Chapter 462

“Yikes! You’re crazy!”
Erzebet screamed. A stack of manuscripts fell to the floor.
I giggled at the adolescent-like response.
“Surprise. What’s all the fuss about?”
“Uhhhh, sorry, I got so excited reading that—so you knew I was on the balcony, by the way.”
Erzebet wiped her hands on her face. Her face rose like steam.
The happy screams came during the scene where I proposed to Adeshan. I was kind of expecting it. His breathing was noticeably quickening from the moment we kissed.
“I don’t know how old you are, but you do that with kisses. You haven’t done it yet?”
“Well, that can’t be right, I’ve done it plenty of times, I just haven’t done it with Adeshan—.”
“That’s great, but I’m not going to be able to show you the next part if you scream at the end of this.”
“The part after ——?”
“Yeah. I wrote it out of boredom. I don’t think it’s going to make it into the book, but I think it’s pretty good.”
I showed him the manuscript I had set aside.
On a dozen sheets of paper, I wrote an essay that melded the hottest parts of my life. The day I returned from an adventure in a parallel world. The day after he proposed to me and the morning after.
“Then the next part—.”
Erzebet swallowed hard. She looked disinterested, but somehow eager to read.
As if on cue, she coughed and broke her rhyme.
“Hmmmmm, hmmmmm—Mr. Ronan, but I’m the only editor, don’t I have an obligation to read it?”
“That must be irritating, especially for you.”
“It’s okay, I was just startled by your suddenness, I’m just a young lady. What do you see the owner of the Dawn Tower as?”
“Then read it. I clearly warned you.”
I handed over the manuscript. I figured it would be okay since it was Eri and no one else.
Adeshan was the one who started it in the first place. I can still see him bragging to Marja the night we went on a couple’s trip that I was a really good knife wielder. Anyway, women.
Erzebet snatched up the manuscript and began to peruse it.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
The reaction came before she’d even turned the first page. Erzebet’s face was as red as a sun apple. She looked like she was about to cry, but she kept turning the pages.
“This—this—this is not possible—.”
My hands were shaking. I didn’t think I’d be that bad when I read the Bazura of Destruction.
She finally finished the last chapter and squealed.
“You beast! How dare you do this to my sister!”
“I just wrote the facts as they are. And look at Adeshan. Doesn’t he look happier than anyone else?”
“Shut up! You can’t tell me this is true—isn’t that an exaggeration of your abilities?!”
“You can think whatever you want, I’m not stupid.”
I could swear to God that I had written the truth. The manuscript had been cross-checked by Lin, so it was all said and done. Hugging the manuscript and breathing deeply, Erzebet suddenly looked at me.
“Don’t even think about recording it, you’re sending me pornography— what the hell do you think you’re showing your grandchildren?!”
“I told you I wasn’t going to put it in the book in the first place, girl.”
“Aaaaah—Adeshan sister—.”
Erzebet pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. It was like being hit in the head with a hammer.
“I’m–I need to get some rest–you said you had a paper due.”
“Ugh. That’ll be over soon.”
“Okay—that’s great—we’re practically done, so congratulations in advance.”
Erzebet, barely balancing herself, spoke up.
“I enjoyed reading your book, Ronan. I’m sure your grandchildren will be delighted.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t be afraid of the future, live in the present–it’s a cliché, but it’s a good lesson, and the wizard Akasha was the perfect device to convey that meaning.”
“I think it’s great, but Akasha is real.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure. I’m going to go down there.”
Erzebet staggered down the stairs.
I let it slide that he took the manuscript on the sly. She had taken time out of her busy schedule to help me throughout the writing process, and that was the least I could do. I’m sure she’s a much better keeper of secrets than I am.
I returned to my room and closed the door. The sun was slowly setting, painting the room a scarlet color. The only sound in the empty room was the ticking of a clock.
He looked around the room slowly and muttered.
“——That’s it.”
An indescribable feeling took over my body.
I was staring at my desk like a person possessed by something.
There was a thick stack of manuscript paper next to a smudged fountain pen. They were all densely filled with words. I had just finished my first parallel world story, and these were the blank pages I thought I would never finish.
“Holy shit, I’m actually writing a book.”
I had goosebumps. I couldn’t believe I had created something other than a widow, poop, and a baby. A memory that had been in my head was now a story for all to read. I still had to write the manuscript, but it wouldn’t take me long, since I’d been tinkering with it along the way.
“Do I have to make a toast—.”
My heart was pounding. The unfamiliar feeling of exhilaration wouldn’t let me be still.
There was no one to play with at the moment, so I started to slowly circle the room with my back to the door. It’s something I do whenever I’m stuck, and it’s become a habit.
Suddenly, a picture frame on the wall caught my eye.
“I miss you.”
I couldn’t help but smile. The ornate frame held a photo of hundreds of people in the great plaza of Pileon Academy. It was me and Adeshan’s wedding.
“Hahaha—.”
This was decades ago.
Even with the passage of time and changing acidity, the noisy scene was as clear as a burn.
The wedding was a grand affair. It was in no way dwarfed by Schlieffen and his sister’s wedding a few years later. In fact, the guest list was even more extravagant. Lady Navardose and Archduke Shadow brought their entire clan.
‘That was unheard of, to be treated like that.
In the center of the photo, Adeshan and I are kissing, wearing Allied uniforms instead of wedding dresses. I remember there was quite a bit of confusion before this picture was taken. No one had told me the caveat that tongues are not allowed in a wedding kiss.
‘Fuck. I thought I could just do it like normal.’
It’s black history. I still get hot in the face when I think about it.
I clicked my tongue with more effort than I’d ever done in my life. Adeshan panicked and tried to push me away, but eventually threw his arms around my neck and closed his eyes. It was both our advantage and disadvantage that we were both so stoic and easily amused.
Unsurprisingly, the guests went wild. Erzebet screamed incoherently and collapsed by the back of the neck. Marja licked her lips, looking up at Asel as if provoked. Zaifa bared all four of her fangs and laughed. Shaking her head in disbelief, Sister Nabiroze bit down on her cigarette. The orchestra invited by the imperial court stopped playing sweet classical music and started playing fast-paced dance music. If I’m not mistaken, the Emperor himself had put in the request.
Archmage Lorhon chuckled as he patted Kratyr and Varen on the shoulder.
– You guys have some great students!
Asel was taken away by Marja in the middle of the ceremony and returned just before the photos were taken. I don’t know where he’d been, but he was disheveled. His slender neck was covered with a half-dozen mosquito bites. If I had to make a wild guess, I’d say that’s when Cechika walked in.
My sister jumped up and down, not knowing what to do. Schlieffen, next to me, turned his head away, calling it vulgar, but his gaze remained fixed on us.
Sister Navardozé cried out, “Mortal, what a good thing!” and punched Orsay in the forearm. He flew to the end of the plaza and didn’t wake up until the ceremony was over. Her eyes are closed in the photo because she was forced to stand up while she fainted.
Intense music ensued, and when we pulled away from the kiss, the reception was already underway. The solemnity was like a wedding that got bitten by a dog and ran away, but somehow it ended well.
At the end of the day, a group photo showed everyone who had been on the journey.
Nuna, Asel, Marja, Schlieffen, Sita, Lin, Braum, Erzebet, Ophelia.
Varen, Marpez, Nabiroze, Secrit, Jarodin, Kratyr, Ghidokan, Avar, and the rest of the Phileon Academy faculty. The (former) Sarante, still in stone.
Didikan, Doron, Katan, the blacksmiths of Gran Cappadocia and Aurora Scar, Inquisitor Karaka, former Dawn Mastership Aun Pilar, Aire, Lorhon, Josef and Zion, and the rest of the Gracian clan.
Zaifa, Nemea, Alogin the Elder, Navarordze, the Fire Dragon Clan, including Bnihardo and Itargand, Orse, the Dragon King Azidahaka, the Shadow Archduke Isran, the former Witch of Winter Ivelin, and Elsia and Alibrihe, former lieutenants of Nebula Clazier.
Raging storms, dreamy thunder, the over-technologized natives of Dainhar, and the reformed assholes from the penal colonies who’ve been rehabilitated by Balus.
Balon 44, and now Balon 45, the crown prince.
So many people have blessed our marriage.
“It’s gross. What is everyone doing?”
All of the guests had to be extremely close together to be in the photo.
The end result was reminiscent of a barnacle colony, but no one was unhappy.
Taking my eyes off the photo, I picked up a glove that was hanging nearby.
“You didn’t finish this one.”
He’d gotten it from Aurora Scar one day. The dark metal gloves reached up to his wrists and housed a variety of intricate mechanisms, including the power of extreme light. A treasure crafted by the fiery crone, Katan.
I thought I’d use it at least once, but I never found a situation where I needed it, except for weeding.
Sometimes things like this happen. Like the bar you bought for pull-ups that turns out to be a clothesline.
“Should I just pass it on to Lance—.”
That didn’t seem so bad. Now that I had more time, I was noticing things I hadn’t noticed when I was in a hurry. On a whim, I opened my closet. The long coat I’d worn throughout my adventures in the parallel world was still hanging on the hanger.
“—Sometime.”
I muttered to myself. Unanswered questions were bubbling up. No one would believe me, but I still had work to do.
Without thinking, you throw your coat over your shoulder.
“Lo, Ronan!”
Suddenly, the door swung open and Erzebet walked in. I stumbled backward, breathing hard, like someone who had just run a sprint.
“Quick, quick, we have to go—time is running out!”
“What’s going on?”
“Seh, Cecica’s in labor!”
The moment I heard those words, I reflexively gripped the hilt of my sword.
My grandchild was about to be born.
The Academy’s Genius KnifemanChapter 512