthias would not like Carlyle either.
“Have you heard anything from the sparrows?”
“Nothing at all. That’s what I’m saying, something must be up… .”
Just then, a heavy sound of the iron gate lock being unlocked was heard from inside. The sound of large lumps of metal hitting each other rang in their ears.
“The sound of my father trembling is so loud that it hurts my ears.”
While Carlyle ridiculed his father without even paying attention to those around him, the black iron gate finally began to open.
Dazzling golden light seemed to spread from between the cracks in the door, and soon the sound of trumpets celebrating victory rang out.
A long red carpet stretched out before them, sunlight pouring through large windows, trumpeters standing like statues on either side of the corridor blowing their trumpets in unison, white marble and gilded decorations everywhere, and bouquets of fresh flowers emitting a sweet fragrance…
It was a scene so splendid and beautiful that it would overwhelm the average person, but Carlyle Evaristo was not the average person.
“All this unnecessary stuff; You should have brought a carriage to take me here then.”
He walked indifferently down the long path leading to the hall where the emperor was waiting, clicking his tongue lightly.
A long line of knights who had distinguished themselves in this war followed him.
“His Royal Highness is coming…!”
“Out of my way!”
Pushing aside the high-ranking chamberlain who was trying to announce his arrival, Carlyle flung open the golden door and shouted.
“I, Carlyle Evaristo, have returned victorious from the Canatak War!”
* * * *
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