ERTHMB Chapter 125

Tasteless Indeed

Instead of interjecting between the two, Helena began walking with determined strides. Gelda, still reeling from despair, belatedly followed her. Even when Gelda asked where she was going, Helena remained silent.

When they finally arrived at Flam’s smithy, Helena immediately found the wooden box and unlocked it.

Gelda, finally realizing Helena’s intentions, hurriedly blocked her path.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“I must honor the will.”

Helena passed by Gelda and left the smithy. Gelda followed her out and spotted Ian, grabbing hold of him.

“You talk some sense into her! She listens to you.”

However, Ian remained nonchalant. Without even lifting his back from the wall he was leaning against, he let out an ambiguous snort.

“I think you’re mistaken about something. I can’t give Helena orders or anything like that. I simply follow.”

“You too, really… How wonderful, just wonderful!”

Meanwhile, Helena was getting farther and farther away. The small woman’s steps were unusually quick today. Gelda, with a quick surrender, chased after Helena again and shouted.

“If you don’t stop right now, I’ll never see you again!”

Still, Helena didn’t stop. Gelda had no choice but to quicken her pace and block Helena’s path once more. Only then did Helena come to a halt. Gelda snatched the will from her hands.

“Do you even know what you’re about to do?”

Though her touch was rough, Helena showed no disturbance, just like Ian moments before. She met Gelda’s wide-eyed stare with a calm gaze.

“…I know, Gelda. I know.”

It was truly a short and clear answer. As calm and composed as the gaze that followed. But within it lay a depth that addressed more than surface-level issues. It seemed as if countless hours had been crumpled up and spat out in just three words.

So Gelda held her breath for a moment. It made her feel as if someone was embracing her own life.

It was unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and awkward, but it was also an answer she had secretly hoped someone would give her at least once.

Finally, after swallowing dry saliva several times, what came out was a somewhat softened voice.

“If you know, then why?”

“Because it’s something that must be set right.”

Helena answered without hesitation again.

“Power comes with its appropriate price, and a position carries weight that must be endured accordingly. You said it yourself. A hell you can handle.”

“You…”

“But Gelda. It’s a hell you don’t need to handle. You’re someone who can overcome both. The people beside you are strong enough too. Time has passed, and no one remains stuck in that moment. The Gelda Spencer standing before me is the rightful heir who can protect everything. I know that.”

“…”

This time, Gelda was truly at a loss for words. Without moving a single step from where she stood, Helena had defeated her with words and gaze alone.

Then she suddenly changed her approach. She looked at Gelda with eyes that had dropped a single tear of guilt into her stubborn fighting spirit.

“Most importantly… it’s not your fault. It’s because of me. Because I failed to properly end things with that man.”

“Are you saying that bastard ex-husband of yours is behind all this?”

“…Unfortunately, yes. But… Gelda.”

Helena slowly nodded once and continued. A new emotion began to settle on her face alongside the fighting spirit and guilt.

“Even though I created this mess, I won’t apologize to you.”

“…What?”

“Even if I could turn back time, I would still join this guild. I would meet you again like that, and I wouldn’t regret what I’ve done. I would continue to treat you as Gelda. So let me ask you one thing.”

It was hope.

This was a woman who had always ached over the past, cried out, and pleaded with her pain. That same woman was now speaking of hope. She believed in such certain hope.

“Do you want it?”

Looking into Helena’s firm eyes, Gelda recalled a certain voice.

[I won’t apologize to you. I won’t regret it either. Even if I returned to this moment a hundred or thousand times, I would extend my hand to you the same way. Whether you’ve lost both eyes completely, or both arms and legs are gone, I’ll just treat you as a blacksmith. So if you’re going to come with me, get up now.]

These were the words she had said to Flam when he had lost one his eye and arm.

Now Gelda was receiving those same words from Helena.

‘So you… felt like this too, Flam.’

“Ha.”

Laughter burst out absurdly. Gelda covered her eyes and let the laughter roll around in her mouth for a moment. When she removed her hand and lifted her head, she could see Flam in the distance. That fool who always found her instantly even with just one eye.

That fool had followed her here, calling someone like her a leader. He had endured it all without getting tired, no matter where this place was.

Gelda became aware again of the weight of the will in her hand. Looking down at the dried parchment, Gelda spoke as if making a wish.

“I want it. More desperately than ever before.”

The longing she couldn’t hide in the end had torn through her heart and burst out.

Gelda handed the will back to Helena. Helena took it as if she had always foreseen this future and curled up the corners of her mouth.

Watching that smiling face, Gelda felt a sensation she had forgotten for a long time. It was like an original intention buried under familiarity.

The moment something begins is always anxious and precarious, and..

“I’ll only open the door. A storm will rage, but Partren’s ship is sturdy, isn’t it?”

…thrilling.

****

After Helena left with Ian, the guild became bustling again. Guild members who had gone out to buy materials for repair work were returning one by one.

Angri, who came in last and closed the door, groaned as he set down the largest cart. Due to his hurried movements, several wooden blocks rolled out of the cart.

However, Angri didn’t even pretend to pick up the fallen items and rushed frantically into Gelda’s office.

At his noisy entrance, Gelda frowned, but as soon as she heard what he blurted out, she shot up from her seat.

“What? That shameless libertine was a Grand Duke?”

“Shh, shh! What if someone hears? Calling the exalted Grand Duke a libertine – even if my tongue gets cut off, I don’t know anything about it!”

Angri flapped his hands while looking around. It was a frantic gesture befitting Partren’s pigeon who was good at gathering various news. Meanwhile, Gelda slumped into her chair like a deflated balloon.

“Oh my God… our guild… will it be okay?”

Angri scratched his forehead after looking around the room where broken odds and ends were scattered about.

“What more is there to ruin here?”

They had long since fallen out of favor with the lord, had been completely caught in that bastard’s trap, and it seemed the guild’s dissolution wasn’t far off. Angri’s muttering was cut off when Gelda suddenly stood up.

Gelda stretched out her long arm and grabbed Angri’s shoulder firmly.

“Since we’ve already caused trouble, there’s only one way to clean up the mess.”

“What, what is it?”

“If the Grand Duke comes again, you’ll have to disguise yourself as me and offer your neck instead. Your height is about the same, so hurry up and lose some weight first.”

Gelda patted Angri’s shoulder forcefully and poked his protruding belly. Naturally, Angri flew into a rage.

“I refuse! All my happiness depends on the chicken legs I gnaw at night, and you want me to give that up!”

He swatted away Gelda’s hand as if brushing crumbs off his clothes. Gelda slumped back down weakly along with her deflected hand. It was an unusually deflated appearance, unlike her usual rough manner.

Well, her morale had been broken since the lord’s visit. Angri offered words of comfort with a sour expression.

“Come on, how much could you have defied him really? It’s all a world where people live – surely there’s that much tolerance.”

“Well… enough tolerance for the guild to moderately collapse and my head to roll around in the river like a pebble?”

Angri quickly withdrew the comfort he had offered.

“That’s unfortunate, but there’s no other way. I’ll give you a grand funeral that won’t be disappointing. Where would you like? Mountains? Sea?”

“Wherever you want. After all, you’re the one who’ll die pretending to be me.”

“I said I won’t do it!”

Gelda rubbed her temples as if her head was pounding. Then she suddenly jerked her head up. She tilted her chin like a detective retracing events and asked.

“But no matter how much I acted up, I’m ‘Helena’s’ colleague. Surely nothing serious will happen?”

“Well, no matter how much her husband put up with it, he’s a ‘Grand Duke.’ He’ll probably create trouble where there wasn’t any.”

“Damn, how did Helena live with such a guy?”

“That’s probably why they don’t live together anymore, right?”

At the prompt retorts, Gelda’s eyes sharpened. Since every word was correct, her fist rose unnecessarily. Angri made a hiccup sound and backed away. His back bumped into the timely opened door.

“What were you talking about so excitedly that you couldn’t hear me knock three times?”

The one who appeared, claiming to be the savior of the unfortunate victim, was Flam. Angri made a silent outcry and quickly slipped out of the room.

Flam glanced at his retreating figure with a puzzled expression before approaching Gelda.

“What, did you threaten to put that guy on tonight’s dinner table?”

“I made a more interesting proposal than that.”

Gelda answered while bending forward and rummaging through a drawer.

Soon, between her lips that came back up was a cigarette that hadn’t been seen for a while. Gelda lit the tip, took a deep drag, and exhaled heavily.

“When things start going wrong, they really go wrong thoroughly.”

The breath she exhaled into the air rose as white smoke. Flam frowned and fanned with his hand.

“I thought you’d quit, but you’re at it again?”

“Tsk, cut me some slack on a day like today.”

Gelda retorted through gritted teeth and exhaled another breath.

“At least this is the mildest kind. I’ve mellowed out a lot too. In the old days? I wouldn’t have even touched something like this.”

“Hmph, tasteless no matter what.”

“How do you know it’s tasteless when you’ve never even smoked?”

Gelda snorted and tapped the cigarette on the ashtray. She fixed her gaze on the red ember dying to black for a moment, then leaned her head back.

The chair, no longer balanced due to Garta’s rampage, made an unsightly creaking sound.

Meanwhile, Flam just watched her with a strange expression. Then he suddenly bent his waist over Gelda.

As if it were a predetermined sequence, he moved gently and brought their lips together. It happened in an instant. Gelda’s lips also fell open in bewilderment.

While she was frozen, Flam naturally inhaled the cigarette smoke. He stole the air from inside Gelda’s mouth like that and then pulled his lips away.

“Tasteless indeed.”