GDTEA Chapter 142

There Is No Time

Autumn had begun.

The season when summer’s heat retreats and autumn’s coolness settles in — Ren was busy.

“Ah, mister! Not there! Over here!”

“Yes.”

“—Oh, you’re strong. Could you lift this one too?”

“Yes.”

“What a reliable young fellow. Can you manage that one as well?”

“Yes.”

After proposing to Sharti, Ren took the novice mercenary badge given to him by the Krofl Mercenary Group and traveled around the nearby mountain villages to find work.

Diligent and strong, Ren was sought after more as a laborer than as a mercenary.

“Here, today’s wages.”

Laborers had set working hours, so once the work was done, they could take their day’s pay and go home.

However, since the mountain villages all had rough roads and the distances between them were great, Ren had to leave the house before dawn and wouldn’t return until late in the evening.

He earned less than a mercenary relative to the travel time and labor, but Ren was satisfied.

“Ren, you’re back?”

A small log cabin.

When he returned to the home that would soon shelter them as husband and wife, Sharti welcomed him.

“You worked hard today too.”

When Sharti rose on her tiptoes and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, he couldn’t feel any fatigue at all.

Greeting her with a brief kiss on her cheek in return, Ren went straight to wash his hands.

“Sharti, I have something for you.”

“Hm?”

Ren pulled a paper bag from his pocket.

His eyes were soft as he held out the paper bag tied with a thin ribbon.

“A ring is important too, but I wanted to give you this first, with my own hands.”

“What is it?”

Sharti curiously undid the ribbon.

With a rustling sound, what she pulled out was a hairpin with a lily of the valley pattern.

“Oh……”

Sharti blinked, taken aback by the unexpected gift, and Ren watched her expression carefully.

“I heard it from the little doctor a while back. That you like hairpins.”

“……”

“I was advised to get a different gift since there are so many things you need, but this was something I really wanted to give you.”

He wanted to give Sharti everything she liked.

So he had saved up his daily wages and bought a hairpin as his first gift.

“Do you… like it?”

If he went down the mountain, he could find a more expensive and nicer hairpin.

But he couldn’t travel far alone while leaving Sharti behind.

[I’ve heard you go down the mountain regularly. Could you get me one hairpin?]

[……You can speak at length when you want to, can’t you.]

He had wanted to look and choose himself, but given the circumstances, he’d had to ask someone with a good eye for such things.

Fortunately, there was a laborer in the neighboring village who had a keen interest in glasswork.

[You’re about to get married? Then of course I’ll help. Should I get one that would suit a wedding?]

Quick on the uptake — a man who needed only a word to understand a hundred.

‘Thankfully, he found a hairpin that suits Sharti’s hair color well.’

Even to Ren’s eyes, the hairpin the laborer from the neighboring village had gotten was decent quality for its low price.

The lily of the valley pattern that sparkled in the light had a beautiful flower meaning too.

‘It was said to mean happiness without fail.’

With such a lovely meaning, he would have wanted to use it in the bridal bouquet, but the season didn’t allow for it.

It was because the wedding had been pushed back to late autumn after discussions with Sharti.

Since it had been a sudden proposal, he wanted at least the wedding to be perfectly prepared before they held it.

‘And there’s the matter of appearances to consider.’

Just looking at Vireta’s family members who regarded him like a thief on sight — there was no way he could rush through things carelessly.

[A wedding must have rings. Without rings, it doesn’t count. They must be the prettiest rings.]

Even for the sake of getting rings — something even the child who had turned eight this year considered important — he first needed to save money.

Since he had proposed empty-handed, he at least wanted to be the one to find the rings they would exchange at the wedding.

In his heart he also wanted to prepare the wedding dress Sharti would wear, but Vireta had gotten ahead of him.

[The dress worn at a wedding is traditionally prepared by the mother, so I’ll take care of it.]

[I’ll prepare Sha’s bouquet! Tein will prepare the flowers to scatter at the ceremony.]

[I’ll gather the prettiest petals!]

A wedding is between two people — the groom and the bride — but it is most beautiful when blessed by many.

“Ren……”

Sharti stared fixedly at the hairpin without touching it.

“If you don’t like it, I’ll exchange it for something else.”

“No, no. It’s so pretty.”

“That’s not what your expression says.”

At Ren’s words, Sharti gave an awkward smile and traced the lily of the valley pattern on the hairpin.

“Lily of the valley is rare, so it’s called the flower of nobles. That’s why commoners can only have it through crafts like this. Everyone loves it because the flower meaning is so nice.”

“So I’ve heard.”

With a flower meaning tied to happiness, it seemed natural that it would be popular.

“I’ve needed practical things more than pretty ones throughout my life, so… but actually receiving this, I love it so much. I’m happy and glad that Ren wanted to give me something this beautiful.”

Ren smiled along with her — she who had thought even small happiness a luxury she couldn’t afford.

He felt proud, as though the fact that the first gift he’d painstakingly saved for carried a meaning of promised happiness had made it all the more meaningful.

Without a word, Ren took the hairpin and tucked it into the side of her hair.

‘I can’t promise to keep even a single drop of water from touching her hands.’

His beloved was a doctor who made medicine and treated patients, so he couldn’t even offer her that one common phrase.

Instead, even if he himself fell short, his hope was simply for his beloved bride — his beloved woman — to lack nothing, to be happy.

It was with that heart and resolve that he had proposed.

“Your happiness makes me even happier.”

Sharti smiled shyly with her eyes.

‘I’ll need to take on more work from now on.’

A desire arose in him to get a slightly better ring.

If he paid more, not only the size of the gem but its brilliance would improve — and unlike a magic stone, it wouldn’t shatter so uselessly.

More than anything, he wanted to have the ring ready as soon as possible.

‘If the ring is ready, we might be able to marry sooner than planned.’

Ren felt a flutter of excitement with each passing day.

The day he would place the ring on the finger of the most beautiful bride in the world — he longed for it so deeply.

Without incident or mishap, every day continued smoothly.

****

Bang—!

Jed slammed his fist down on the desk in the office.

The impact made the communication orb on the desk shake slightly.

“Sir Jed, what are we to do……?”

In front of Jed stood the attendants and knights of the House of Gwendhill’s grand ducal manor, faces pale with fear.

Having already received the news from the communication orb alongside Jed, they could not deny reality.

“High treason……!”

The scream mixed with despair cracked Jed’s otherwise ice-cold composure.

“Has there been no reply yet from what was sent to the imperial palace?”

“There has been no signal for two weeks already. Surely His Majesty doesn’t suspect us as well?”

“Sir Jed, if even His Majesty turns his back on the Grand Ducal House, there is no escaping this.”

Unlike the murmuring around him, Jed’s mind grew cold and clear.

‘I thought he was being patient for a long time — so this is the vile scheme he was plotting.’

Having failed to gain any meaningful foothold at last year’s noble assembly, Darhan Bridend had been forced to stop his direct attacks on the Grand Ducal House of Gwendhill.

In that interval, Jed had given orders to everyone within the Grand Ducal House to avoid friction with the noble faction and keep their heads down until the right moment.

Since the Grand Ducal House kept a low profile on its own, the noble faction had also avoided major conflict up to now.

‘He must have intended to avoid civil war at all costs until he reached the pinnacle of power.’

Using the gap while the foolish noble faction drowned in the taste of power, Jed had also sealed off the Grand Ducal House without a single opening.

First, he clamped down to prevent any news or information about the Grand Ducal House from leaking out, and quietly rooted out hidden spies to replace them with those loyal to Gwendhill.

And most importantly — he had succeeded in exchanging correspondence with the Emperor without the noble faction’s knowledge.

‘His Majesty the Emperor was also waiting and preparing for a final counterattack.’

Since the Emperor already knew through the Tower Master that Grand Duke Gwendhill was alive, their intentions had aligned.

‘And now, all contact has suddenly been severed?’

Jed glared at the communication orb.

“This time, the noble faction intends to finish off the Grand Ducal House once and for all.”

“Branding the domain’s people who volunteered for the war as private soldiers — this cannot stand!”

“First His Grace the Grand Duke, and now they’re pinning charges of treason on innocent people as well.”

The grand duke who had stood at the very vanguard of the battlefield, cutting down enemies with his life on the line — and now, even those who had taken up their swords for the empire and for their own families and fought their way back alive were to be made into criminals.

“Sir Jed, is there still no way to learn anything of His Grace’s whereabouts?”

“……”

Watching the people who clung desperately to a last hope, Jed clenched his fist tight.

The fading flame of hope — if only Grand Duke Gwendhill would return — would instantly spread into a blaze that could burn the entire empire to cinders.

[The commander still shows no sign of regaining his memories.]

[It seems like he’s become aware of our existence, but Master and the young doctor lady show no reaction.]

Yet Jed had no news whatsoever to share about his master’s life or death.

What was he supposed to tell those who were holding on, waiting desperately and trusting only in their master?

Jed swallowed the boiling frustration within him.

“Marquis Bridend will not move against us rashly.”

Darhan Bridend would wage a battle of public opinion to turn even the smallest shred of the people’s hearts against them.

That would serve as the noble faction’s justification, after all.

“But if they draw their swords first as they did with His Grace, there is nothing we can do.”

“What they have accused of high treason is every last person in the Grand Ducal House and all the domain’s people in the Grand Ducal territory. Without being prepared for civil war, they won’t move recklessly. They will surely put the matter to a noble assembly to decide on punishment.”

That way, more time could be bought.

Whether by assassinating Darhan Bridend, or by kidnapping Leodelt Gwendhill and bringing him back.

It was at that moment.

Beep beep beep— Beeeeep— Beeeeeeeep—

The communication orb rang out loudly.

The noise was so unlike anything ever heard before that people were covering their ears.

Jed stared at the communication orb, stained with an ominous hue.

“A full broadcast……?”

Then, as if cut off, the noise vanished.

In the eerie silence, Jed’s mind was racing.

There was only one thing a blackened communication orb could mean.

“……!”

Something had gone wrong with the Emperor’s safety.

And moreover, it was a signal that lives were hanging in the balance.

“Reinforce the defenses of the Grand Ducal territory immediately!”

“Yes, yes!”

Those who sensed the crisis hurried out of the office.

Left alone, Jed was just beginning to think through the contingencies prepared for when something went wrong with the Emperor — when it happened.

Fwaaash—

A magic circle spread open inside the office.

And with long hair billowing through the air, the Tower Master appeared in resplendent attire.

The Tower Master floated in midair, looking down at Jed.

“A noble assembly will be convening soon.”

The Tower Master waved his hand, and into it appeared an official document stamped with the imperial seal.

“But as it happens, just this moment — a decree of expulsion has come down from the imperial palace. To me, personally.”

“What does that mean——!”

“You know what it means.”

The Tower Master clicked his tongue.

“It means there is no time.”

No time to save the Emperor. No time to save Gwendhill.

And no time to stop Darhan Bridend from swallowing the empire.

“……Buy us time.”

“And if I do?”

Jed’s gaze turned cold as ice.

“I will set everything back to how it should be.”

The drops of rain that had been falling steadily had, without notice, grown into a downpour.

Just like the day when everything had begun, a storm was about to break.