EMATEC Chapter 165

165

"It's not like that. Do you have any idea what kind of monster Enoch is? He might be late, but there's no way he'd be dead."

"You shouldn't speak so coldly. If Lady Cherrya's fiancé doesn't make it back, then…!"

"Then the engagement's canceled. Good for me, isn't it?"

My disinterest was plain in my voice, and Jessia, whose face had been clouded with worry, lifted her eyes at me with a pout.

Before she could explode at me, I opened the waiting room door, intending to slip away.

But the moment I did, a bunch of people who had been peeking in from the hallway tumbled inside, sprawling across the floor.

"Uwaaah!"

"What the hell are you guys doing?"

It was Lucas, Jack, Osric, and even Henry, basically the core members of the Emblem's Knight. I couldn't hide my dismay at the pathetic sight of them piled up on the ground.

"I just wanted to set straight the ridiculous rumor that our Commander was wearing a dress…"

"Jack was the one who said we should come see!"

"No, it was Lucas who suggested peeking through the crack in the door!"

Clearly embarrassed themselves, they raised their voices in a useless argument. Rubbing my throbbing forehead, I muttered.

"Why were you all hanging around out here in the first place?"

"...Well, the Deputy-Commander said if you didn't want to go through with the engagement, you should just run away without looking back. He said he already arranged an escape route for you."

"What? Do you even realize where we are right now?"

Their words left me dumbfounded, but they only nodded as if they understood perfectly.

"All you have to do is say you don't want to do it, Commander."

Kane, the one who'd defeated all of the Emblem's Knights and boldly seized the Deputy-Commander's seat, had been getting stranger by the day.

He used to be so passive at the academy, as if his status as a commoner were a shackle he put on himself. But after becoming part of House Emblem, it's like he gained new wings.

I can't believe he's now daring enough to break off an engagement ceremony in the Imperial Palace, one hosted by the Crown Prince, and even devise an escape plan.

'So that's why he's been so on edge before the ceremony?'

If all his nerves had been spent tunneling out a way to escape the palace, that would explain a lot.

"He's really… Never mind. Waiting around for someone who won't show up is pointless. Better to just get the engagement over with."

All the guests had already gathered in the hall. The ceremony should be starting any moment now.

And yet, neither Enoch, nor Mother, nor Aunt Diana had arrived. That could only mean destroying the rift in the North was taking longer than expected.

Like Jessia, I didn't worry that Enoch might have died.

After all, I knew better than anyone just how overwhelming his awakened power was, because I'd awakened the same power myself.

"Has anyone seen the Bishop? Raise your hand."

"Yes! I saw him standing by the Temple delegation."

"Good. Step aside."

I quickly sought out the Bishop and made my way toward him. Whether Enoch was here or not didn't matter for this ceremonial farce of an engagement.

What the Lutinas Empire needed right now was to announce to everyone that Emblem and the House of Gray had decided to unite and fight as one.

That was the only way to foil the Empress's scheme of binding the Second Prince and the Gray Knights together, and to make sure Emblem and Gray would finally stop pointing their swords at each other and instead face the demons as one.

"Oh, Dame Cherrya. I hear there's still no word of Sir Enoch. But do not worry. The Divine One surely walks with him."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the Bishop, who smiled at me with benevolent warmth, I asked him to officially begin the ceremony.

The Bishop hesitated. He feared that if the engagement were carried out without Enoch, and Enoch failed to return from the Kratyn Forest, I would be branded with a terrible stigma, no one would ever want to marry someone whose fiancé had died.

But I knew the truth. Enoch was not dead; he was carrying out his mission. So I let the Bishop's well-meaning concern pass in one ear and out the other.

"Oh Divine One, bless the noble and lovely heart of Dame Cherrya. To think she was so reluctant, and yet…"

"Bishop!"

That needless remark only invited misunderstandings, but before I could argue, the Bishop drew out a bell from his robes.

The clear, ringing chime filled the grand banquet hall, signaling the start of the ceremony.

The guests gathered, whispering in confusion. After all, Enoch—who should have been the co-star of this event—was nowhere to be seen. Some even began murmuring that the rumors of his disappearance must have been true.

'Perfect. If this comes back to bite us, I'll have all the grounds I need to demand an annulment after the demons are dealt with.'

I curved my lips into a triumphant smile.

An engagement ceremony held without the groom? That would be the perfect pretext to lodge a formal protest with House Gray.

Once the demons, the true enemy, were defeated, there would be no further need for Emblem and Gray to unite.

At that time, I could follow the traditions of my house exactly as they had always been, and no one would dare criticize me.

'Emblem and Gray were meant to fight each other. That's how it should be.'

I realized only much later that Mother and Aunt Diana had been right all along. Still, I much preferred those childhood days when Enoch and I would clash head-on with swords.

Rather than this awkward label of "fiancé," I longed to return to the simplicity of those battles.

"Hurry up and crush the demons' skulls, and then Enoch's skull, and the damn Grays' skulls too…"

Humming cheerfully to myself and envisioning that happy future, I suddenly sensed a disturbance from afar.

Having trained countless times as a Swordmaster to sharpen my perception, I instantly heightened my senses, as if flipping a switch.

"Heup! Blood… he's covered in blood…!"

"Urgh. What on earth…"

"Wait, don't tell me, is that today's groom…?"

The crowd's horrified whispers were soon drowned out by a suffocating stench of death that washed through the hall.

And then I saw him.

Enoch.

Sweeping back his blood-soaked silver hair, he strode toward me like a reaper risen straight from the battlefield.

"Enoch Gray…"

His name slipped from my lips in a strangled whisper.

Though he was still some distance away, he must have heard me, for Enoch paused in his steps and looked straight at me.

The instant he stopped, the gathered crowd erupted in chatter, their voices rising all at once.

"By the heavens, it really is Sir Enoch Gray! We were all worried since there had been no word from Kratyn Forest, but he's just returned!"

"But what in the world… tch."

"A bride in uniform and armed with a sword, and a groom drenched in blood, what a pair they make."

"Could there be an engagement more fitting for the history of Emblem and Gray than this one?"

Enoch's lips curled into a faint smile, drawing a graceful arc. And though his face was splattered in blood, that smile made the crowd gasp in awe.

They whispered that he looked like a god of war.

But to me, he looked nothing short of horrifying.

Enoch absorbed everyone's gaze—including mine—as he strode forward and stopped right in front of me.

"Were you really planning to go through with this engagement without me, Cherrya Emblem?"

"How can you show up in that state…?"

"I had to come."

His interruption was sharp, but what truly alarmed me was his condition.

One look into those darkened eyes was enough. I could tell, Enoch was completely unhinged.

"You… what happened in Kratyn?"

"What happened, you ask…"

He fixed me with a steady gaze, and then said.

"More than that, there's something I want to ask you, Cherry."

…Cherry.

It had been so long since I'd heard that nickname. Hearing Enoch call me by the pet name of our childhood made my skin crawl. I scowled, spitting back.

"I told you not to call me that. Makes me want to vomit."

"Listen anyway."

"Then talk."

His uncharacteristic urgency made me fold my arms, tilting my head as if to say, Fine, I'll hear you out.

The smile deepened at his lips. Something about it felt familiar, and yet deeply alien.

Even after a lifetime of crossing swords with Enoch, I felt as though the man standing before me wasn't Enoch at all, but a stranger.

"Why did it take me so long to realize, Cherry? To think I couldn't recognize you when you were right before my eyes. I've never felt so frustrated in my life. If only my memories had come back a little sooner…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It doesn't matter."

Enoch's face drew closer and closer, until his lips pressed against mine.

Before I could even process what was happening, my lips parted, and with the metallic tang of blood came a searing warmth that invaded my mouth.

A kiss.

Enoch Gray was kissing me.

By the time I realized it, it was too late.

I shoved him away with all my strength, but before I could even speak, he licked his lips and whispered.

"Didn't you miss me, Inspector?"

"…What… did you just say?"

My body went rigid, my mind blank.

No one in this world should know those words. That title. That way of speaking.