WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 46

There was an old saying that I read in a book once: Loose lips sink ships. It came from an old book about a soldier who mistakenly informed his enemy about when the ship he was one would set sail. They were going to war against a kingdom. The man he had spoken to had, unknowingly, been a spy for the enemy kingdom. After learning when the ship would set sail, the man he’d told ambushed the other man’s fleet and sunk it.

The place where that man had told the spy when his ship would be leaving and what port it would be leaving from was a bar.

Consequently, this was the reason bars were such a great place to pick up information. Lips were much looser when the people flapping them were inebriated. Not only did they talk about things they normally wouldn’t, but they were also a lot more trusting of people they didn’t know.

“I’m telling ya! It’s been real hard ever since those damn Drages deposed Empress Hilda!” a drunk man hiccuped as he sat at a table with me and Feinrea Kunis. “I was a member of the Nevarian Spiritualists, but then our headquarters was disbanded. They said it was because we had betrayed the city… hic… those blasted… blashted Drages!”

I did not know who this man was, or if he really had been part of the Nevarian Spiritualists, but he was also drunk and didn’t have a reason to lie. What’s more, I could sense the Spiritual Power flowing through him. He was at least at the Second State of Spiritualism. He was also in good shape for a man who looked like he’d been drowning himself in bottles for at least a month now.

“What happened to the others at your headquarter?” asked Feinrea.

“Gone… dead…” the man muttered morosely as I poured him another drink, watching in astonishment as he downed the whole cup in a single gulp. “Mosht of them tried to… to help Commander Dante eshcape… hic… I would have helped too… but… I washn’t on duty…”

The man mumbled some more as he slumped over in his chair and began bawling inconsolably. I didn’t think we were going to get much more out of the man, so I looked at Feinrea to see what she thought. All I received for my trouble was a helpless smile.

We had learned quite a bit from this man, however, so I didn’t consider it a total loss. We learned that most of the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guard were still loyal to Empress Hilda. The only reason they weren’t acting was because they didn’t know where she was. If they did, I was assured that most of them would flock to her side.

That was good to know. It meant we could make plans to deal with the Drage Family by relying on people who were already inside Nevaria.

I signaled Feinrea that we should leave, and both of us stood up, about to make our way out of the bar, but someone walked in just as I was about to head for the door. What’s more, I recognized him. It was the man who had tried to kidnap that girl in broad daylight. Erhardt, I think his name was.

Several people stopped what they were doing when he entered. A number of glares were sent his way, but he ignored all of them as he stormed over to the bar, sat down like he weighed ten tons, and ordered a drink. The bartender looked angry, but he didn’t deny the man a drink either. I guess being a member of the Drage Family meant you could do whatever you wanted because people were too afraid to deny you.

I gestured with Feinrea to sit back down. Once we were seated, I leaned over so I could whisper in her ear.

“Do you think you can help me get information from that man?”

“What do you want me to do?” Feinrea asked.

“I want you to seduce him.”

She pursed her lips. “You know that I have never seduced someone before.”

I shook my head. “You don’t have to do much. Show a little skin, drape yourself over him, and pour him enough drinks that he can’t walk straight. After that, help him out of the bar. I’ll follow right behind you.”

“What will we do then?” asked Feinrea.

“We’ll take him into an alley and interrogate him,” I said with a cold smile.

Feinrea shuddered at my smile, but she still agreed to help me. I watched as she went over to Erhardt and began awkwardly attempting to flirt. She didn’t seem to know what to say, her face was stiff, and her body language said she’d never done this before… but Erhardt didn’t seem to care. Just like I suspected, he was far too enamored with her beauty.

Another quote I once read was how beautiful women were like roses. Their deep red petals were gorgeous and perfect, enchanting enough to stun the heart and ensnare the mind, but just like roses, beautiful women had thorns. They were dangerous. I never really believed in that quote. Beautiful women were not dangerous. Being so stupid you became enamored with a dangerous women who happened to be beautiful was, but I understood the quote and what it meant.

Even though it was clear from the grimace on her face that she did not like it when Erhardt grabbed her bottom, she put up with it because she knew we needed this man. I felt guilty for putting her in this situation. If she was my wife, I would have found another way. It was hypocritical of me to place her in this situation when I would never allow Kari, Fay, Siv, or Lin to be placed in a position like this. I recognized that much at least.

However, my plan to get this man good and drunk worked. He was slurring his words and sloshing his drink less than half an hour after Feinrea came over to him. He could barely even sit up straight.

Feinrea looked at me, and I nodded my head. Standing up, I walked over and hauled the man to his feet.

“You look like you could use a hand, stranger,” I said.

“Who… who you?” the man asked, his voice almost incomprehensible.

“Just a friend,” I said. “This fine young woman said she wants to spend the night with you, but she can’t carry you herself. I offered to lend her a hand.”

“Fine young woman?” Erhardt hiccuped, then glanced at Feinrea. “You are a fine young… young woman. Are we… spending the night?”

Feinrea’s smile was not a smile at all, but I doubted Erhardt recognized that. “If you’ll have me.”

“Of course I will!” The man declared. “W-what kind of… philanderer do you take me for?”

“The kind who frequently enters into casual sex relationships with a woman?” I asked.

“Er… right… you are right. That’s exactly how I do things! Casual sex… all the way!”

I could only shake my head as the man cheered. This was far easier than I felt it should have been.

Feinrea and I listened to the man speak as we walked through the streets, the cool air helping soothe the drunk’s burning skin. Sadly, not even the night breeze could rid him of the stench of alcohol. After walking for several blocks, we ended up in an abandoned district and slipped between two buildings. Erhardt was already out cold. I lowered him onto the floor and let him sit against the wall.

“What now?” asked Feinrea.

“You can leave the rest to me,” I said with a grim smile.

The first thing I did was use the water element to destroy all the alcohol in his bloodstream. After that, I created several ropes made of water to tie him up. I used Spiritual Perception to check and make sure no one was present, then pressed a finger against his forehead and sent the lightning element through his body. I didn’t do enough to harm him, but I was sure the wakeup call wasn’t pleasant.

“W-wazzat?! Who is it?!”

The man sat up straight as he was shocked, his fuzzy eyes quickly gaining clarity. He didn’t seem to understand his situation at first. However, one second passed, then two, and he soon noticed me, Feinrea, and the fact that he had been tied.

“You bitch!” He turned on Feinrea and snarled. “What do you think you’re doing?! Unhand me now, you dried out—”

I didn’t feel like listening to him slander my friend, so I stomped on his face and ground it into the wall. I did not remove my boot from his face either. Putting more pressure on his head, I listened as he groaned in pain.

“I recommend not speaking so rudely to the people who hold your life in their hands,” I said in a mild voice like I was telling him what I ate for dinner tonight. “Speak like that again and you might find your head separated from your body. Do you understand? Nod once if you do?”

I waited for the man to nod, but when all he did was glare at me, I decided more reinforcement was needed and send lightning through his body. It still wasn’t enough to kill him. However, from the way his body twitched and spasmed, I knew it was painful. His body had even locked up to the point where he couldn’t scream.

“Are you going to cooperate now? Nod once if you understand.” He nodded, so I removed my foot. “Good. Very good. I’m going to ask you some questions. You will answer them. Failure to answer them will result in me shocking you with lightning. If you keep failing to answer, I will make the lightning more and more powerful until your brain explodes. Do you understand?”

The man didn’t say anything at first as he scrunched up his face. It soon turned blood red like he was trying really hard to think. Actually, it looked kind of like he was constipated.

“You won’t be able to use Spiritualism right now,” I said, smiling when he stared at me in shock. “I’ve already suppressed your Spiritual Powers. Right now, you can’t even summon a basic Spiritual Aura, nevermind use Spiritual Techniques.”

My words finally seemed to break his resistance. His face paled, blood draining from it as he stared at me with wide eyes.

“What… what do you want?” he asked fearfully.

“Not much,” I said casually. “I merely want you to answer a few questions for me.”

“Will you… let me go if I do?” he asked.

I didn’t say anything, but I did smile at him.

At this moment, a strong sense of deja vu came over me. I felt like I’d been in a similar situation before. Of course, I had no intention of letting this man live. He would die the moment he told me what I needed to know, but I would at least grant him a painless death. I couldn’t have him go running to the Drage Family and telling them about me and Feinrea.

“Eryk Veiger!”

However, just before I could begin interrogating this man, someone shouted my name. I froze.

Slowly turning around, I looked at the entrance to the alley, where a young woman with silvery blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and a dress made from strips of fabric stood. I recognized her, of course. How could I not? The person standing just a dozen meters away was none other than Sigrid Drage.

Well, shit.

“That is you, isn’t it, Eryk? I’m not mistaken, am I?”

The woman took a step forward. There was an odd note of hope in her voice, but I didn’t have time to analyze it. Sigrid recognized who I was. Moreover, I could judge that she had somehow figured out I would interrogate this man and decided to follow him.

“Sigrid,” I said, knowing it was pointless to hide. My hood was down and she had great eyesight. “It’s been awhile. You look like you’ve grown well.”

“So it really is you.” She took another step forward, her face glowing. “I thought it was you. Everyone else in my family assumed you were dead, but I knew you wouldn’t be killed so easily.”

“Dead, huh? Is that why the Drage Family decided to usurp the throne from my mother-in-law?” I asked.

Sigrid flinched. “It was something my family had always planned, but yes… more or less.”

“I see.” My smile grew. “And is that also why you destroyed my sect?” Sigrid said nothing, but her silence was enough. “Well, this is a predicament. I didn’t intend to confront you so soon.”

“Eryk… I know the situation seems bad, but I promise to explain everything if you come with me,” Sigrid said. “If you agree to come with me and serve my family, I can guarantee your safety. I promise.”

“And what about my wives and their families?” I asked. “Can you guarantee Hilda’s safety? Stelys Valstine’s? What about Dante, Reiner, and Valence?” When Sigrid said nothing, I shook my head. “Sorry, but I would rather bite off my own tongue and drown in my own blood than betrayed the people I love.”

“Yeah… that sounds like you,” Sigrid said with an aggrieved smile. “You realize this makes us enemies, right? If I can’t convince you to join me, I will have to kill you.”

“Well… you will certainly have to try, but you might discover killing me is beyond your reach.”

Before Sigrid could come up with a suitable retort, several things happened simultaneously. I kicked Erhardt so hard that his body flew through the air at Sigrid, picked up Feinrea, and disappeared in a flash step. The last thing I saw before completely vanishing was Sigrid cutting Erhardt in half with a sword of conjured blue flames.

***

Sigrid might not be as fast as I was, but that didn’t mean she was slow either. In a chase through the city, she also had a distinct advantage. The Flash Step was a powerful ability that allowed me to move at speeds that exceeded human limitations. It was so fast it looked like I was teleporting. However, even though I could use it to an incredible degree no matter where I was, a city still had a lot of twists and turns that forced me to pull out quickly to change direction.

She was able to follow me.

I was sure Sigrid had a Spiritual Technique similar to my Spiritual Perception that allowed her to track my movements. Whenever I pulled out of a Flash Step, I felt as if something was locking onto me.

Feinrea could not talk as I moved at speeds so fast her eyes couldn’t keep up with our movement. She had buried her face in my neck. I was certain she probably felt a little sick. It took a lot of work to let your eyes adjust to high speed maneuvers like this.

I briefly considered taking off into the air, but I dismissed it. An alarm had sounded out, and one alarm soon became two, three, four, until it sounded like the entire city had been woken up. I recognized the Demon Beast Alarm, but I had a hunch Sigrid had it activated so people would know I was here. The watchtowers were all lit up now. If I flew into the air, they could aim their ballistas at me.

It was a good thing I could move so fast. The northern gates appeared before more than five minutes had passed. There were several guards at the gate. Most of them were dressed in the leather armor of a Nevarian Spiritualist, but there was one among them who was wearing the silver rune-enchanted armor that should have gone to the Imperial Royal Guard. He was probably a member of the Drage Family.

“What the hell is that?!”

“It’s moving so fast!”

Shouts from the Nevarian Spiritualists echoed out as they saw me appearing before them. I didn’t waste time saying anything. Cradling Feinrea against me with one arm, I pointed the other at the door and channeled my Spiritual Power through my hand.

A massive blue bolt of lightning blasted out of my arm, sparking brilliantly in the moonlit night as it traveled toward the door. All the guards leapt out of the way. They needn’t have bothered. I had perfect control of my lightning. The powerful bolt slammed into the gate, blowing a hole clean through it, though it was more like the lightning had superheated the metal to the point where it simply melted.

These gates were made of refined steel and were about twenty centimeters thick. Refined steel was highly durable and could only be melted at a temperature of 2,000 degrees celsius. Lightning was 29,726 degrees celsius. While steel could conduct electricity, it wasn’t as good as other metals and so the lightning didn’t spread across the entire door and become grounded but blasted a hole straight through it.

I used the Flash Step to travel through the door before the Nevarian Spiritualists could recover.

Even though Demon Beast Gate was over a kilometer from Nevaria, I made it there in record time—only to find everyone guarding it on high alert. Fortunately, it seemed they were expecting Demon Beasts to come from Demon Beast Pass. They had no idea there was a “monster” coming toward them from behind.

Just like last time, I blasted a hole through the steel gate and continued moving, traveling swiftly through the pass before emerging into the forest. For a moment, I thought I would be safe. There was no way anyone could catch up to me when I was using the Flash Step. That was the kind of overconfident thinking I had when a massive ball of flame suddenly fell from the sky.

I leapt back, grimacing as a wave of heat washed over me. The wave spread across the ground, causing grass, bushes, and shrubs to combust as if they were kindling. In the center of this heat wave was a young woman who looked like her entire body was one fire. Sigrid glared at me.

“You really are fast,” she said as the flames stopped spreading from her body, though wisps of blue fire still emerged from her skin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you move so fast before. You gave me quite the chase.”

“I didn’t think you’d be able to keep up with me,” I confessed.

“If it had been anyone else, they wouldn’t have been able to,” Sigrid admitted with a bit of pride. “But I’ve been training hard to understand my fire. Unlike the rest of my family, who are content to remain at the Third State of Spiritualism, I am not.”

I understood what she meant. Sigrid was learning about the concepts of fire, studying flames in greater depth to increasing her comprehension and therefore her ability to control flames. From the way she had caught up to me, she probably already understood the concepts of combustion and oxidation.

“So what now?” I asked.

“Now?” Sigrid furrowed her brow, conflict spreading across her face before her eyes hardened. “If you won’t join me, I will have no choice but to kill you.”

Saying this, intense blue flames swirled through the air, coalescing around Sigrid’s hand. She grasped at those flames. The moment she grabbed them, the fire elongated and turned into an elegantly curved blade about sixty-two centimeters long, which she proceeded to point at me.

“So that’s how it is,” I said.

This was bad. I had complete confidence in my ability to defeat Sigrid, but that was only if I was fighting on my own. Right now, I was still cradling Feinrea in my grip. I didn’t think Sigrid would give me a chance to put the woman down. Even if I did, there was a good chance she would be caught in the crossfire. It was safer in my arms right now than anywhere else in this forest.

“Come then,” I said, creating a lightning version of the Dragon Tail Ruler in my right hand as I cradled Feinrea in my left. “Let’s see if you have what it takes to kill me.”

Sigrid grimaced only a little before launching herself at me. The ground underneath her exploded as she used the kinetic force created from spontaneous combustion to move faster than humanly possible. I narrowed my eyes and swung the lightning sword in my hand, manipulating the lightning to make the sword grow longer and more fluid is it attacked Sigrid. This didn’t bother her. The woman in my sights swung her flame sword and knocked aside my lightning sword, though she was forced to stop running when my sword curved around and attacked from behind.

The greatest advantage to the Dragon Tail Ruler had always been in its range and unpredictability. I could make it move however I wanted, make it attack enemies from behind, or even from above and below. Even if someone knocked it away, it would just come back, attacking at a different angle.

Standing her ground, feet planted firmly on the forest floor, sword held in a two-handed grip, Sigrid knocked my lightning Dragon Tail Ruler away from her several times. Each time she succeeded, the sword would simply curve back and attack from a different angle. She seemed to recognize that defeating my weapon like this would be impossible. Narrowing her eyes, she waited until the blade was right on her, then burst apart into flames.

I clicked my tongue.

Soaring into the air, I watched as the area I’d been standing on suddenly combusted with fire. A wave of heat slammed into me and Feinrea. The woman in my arms screamed as a bright ball of flames erupted beneath us, consuming a large section of the forest. When the flames died down, I found Sigrid standing inside of a large crater. She was looking up at me.

With a furious cry, Sigrid shot upward, flames erupting from her back to form wings. She attacked me without mercy, knowing I couldn’t go all out because of Feinrea.

I switched from using lightning to using water. A blade formed out of pure blue water appeared in my hand as Sigrid swung her sword. It was the same length and shape as the lightning Dragon Tail Ruler, but the properties were different since this followed the laws of water.

Steam erupted between Sigrid and I as our blades clashed, billowing out to cover us in a thick fog. I floated back and tried to ignore the woman clinging to me as I used Spiritual Perception to track Sigrid. She had not waited for the steam to disperse. Ascending into the sky, she had already flown over the cloud and was now descending toward me with a powerful attack.

I glared up at Sigrid as several dozen spheres of water formed around me. Each sphere was exactly ten centimeters in diameter and undulated as though the water molecules were trying to separate. Held together by my Spiritual Power, the spheres quivered for a moment before shooting at Sigrid, who swung her sword and unleashed a wave of flames. I was sure she expected her fire to evaporate the water.

That wasn’t what happened.

The water I had fired at Sigrid was highly compressed. It required a great deal of pressure to compress water, but I had the advantage of knowing every concept of water. I took the idea of compressing water from when I traveled to the bottom of the ocean in search of Leviathan. All the water in the bottom of the ocean was compressed by the water above it, making the water much denser.

Each of those tiny spheres had the same amount of water as a large lake.

There was no way Sigrid’s flames could evaporate it so easily.

My water projectiles punched several holes right through Sigrid’s fire. The woman’s eyes widened as she took evasive action, barrel rolling through the air as she avoided the projectiles. I narrowed my eyes and manipulated the water to return, making them reverse course and attack her from behind.

Sigrid’s face contorted as the blue flames on her blade became even more brilliant, condensing further as she spun around and swung. Her swing struck the first ball of water. I didn’t know if she expected to cut through it, but that wasn’t what happened. The water was too dense. All she could do was knock it off course. Doing so, however, knocked her body back as well, leaving her wide open.

And she knew this.

The first water projectile struck her arm. It only grazed it, but that was enough. Blood exploded from her arm as a large chunk was gouged out. She didn’t scream in pain, but the way her face twisted was enough to let me know how much my attack hurt.

Realizing she couldn’t block my attacks, Sigrid dispersed into particles of fire and tried to escape. I glowered at her. Did she really think it would be so easy? Fay had a higher comprehension of fire than her, and I sparred with my wife on a near daily basis for several years.

I manipulated the water projectiles to expand. Water exploded from each sphere, but they didn’t turn to rain or disperse. They remained together and formed what looked like a giant sheet of water, which I wrapped around the flames that Sigrid had turned into. Raising my hand as though reaching out to the water, I enclosed my hand into a fist, and the water suddenly compressed.

However, Sigrid acted just a moment before I could snuff out her flames.

A brilliant fire erupted from the center of the compressed ball of water, bright blue and glowing brighter. An explosion of steam erupted from one side of the sphere and Sigrid came out. She quickly transformed back into a human. The wings on her back were smaller, her breathing was heavier, and she was clearly running low on Spiritual Power. I wouldn’t have a better chance than this.

The water sphere split apart once more, but this time they formed into several spear shapes. They looked more like icicles than spears. I launched each one at Sigrid, timing them all and manipulating their angles so they wouldn’t attack Sigrid at the same time or the same angle. I also made sure they surrounded her.

There was no escape this time.

Sigrid’s arms shook as she raised her blade and swung. Her first attack cut a spear in half, as did her second attack, but she must have been exhausted because her third swing missed. The spear slammed into her rune-enchanted armor, which flared to life. Several more spears slammed into the rune armor, and each time the runes flared up to protect her, but as my ceaseless attacks struck her like a relentless barrage, the runes eventually sputtered out and died.

They had run out of energy.

While she avoided injury from my sixth spear, the seventh and eighth quickly struck her and pierced her chest. A look of helplessness flashed across her face before the wings on her back flickered and dispersed. The sword also disappeared as she fell toward the ground. I watched for a moment before sighing. Manipulating the moisture in the air, I condensed them and formed a cushion that gently brought her to the ground instead of letting her become a splat on the forest floor.

I followed Sigrid down. As I landed on the ground, I set the shaking Feinrea against a tree. She was unable to stand. All she could do was sit there. While this woman had seen some horrors thanks to the Sekbeist/Demon Beast Invasion three and a half years ago, I was certain she’d never been this close to a battle between two powerful Spiritualists.

“Rest here,” I said before walking over to Sigrid.

I looked down at the woman as she struggled to breathe. My two attacks had pierced her lungs. Blood was already beginning to well up inside of them and a puddle of red was spreading out beneath her.

“Eryk…” Sigrid mumbled when she noticed me.

With a sigh, I knelt before the woman and placed a hand on her chest. I planned on healing her injuries and was already in the process of stopping the flow of blood, but then Sigrid, with a surge of strength, grabbed my hand and stopped me. She shook her head.

“D-don’t… this is… a good end, I think,” she said.

“You want to die?” I asked.

Blood stained her lips as she smiled at me. “Better to die like this… then watch as the man I love destroys the family I cherish…”

Her words shook me to the very core of my being. She loved me? Since when?

“You… never knew that, did you?” Sigrid laughed, but then began coughing. More blood splashed from her mouth. “I… I tried getting closer, but you and your wives were always… so wary of me. You didn’t trust me. That’s why…”

“I see. So it was my fault,” I mumbled.

It was true that I had never trusted Sigrid. She was a member of the Drage Family, and Gudmund Drage had attempted to seduce Fay when she was already engaged to me. What’s more, I had no knowledge of this family from my past, which led me to believe they had not done anything to help Nevaria when the Demon Beasts invaded that first time. I was certain they were up to something.

“Sorry,” I said. It was a pyrrhic apology that would amount to nothing now. The damage had already been done. Even if I had known of her feelings, I don’t think I could have returned them. I didn’t love this woman, after all.

Sigrid shook her head. Perhaps she knew how I felt.

“Favor… can I ask… a favor?”

“What is it?”

Sigrid licked her bloody lips. “Let me… rest my head on your lap… until I’m gone…”

I debated whether that would be appropriate, but this was her dying request. Positioning myself so I was sitting on my haunches, I lifted the woman until her head was resting on my thighs. Sigrid closed her eyes as a blissful smile appeared on her pained face. I felt a moment of guilt but shoved it aside. I wasn’t even sure what I felt guilty about.

“Thank… you…”

“You shouldn’t thank the man who killed you,” I muttered.

Sigrid opened her eyes and stared into my face. “Pet… my head… please…”

I sighed but placed a hand on her head and began gently stroking her hair, which caused Sigrid to hum a little.

“You are very… kind… I always… noticed that…”

“I’m not that kind.”

Sigrid shook her head. “No… you are… you might be… the kindest person I know…”

I did not agree with her at all, but I didn’t want to argue either, so I said nothing.

Several minutes had already past. Had Sigrid not reached the Third State of Spiritualism, she would have already been dead by now. As a powerful Spiritualist, her body was far stronger than the average person, which of course meant she wouldn’t die easily, though right now that was just prolonging the pain she felt. Oddly enough, she looked content as she lay there with her head on my lap as I stroked her hair.

“Eryk?”

“Yes?”

“The members of your sect… are all alive.” She blinked up at me, her eyes abnormally clear for someone close to death. “I convinced… my father to lock them up. They are… Drage Family dungeon… estate…”

Her words were slurring now. She would die soon. My hand stopped for a moment, but then I resumed stroking her head, running my fingers through her hair.

“I see. So you didn’t kill them. Thank you.”

“I knew… return… didn’t want… you to be sad… thought this would help…”

“So that’s how it is.”

“Hmm…”

“Thank you. And… I’m sorry.”

Sigrid’s lips were already in a smile as she raised her shaking hand, reached up, and cupped my cheek. Her hand was cold. Despite how weak her hand was, she used her thumb to rub something from underneath my left eye.

“Why are you… crying?” she asked.

“Ah?”

I didn’t realize it until she pointed it out, but I was indeed crying. However, I had no answer for her, and even if I did, Sigrid would never hear it. Barely a second passed before her arm dropped limply to the ground. Her eyes became still, but the content smile was still on her face, as if her last moments had been some of her happiest.

I didn’t understand.

I didn’t understand at all.

I didn’t understand why she looked so happy, or why I suddenly felt so guilty, or what this gut-wrenching pain was. My emotions were all over the place. I was certain that I did not love Sigrid. I never did. At the same time, I now wondered about what could have been if I didn’t push her away. If I hadn’t been so suspicious of her, would I have fallen in love? Would she have joined my wives? Would things have been different? I feel like maybe all this could have been prevented if I’d allowed her the chance to grow closer to me, if I’d allowed myself to grow closer to her.

But asking questions like that was pointless. You couldn’t change the past unless you went back in time, and I had already done that once. Miracles like that would not happen a second time. Whatever could have been would never be. Despite that, I still could not help but wonder if I should have done things differently.

“Eryk… are you okay?” a voice suddenly asked.

I looked up to find that Feinrea had recovered and was standing a few meters from me. Her eyes contained complex emotions as she looked at me and Sigrid.

“I am fine,” I said, sucking up everything I felt. There was nothing I could do about these feelings right now. What I needed to focus on was destroying the Drage Family and restoring Empress Hilda to the throne.

I ignored the blood staining Sigrid’s body as I lifted her into my arms and stood up. Her head rested against my chest as her legs and arms swung limply.

“Do you mind if I give her a burial before we go back?” I asked.

“That is fine,” Feinrea said quietly.

“Thank you.”

I turned away from Feinrea and stomped on the ground, controlling the earth to create a two meter long and one meter wide pit. Kneeling, I gently laid Sigrid inside of it, straightened her limbs, placed her hands against her chest, and closed her eyes. I looked at that smile on her face one last time before I stood up and moved back. I stomped on the ground and all the dirt moved, forming around Sigrid until she was completely covered.

“Let’s go,” I said softly to Feinrea, who nodded and began following me.

I still didn’t know why I was crying.