Chapter 34: Proposal

At the gates.

Rihanna stood there, her face void of emotion as she stared at the soldiers blocking her path. Her gaze was colder than the northern winds, causing the soldiers to shrink back and huddle closer together.

Even with their ranks tightened, it still feels as if a fierce wind is blowing right through them.

They finally receive salvation from that indescribably sharp pressure when—

“Ha.”

—the guardian deity of Malidan appears:

Uldiran Caldias.

“Such a grand place for such a shabby guest,” Uldiran remarks.

“…….”

Even Uldiran’s teasing provoked no visible reaction from Rihanna. It might appear that Caldias was provoking her out of nowhere, but in truth, Rihanna’s mere presence here was a grave discourtesy to him.

“The daughter of Helmut greets the Margrave.”

Rihanna observed the proper etiquette as she spoke. Her voice and expression stayed calm, yet to those watching, there was a hint of urgency beneath it all.

“You must have heard how dire the situation is, my lord.”

“Hm.”

“Please allow me to go. Rihanna Helmut, in the name of Helmut, will handle it.”

“Denied.”

He cuts off Rihanna’s plea like a blade.

“Sorry, Helmut, but you’ll have to head to the underground prison right now. I need to find out why you’re even here—and if this turns truly serious…”

He trailed off.

“...remember a military tribunal could be waiting for you.”

The already heavy atmosphere grew even more oppressive.

“Carrying on with that ‘Helmut’ name might work in that grand mansion of yours, but not here,” Uldiran added, aiming his spear at Rihanna’s neck.

It was so close that one thrust could end her life.

Her scarlet eyes met Uldiran’s unflinchingly.

“I will take responsibility for stirring up the front lines. But we must first resolve this incident—surely that’s the right thing to do.”

“That’s not for a criminal to decide.”

“Margrave, forgive me for saying so, but I am Helmut. I can reach that place faster than anyone else here and settle this matter.”

“……”

“If we’re too late, even the nearby townspeople could be endangered. Please, let me go.”

“Helmut truly has trouble listening.”

Uldiran clicked his tongue. Despite Rihanna’s appeal, the tip of his spear didn’t waver in the slightest.

“This isn’t for a criminal to meddle in. Helmut, you should worry more about what excuses you’ll use to save your skin once you’re in prison.”

Rihanna took a moment, controlling her breath. Little by little, her icy composure began to melt away.

“Margrave…”

Her voice trembled, but not from fear of the spear at her throat.

She feared what might happen beyond the barrier if she arrives too late.

“Please, I beg of you.”

Not as Helmut,

But as Rihanna.

She slowly goes down on one knee and bows her head.

“Please… allow me to go save my husband.”

A hush fell, so profound it snuffed out even the northern wind.

The image of the eldest daughter of Helmut kneeling before Caldias would be retold for ages to come.

“And who exactly are you, standing before me now?” Uldiran asked, frowning. One might expect him to gloat, but he only knits his brows.

“Just Rihanna. The wife of Isaac.”

Hearing her response, a broad smile spreads across Uldiran’s face. He chuckled heartily, letting out a puff of air like a jovial old man.

“Looks like I misunderstood all this time. I was dealing with someone who isn’t really Helmut’s eldest daughter at all.”

He laughed, shaking his head in disbelief and covering his forehead with his palm.

“My wife always says, ‘Those northerners have no sense of romance.’ And honestly, I never saw the point… but—”

“…….”

“Maybe there is something to learn from your brand of romance.”

Instead of pressing his heavy spear down upon Rihanna as she kneels, Uldiran lifts it toward the sky.

“Open the gates! A wife goes to greet her husband!”

****

“Graaaah!”

The crimson aura flickering around the greatsword fades, prompting Sharen to shout frantically as she turns to flee.

“This is really too much now!”

A sticky, black puddle of shadows spreads behind Sharen.

These shadow minions keep expanding, greedily claiming every inch of unoccupied ground as if in a game of territory.

Wherever they go, no light touches—a world where the sun has gone dark.

Silverna, holding them off head-on, was also reaching her limit.

-Clench.

Teeth clenched, she sweeps her spear enveloped in a white aura.

It howls through the air like a raging storm—

But slicing through the darkness is like slicing through water. The shadows retreat for a brief moment, only to surge back into place again.

‘It’s not enough.’

She feels it painfully in her bones: her aura alone can’t hold them back.

To be fair, Sharen’s crimson aura is more effective than her own in this situation.

‘Why am I… so powerless…?’

Though she’s forcing every last drop of aura out, achieving breakthroughs here and there, it’s a cruel twist of fate that it happens at this moment.

‘Enlightenment always comes too late.’

Her insides feel twisted and knotted.

No one would dare blame Silverna.

But she still blames herself, for that’s just who she is.

‘If only I had trained harder with my aura—!’

“Silverna!”

A cry breaks through her chaotic thoughts.

She turns to Isaac, who’s calling her name.

“Don’t get lost in your emotions!”

“…!”

It feels like being hit on the back of her head with a club.

‘I almost made the same mistake again.’

Just like with the yeti incident, she’d nearly lost her composure to her emotions and neglected her logical judgment.

If Isaac hadn’t noticed and called out, she would’ve kept swinging her spear until the darkness swallowed her.

‘You… truly…’

‘…see right through me.’

To anyone else, she’d simply be swinging a spear.

But to Isaac, he perceives something deeper.

It’s too much to brush off as mere insight. A tight warmth wells up in Silverna’s chest.

He, too,

Is living proof that Silverna’s moments of realization always lag just a step behind.

“Retreat!”

With a tug on the reins, Silverna turns to lead a withdrawal.

They’ve held out long enough that reinforcements should be on their way from Malidan Barrier.

Once they rendezvous, they can devise another plan.

Following Shadows, they swim behind them like creatures in a vast, murky puddle.

From the very start in Andes Village, all they pass becomes tainted.

Nortemus’ shadow still fixed itself on Isaac.

“Think we can stop it?”

“We just need to break through the shadow minions protecting Nortemus. That’ll be enough.”

They’d gather aura-users to carve a path and strike it down.

After all, Nortemus was the root of it all.

“Yeah, seems that way.”

“Haah! Haah!”

Silverna and Sharen both looked drained. They’d pushed themselves to the brink, and Isaac couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain, seeing them like that.

‘How is this any different from when my leg was injured?’

He was frustrated.

Even so, Isaac tucked that feeling deep inside his chest—

To keep moving forward.

“Huh?”

Just then, a subtle yet intoxicating scent drifted in on the wind.

Silverna found it strange and was momentarily taken aback,

But Isaac and Sharen straightened their backs, gripping the reins tighter.

From atop their speeding warhorses, they cast their gazes into the distance.

There stood a lone woman, holding a greatsword.

Her crimson hair fluttered in the wind, and an intensely vivid red aura burst forth from her entire body.

“Wow,” said Sharen, who shared her family blood.

“……!”

Meanwhile, Silverna, their peer, felt the difference in power.

And as for Isaac—

“Ha…”

It struck him as oddly amusing.

In his tumultuous life, he remembered a day that he could never forget.

It was like this then, too.

A sudden breeze carrying the scent of roses—

[Let’s get married.]

She had proposed out of nowhere.

****

[Let’s get married.]

Funnily enough, Rihanna thought how similar that day was to now.

She had come to find Isaac,

No context, no grand gesture, no hint of romance.

She simply proposed.

“Unnieeee!”

“Don’t overdo it, Rihanna Helmut.”

She gave no reply to the two women on horseback who passed her by, greeting her in haste.

At last,

After seeing Isaac ride on ahead,

Rihanna hefted her greatsword high.

The white bandages wrapped around the blade unraveled under the force of her crimson aura—

A fierce, scarlet power that scattered in all directions, too much for the blade alone to contain.

It was the kind of strike Rihanna thought she would never be able to unleash again.

A blow for the ages.

[Pardon?]

‘Let’s get married.’

Perhaps she was just imitating some roaming mercenary?

The twig that Isaac had been chewing on dropped from his mouth, leaving him dumbfounded.

[Isn’t that a bit sudden?]

‘Is it?’

[Yes. Normally, you’d set the mood before proposing.]

‘Wasn’t the mood decent enough?’

[We didn’t even say hello to each other today.]

She felt a bit wronged.

Because every time she look at him,

No matter when or where,

-‘I always feel like the mood is perfect.’

Was it just her?

‘You don’t like it?’

Trying to hide her anxiety, she asked. He answered with a casual drawl,

[Ah, no, it’s not that I dislike it.]

‘Good.’

[But… won’t this be troublesome for you?]

‘Why would it be?’

She thought he might be referring to their families, but he wasn’t.

[I’m the one who rows your boat.]

[Without me, how do you plan on crossing this river?]

Looking back, she knew—

He was just embarrassed, trying to prolong the conversation.

‘Right.’

Her answer then was what it is now.

Raising her greatsword high, up toward the sky,

Toward that sunset river tinted red—

‘I want you.’

She swung the most fervent strike of her life.

Everything before her eyes

…Began to split apart.

****

The world of shadows was cleaved in two.

Exactly like that river, the day it was cut in half.

She had once hidden her smile amidst a downpour of rain and river water,

Awkwardly declaring there was no need for anyone to row her boat anymore.

Such a silly statement—

Yet one he found so endearing, so utterly lovable.

‘Maybe…’

No—surely,

‘This is why I can’t put down my sword.’

Because the memory of that proposal still lingers.

“This is… unreal.”

“Wh-what—how was Unnie that strong?!”

With just a single swing—

Darkness retreated, and light poured in. Stunned speechless, the two looked on with jaws dropped.

Seeing the same reaction he had once given himself, he only smiled softly.

“I told you,” he said,

Still smiling,

“That river can be split.”

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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