Ivan woke up with a headache and thirst. The monotonous sound of a burning brazier could be heard nearby.
His situation assessment was swift as always. If he had fainted on a ship in Kalion but woke up in silk bedding, it meant he wasn't in a hostile environment.
His limbs were intact, and his bodily functions were... 'Almost normal.'
Despite pushing himself to the limit, his body was functioning properly. However, he couldn't feel his holy power. Whether this was temporary or permanent was difficult to determine right now.
He needed to meet the Saintess. He needed to call Yu-jin to organize the information gathered so far, report to Elizabeta afterward, and check on the Hero Party members to confirm their training status.
There was much to do. First, the most important thing was figuring out where he was.
'Krasilov.'
He realized it immediately upon getting up. The street view outside the window and the architectural style were distinctly Krasilov's. In fact, he could tell just from the smell of the air.
If he had been safely escorted to Krasilov, why had he woken up in an unfamiliar bed rather than in the infirmary? How much time had passed?
What happened with the risk of conflict with Kalion? What was the outcome of the Privy Council's deliberation?
He needed to cooperate with Edelplat...
"...?"
Ivan organized his thoughts as he pushed aside the blanket and got up. His body felt light. Looking down, he saw no clothing except for his underwear.
His exposed upper body showed no signs of injury. Only scars covered it like shattered glass.
Judging by the muscle loss, two to three weeks had passed. His nutritional state was nearly perfect, but he had lost muscle mass due to lack of exercise.
Ivan slowly turned his head toward the bedding he had just left.
And then he froze when he spotted a bundle of blankets with disheveled silver hair spread across it.
"Oh."
Good heavens.
Silk bedding, furniture each worth more than a year's maintenance costs for his orphanage—clearly nobility.
Among the nobles who would care for him rather than kill him, narrowing it down to the "Princess Faction" nobles.
And among them, a silver-haired woman around 165cm tall.
There was only one such person in Krasilov.
"Clothes."
He needed clothes. His thoughts couldn't form complete sentences. He quickly looked around with a stiff expression. Surprisingly, there was nothing in the bedroom that could be identified as clothing.
Sadly, he first thought this was reasonable. It made sense to undress an unconscious patient for hygiene management.
And if the clothes he had been wearing were the tattered rags from days of non-stop fierce battles, they would naturally have been disposed of, especially in a place like this.
Moreover, if this was "her" chamber, the absence of men's clothing was perfectly reasonable. There probably wouldn't be women's clothing either. Servants would be on standby 24 hours a day to bring clothes directly from the dressing room.
So, it was reasonable, but also unreasonable.
"Mmm..."
"...!!"
Ivan's hearing sharpened. He sensed the woman curled up on the bed slowly rising. He could hear her heartbeat gradually accelerating.
Soon, the woman sat up groggily and looked at him with dazed eyes.
"Vanka."
The woman smiled sleepily, pulling the blanket to cover her chest. Even without makeup, her face glowed in the reddish light from the brazier.
"You're finally awake, sleepyhead."
"Your Highness."
"Your Majesty."
Elizabeta elegantly swept her hair back with one hand and tied it.
"I am Elizabeta the First."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty."
"Your contribution was significant. I've been deeply concerned about how to reward you, and finally decided to give you this country's greatest treasure."
"I didn't do it expecting a reward."
"But what can I do? I want to give it to you."
"..."
Ivan stiffened and looked around again. Despite hearing their conversation, the guards outside the door hadn't moved, though he could sense their presence clearly.
"Come closer."
"That would be improper."
"Does the law of this country take precedence over me?"
Ivan silently stood before her. His long shadow fell over Elizabeta's head.
Her snow-white finger touched his chest. It tickled as it traced over his old scars. Ivan cut off his sense of pain at that point. It felt better.
"Am I... not enough...?"
Ivan looked down at Elizabeta. She was looking down and whispering carefully.
"You're reluctant, Vanka."
"..."
"Are you going to say you didn't know? You're not a man who lacks perception."
Her soft voice pierced him like a blade. Ivan looked down at Elizabeta with dry eyes. Her hand clutching the blanket was trembling, pale white.
"Don't you know? Didn't you know? You... even back then... you're still the same."
"Your Majesty."
"Address me as you did back then!!"
Elizabeta commanded in a deliberately loud voice. Her attitude was more desperate than dignified.
"I didn't confess because I knew you would refuse. I didn't speak for fear that our relationship would break if we crossed the boundary between monarch and subject. But didn't you know? You... you never rejected me, even if you didn't say anything!"
"Elize."
"See me... No, me... me... Ivan... not as the granddaughter of Ivan Sergeyevich Krasilov... not as the last royal blood of the great royal family..."
Elizabeta carefully reached out to Ivan. Her trembling fingertips lost direction and wandered in the air.
"See... see me as Elizabeta, Lord Ivan Petrovich."
"Elize."
"I... I adore you. How... how could I not? How..."
Her eyes blurred with tears. Elizabeta bowed her head and trembled slightly. Her round, snow-white shoulders were shivering.
"A man who gives everything without reservation... and even brings back his life..."
From the moment Alexandr was appointed Crown Prince, young Elizabeta had no possibilities.
She was a woman with just enough value to be sold off in a political marriage once she was old enough.
But she grew up receiving the favor of the late king and serving in the military. At a young age, she commanded an army. She rose steadily with impressive military achievements.
Since her only legitimacy was her bloodline, the obstacles she had to overcome to challenge the throne were beyond description.
After the king's death, she had to begin political struggles in a capital full of political enemies, barely gathering the survivors of the nearly annihilated Annihilation Squad.
It was a precarious situation. There were no men she could trust. The nobles who approached her were only interested in her bloodline or her appearance.
Even in such circumstances, the one person she could trust wanted to retire.
-My mere presence in the military is a burden to Your Highness.
He was too sharp a sword to remain in an era of peace. He was a man who had completed his mission and returned despite Alexandr's orders, which were nearly suicidal.
Given Alexandr's character, he wouldn't leave this man alone. Having accomplished the feat of killing the Seven Dragon Generals and returning alive, Alexandr wouldn't ignore him.
Just by having Ivan at her side, Elizabeta was under threat. She would be exposed to increasingly blatant attacks.
-I can protect you.
-Krasilov cannot endure another war.
The moment the Northern Army Corps decided on civil war, Krasilov would shatter. The country no longer had the national strength to endure another war.
So it was a problem that had to be solved politically. In such a difficult situation, Ivan couldn't help her. His expertise was war, but now there was no war left in the world.
Elizabeta stamped his request form with a smile. Just as he was leaving to protect her, she also decided to let him go to protect him.
A man who could receive the highest treatment anywhere in the United Kingdoms. A man whose achievements, if known, could have earned him a place in history forever.
Such a man, asking for nothing, going down to the countryside, supporting mere orphans, and quietly waiting to die.
-If that is your wish, then do so. I will bless your future.
Unable to bestow any honor, wealth, or glory, she readily agreed, with the heart of not wanting to leave any more scars on his body.
She could bear his absence. She could celebrate it. She understood his desire to live a second life.
How hurt he must have been. How painful it must have been. Though they were cherished subordinates to her, they were comrades to him. Almost all his friends were sleeping in the distant Demon Territory.
Therefore, she approved his discharge with a blessing.
She could bear his absence.
But loneliness was harder to bear.
Now she had to stand alone in the royal family of this country. Leading the "Princess Faction" who were ready to betray her to the Crown Prince at any time, dealing with nobles who made subtle advances, and ambitious people who wanted to use her bloodline.
"To me... you were my only sanctuary. How could I not adore you...?"
"Elize. I..."
Ivan knew Elizabeta's feelings. In the past, and now.
Her feelings began with admiration. Gratitude, admiration, and dependence on a soldier who commanded her rough men and yet silently remained loyal to her.
That's not wrong. But he couldn't accept it.
Considering what the Great King had bestowed upon her, she deserved to marry the finest man in this country—no, in this world—and live the happiest life.
And what was he compared to her?
A tenant farmer, a conscript, with no property, no fame, no title. Not skilled in politics, not adapted to peace, half-broken.
A madman who has nightmares every night from guilt and debt, falling into panic seeing the faces of dead comrades.
A broken person. Someone who can't make others happy, nor has the confidence to do so.
Just a stranger struggling to return home, but finally giving up even that and waiting to die.
Does he deserve to love and be loved?
No. His specialty, to be blunt, is closer to killing people. Both enemies and allies.
"I am a broken person."
Truly.
At Ivan's low voice, Elizabeta looked up at him with a sad smile.
"In a broken world, is there anyone who isn't?"
"..."
"But I won't call you broken. Not you, but all of us."
Not broken, just people who are a little lacking.
So.
"Just as there are pictures that are completed by filling in the gaps."
I am just one of those lacking people too.
"I will complete you. So please, complete me too."
"Elize."
"Shh."
Elizabeta reached out and brushed Ivan's lips.
Her hand moved slowly, touching Ivan's dry cheek as if caressing fragile porcelain.
"If you're not going to push me away, it would be rude to speak now."
Looking down at Elizabeta approaching carefully, Ivan closed his eyes with a sigh. Something soft moistened his lips, and hot, excited breath tickled the tip of his nose.
"Let me out! I'll call a lawyer!! I'll call a lawyer!"
"There's no such custom in Krasilov."
"What a barbaric militaristic country!!"
"You've attempted to trespass into the royal palace more than 15 times in the past three weeks. You should be grateful to this country's constitution that you haven't been executed."
Isabelle glared at the back of the soldier who answered bluntly and left, then sighed deeply and buried her head between her knees.
"I told you we should approach this more amicably."
"Be quiet, pointy-ears."
"Anyway."
"Aren't you in a hurry too? What's happening in there... it's been three weeks. Three weeks! In three weeks, what could they possibly be doing from where to where and how...!"
"Get away, Asidis, your lewdness is contagious."
Elfihera pushed away the excited Asidis and smiled arrogantly.
"In the end, I'll be the only one left anyway, so what's the rush?"
"...?"
"Humans die quickly. I'm not saying you should die now, so don't feel too bad."
"...what...?"
"Let's get out of this cell, you monster...!"
"A dog might temporarily wag its tail at someone else looking for a snack, but it always comes home in the end."
Isabelle and Asidis nodded simultaneously.
Adults are never wrong.
Different species naturally think differently. Humans fundamentally cannot become intimate with elves. They're all just lunatics.
Isabelle and Asidis turned their heads and started shouting again, gripping the iron bars tightly.
"Let us out!!"
"I'm going to tell my dad! Do you know who my dad is?!"