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Chapter 691.

Munch…

A man in front of the computer monitor placed his hands on the keyboard and mouse as he munched on the salty potato chips he was eating. Then he scratched his neck that was hidden beneath his rough and bushy beard.

Beep.

[Y\'all saw the latest?]

[Yeah. Honestly, Korea was lucky. They’re saying that everywhere except for Cheolwon, Wonju, and Pohang are fine.]

[Have you heard they declared martial law? I heard there’s also talk of conscripting the reserves.]

[Sigh... I never thought I\'d have to grab a gun after getting out of the military.]

[Did you see the situation in Wonju? It\'s a disaster right now. They can’t even keep track of the casualties. The streets are full of people evacuating, and soldiers are moving around in vehicles.]

[But Alf Online is really shocking. Everything they say about it seems like something out of a fantasy.]

[I know, right? Conditions for awakening humans? Like, what are they talking about?]

[I know, right? But one thing is for sure. It has nothing to do with how ethical you are. You know that guy on TV? The guy who recently got involved in drugs and sexual favors.]

[Oh yeah, yeah. I heard that guy’s already trying to get his name out by saying he’s some advanced awakener or something… Fuck that guy.]

The man, who had been reading the comments and chat messages in silence, slowly moved his fingers.

[Guys, you know that Alf Online is temporarily suspended right now, right? That all the users logged out at the same time.]

[What are you trying to say?]

[See this video.]

The video uploaded quickly, and everyone was astonished to see what it was.

[What the fuck am I looking at right now?]

[What is this? Why is that fucking Saint of Tionis NPC going full throttle?]

The video strongly hinted at one scene: the Saint of Tionis suddenly fighting a girl in gothic lace dress, killing the members of the Sirius Guild, who were filming the video, and transforming the entire area into a desert.

[I’ll tell you what really happened. Saint of Tionis isn’t an NPC. He’s a person.]

[????]

[The fuck are you saying?]

[They said he was an NPC.]

Seeing the chat quickly move as a flurry of replies came in, the man halted silently. But a moment later, he resumed reading, picking up where he left off.

[Before I show you any evidence, I\'ll first tell you everything that happened. The Church of Neltharid suddenly came out of nowhere and made the game, right? Originally, the goal of the GMs was to awaken humans so they could stop the monsters from appearing on Earth. And as we all know, the method was Alf Online.]

[So?]

[Originally, the game’s supposed to be maintained. But the Saint of Tionis, the man who came from Tionis, ruined everything. Not only did he kill a lot of users, but he also stole items. On top of that, he also unleashed monsters and destroyed a significant part of the Alf Online field, just as you\'ve seen in the video earlier.]

[So what?]

[No more awakened people could enter Alf Online, all thanks to this Saint of Tionis, a human from another world. Thanks to him, it’s the survival of the fittest now.]

Humans, by nature, tend to exaggerate what they hear, even beyond what they could take responsibility for.

Now, public opinion was starting to flare with rage.

***

Davey O’Rowane was still a servant of the Rowane Kingdom, even though he already had a faction of his own.

Arriving at the castle, he met his father, King Kriasnes, who was silently drinking some strong liquor. And despite noticing the gaunt cheeks and tired eyes of his father, Davey didn’t bother to say anything.

"Alright. What do you think?"

“...”

“Do you think you can save me?”

“Don’t talk as if you’re going to die. I have yet to forgive you, Your Majesty. You must live long to bear the guilt.”

"I know. How could I blame you for that? It’s all my fault, as a bad father,” Kriasnes replied with a bitter smile.

“Here.”

Davey accepted the king’s offered glass, saying, "Yes, Your Majesty.”

Without saying a word, King Kriasnes poured into the glass the liquor he had been drinking. He then took a sideways glance and said, “Davey, in the time between a person’s birth and their death, they must make many choices.”

“...”

“My choices have caused suffering to many people. Are you aware of it?”

There was no way Davey wouldn’t know. Davey knew how much grief, tears, and bloodshed happened because of his mother and Queen Lynesse Bariatta.

“I also know that you’re harboring a grudge against me for what happened.”

"Your Majesty, I know what you’re trying to say,” Davey said, cutting him with a cold glare. “Don’t force your way on me.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay with your decision?”

"Yes, Your Majesty.”

"Are you sure you won’t regret the decision you’re going to make?”

Hearing the question, Davey dared to meet the king’s gaze again and asked, “What is it that you really want to say, Your Majesty?” “Now, more than ever, the Kingdom of Rowane is flourishing. Commerce and tourism are booming, and we’re collecting hefty taxes from the Heins Territory. A lot of businesses are also succeeding and thriving because of the increase in funds made possible by the trade.”

Davey had gotten rid of the nobles who had taken everything from the people, and none of the remaining nobility had crossed the line like they used to since he had been keeping a close eye on them. Although it had resulted in unprecedented prosperity, it was not sustainable on its own. The Heins Territory was the only way to transform this all into a solid foundation.

“Davey, what are you going to do if you end up in a situation where you have to take responsibility?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“It was a literal question.”

Davey took a moment to pause before he proceeded to answer the question, saying, “Your Majesty, what was the outcome of you having four queens?”

“...”

“Because of Queen Lynesse’s plan, my mother died, longing for your love. And yet you couldn’t protect her.”

“Davey.”

“Let me put it another way. I wouldn’t allow my wife, Perserque, to exchange loving gazes with another man and whisper affectionate words to him.”

As Davey thought about the matter at hand, he realized that the same would be true for women as well.

“You think only from your own perspective.”

“I don’t know why you’re saying this, Your Majesty.”

“Go to the Lyndis Empire. Your wife visited me early in the morning, and I have been told about what you did.”

“What?"

“Let me be clear. Saying yes alone, even when everyone says no, is ultimately no different from my choice,” he calmly said. Then he placed his glass down quietly before adding, “At the very least, you shouldn’t have any regret. Don’t you think so?”

Davey did not realize until much later on that the king’s eyes had sparkled with a mysterious white light.

***

Davey, along with Rinne, Perserque and Illyna, immediately left the Rowane Castle and headed straight for the Lyndis Empire after receiving an urgent request from them. Illyna tagged along as though she had become friends with Aeria throughout her periodic visits to the Heins Territory to give gifts.

Forgoing all formalities, Emperor Deorte led Davey straight to where Aeria El Lyndis was. A chill then hit them as they walked into the room, where Davey saw Princess Aeria lying still on her bed. Her complexion was as pale as a ghost, and the fur blanket she was covered in was drenched with her sweat.

“Tell me what’s wrong with her.”

“With the knowledge I have, I am unable to identify her illness. Perhaps the princess\'s illness now has something to do with the one she had in the past…”

"No, that’s different. Her symptoms are different from that disease.”

At Davey’s assertion, the imperial physician of the Lyndis Empire fell silent.

Davey then approached Princess Aeria and checked her pulse. It was weak, as if her life force was being stripped away from her. But Princess Aeria had no other obvious symptoms apart from this.

“Is there anything else you can tell us about the princess’s symptoms?”

In response to Davey\'s question, one of the maids stepped forward hesitantly and said, “Before Her Highness collapsed, she experienced severe vaginal bleeding.”

“...”

Hearing the maid’s remark, Davey pulled Aeria’s fur blanket and sniffed the air. He then closed his eyes.

"What?!" asked the imperial physician.

“Seems like it’s not something related to her menstrual cycle. What is going on with her? Are there any more details I need to know?”

"Well… The thing is…”

Seeing the imperial physician hesitate, Davey let out a heavy sigh.

"Prince Davey, can you cure Aeria?”

“It won’t be easy. I’m having a hard time understanding what she\'s going through.”

“Save her. I will give you anything you want as long as you save her.”

“That is not something an emperor of a country should say lightly.”

“Save her, please.”

Davey didn’t answer the plea of the emperor. Instead, he turned his face away, after seeing the desperation on the face of the emperor, who always seemed so strong.

“I had a feeling that Aeria might never wake up again if things continued like this. I know I shouldn’t have these kinds of thoughts, but I couldn’t help it.”

“...”

Unfortunately, the emperor’s intuition was correct. Aeria had battled many illnesses in the past, but this was the first time she was experiencing such unpredictable symptoms, so it would practically be miraculous for her to recover naturally if things carried on as they were. But the most pressing concern as of the moment was…

“She’s refusing to wake up on her own huh…”

After hearing her symptoms and what had happened so far, Davey arrived at a rather bitter conclusion.

“Prince Davey, let me ask you something. Is this symptom related to the symptoms of Nine Tails?”

"No. It shouldn’t be,” Davey answered calmly. He then stood and said, “The princess is my patient. I will do as much as I can to treat her.”

A prince from a foreign country was going to treat the princess of the empire. This was an extremely risky act because a war could erupt if things went wrong. But for some reason, neither Davey nor Emperor Deorte paid attention to such a possibility.

Illyna then carefully said, “Will this be okay? I know it\'s funny to say this, but… If things were to go wrong…”

“If anyone makes it an issue, I will show how foolish that’d be myself,” Emperor Deorte replied in a rather eerie voice.

At this, Illyna flinched and backed away."My… my sincere apologies, Your Majesty.”

“No, Princess. You have a point.”

A brief wave of silence passed, and Emperor Deorte turned around quietly.

“Please. I will give you all the support I can, so please help that child to be happy again.”

“...”

“I can’t imagine how she can stay like this for so long while going against what her body wants. As a father, I secretly wish for her to get married to you somehow, especially since she has feelings for you. But…”

Davey knew Aeria would be far from happy if she were to marry him, as the emperor had said. Marriage between them would also go against the emperor\'s wish as a father to see her daughter happy.

“I will try my best.”

With that, Emperor Deorte left.

Davey then turned to the two maids who were left behind and gave them instructions, saying, “Please prepare the items and medicines I mentioned earlier.”

The maids were taken aback by the politeness of Davey’s request. Nevertheless, they nodded and quickly went to do as they were instructed.

From the way the two maids had looked at Princess Aeria, Davey was able to tell how kind-hearted she really was.

“Davey, I can tell you’ve figured something out.”

“Yeah, just one thing.”

Rinne, who had been poking Aeria’s cheek with strange symbols in her eyes, turned to look up at Davey and said, “Sir Davey, I’m seeing exactly the expected symptoms.”

Hearing this, Davey sighed before replying, “That’s why I’m even more confused.”

Davey had finally understood what her symptoms were. Her physical problems, combined with the lingering remnants of divine power within her, initially confused him and the other physicians, but he was beginning to figure out what was really going on bit by bit.

“Princess Aeria is showing the same symptoms as a mother who has miscarried. Because of this, she has closed off her heart.”

But that was not the only issue. The divine power within her seemed to hasten her decline, not merely as a sickness but more like divine punishment.

“I don’t understand.”

Knowing how much she cared for him, Davey felt genuinely bad for her. Usually, a miscarriage meant that something had happened to the embryo after fertilization. But considering her situation, it was impossible for her to be pregnant unless someone had raped her.

Still, her vaginal bleeding was proof of a miscarriage, and all her other symptoms pointed to her losing her child.

“What happened to you?”

Gently, Davey caressed Aeria’s cheek. Then, with hope of stabilizing her, he went on to brew medicine for her using the herbs the maids brought along with some acupuncture treatments.

Princess Aeria had been pregnant, and she had lost the child. While Davey found this already puzzling enough, he was also at a loss about the divine power that lingered in her body.

Several days went by, and yet she still did not show any signs of improvement. Davey, who had spent time pondering next to her, eventually went to the castle spire to muse about the matter further.

[I will distort one future set for Davey O’Rowane.]

An unexpected voice started Davey, jolting him to look around him. But he was unable to see anything amiss.

“Distortion… What in the world?”

Clank.

Davey then took notice of the two women who were throwing pebbles in his direction from below. One of them was Perserque.

“What’s going on, Per?”

“What you don’t understand most is the divine punishment, right?”

“...”

"And you’re wondering why she was pregnant, right?”

Davey stared at Perserque without saying a single word in response. The silence stretched for quite some time before he finally replied, saying, “Just say what you want to say.”

“The child Aeria was carrying... Aren’t you curious whose it was?”

“Well, I wouldn’t know if she had feelings for someone else recently...”

“You know that’s impossible.”

“...”

Perserque’s remark sent a chill down Davey’s spine.

“Don’t beat around the bush, Perserque.”

“The child Aeria was carrying... It’s yours.”

The expression on her face was quite angry, as though she had known all along.

“My child? You’re talking nonsense…”

"Have you checked its title?”

Her retort rendered Davey quiet.

“The embers that protect the end—it’s a title akin to a miracle from god.”

With urgency, Davey accessed the title window with a frown. He was familiar with the title Perserque had mentioned. It was, after all, what he had used to save Aeria. Of course, everyone had nearly forgotten her because of what he had done.

“She received a miracle from god because of her love for you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said you only used the first ability of the title. Since you couldn’t even select the second part. But then, do you remember the third part?”

[The ember that protects the end.]

(A title given to someone who defies the odds and resurrects themselves using the last of their strength)

- When the title is worn, two moon miracles can be used.

- First Moon Miracle (Revives someone who died within the last hour. Consequences exist.)

- Second Moon Miracle (Cancels the first Moon Miracle and its consequences)

- Wish of Embers (Always applied to the subject of the Moon Miracle.)

“...”

“What do you think the embers wanted?”

Davey didn’t know what to say in response to Perserque’s question, and all he was able to do was simply stare at the title window.

Wish of Embers (Always applied to the subject of the Moon Miracle.)

“Davey, Aeria had told me something.”

“...”

“She told me that she had received something very precious from you.”

“There’s no smoke without fire, and you can’t clap with one hand. Aeria’s heart alone couldn’t have created a child, even if it was a divine blessing.”

But if there was indeed another hand, clapping would be more than possible.

“You showed compassion and affection for Aeria.”

It was then that Davey realized that he truly did show compassion and affection for her unwittingly.

“Do you understand why I said that humans must take responsibility if something happens?”

At such a remark, Davey was once again rendered silent.