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Chapter : 80
Like Other Couples
What did that astrologer see?
“A face of early death. You’ll die young.”
Sharlof lowered her teacup.
The tea had long gone cold, the fragrance nearly vanished.
“Shall I pour a fresh cup, Your Majesty?”
“No need.”
“What weighs on your mind now?”
Katarina soothed Charles with gentle comfort.
“An astrologer’s prophecy cuts like a blade.”
“Normally, astrologers get more than half their predictions wrong. Isn’t there a saying that only half of what they divine even comes close to the truth?”
“There was.”
“It’s superstition. All is well—let it pass from your mind.”
And yet there were parts that felt eerily precise.
“Am I already dead inside that nothing moves me?”
Sharlof murmured that under her breath.
“…Your Majesty, are you well?”
“I am. And conveniently, every astrologer in the Southern Continent has now been taken into custody, I hear.”
Katarina spoke quietly.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Intelligence officers are questioning them. We will know soon.”
* * *
“Th—things are crawling with fiends in the Southern Continent!”
“The prophecy text of astrology spoke thus—‘Return the remains of Lamang I to the Southern Continent!’ Monsters have begun tearing up farms—mines collapsing!”
Astrologers rarely left their observatories,
yet here they were, dragged into the open—with news from the south to match.
“The prophecy said the balance of the Southern Continent is broken! That is why we sought the forbidden stone pagoda holding Lamang I’s bones!”
“The compass of the prophecy pointed northwest—to your Empire! Curse it, we never expected to land in a prison cell!”
“In short—the stars pointed us to THIS Empire!”
Imperial intelligence interrogated them swiftly.
Mad coincidence.
Perhaps fate.
Did Her Majesty the Empress know?
Lord Roskela pressed his temples as he listened from beyond the wall.
“Her Majesty gave them exactly what they sought.”
“A bone coffer… I shall report at once.”
The agents summarized the report crisply.
“No. I will deliver this to His Majesty myself.”
Forbidden Stone Pagoda.
A funerary coffer shaped like a miniature stone tower.
“They claim they came here to retrieve it.”
Roskela continued.
“The Forbidden Stone Pagoda is a relic enshrining Lamang I of the Southern Continent.”
“And it is called a pagoda because—?”
“The coffer was crafted in the shape of a stone tower. The word Forbidden was carved because the remains were never meant to leave it. The bone coffer sits hidden beneath the base.”
Benhamin nodded as he listened.
“And the Empress?”
“She is alone.”
Roskela asked hesitantly:
“What are your orders?”
Benhamin murmured another thought.
The remains of Lamang I.
“So the stolen bones have returned.”
“Yes. They vanished during the heyday of grave robbers in the south, lost for a thousand years.”
“I thought the thief’s ship sank with everything aboard?”
“A fisherman’s net hauled it back from the sea.”
Roskela placed a drawing of the pagoda on the desk.
“How did the Tyutya family acquire it?”
“An underground auction. Her Majesty stated so herself.”
Benhamin skimmed the illustration.
“It is a pagoda.”
“Yes. When the Tyutyas collapsed and their estate was seized, it came under imperial possession. None of us imagined it was a southern relic.”
“And the real one?”
“In the vault. Preserved perfectly.”
Benhamin tapped the table.
“Strange.”
“Sir?”
“It’s as though it insisted on coming home.”
It surfaced at auction…
Just happened into the Tyutya estate…
Only to return to the Crown through their downfall.
“If it has returned, it must now be returned properly.”
* * *
“Are they leaving soon?”
“As soon as they collect the pagoda.”
Benhamin surveyed the black-draped vault—really just a storeroom with cloth shielding the display.
“So this is the Forbidden Pagoda?”
“I assumed it was decorative. But it truly holds remains.”
Sharlof traced its surface.
It goes back to its place.
Everything, slowly, finds its way home.
Stolen by grave robbers, lost in the shipwreck,
pulled from the sea, sold in auction, passed to a noble clan,
seized by the crown, now ready to journey south once more.
“It sails back soon.”
“And since it is time, yes… returning it is right. Though its first ship sank…”
Benhamin answered her murmuring:
“A naval task force will escort it.”
“Crossing the Monster Front Line in one smuggler vessel was…”
“Luck—nothing else. A single kraken and they’d all be dead.”
A stolen relic is returning home.
“It feels… odd.”
Sharlof leaned on Benhamin’s shoulder.
“They say if one unworthy touches it, misfortune follows.”
“Well, you certainly touched it boldly.”
He ruffled her hair.
“I learned late.”
“Was that why you insisted not leaving it here long?”
“It does not feel malicious.”
Sharlof tapped the glass.
It feels more like saying goodbye.
Her eyes closed softly.
“It must know we are seeing it off.”
She pulled the cloth over again.
“The astrologer’s words… carry weight. A fate to die young. Hearing that aloud leaves a strange taste.”
“They read faces and trace life’s marks, they say.”
Benhamin gripped her shoulder.
“When they depart…”
“…?”
“Let us be like other married couples. Like ordinary people.”
Sharlof froze.
“Mmm.”
Her hand went pale gripping her collar.
“If what he said is true—if I really…”
“That you’ll die young?”
He already knew the question.
“A battlefield breeds the impossible every day. Yet nothing changes.”
His answer was firm.
“I said I would not let you go.”
“…”
“That means I will NOT let you die.”
His hand wrapped her neck gently.
“Even if every other soul falls.”
“…”
“You will NOT die before me.”
He declared. When he lowered his hand, his face had hardened with resolve.
“So stop running.”
* * *
The Forbidden Pagoda was returned to the astrologers.
“Why so readily?”
asked Theodore.
“What do you mean?”
“That relic belongs to the Southern Continent.”
“And yet you’re the first to question returning stolen bones.”
The pagoda had survived seawater intact.
“Clearly, it wished to tread southern soil again.”
Theodore stroked the glass.
“Mmm.”
He glanced at Benhamin, uneasy.
“What is it?”
“…Nothing.”
“Take it and go.”
Benhamin added:
“You are not only an astrologer.”
“H—how did you—”
“Consider why you came. The answer is obvious.”
They had smuggled themselves across the Monster Front.
“You needed legitimacy.”
“Yes… the Southern Continent needs a symbol. Tradition to unite us.”
“The Crown Prince of the Southern Continent crossing borders like a fugitive—yes, I see.”
Desperation.
“A fractured land needs a banner. You risked life to reach us—your goal achieved—go home.”
Theodore unwrapped the relic and checked.
“The bones of Lamang I. His name is carved in ancient script.”
“The Lamang dynasty ruled during the Great War?”
“Yes. Lamang I protected the south during the era of monsters.”
“Records survived?”
“No. All burned. Only his final sayings remain—collected as scripture.”
“What did he say?”
“That in death, he would guard the land…”
Theodore whispered.
“And wished prosperity and peace for the south.”
Benhamin recalled Sharlof’s words:
In the past life, once the coffer’s identity became known, its value soared, and people began trading pagoda replicas in secret.
Human greed—etched in bone.
“Before you leave—one question.”
“Yes?”
“Bring me the astrologer who declared the Empress would die young.”
Theodore flinched and fetched Lasildo.
“That fool said that?”
“I know astrologers’ tongues twist when star-sight descends.”
Astrology differed from divine power—drawn from one’s own inner reserves.
“I can examine her fate myself. Permit me.”
Theodore divined and listed his notes.
“Astrology is fragmentary. At best a glimpse.”
Sharlof blinked slowly.
“Unlike the temples, no hard rules—so it errs constantly.”
She dismissed her guards and stared at him.
“I see why Lasildo called you short-lived.”
“What is it?”
Sharlof asked back.
“You were born walking far too near death. But—hmm. The line already snapped. The doom is… indistinct now.”
“You can see that?”
“That is all. We glimpse scattered tracks.”
Theodore rubbed his brow.
“A loose timeline floats above you.”
“…”
“Whether you shackle yourself or step forward—unclear.”
If one has no attachments, letting go is easy.
“I can divine no further. That realm is forbidden.”
He stepped back defensively.
“…They hauled the pagoda up in a fishing net.”
Now he understood.
“The remains sensed a hand to claim them—and rose ashore.”
