The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 269 – Side Story 8: Woman of the Lake (4)

Juan felt as if he had fallen into an illusion where the leaves of the entire forest had turned into sharp blades.

Haranbal’s swords were neither avoidable nor stoppable. Even the wind itself seemed sharp enough to cut skin, and the singing voices of the birds were also laced with murderous intent.

‘This is not an ordinary level of swordsmanship.’

This wasn’t a level of swordsmanship that mere mortals could achieve. Haranbal’s swords were slow, but they were sharp. Haranbal’s eyes were clearly visible in the complete silence, and the color of her eyes was light blue—like that of a lake.

Juan tried to raise his sword, but he knew that he couldn’t stop Haranbal’s assault. He could already see Haranbal’s attack slicing his liver apart, lacerating his heart, and cutting off his head.

Juan could feel the traces of Berinsil, Aunkel, and the elf swordsmanship of Aruntal, who had taught him swordsmanship from Haranbal. Juan could see countless legendary figures swinging the two swords with her.

Haranbal was attacking Juan with all of their might.

It was overwhelming.

Juan couldn’t help but admire Haranbal.

Haranbal was attacking Juan on behalf of everyone’s will rather than simply performing her own swordsmanship.

However, Juan wasn’t alone as well.

Juan gripped his sword rightly, and an intense heat burst from his sword.

Juan stared directly at Haranbal.

Crash!

However, the countless legendary figures attacking Juan suddenly vanished like smoke.

Juan was about to swing his sword when he realized that Haranbal had slammed her swords into the ground. Juan was stupefied to find that the surrounding land was devastated by Haranbal’s attack.

“But why?”

Juan didn’t attack. Still, Haranbal let go of her swords first.

Juan wasn’t confident in winning against Haranbal.

He could probably force a victory, but it meant risking a fatal injury.

Haranbal’s head drooped. She remained silent for a while before she stood up, revealing her tear-stricken face and bloodshot eyes.

“The person who loves the other person more will always lose.” Haranbal pressed the corner of her eyes with her finger to wipe the tears away. “Why didn’t you swing your sword?”

Juan didn’t answer.

Haranbal took a deep breath and approached Juan.

Then, she held out her hand and said, “Congratulations, Juan. You have defeated the genealogy of swordsmanship that the elves have been honing for three thousand years. You’ve defeated it in less than thirty years without swinging your sword even once.”

Juan didn’t hold Haranbal’s hand. He only stared at her in silence.

However, someone suddenly grabbed Juan’s hand—it was Aunkel.

Aunkel’s hands were trembling, and his voice was trembling as well as he said, “The chosen groom is His Majesty Juan Calberg Kennosis.”

Aunkel held Juan’s hand tightly before continuing. “The groom and the bride will… swear their vows… in front of Iolin tomorrow morning…”

Aunkel gnashed his teeth and trembled.

Aunkel couldn’t finish talking, and the elves started to get a bit agitated.

Haranbal took over and spoke, “This man is the knight of the knights and king of the kings. I am honored to become the wife of this great man, and I promise him all the blessings I can give…!”

Haranbal declared firmly and looked at Juan.

However, Juan did not say anything.

Aunkel breathed heavily for a while as if he were catching his breath. Finally, he gathered enough strength to continue speaking, “The two will be recognized as a married couple after swearing their vows in front of Iolin. Let the goddess bless them so they can stay together forever.”

Aunkel let go of Juan’s hand as if he had no more strength left in him. Then, he turned around and disappeared. The same was true of the other guests. Everyone disappeared one by one into the fog with stiff expressions.

The lively atmosphere had faded.

Winoa approached Juan, seemingly confused.

“I’ve participated in quite a few weddings before, but it’s my first time attending a strange wedding like this. It feels more like a funeral than a wedding.”

“Don’t worry about it too much.”

“Shouldn’t it be Your Majesty who should be worried right now, not me? I think I’ve just heard a one-sided declaration that Your Majesty is now a groom. Oh, maybe it’s not one-sided because the fact that Your Majesty participated in the duel means you were willing to become the groom from the beginning.”

However, Haranbal answered Winoa rather than Juan.

“Forget about Elaine.”

Before anyone knew it, Haranbal was smiling while walking toward Winoa and Juan with three bottles of alcohol. Haranbal threw one of the bottles toward Winoa, which he caught out of instinct.

“Elaine and Juan aren’t actually a thing. Isn’t Juan just chasing after her one-sidedly? Anyway, Juan is my groom for today. Don’t even think about disturbing our first night, Winoa.”

Winoa looked closely into the bottle. Winoa often enjoyed drinking with Harmon. Harmon had been talking about a rare and luxurious liquor. Harmon had mentioned that he wanted to drink it again, and here it was—sitting in Winoa’s hand.

Winoa contemplated deeply whether he should accept the bribe or not.

However, he decided to consider Juan’s silence as implied consent.

“Hmm.?I’m sure Harmon will be very happy.”

***

Juan opened his eyes.

A lonely wind blew into the loosely hanging tent. Juan looked next to him and found a few empty bottles of alcohol on the floor, but Haranbal was nowhere to be seen.

Juan drank with Haranbal and talked about their old memories last night. Then, Haranbal started dozing off first, and she fell asleep on Juan’s arm.

Juan tried to stay awake, but he somehow ended up falling asleep without realizing it.

Perhaps he was simply too tired. He slept exceptionally well. It was a deep sleep that he had never experienced ever since he waged war on the gods.

Juan stood up and went outside. The bonfire in the open space had already been extinguished, and the pale sky was starting to light up. The dawn was so quiet that made Juan want to sleep again.

Then, Juan noticed that a part of the forest had no fog.

Juan slowly moved toward that side, getting his feet wet with dew.

The air in the forest was heavy and humid. It felt like many people had sobbed their way through the night.

Juan noticed someone standing like a dead old tree in the middle of the forest.

The individual in question was Aunkel.

It was unknown when Aunkel had been standing there, but his hair was wet with dew.

Aunkel opened his mouth just as Juan passed by him.

“I hope you won’t misunderstand Miss Haranbal.”

Juan turned upon hearing Aunkel refer to his own daughter in honorifics.

Aunkel whispered in a trembling voice, “Miss Haranbal is not someone who would marry a person she doesn’t love for the sake of an alliance. She wasn’t trying to beg for her life as well. However, it doesn’t mean that she’s ready to abandon her servants for the sake of her personal desires.”

“Then…” Juan asked, “Then why did I have to go through such a complicated process?”

“Please ask her,” Aunkel muttered in a piteous voice, “Please ask her why she chose to be a tree that would be cut down rather than a tree that would only fall down at the end of its lifespan.”

Juan stared at Aunkel in silence before passing by the latter.

The fog enveloped Aunkel, and he soon disappeared from Juan’s view due to the surrounding trees. Not long after, Juan could hear beastly howls in the forest.

However, Juan didn’t look back. He continued walking.

Soon, Juan caught a whiff of the strong scent of fresh water. Juan broke through the bushes and arrived at a huge lake that shone light blue.

A cold mist of water rising at dawn covered the entire lake like a quilt. The lake looked like it was still asleep.

Juan found Haranbal near the lake.

Haranbal was wearing the same wedding dress and white cloth over her hair, just like yesterday. When she turned and saw Juan, Haranbal revealed a feeble smile. “I was hoping you’ll sleep well until lunch.”

Juan wordlessly approached Haranbal.

Haranbal smiled mischievously and said, “Do you feel like you’re ready to swear your love to me now that you woke up?”

“Stop joking around. Since when?”

Haranbal quietly turned her gaze toward the lake.

The waves of the lake ticked her ankles.

“Since when have you been with Haranbal? Iolin,” Juan asked once more.

Hearing that, Iolin?turned to look at him and said, “When do you think?”

Juan felt like Haranbal’s attitude hadn’t changed. She was moving and talking like usual, and there seemed to be no issues with her memory.

“You’ve been Iolin from the very beginning...”

Haranbal had always been Iolin since she first met Juan. It was when Juan killed Talter.

Haranbal—no, Iolin lightly kicked the waves of the lake. The water splashed upward.

“You know Yoruq, the elf swordsman who taught you. I wondered what he meant when he asked me to keep an eye on you. It was odd to ask a god to keep an eye on a hunter who was hunting for the gods, right? I decided to spend a long time with you, and it was then that I realized what he meant. He wanted me to be prepared for the inevitable.”

“What about Haranbal?”

“Haranbal is indeed Aunkel’s daughter. She was born prematurely, and I accepted her as a sacrifice because she was marked for death. She is one of the few bodies I wear to move around.”

The name was different, but Haranbal had always been Iolin. She was a colleague and a friend who had been with Juan since the start of his journey. In fact, Juan had been unconsciously aware of such a fact since last night.

His question was just for the sake of confirming it.

“I didn’t want you to come to the wedding,” Iolin whispered when she saw Juan approaching her. “I didn’t want you to participate in the groom selection process. I didn’t want you to beat the other elves. When you confronted me at the end, I didn’t want you to stand up to me if it meant risking your life. I didn’t want you to come to this lake. I didn’t want you to swear your vows to me.”

“Then, why did you choose this?” Juan came close enough to step on the sand of the lake. “Why did you show yourself to me even though you knew that I would kill you, Iolin?”

Juan responded positively to Haranbal’s wedding invitation so that he could kill Iolin.

After all, the best first move that one could make on the battlefield was the move that would smoothly lead them to the next move. He had already known that the elves\' marriage vows were blessed in front of Iolin.

Therefore, it was only natural for Juan to participate in Haranbal’s groom selection process because he had to be with her to meet Iolin. It was the only way for Juan to meet Iolin, whom the elves were hiding.

Upon seeing Aunkel and Berinsil’s reactions, Juan realized that Iolin was the one who sent the wedding invitation.

Iolin stared at Juan, and he could see that her eyes were trembling.

“Because I feel bad for you,” said Iolin, prompting Juan to stop walking. “The person who loves the other person more will always lose.”

Iolin repeated her words from last night’s gladiatorial exhibition. She had spoken those words after deliberately canceling her move. At that time, Iolin and Juan could have fatally injured each other—but neither of them did so.

Juan finally understood Iolin’s intentions.

If the hostile relationship were to continue, the conflict between the elves and the humans would be inevitable. Juan was strong, but he couldn’t protect the entire empire on his own. If one of the elves decided that the empire should be taken care of before it got bigger, the empire would quickly become ruined.

Juan was still confident of protecting the empire and becoming the final winner, but he was sure that his empire would be reduced to ashes by then. The same would be true of the elves.

Iolin couldn’t bear such a tragic future.

“I wanted to give many good things to my beloved. It was a foolish and childish idea, but I still don’t think that was necessarily bad.”

“You can think that way.”

“Can’t you think that way, too? Can you bear seeing your people being so weak and pathetic? Don’t you want to give those poor beings eternal victory, honor, and eternal life?”

“That is not for me to give. It’s something that they should get for themselves.”

“I don’t understand you.” Iolin let out a sigh and bent down. She dipped her hand into the pale lake water and picked something up from the soft pearl she managed to fish out of the lake.

It was a sword that was emitting a blue light. The sword was wrapped with Iolin’s veil.

Juan could feel an indescribable force from the sword.

“Inside this sword is the epic of glories from the elves and knights who had sworn their allegiance to me. This is a record of victory, reward, and a promise. I wanted to give this to you, but I know that you won’t take it.”

Iolin could see her face being reflected on the sword’s handle as she held it out to Juan.

Juan accepted the sword, but he immediately threw the sword toward the lake. The blade glistened in the sunshine, which had just begun to rise and disappeared into the depths of the lake without a sound.

Iolin revealed a depressed look.

“It’s sinking.”

‘Everything is sinking.’

The glory and triumph that Iolin had promised the elves and knights were sinking, and it would remain there forever. The glorious kingdom, which could have lasted forever, was sinking into the depths of the lake.

Juan took a step closer to Iolin.

Iolin shook her head when Juan’s hand reached out for his sword.

“Do it with your own hands.”

Juan flinched, but he soon nodded. He also didn’t want to stick iron into Iolin.

Juan’s hands slowly climbed up and reached Iolin’s neck.

Juan couldn’t even tell if his hands were moving properly.

Iolin stared at Juan’s face.

“Consider it an honor that I accepted you as my first groom.”

“I thought I was the third?”

“The setting had to be believable,” Iolin smiled and whispered into Juan’s ear, “What should I do so that you will remember me? I don’t want to be in your memories as a dying loser in pain or a pale corpse. I—”

“You had always been like the sun to me,” Juan whispered to Iolin.

Juan raised his hands and wrapped them around Iolin’s cheeks instead of her neck.

Her cheeks were wet with tears.

“There are many holes in my heart, Haranbal. They are all spaces that I left empty for those I care deeply about. Sometimes someone would fill those holes, but there are empty holes that still haven’t been filled.”

Juan placed his forehead against Iolin’s forehead and continued. “I can hear a lonely whistle whenever a dry and cold wind blows through the holes. The cold wind will eventually freeze my fire and heart, but I will remember you shining like the sun every time my heart whistles.”

Iolin smiled.

Juan’s hands around Iolin’s cheeks slowly wrapped around her neck.

Iolin’s slender neck was trembling.

“You say that now.”

Juan’s hands tightened.

Iolin stared at Juan and started stroking his face with a mournful smile.

“You denied eternity, but I hope you will remain as beautiful as you are today. May your empire and your people be as beautiful as your ideals.”

***

“Your Majesty!”

Winoa was searching for Juan. He ran around the whole forest as soon as he realized that Juan had gone missing, but he couldn’t even find any elves, let alone Juan.

The dense fog which had surrounded the forest had disappeared, and the sunshine finally penetrated the forest. However, Juan was still nowhere to be found.

All of a sudden, Winoa recalled Aunkel’s words from last night—Juan had to go to the lake to swear his vows.

Winoa started to get concerned that Juan might have actually married Haranbal rather than just spending a night with her for fun. In the end, he started running as fast as he could toward the lake.

Winoa’s mood was complicated as he arrived at the lake. It was all because he had no idea what to say to Elaine. However, he still couldn’t find Juan anywhere around the lake.

However, he could see footprints by the lake.

“Your Majesty!”

Winoa’s shout echoed throughout the lake. He started having suspicions about the possibility of Haranbal jumping into the lake with His Majesty.

“Your Majesty!” he shouted once again, but the lake remained calm and beautiful.

For some reason, Winoa started feeling guilty for yelling at such a peaceful lake.

At that moment, someone tapped Winoa’s shoulder.

Winoa freaked out and turned around. He saw Juan standing behind him.

“Your Majesty! Where the heck have you been while—”

Winoa couldn’t finish his question.

Juan was completely wet from head to toe. Aquatic plants and pearls were all over Juan. Naturally, Winoa quickly removes the aquatic plants all over Juan. The former’s appearance was a bit shocking to behold, but Winoa didn’t hesitate to make a move.

“Did you almost drown to death, Your Majesty?”

“Winoa.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Juan didn’t explain anything.

“Let’s go back,” Juan ordered as if he couldn’t bear to stay here any longer.

Winoa stared at Juan for a moment.

Then, he nodded and wiped Juan clean with a towel.

The lake scattered the sunshine behind them.

The sunshine behind them scattered throughout the lake, and the eternal kingdom of the lake shone brightly as it collapsed, seemingly in an effort to shake off the lingering feelings.

Juan couldn’t tell if the lingering feelings were holding him back, but he turned around without realizing it.

Unfortunately, the destruction unfolding in front of him was a beautiful sight to behold.