Alaric Heath was the new Duke of the North where billows of snow occur everyday. He was already used to the freezing cold ever since he got stationed here after his revival a few years back. It was nostalgic, even though his days were grueling after that. However, one woman made his days bright even when it was bathed with blood. He was there when she disintegrated into black particles. It was… heartbreaking. Before he knew it, he now lived as the Hero of Lasirion since he saved the country from the invasion of the Demon Lord. Little did they know, he only fought small fries. Chang Xiuying was the one who brought them victory at the cost of her life.
For some reason, he was seeing someone who perfectly resembled that woman through her mannerism.
He was walking through the thick snow as he came back from the capital, when he spotted a woman with snow white hair with hints of silver on them. Her hair was so long that it reached her buttocks. She was wearing winter clothes and a thick scarf around her neck. She was communicating with the guard stationed there. When the guard noticed his arrival, he shook her off aside and greeted Alaric.
"My Lord!"
"What's the commotion about?"
"Well… this woman was claiming that she needed to talk to you at all cost."
Alaric scanned the woman once more and nodded.
"Follow me."
The woman nodded then did what she was told. When they entered the castle, it was devoid of life and there were cobwebs and dust everywhere. She scrunched up her nose and ignored it. Alaric entered a room as he pushed through the double doors and motioned at the fireplace. It was suddenly filled with fire and the room slowly warmed up. He turned to look at the woman and he noticed that he had to slightly turn up his face to look at her. She was… quite tall, alright.
"What is it that you need from me?"
"I believe that you are loyal to the King?"
"What is this question now? Also, show me your face."
The woman unfurled her scarf and the exact face of Chang Xiuying was revealed.
"... Xiuying?"
"Yeah."
"You're alive…."
"Things happen, and I am Emersyn Lachlan now. So, are you really loyal to the King?"
"King Gaius has been my friend for years. We shared tribulations after tribulations and strengthened our bonds as men. I will never betray him."
"Gaius is under my protection for now. Renove took over the capitol."
"What…?"
"This is not my problem anymore since I already saved my people from the prison. Besides, I still have a lot of work to do in my world."
"Wait, what do you mean that Duke Renove took over the capitol?"
Emersyn recounted what happened and what she learned when she was in prison. Alaric's expression turned grim as the story progressed.
"Please take me to the King."
"Gaius, Alaric is calling for you. You already heard what he said, so come out," she announced.
"..."
Alaric whipped his head towards the door, but no one was there. He couldn't even feel anyone coming from the other side. Suddenly, he felt another presence present itself in the room. He turned towards Emersyn and saw the figure of a man coming out of her shadow. Upon recognizing the man, he kneeled before him.
"Your Majesty."
"Sir Alaric Heath."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You are not allowed to leave me halfway."
"Yes!"
Gaius nodded solemnly then turned towards Emersyn.
"What are you going to do now?"
"We have already constructed the residential area in my world, so I will have to let my people rest there for the meantime. If they still decide to work under your rule, then I will send help. You really don't need powerful allies, right?"
"Yes. We already have Alaric and his men. Besides… we are only dealing with humans, right?"
"Yes, you guessed right. When they released the Gates, they didn't have any authority over it. So, you don't have to worry."
"I understand. That's a relief."
"By the way, Alaric, I need to borrow your training ground. I still have to let out a bunch of adventurers who decided to join you guys, and some that decided to go home to their countries. Of course, you don't have to give them money for reimbursement. I already gave them enough to scratch by until they reached their home."
"Thank you," Gaius said.
"Don't bother. I have too much money that giving it away to them didn't put a small dent in my pocket. Once I am done, I'll be leaving. Oh, and," Emersyn produced a ring and threw it over to Alaric. "Keep me updated."
Alaric smirked and asked, "I thought this isn't your problem anymore?"
"It's not for me. It's for a concerned person. Well then, please excuse me," she said then bowed before leaving the room.
Once Emersyn left the room, Gaius collapsed on the sofa. He covered his face with his hands and sighed.
"Your Majesty?"
"It's my fault that I didn't pay attention to my surroundings. I apologize, Alaric, for involving you in my immaturity."
"You're still young, Your Majesty. Besides, we always make mistakes. So, please don't be sad."
"... I am just glad that Ying… I mean, Emersyn was there to protect me. She always deals with the most difficult of problems and leaves the small fries to us. When she was only a few arms away back then, she became impossible to reach now. I feel so… useless and weak."
"Your Majesty, please don't use Emersyn as your standard."
"Still… I didn't get any stronger after all these years. All I did was to manage the Kingdom and sit prettily on the throne. I didn't even notice that the Queen changed… and that she loved me…. I am so useless, Alaric…."
Alaric pursed his lips and nodded.
"I didn't manage to notice what changed. It is also my fault, Your Majesty."
"..."
"Do you want to reclaim the throne and pull out the weeds from its roots, or should we go to another Kingdom as commoners?"
"... I will not reclaim the throne nor go to another Kingdom as a commoner. I will leave Lasirion to someone who is capable and dearly loves this Kingdom; not to someone like me."
"... I understand, Your Majesty."
"For now, let's gather forces first and see what Renove has in store for Lasirion," Gaius stood up and went to the window where he could see the training ground.
He could see Emersyn arrive at the center of the ground. She expanded her shadow and a lot of people came out at once. Once no one came out, she turned her shadow to normal and began talking to them. The crowd parted to two and a few of them switched to the other side. Then, a Gate opened and the people on the left side entered. The left side remained in the training ground. Emersyn left through the Gate before it closed. Gaius sighed heavily as he turned his gaze towards the snowy sky. Alaric only watched his king from the side as he gazed at the people falling into order once the guards appeared in his sight.
***
Emersyn turned to Yvri's palace as the little boy welcomed her with open arms. She carried him and pressed a loving kiss on his soft cheek.
"How are you?"
"Everything is good!"
"Thank you for waiting for Mama, my boy. What do you want today?"
"Uhm… I want to eat Mama's beef curry!"
"I received my son's order. Coming right up! Do you want to join Mama in the kitchen?"
"Yes!"
As soon as they finished eating, Emersyn bathed Yvri and tucked him to bed. She kissed his small forehead then went out of the Yvri's palace. It was already late at night and she saw Elodiaren waiting for her outside. He smiled at her then waved his hand.
"What are you doing here?" Emersyn asked as she passed by him.
"Can't I wait for you?" He innocently asked as he followed.
"It's already late. Why are you even waiting for me?"
"Well, will you really leave Lasirion like that? What about our trades?"
"... they arrested my people. Besides, that's not the only place where we can do trades. I don't want to be around people who threw us away."
"I understand."
"Also, once they realize that we stopped our trades because of that incident, they will definitely rally against Renove. Our products are always on the top of the line and we have high demands. We will look for another headquarters in another country. They'll know our worth," Emersyn grinned.
"... and here I thought you didn't have any plans."
"Sorry that I impulsively decided things by myself. I'll consult you all first next time."
"No, I didn't mean that, my Lady. You have every right to decide by yourself and we trust you wholeheartedly. We know that you only want the best for us, so we can't complain. You are our Lord. You are the absolute in this world, and that's why we want to name this new world after you. You don't have a say in it," Elodiaren said with a smug.
Emersyn suddenly went to the locations where she could see the names of the worlds she had been into. Now, her planet was finally named as Elachron.
"..."