Turning Chapter 991

Chapter 991

"The people I must protect and the South where they reside are important to me. Just as the Cavalry has taught me."

After saying that, Myra looked at Yuder and hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"...Baron Aile. When I heard the story of you staying underwater for over a day in the deep sea, I wondered several times how you could go to such lengths for the sake of others. I'm truly glad and grateful that you returned safely."

"..."

"I will express my gratitude again at the succession ceremony, but it will feel more official there, as I will be representing the entire South. I wanted to say it now while I could still convey a more personal sentiment. I hope I haven't been rude."

As Yuder turned his head unintentionally, his eyes met Kishiar's, who was smiling as if he had just heard the most delightful sound in the world. With a slightly flushed face, Yuder considered his response for a moment before answering Myra, who was waiting for his reply.

"No. I don't think that day's events warrant such gratitude, as it wasn't solely my effort... But I'm satisfied that we were able to prevent a major disaster in the end."

"You truly... think that way?"

Myra murmured in surprise, then soon smiled.

A moment later, she grasped the hem of her dress and bent her knee in a respectful manner, as one would when expressing reverence. It was a gesture that no one expected the soon-to-be Duchess to make towards someone of a much lower status. Some southern nobles who were watching from afar were startled and began to whisper, but she paid them no mind.

"Of course, I will convey my gratitude to all the others who have worked hard for the South during the succession ceremony. So don't worry about that. I, Myra El Herne, will never forget Baron Aile's name and the Cavalry, and will remember them as eternal benefactors."

Yuder suddenly recalled his previous life.

After the extent of the devastation in the South, which had been damaged beyond recovery due to the southern earthquake, became known, Empress Myra no longer even attempted to leave the Dawn Palace. Rumors had it that she had completely lost her mind, always wearing black mourning clothes and refusing to converse with anyone.

She was alive but no different from a corpse. It was a truly strange feeling to see someone who had been so lifeless then now vividly alive, thanking Yuder for saving the South.

It was a moment he was as certain as when he knew the earthquake would no longer occur. No. Perhaps even more so.

Why was that? Was it because he regretted not paying any attention to the person who could have turned out this way in his previous life?

"You seem to have been lost in thought ever since receiving the First Princess's gratitude. Was there something bothering you?" Kishiar asked gently in the carriage on the way back to the branch.

"No. Rather than being bothered... I just remembered the past and felt strange."

"The past, as in the previous game?"

"Yes."

Even without elaborating, Kishiar, who had already heard about Myra from Yuder's previous life, would have roughly guessed what Yuder was thinking. He made a humming sound and soon smiled.

"I may not be a princess, so it's difficult for me to say, but I roughly know how it feels to have someone remember me for a long time and change my life without my knowledge."

Because Kishiar himself had experienced it too.

His red eyes seemed to say so.

"Even after learning about the end in the 'previous' life, that feeling hasn't changed at all. If anything, I've become even more grateful."

"..."

"So don't find it strange or burdensome to receive words of gratitude. You truly deserve it for what you've done."

Yuder leaned his head against the hand that embraced his shoulder, drawn by Kishiar's words. As Kishiar said, he wasn't Myra, so he couldn't know for sure, but his heart felt much lighter anyway.

He decided that was enough.

—

Finally, the day arrived when the new Duchess of Herne would hold the succession ceremony in front of everyone.

Originally, the main residence of the Herne family was located in the city of Hersha, close to the desert, but Myra decided to hold the ceremony not there, but at the villa in Charloin where she had been staying.

The gates of Charloin, which had been closed almost the entire time since the day of the hail and through the Blue Wall of Despair, were finally wide open. People who had been waiting all day after receiving invitations poured in one after another in their carriages.

"I thought the cleanup wouldn't be finished yet... but I was wrong."

"Look at the clothes of those guarding the gates. Aren't they the Imperial Knights!"

"My goodness. It's the first time I've seen a succession ceremony attended by the Imperial Knights."

Everyone was surprised to see the members of the Imperial Palace Knights, who had come to help with security and the aftermath in Charloin, standing with solemn faces. No one knew how they had come all the way here, but the fact that the snobbish knights, who usually stayed only in the capital, were here had the effect of considerably quelling the anger of the southern nobles. Their splendid uniforms also became a great topic of conversation among the commoners.

The streets were filled with the symbols of the Herne family and the flags of the Orr Empire, and even the merchants offered their goods at a discount for this day only. Children clutching small cookies scattered by the Herne family to celebrate the day laughed and ran through the streets.

"Eternal blessings to the new Duchess of Herne!"

At the same time, several carriages bearing the Cavalry's coat of arms arrived together in front of the villa where the succession ceremony would be held.

"The Cavalry has arrived!"

Amidst the murmuring, the door opened, and those dressed in white formal attire alighted one by one.

All eyes were drawn to them, but the members, who had already experienced the celebratory party held at the Imperial Palace, were no longer flustered by this level of attention. As they lined up leisurely but with discipline, someone tall emerged from among them.

Although it was an unfamiliar face, anyone from the Orr Empire could easily guess his identity upon seeing his distinctive red eyes, radiant golden hair, and appearance that violently captivated the gaze.

'The Duke of Peletta has appeared.'

The moment he appeared, the murmuring ceased, and even the curious gazes lost their light. The long, dark green cloth wrapped around his arms in the old southern style, draped with folds trailing behind his formal attire, looked like a painting. The Imperial family's emblem, the Duke of Peletta's emblem, and the Cavalry Commander's emblem adorning his chest harmonized beautifully, exuding a truly dignified air.

Those who had been secretly stealing glances at him, forgetting even their dignity, barely managed to open their mouths and murmur.

"My goodness... They said his appearance alone was unrivaled on the continent, and the rumors were not exaggerated…"

"Is appearance the only thing he can boast about? Isn't he now the owner of the Divine Sword and a new swordmaster?"

"I can see the sword slightly hanging from his waist. Is that the Divine Sword Orr?"

Now, no one dared to openly say anything against the words praising the Duke of Peletta. It was because everyone here, all the southern people, knew that they had survived thanks to the new legend created by the Cavalry and the Duke of Peletta.

Kishiar La Orr was in the midst of a conversation with someone, wearing a beautiful smile as if he couldn't hear any of those words. Just as those watching were getting curious about the interaction that seemed too intimate to be a conversation with a subordinate, the face of the person hidden behind the Duke's tall stature and broad back was finally revealed.

"Oh..."

He was a man with neatly parted black hair, exuding a dignified presence. Despite standing next to someone so remarkably tall that it momentarily confused the sense of perspective, his posture was so uncannily upright that he didn't appear noticeably small. In fact, he was much taller than most of the men present at this occasion.

Looking at his dark, sunken eyes that were difficult to describe as simply black, and his cold, shadowed gaze, people felt an inexplicably strange sensation. Judging by his demeanor, which seemed very accustomed to such occasions, he appeared to be someone who would fit in at the highest positions even among the countless nobles here. Yet, when looking at his eyes, strangely, thoughts of dark, depraved back alleys reeking of blood came to mind.

Perhaps it was because of his pale skin despite the broad daylight, his lips with little color, and the black gloves covering both hands that further evoked such thoughts.

Someone else called out a name to the man wearing a formal attire almost identical to the Duke of Peletta's, but with the accent colors replaced by black.

"Yuder!"

As he turned his head, the people who had been secretly observing him finally came to their senses and were startled.

"Yuder? Yuder Aile? The one who... went underwater for a whole day that time?"

"That person is Yuder Aile? Then..."

The expressions of some people who remembered the various embarrassing rumors that had circulated about him being involved with the Duke of Peletta turned strange. It was because the Yuder Aile they directly encountered was very different from the image they had vaguely imagined.

However, there weren't many such people. There were far more people whispering that the hero who saved the South had arrived.

"Well then, let's go in."

Following the Duke of Peletta's instruction, all the members moved in perfect unison. As Yuder walked beside Kishiar, he heard the voices of those chattering around him.

"Look, that person is Ever Beck. The Cavalry's Deputy Commander! I heard a monument is being erected for her this time!"

"Then the ones next to her must be the other Deputy Commanders, right? I heard the Cavalry has three Deputy Commanders in total..."

"Gakane Bolunwald must have come today too, right?"

"Kurga Sing!"

"I wonder if Marin, the Awakener who created the forest, has come as well? There are so many people that it's hard to tell..."

Previously, most people looked at the Cavalry as a whole rather than focusing on individual members. At most, they showed interest in Kishiar individually, or in Yuder Aile after the events in the West.

It seemed similar this time, but upon closer observation, the atmosphere was definitely different from before. Regardless of their status, people flocked to the Cavalry members as they proceeded, pretending to know them a little or even calling out their names. Considering that most of them were nobles, it was truly a remarkable sight.