novelraw Chapter 266 : Guarding the Future Between You and Me
Chapter 266 : Guarding the Future Between You and Me
Chapter 266: Guarding the Future Between You and Me
Imperial Capital, United Hospital.
The afternoon sunlight slanted through the treetops, casting mottled shadows across the hospital room.
Shiltina gently closed the door behind her and then sat down beside the bed, quietly gazing at the sleeping boy upon it.
Compared to two years ago—when he was still a Night Traveler from Star Cluster University, fighting alongside Shiltina in the Nightworld’s Historical Echoes—his hair had clearly grown longer. The black strands now slightly veiled his eyes... Though his eyes could not be seen in his current slumber, Shiltina knew well they were as dark and deep as his hair.
Perhaps it was due to the hospital’s meticulous care, combined with an array of treatments that included medical technology, alchemical potions, the Bounty Sequence’s healing capabilities, and restorative-type Nightblades.
His complexion now looked much better. Though still pale, a touch of color had returned to his cheeks. It was a marked contrast to the first time Shiltina had seen him unconscious two years ago—his face drained of all blood, deathly pale, as if he could perish at any moment.
Shiltina gently reached her hand under the pristine bedsheet.
Then, quietly, she held the boy’s hand.
His body warmth passed through their skin-to-skin contact, carrying a soft trace of heat.
“Today, it’s really peaceful here… completely different from the usual times I visit you.”
Shiltina looked toward the window, at the cityscape bathed in warm sunlight, peaceful and serene.
“A few hours from now will be my coronation ceremony.”
“The people are so quiet right now, probably… waiting for the moment of the ceremony.”
“In your words, this must be the so-called ‘calm before the storm’.”
Shiltina smiled faintly.
After spending so much time with Rast, she had picked up a number of new phrases and idioms.
Such as “those old geezers from the Gravekeepers,” or “curiosity kills the snow ferret”—these were expressions she had only come to know after encountering that boy.
“Once the coronation is complete…”
“Father… will officially abdicate the throne.”
“And I… will truly take on the role of sovereign, become the Empress of the Empire, and at the same time… shoulder the weight of the crown, and the destiny of a nation with hundreds of millions of subjects.”
She gently closed her eyes.
Just like that, she quietly felt the warmth passed through their tightly clasped hands.
These hands were no different from the ones that had once held her tight beneath the cold seawater of Deep Blue Harbor. Even now, they carried that same, indescribable warmth.
“Though I used to say I was greedy, that I wanted it all…”
“Whether it be royal duty, the ideals of the Shoreguards, or you, Rast… I wasn’t willing to give up any of it…”
“Still, now that the day has truly come, I can’t help but feel a bit hesitant inside.”
“After all, until now I was merely a princess, a successor in waiting.”
“Compared to handling politics, managing the military, and deciding the future of an entire nation… using a sword to cut down enemies has always been much simpler for me.”
“But once I truly become Empress, I can no longer act on impulse as before… There will be many times I must think carefully, no longer solving problems with nothing but blood and passion.”
“This was the path I resolved to walk two years ago. I already knew these hardships and obstacles were part of the journey.”
“So, I won’t regret the choice I’ve made…”
“That being said, even now, I still worry whether I’ve done enough, or if some details could’ve been handled better, more thoroughly, more flawlessly.”
Shiltina let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
“Saying that… I suppose I’m still too soft at times.”
“After all, hesitation and doubt like this are things a true monarch should never allow themselves to show.”
“Everyone has their own idea of what it means to be king—the so-called ‘Royal Path’.”
“In history, some tyrants believed, ‘What is a king if not arrogant and unrestrained?’”
“They saw ‘humanity’ as beasts who could not sing of life without sacrifice.”
“Others believed that to be king is to live a life so brilliant that the whole world must admire it.”
“To gather all the hopes of the people, to become their guiding star—that is what makes a true monarch.”
Her voice paused slightly.
“But to me, to the one called Shiltina…”
“The so-called Royal Path, the so-called righteousness—means to never regret, no matter what happens.”
“To always believe in the path I have walked, to never resent, even if I fall into the depths of hell.”
“To never deny the road I’ve traveled, even if I reach the bitter end of a dead-end path.”
Her voice resumed, now less self-deprecating and tinged with something unexplainable.
“So, once I am officially crowned as the Empress of the Granwell Empire… these stray thoughts, these aimless delusions, can never be shown to the world, nor to the people.”
“In Father’s words, learning to wear different masks at different times is a required course for any true monarch. In front of one’s people, a ruler must always appear lofty and infallible.”
“Speaking of which… wearing masks and such is probably your comfort zone, isn’t it, Rast?”
Shiltina’s lips curved into a subtle smile.
“To this day, I still remember that night we met at a bar in Deep Blue Harbor.”
“My first impression of you was downright terrible—I thought you were just a smooth-talking flirt, throwing out tired jokes, all looks and no substance, a shallow womanizer.”
“Looking back, that sleazy playboy act was probably one of your most well-practiced masks.”
“To be honest, I never really liked the ‘you’ behind the mask… Even though you were more proper, composed, and likable when wearing it, that stiff, painted-on smile on your mask always looked so exaggerated and artificial to me.”
“What I truly liked… was the real you, the one that occasionally slipped out when the mask came off, those fleeting moments where your genuine self broke through.”
One of Shiltina’s hands still tightly held his, while the other, as if moving on its own, reached out.
And then, gently caressed the sleeping boy’s cheek.
When conscious, Rast always gave off an elusive, all-under-control aura—so much so that people would unconsciously overlook his appearance.
But asleep, his features looked much softer, even tender. His facial lines weren’t sharp or defined, but rather carried a gentleness—one might even call it innocent.
Back then, during the purge of the Cult Group in Deep Blue Harbor, when they were conserving strength for the Iron Cross Battle Royale that followed, Shiltina had briefly seen what Rast looked like when he slept.
That was the moment when Shiltina’s impression of Rast began to change.
In the words of emotional and gossip expert Dean Silver, it was also the instant when the seed of something called love began to sprout between the two.
“Only after taking off that mask… are you truly cute, aren’t you?”
“Childish, like a little kid.”
“And how am I any different…? I ran away from home for the sake of a childhood dream—something I once casually mentioned—a dream called ‘Forester’.”
“At our core, we’re just a couple of naive children, misfits in the adult world around us. Complete outliers.”
“But maybe it’s exactly because of that distance from the world, this misalignment…”
“That outliers like us ought to stay close, huddling together for warmth.”
Shiltina’s fingertips slid along the boy’s cheek, then paused as they reached his chest.
“As the Master of the Holy Sword, as the Empress of the Empire…”
“These words of weakness and confusion are things I must never speak aloud to others, not even to the citizens of this nation… not even to my sister, Ophelia.”
“But I think, Rast… you alone should be the exception.”
She murmured softly.
“Rast.”
“To me, you are not merely a subject of the Empire, nor simply a classmate at Star Cluster University, or a comrade who once fought beside me in the Nightworld.”
“You are the one and only.”
“Be it Ophelia, or my imperial father and stepmother… even my birth mother—none of them could ever take your place.”
“As the Empress of Granwell Empire, Shiltina must never reveal even a trace of weakness or fear before outsiders.”
“But as the one engaged to you, as Rast’s fiancée, Shiltina can show this frailty before her own fiancé, speak her confusion and uncertainties freely.”
“So, in these final few hours before I become the Empress of the Empire…”
She slipped both hands under the pristine sheet, gently wrapping her arms around the boy’s neck.
“Rast.”
“Please forgive me, just for a moment—my weakness, and my selfishness.”
This was the second time they had embraced. The last was back in the Historical Echoes of the Nightworld, after the explosion in the harbor district of Deep Blue Harbor… To stop Rast from being swept away by the massive wave stirred up by the blast, Shiltina had tightly held onto him, stabilizing their bodies together in the icy water.
But now, it was no longer the embrace of mutual suffering and support from three years ago…
The boy in Shiltina’s arms was warm—his body carried a burning heat.
“I like you the most, Rast.”
“So, let’s stay together forever and ever. You’re never allowed to leave me, okay?”
…
Ding-ling, ding-ling~
The faint chime of the wall clock beside the bed pulled Shiltina’s thoughts back to the real world.
It was already evening.
The sunlight streaming through the hospital room’s glass windows was no longer the golden hue of the afternoon—it had taken on a blood-red tint.
“Big Sister.”
From outside the room came the soft sound of a knock.
Then, Ophelia pushed open the door and gently called out from the doorway:
“Your coronation ceremony is about to begin.”
“Yes, I understand, Ophelia.”
Shiltina nodded. “Have the driver come around first. The preparations in the Imperial Capital can begin—I’ll head down shortly.”
After speaking, Shiltina finally and quietly stood up.
She looked back at the boy on the bed:
“As expected, only by your side can I feel at peace, even for a brief moment.”
“But… rest time is over now.”
With those words, the previous emotions on Shiltina’s fair face—confusion, weakness, hesitation, and even longing—had completely vanished.
What replaced them was pure calm.
Yet within that absolute stillness, there was a chilling sharpness.
If one were to sink their awareness into the spiritual realm at this moment, they would see that Shiltina’s spiritual manifestation had become like a knight’s sword, its edge exposed, brimming with lethal intent.
She resembled a warrior sharpening her weapon before heading off to the battlefield…
Even though the sword had not yet been drawn, one could already hear it humming within its scabbard.
The sword's razor aura projected from the spiritual world into the real one, leaving fine, shallow cuts all along the hallway outside the room.
This was the materialization of Shiltina’s Mental Image World—her overwhelming willpower had already begun to distort the physical world around her, forming an invisible domain that enveloped her, all while intentionally avoiding Rast’s bed.
Though Shiltina’s temperament was not as calculating as Ophelia’s,
Once she had issued the declaration to protect the boy across the entire Western Continent, she was fully aware that the upcoming Coronation Ritual would draw innumerable powerful foes, angels, and even Evil Gods to stand in her way.
But she didn’t care.
For it wasn’t “Sovereign Domain,” granted by the Holy Sword, that defined her essence—
It was “War Chariot.”
And what War Chariot did—was crush all obstacles in its path.
Even if a mountain stood before her, Shiltina would not go around it—she would cleave it apart with a single strike.
“Rast.”
“Two years ago, it was you who stepped forward to protect me, when I was lost between the duties of royalty and my personal ideals, wavering in confusion.”
Her chestnut hair fluttered in the glow of the setting sun.
Shiltina was already standing tall, her words as sharp as the twilight wind.
“Now, it’s my turn to protect you.”
“To protect…”
“The future between you and me.”