Chapter 618: Ever After (3)
Since the end of the war, every member of the Kiehl Empire’s Lionheart clan had been so busy that they hadn’t gotten any rest[1].
The Elders, Gilead, Carmen, and the younger generations of the clan had all been busy settling the aftermath of the war alongside the rulers of all the countries involved, and they hadn’t been able to return to the main estate until just a few days ago.
Under such circumstances, the one who had taken responsibility for managing all of the clan’s affairs was none other than the Matriarch, Ancilla.
The victory on the battlefield, the death of all of the Demon Kings, and the return of the Great Vermouth; all of these may have been a source of infinite glory for the continent, but for Ancilla, they had all come together to create a situation where she couldn’t help but start to suffer from neuroses.
Members of the News Guilds and other reporters had made their way to the main estate from all across the continent. Unable to muster up the courage to knock on the gates of the estate directly, they instead set up camp right in front of the Lionheart mansion. On top of that were all the pilgrims who were also drawn from all over the continent. When this crowd, which included those drawn by the news of Vermouth’s return, had started to enclose the walls of the mansion fully, Ancilla had thrown open the mansion’s gates while wearing armor instead of her usual dress and holding a sword instead of a fan.
Get lost!
That was what she had truly wanted to shout at them, but Ancilla couldn’t allow herself to do something so crass. What Ancilla needed to display to all those present was the nobility of the Lionheart clan’s Matriarch, who could calmly accept the endless glory that had been bestowed upon her clan while also presenting the image of a gracious noblewoman who was carefully managing all the affairs of her clan inside and out. As such, Ancilla kept her sword sheathed at her side, and accompanied by her knights, she gave a quiet speech.
To summarize the contents of her speech, she informed her audience that this was the Lionheart clan’s private property, so they should stop hanging around while being such an annoying and noisy disturbance and just get lost already.
By now, the Lionheart clan held a greater social status than even the Kiehl Emperor — no — all of the leaders of the continent combined. And Ancilla was the Matriarch of this amazing clan and the mother of its next Patriarch.
So how could anyone refuse to step aside when Ancilla had personally stepped forward, dressed in armor, and made the perfectly reasonable request that they vacate her personal property? At that moment, the aura of the knights, the elves, and the various mysterious objects created by the dwarves, as well as the smoke emitting from their furnace in the distance, all loomed up behind Ancilla, giving her speech just that extra bit of weight; so much so that the crowd that had previously been squatting on the Lionheart’s private property without permission couldn’t help but take a step back.
Afterward, Ancilla had taken control of the turbulent atmosphere that inevitably began to show up among the collateral bloodlines. Some of the stronger families among the collateral lines had sent suggestions to the main family, arguing that since the Great Vermouth had been resurrected, the Lionhearts should just become independent from the Kiehl Empire as a whole and become their own nation. Or perhaps, they argued, they should take this chance to establish the Duchy that the Great Vermouth had rejected three hundred years ago.
Although Ancilla was quite attracted to these suggestions, even if she was the Matriarch of the main line, she didn’t have the authority to decide on such matters. Having known him for over a decade, Ancilla was well aware of how terrible a temper Hamel — no — Eugene could reveal if someone were to make his decisions for him.
Then, there was the fact that the Lionheart main line was also preparing to move house.
A month after Eugene’s irresponsible disappearance, the various countries had almost finished hashing everything out over the table, and at this point, all that remained was to carry out their final decision. The entire plain where the battle had taken place was to become a park dedicated to the concept of peace between all nations, with a huge memorial and various other facilities to be built within the park.
The war was finally over. The Demonic Disease that had tortured the elven race for so long had also vanished. In other words, the elves no longer had any reason to continue living in the Lionheart main estate.
As for the elf hunters and slave traders? What about them? In terms of influence over the continent, the Lionheart's name was like a god’s — no — the Lionhearts really did have a god. So, who would dare touch the elves protected by both the Lionhearts and the Wise Sienna?
There was also no reason why the elves could not return to the Samar Rainforest, the homeland of the elven race. The Zoran Tribe, with Ivatar as its Great Chieftain, had complete rule over the entire Rainforest and treated the elves with respect.
In the current state of the continent, attempting to enslave elves or otherwise harming them had become an enormous taboo that couldn’t compare to how things had been in the past.
However, the elves living in the Lionheart estate had no intention of leaving.... It would be no exaggeration to say that the Lionheart forest and the elves had become part of a single body, going beyond mere coexistence.
Ancilla understood the reason behind all this. The saplings of the World Tree that had been planted in their forest a long time ago were still only saplings, but the elves had grown to live in harmony with the spirits of these saplings, and the forest was now full of vitality and mana. This had also laid a solid foundation on which the Lionhearts could nurture their knights from hereon.
But why weren’t the dwarves leaving?
The war was over. But let alone vacating the workshop that they had built near the Lionheart Manor, the dwarves seemed to be actively expanding their workshop on almost a daily basis, all while continuously smelting molten iron in their furnace. Since they had already demanded citizenship in Kiehl for their contributions during the war, there was no point in expecting Shimuin to order the dwarves to return to their home country. In the first place, the King of Shimuin was too worried about how the Lionhearts might react even to consider summoning the dwarves back from Kiehl....
That said, it wasn’t like Ancilla could step forward to chase the dwarves out of the estate. No matter what they might get up to, having dozens of dwarven master forgers living in the family estate was an incredible privilege. If they decided to leave on their own, Ancilla wouldn’t try to stop them, but she couldn’t just push them to leave either.
So, both the forest and the workshop were continuously expanding. This meant that the grounds of the estate were being forced to shrink accordingly.
It might not be a problem now, but if things continued like this for a few dozen more years, the Lionhearts would go from being a clan of knights to a clan of foresters and blacksmiths.
Ancilla had made her decision.
Their Ancestor, the Great Vermouth, had returned and the war was over. As such, it was time for the family to leave the main estate they had been clinging to for the past three hundred years and find a new place to live.
But they were the most prestigious family in all of Kiehl — no — in the continent. So, where exactly should the Lionhearts move their main line?
Ancilla might already be determined to move, but she had yet to decide on a destination.
The only ones who could decide on this destination were Eugene and their Ancestor, the pair who were currently running away from all their responsibilities.
“It has been reported that the Wise Sienna has returned to Aroth,” a voice said.
Ancilla sat in a garden filled with the scent of a forest, drinking her tea as she stared at the smoke belching up from the dwarven furnace some distance away.
The workshop, which had already grown larger than the mansion itself, was constantly spewing out heat and smoke without a moment’s rest. Fortunately, the smoke was actually being purified in the air thanks to the purification magic that the wizards had installed in the workshop, but smoke could still be clearly seen rising from the workshop.
This was because the dwarves had stubbornly insisted that it wouldn’t feel right unless the workshop was giving off smoke.
Standing next to Ancilla’s table and accompanying her was the head butler in charge of managing the family’s inner chambers.
“After returning to Aroth, Lady Sienna met with King Daindolf Abram and the Archwizards and is now preparing to give a speech in the square in front of the Green Tower of Magic,” the butler reported.
“Has she said anything about what her future plans might be?” Ancilla asked.
“We weren’t able to confirm what her plans for afterward might be, but I believe that it’s highly likely that she will come to visit the Lionheart estate,” the butler replied. “Also, at the same time, the Faithful Lady Anise and the Spiritual[2] Lady Kristina returned to Yuras. Those... two... ladies, after confronting the Pope and his Cardinals in the Vatican, are now preparing to give a speech in the White Square.”
Having served as one of the pillars supporting the subjugation of the Demon King of Incarceration and the Demon King of Destruction, a new title had been given to Saint Kristina Rogeris.
She was now known as the Spiritual Kristina . Considering the fact that the Faithful Anise was revealed to have been residing with her body, it was quite a suggestive title.
To think that two souls had been residing in a single body. To the servants who had previously met Kristina during her stay at the Lionheart Mansion, the more they thought about it, the more they felt things click into place... until they couldn’t help but let out an ‘Ah!’ of realization.
The butler continued, “Likewise, Sir Molon has also returned to Ruhr. He too—”
“Our in-laws...,” Ancilla suddenly muttered. “Ahem, after meeting and discussing with Aman Ruhr, does he also intend to give a speech in Hamelin Square?”
“Yes, madam.” The butler nodded his head in response.
“And when did all of this take place?” Ancilla asked with a frown.
“This all happened shortly after noon, about four hours ago,” the butler clarified.
“You mean that they all returned at around the same time?”
“That is correct.”
“Then why hasn’t our Ancestor and Eugene returned yet?” Ancilla asked as her eyes shone with annoyance.
She might be wearing a dress and holding a fan in her hands, but Ancilla was exuding an even sharper aura than when she had stood in front of the trespassers to her home, wearing armor and carrying a sword.
“Perhaps they went to the Imperial Palace?” Gilead, who had been silently sitting next to his wife, quietly spoke up.
It had been three days since he had returned to the mansion after everything in Helmuth had been mostly wrapped up. During this past month, Gilead had also been extremely busy and pushed to the very limits of his sanity. Still, at the very least, he had the general staff of the Divine Army to share his concerns and carry the burden alongside him. Because of that, Gilead couldn’t help but tactfully comfort Ancilla, who had been left to handle all of the clan’s affairs by herself.
“I’m not sure about our Ancestor, but that boy, Eugene, would never head to the Imperial Palace on his own. If he were that kind of person, Gilead, then he would have never left you with all that work and run away by himself,” Ancilla complained.
“Dear, he didn’t ‘run away’... or at least, that’s not how I would put it,” Gilead tried to argue.
“If what he did wasn’t running away, what was it then?” Ancilla angrily demanded.
“At that time, everyone on the battlefield was extremely agitated by their presence. So they had no choice but to leave the way they did lest things go out of control,” Gilead said, shaking his head. “After all, at that moment, the Demon Kings who had threatened the world for thousands of years had just died, the demonfolk could no longer pose a threat to humanity, and the heroes that everyone in the world had grown up hearing about were standing right in front of us.”
Although a whole month had passed since that day, Gilead could still vividly recall the emotions he had been charged with at that moment.
He clenched his trembling hands and continued speaking, “If they hadn’t left and had instead stayed there in front of an overly agitated crowd of millions, perhaps even tens of millions, there was a good chance that it would just cause all sorts of other problems.”
Ancilla sniffed doubtfully and said, “Other problems? There is no way that could be the case. I might not have been there at that moment, but from what I’ve heard, the crowd all fell into silence as soon as it seemed like Eugene was about to say something. Since that boy was capable of exerting such influence, I’m sure that every one of those millions of people present would have calmly followed his every word.”
Gilead had just wanted to find an excuse to defend the heroes, but it wasn’t an easy task to fool his oh-so-intelligent wife....
“They had already done all they could that day,” Gilead tried to argue once more. “They must have been exhausted from the ordeal. On the other hand, we were able to shake off our injuries and fatigue thanks to the blessings they bestowed on us. As such—”
Ancilla impatiently interrupted him, “No matter how tired they might have been, it was still too excessive of them to just run away from that scene and stay away for an entire month.”
“Ummm...,” Gilead hemmed awkwardly. “Dear, didn’t Eugene fall asleep for half a year the last time he used all of his strength? Perhaps he was afraid that he might fall asleep for a similarly long period this time as well.”
Ancilla was quick to point out, “But after disappearing from the battlefield, he showed up all over the continent just a few days later, didn’t he?”
“If... if I have to be honest.” Gilead let out a deep sigh before continuing to speak, “Even if Eugene hadn’t left and had stuck around to help, I don’t think that he would have been of much help to the clean-up.”
It had also been like that when they were responsible for commanding the Divine Army. Most of the work had been done at the hands of the general staff, while all Eugene had contributed was to decide on the general direction and personally confront the Demon Kings.
“I’m not sure about the others... but as for Eugene... well... that’s what I truly believe,” Gilead hesitantly admitted. “Also, the fact is, none of the heroes are really experts when it comes to politics... don’t you agree?”
“That is true...,” Ancilla reluctantly agreed. Only after being convinced that they wouldn’t have been much help even if they had stuck around did Ancilla finally accept their hasty departure. “In any case, I don’t believe that Eugene would have gone to the Imperial Palace. And if he had gone there, we would have already received word of it a long time ago.”
Gilead muttered, “It couldn’t be that he feels uncomfortable at the thought of receiving a grand welcome, could it...?
Ancilla sighed, “But we’ve already taken that into consideration and chose to avoid organizing a public banquet, so what else can we do?”
Aroth, Yuras, and Ruhr were already in the midst of preparing a grand festival to celebrate their returning heroes. These festivals would begin immediately following the heroes’ speeches in their capital city’s squares.
By all rights, Kiehl should also be doing the same thing, but the problem was that Eugene didn’t really enjoy loud banquets and festivals. Also, according to the historical records, their Ancestor, the Great Vermouth, wasn’t one to enjoy banquets either. As such, Ancilla hadn’t invited members of the royal family or any of the collateral bloodlines to be present, and the atmosphere in the Lionheart estate was no different from how it usually was.
“You never know,” Gion, who was drinking tea on the opposite end of the table, suddenly said with a smile. “He might have already snuck into the mansion.”
“That’s absur—” Ancilla, who had been about to laugh at Gion’s joke, suddenly froze.
A few hours ago, one of Ancilla’s twins, Cyan, had left for Ruhr along with his fiancee, Princess Ayla. This was because Ayla was a direct descendant of the Brave Molon, and they were engaged to be married in a few years, binding the Royal Family of Ruhr and the Lionhearts in marriage, so Cyan had chosen to escort his fiancee back to her home to meet the in-laws.
But Ciel and Gerhard were currently nowhere to be seen. Recently, Ciel had been staying in the annex, obsessed with earning points with Gerhard by playing cute for her prospective father-in-law. Just an hour ago, when Ancilla had asked them if they would be joining her for tea, Ciel had been chatting with Gerhard, and the two had replied to her invitation by saying, “They would head over once they had finished getting ready.”
Now that an hour had passed, they were already long overdue, especially as they shouldn’t have had much to do to get ready.
“Where is Nina?” Ancilla asked with dawning suspicion.
It wasn’t just Ciel who was absent. The figures of Nina, the head maid, and Narissa and Lavera, her assistants, were nowhere to be seen.
The common denominator that linked the three women together was that they had all served as Eugene’s personal servants. Nina was currently the head maid in charge of all the servants in the mansion, but whenever Eugene chose to stay in the mansion, she would return to her duty of serving Eugene as his personal maid rather than continuing to serve as the head maid.
“No way,” Gion, who had just said it as a joke, shot out of his seat with a gasp.
Their suspicions were soon proven correct.
In the annex next to the main house, Eugene was kneeling in front of Gerhard, who was sobbing heavily. Narissa and Lavera stood next to Gerhard, continuously passing handkerchiefs to the older man. Meanwhile, Nina was pouring tea for Vermouth, who was sitting in a chair, with Ciel seated in the chair across from him, not knowing what to do or say in front of her prestigious Ancestor.
“Just what is this...,” Ancilla muttered.
Even though they were looking directly at it, it was still hard for them to understand what was going on in this situation. For now, the three members of the main family who had just arrived at the annex approached Vermouth while keeping a low profile.
“G-great Ancestor, what are you doing here?” Gilead asked nervously.
“That’s...,” Vermouth hesitated for a moment, unable to answer immediately as he glanced over to Eugene.
The facts of the matter went like this.
Neither of them had been ready to receive an over-the-top welcome.
It had been easy for the duo to slip past the eyes of the guards. However, Vermouth didn’t quite understand why he had to climb over the walls like a thief to enter the Lionheart mansion, but in any case, the two of them had secretly climbed over the wall and entered the Lionheart estate.
Before heading over to the main house to look for Gilead and Ancilla, Eugene had decided to stop by the annex first because Gerhard’s face kept popping up inside his head. Just then, Gerhard and Ciel had been about to leave the annex and head over to the garden.
But Gerhard had burst into streams of tears the moment he saw Eugene. And since his father had just started bawling while right in front of him, Eugene had felt like he had no choice but to get on his knees....
“It’s not like your son is returning after doing something bad and having been sent to prison. He’s returning after slaying the Demon Kings and saving the world, so why are you crying as soon as you see his face?” Ancilla complained.
“I’m crying because I just feel so moved and proud of him,” Gerhard replied, rubbing his swollen eyes. “I also feel sorry for not being able to go to the battlefield personally. To think such a wonderful son would be born from someone like me. Well... it’s not like he could choose who he was born to, but in any case, I felt so proud that I couldn’t help but burst into tears. Also....”
Gerhard’s gaze carefully slid over towards Vermouth.
Vermouth was maintaining a calm expression, not showing any trace of awkwardness or discomfort, as his distantly descended family members along the main line all gathered to stand around him.
“Also, the Ancestor of our family was here. So how could I not shed tears after seeing the Great Sir Vermouth with my own eyes?” Gerhard admitted as tears began welling up in his eyes once more.
Their Ancestor, huh....
Eugene felt a little uncomfortable with the reverent attitude that his family members were displaying towards Vermouth. According to their shared genealogy, Eugene was also a distant descendant of Vermouth. However, even if that was the case, there was no way that Eugene could just treat Vermouth as his Ancestor, now could he?
From Eugene’s perspective, for his one and only father to start crying while respectfully calling Vermouth his Ancestor felt no different from his family bursting into tears and worshiping a friend that he had brought home with him.
“This bastard isn’t really all that great,” Eugene muttered.
“How dare you say something so rude about our Ancestor?” Gerhard scolded him.
Eugene argued back, “If you really break things down and look at it, I, as your son, am fundamentally a lot more impressive than that bastard.”
Gerhard frowned, “No matter who you may have been in your past life, right now, you are my son.”
“Who said anything otherwise?” Eugene muttered, turning his head away with an awkward cough while getting to his feet. “Well, in any case, I’m back.”
“We can all see that,” Ciel snarked.
Eugene yawned and said, “I’m feeling tired from the long trip, so for now I think I’ll get some rest in my room—”
“There is no way,” Ancilla said, firmly stopping Eugene as he tried to sneak away to his room. Her hand was clenched in a tight grip around her fan as she forced herself to smile and say, “A lot has happened since we last saw each other, hasn’t it? There are a lot of stories that I want to hear from you, and there are also many things that we need to discuss as a family.”
“Well, that’s... Wouldn’t you rather hear about it from Vermouth, instead of me...?” Eugene tried to plead.
“I can’t do that,” Vermouth was the one to speak up this time.
If Eugene felt awkward and uncomfortable with how their friendship was getting tangled up with their genealogy, Vermouth was feeling even more awkward and nervous about reuniting with his descendants, with whom he had never imagined ever getting a second chance to meet.
So what would happen if he allowed Eugene to run away on his own? Vermouth would have to spend an incredibly awkward amount of time surrounded by all his descendants. So Eugene had to stay here to divert some of the attention.
“Hah, really...,” Eugene said with a deep sigh as he shook his head. “In that case, let’s get something to eat first. But with just us family members present.”
“What about Lady Carmen?” Ciel asked.
Eugene tilted his head in confusion. “Isn’t she here now?”
Ciel shrugged and answered, “She actually had to head back to the Black Lion Castle today of all days.”
“Then she’s probably already had something to eat when she arrived there...,” Eugene muttered to himself.
If Carmen were to come over for dinner, Eugene had a feeling that things would be exhausting in many ways. So wouldn’t it be better to just not invite her? Eugene considered this for a moment before he realized that there was a different opportunity he could argue.
“That said, it would be impolite not to invite her, so for now, we should at least send a message,” Eugene swiftly changed his tune to propose.
Although he had framed it as just sending a message, there was no way that Carmen would refuse the invitation. She would be sure to accept the offer no matter what and would be heading over through the warp gate from the Black Lion Castle right away.
Then, once she had arrived, she would definitely cling to Vermouth, introducing herself to him in an unforgettable manner and make him realize just what kind of madman the blood of the Lionhearts had created.
1. The original Korean idiom used here translates literally as so busy that they didn’t have time to blink or breathe. ☜
2. This word also has ‘divine’ connotations, but ‘spiritual’ was the most appropriate translation to convey the original intention. ☜