*****
NOVELASIUS
- TL: the guild
- Discord: https://discord.gg/GBKEa55867
- Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/topasius
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*****
The Battle for Korin as a Son-in-Law (4)
It’s already been a couple of months since Master passed away.
I wandered aimlessly for a while.
I drifted to Nazrea and met Master from 300 years ago, then traveled across the kingdom, completing quests endlessly.
Somehow, people began calling us heroes.
“Congratulations, Sir. Or should I say, Count Korin now?”
“It’s just an honorary title.”
Sihoo received a marquisate, and I received a countship. For evacuating citizens during the collapse of Merhaba, for purifying Nazrea, and for decisively defeating Fermack Daman and Ohad Breath.
Well, it was mostly Sihoo who did all that.
In the grand ballroom of the magnificent palace, I mingled with the people, but most of our members did not.
“Um…!”
“Oh, I’m sorry! I mistook you for a wall…”
Take, for instance, Beauregar, the half-giant. The difference in species and his intimidating appearance didn’t help.
I also saw Rashid, Lunia, and Yuel. Most of our members were present, but the empty seats felt significant.
Kranel and Dorron. Their absence, felt deeply even though they were with us just two months ago.
“…”
I killed that bastard Fermack with my own hands, but the dead do not return.
Defeating Fermack Daman and Ohad Breath—especially Ohad Breath—was almost a miracle. But because of that, we couldn’t stop Tates Valtazar.
“Haa…”
Master died.
It feels like a massive hole was punched in my chest.
She was the most significant person during my time in this world.
Titles, honor, being called a hero who would save the world—what’s so grand about that?
I would trade it all if Master could come back. I would do anything.
But she is dead. Many have died, including her.
At first, I thought of them as mere NPCs, just characters in a game, but they became more significant than I ever imagined.
The anger inside me, the self-reproach, doesn’t fade easily.
If only I were stronger… It always comes back to this.
I am neither a player nor the protagonist.
I don’t even have a status window; all I know is what I learned in two years of spear training.
‘…Still, I must do it. If I can’t, Sihoo will.’
That’s all there is now. Help Sihoo crush Valtazar and his forces and save the world.
The best an extra like me can do is to lend Sihoo a hand.
“At least I can do that.”
I sighed and stepped out onto the terrace to get some fresh air.
“What is the hero of the nation doing here alone?”
A familiar, lilting voice. A beautiful woman in a red dress, limping as she leaned on her staff, approached.
“Princess Elizabeth.”
“Miruam is enough. Between us.”
She is a woman like a burning flame. But everyone knows she is a venomous snake.
Miruam Elizabeth El Rath.
The Second Princess of the El Rath Kingdom and an ally of Tates Valtazar.
I could understand her circumstances, so I didn’t openly antagonize her.
In the Arhan Heroic Legends, few characters had as miserable a fate as she did.
I felt a certain pity for her and tried to persuade her. Lately, my own life has been chaotic, leaving me little time for her.
“What brings you here?”
“Must we always have a reason to meet?”
“We’re not that distant.”
Miruam smiled slyly and came closer, grabbing my tie.
“Sir, you look lonely. Shall I… comfort you?”
“No, I—”
“I’m joking.”
Miruam stepped back with a sly smile, making me jump a little.
“I’m tired. Could you escort me to the rest area? It’s in a secluded place, so I need a knight’s escort.”
“Well… if you insist.”
I escorted Miruam to a secluded rest area reserved for royalty, away from the crowd in the ballroom.
“Since you’re here, have a cup of tea. I’ll make it myself.”
“Uh… suddenly?”
“Aren’t you tired of the banquet? We need an excuse to kill time, don’t we?”
Well, that was true. Lately, I’ve been busy persuading the royal family, the church, and the association.
Even though we were called heroes, it wasn’t easy for us, without any solid power base, to persuade the higher-ups.
Naturally, I frequented social gatherings, which was a tedious and lengthy process.
“Okay… but it feels stuffy in here. Is the ventilation poor?”
“Really? It’s probably just your imagination.”
“And the maids…”
“I told them to rest. It’s late. Here’s your tea.”
Maybe Miruam is more considerate of her subordinates than I thought. She even knows how to make tea herself.
“Well… thank you.”
“Sure.”
Miruam watched intently as I sipped the tea. Her gaze was somewhat unnerving—
“Uh?”
I felt a blockage in my throat.
From where the tea passed, a hot sensation climbed back up my esophagus. The heat spread through my body, causing cold sweat. Something was wrong!
“What did you put in the tea…”
“The drug works better than I expected.”
Damn, was it a sedative? I thought it wasn’t time for Valtazar’s orders yet…
I need to get to Sihoo.
He has magic to neutralize poisons, so I need to get his help…
“Don’t struggle.”
She limped toward me, her enchanting voice clouding my senses and making me drowsy.
I collapsed onto the bed with a light push.
“W-wait, Princess…!”
“No, I can’t wait… A snake doesn’t let its prey escape.”
She climbed on top of me, her body burning with heat. Damn, it was hot…
“Remember what I said earlier?”
Her voice was maddeningly sweet.
“About comforting you. I wasn’t joking.”
With those words, the princess slipped off her dress. The silk fabric brushed against my skin, sending an electric shock through my body.
“Urgh…!”
“Don’t try to resist.”
“Y-you… princess… this is…!”
“Isn’t it a good deal to capture the hero of the kingdom for the princess’s virginity?”
Her teasing voice, her bare white flesh pressed against me like a snake coiling around its prey. The weight of her body was overwhelming.
“My knight. Conquer me, ravage me, devour me. Take all of me and whisper your love.”
She wrapped around me like a constricting snake, and…
…
“Ah… does it feel good? You’re like a child… so cute…! It tickles…”
…
“Wait, wait… Sir! Just a bit more…!”
…
“Ugh…”
.
Morning came.
Wait, what?!
-Tweet! Tweet-tweet!
It was morning.
No, it was morning already?! What happened last night?!
Despite my scream, my body felt languid, and I could feel the exhaustion.
Did… did we really?
Did we? Yes, we did.
Last night, even drugged, I spent the night with Princess Miruam!
“Ugh… what’s wrong? You’re awake?”
Beside me, Miruam, naked, rubbing her eyes, was undeniable proof.
“Ugh… was it too intense? My whole body is numb.”
Miruam stretched, her bare skin revealing every curve and hollow of her body without any shyness.
-Gulp!
Last night, I devoured this princess’s entire body. Like a traveler in the desert, I quenched my endless thirst by consuming every part of her.
“Oh my god…”
On December 25th, as I approached my third year in this otherworld, I spent the night with this country’s princess.
Should I… congratulate myself for my success?
“Sir.”
“Yes? Yes….”
“Stop being so cautious. If you want more, go ahead.”
“Excuse me?”
Miruam smiled seductively, not minding her nudity, wrapping her arms around her neck.
“This time, let’s do it sober. Pour your affection into me. Whisper your love and make me bear your child. And take responsibility. Own all of me, my husband.”
Her sultry voice, her plump cheeks, her small but supple valleys, her soft belly, her toned thighs… every detail, even the cute mole on her hip and the elegant curve of her legs…
I admit it.
This woman… is a temptress destined to ruin men.
Her allure is like a deep, sticky swamp, making it impossible to escape.
“I’ll love you, Sir. So you, too… love me endlessly and crave me.”
Between our entwined lips, her snake-like tongue slipped in.
A dizzying sweetness rose up, her soft tongue wrapping around mine.
Damn.
My lower half stiffened, ready to explode at any moment, and the flesh I gripped was maddeningly tender.
“Haa… do you want more?”
“…”
Facing the temptation before me, I surrendered once again.
“December 25th. You know what that means?”
“Seems Lia showed you something.”
“…Yes, it wasn’t an illusion.”
Miruam gently caressed me from my navel to my neck, her fingers tracing a path as if following her memories.
“In the past life, I had many thoughts… Emotions I couldn’t understand kept surfacing.”
“It’s a severed connection. Just think of it as a fleeting dream.”
“But you don’t think of it that way, do you?”
“…”
“If it were truly a severed connection, there would be no reason for you to save me, no reason to stop my revenge.”
“I was just choosing a way to save more lives.”
“No.”
Miruam firmly shook her head.
“If only their lives mattered… if that was truly all that mattered… you wouldn’t have risked your life to protect us so anxiously.”
“…”
“But… what about our child?”
In this rewound time, many were saved, and many were pulled away from their destined paths.
“But our child… what happened to them?”
The child didn’t come back. The child we created, the one I had to kill with my own hands, crossed a river that even time’s reversal couldn’t bring them back from.
“Then… it’s not possible.”
Miruam began to strip off her dress, revealing her body without hesitation. Her naked form still emitted a sweet and alluring fragrance.
“Don’t do this.”
“…Why? Today is… today was the day. This was the time.”
If I were to hold her tonight, as I did before, perhaps she might conceive again. Perhaps the child we lost could return.
“Such an easy solution won’t bring them back.”
Even though I turned back time and saved many people, the child was an exception.
The child who left without ever seeing the light of this world was an unreachable phantom, never to return.
“You can’t be sure of that…”
“It’s different.”
“What’s different?!”
She was half-crying, desperate.
For a moment, I thought of Erin, who lived in repeated time at Nazrea.
Erin, who had been separated and trapped in a loop for 300 years, was no longer the same person I knew as Master.
Even if a child were to be conceived on the same day, at the same time, would they be the same child we once had? I don’t think so.
At least I wouldn’t make the same mistake for such a naive reason.
Just as that night was born out of desire and bargaining, tonight would be born out of guilt and memories.
“Sir… Korin. I… I…”
She was trembling with tears in her eyes as I held her close, wrapping my arms around her tightly, trying to console her.
“Just forget it. It’s enough if I’m the only one who remembers.”
The painful memories, the sorrow—it’s not something you should bear now. You’re different from the person you were in that previous life.
“I forced something terrible upon you.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“Out of my selfishness, my inability to control my thirst for revenge… you had to…”
I had to kill our child and my wife. She wept in my arms, confessing her guilt.
All I could do was hold her and offer comfort.
“It’s okay. I’m… it’s okay.”
And so, this December 25th passed differently from the last.
I was engrossed in the task left by the Swordmaster.
“Only one. Focus on just one thing. Envision your goal, fill it with meaning, and bring it into being. When you combine mind (心), energy (氣), and body (體), and unite thought (想), domain (域), and principle (理), you will reach the ultimate.”
These were the typical vague words one would expect from a master describing a higher state.
Unite mind, energy, and body.
The explosive union of mind, energy, and body—the so-called 合氣, the essence of martial arts known as the “weight of unity.”
So, what does it mean to unite thought, domain, and principle?
Is it telling me to fill a domain with meaning? What does that even mean?
I pushed away the distracting thoughts and focused my mind.
I spread my Aura, the formless energy, slowly throughout my body.
In an age where a person’s body could be stronger than steel and a single sword stroke could sever mountains, martial arts (武) are something more than just choosing skills and allocating stats in a status window.
No matter how powerful one might be, without grasping the essence of martial arts, one is nothing more than a street thug. But even a frail, twisted man can topple someone thrice his size if he understands the essence.
Thus, martial arts are enlightenment, realization, a state of being.
From the 5th rank to the 1st rank, from near-expert to master.
Although they are classified into grades for simplicity, there is no precise measurement for this essence.
This is something that even a player’s status window cannot grant.
────────────
In a black void, I tossed a stone onto the still surface of water.
Though the ripples spread out, they weren’t visible in the pitch darkness. They could only be felt.
I must fill this void with meaning. If that is my goal—
The sensation that reached my skin was cold…
Snow?
I was jolted out of my meditation by the icy feeling. Panting heavily, I looked out the window to see snow falling.
Even such a small external disturbance can break my concentration.
I don’t know much about martial arts, but if this were a martial arts novel, wouldn’t I be in danger of suffering a Qi deviation or something? I don’t really know since I’ve never read one.
“Snow, huh…”
Watching the thick, heavy snowfall reminded me of shivering alongside Private Kim, shoveling snow.
It’s March.
It should be spring.
“Is it starting now?”
Winter wasn’t over.
It was a winter that would seem like it would never end, a long and endless winter that was just beginning.
*****
NOVELASIUS
- TL: the guild
- Discord: https://discord.gg/GBKEa55867
- Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/topasius
*****
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