The Wind Calms the Fire - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 23
Cedric regarded Luke with open suspicion.
Luke unsettled him in ways that differed entirely from Orbin’s manner.
He preferred to sprawl about like a well-fed bear, indulging his laziness.
A commander’s guard captain in name, yet he approached everything with casual indifference.
Cedric had never seen him volunteer for anything.
Yet whenever Cedric complained, Luke answered with unbothered confidence.
“Ever watch soldier ants work?”
Cedric glowered at him, unconvinced.
Still, he couldn’t fault Luke’s skill with a blade—that much was undeniable.
“You just need to stand here.”
“Don’t leave your post.”
“Got it.”
Cedric decided to hand over the task since Luke had, for once, shown willingness.
The man had responsibility when it came to his duties, at least.
After Cedric departed, Luke crossed his arms and took his stance.
The imposing bulk of him standing guard felt reassuring.
It seemed no one would dare approach anywhere near him.
Though the aura he projected was fierce, inwardly he was delighted.
He felt as satisfied as someone who’d secured front-row seats to a sold-out performance.
* * *
The moment the carriage door closed, Lea asked him a question.
“How did you sleep last night?”
Her tone carried equal parts hope and concern, and it felt oddly familiar.
Carion turned his gaze away awkwardly.
This closeness didn’t displease him—it simply felt unfamiliar.
“Did it have no effect?”
He wanted to see her disappointed expression linger a moment longer.
He paused slightly before answering.
“I slept well.”
“Truly? No symptoms at all?”
At the sight of her joy, Carion almost laughed.
“None whatsoever. When I opened my eyes, morning had already come.”
He’d woken this morning to the sound of birdsong.
For a moment, he’d lain there dazed, unable to comprehend his surroundings.
After several days without seizures, the deep sleep had left his entire body refreshed.
When she’d suggested yesterday that they attempt prevention, he’d silently doubted it would work.
But once they’d begun kissing, such thoughts had vanished entirely.
He couldn’t fathom the mechanism by which the curse—if that’s what it was—had tormented him all these years.
A sickness prevented by kissing?
Even the most absurd third-rate theatrical production would have better internal logic.
The very idea that a kiss could quell seizures defied reason.
Lea’s expression brightened, then clouded again.
“Then it’s not a true sealing. ……Which means it’s active even during ordinary waking hours.”
Her murmured words were barely audible to him.
“Your Highness. Today, let’s discuss this condition that troubles you. What I’m about to say may sound absurd.”
Carion nodded.
He doubted anything she could say would be more absurd than what he himself had endured.
“First, it isn’t a curse. Was there a reason you believed it to be one?”
“No known cause, no known cure. I assumed it was a curse.”
“You never consulted a physician?”
“I never told anyone.”
“Four times a week as a child must have been unbearable. Did you never seek help from those around you?”
“Help? What sort of help?”
Lea realized he didn’t comprehend the very concept of seeking help from others.
She understood her own misstep.
She couldn’t project her own upbringing onto someone like him.
This man had borne his burden alone, shouldering what he believed to be a curse, with no one safe to lean upon.
Lea found herself picturing a lonely ten-year-old boy, and her heart ached.
“What I mean is……it seems you must have tried various methods on your own, in your own way.”
“I’ve tried various painkillers. I’ve pushed myself until I collapsed from exhaustion, immersed my body in ice water…….”
“I see.”
Lea cut him off.
She had no desire to hear the details of his desperate, countless attempts, delivered in that measured tone.
“You know the history of the Continent, don’t you? The ancient era when four kingdoms ruled it?”
The abrupt shift in topic caught Carion off guard, but he nodded in acknowledgment.
“The sort of tale that appears in children’s storybooks.”
It was closer to legend than history.
In the distant past, four kingdoms blessed by the gods had divided the world into east, west, south, and north, each ruling their own realm.
“The southern kingdom of that age—Zephyros descends from it.”
Carion could not discern her intent.
Was she asking him to acknowledge the magnificence of Zephyros, heir to ancient glory?
Yet if that were the measure, The Empire too carried the legend of the ancient kingdoms.
Two of the ancient kingdoms—those ruling east and west—had merged to form The Empire as it stood today.
Even The Empire’s most renowned historians acknowledged this as fact.
“Have you ever considered the divine blessing those ancient kingdoms received?”
As Carion’s brow furrowed, Lea continued.
“A symbol—or rather, I should say a religion. The Empire has the Terra Faith, which venerates the god of water and the god of earth. We in Zephyros revere the god of wind.”
“That is true.”
“We venerate the Wind Spirit.”
Carion suddenly recalled the legendary artifacts of Zephyros.
When he had first heard the stories of them summoning sandstorms to repel invaders, he had scoffed.
Twenty years ago, when the Emperor was consumed with conquest, he had marched on Zephyros and suffered a crushing defeat—that much was indisputable fact.
The Emperor had doubtless attributed his failure to Zephyros’s mysterious artifacts.
Carion had assumed that claim had been distorted and spread as absurd rumor.
Speculation about Zephyros’s artifacts ran rampant.
Unless the Emperor himself took action, who would dare meddle with his one and only failure?
Whether Zephyros’s artifacts were real or fabrication was no concern of his.
He had no reason to take interest in a distant southern desert kingdom, and besides, he was Commander of the Northeast.
‘Just nonsense, as I thought.’
The evidence was before his eyes.
If such a formidable artifact truly existed, would Zephyros have volunteered to become a vassal state and sent its princess?
Of course, he was not foolish enough to voice such thoughts to the Zephyran princess.
“Once you become the Emperor’s consort, you needn’t worry about pressure to convert. The Empire recognizes diverse faiths.”
“Ah, no—that isn’t what I meant to tell you. In ancient times, that deity was called a Spirit.”
“A Spirit?”
“The source of His Majesty’s suffering. A Spirit dwells within his body.”
Carion stared at her.
As one might regard someone of unsound mind, clicking one’s tongue in disapproval.
She spoke urgently.
“I have a Spirit too. Look.”
The moment Lea flicked her hand, the paperweight resting atop the documents tumbled away, and dozens of pages swirled up in a gust, spinning through the air.
The papers that struck the carriage ceiling scattered in all directions, fluttering down.
In the brief silence that followed, their eyes met.
“Oh no, what have I done? I’ll gather them all up.”
Lea quickly bent down.
“It’s all right.”
Carion spoke again to her, now vanished beneath the table.
“It’s fine—come out from under there. They’re not important documents.”
The moment he caught sight of her face peering up at him, Carion clenched his teeth. A laugh had nearly escaped.
“I apologize.”
Lea, her cheeks flushed with excitement, slowly straightened up.
Carion took in every detail of that sight.
Then.
A breeze brushed gently against his cheek as it passed, and he caught his breath.
In that instant, memory surfaced.
That mysterious sensation he had felt several times when in her presence—it had definitely been wind.
‘Ah, so that’s what it was.’
Carion found himself accepting it naturally now.
It was unlike him, someone who questioned and scrutinized everything.
“It’s because we’re inside the carriage. If we were outside, I could show you for certain.”
Lea spoke again, as if urging him to trust her.
Carion nodded slowly.
“So it stems from that ability—to follow footsteps, find paths, silence sounds?”
“Yes…….”
“You command the wind……. So that’s what a Spirit is.”
Lea looked at him with wide eyes.
“You truly understand?”
“I can tell you’re not lying.”
“You’re not just humoring me because there’s a mad woman standing in front of you right now, are you?”
Carion let out a soft laugh.
“So what does this Spirit of yours have to do with me?”
“Your Highness has such power too.”
“On what grounds?”
“I’m not sure why, but the Spirit dwelling in Your Highness is unstable. Let me use an analogy to explain. There’s a very strong and stubborn child trapped inside your body. Normally, you suppress it. Unconsciously. But sometimes that child throws a tantrum.”
“So it manifests as seizures…….”
Carion stroked his jaw, lost in thought.
Preposterous as it was, her explanation made a strange sort of sense.

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