Chapter 72
“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, it has been a long time, Archduke Halbern.”
They said nothing for a moment. The Archduke of Halbern was merely smiling, and Empress Ageni barely cracked her hardening expression.
The atmosphere was already tense.
Having a tea party here would only make it worse.
And the culprit was the man in front of her.
‘If you’re going to show up, show up early.’
Empress Ageni’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re brave to come, I honestly didn’t expect to see you.”
“Well.”
Archduke Halbern laughed wordlessly. Empress Ageni’s expression finally hardened.
“It’s been a long time since you’ve been here, have you seen the Emperor?”
“How does he seem to be?”
“Bonhu spoke first. Archduke.”
“His Majesty probably doesn’t even know I’m here, is that an answer?”
Empress Ageni silently sighed, so this man had come straight here as soon as he entered the palace.
‘…I didn’t know you cared so much for your daughter.’
She had sent an invitation to the northern castle with the imperial seal, but her sense of reality was blurred by the presence of a party she thought she would never see.
Empress Ageni thought to herself, she like to punch that pale face just once.
What a cute daughter of a bastard. Empress Ageni stifled a sigh as she stared at the child, who was so enthralled that her son wanted to run.
“You should go to Your Majesty.”
“I’m sure I can.”
“Of course, after you return, the order of the day is to go to the Emperor first, isn’t it?”
Never mind the imperial court rules, which were a pain in the arse to say the least, Empress Ageni wanted to get rid of this unfortunate, irritating man right now.
Dealing with a man she didn’t know what he was thinking and didn’t understand was taking a lot out of her patience.
‘How on earth does Duke Mehen get along with such a man?’
“At Your Majesty’s command.”
Archduke Halbern didn’t seem too offended by Empress Ageni’s congratulations.
“It’s a shame to see you so soon, Archduke Halbern.”
“Well, there will be another time, Your Majesty.”
“I’m sure you’ll allow me to gaze upon your handsome face to my heart’s content.”
“My face is a bit pricey, but if you’re asking, I’ll consider it.”
A brief exchange of words between the Empress, who looked completely unperturbed, and the Archduke of Halbern, who looked equally unperturbed.
It was a moment that held the others breathless.
The Archduke of Halbern was the first to leave, the last to appear.
The Tea Party was still in full swing.
***
[Breaking news Archduke Halbern returns!]
The news of the Archduke Halbern’s return spread quickly beyond the pages of the Albrecht Times that day.
The word “return” sold so many copies that newspaper publishers screamed with joy.
The next day, the front page headline of the morning paper was “Dragon Slaying Success”.
“Knights of Saren become Dragon Slayers!”
Mehen gave up trying to understand.
‘What the hell is going on?’
‘I don’t know. Let’s give up thinking.’
It’s easier to give up.
– Mehen! Listen! The lord has abandoned us and gone before us?!
– We were abandoned!
The Saren Division returned safely to the northern castle with the dragon corpses and countless monster by-products as loot.
The first thing the Saren Knights did after their tremendous accomplishments was not to boast or rest, but to celebrate with Ha Xiaoyan.
Mehen, who had been mistaken for Ha Xiaoyan, felt the urge to tear down the communications port immediately.
– We didn’t know we were abandoned, we thought our master was in distress, and we searched for 12 hours! Twelve hours!
– And then you abandoned us and went to a tea party?
– Sir, that’s bad!
So what they expect him to do.
Mehen pressed hard against his throbbing temples.
– We’re going! We’re going!
– We’re coming back, anyway, so tell your lord so!
– Okay? We only trust Mehen?!
“Ha…”
He’ll tell him when he gets back and see him.
Mehen sighed softly as he looked at the disconnected line. They weren’t going to listen to him, so he left it alone.
Dylan smirked.
“You Templars are still in high spirits.”
“Futile exuberance, I suppose.”
Come to think of it, there had been a bloodstain on Archduke Halbern’s uniform that day. Mehen frowned at the memory.
This enemy bastard is real.
“Are you returning to the northern castle?”
“Well, that’s not for me to decide.”
“?”
Mehen’s last words to Archduke Halbern before he disappears.
The Archduke of Halbern’s laughable and still unintelligible bullshit turned the man inside out.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
When and why does he act like he is going to be stuck there forever, this Rundan?
When he couldn’t reach him, he cursed him for not coming, but now that he saw his face, he had mixed feelings.
“He must have traveled through space.”
“What? From there, to here?”
He printed out the gate and warp usage records for the entire ecliptic, but there was no record of Archduke Halbern using them.
But given the distance, it was definitely not on foot. Similarly, his records were clean.
That left only one option.
“Halbern has a lot of stellar artefacts, so he must have used a weird one.”
“Ah…”
Even in an age where the most advanced magic engineering enriched life, there were limits.
The distance between the northern provinces and the capital could not be overcome by current magecraft, space travel, or laws.
“I thought they took a mage, but it’s quiet in the tower, so it must be an artefact or relic.”
He had something like this all this time and he hasn’t even breathed a word?
Mehen’s mood grew more uncomfortable, and Dylan laughed in disbelief.
“Hehehe.”
“No, I’m intrigued. Halbern really is… secretive.”
“Why is that, Dylan?”
Mehen had a familiar look on his face.
Ever since he was a kid, he’d been getting into trouble for bringing home strange relics and artefacts of unknown origin.
“You two seem to get along quite well.”
“Who do you mean, me and Valar?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Mehen looked genuinely disgusted. It was amusing to see that look on his face when he was so close to the Archduke of Halbern, the man everyone wanted to be associated with.
“Cut the nonsense, and make sure you are ready to receive him, for you never know when he may return.”
“Yes, the butler is already making sure we are ready.”
“And Young Lady?”
Dylan’s smile faded.
“Well, since she returned from the tea party. Yuni said she was traumatized, did something happen there?”
‘A lot happened.’
So many things.
A distraught Mehen stood up from his seat. He was going to see the cute, adorable Arellin.
It was then.
“Mehen!”
The butler summoned Mehen with unwelcome news.
***
The prodigal son has returned.
The prodigal son had run away from home and returned.
Mehen said, ‘Why are you calling me with that look on your face?’
She realized only after she had taken Mehen’s hand and led him to the front door of the mansion.
He said the mansion was busy for some reason.
“You have come?”
The Archduke of Halbern’s return was greeted by Mehen and all his vassals and servants.
The Archduke of Halbern, who had sold his uniform and was now wearing only a light coat, smiled.
“Is this a personal greeting?”
“…Because you’re back after a long absence.”
“You look like you want to punch me in the face.”
Mehen’s expression twitched.
“Cut the crap and come inside.”
“Bullshit, I said I was glad to see you.”
The Archduke of Halbern, who had been engaged in polite conversation, suddenly turned to her.
Now for the second time.
Aside from his handsome face, which she couldn’t quite get used to seeing again, she flinched at the seemingly unfair stare.
“You don’t even say hello, my daughter.”
The dry voice didn’t contain an ounce of warmth, despite the rueful words.
Instead, a cold, curious gaze swept over her as if it would eat her alive.
Hmphh.
Startled, she hid behind Mehen.
“Mum.”
She winced, clutching the hem of Mehen’s robe.
“?”
Archduke Halbern cocked his head as if he’d misheard.
“Eh?”
Mehen touched his forehead in apology.
“Mum.”
Mehen looked away, as if he wanted to disappear from the room.
“…”
“…”
Sudden silence.
Archduke Halbern burst out laughing.
“Stop laughing, you bastard!”
