Chapter: 197
If it were raining, it would be nice.
Elizaveta turned her gaze away, slightly blaming the clear sky.
Frechenkaya was welcoming spring. In truth, spring in Krasilov was just ‘a slightly less cold winter,’ and due to the dreaded rasputitsa, the less paved rural roads had all turned into mud.
Nevertheless, it was spring after all. The grayish sky was fading, and the days were gradually becoming clearer.
Because of that.
“His Majesty. Colonel Dmitri Cherkatov has entered.”
“Come in….”
Without rain, there was no way to hide her face.
“Your Majesty. I am reporting the return of Dmitri Cherkatov.”
“I have already received the report. There was no need for you to come all this way….”
“As the person in charge, is it not necessary to report directly to you, Your Majesty?”
“Who in the world has more responsibility in this matter than yourself?”
Dmitri, sitting in his wheelchair, smiled weakly. Elizaveta unsteadily stood up and walked toward Dmitri, who was quietly sitting by the door of the office.
“I, Dmitri Cherkatov, along with my party of three, have returned.”
“Yourself….”
Unlike the dry letters arranged in the report, the survival report of the loyal subject who lost both legs was enough to crumble Elizaveta’s body.
She stumbled for a moment and had to lean on the table as a maid rushed to support her.
“What face do you present…?”
“Your Majesty.”
Elizaveta’s azure eyes gradually blurred. Thud, thud. Drops fell onto the wooden table.
The attendants and guards quickly turned their heads. The king of Krasilov could not show tears before anyone beneath him.
However, Dmitri spoke without turning his face away from her, even while keeping his head lowered.
“Your Majesty. Do not insult their deaths.”
“Colonel Dmitri Cherkatov….”
“They did not die by Your Majesty’s orders. Certainly not. We, myself and my subordinates, and my superior… Colonel Ivan Petrovich Yermov did not head towards the battlefield by Your Majesty’s command.”
It is different from those times.
Different from when they had to go to the battlefield under Alexander’s orders.
Believing so, saying so.
“We saved the world. Though we lived our lives as assassins, and were sinners who could not be recorded in history, in that moment we became just men, voluntarily walking towards the battlefield. Your Majesty, so smile.”
Elizaveta raised her head. She saw Dmitri’s face.
With tears-soaked cheeks, he was struggling to smile, managing to lift the corners of his mouth.
“On that day, we finally shone.”
He placed the box he had brought on the table and stepped back.
Elizaveta’s trembling hand opened the small wooden box. Inside, a preserved hand was wrapped in silk.
It was a man’s hand, with sinews prominent yet smooth. And on the right hand was a thick ring on the middle finger.
She pulled out the thick black ring from the middle finger. It was a seal ring with the emblem of Krasilov embossed on it. And it was, in itself, like an imperial seal.
This ring could seal all royal documents with wax. It was a long-standing royal artifact.
Elizaveta slowly put the ring on her finger. The enchanted ring shrank to fit perfectly on her ring finger.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty. Long live Krasilov.”
“Krasilov, long live!!”
The attendants and guards shouted in unison.
Alexander had officially died, and since he had severed almost all royal bloodlines of Krasilov during his lifetime, the only legitimate claim to the throne of this land now existed solely with the princess.
Thus, even though she had already wielded immensely powerful authority, she had finally eliminated all internal threats. No noble could now question her legitimacy.
“The final objective of Colonel Ivan Petrovich Yermov’s operation was the apprehension and execution of the former crown prince, Alexander Kirillovich Krasilov, Your Majesty.”
“I know.”
Elizaveta turned her body toward the window. Looking at the clear sky, she spoke after a moment.
“And Banka?”
“Due to the disappearance of healing magic, he is under treatment by physicians. While there is a diagnosis of exhaustion, we do not know when he will awaken.”
“I see.”
Elizaveta tightened her grip on the window frame and looked down at bright, sunny Frechenkaya.
“The funeral will be a state funeral. Include the names of all those who should have been forgotten until now. I will conduct the most splendid funeral this country has ever witnessed. This will be my first decree as the king of Krasilov.”
“I will carry out your command.”
“Empty the throne. I will not hold a coronation. Now that the harsh winter is over, I wish for my disgraceful father to no longer look up at the same sky as me.”
“It will be done as Your Majesty wishes.”
The commander was always her. All the administrative institutions of this country moved under her approval.
However, from this day forth, the name engraved at the end of every order would be not the princess, but the title of the Great King of Krasilov.
“Things are going to get busy from now on.”
The situation was extremely suspicious, the United Kingdom’s nations were devastated by civil strife and disaster, and the national system was still precarious.
There were a plethora of duties expected of her as a ruler. She was sufficiently occupied with bringing the country back on track.
So.
“I am far too busy to love someone.”
Starting a day just like any other, having breakfast with a loved one, sipping tea while welcoming the day.
Strolling through the streets, occasionally looking at flowers and fallen leaves, concluding her day while watching the same sunset.
Such ordinary love was impossible. What was most important to a monarch was the country, its well-being, and its future, was it not?
The idea that all power resided in one person meant, again, that that one person must directly involve themselves in every aspect and matter of state.
The heart of power lies within this. The act of sealing. Overseeing all matters, an inherent right to coordinate. A central organ that could never be absent from the machinery of the nation.
Unless she intended to share this power with someone else, it had to be that way. She had been a ruler who abused herself with work while establishing the foundation of power.
“Yet, Dmitri Cherkatov. It is hard not to love you.”
She tightly clenched the hand that gripped the window frame, looking down at the small ring on her snowy hand. The shining black seal ring on her ring finger.
To the man who brought her everything of this country.
To this man who, without any commands, broke through the battlefield, risking his life to cut away her only weakness.
“How could I not love you?”
At her words, Dmitri chuckled softly and lowered his head.
“Are you planning to relocate the dwelling of the traitor?”
“The reason I cherish this city is that you know my intentions even better than my commands.”
“It has been over ten years since I served Your Majesty.”
“Do it. I can no longer stand to see the traitor cavorting outside of my hand. The punishment will be imprisonment, the place of execution be my bedroom, and the duration of the sentence….”
Looking back at Dmitri, Elizaveta smiled faintly.
“I shall make it for the remainder of my life.”
“I shall carry out your command.”
EP32. A Trivial Spring of Krasilov.
“So uncle suddenly changed wards?”
“Yes, oh dear, what can I do? It is a royal command, after all. You know? We’re all civil servants. When His Majesty commands, what are we to do?”
“….”
Isabelle, lying in a single room, bit her lip as she glared at the grinning Dmitri.
At that fierce expression, Dmitri shrugged his shoulders and pointed at his legs. (More accurately, the place where his legs used to be.)
“Am I a patient? A serious one at that.”
“Is it alright to just hit you once?”
“Hold it in, Bella.”
Ecdysis put down her instrument and sat sulkily in the chair.
This was clearly the hospital room labeled Ivan Petrovich Yermov, but upon entering, there was a man, resembling a snake, sitting without his lower half.
She began to hum mournfully.
“To save these people, uncle is desperately needed…”
“What a heartwarming visit, everyone.”
Dmitri responded with a grin.
“Just give it up. I was basically rooting for you guys anyway, you know? But what can I do? The person I root for the most is our Majesty.”
“Good, now the distinction between your priorities is clear.”
“That’s good. Wars often start with that.”
As Dmitri continued to chuckle, Isabelle’s brows furrowed deeply.
“What on earth do you want? Why even provide this kind of information? There’s no need for it.”
“Hmmm… I don’t know. I just want someone I respect to be happy, but after a lifetime spent beside them, I still don’t know how to make them happy. Being in such a curious profession, what can I do? Then I have to find out for myself.”
So saying, Dmitri waved his hands dismissively.
“So I’ll gather as many people as possible to test you. Now go and do your parts. Time waits for no one, right?”
Though it was unclear what spring awaited that person, who seemed to have spent a lifetime in winter,
If there are many candidates, surely one of them will bear spring.
