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Chapter 49
Even if Clemens pretended to be oblivious, she wasn’t really.
Her first friend was the Duke.
Once the Duke regained his proper position and authority, such behavior would naturally be impossible.
Distance forming between them was inevitable. As Zephyrus had said, they were different genders.
‘It’s a shame. If I were a man, I could cling to him without hesitation.’
For now, though, she would enjoy this moment. The process had a visible end, so the present could be savored more.
She wasn’t starving, had a bed to sleep in, and there were people who needed her.
She could even sleep soundly.
How could she not feel joy?
“Good night, Master.”
Even with her mind fading into drowsiness, Clemens left her greeting and closed her eyes.
In the room filled with a cozy warmth, only the sound of her gentle breathing could be heard.
Zephyrus listened to that sound for a long while before finally relaxing his stiffened body and turning his head.
“Ugh, hmph!”
He nearly let out a sound.
His heart had leapt out, and it still seemed to be pounding above his chest.
‘When did it get like this…’
Clemens had come so close to him.
As if that weren’t enough, she moved again, raising her arm over his body!
Zephyrus’s eyes widened. Stuck like a wooden plank, he carefully shifted.
Her breath against his cheek was ticklish, almost unbearable.
It was warm, yet somehow the fine hairs on his skin stood on end, making him dizzy.
This had been a request meant to help him sleep, but an unfamiliar mix of discomfort and comfort coexisted.
Of course, he hadn’t anticipated this scenario.
‘She has quite the habit while sleeping.’
Still, it was warm.
Zephyrus twisted slightly and placed his arm over Clemens’s head, holding her curly hair. It felt like holding the morning light in his palm—warm and radiant.
“May you also have a peaceful night.”
He felt he could finally sleep deeply tonight, even if falling asleep immediately seemed difficult.
The village bathed in moonlight.
Although dark clouds loomed over the northern sky past the forest, here it was different.
The sky was clear, without a single cloud, and the pure white moon illuminated the world beautifully.
Cough—
Harbi, avoiding the moonlight, hid in a building’s shadow and coughed.
He quickly covered his mouth, but the black blood splattered on the floor.
“Damn it…”
His voice was hoarse from coughing too much, echoing into the night.
Thinking of the small letter in his possession, he swallowed hard.
Suddenly, he didn’t know why this was happening.
He had only been trying to secretly send the information gathered while pretending to work with Nerhi to the North.
Then came a maddening pain, making it impossible to suppress the cough.
The puzzle in his mind clicked into place.
An agent who chose to bite their tongue rather than reveal information.
They had chosen to depart all at once rather than die in agony.
It was that kind of pain.
Harbi, who considered himself seasoned in endurance, felt pain so intense he wanted to fall to his knees and beg.
But he gritted his teeth.
‘I am Harbi Noven.’
A representative who had built the Noven Upper Ranks from the bottom.
It was his pride.
It was everything in his life, enough to accept the gamble of his only bloodline.
Leaning against the wall with difficulty, a writ bird—the one originally used by the Noven Upper Ranks—fluttered and perched on a nearby stand.
This was why he had struggled so hard to reach this point.
With trembling hands, he held the bird’s legs and attached the letter.
‘The writ bird cannot survive the Northern cold.’
However, throughout the empire, there were informants connected to the Duke’s family, especially in the branch houses.
This was information provided by the Duke. He hadn’t expected this exact situation, but the Duke’s foresight would ultimately save him.
‘Please… may it not arrive too late.’
Flap, flap! The writ bird flew again.
Harbi collapsed, staring at its strong wingbeats.
His body was weak, yet the coughs continued.
His throat burned, and it felt as though his stomach had been torn apart.
He had done everything he could.
The only lingering regret… was that.
‘Tay…’
He hadn’t received confirmation that his grandson’s health would recover.
He felt he couldn’t lift his head to his son and daughter-in-law, now in the embrace of the gods.
‘Sorry… ha…’
Before the thought could even finish, he collapsed.
Moonlight poured over his back, shining on his white hair, partially obscured by someone.
“Is he dead?”
“Still alive, I think. As I said, the Stodieworm consumed by the Upper Rank wasn’t perfect.”
“He coughed up so much blood…”
“Hmm… I’ll check. He is advanced in age, after all…”
A woman with green hair tucked behind her ear placed her hand on Harbi’s neck.
“Oh my. He’s still alive. He might die soon at this rate, but… Nerhi, sir, is this one worth using?”
“If he dies, the Upper Rank is lost. If the grandson inherits, it will be a headache again. I don’t want to destroy Noven, I just want it in my hands.”
That’s why they were trying to capture him alive. They didn’t want their effort to go to waste.
“Ugh. I was going to experiment on him as a human for the first time in a while. Alright, Nerhi, sir! I’ll try keeping him alive once.”
“Krea, what about the medicine?”
“It won’t kill him if all is applied, but he’ll be bedridden. In the North, that’s enough to cause mass casualties, right?”
“With the Northern weather, that makes sense. He’s probably starving and freezing.”
The two turned away from Harbi. A man in nightwear, hiding in another shadow, emerged and carried Harbi away.
Clouds were already beginning to cover the moon.
“Right, Nerhi, can we just leave the writ bird?”
“Yes. We leave it; it departs tomorrow anyway.”
“So you’re saying we must save the Upper Rank by tomorrow…”
“Isn’t there a saying about a physician who can even revive the dead?”
“Ah, I see. Then we’ll need other herbs too.”
“We’ll see the results first.”
Darkness fell over the village instead of light.
The two figures’ conversation drifted through the village on the wind, unheard by anyone.
Those responsible for the Duke’s household, including Zephyrus, met to discuss.
To undo what Nerhi had spent years building, time was critical.
Since Clemens had gone to find Istas, the meeting with the Duke was conducted across the door.
Sending paperwork back and forth would take too long.
It was also Zephyrus’s determination to attempt this even without Clemens present.
“Are the tenants still uneasy?”
“Surprisingly, no. They believe the protection of the Little Spirit is with Your Grace. There’s still hope that things will somehow be resolved!”
The young administrator tensed under the Duke’s first direct words.
The expression he saw through the transparent window on the door was chilling.
He swallowed hard and continued the briefing.
“Nerhi, from now on we’ll call him ‘the sinner.’ The sinner’s legitimacy is simply that Your Grace has lost the people’s trust.”
This meant that Nerhi’s plan had mostly failed. That the Duke had gone into seclusion naturally disrupted the plan built on that assumption.
“However, public sentiment is not as severe as he thinks. If the sinner realizes this, he may come up with stronger measures.”
It was what everyone expected.
Clemens had gone to find Istas for the same reason.
“What might those methods be?”
“Likely threats to survival, as before. There is someone skilled with medicine near the sinner, so poisoning is possible. Sowing discord is another possibility.”
“Discord?”
“Yes. Ah, the Noven Upper Rank went to meet the sinner. They could use this, turn the Upper Rank and the Duke against each other, claiming he is an ally who can reliably supply food and firewood.”
The administrator, excited that Zephyrus was listening seriously, shared various ideas.
Veteran administrators took those ideas and formulated solutions. Zephyrus took notes, mediated, and participated in the meeting, then suddenly thought:
‘I am fortunate.’
Until now, he had only communicated with his superiors and the local lord in writing. Loyalty was impossible under those circumstances.
If anyone were loyal, it would be the Duchess or Rosia, not him.
That was fine.
Both were part of Pruiina. Their presence allowed him to protect Pruiina.
His chest tightened with emotion.
“Your Grace?”
He returned to the present at the call of an administrator.
“Um…”
Looking at the white frost on the door, the administrator’s face showed a mixture of fear and concern.
