The news of the King’s summons reached Greene’s ears when a knight appeared outside his door.
Greene’s trail was not difficult to find. Within seven or eight hours of his departure from the void, the knights, having finished their reorganization, began to fan out from the palace to establish and maintain order.
Greene was resting at the Ulgrich University temporary shelter when a knight from the Royal Guard found him, bringing the expected news of the King’s summons.
However, the knight added that their Vice-Commander had requested to meet with him first.
Though he did not quite understand the reason, Greene had no grounds to refuse.
Greene was familiar with Haigor’s legendary deeds, but he was not well-acquainted with the man himself while he was still alive.
As mentioned before, Greene’s knowledge of Dolores’s mother, Doroth, had been limited in his past life due to a break in the trail of clues. Among the key figures who had died early—aside from the Blood-burning Felz IV and Vesserian during the Dragon Calamity—were this Vice-Commander of the Royal Guard, Haigor, and a clerk from the Royal Library.
Vesserian had died young due to an elven curse, while Haigor had perished on the Rand border defending against the Abyss. At that time, Greene had not yet successfully secured an engagement with Dolores and was still in the stage of building his reputation.
Thus, Haigor remained somewhat mysterious to Greene. In his memories, the man seemed to have sought him out once regarding Dolores, but the questions had only been about whether Dolores truly loved him.
At the time, those questions had led Greene to believe the man was a romantic rival. However, Dolores later denied this, saying that Haigor was a devoted, good man. He had a wife whom he loved deeply and, aside from his single-minded devotion, he was a man almost without flaws.
In his previous life, it was also Haigor who had made Greene look utterly pathetic within the halls of the royal palace.
Before reaching the location mentioned by the knight, Greene met Haigor. To be precise, the man had taken the initiative to find him.
After saluting Haigor, the knight who had been leading the way returned toward the university, while Haigor spoke, asking Greene to follow him to a different place to talk.
They found a secluded, empty house. With a snap of Haigor’s fingers, a silencing spell enveloped the surroundings.
“Mr. Greene, the King has summoned you. Princess Dolores will meet you first.”
“This doesn’t seem like the standard procedure for being taken to the palace.”
Haigor bowed slightly and then stated his purpose. “Mr. Greene, on behalf of myself and my comrades, I thank you for your heroic actions. I didn’t come to see you because of the King’s summons, but for the sake of the Princess.”
“Dolores… Did something happen to her?” Greene’s eyes flickered.
His last meeting with Dolores had ended with her expressing her dislike for him. However, given the situation at the palace, Dolores should have been safe, a fact corroborated by Haigor’s calm expression.
“Mr. Greene, we detected traces of suspected Mental Control Magic on the Princess. You are the person she has had the most contact with recently.”
Greene’s heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously asked the system in his mind, but the system replied that the natives of this world could not perceive its existence.
“The Princess and I were separated several times within the city during the disaster. We encountered many people with ulterior motives, such as Count Kanko… Perhaps it was their doing. Is this information verified?” Greene asked.
“That mental control seems to be forcing the Princess to like you. She’s quite distressed by this, yet she still chooses to continue seeing you,” Haigor said.
When Haigor spoke so pointedly, Greene thought the man might be about to attack him.
Instead, Haigor continued, “Mr. Greene, you are the primary suspect, but I am willing to believe you.”
“Why?” Greene was puzzled. He had only met Haigor a handful of times. Their only significant interaction had been their swordsmanship duel in the palace.
“I believe you possess a noble character. Words can lie, but I believe actions do not. I saw with my own eyes how you lured the dragon away alone. I was on the walls guarding His Majesty at the time, and I saw you.
“I was exhausted then. My comrades were even prepared to sacrifice their lives for the King. You must have seen the battle array used by the Kingdom’s Guardians… We in the Royal Guard have a similar skill, but the price is even more devastating.
“The Royal Guard’s array-like skills are strongly linked to the ancestral lands of Rand, and the cost is immense. I saw my comrades preparing to sacrifice themselves, but your appearance allowed them to lower the blades they had turned toward their own hearts. This is my personal thanks to you. Therefore, I am willing to believe you.”
Haigor spoke with the air of an elder affirming a junior. He possessed a level of weariness and fortitude that far surpassed Greene’s, and his blue-purple eyes were somewhat clouded.
“Mr. Greene, have you ever been to the northern nations?”
Greene shook his head. Haigor then spoke.
“I come from Yefovska in the northern nation of Grodo. it’s a remote village on a piece of cursed land. I had a wife named Anna Fren. My wife was very brave and very clever. In the north, there is a disaster known as the ‘Aurora.’ it causes many incredible things to awaken.
“During an Aurora thirty or so years ago, my wife and I were driven to a dead end. We stopped near an extremely cold Ice Lake. She claimed there was a miracle of pain within the Ice Lake that wouldn’t kill a person. She begged me to put her into the lake and wait for the Aurora to pass before coming back to save her.”
“Did you fulfill her request?” Greene asked. He felt a sense of déjà vu as he listened to Haigor’s words.
“I didn’t believe her. I did carry her to the Ice Lake, but I felt that putting her in would only kill her… I chose to carry her away from the Aurora instead, but it still caught up to us. Before I knew it, I was chased back to the vicinity of the lake and fell in. When I woke up, the Aurora had passed… Everything my wife said was true.”
Haigor’s gaze turned lonely. “I was always putting myself in danger in front of her. Although I loved my wife, I habitually ignored her intelligence and her sacrifices in my subconscious. I brought her body home and found her research on the Ice Lake on her desk, along with a method to escape the curse of the snow and wind. The fact that I’m alive and was able to leave the north proves she was right.
“When she was alive, my wife loved an imperial fairy tale book. She loved a special flower in that book that symbolized soaring. The Princess’s mother, Doroth, gave it to me. I placed it before my wife’s grave and came to the Rand Kingdom to repay that kindness. I can’t stop myself from looking back at the past, wondering if we would both be alive if I had chosen to believe her.
“But Mr. Greene, as you know, the world doesn’t give ordinary people like us a chance to regret. My greatest mistake was not believing her…”
Haigor placed a hand on Greene’s shoulder.
“I hope you don’t end up regretting the past like I do. I won’t be following you for the rest of the way to the palace.”
Greene could tell Haigor’s words were pointed, yet he still felt something vital was missing, preventing him from connecting all the dots.
***
After Greene left, Haigor stood alone in the room as if in mourning.
He had fulfilled the promise he made to Dolores years ago.
Back then, the young Dolores hadn’t told Haigor who that person was. Now, he had confirmed that the “Hero” Dolores spoke of was Greene.
Next, he would do something that would make Vesserian angry. He hoped she would understand in the future. He had already experienced the tragedy born of hesitation; if possible, he didn’t want that tragedy to repeat itself in someone else.
Besides, this was also a promise made to the young Dolores.
He opened his palm.
Years ago, the young Dolores had asked him to find something. It was a precious item said to greatly weaken the effects of Mental Control Magic.
At this moment, that sharp-edged Blue-Purple Gem lay in his hand.
On a rainy night several years ago, a little girl had walked slowly down a long corridor. She had beautiful white hair and small, green eyes. Haigor had accompanied her for several hours. Finally, she stopped.
Turning her head, the girl asked Haigor a question.
‘Haigor, do you leave room for regret in the future you plan for yourself?’
In the moment the question was asked, the girl already had an answer in her heart.