## Side Story 3: The Azure Knight and the Ashen Witch
### Chapter 11
*[Sue]*
“…!”
“Your friend, right?”
Senior Lionel leaned back and exhaled.
“She asked me to give this to you.”
“…Who?”
I asked cautiously, after a long silence. *Sue couldn’t have possibly returned to the capital.*
“Jean Emilia.”
Senior Lionel said an unexpected name.
*Jean Emilia.*
I vaguely recalled a mage with a familiar yet unfamiliar name.
“He said he was Sue’s teacher… Sigh, anyway, he asked me to give you this letter. So take it.”
“Take it…?”
Senior Lionel scratched the back of his head, his face still uncertain.
I didn’t know much about Jean Emilia, but I knew he had a close connection with Sue. He had helped a lot in capturing Lopetrefer, and he was even protecting Lopetrefer’s younger brother.
But I had thought both Sue and Jean Emilia had disappeared after she left the capital…
“Did he… do something in the capital?”
I frowned, a sense of foreboding washing over me. And as if to confirm my suspicions, Senior Lionel nodded heavily.
“Jean Emilia is trying to install Shina Fritz as the new Emperor.”
“What?!”
But his shocking confession didn’t end there.
“Duke Shina Fritz has joined the rebellion. He’s revolting against Emperor Lawrence’s tyranny. As you know, Duke Fritz has royal blood. So the forces supporting the Fritz family are growing exponentially… And with that strange mage, Jean Emilia, joining them… The situation has become quite chaotic.”
“….”
I was speechless, I could only stare at him blankly. Senior Lionel, after a moment of silence, continued,
“And that’s where the issue of Enzhe Lopetrefer’s pardon came up.”
“What…?”
Now I was just baffled.
First Jean Emilia’s name, then Shina Fritz becoming a rebel, and now Enzhe Lopetrefer’s name?
Senior Lionel, knowing how I felt, continued,
“It’s about the pardon. Whether to pardon Enzhe Lopetrefer or not… You probably didn’t know, but there’s been a lot of discussion about it for the past year.”
“A pardon? Why would they pardon her? They’ve never…”
“Never done it before. Not once.”
Senior Lionel’s firm voice cut me off. He sighed deeply and pressed his hand to his forehead.
“The Emperor is desperate for allies, with the current situation. And the public support for pardoning Enzhe Lopetrefer has grown even stronger after the unprecedented purification of the trash dump.”
*Enzhe Lopetrefer being pardoned.*
What would happen if she was pardoned by the Emperor?
Ariel had called Lopetrefer a monster. That was how powerful she was. But if that power fell into the hands of Emperor Lawrence… If Lopetrefer became loyal to Lawrence, who had pardoned her… What would happen to the empire?
“…Wait a minute.”
I couldn’t ignore the question that had suddenly crossed my mind.
“Then what about Duke Fritz? If the Emperor is in favor of the pardon…”
Senior Lionel nodded, as if it was obvious.
“That’s right, he’s against it.”
“….”
I unconsciously held my breath.
*Shina Fritz was against Enzhe Lopetrefer’s pardon…*
*‘Then what did that letter say?’*
The small letter Soran Halo had given me. It contained the words of a man who wanted to keep Enzhe Lopetrefer imprisoned in the trash dump forever.
What had Enzhe Lopetrefer thought after reading that letter?
“Raines.”
Senior Lionel’s voice brought me back to reality.
His face was even grimmer than before. He slowly closed his eyes and opened them again, then said heavily,
“I’m sorry to tell you this so late, but Lady Noel has woken up.”
His words hit me harder than any of the information I had received so far.
“My mother is awake?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner…!”
“She’s asking for you.”
“Ah…!”
I was speechless. I was starting to understand why he had hesitated to tell me.
“She wants to see you. Right now.”
“….”
Senior Lionel sighed and twisted his mustache.
“So, are you coming back?”
I couldn’t answer. I didn’t even know why I was hesitating, and I was confused. Senior Lionel, seeing my hesitation, continued,
“By the way, the reason Lady Noel woke up is because of Jean Emilia.”
“What…?”
“Jean Emilia healed her. He said it was one of his client’s requests… She hadn’t woken up, even after all the healers in the Imperial Palace had tried, but she opened her eyes right away after Jean Emilia treated her. What kind of person is he…?”
*He healed my mother at a client’s request?*
*‘Could it be…’*
I stared blankly at the envelope in my hand.
Senior Lionel, standing up from the bed, placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Raines, I’m not actually here because of the supervision order.”
“…Then?”
I met his gaze in the dimly lit room. Senior Lionel, not averting his gaze, confessed his true purpose for coming here.
“I was ordered to bring you back.”
“….”
“It was an order from the Commander herself. She said she needs your help.”
“….”
“The Commander is at a crossroads… No, not just the Commander. You and I are too. Are we knights who serve our masters, or are we knights who serve the people…?”
“Senior…”
And then, Imperial Knight Lionel Jehas said,
“Raines Noel, come back to the Imperial Palace. You’re not needed here anymore. Come back to where you’re needed.”
*[Rain, long time no see… Of course, I’ve been writing to you regularly, but this is probably the first letter you’re receiving from me in a year.*
*Jean told me about you. He said you went to the trash dump with Enzhe? Hmm, I’m curious why, but I can’t ask him, so it’s frustrating.*
*But I have good news. You’ll be able to write back to me soon. Maybe we’ll even be able to see each other! I’m in Lokor. Well, I’m not just here, I’m going to live here now. With Woo.*
*…You’re wondering if I married Woo, aren’t you? Hahaha, we’re not married yet. There are a lot of things we have to do before we can have an official wedding ceremony… Ah, the fact that I’m talking about marriage means… well, we’re doing okay.*
*I’ll tell you more about that later.*
*You must have heard about what’s happening in the Imperial Palace by now. As you might have guessed, I sent Jean. I didn’t tell him to start a coup, but… anyway, if the situation gets really bad, I’m going to go to the empire too. I might have been exiled, but who cares? I can always create a new identity.*
*What can I do in the empire, you ask? Hmm, I don’t know. There’s probably not much I can do.*
*But Rain, I know something that most people don’t. I know that the empire will be much better off if Fritz becomes the Emperor.*
*If I go to the empire, will I be able to see you? Or will you still be in the trash dump? Come visit Lokor whenever you can. Then you’ll be able to see me.*
*Rain,*
*What are you doing now? Are you eating? Or exercising? Or are you watching Enzhe?*
*Whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re always walking the path you believe is right.*
*I miss you. I know we’ll see each other again.*
*Your best friend.]*
***
Night fell.
Cheers erupted from all over the plaza as the fireworks marking the start of the festival exploded.
The screeching sound of an old violin, played by a musician who had been sent to the trash dump for embezzling wages, echoed through the plaza.
But the residents of the trash dump, who had never heard the sound of a real violin, just thought it was a beautiful melody and started dancing.
I sat at a small table in the corner of the plaza, sipping my drink. Drinking alcohol in the trash dump. It was probably the most luxurious thing you could do here.
A few women had approached me and asked me to dance, but I had politely declined. I didn’t feel like dancing.
I pushed my glass aside and slumped onto the table.
Everyone except me was enjoying the festival. I felt guilty for not being able to enjoy it, even though it was such a joyous occasion. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but make excuses for myself.
*‘What should I do?’*
The happy days were gone, just a fleeting dream. This place was already a surreal space to me.
I wanted to see my mother. But at the same time, I didn’t.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I was afraid that if she was in the same state as before she had collapsed… I might be dragged back into the nightmare of seven years ago.
I had been unconsciously relieved that she hadn’t woken up. And now that I was facing the possibility of having to deal with that guilt, I felt nauseous.
And what about the situation in the capital?
Lawrence? Fritz? …*I didn’t know.*
I was just a knight. Even if I went back to the capital and chose a side, what could I possibly do with my meager power?
…*My body felt heavy.*
I didn’t want to go back to reality.
“Eek! The Princess!”
At that moment…
The murmurs that had been scattered throughout the plaza suddenly converged in one place. And then, applause and cheers erupted.
I slowly raised my head. And then, I saw Enzhe Lopetrefer standing at the entrance of the plaza, looking more beautiful than ever.
Her long, black hair was neatly tied back in a half-updo, she was wearing pearl earrings and a ruby necklace borrowed from Ariel, and a beige dress that she had redesigned from the clothes the residents had given her.
She wasn’t wearing the flashy dresses and jewelry she had always worn in the capital, but everything about her screamed “beautiful.”
Lopetrefer, bathed in the cheers and gazes of the residents, slowly walked across the plaza and stopped in front of me. I looked up at her, bewildered, and she smiled faintly and held out her hand.
“Raines, let’s dance.”
She had killed her parents. She had killed a crown prince. She had tried to kill her lackey and the man she loved. She had ruined the lives of Damon Keron and his family.
And now, the woman who had tried to push me off a cliff was offering me her hand.