In This Life, I Will Raise You Well, Your Majesty! - Chapter 72

The Moon on Water (4)

Translated by WookEdited by Wook

“Hey, Aran. What do you think will happen if this gets known?”

At those words, Aran shot a look at Vedal, who was the oldest among the tribe chiefs.

“Is Chieftain Vedal going to let this get known?”

“What are you—!”

“So why do you have to worry about that? Above all, if this fact becomes known, it is not just my tribe that has to give up their lives. Are you saying someone here would do something crazy like that?”

“But you never know. Shamir, who has been involved in it, has fled. And we don’t know how Chieftain Laoman, who couldn’t attend today, will react when he finds out about it later.”

“There is a way, so don’t worry. I’ll tell you everything when the incarnation of Sionil comes.”

“Hmph!”

Vedal was dissatisfied, but could no longer continue the subject. Aran held the trend. Even if he went back to him, he would only end up like Chieftain Laoman, who was abandoned at this important time.

“If you’re done talking, may I talk about the most important thing to cover at this conference?”

The words of the Chieftain Baheum, who were close to Chieftain Aran and hated the desert tribe belonging to the pro-Kran Kingdom faction, continued for a while.

The venue for the conference was large enough to be ten times larger than a normal-sized tent.

Wherever the conference was held, it must be set in the center of the tribe’s dwelling place, and today was no exception.

Among the inner edges of the basin, at the deepest point opposite the entrance to the basin, all nearby tents were erected.

By the time Elisha was brought to the entrance, it was already filled with people inside, perhaps the chieftain of each tribe or the people in a position that could be involved in the big events of the tribe.

“Does anyone object to the Aran chieftain becoming the grand chieftain of all of our native tribes so that we can carry on the pride and traditions of the desert tribe?”

No voice came out.

“…”

Seeing the silence, there seemed to be no opposition.

“So, from now on, Chieftain Aran will become the new Grand Chieftain of the Desert! The desert legend from a long time ago begins again in our generation!”

The words were accompanied by cheers and loud applause.

“Bring her in.”

When Aran spoke from the inside, and the entrance to the tent that had been blocking Elisha’s front was opened.

The floor was covered with dozens of animal skins that had been joined together, and there were people encircling the wide empty space in the middle, like square shaped walls.

They were sitting with their buttocks on the ground, with a low table in front of each of them, which was quite unfamiliar to Elisha.

Among them, Aran was not sitting in the long seat on the left and right from the entrance, but on the innermost seat facing the entrance. Elisha made her way to the empty space in the center, pushed by the warriors holding crescent-shaped swords behind her.

Following the title of ‘incarnation of Sionil’, the weight of the name of the 2nd Empress of the Empire weighed on the inside of the tent. Furthermore, the people were curious about what kind of story Aran would tell when she came.

At that time, Aran, who thoroughly enjoyed the tension, opened his mouth.

“There is no root in the desert. We are all scattered, so now we must become one. And that one must be strong enough to encompass everything. The bond of the desert tribes is stronger than any other people on the continent, but if we are to move forward, we need something stronger than that. A promise that we will continue, so that we can keep and take pride in ourselves. For example, royal blood!”

The king of the desert!

The words that fell like lightning reverberated in the heads of the tribe leaders. But after a while, they were puzzled again.

Aside from how tremendous this story was, what did it have to do with the current situation?

Aran spoke before their embarrassment turned into anger at his rashness.

“There is an incarnation of Sionil. A descendant of a goddess who can make flowers bloom in the desert. And here I am, who has just sat in the position of the grand chieftain. When I see a son from her, I will establish him as king, not the next grand chieftain. He will become a king with more legitimacy than anyone else and with the heat of the desert.”

The child of the incarnation of Sionil and the grand chieftain.

The cause of the desert was enough. And in other words, it was also clear that it would be a terrible scandal that would shake up the empire.

The possibility of this news leaking out of the desert was low, but even if it was known to the upper ranks of the Empire, they would not think of using their hands prematurely.

It was not easy to deal with the desert tribes in the desert, and it was almost impossible to keep rumors from leaking out while you (the Empire people if they do try to cover up the scandal) killed them all.

Aran was sincerely disappointed. This was because, if the original plan had gone as planned, all the problems should have been cleared up already.

If only the emperor of the Atien Empire had quickly searched for the 2nd Empress and found the body presumed to be the 2nd Empress they had prepared in the realm of the pro-Kran Kingdom faction!

Those who attacked the 2nd Empress using monsters in the West would be those with considerable power within the Atien Empire.

Since what they had done has failed, they would want to cover it up as soon as possible, and there was no better excuse than a corpse. It didn’t matter if it’s fake.

So was the emperor. It was natural that rumors of his injustice would follow at the same time as the disappearance of the 2nd Empress.

Wouldn’t it be better to have a clean corpse that died with everything, rather than the return of the 2nd Empress, who might constantly leave a stain on Barossa’s name, despite the emperor’s face?

Even if she was his favorite woman, the relationship between the 2nd Empress and the emperor was not very good, and it seemed that it was true for now.

Aran wondered if that might be the reason why the emperor didn’t find the 2nd Empress. He was probably waiting for her to die.

So maybe they didn’t have to do anything. Because the emperor of Atien or the forces that tried to use the monsters could come up with a plan to sort things out on their own.

In the same way as them.

In Aran’s mind, the brilliant future of the royal road and desert he would walk in was already depicted in vivid colors.

“But Aran, ah, no, Grand Chief. Will the incarnation of Sionil allow that?”

Vedal looked alternately at Aran, and Elisha, who was standing indifferently as if the matter they were talking about was not related to her.

“Is Chieftain Vedal asking me if I have to ask for permission from my property?”

“B-but…”

Chieftain Vedal’s concern was, what would they do if the woman, who was not used to the desert, ran away.

Those who were not born and raised in the desert could not easily accept the desolate, heat, and familiar resignation of the desert and wither.

She was of noble status and possessed power, so it was natural to be worried as they did not know what would happen after she recovered.

“She doesn’t want to die because she wants to return to her child, so she will live because of the child she gave birth to and because of the child she will give birth to. I think everyone is like that here. So call me when you’re ready to give birth to the child of the incarnation of Sionil. The desert will become richer if the veins share the ability of the incarnation of Sionil. Don’t you think so?”

Aran said, looking straight into the sky blue eyes of Elisha who was standing opposite him, not at Vedal. As if to declare that her future would be determined like this in the future.

Elisha’s lips opened slightly. A sound that was unknown whether it was a pure or false laughter rose like a drop of water and then disappeared.

Elisha’s head tilted to the side. She said in a voice that was cool enough to freeze a person to death,

“I’ve listened to the novel nonsense of a mutt. I wondered why the stinky mutt kept imitating a wolf, but that must’ve been because the mutt was picked up from who knows where. No wonder it stinks so badly.”

Aran jumped up from his seat and— Kwang! He kicked the low table in front of him and stepped forward. Then he lifted Elisha with one hand. The other hand, which was tilted back to its fullest, was as big as Elisha’s face.

The sound of flesh scraping resonated for a while.

“What are you thinking? Do you want me to kill you?”

Elisha replied to Aran’s hilarious remarks.

“12.”

Elisha explained to Aran, who stopped for a moment, not knowing what to say.

“I have to return it to you.”

The number of times he had touched Elisha so far. There was the sound of molars rubbing from Aran’s teeth.

Amidst the growing violence, Elisha thought.

‘What if he breaks my limbs?

‘Rather than being treated here, it would be better to endure and deal with it roughly, go back, and break them clean before attaching them again. But such a plan was a bit vague because it might cause problems for escaping. Come to think of it, among the magic formulas, healing magic is tricky and less effective, but there are still people who dwell in it. When I get back, I think it would be okay to talk to the mages Georg and Jillian and try making one.

‘It would be useful if Leon or Asensio got hurt. But of course, I shouldn’t let the children even need it in the first place.’

“Grand Chief! After the conference, we decided to hold a party to celebrate the unity of the tribe and to introduce the incarnation of Sionil in front of all members of the tribe!”

Bahum stopped Aran. However, Aran was definitely realizing by now that Elisha would not move as they told her to do.

How could that be?

She was dragged to an unfamiliar place by herself, and even if she ran away, she was in the middle of an endless sandy desert.

He thought it was a mistake.

He thought it was a simple power struggle, but it wasn’t. That woman was already at war. That was why she didn’t want to lose!

“You better stop. It’s going to be a big problem!”

“Why are you doing this? Isn’t it a good day, Grand Chieftain?”

Only then did Aran stop his hand.

Elisha’s body fell and she sat on the ground.

At the time when everyone thought that the incarnation of Sionil would have fully understood her role by this time, Elisha’s lips opened and a clear voice came out.

“20 now.”

And her sky-blue eyes flashed as if she was looking forward to the day she would return it.

The sound of swallowing was heard among the chieftains. Now, that slender figure that was trampled on aroused fear rather than pity.

Sionil, who moistens and revitalizes dry places, was not a merciful goddess. The goddess had a ferocious side, sweeping away and destroying what she did not allow.

Was it because of that?

In the eyes of the audience, that person over there looked like the goddess Sionil herself, not the incarnation of Sionil. People before her seemed to stiffened, even though she did not show any strength and showed only a miserable appearance.

“Is she really the 2nd Empress of the Atien Empire?”

Was that all?

For the desert tribes who couldn’t even withstand the Kran Kingdom, the empire was an existence with a great difference in power.

Nevertheless, the murmur replaced the feelings of many in the tent.

Wondering if that was all Elisha was.