#132. Prophecy (1)
‘Sasha?’
For a moment, Pavel almost thought the girl was Alexandra.
She looked just like Sasha—not only her features, but also the special, floating feeling, like someone not quite of this world.
But the confusion didn’t last.
‘No, she’s not Sasha.’
Pavel quickly realized. He could never mistake anyone else for his own wife.
“Hello. My name is Naina Volkov.”
The only woman Pavel had ever known with the Volkov name was Sasha, since he was born.
So to meet a woman who looked like Sasha and also had the Volkov family name annoyed him.
Naina smiled sweetly, looking even more like Sasha, which only made Pavel more uncomfortable.
The knights whispered in surprise behind him.
“My lady? No, she just looks too much like her.”
“They look like twins. But why is she here?”
Pavel couldn’t let the confusion grow any further, so he stepped forward.
He lightly waved the letter in his hand and stared at Chernomor.
“So what? Even if this letter proves who you are, it doesn’t mean you belong here.”
He squeezed the letter, crumpling it.
“If it’s real, why did you only show up now? Why were you hiding all this time, and why come here of all places?”
The noisy crowd went quiet at Pavel’s sharp questioning.
“It’s a long way from any village, and monsters are everywhere. Don’t tell me you just got lost.”
Of course, no one could believe a regular person could survive here, where even the best knights struggled.
It was very suspicious for unknown people claiming to be from the Volkov family to just appear like this.
Feeling the distrust, Chernomor looked flustered and tried to explain himself.
“To be honest, we planned to stay hidden for our whole lives. But then something happened, and we couldn’t stay hidden anymore.”
Chernomor put his hand on his chest and spoke loudly to everyone:
“I couldn’t just watch while people fighting for the North were about to fall into a huge trap tomorrow!”
His voice was strong and clear, so everyone could hear. The knights murmured in confusion.
“A trap? What does that mean?”
“Who knows? What’s he talking about?”
“Quiet, everyone!”
Igor stopped the noise and asked firmly:
“A trap? Explain what you mean.”
Igor, who usually looked gentle, now seemed scary, like a wild beast before its prey.
Even the knights were surprised by his threatening look.
But Chernomor only shrank back a little and answered in a steady voice:
“The trap I’m talking about was made by your enemy. It’s extremely dangerous, and if you don’t believe us, you’ll fall into it tomorrow.”
Some knights scoffed, thinking this sounded like nonsense.
“Is he putting a curse on us or something?”
But Chernomor answered calmly,
“No, this isn’t a curse. I’m just telling you the truth.”
Igor cut the conversation short and went straight to the main question:
“How do you know all this? Who are you, really?”
Maybe they were spies. Or worse, monsters pretending to be people.
There were even human-shaped monsters in this world, and this was the front line, where anything could appear.
Chernomor hesitated, then pushed his daughter forward.
“My daughter told me. She knows what will happen tomorrow, and she knew you would pass this way.”
“Your daughter?”
The knights looked at Naina with suspicion, but Chernomor spoke confidently.
“My daughter can see the future. She’s a prophet.”
“……!”
This was even more shocking than when he first claimed to be a Volkov.
“A prophet? Like in legends?”
“How could such things be real?”
“But look at his face. He doesn’t seem like he’s lying.”
“Would someone really tell such a risky lie here of all places?”
Some were skeptical, but others started to believe.
“My grandmother said she once met a prophet as a child, and it saved her life. She always told me never to ignore a prophet if I ever met one.”
Magic, artifacts, sword masters—this was a world full of strange things, and some superstitions were actually true.
The word “prophet” caught the Northeners’ interest because even though they were rare, prophets were famous in legends and history.
Seeing the crowd’s curiosity, Chernomor continued:
“My daughter could always see the future, but only small things—like a neighbor’s broken leg, or a merchant arriving in a week.”
“But you expect us to believe a child who can only predict small things?”
“Yes, but it changed a few days ago.”
Chernomor lowered his voice, as if revealing a big secret.
“My daughter cried and begged me to go north, to the frozen land, right away.”
“At first, I refused. This is a dangerous place for ordinary people like us. But my daughter insisted…”
He looked at Naina, who blinked shyly.
“She said we had to save the Grand Duke and the knights, and if we failed, the whole country would be in danger.”
Chernomor raised his voice again, skillfully holding everyone’s attention.
“I’d never seen her so serious before. So we prepared as quickly as we could and followed where she led us.”
The knights, who were first grumpy, now nodded along with the story.
Chernomor looked around at the crowd and finished:
“Luckily, we didn’t meet any terrible monsters on the way, since my daughter guided us through safe paths. Still, it was a hard trip. The cold and evil energy here almost made us give up many times. But—!”
He spoke even louder,
“We didn’t give up, because we knew a disaster would happen if we did. Maybe Heaven rewarded us for our efforts, letting us meet you all today.”
The knights murmured in amazement, impressed that civilians could come this far just by willpower.
But Pavel frowned, thinking:
‘Is the mood really changing just from those words?’
He felt something was strange about how quickly everyone’s attitude softened.
‘What is this?’
Pavel couldn’t find the answer.
If Sasha were here, she would have said:
“He’s just selling snake oil.”
But Sasha wasn’t here, and Pavel couldn’t quite spot what was wrong, even though he felt uneasy.
Pavel glanced at Igor.
Igor quickly understood and nodded.
He began giving orders—some knights tied up Chernomor and Naina, while others went out to guard the camp’s borders.
It didn’t feel right to let these suspicious strangers inside the camp, but there was no other choice. Too many people had already heard the story, and if they disappeared, it would only cause more suspicion.
They couldn’t just kill them either, especially with the Volkov name involved.
The knights did their jobs quickly, but the excitement from before didn’t go away.
Even as they went about their duties, they kept glancing at the captured Chernomor and Naina.
Meanwhile—
‘It’s already over.’
Chernomor, who stayed calm while being dragged away, grinned inside.
If no one had been around, he would have laughed out loud.
‘I thought this would be a hassle, but it’s not so bad.’
He had wanted to attack the Grand Duchy straight on after Dmitri was killed, but Raisa Goriky suggested sneaking in first, which annoyed him.
But now, as their plan was working, his annoyance faded and excitement grew.
For someone like him, who had spent twenty years lying and tricking people, this was easy.
Plus, the woman behind him—Raisa Goriky, pretending to be his daughter—had cast a strange spell.
‘A spell to make my words sound more convincing, so people believe me.’
Thanks to that, he easily lowered everyone’s guard and won their trust.
‘If they ever find out who I really am… ha! That will be funny!’
He enjoyed tricking the North, who had betrayed him, but most of all, he looked forward to the sweet victory at the end of this plan.
Soon, he thought, he would eat up his nephew—Pavel—and take over the North.
Chernomor—no, Gregory—could hardly wait for that day.
