It’s Not Night - Chapter 89
Chapter 89
“Yes, have a good trip.”
Andra thought that Professor Velot would be annoyed by her trip to the Morgennis border, but the professor just smiled mildly.
And that wasn’t the only thing.
Professor Velot even told her to take good care of herself, and she brought some good tea for her recovery, and even went on to offer Andra some help to complete her thesis. Seeing this, Elverika concluded that she was already in line for graduation.
So, before Andra went to the Morgennis border area, there was one final thing. It was an audience with Her Majesty the Emperor.
Ansel visited the academy early in order to take Andra to the imperial palace. As soon as Andra saw him, she found a little stability in her brother’s arms as he hugged her tightly.
“Andra, how long has it been since you last saw Her Majesty?”
“It’s been over half a year. The last time I saw her was on her birthday last year.”
Andra, who was escorted by Ansel into the carriage, answered, answered. She then shut the curtains as Ansel got into the carriage. There were a lot of eyes watching them since a while ago.
“What about a private meeting?”
“Not since the coming-of-age ceremony. She is a very busy person…”
“Are you nervous?”
Ansel, who saw Andra swallowing a gulp from a while ago, asked softly. Andra meekly nodded her head in response to Ansel.
The emperor was someone that could make anyone nervous just from seeing her from a distance. In particular, the emperor’s atmosphere itself is like an active volcano that is always burning brightly.
Six years ago, during her coming-of-age ceremony, when she was alone with the Emperor for the first time, Andra’s legs were so weak that she couldn’t even get up. She was able to move with her trembling legs only with Ansel’s support by her side.
“You are not alone. I did too at first.”
“But, Ansel, will Her Majesty scold me? Because I hid myself as an Awakened…”
It has now become a public fact that Andra was an Awakened.
When she first announced that fact, everyone seemed to be in disbelief that Lady Avellin had become an Awakened after Lord Airak. Elverica too didn’t believe her until Andra made things float in the air.
However, when news broke that she was going to the Morgennis border area with the imperial family as an Awakened, people were astonished. That was actually true?
“Don’t worry. Her Majesty will not scold you for such a thing. She called you this time to make a request. It’s not about blaming you for your mistakes.”
“But maybe she thought ill of me?”
The emperor loathed all those who told her lies. Andra didn’t lie to the emperor herself, but it was deception nonetheless. Even though she was an Awakened, she has been pretending that she was not. In addition, she did not confess herself, but rather, the story came from another person’s mouth.
Andra was afraid the emperor would see her in a bad light. This would have had a bad influence on either Jonathan or Ansel.
Ansel smiled softly and shook his head.
“Andra, you hid the matter from your family, too. Her Majesty will not scold you. Still, don’t you know how sad I was when I heard about it through someone else too?”
“I’m sorry, Ansel. I wanted to tell you, but I’m afraid…”
“I know what you were worried about. The Prince also said so. But it wasn’t right to hide it from your family. How can Father or I hear the news from the mouth of that lowly Airak?”
With Dustin mentioned, Andra bit her lower lip. Ansel saw Andra’s expression darkened, so he could no longer scold her and was forced to turn his head away.
“So, are your preparations going well?”
“Yeah, it was nothing. I’m not going to war anyway.”
“You shouldn’t say it so lightly. Morgennis is where the Mezei Mountains are located. You never know what will happen when or where. You have to be careful with monsters too.”
There are several places in this world that humans have not yet touched, and one of them is the unknown continent beyond the Mezei Mountains. They had to cross the Mezei Mountains, the only road except for the unopened sea road, in order to reach the unknown continent from the Shehera continent where they live.
However, the Mezei Mountains were famous for their rugged and dangerous mountains. It might look like an ordinary mountain from the outside, but when they’d go inside, there was fog all year round and it had a completely different ecosystem. It’s also known as the so-called dungeon forest, and it was given the name because the environment suddenly changed like a dungeon and strange monsters appeared.
“Ansel, I know that. But please don’t speak of what happened a century ago like it’s happening today.”
It was true that monsters appeared in the Mezei Mountains. It was also true that the monsters that came down from the mountain range invaded and attacked the villages inhabited by humans. However, as of now, the appearance of monsters was a story from nearly one hundred years ago.
As human civilization developed and military power developed, the monsters began to gradually enter the depths of the mountain range and no longer came out to where humans lived. Today, the only place where they can see monsters is inside the dungeon.
“It was something that everyone knew. Never enter the Mezei Mountains. None of those who entered the mountain range returned.”
The reason that the Mezei Mountains were selected as a dangerous area was that there were also monsters, but not a single person who entered the mountain range returned.
How could it be said that not a single one could ever come back, but to her surprise, it was all true. No one returned from the Mezei Mountains. It was for this reason that the subjugation squad could not be sent to the Mezei Mountains when the monsters appeared one hundred years ago. So, in the empire, the Mezei Mountains were often used as a place for ghost stories to scare children.
“You still see me as an eight-year-old.”
“I’m not kidding, Andra. There are often people who still go into the mountains and do not come back. Do you know how worried I was when you first said you were going to Morgennis? Be careful. If, one day, we lose you…”
“I am now an Awakened. Stop worrying. And I took good care of my body for a long time. But I have a question. What do Ansel think the missing people are now?”
Ansel shrugged his shoulders lightly as Andra asked the questions as if to distract him.
“Well. No one has ever entered and exited the Mezei Mountains… Realistically speaking, they’re presumed to be dead. Some scholars seem to be studying with different hopes. What is that different from a moth that jumps into a fire?”
As Ansel said, sometimes one or two scholars went directly into the Mezei Mountains to unravel the secrets of the Mezei Mountains. Of course, as everybody knows, they didn’t come back in the end. Still, people disappear once or twice a year.
Ansel’s face quickly stiffened as Andra seemed to ponder his response briefly. He said in a serious voice, as if urging Andra.
“Andra, I hope that doesn’t happen to you. Do you know what I mean?”
“You think I’m like a moth to the fire?”
“You’ve been like that ever since. You never gave up when you got stuck on something. You’re curious too…”
Right on time as Ansel’s words were over, the carriage was entering the Imperial Castle. However, the carriage could not enter the main palace where the emperor resided, so the two soon got off the carriage. The attendant, who had been waiting in advance, led the two to the place where the Emperor was.
Ansel, who could no longer enter in front of the emperor’s flower garden, tapped Andra’s shoulder a couple of times.
“See you later. Don’t be too nervous.”
“Yes, I got it.”
With Ansel’s support, Andra followed the attendant and stepped into the garden.
The garden was full of hydrangeas. The sunlight shone on the hydrangeas that had been soaked with water, perhaps because they had been sprayed with water before.
Soon Andra was able to see the Emperor sitting on a chair in the middle of the flower garden, watching over government affairs.
“It’s Avellin.”
Without raising her head once, the emperor noticed that Andra had arrived. Andra then greeted the Emperor with courtesy.
“I greet the Sun of the Empire, the noblest lord of Ishur.”
“Yes, sit down.”
Her Majesty jutted her chin as if to point to a seat across from her. The attendant, who was next to the emperor, pulled the chair so that she could sit comfortably. Andra sat down cautiously. The other attendant set a small refreshment table in front of her. Pale yellow tea could be seen inside the steaming teacup.
Andra clasped her hands and placed them on her lap. Then she waited for the Emperor to speak first. The Emperor had her eyes fixed on the documents as she was busy with government affairs.
A few minutes passed. Andra still shut her mouth and she waited for the Emperor to speak. And finally the Emperor opened her mouth and began to speak.
“This hydrangea garden was Lord Edden’s favorite.”
The Emperor’s words were a topic that Andra had not expected at all. The Emperor’s consort, Lord Edden? Andra recalled the well-known Lord Edden.
The hero of the empire who led Ishur to victory with his brilliant performances in the Continental War. He married the emperor, who was the youngest princess at the time, and was also the greatest helper in helping the Emperor ascend to the throne. Although the process was not smooth, they all agreed that Lord Edden lived for the Empire with the emperor more than anyone else.
“After ascending to the throne, I asked Lord Edden what he wanted, and he hesitatingly said that he wanted a flower garden. It was fascinating. I don’t like flowers very much. But Lord Edden was different. He liked flowers enough that he was stuck in the garden all day. Even trudging those uncomfortable legs.”
“…….”
“It seems that Jonathan took after him. That child really likes flowers as well.”
Only then did the emperor take her eyes off the document and stared at Andra. She was smiling softly. For that reason, Andra stared blankly at the emperor, and then came to her senses belatedly and hurriedly bowed her head. She beckoned for Andra to raise her head. Then, she went on to say,
“I’m sorry I got you involved in this complicated situation. I really wanted to pretend I didn’t know, but I thought Jonathan needed you. Lord Airak is with Viola, but Jonathan has no one with him.”
“No, Your Majesty. Rather, I am honored to be with His Highness.”
“No, how could I not know?”
For a moment, those sharp eyes were directed at Andra.
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