The Wind Calms the Fire - Chapter 15

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 15
Lea rubbed the sticky substance between her fingertips.
“It’s oil. They were planning to burn something.”
“I made it clear you weren’t to come near this place.”
“Your Highness. This is definitely contraband.”
Carrion’s eyes shifted.
When local officials embezzled funds for their own coffers, that wasn’t what the Empire called smuggling.
“What makes you say that?”
Lea held a charred grain in her palm, studying it carefully.
“Highland wheat. It can’t be cultivated on the Continent. The Governor of Poema has been trading with the Outsiders.”
Carrion felt the man’s body trembling in his grip and turned away.
The man emitted a sound half whimper, half desperate whine.
It was the reaction of someone gripped by terror and despair.
His response was as good as a confession.
Outsiders.
Though the Empire had swallowed the Continent, not all had submitted to its rule.
Those who resisted the Empire had crossed the mountains into the lands of the Wildfolk.
The Aurel Mountain Range formed the boundary between the Continent and the lands beyond, and the Empire designated those from beyond the range as barbarians—calling them Outsiders.
The Empire paid little mind to the Outsiders beyond the range, but it would not tolerate their setting foot on the Continent’s soil.
If word spread that an Imperial governor was trading with the Outsiders, not only the governor himself but his entire region could be laid waste.
Carrion released the man and let him drop, then turned toward her.
The man’s eyes flashed with venom as he watched Carrion’s back.
He scrambled toward a pile of baggage he’d set aside, drew a dagger, and lunged at Carrion with a wild cry.
“Watch out!”
Lea’s sharp cry had barely left her lips when Carrion was already moving, his body sliding out of the blade’s path.
He pivoted fluidly, channeling the momentum of his turn into a punch that crashed across the man’s face.
“Ugh!”
The man flew backward and crumpled to the ground; Carrion picked up the dagger he’d dropped.
“Your Highness.”
Lea grabbed the hem of his sleeve.
“Don’t kill him.”
She shouted toward the fallen man.
“Stay quiet if you want to live. I’ll convince His Highness to keep this quiet!”
Whether the man understood or had lost consciousness, he lay motionless and silent.
Carrion’s brow furrowed.
“What exactly are you proposing?”
“First, we secure this place. We take them into custody and secure all the evidence here.”
She dropped her voice to barely a whisper.
“To blackmail the Governor of Poema.”
Carrion was speechless.
At the same time, he found himself intensely curious about what she was thinking.
* * *
Lea knew something of Markel, the Governor of Poema.
Even ten years hence, Markel remained Poema’s governor.
People mocked him as the quintessential flatterer, a man without backbone who clung to whoever was convenient, but he was far different from his reputation.
When the name “Red Specter” first clung to Lea, it was then that she met Markel—the first and last time under those circumstances.
Though their first meeting was that day, the connection had persisted steadily.
Without the contraband trade with Markel—the food and weapons he provided—Lea and her refugees would never have survived.
“Why would you, a governor of the Empire, take such risks?”
“The title sounds impressive, but in the end, it’s all for survival.”
The Empire’s Capital drew all the wealth of the Continent into itself, prospering day by day.
Where light burned brightest, shadow ran deepest.
Poema had been the most neglected of the territories absorbed by the Empire.
Poema had never been a wealthy nation, and after its annexation, only its sole distinctive product was exploited.
Markel, a distant branch of Poema’s royal line and now its governor, had taken dangerous risks to secure the finances needed to care for his people.
Lea held the Governor of Markel in higher regard in this life than in her last.
She hadn’t expected him to already be smuggling at a time when the Empire had its eyes so keenly open.
To evade detection entirely and retain the governorship even ten years later—surely such a man was remarkable.
“Your Highness. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain leverage over the governor.”
“If I cover this up, then I too fall under his thumb.”
“The Governor has more to lose, so it’s fine.”
“Why should I trouble myself with such a thing?”
“And why shouldn’t you?”
The reproachful edge in her voice struck Carrion silent.
There was something strange in her gaze—a peculiar dignity as she looked him squarely in the eye.
“If Your Highness covers this up, you’d be granting a tremendous favor to both the Governor and the people of Poema. The Governor’s life hangs in the balance—he could never betray you.”
Carrion watched the back of the man walking several paces ahead of them.
Two of the three were bound tightly; only this guide was being escorted back to the garrison.
Once they reached the garrison, the guide would return to the site with soldiers.
“Is he truly unable to hear our conversation?”
“No, he can’t.”
‘How?’
All she’d done was stuff cloth into his ears and tell him that if he valued his life, he mustn’t remove it.
Lea had blocked the guide’s ears physically, then scattered the sound itself with Spirit Power.
He was probably hearing only a dull, muffled drone.
It was a method she’d verified worked in her past life.
“If Your Highness brings our party to the Capital and gains recognition from the Emperor, you’ll face opposition from those around you. You need to build alliances starting now.”
This woman overstepped her bounds.
Even a close advisor would hesitate to speak of such things, yet here she was—someone he’d known mere days—saying it without restraint.
When Carrion’s brow twitched, she opened her mouth again.
“If you expose their smuggling to the Emperor, what do you gain? A word of praise? If that’s all the praise you’re after, then so be it.”
This woman was rudely outspoken as naturally as she breathed.
And yet.
He couldn’t understand why it didn’t anger him.
It was strange that he could absorb such discourtesy without resistance.
Watching her figure stride ahead, Carrion fell into thought.
* * *
Upon returning to the garrison, he quietly summoned Luke and sent him into the forest with his closest guards.
Before entering the forest, Luke turned back with a peculiar look, glancing between Carrion and Lea.
The two of them entered the inner courtyard through the rear door of the Official Residence where they had emerged earlier.
“It’s late. You should rest if we’re to depart at dawn.”
“Are we leaving tomorrow as planned?”
“I’ll have it finished before sunrise.”
“……Have you decided what to do? The Emperor won’t treat this as the Governor’s isolated transgression. Many will die. You don’t wish for that, do you?”
Carrion understood then why her overstepping didn’t repel him.
Her gaze was straight and clear, unmarred by any impure intent to penetrate and manipulate.
It was different from the naïveté of one ignorant of the world.
It felt like honesty meeting him head-on.
In the world he’d lived in, people rarely held each other’s eyes for long.
They believed emotion lived in the gaze, that secrets could be read there.
He’d never exchanged such a prolonged look with another.
He clenched his fist, tension gathering in his hand.
He’d almost reached out and touched her face, illuminated by moonlight.
Noticing his gaze drift to her crimson lips, he quickly turned away.
After watching his receding figure disappear, Lea lightly slapped both her cheeks with her palms.
‘Get yourself together.’
She’d almost convinced herself there was some unspoken understanding between them.
When he suddenly turned away, it felt like an abrupt rejection—and for a moment, she’d felt disappointed.
She shouldn’t feel such strange emotions.
Their relationship had to remain a transaction.
Lea exhaled softly and walked toward her room.
She’d gone to the forest and back to avoid Peni finding out.
‘What? He’s been meeting that man every night since yesterday?’
Imagining what Peni would say if she found out—hearing her nursemaid’s scolding in advance—Lea quickened her pace.
‘I should check if he’s all right.’
From the way he’d handled those men so easily in the forest, he seemed fine.
‘I thought he’d ask about Spirit Runaway.’
If he had asked, she would have told him everything she knew.
But she was hesitant to bring up matters he hadn’t asked about.
‘He called it a curse. It’s a sensitive issue for him.’
Lea had no way of knowing whether his rampage had truly subsided or not.
The spirit knowledge Nela had taught her was ancient lore passed down through the ages.
Spirits must be learned through direct experience, observation, and practice.
That’s why she’d endured so much trial and error in her previous life.
On her way back to her room, Lea let out a soft laugh.
‘I suppose he’s rather… rigid in his principles.’
Taking responsibility simply because they’d kissed.
Lea assumed his talk of “taking responsibility” stemmed from that kiss in the forest village.
‘Strict about discipline, stubborn, unyielding, and consistent. At least there’s that.’
She could only hope he would show some flexibility—at least a shred of compassion—when it came to the matter of Poema’s governor.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————