Chapter : 40
Calix sat down across from me, meeting my gaze as I slumped to the ground.
“Lord Calix…”
I called him in a voice trembling with fear.
“Kaelin. It seems the war has begun, just as you said. Though you informed me a bit late, mind you. Had it been sooner, it would have been a real help to me.”
He was right.
Yes, I was too late.
I’d spent too much time hesitating, overthinking, and in the end, it had led to this state of affairs.
I should have run straight to him the moment I heard my father speak of hastening the war, instead of dwelling on it.
As I wallowed in regret, Calix continued speaking.
“Remember this: when you said you were absolutely on my side, I did take that to heart.”
I tried to say something more in response, but Calix didn’t give me the chance. He continued speaking.
“But you know, when I return to Everlen, I want my woman—not one who isn’t on my side.”
“!!!!!”
He said that and stood up.
“I will return, certainly. To Everlen, where my woman awaits.”
I forced myself to steady my mind and hurriedly got to my feet to follow him.
I had to speak my mind and secure a promise.
“Then! Lord Calix, will you also spare her father and brother?”
“I will spare my woman. As for her family… they will be subject to Imperial law.”
“!!!!!!!!!!”
No!
Seeing my pale, terrified face, Calix, whose once gentle gaze had vanished, added in apparent confusion:
“But about what you said… that Leon would claim the throne while I’m away from Everlen… I don’t quite understand what you expect me to do about that.”
“Ah!”
Right!
I hadn’t mentioned the plan to poison the emperor!
Before I could even bring it up, Rajif appeared.
“Your Highness! We must depart immediately.”
Calix furrowed his brows slightly and clenched his left hand. My chest tightened with a pain matching the tension in his fist.
He commanded Rajif:
“Depart at once!”
Then he spoke to me.
“Kaelin, we’ll meet later.”
His voice had softened into something calm and kind, as if saying, “I’ll come to visit again tomorrow.”
He started running before I could respond.
In an instant, he vanished from my sight.
By the time I dragged my heavy feet out of the palace, the Crown Prince’s knights had already left the palace.
Thus, Calix departed for the battlefield.
A few days after Calix left, Everlen remained eerily quiet despite the war raging near the border.
It was as if no war had occurred anywhere.
But soon, Everlen would be thrown into turmoil.
The emperor had fallen ill.
And under the pretext of the capital being in crisis due to the emperor’s mysterious illness, no additional troops were dispatched to the battlefield.
The royal court officially claimed that, given the emperor’s critical condition, the capital needed strengthened defenses, and that the war at the border was a small-scale conflict, manageable with just the Crown Prince’s knights, making extra reinforcements unnecessary.
However, whether the nobility and citizens of the entire empire truly trusted the royal announcement and kept silent was another matter.
They remained quiet simply because, with the Crown Prince tied up at war and the emperor in critical condition, they didn’t know which side to support among the forces holding power in the capital.
Once the results of the war and power struggles surfaced, those who had remained silent would begin supporting the victorious side.
On the day Calix departed, my father and brother, having learned that I had met him in the palace, practically kept me under house arrest.
From their perspective, my opposition to the rebellion, which they expected to succeed, could put me in danger.
For over ten days, I could only receive news of the palace and the capital through the maids, forbidden even from taking a walk within Everlen.
Eventually, after about ten days, my father and brother’s vigilance relaxed slightly.
Seeing Leon gradually consolidate the throne, they apparently decided it was safe to release me from confinement.
Though I could hear nothing of the battlefield, I had a rough understanding of the situation.
The early war period had been difficult due to unexpected ambushes. That must be the current stage.
On the day of the decisive battle, Eden throws a spear at Calix, but Rajif takes the hit instead.
Enraged, Calix launches a swift and massive counterattack, turning the tide in favor of the Everlen Empire.
Rajif teeters on the brink of life and death but ultimately survives.
I had written that he would survive because he was a crucial ally to the male lead, Calix.
A loyal subordinate like him was necessary for the male lead.
Reflecting on it, it was fortunate.
Most people I encountered were merely observers, but had someone I knew to be alive and breathing died, I would have been overwhelmed with guilt.
It wasn’t for Rajif’s sake but because he was important to the male lead that I had casually written he wouldn’t die, yet that turned out to be a small relief among my otherwise imperfect writing.
Then there was the matter of Eden throwing a spear…
Ah! Right! The jousting competition!
I remembered when, shortly after I transmigrated into this world, Eden had faced Calix in the finals of a jousting competition.
Originally, in my story, Eden didn’t participate, and naturally, Calix emerged as the winner.
But in reality, Eden not only participated but also tied with Calix in the final match.
When Leon broke his leg and lost consciousness, the Empress wanted the match to end quickly, so Calix and Eden, still competing, ended in a draw.
At the time, I hadn’t connected this with the differences from my writing.
Now I realize that the fact Rajif takes the spear meant Eden’s skill in spear-fighting had been spontaneously established by the world’s own logic.
The story I had lightly written became real, with people’s lives truly at stake, weighing heavily on me and filling me with responsibility.
Calix promised he would spare me when he left.
But he didn’t guarantee the safety of my father and brother.
Every day, I felt powerless and afraid, waiting for the outcome as all arrows left my bow.
After about fifteen days, my father and brother began worrying about me instead, seeing me trapped in my room, unable to go out, my face growing pale from anxiety.
“Kaelin, at least go for a walk.”
A walk?
I didn’t feel like it at all.
But after three days of repeated urging from my father and Luke, I finally left the house.
I decided I shouldn’t make them worry more, thinking of their uncertain future.
As I slowly entered the walking path, I sensed someone following me.
Turning around, I was shocked to see who it was.
“Lord Rajif?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you here?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re supposed to be in Aolium!”
Why was he here?
Rajif was supposed to be a hero of the war, taking a critical hit meant for Calix!
“I was reassigned as the Crown Princess’s bodyguard the moment Princess Brockburg accepted the Crown Prince’s proposal. His Highness commanded this just before departing for the battlefield.”
!!!!!!!!!
“This is impossible!”
It was impossible.
How could things change again?
Did my actions cause this alteration?
Because I accepted the proposal, Rajif was kept here?
Had I refused, would Calix have taken Rajif with him?
But I couldn’t refuse the proposal!
No, no, that’s not the problem right now!
Think, think!
If Rajif is here, what happens?
Who takes the spear meant for Calix?
Could Calix die?
No, would he survive no matter what?
If Calix died, would Everlen be defeated?
No, since Calix is the male lead, would he always win in any case?
My mind felt like a swirling sandstorm.
Everything was unclear, uncertain, and unknowable.
Why, of all people, was Rajif here?
“Weren’t you going for a walk?”
Rajif spoke casually as I glared at him in shock.
“No! Is the walk the problem? You’re here! You… you… are… here… Rajif!”
“Yes, speak.”
“You’re the deputy commander of the Crown Prince’s knights! And his bodyguard! Then why are you here? Aren’t you worried about Lord Calix?”
My voice rose with frustration.
I couldn’t predict the outcome of this situation, and once again, the story had veered completely from my writing, leaving me mentally unsettled.
“…….”
Yet, in contrast to my agitation, Rajif didn’t answer, only staring at me calmly.
Why was he so composed?
“Doesn’t it worry you that your capable master, Calix, is on the battlefield while you remain here, guarding a woman in the capital, where there’s no real danger?”
Seeing Rajif standing so calmly, my anger boiled over.
Why did nothing go according to my writing?
I was completely drained and exhausted from these constant unpredictable situations.
