IBWMD 149 💥

~Chapter 149~

“…The Gate.”

“Your Grace! Please, fall back for now! We must seek another way—”

“The Gate is opening.”

“What do you mean?!”

But the others couldn’t see it.

“Come out, you so-called Grand Duke or Mad Duke! Let us open it!”

“Vice-Commander! Vice-Commander!”

“I’ll try with holy power! I’m the Saintess, I can do it!”

Chaos raged all around, but Karl slowly stretched out his hand, pressing it into the glowing crack.

A shiver ran across his skin.
This was it.

An unshakable certainty filled him. He shoved his hand into the narrow gap.

“Elaine.”
Come here.
Come back to me.

“This way.”
I’m right here.
If you want me, I’ll always be here.
So return to me.

His fingers brushed empty air… then caught something.

A surge of joy so overwhelming it felt like the world itself might split filled his mind.
Karl pulled with all his strength, drawing toward him the one he would never let go again—his bride.

“Hyup!”
“Hiyaaahhh!”

Nonsense battle cries shook the training grounds of House Pascal’s estate from early morning.

And more voices followed.

“With that weak form, you think you can even lay a hand on our sister-in-law—no, Lady Reyna?!”
“Defeat all of us, the Third Knight Order, first!”
“Waaahhh!”

The gorillas’ shouts, stupid enough to lower the listeners’ IQ every three seconds.

I lay sprawled, yawning, and asked:

“…Why are they still at it?”

“Because your sister hasn’t announced a new fiancé yet.”

“I’m pretty sure Reyna said she was too busy rebuilding the estate for that nonsense.”

“Of course. She’s still directing the massive reconstruction of the gardens.”

The calm voice answering me always sent shivers down my spine, no matter how many times I heard it.

I added softly, “And you? Why are you here?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Shouldn’t you be discussing matters with the Emperor? Draining him for concessions? Something like that?”

When I looked down, there he was—Karl, clinging tightly against me.
The man who gave me reproachful eyes, as if to ask how I could even say such a thing.

“After what happened right before my eyes…”

“Uh…”

“And now you’re asking why I’m here?”

“I mean, I’m not going anywhere anymore…”

“If you think you can pry me away from you again, Elaine, you’re gravely mistaken.”

“Well…”

“You made me like this. You made me cling like this.”

His arms only tightened around me.

“…When you put it like that, I’ve got nothing to say.”

I sighed deeply, pressing my cheek against his solid chest.
Then, awkward, I rubbed his chest lightly and muttered:

“…But it’s been two whole weeks!”

Yes. Two weeks had passed.
Since the day I was dragged beyond the demonic Gate—and Karl had pulled me back out.

Elaine!
Vice-Commander!
My lady knight!

Honestly, when I first came out, I could hardly think.
Eyeball’s power had blurred my consciousness as it pushed me through, and passing the Gate itself felt like my very self melted away and reformed again.

Truth be told, I don’t even remember how I made it through.

The only thing I remembered was the warmth of Karl’s hand gripping mine, his voice calling my name, begging me to return.

And then, outside—chaos.
People shouting in my ears when I could barely hear, shaking me when I could barely stay upright.

“Vice-Commander! Do you hear us?!”
“I’m not your vice-commander anymore…”
“Elaine! Hold on, we’ll fetch the Imperial physician!”
“He’s not royalty, why call an Imperial one—”
“Move aside! I’m fastest!”
“Ah, Saintess’ holy power—bless us, the recovery’s insane!”

One after another, they dragged me to physicians, mages, then to Saintess Mariana.

And before I knew it, I was back in the Marquis’ estate.

From that moment, Karl never left my side.

Even while others fussed, examining me for every possible issue—he simply held me close and whispered:

“I caught you, Elaine.”
“…”
“I held on. So stay here.”

I didn’t push him away.
His fear and anxiety flowed into me, and I felt guilty for making him suffer so.

So I tolerated it all.
Even his clinginess.

Though he went a bit overboard…

Following me while I ate, slept, or took gentle walks as the doctor ordered—fine.
But trying to follow me into the bath or toilet? Nearly gave me a heart attack.

“It’s fine, we’re married,” he said shamelessly. I had no comeback for that.

Still, the toilet is too much, right?

I wasn’t some grade-schooler dragging my best friend to the bathroom with me.

But I knew—I had driven him to this separation anxiety.
So I accepted it.

“…But Karl, we need to talk with the Emperor soon.”

“Hmph.”

“And the temple too. There are reparations and plenty to settle.”
It was time to claim what we were owed.

“Saint Portu might become an independent principality.”

Yes. Things had come to that.

“I—I know nothing of this!”
“The Pope tricked me! He brainwashed me!”

The Emperor, once he regained his senses, claimed it was all the Pope’s brainwashing.
That he was swayed by promises of summoning the Demon King as a weapon to conquer other kingdoms—for the Empire’s prosperity, of course.

But that excuse wouldn’t hold.

Mariana’s power was persuasion, not brainwashing.
The truth was, the Emperor had always harbored conquest in his heart—that’s why he fell for it so easily.

The nobles, long bled dry for his endless wars, were furious.
Neighboring countries, forced to send daughters to the “monster duke,” were outraged.

“Enough of war!”
“This Emperor is a tyrant!”

Anti-war voices rose even within the Empire.

And then—

“So what, for the Empire’s sake you’d sacrifice noble daughters as offerings?”
“No, that’s not—”
“Not offerings? My daughter nearly died. What do you call that, then?”
“…”
“This is what loyal soldier families get in return?!”

Even my father snapped, turning into a question-slinging executioner, and soon the old nobles rose up too.

The butterfly effect was greater than anyone imagined.
The Empire was thrown into upheaval, inside and out.

“It was all the Pope’s fault! Blame the temple!”

The Emperor tried to dump everything on the temple, since the Pope’s seat was empty.

But—

“The temple will atone in its own way.”
“Saintess!”
“With the witnesses the Grand Duchess secured, we will expose all corruption and reform the temple.”
“…”
“Your Majesty must also take responsibility for being swayed by my words.”

Mariana stepped forward, crushing his attempt.
Now, people were even calling for her to be the next Pope.

Honestly, it sounded too natural to be surprising.

“If the Grand Duchess could be a knight, why can’t the Saintess be Pope?”
“Exactly!”

Not my intention—but not a bad outcome.
Mariana would do well. She was the heroine, after all.

The Empire fractured. Many states declared independence.

To stop the bleeding, the Emperor made one last move:

“Since Saint Portu suffered the most, I hereby recognize it as the center of a new Principality Alliance!”

It was his way of cutting the North loose—better one giant principality than many rebellious little states.

“…Wasn’t that meeting scheduled for this afternoon?”

I asked, brushing Karl’s hair as he clung tightly to me.