After that, they had dinner together.
“I asked the servants to prepare as much non-greasy food as they could, but I don’t know if you’ll like it.”
Gerard said as he took a seat.
“No, I do. Thank you for being considerate.”
Gaon spoke, but his eyes were busy distinguishing between what Lin could and couldn’t eat.
“However, why did you ask us not to inform mother and father about you? By any chance… Are you not going to meet them?”
Chloe asked Catherine carefully while they were eating.
“Uhm…”
Catherine thought for a moment before answering.
“First of all, I came here to see you.”
She came due to having to tell Chloe about something urgent, but she hadn’t prepared enough courage to face the other members of her family yet. If she were being honest, she’d avoid them if she could.
“Just me?”
“Yes. So, can we talk personally after dinner?”
Catherine asked while glancing briefly at Gerard. Upon noticing her glance. Gerard smiled gently and asked Gaon.
“I’d like to hear more about the Ryeo Empire, so shall we talk after eating, if possible?”
It was a gentle expression of saying that he would entertain Gaon while their wives were talking.
“Of course. It’s an honor to know you’re taking interest in Ryeo, My Lord.”
Gaon responded with a plain bow.
***
After dinner, the two sisters gathered in the parlor.
“So, what do you want to tell me?”
Chloe asked Catherine.
“Uhm… I, I had a dream.”
“A dream?”
“Yes, but I think the dream is similar to the ones you told me about eight years ago.”
“A precognitive dream that I told you about? Did you…”
Chloe covered her mouth with one of her hands.
“Yes, you said a book appeared in your dreams, didn’t you? A book that you have to read?”
“Uh… Yes.”
“I also dreamed of a book recently.”
“Really? You, too?”
Chloe asked while leaning forward. First it was her husband, and now her sister? Why?
“What was it about? Tell me.”
“It’s about…”
Catherine was burdened by Chloe’s question.
In fact, it was because she had more than one dream about the book.
A dream she had in the Ryeo Empire. The dream portrayed Chloe holding the lifeless Marquis Blanchett.
In the dream, her youngest sister ended up fainting from having wept so much, and the last thing she saw was pitch darkness. And words were inscribed in white letters in the darkness.
[It was her last chance to fix the past by altering the future. The book appeared once again before Chloe, who was filled with sorrow and anger.]
Catherine couldn’t understand what that meant, but she somehow got goosebumps.
And she couldn’t stay still due to the profound despair her youngest sister had to go through, which she had witnessed in the dream. That’s what pushed her to travel all the way here.
“However, there was something strange…”
“?”
“I had two dreams.”
Catherine recently fell ill and experienced that kind of dream again. The end of the dream revealed the scene of her sister and brother-in-law kissing each other. Just by looking at it, she could sense that her youngest sister was offered so much love.
Therefore, she got worried. She came to tell her youngest sister that her husband may die soon, although she was not sure.
She wondered if she would only give her youngest sister anxiety by telling this without any apparent reason. Catherine, who was hesitating, struggled to open her mouth.
“In my first dream, I only recall the scene where my brother-in-law had gotten injured severely which endangered his life, and in my second dream, I only recall a scene where you two were happy together.”
“If those are the scenes you remember…”
“Those scenes are the ending of the book. When I came back to consciousness, I could only recall the last scene I saw, does that make sense?”
“Yes…”
Chloe nodded weakly at Catherine’s words. She was right.
Two people had told Chloe that they had such dreams. However, there were three endings they had dreamed about.
First, the ending in which her husband was severely injured, the ending where she chose Herace Moore….
And the ending of her family being as happy as it was now.
In the end, there were three books with different endings. How were they related to each other? Perhaps, they were not related at all. There was no way to confirm despite many possibilities.
Chloe swallowed dryly. She felt like something big was going to happen in the future.
“Actually… I think my husband also had that dream several days ago.”
Chloe held Catherine’s hand and told her about what happened.
“So, brother-in-law had the same dream as us, right?”
“I think so. What should we do about this?”
“…”
Despite Chloe’s pitiful gaze, Catherine couldn’t come up with a proper answer. In fact, it was her first time being in this situation.
“Let’s be as careful as we can. Don’t let brother-in-law get injured.”
Catherine reassured Chloe with a determined voice.
“Do you know how he got injured?”
“…I don’t know.”
Catherine looked away.
In her dream, her youngest sister was clinging to her husband’s body and blamed herself. There was no need to tell her youngest sister about her sorrowful remorse, which wouldn’t help the current situation.
She would never let that happen.
“I will remain in the Capital for the time being and let you know as soon as I have another dream. Therefore, you don’t have to be anxious.”
She explained the reason why she came to Hernia calmly.
However, unlike Catherine, Chloe was terrified.
“Can we change the future?”
“We can change it. We’ll be able to change it if we know about it ahead of time and prepare for it.”
“But…”
“?”
“We can’t change the future.”
Chloe spoke in a disheartened voice.
“What are we doing? I don’t know about the book appearing in our dream or why they’re doing this to us.”
Chloe eventually wondered about the basic of this. What the h*ll was the book in her dream? Why did it appear to her and show the future that would happen to people around her?
She wondered what it was trying to tell her by showing the future. Regardless of how much she tried, the future wouldn’t change, would it? Did it want them to live in helplessness?
“It’s all right, it’s fine.”
Catherine pulled Chloe’s trembling shoulders into her arms. Then, she rubbed her youngest sister’s back gently.
“We can change it. Chloe, will you change it with me?”
They couldn’t just give up here despite knowing the future couldn’t be changed.
They couldn’t just sit still and let everything happen just as it was.
“If there are several futures ahead of us, we can choose to obtain one of them. Let’s try and not get scared early on, we shouldn’t be discouraged.”
***
The next day, Chloe, who hadn’t been able to talk to her sister for a long time, was exhausted.
Gerard waited for his wife to wake up for a while but to no avail. Her puffy, swollen eyes wouldn’t open.
Staring at her face, he couldn’t resist brushing his wife’s eyelids.
“Hah…”
A faint chuckle slipped out of his lips.
“I knew you had a lot of tears, but really. How much did you cry for your eyes to puff up like this?”
Gerard murmured in a hushed voice. He felt discontented because it seemed that she had been crying too much lately.
“I want to see your smile.”
He wondered if they should go to the theater together this weekend. Or the art studio they had visited in the past?
He didn’t know the time was passing by while he was thinking about how to make his wife smile.
Knock, knock.
Then, there was the sound of faint knocks.
“My Lord, there is a visitor from the palace. I think you should meet them.”
Gerard hastily stood up in fear that the knock would wake his wife up.
“I’ll go.”
He adjusted his clothes and pulled the covers over his wife. Then, he kissed her lovely forehead.
Rattle.
Upon coming out of the bedroom, he returned to the dignified Marquis of Blanchett.
“All right, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know much, but… an Imperial decree was released.”
Gerard sensed something strange at the butler’s rigid reply. He followed the butler quickly as the old man led in front of him.
And they entered the parlor.
There was a knight standing in the parlor in full regalia. He was dressed in full armor.
“I’m here to pass the order bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor, the Sun of Hernia, Owen de Hernia.”
Gerard knelt before the knight upon his words.
“I am Gerard Blanchett, the faithful servant of Hernia, at the command of His Majesty the Emperor.”
The knight opened the document in his hand and read it aloud.
“By Owen de Hernia, I hereby appoint my sword, Gerard Blanchett, as the Chief Commander of the Western Restoration Force. You may return to the Imperial Palace as soon as you receive the order.”
It was a war. The situation began to flow toward the supposed ending without giving them room to breathe.
***
Gerard immediately headed for the Imperial palace. He was also equipped with armor just like the knight who came to deliver the Imperial decree.
“What’s going on?”
Gerard asked Anton, the Deputy Knight Commander, on their way to the council hall.
“It seems that the Tswai people have breached the border after releasing a declaration of war. I heard that several western territories have already fallen.”
It was said they became anxious of the expanding power of the new Emperor, which led to this.
“Fallen? Which estate?”
“Bern, Elias, Ford. They’ve got three of ours.”
Anton replied.
“Bern…”
Gerard heaved out a sigh at the familiar name. They didn’t like to go against the Tswai people so much, so it seemed that they had let their estate fall.
“So, how many troops are on the front lines now?”
“There are soldiers from the western estates around the area. We need to send reinforcement as quickly as possible.”
At that, Gerard stood in front of the door to the council hall with a stiff expression.
“The First Chief Imperial Knight Commander and the Deputy Chief are here.”
Gerard Blanchett’s appearance was expected by everyone in the council hall.
After that, they had dinner together.
“I asked the servants to prepare as much non-greasy food as they could, but I don’t know if you’ll like it.”
Gerard said as he took a seat.
“No, I do. Thank you for being considerate.”
Gaon spoke, but his eyes were busy distinguishing between what Lin could and couldn’t eat.
“However, why did you ask us not to inform mother and father about you? By any chance… Are you not going to meet them?”
Chloe asked Catherine carefully while they were eating.
“Uhm…”
Catherine thought for a moment before answering.
“First of all, I came here to see you.”
She came due to having to tell Chloe about something urgent, but she hadn’t prepared enough courage to face the other members of her family yet. If she were being honest, she’d avoid them if she could.
“Just me?”
“Yes. So, can we talk personally after dinner?”
Catherine asked while glancing briefly at Gerard. Upon noticing her glance. Gerard smiled gently and asked Gaon.
“I’d like to hear more about the Ryeo Empire, so shall we talk after eating, if possible?”
It was a gentle expression of saying that he would entertain Gaon while their wives were talking.
“Of course. It’s an honor to know you’re taking interest in Ryeo, My Lord.”
Gaon responded with a plain bow.
***
After dinner, the two sisters gathered in the parlor.
“So, what do you want to tell me?”
Chloe asked Catherine.
“Uhm… I, I had a dream.”
“A dream?”
“Yes, but I think the dream is similar to the ones you told me about eight years ago.”
“A precognitive dream that I told you about? Did you…”
Chloe covered her mouth with one of her hands.
“Yes, you said a book appeared in your dreams, didn’t you? A book that you have to read?”
“Uh… Yes.”
“I also dreamed of a book recently.”
“Really? You, too?”
Chloe asked while leaning forward. First it was her husband, and now her sister? Why?
“What was it about? Tell me.”
“It’s about…”
Catherine was burdened by Chloe’s question.
In fact, it was because she had more than one dream about the book.
A dream she had in the Ryeo Empire. The dream portrayed Chloe holding the lifeless Marquis Blanchett.
In the dream, her youngest sister ended up fainting from having wept so much, and the last thing she saw was pitch darkness. And words were inscribed in white letters in the darkness.
[It was her last chance to fix the past by altering the future. The book appeared once again before Chloe, who was filled with sorrow and anger.]
Catherine couldn’t understand what that meant, but she somehow got goosebumps.
And she couldn’t stay still due to the profound despair her youngest sister had to go through, which she had witnessed in the dream. That’s what pushed her to travel all the way here.
“However, there was something strange…”
“?”
“I had two dreams.”
Catherine recently fell ill and experienced that kind of dream again. The end of the dream revealed the scene of her sister and brother-in-law kissing each other. Just by looking at it, she could sense that her youngest sister was offered so much love.
Therefore, she got worried. She came to tell her youngest sister that her husband may die soon, although she was not sure.
She wondered if she would only give her youngest sister anxiety by telling this without any apparent reason. Catherine, who was hesitating, struggled to open her mouth.
“In my first dream, I only recall the scene where my brother-in-law had gotten injured severely which endangered his life, and in my second dream, I only recall a scene where you two were happy together.”
“If those are the scenes you remember…”
“Those scenes are the ending of the book. When I came back to consciousness, I could only recall the last scene I saw, does that make sense?”
“Yes…”
Chloe nodded weakly at Catherine’s words. She was right.
Two people had told Chloe that they had such dreams. However, there were three endings they had dreamed about.
First, the ending in which her husband was severely injured, the ending where she chose Herace Moore….
And the ending of her family being as happy as it was now.
In the end, there were three books with different endings. How were they related to each other? Perhaps, they were not related at all. There was no way to confirm despite many possibilities.
Chloe swallowed dryly. She felt like something big was going to happen in the future.
“Actually… I think my husband also had that dream several days ago.”
Chloe held Catherine’s hand and told her about what happened.
“So, brother-in-law had the same dream as us, right?”
“I think so. What should we do about this?”
“…”
Despite Chloe’s pitiful gaze, Catherine couldn’t come up with a proper answer. In fact, it was her first time being in this situation.
“Let’s be as careful as we can. Don’t let brother-in-law get injured.”
Catherine reassured Chloe with a determined voice.
“Do you know how he got injured?”
“…I don’t know.”
Catherine looked away.
In her dream, her youngest sister was clinging to her husband’s body and blamed herself. There was no need to tell her youngest sister about her sorrowful remorse, which wouldn’t help the current situation.
She would never let that happen.
“I will remain in the Capital for the time being and let you know as soon as I have another dream. Therefore, you don’t have to be anxious.”
She explained the reason why she came to Hernia calmly.
However, unlike Catherine, Chloe was terrified.
“Can we change the future?”
“We can change it. We’ll be able to change it if we know about it ahead of time and prepare for it.”
“But…”
“?”
“We can’t change the future.”
Chloe spoke in a disheartened voice.
“What are we doing? I don’t know about the book appearing in our dream or why they’re doing this to us.”
Chloe eventually wondered about the basic of this. What the h*ll was the book in her dream? Why did it appear to her and show the future that would happen to people around her?
She wondered what it was trying to tell her by showing the future. Regardless of how much she tried, the future wouldn’t change, would it? Did it want them to live in helplessness?
“It’s all right, it’s fine.”
Catherine pulled Chloe’s trembling shoulders into her arms. Then, she rubbed her youngest sister’s back gently.
“We can change it. Chloe, will you change it with me?”
They couldn’t just give up here despite knowing the future couldn’t be changed.
They couldn’t just sit still and let everything happen just as it was.
“If there are several futures ahead of us, we can choose to obtain one of them. Let’s try and not get scared early on, we shouldn’t be discouraged.”
***
The next day, Chloe, who hadn’t been able to talk to her sister for a long time, was exhausted.
Gerard waited for his wife to wake up for a while but to no avail. Her puffy, swollen eyes wouldn’t open.
Staring at her face, he couldn’t resist brushing his wife’s eyelids.
“Hah…”
A faint chuckle slipped out of his lips.
“I knew you had a lot of tears, but really. How much did you cry for your eyes to puff up like this?”
Gerard murmured in a hushed voice. He felt discontented because it seemed that she had been crying too much lately.
“I want to see your smile.”
He wondered if they should go to the theater together this weekend. Or the art studio they had visited in the past?
He didn’t know the time was passing by while he was thinking about how to make his wife smile.
Knock, knock.
Then, there was the sound of faint knocks.
“My Lord, there is a visitor from the palace. I think you should meet them.”
Gerard hastily stood up in fear that the knock would wake his wife up.
“I’ll go.”
He adjusted his clothes and pulled the covers over his wife. Then, he kissed her lovely forehead.
Rattle.
Upon coming out of the bedroom, he returned to the dignified Marquis of Blanchett.
“All right, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know much, but… an Imperial decree was released.”
Gerard sensed something strange at the butler’s rigid reply. He followed the butler quickly as the old man led in front of him.
And they entered the parlor.
There was a knight standing in the parlor in full regalia. He was dressed in full armor.
“I’m here to pass the order bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor, the Sun of Hernia, Owen de Hernia.”
Gerard knelt before the knight upon his words.
“I am Gerard Blanchett, the faithful servant of Hernia, at the command of His Majesty the Emperor.”
The knight opened the document in his hand and read it aloud.
“By Owen de Hernia, I hereby appoint my sword, Gerard Blanchett, as the Chief Commander of the Western Restoration Force. You may return to the Imperial Palace as soon as you receive the order.”
It was a war. The situation began to flow toward the supposed ending without giving them room to breathe.
***
Gerard immediately headed for the Imperial palace. He was also equipped with armor just like the knight who came to deliver the Imperial decree.
“What’s going on?”
Gerard asked Anton, the Deputy Knight Commander, on their way to the council hall.
“It seems that the Tswai people have breached the border after releasing a declaration of war. I heard that several western territories have already fallen.”
It was said they became anxious of the expanding power of the new Emperor, which led to this.
“Fallen? Which estate?”
“Bern, Elias, Ford. They’ve got three of ours.”
Anton replied.
“Bern…”
Gerard heaved out a sigh at the familiar name. They didn’t like to go against the Tswai people so much, so it seemed that they had let their estate fall.
“So, how many troops are on the front lines now?”
“There are soldiers from the western estates around the area. We need to send reinforcement as quickly as possible.”
At that, Gerard stood in front of the door to the council hall with a stiff expression.
“The First Chief Imperial Knight Commander and the Deputy Chief are here.”
Gerard Blanchett’s appearance was expected by everyone in the council hall.
