ICM Chapter 132

The frame containing the portrait of the first head of the family was a faded ivory color. It was neither wood nor metal, but rather crude and unique, as if carved and pieced together from ivory.

 

Throughout the carriage ride, Ashika kept the frame on her lap, fidgeting with it. Even though she knew it wouldn’t break, her touch was careful as she caressed the blue-violet gemstone. Even while looking at the frame, Ashika’s face remained hardened throughout.

 

The sudden meeting with the Emperor, arranged without time to prepare. There, Talion was stripped of his military forces by the Emperor with absurd ease. Her insides burned as if her own flesh had been torn away. Since Drushia remained unperturbed, she couldn’t very well step forward and say anything about it.

 

‘I should have prepared more thoroughly.’

 

Even knowing that the nobles were making moves, she hadn’t properly gathered intelligence. The thought that she had been negligent due to wedding preparations filled her with self-reproach. When she suddenly came to her senses, ocean-deep blue eyes had approached right up to her nose.

 

“I realize this every time.”

 

Drushia continued speaking with his face close enough to almost touch.

 

“What are you thinking about so much?”

 

It was the complaint of a man pushed aside by his lover who was lost in thought again today.

 

“The Emperor must have let the nobles stir things up for this very purpose. He was probably waiting for an appropriate pretext. It’s the first time I’ve been caught so off-guard like this, so I’m flustered.”

 

“But we got the family’s sacred relic back. Isn’t that enough?”

 

Drushia had no interest in that family’s sacred relic. Wasn’t it because he felt no particular need for it that he had left it alone all this time? Drushia had even refused when the Empress Dowager offered to return it in exchange for marriage to Shafri.

 

“That may be so, but I wonder if we gave up too easily.”

 

“It must have been a deal you didn’t like. Is it because you’re from a merchant family?”

 

“What kind of deal was that? He openly tore chunks off us while acting like he was being generous by returning what originally belonged to Talion.”

 

“Pfft.”

 

Drushia burst into laughter. Ashika’s dissatisfaction was so blatant that he couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Tore chunks off?”

 

“Isn’t that right? It feels like flesh was torn from my body.”

 

Drushia’s laughter grew even louder. It was rare for Ashika to voice her complaints so openly. Even when being manipulated by him at the negotiation table every year, she had never shown such a reaction.

 

“If you hate being overwhelmed so much, why did you always let me win?”

 

“That’s because…”

 

Behind Drushia’s determination to pressure Igraine lay the dissatisfaction of his vassals. Drushia had substituted this by gaining maximum advantage at the negotiation table. Ashika, knowing this fact as well, had not bothered to put up a fight.

 

“This is a completely different matter. Igraine doesn’t make such one-sided deals.”

 

“It would be different if you thought of it as strategy rather than a deal.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I’m still waiting for an answer too. I’ll tell you when it becomes certain.”

 

Ashika’s eyes narrowed. She had never seen Drushia being so unilaterally overwhelmed by someone like this. Even if that opponent was the imperial family.

 

‘He’s someone who would repay what he received, no, pay back double.’

 

A moment of silence. The rattling vibration of the carriage echoed through the narrow carriage interior. Drushia didn’t take his eyes off Ashika. He had probably been doing so throughout the entire carriage ride.

 

Ashika slightly turned her flushed face and changed the subject.

 

“Weren’t the divine stones precious objects? Why did they bother to embed this one in a frame?”

 

Four divine stones said to have been received from the gods, four sacred relics made by embedding them. There must have been better, more convenient forms to carry them, so why specifically a frame? A trivial question occurred to him.

 

“At the time, it must have had significant meaning, so they preserved it within the image of the first head of the family.”

 

For long years, Talion had possessed the divine stone but had never been curious about its power. The power of the divine stone that no one knew about. And Talion’s divine stone had passed through tragedy to reach Ashika.

 

It had been a hallucination so vivid that it had now become part of her memory.

 

‘What if that death was real?’

 

The blood in her fingertips turned cold and chills ran through her entire body. However, the fear that had been surging from the depths of her instincts brought forth an even stronger question.

 

Why was it her who had come back to life? If it was Talion’s possession, shouldn’t it have been Drushia who returned to life to look into all these truths?

 

“What’s wrong? Do you have something to say?”

 

“No, nothing.”

 

Her emotions swung back and forth like a seesaw. When she turned her gaze again, meeting Drushia who was still looking at her, the chill subsided. Seeing doubt appear on his face, Ashika quickly changed the subject.

 

“I wonder if the imperial family has no sacred relics?”

 

“There were rumors that they lost theirs long ago. So no one has seen them for hundreds of years.”

 

“You said the divine stones in the sacred relics have the same form as this one?”

 

It was what the Emperor had said. Not a complete gemstone, but damaged and broken-looking in form.

 

“If that’s true, then the imperial family’s divine stone has also lost its power. That would mean the divine stone was used at some point, wouldn’t it?”

 

“Now that you mention it, that’s right.”

 

Drushia understood what Ashika was trying to say.

 

“What’s recorded in the founding myth might not be everything. There are no records of using the imperial family’s divine stone or damaging it.”

 

“When the second miracle was performed, it’s said that wasteland more than double that of the founding period was transformed into grassland. After that, the golden bloodline in the imperial family was completely cut off, and Maiheller, who had been in the borderlands, was suddenly elevated to marquis.”

 

“Are you saying that two divine stones were used for the second miracle mentioned in the myth? That Maiheller obtained his title as compensation for offering his divine stone to the Emperor?”

 

“A greater power than during the founding was at work. Thanks to that, the kingdom rapidly rose to become an empire. Maiheller received not only a title but also vast territories, and the family’s status completely changed. They became a meritorious family that played a major role in the proclamation of the empire, enough to be recorded in history.”

 

Watching Ashika earnestly deduce answers, Drushia smiled slightly.

 

“It’s family history I wasn’t particularly interested in. You’re quite persistent.”

 

“What’s immediately visible might just be the tip of the iceberg.”

 

At some point, she had stopped having nightmares. It was probably around the time the marriage was decided.

 

However, the memories of rushing toward tragedy while knowing nothing could not be erased no matter how much she tried to shake them off. Ashika knew better than anyone that just because she no longer had nightmares didn’t mean it was over.

 

“Everything is connected, and all I can do is find clues and connect them. So I’m doing my best with what I can do.”

 

Ashika’s tone was earnest. So much so that no more jokes could be made.

 

Drushia took the frame from Ashika’s hands, set it aside, and sat closer.

 

“That’s how I came to be here now.”

 

So his decision was right, Drushia murmured to himself like a soliloquy. He smiled warmly and pulled her hand to his lips for a kiss.

 

Meaningless whispers and a wistful smile. Sensing something different from usual, Ashika couldn’t open her mouth.

 

With a thud, the carriage stopped.

 

“What is it?”

 

“We should still have more distance to go before arriving.”

 

Drushia put down Ashika’s hand and opened the carriage window. Jeanne was riding her horse closer to the carriage.

 

“Your Grace, excuse me. My lady, could you please take a look outside for a moment?”

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

Through the open window, someone was approaching on horseback. Since the guards weren’t stopping them, they must know the person. At least one of them was someone they knew.

 

“Nile?”

 

Ashika’s eyes widened.

 

Nile pulled back his thick winter hooded cloak and revealed his face. It was a face that had grown somewhat rougher.

 

“Where have you been? Why was there no word all this time? Did something happen?”

 

“Wait a moment, my lady. Could we perhaps talk inside?”

 

Nile was momentarily flustered by the rapid-fire questions. This wasn’t the usually calm Ashika he knew. He hadn’t expected her to be so worried when he had left without being able to say anything.

 

Ashika’s gaze turned toward the back of Nile. The other person on horseback was definitely a woman.

 

“Who is the person with you?”

 

“This isn’t something to discuss outside. I can vouch for her identity.”

 

Upon discovering the companion, Drushia’s eyes widened. Surprise and relief flashed by in an instant.

 

“Come inside. You must have had a hard journey.”

 

“Drushia, do you know this person?”

 

“Probably so.”

 

It was an ambiguous answer. However, seeing Drushia’s face brighten, Ashika nodded.

 

With permission from both, Nile and his companion handed their horses to the guard knights and approached the carriage. The woman in the deeply pulled hood cloak climbed into the carriage with Nile’s help.

 

Though her attire was modest, her movements in receiving escort were natural and graceful.

 

‘A noble?’

 

The woman sat carefully near the carriage door and arranged her dress hem. She seemed concerned about the dust on the bottom of her dress.

 

Only after arranging her posture did she remove her hooded cloak and reveal her face. The woman who had pinned up her gray hair was a middle-aged lady whose dignity couldn’t be hidden despite her modest attire.

 

Ashika’s eyes widened. It was because she felt strangely familiar somehow.

 

Once he had boarded the carriage, Nile hesitated, and the woman looked tense. In the end, it was Ashika who spoke first.

 

“Are you perhaps Nile’s mother? Lady Nedrov?”

 

Nile nearly bit his tongue in surprise. The woman looked surprised as well. Seeing both their reactions, Ashika hastily added.

 

“I’m sorry if I’m wrong.”

 

“What makes you think that?”

 

Caught off guard, Nile couldn’t hide his surprise. Ashika looked at Drushia with a puzzled expression, as if seeking agreement with her thoughts.

 

“You have the same hair color, and just the feeling. Don’t you think so, Drushia?”

 

Drushia quietly stroked his chin while alternately looking at Nile and the woman. Apart from hair color, the two didn’t seem to resemble each other at all.

 

‘I wonder if Ashika has good insight, or if I’m dense.’

 

Half right and half wrong. While Nile struggled with where to begin explaining, the woman bowed to Ashika and Drushia.

 

“I pay my respects to Duke Talion and Young Duke Igraine. I am Clemen of the House of Count Majes.”

 

For a moment, Ashika’s gaze lingered on the woman. Her face showed she didn’t understand why the name of Count Majes suddenly came up. And then her mouth fell open in surprise.

 

“Ah…”

 

“Your Grace, wasn’t this discussed beforehand?”

 

Nile realized that Ashika hadn’t heard anything about it.

 

“I was planning to wait until the situation became certain. I was waiting for news, though.”

 

Drushia shifted his gaze to Clemen.

 

Her small, white, wrinkled face showed clear signs of tension. Though it was their first meeting, she felt strangely familiar. As Ashika said, was it because she had first encountered Nile?

 

“I didn’t expect you to come in person. I wanted to speak with you, Your Former Imperial Majesty.”

 

“Duke Talion, please speak comfortably. It’s been quite some time since I returned to the name of Majes.”

 

“What is all this about, Drushia?”

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand. I didn’t know the situation would turn out like this.”

 

“Are you really Former Empress Lady Majes? How did you get all the way here… No, more than that, why Nile?”

 

Ashika asked again, unable to believe it. Drushia took Ashika’s hand and patted it.

 

“I’ll explain soon. First, let’s hear what these two have to say. But before that, I have a favor to ask, Ashika.”

 

He had convinced Nile because moving directly might put Count Majes’s house in danger too. But he hadn’t expected the former empress to come. And so suddenly at that.

 

“Could I meet Lady Siclaire? It’s important.”

 

“Iben?”

 

Iben, who thought Ashika had become a direct target because of her, felt terribly sorry. So she said she would stay away from Ashika’s side for a while and went into hiding.

 

Drushia was not unaware of Iben’s situation. But why suddenly now? The unexpected meeting and the things Drushia was planning.

 

Ashika’s gaze swept in turn from Drushia to Nile, who wore a troubled expression, and Clemen’s tense face.

 

“Don’t tell me…”

 

One fact she had been missing all this time belatedly came to mind. The back of Ashika’s neck bristled.

 

Drushia, seeing Ashika’s face turn pale, gripped her hand even more tightly.