A Barbaric Proposal

Chapter 90

[Phermos] “That’s awful. That’s truly unbelievable. Absolute evil. To manipulate a child like that, all for the sake of treason.”

Phermos spat out his words—his voice filled with a rare sense of agitation and strength.

[Phermos] “Every one of those bloodlines has a habit of devouring whatever they can to gain power.”

Rienne’s body tensed as her expression stiffened into bitterness.

[Rienne] “I can’t deny that.”

There was no end to the Kleinfelders’ machinations. With the power they built up through ill means, they ate away at the drying kingdom like leeches.

And it was her father who borrowed such stained power to become king. Black told her this wasn’t something he cared all that much about, but Rienne was still struggling to forgive the blood that was flowing through her.

[Black] “Don’t think anything useless.”

Seeing how uncomfortable Rienne’s expression had gotten, Black could immediately tell what she was thinking.

[Black] “It’s not your fault that the Kleinfelders are born parasites, Princess.”

[Rienne] “I know, but……”

[Black] “If you know, then you know it’s fine. You don’t need to say anything else. No buts.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

[Black] “And whenever you start talking like that, I’ll kiss you. No matter where we are.”

Looking up at him, Rienne couldn’t help but let out a soft but improper laugh for the situation. His remarks were so direct and resolute, laughing felt like the only thing she could do.

[Rienne] “Don’t talk like kissing can fix everything. That hardly solves this problem.”

[Black] “But it can stop you from talking, Princess.”

[Rienne] “Even if my mouth isn’t moving, my thoughts are still very much turning.”

[Black] “Then that just means I’ll just have to kiss you for the rest of our lives.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

What kind of leap in logic is that? But even as she thought that, she still reached out for him first, wrapping her arms around him.

If this man was planning on being stubborn like this for the rest of their lives, then that didn’t sound too bad. She didn’t mind that so much.

Holding Rienne, Black affectionately swept his large hand up and down her back.

[Black] “From what I can remember, my father wasn’t the most desirable king. The Kleinfelders were being fueled by their greed, but they had plenty of other reasons to attract the other nobles to their crusade.”

[Rienne] “Does that……have anything to do with the claim that he stole the power of God?”

[Black] “Maybe.”

[Rienne] “I’m sure the High Priest must know something.”

With her face still buried in Black’s chest, Rienne mentioned a vital point—though her voice was a little bit muffled. She couldn’t bear to face him right now.

[Rienne] “You said that Theran Kleinfelder came to visit you at the Temple, but no one can enter without being verified first. So if no one knew he was there, then he must have had help sneaking in. If it was the High Priest from back then, he might know more about what happened.”

[Phermos] “Oh, that’s possible. We should head to the Temple right now!”

Phermos pushed up his monocle, suddenly shouting.

[Phermos] “And my guess is that whatever happened is certainly related to Nauk’s abnormal drought.”

[Rienne] “The drought?”

[Phermos] “It can’t all be a coincidence. The rebellion took place twenty-one years ago, and it was twenty-one years ago that the drought first started in Nauk as well. And he mentioned the power of God, correct? Rain is under the purview of the heavens.”

Rienne looked as though she’d been struck by something.

That sounded far too fantastical.

[Rienne] “For humans…..to steal rain? Is that even possible……?”

[Phermos] “Most would believe it’s impossible, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Ah, when my Lord said he wanted to bring in scholars who studied the climate, we should’ve done it right away. Maybe then, we’d have at least some semblance of an answer right now.”

That sounded very surprising as well.

[Rienne] “Were you thinking about doing that?”

Rienne turned her head, looking up at Black with an amazed look in her eyes.

[Black] “I was going to take things slowly. We have time.”

[Rienne] “Hah…..You never cease to surprise me, my love. I never thought about doing that before.”

[Black] “You would have done the same if the Kleinfelders hadn’t stopped you, Princess.”

[Rienne] “I would hope so.”

Once again, Rienne threw herself back into Black’s embrace, and as he quietly smiled down at her, he looked upon her though she was the loveliest thing on earth.

[Rienne] “I want to do what I can, too. Things I should have done a long while ago.”

[Black] “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Watching the two of them, as if they were in their own little world, Phermos quietly and awkwardly coughed.

[Phermos] “Uh…..Well, I can see that the two of you are very close, and it’s always good to support one another and uplift each other, but please remember that we have some urgent business we all must attend to. And I think it would be best if you handled this yourself, my Lord, considering you know the High Priest personally.”

[Black] “I know.”

[Phermos] “Then we should finish this up quickly. Strike while it’s hot, as they say. Shall we leave now?”

There was no reason to waste any time.

Theran Kleinfelder had already disappeared, so they needed to prepare a countermeasure as soon as possible in response to his inevitable movement.

[Black] “Then—“

[Rienne] “Let’s go together.”

Rienne let go of Black, pulling away from his embrace as she looked at him.

[Black] “No, you stay here, Princess.”

[Rienne] “Why though? I might be able to help.”

[Black] “Even if you could, the Kleinfelder is moving just outside the castle. I can’t allow you to show yourself off to him so recklessly without knowing exactly what kind of person he is and what he’s capable of.”

For a moment Rienne thought he was being too careful, but she couldn’t argue with him.

She knew exactly what he was thinking and how he was feeling right now. No matter how shallow the water, one cannot allow the people they love to wet their feet. ⁽¹⁾

If she were him, she would have said the same.

[Black] “I’ll be able to move faster knowing you’re here at the castle, Princess.”

[Rienne] “Alright.”

Rienne stood up on her tippy toes, reaching out her arms and hugging Black’s neck.

[Rienne] “Then hurry and come back. To the point where I’m surprised you were ever gone at all.”

Lifting her slightly up from the ground, Black hugged Rienne’s waist. By now, he knew exactly what angle to hold her at to allow her to hug his neck most comfortably.

[Black] “If I do that, then you have to surprise me too, Princess.”

[Rienne] “How so?”

[Black] “I’ll leave that up to you.”

[Rienne] “Hm…..I’m not very confident I can do much to surprise you.”

[Black] “Don’t be so quick to think that. Out of all the people I’ve met, you’re the only person who’s ever surprised me, Princess.”

Pressing his lips against her ear, she felt his breath against her skin as he whispered low.

[Black] “I’ll be back.”

He wouldn’t be gone long—it was just a short visit to the Temple.

And yet, despite that fact, their parting was filled with affection. Apparently, it didn’t matter how short of a time it was, any time spent apart was becoming increasingly unbearable.

[Rienne] “You have to come back quickly.”

[Black] “If you keep saying that, I won’t be able to leave.”

Rienne felt her body shift as Black gently set her back down on the ground. Looking up at him, there was a smile on his face, but as his gaze followed her movements, it felt like he was burning up her body.

[Black] “Wait up for me. Don’t go to bed.”

[Rienne] “I will.”

Not long after that, Black left for the Temple, leaving behind a burning gaze that seemed to stick to her skin.

_{^{the translating mech}}

* * *

*

[Klimah] “D, don’t be scared. I was told to stay with you, Princess, so I came here.”

After Black left, the moon steadily rose in the sky.

It was around the time where she’d normally wash up and ready herself for bed, but she didn’t want to do that tonight. Lying in bed alone had become something she never wished to do again.

Without washing up or changing her clothes, Rienne sat by the window, gazing out at the moon when Klimah unexpectedly visited her.

[Rienne] “…….? I’m not scared, though I’m a bit confused on what brings you here. Shouldn’t you be with your mother?”

[Klimah] “Oh, my mother already has someone with her—that other woman. But he told me I should be next to you, Princess.”

[Rienne] “Who said that?”

[Klimah] “Prince Fernand, ah, I mean, my Lord. His aide said this, too.”

[Rienne] “That’s strange. I wonder why he would say that.”

Rienne didn’t know this, but Black had asked this of Klimah because, despite his appearance, he was a highly trained assassin. And because he was so good at what he did, he was the best choice when it came to preventing potential attacks.

Black still hadn’t forgotten how quietly Rienne had been stolen away from Castle Nauk. He now knew that nothing was beyond the Kleinfelders—doing whatever they could by any means necessary.

But looking at the seemingly naïve Klimah, it was hard to believe he was a trained assassin.

And with Rienne next to him, the back of his neck would become red and he’d stumble and stutter over every other word, making him seem even younger than he was.

It probably started around that time, just after Rienne gave him such delicious sweets.

[Rienne] “Well, in any case, that’s fine. I just couldn’t sleep so I was thinking of going and looking at the royal records. Would you like to accompany me?”

[Klimah] “I, I’ll take you wherever you want to go. Anywhere is good.”

As Klimah answered, his expression was straight, though his face was red.

Rienne smiled kindly.

[Rienne] “Thank you, Sir Renfell.”

Rienne called Klimah by the name he was given during the wedding ceremony.

Technically, Klimah was not yet a knight, only an apprentice, but as the son of Sir Henton, he was given the title of ‘Sir’ early in honor of his father and the sacrifice he’d made.

[Rienne] “Then let us be off. The records are in the King’s Office.”

[Klimah] “I, I need to be in the back…I d, don’t know the way…..So you must walk in front of me, Princess.”

[Rienne] “Oh, I see. Then please hand me the candlestick. The hallways will be dark.”

[Klimah] “Y, yes.”

The second she asked him to pick up the candlestick, Klimah immediately gripped the candle, burning his hand with the hot wax rather than taking it by the holder.

[Rienne] “Ah, it’s hot! I just needed you to pick it up!”

Rienne quickly took the candle out of his hand, and Klimah shrank away like a child who had been scolded.

[Klimah] “I, I know…..B, but I don’t mind holding something hot. I’ve done it a lot in the past, so it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Hearing his story, Rienne let out a soft sigh.

[Rienne] “Was holding a hot candle with your bare hands another way for you to pray for penance?”

[Klimah] “It was one of them.”

[Rienne] “……..You don’t need to pray for that anymore. I don’t want you to even touch a hot candle.”

[Klimah] “O, okay.”

Again, the back of Klimah’s neck turned red.

[Rienne] “Let’s go.”

Taking the lead as they walked through the hallways, Rienne didn’t realize that right behind her was Klimah—highly alert and wary of the darkness surrounding them.

_{^{the translating mech}}

* * *

_^*

When she said she wanted to go look at the royal records, there was no particular thought behind it. Rienne just didn’t want to sleep until Black came back, so she thought something simple like that would be enough to take her mind off things until he did.

So she decided to look into the records to read about the history of the drought.

As Phermos said, if the drought began after the death of King Fenbrouin, the last king of the Gainers royal house, then there should be no record of it in the years before that.

[Rienne] “At least, I don’t think so…….”

Rienne had come here originally with the lighthearted intent of merely passing the time, but that quickly went away as she delved deeper into the records.

Her nose was stuck so deeply between the pages that she didn’t even realize that the ends of her hair were inches away from being burned by the candle.

If Klimah hadn’t dutifully moved it away from her, one side of her head would have had a very bad time.

But to do so, Klimah once again handled the hot candle with his bare hands, causing Rienne to come back to her senses, properly leaving the candle to Klimah this time.

[Klimah] “W, what are you looking for?”

[Rienne] “The amount of rainfall. We record it here every time it rains.”

[Klimah] “The amount of rainfall?”

[Rienne] “That’s right.”

Just then, Rienne remembered that Klimah was around Black’s age, maybe even a little bit older.

[Rienne] “Do you remember much about your childhood? Around twenty years ago, did it rain a lot back then?”

[Klimah] “The rain…….I, I’m not sure. I t, think it rained more than it does now…..B, but it changes from season to season…….”

[Rienne] “That’s what the records say, too.”

Comparing the rainfall, the drought was definitely more apparent now. Though the seasons were the same, when checking the recorded levels of rainfall, it rarely rained nowadays.

However, looking farther back in the years, the amount of rainfall wasn’t that much higher. Even back then, there were many recorded dates where no rainfall was reported.

The only difference was that there was no record of the Ebet River being dried up.

[Rienne] “Look here. At this point in time, it didn’t rain for six months straight, very similar to how it can be now. And yet, the crop yields didn’t lessen nor did the taxes paid to the royal family decrease.”

[Klimah] “R, really?”

[Rienne] “Even though it wasn’t raining, there was no shortage of water. Unlike now.”

[Klimah] “Ah…..But, w, why?”

[Rienne] “I don’t know.”

Back then, the Ebet River was said to be overflowing, and the nine waterfalls created beautiful rainbows every day. Looking at the tax yields from this period, it made Nauk look like a very abundant place.

The lack of rain was still a prevailing problem back then, but farming was always a tiring thing, even when it did rain. And though they didn’t get much rain in Nauk, they always had massive amounts of freshwater available. It really seemed like a land blessed by God.

[Rienne] “So, what exactly caused the river to dry up, along with the nine waterfalls?”

It was as if something had stripped Nauk of anything that could be considered water.

* * *

^{T/N: (1) a lovely little turn of phrase that’s conveying the meaning of no matter how little danger there is, he doesn’t want to risk it.}