Empire of Ice

by Hyougetsu

  “His Majesty’s condition is so severe that he can’t be awoken. The maids have to turn him over in his sleep just so he doesn’t get bed sores! If we wake him and he gets weaker, he won’t be able to fight his illness at all!”

  “We can’t give him an infusion unless you wake him!”

  The two argued back and forth for some time. However, the imperial mage refused to undo my father’s magical sleep.

  “Unbelievable! His Majesty is in severe pain, and you want us to wake him up!? Have you no heart!?”

  “But he suffers just as much every time you have to recast the sleep spell! This infusion will at least let him rest easily in the transition periods before your spells take effect.”

  Both the doctor and the mage had a point, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew that my father was beyond any hope of recovery. But at least right now, he was still alive. I could still hold his hand or watch his sleeping face. As I was debating what to do, the Sonnenlicht bishop present followed up with the one thing I didn’t want to hear.

  “Your Highness, you should make preparations for your coronation ceremony.”

  The bishops attached to the castle had all been asking me to hold the ceremony.

  “My father is still ill. Preparing to take the throne while he’s in this state is the height of disrespect.”

  The bishop shook his head.

  “If we hold it after his death, it will be too late. If you don’t prepare now, you’ll have to wait until after His Majesty’s funeral.”

  “I understand, but...”

  “In that case, we will have to hide his death and hold his funeral in secret. You will not even be allowed to mourn him in public, leaving his spirit to suffer.”

  The bishop’s words added another worry to my list of never-ending worries. I was a devout follower of Sonnenlicht, and I certainly wanted my father’s soul to rest in peace. His soul needed to pass behind the sun and reach the heavenly gates of transmigration so that he could reincarnate. But while I understood what the bishop was saying, my father was still alive.

  I’d written a letter to my uncle asking for advice, but his response has been what I was expecting. “As a new emperor, you need to do everything in your power not to alienate the Sonnenlicht Order. I say this as your loyal vassal, your loving uncle, and as your father’s younger brother. Make the preparations for your coronation ceremony.”

  Lord Doneiks had also advised that after I’d prepared for the coronation ceremony, I should stop my father’s treatment. He claimed that it was too cruel to prolong my father’s suffering when it was obvious he wouldn’t recover. Honestly, my uncle was probably right. My father was the emperor, and I was the crown prince. Regardless of whether he was on his deathbed, he had a duty to govern the empire. I had taken over his duties for the present, but eventually I would need to formally establish myself as the emperor. Time was running out. I understood that logically. But my heart refused to accept it. After agonizing over my decision for ages, I decided to confide in Veight of all people.

  “It certainly is relaxing drinking tea in a greenhouse, Your Highness.”

  I’d invited Veight to the greenhouse, and he was relaxing on one of the many benches. There was a glass table between us, and on it sat the most expensive tea set in the empire. The last time these utensils had been brought out was 30 years ago. Of course, Veight didn’t know that, but this was my way of showing him hospitality. But to my surprise, he smiled wryly and said, “This teacup is so impressive I’m not even sure how to hold it. I’m just a rural foot soldier, so please forgive me if I do anything rude.”

  “Are you familiar with tea?”

  “Ryunheit’s viceroy, Airia, is a master of the Mikhaila tea ceremony. And she brews tea for me every day, so I do have some knowledge of formal tea leaves and tea sets.”

  Veight examined the most expensive teacup in the set.

  “This teacup is made of white porcelain, isn’t it? I’ve heard there are no longer craftsmen capable of making teacups this translucent or giving them this azure sheen. Though apparently there are a few fakes made of cheaper materials.”

  “Your knowledge runs deeper than you claim.”

  “Lady Airia mentioned that the genuine article might still exist in Rolmund is all.”

  Veight’s smile grew somewhat melancholic. He only seemed to get like this when speaking of the woman known as Airia. Whoever she was, he seemed to care about her. Still, despite the tinge of loneliness to it, it was a good smile. I smiled back at him, but his expression suddenly turned serious.

  “By the way, I noticed this tea set is protected by magic. A quite powerful enchantment, too. Which means it must be real and not a fake.”

  “An astute observation.”

  Veight had even realized that the tea set had wards on it to prevent it from eroding with time. He really did seem to know everything. More importantly though, I’d managed to get a glimpse into Veight’s personal life. It seemed his private life was as rich and varied as his public life seemed to be. Unable to bottle up my feelings any longer, I decided to open up to him about my worries.

  “Lord Veight.”

  “Yes?”

  His smile returned. I almost blurted out “I want to ask you something about my father...” right then and there, but I managed to stop myself. I was the crown prince; it would be wrong of me on multiple levels to divulge that my father was deathly ill. After all, the truth was still a secret. Instead, I chose a more roundabout approach.

  “Lord Veight, are your parents in good health?”

  “My mom is living peacefully in the countryside. I’ve been trying to invite her to Ryunheit, but she insists that she wants to remain in her village... She’s quite attached to her fields.”

  “And your father?”

  “He died when I was but a year old. I don’t remember anything about him.”

  Did I touch on a sensitive topic? Now I felt guilty for asking that. To my surprise though, Veight smiled gently at me.

  “However, there was someone I thought of as a father. He was my superior, and I respected him more than anyone, but last year he passed away.”

  “Oh... I’m terribly sorry to hear that.”

  Since Veight was on the council, I assumed he was referring to one of the other viceroys. I asked him, “Did you feel sad when he died?”

  “Of course I did. It was one of the most painful moments of my life. His passing was so sudden that I didn’t even have time to say anything. Even now, I wish it had just been a dream.”

  Veight’s eyes turned misty. This was the first time I’d seen him express sorrow. He looked down at the steam rising from his teacup and said, “But so long as people are mortal, they will one day die. I, too, will die eventually. It’s inevitable.”

  “Indeed, that is the fate of man.”

  “I’m not sure if those who care about me will still be alive when the reaper finally comes for me, but just imagining their sorrow makes me terrified to die.” Veight’s free hand curls into a fist. “If possible, I’d like those I leave behind to not mourn my death and to continue moving forward.”

  “Indeed. I wish for that as well, when it comes to me.”

  “In that case, you should do the same for those who are leaving you behind, Your Highness.”

  Those words granted me a moment of clarity. He’s right. Father was always looking forward to the day that I would succeed the throne.

  “If possible, I’d like to pass the throne onto you while I’m still alive, so I can see you in imperial robes.”

  I’d lost count of how many times he’d said that to me. Veight sighed and gave me a bashful smile.

  “That’s also why I’m trying to move forward. For the sake of those who passed on before me.”

  “I see...”

  Now that Father had successfully conquered Meraldia, the only worries he had left were whether or not the empire was stable. The current situation, where I was performing the duties of emperor withou
t actually being emperor, would probably just make him needlessly fret. My doubts and fears melted away, leaving in their place a newfound resolve.

  “Lord Veight, thank you so much for meeting with me. Time spent with you is always productive.”

  “You honor me, Your Highness.”

  The foreign noble smiled faintly and downed his tea in one gulp.

  After he left, I went to visit my father again. Though the servants had left incense burning to mask the scent, he gave off the unique odor of those who were deathly ill. People often called it the smell of death, and for good reason.

  The shadow of death darkened my father’s face as well. There was no doubt he only had days left. I gripped my father’s bony, emaciated hand, and told him my decision.

  “Father, I’ve finally made up my mind. I don’t know if I can support this empire or not, but I’m going to try and move forward.”

  Father should have been unconscious. But for just a moment, it felt like he grabbed my hand back.

  “Father!?”

  But then his fingers slackened, and he was still. He was still breathing, but barely. The court physician laid a hand on my shoulder.

  “Your Highness, you should let him rest. His condition has deteriorated to the point where it’s taking enormous amounts of mana and medicinal infusions to keep him alive.”

  If he wasn’t attended 24/7, he wouldn’t survive even a few more minutes.

  “I understand. I leave him in your care.”

  I left my father’s room and addressed the bishops and officials waiting outside.

  “Begin preparations for the coronation ceremony. Keep them secret from everyone but the most influential lords.”

  “As you wish, Your Highness.”

  As one, they bowed to me. Watching them, I muttered quietly, “Move forward for the sake of those who passed before you... was it?”

  “Did you say something, Your Highness?”

  “No, just talking to myself.”

  I smiled, and in my heart bade farewell to my father. From here on out, I’d be moving forward. For his sake as well. This is how I’ll honor your memory, Father.

  At the time, I had no idea. No idea that my decision would end up shaking the empire to its core. Nor that it would set both the empire, and my future, on a completely different track.

  Afterword

  Hello readers. It’s me, Hyougetsu. I’m honored we get to meet again in this volume. In fact, I’m relieved this volume got published at all. The Rolmund arc’s going to continue for a while, so I hope you guys can bear with me.

  Some of you might be wondering why I decided to move the stage to Rolmund. Really, it’s just because I felt like it. But let me give you a bit of insight into why I made the decision. Everyone loves reading stories about hidden plots and political intrigue, and I love writing them too. The problem with these things, though, is you need at least a few horrible events to make things tense. Political struggles inevitably lead to losers getting executed, or people being banished in disgrace.

  If there had been that kind of political drama in Meraldia, it would have left deep grudges after the dust settled. Veight and the others wouldn’t be able to live in peace because they’d always be worried someone might be coming back to take revenge, so I’d decided to have them go to Rolmund, where they could engage in all this political intrigue without having to worry about the backlash spilling over to their homeland. Also, I just really wanted to write about a country located in a snowy region.

  One of the greatest joys of writing an isekai is fleshing out the different societies and cultures that live in your new world. Since I was gonna make a bunch of different countries anyway, I figured it’d be cool to make one whose culture and history was the complete opposite of Meraldia’s. For those of you following me on Narou, you’ll notice I’ve introduced yet another nation in the web novel. I really love picking out geographic locations, and then thinking about how the climate and topography would shape a society’s culture and history.

  Anyway, before I forget, I’d like to thank Nishi(E)da-sensei for his wonderful illustrations. I introduced a lot of characters in this volume and designing all of them couldn’t have been easy. But he managed to give them all their individual charm while keeping them true to my descriptions. I really can’t thank him enough for his hard work.

  I’d also like to thank my editors Lord Fusanon and Saitou-sama. Even though they were so busy with getting the website for Der Werwolf up and running, they still managed to find time to answer my questions about writing.

  Also, thank you very much Komatsu Mikako-sama for voicing Airia in the promotional PV we put out on the website. She’s also voiced some of the new side stories I wrote especially for the website. I happened to get the chance to see the recording session, and honestly, the staff and voice actors were all amazing. I truly am blessed as an author, so I’d like to take these few pages to once again express my gratitude. Really, thank you so much.

  We’ve gotten quite a few volumes in, but Veight’s struggles are far from over. For now, he still has to deal with the turmoil within the Rolmund Empire. Let us meet again in volume six.

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  Copyright

  Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight Volume 5

  by Hyougetsu

  Translated by Ningen

  Edited by Meiru

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 Hyougetsu / Nishi(E)da

  Illustrations by Nishi(E)da

  All rights reserved.

  Original Japanese edition published in 2016 by Earth Star Entertainment

  This English edition is published by arrangement with Earth Star Entertainment, Tokyo

  English translation © 2019 J-Novel Club LLC

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

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  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  Ebook edition 1.0: August 2019