READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 34 - Proposal
✦ Chapter 34 — Proposal ✦
「Translator – Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
In front of the gates,
Rianna stood expressionless, facing the soldiers who barred her path.
Her gaze was colder than the northern wind, and the soldiers instinctively hunched their shoulders, subtly inching closer together for comfort.
Even with the gap between them closing, it felt as if an icy gale were sweeping through, chilling them to the bone. As the soldiers endured this ineffable intensity, their salvation finally appeared—
“Ah.”
The guardian of Malideen Wall.
Ulderan Caldias had finally arrived.
“What an honor to have such an esteemed guest in our humble presence.”
“…………..”
Rianna showed no reaction to Ulderan’s sarcastic remark; though it might have seemed like an unprovoked jab, Rianna’s very presence here was, in fact, a significant affront to Ulderan.
“The daughter of House Helmund greets the Margrave.”
Rianna offered a formal bow.
Her voice and expression remained composed, though to those watching, there was an inexplicable tension about her.
“I trust you’ve been informed of the gravity of the situation.”
“Hmm.”
“Please, send me forth. I, Rianna Helmund, will resolve this matter in the name of House Helmund.”
“I refuse.”
Her plea, cut down like a blade through silk.
“My apologies, Young Lady Helmund, but you’ll be heading straight to the underground prison. We need to understand why you’re here-“
And should matters worsen—
“Remember, this could lead to a military tribunal.”
The already tense atmosphere turned even more oppressive.
“The only place where the name ‘Helmund’ carries enough weight for such indulgence is your own lavish mansion.”
With these words, Ulderan’s spear slowly rose to Rianna’s throat.
The distance between them was so close that a mere extension of his arm could impale her. Yet, her unwavering crimson eyes locked onto his without a flicker of fear.
“I will take responsibility for disrupting the front lines. However, I believe resolving the situation must take precedence.”
“That is not for a criminal to decide.”
“Margrave, though I make no boast of it, I am a Helmund. I can reach there faster than anyone present and resolve this situation.”
“……………”
“If we delay our response, nearby villagers may be endangered. Please, I implore you to let me go.”
“Helmund, you’re as deaf to reason as ever.”
Ulderan clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Despite her earnest plea, his spear remained steady, its sharp tip mere millimeters from her throat.
“I said this is not for a criminal to meddle in. Helmund, your concern should be what excuses you’ll make to survive in prison.”
Rianna drew a measured breath.
And slowly, her expressionless mask began to crack.
“Margrave.”
A faint tremor laced her voice—not from fear of the spear at her throat, but from the dread of the future that awaited beyond the Wall if she failed to act in time.
“I implore you.”
Not as a Helmund,
But as Rianna herself.
She slowly sank to one knee, bowing her head.
“Please… allow me to go save my husband.”
A heavy silence descended over the scene like a heavy curtain.
A stillness descended, hushing even the northern wind.
The sight of the Helmund’s eldest daughter kneeling before the Caldias would surely be a story retold through the ages.
“Tell me, who stands before me now?”
And yet Ulderan, who should have been most intoxicated by this display of superiority, furrowed his brow as he questioned.
“Just Rianna. Simply Rianna, Isaac’s wife, Rianna.”
At her answer, the corners of Ulderan’s mouth stretched into a broad smile.
His jovial expression and the resigned breath that escaped him made him look as though he might burst into laughter with a pipe in hand.
“I see I’ve been mistaken all along. The one before me was never the eldest daughter of House Helmund.”
Chuckling deeply, Ulderan shook his head and pressed his palm against his forehead, as though overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all.
“My wife often tells me that we northerners lack romance. I’ve always wondered what use such things could be-“
“……………”
“But perhaps there’s something to be learned from your kind of romance after all.”
The heavy spear lifted not toward the kneeling Rianna, but toward the heavens above.
“Open the gates! Should we not let a woman go to meet her husband!”
{T/N:- PEAKKK!!!}
🎕
“Kraaagh!”
As the Red Descent emanating from her greatsword began to fade and dimmed, Shauren turned her back in desperate retreat.
“This is seriously too much now!”
Behind her retreating figure, a viscous, dark mire spread across the ground.
The shadow thralls expanded deep and wide, claiming territory unopposed.
Where they passed, light could not reach.
It was as if they were crafting a world devoid of sun.
Even Silverna, who had been holding the frontline against the thralls, now showed signs of strain.
*GRIND*
Gritting her teeth, she swung her spear wreathed in white aura.
Her aura whirled along the spear’s arc like a tempest unleashed, yet
Like a blade through water, it only briefly restored color
Before darkness rushed back to reclaim its domain.
‘Not enough.’
She felt it in her bones — her aura wasn’t enough to hold them back.
In truth,
Shauren’s Red Descent was more effective in this situation than her own efforts.
‘Why am I so… powerless?’
Though she was pushing herself to the limit, achieving leaps of improvement with her aura, the cruel irony was that it came too late.
‘Epiphanies always come too late.’
Her insides felt as if they were twisting into knots.
No one could point fingers at Silverna, but she placed the blame squarely on herself—because that’s just who she was.
‘If only I had trained harder with my aura-!’
“Silverna!”
The shout that pierced her spiraling thoughts snapped her back to reality.
Her head turned sharply, her gaze locking onto Isaac, who had called out to her.
“Don’t lose yourself in emotion!”
“……………!”
The words struck like a club to the back of her head.
‘I nearly made the same mistake again.’
Hadn’t she already learned this lesson with the Yeti? Letting her emotions cloud her judgment? She had already experienced the consequences of that failure.
Had Isaac not intervened early, she might have stayed there, consumed by her own turmoil, swinging her spear until the darkness swallowed her whole.
‘You really—’
How do you know me so well?
To others, she was simply wielding her spear. Yet to Isaac, it seemed he saw something more.
It wasn’t just sharp insight — she felt something stir in her chest, leaving a profound and bittersweet impression.
Because he too,
Stood witness to how her realizations always came one step too late.
“We’re retreating.”
She pulled the reins, turning her mount around.
They had held on long enough; surely the reinforcements from the Malideen Wall should be on their way by now.
They needed to regroup and devise a strategy together.
The shadow thralls pursued relentlessly,
Swimming through the vast pool of darkness like creatures of the deep,
Everywhere they passed, from the starting point of Andes Village to the present, they left nothing but corruption in their wake.
The shadow of Nortemus still pointed unwaveringly toward Isaac.
“You’ll be able to stop it, right?”
“As long as we can cut through Nortemus’ shadowy thralls and reach him, it’ll be enough.”
Bringing in aura users to carve a path and take him down—that was the plan.
After all, every root of this chaos led back to Nortemus.
“Yeah, that’s probably true.”
“Huff… Huff…”
Silverna and Shauren’s faces were pale, their breaths ragged; they had pushed themselves to the brink. It was no surprise, but watching them in that state still left Isaac feeling a bitter sting.
‘How is this any different from when I hurt my leg?’
The helplessness was infuriating.
And so, Isaac buried those feelings deep within himself, vowing to press forward and grow stronger.
“Huh?”
Just then,
A faint, heady fragrance rode the wind.
Though Silverna found it oddly out of place,
Isaac and Shauren straightened their backs and tightened their grip on their reins in anticipation.
From atop their galloping mounts, they cast their gaze into the distance; scanning.
There, standing with a greatsword in hand, was a solitary figure of a woman.
Her crimson hair billowed wildly in the wind, and from her entire being erupted an overwhelmingly vivid and powerful crimson light.
“Wow.”
Shauren, even though she shared her bloodline, couldn’t help but marvel at the sight.
“……………!”
Meanwhile, Silverna, her peer in age, felt the overwhelming gulf between them.
And—
“Ah-“
— Isaac, almost amusingly,
Couldn’t help but think back,
Among all the twisted paths of his life,
A day he could never forget.
That day had been just like this.
She had arrived unexpectedly, bringing with her that rose-scented wind—
[Marry me.]
—followed by an abrupt and utterly unexpected proposal.
🎕
‘Marry me.’
Oddly enough, Rianna found the present moment strikingly similar to that day.
The day she sought out Isaac—
Without preamble, without sentiment, and without even a hint of romance—
She had simply proposed.
“Sister!”
“Do your best, Rianna Helmund.”
Even as the two women called out their words of encouragement while galloping past her on horseback, Rianna remained silent, offering no reply.
For the last time—
She watched Isaac ride by, then lifted her greatsword high into the air.
The white bandages wrapped around her blade unraveled, as though surrendering to the aura of blazing crimson.
The Red Descent radiated outward, too much for the blade to contain. It scattered in all directions — a force she had thought she would never wield again in her life.
An attack so decisive and monumental, it was akin to her one and only decisive strike.
[Pardon?]
‘I said, Marry me.’
Perhaps he had been playing at being a wandering swordsman that day?
The twig he had been chewing on dropped from his mouth as he looked at her in blank astonishment.
[Isn’t this rather sudden?]
‘Is it?’
[Yes, usually one sets the mood for such things.]
‘Was the mood not right?’
[We haven’t even exchanged greetings today.]
A touch of indignation rose within her.
Every moment she spent looking at him—
At any time—
She thought the mood had been perfect. Was she the only one who felt that way?
‘Do you not like me?’
She asked, trying to mask her unease.
And his playful response came swiftly.
[No, it’s not that I dislike you.]
‘I see.’
[But wouldn’t it be troublesome?]
‘What would?’
She had thought he meant the matters of their houses, but that wasn’t it at all.
[I am the one who rows your boat.]
[Without me, how do you plan to cross this river?]
Only now did she understand.
You were simply shy, trying to extend our conversation.
‘I see.’
Her answer then was the same as now.
Toward the heavens,
She raised her greatsword.
Toward the crimson river that held the sunset within its depths.
‘I want you.’
She unleashed the most desperate strike of her life.
Before her eyes,
Everything began to split apart.
🎕
The world of shadows was severed clean in two.
Just as the river had parted on that unforgettable day.
Amid the torrent of water falling like rain, she had hidden her smile.
Even then, she had awkwardly conveyed that there was no longer any need to steer the boat.
That was why she was so endearing.
That was why she became the object of his yearning.
‘Perhaps…’
No, certainly.
The reason I cannot let go of the sword,
Must be because I cannot forget that proposal.
“Im-impossible.”
“S-sister was this powerful?!”
A single sweep of her blade.
That was all it took for darkness to retreat and light to settle upon the land, leaving both of them slack-jawed in amazement.
Their reactions mirrored his own first witnessing of her power.
“I told you,”
He added with a small smile.
“She could part rivers.”
END of CHAPTER
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The author cooked here!!!
☩
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