Fearlessly (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
It wasn’t some trivial divine power that made her bring down the rain.
It was because this woman herself was Bercheria, the goddess of weather.
She fluttered her long golden eyebrows like a butterfly and said,
“If I help you, what will you give me in return?”
The god who had abandoned humanity was asking him this.
Everything that had happened in the Periat Empire over the past half-century began with the absence of Bercheria, the goddess of weather.
The land they lived on was divided into three continents, each protected by different gods and enduring for over a thousand years.
The Contana Kingdom, situated below Periat, was under the protection of Dikper, the god of earth.
The Derancis Empire, positioned above, was guarded by Velopai, the god of the sea.
And finally, this Periat Empire itself was under the protection of Bercheria, the goddess of weather.
Then, fifty years ago,
Periat’s divine protection vanished as if it were a lie.
The emperor tried desperately to conceal this fact, but it was only a matter of time before everyone found out.
The Contana Kingdom, dubbed a barbaric race, seized the opportunity and launched an invasion.
The Derancis Empire, unwilling to miss such a favorable chance, joined in, igniting a war among the three continents.
Periat, once hailed as the true master of the three continents and renowned for its prestige, managed to hold out for three years even without divine protection.
But that was all it could do.
Without the god’s grace to heal the wounded and replenish life, it could not endure any longer.
Had the war dragged on just one more month, Periat would surely have been defeated.
Without Lakrahan, that outcome would have been certain.
He led that dreadful war to victory and returned to this land as the people’s hero.
People whispered that even if Lakrahan demanded half the empire, the emperor would have no choice but to grant it.
Yet what he chose was singular: to escape the emperor who kept him under watch and return once more to the North.
Until Emperor Gerard forcibly relocated Lakrahan’s family near the capital, the North had belonged to the Edkins family for a very long time.
That rightful inheritance.
Only after losing everything he had due to the war could Lakrahan reclaim it.
When he left, everything he loved was by his side; but when he returned, nothing remained except his people.
If someone were to ask him what he hated most in the world, he would answer “Bercheria.”
If asked whom he blamed for losing his father and his only brother in the war, he would again say “Bercheria.”
If a god offered to grant him a wish, Lakrahan would unhesitatingly utter that name once more—
asking Bercheria to suffer exactly as much pain as he himself had endured.
“Bercheria. That’s my name.”
It was a clear, pure voice—unbecoming of a god who had abandoned humankind.
“If I help you, what will you give me in return?”
Beneath Lakrahan’s painfully clenched palm, the sensation of holding that woman returned to him.
In that rain which cooled the scorching heat.
Her frail body, as if it would shatter with the slightest pressure, and the limp, lifeless feel of her.
A goddess?
Could this fragile woman truly be the heartless deity who abandoned the North?
Bercheria?
“……!”
The instant Lakrahan seemed to move, a sharp blade drawn from his waist sliced through the air and rested against her neck.
Bercheria’s eyes hardened.
“Are you seriously asking me to believe that now?”
Lakrahan’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
He couldn’t help it.
“Was pretending to be mute all this time just for this?”
Even under the dim library lights, her golden eyes shimmered without losing their luster.
But Lakrahan wasn’t foolish enough to be deceived by their beauty alone.
“Was saving those children merely a means to get close to me?”
Bercheria’s eyes narrowed.
Despite the blade at her throat, she showed no trace of fear.
The sharp edge glinted faintly against her skin, catching the thin light.
“You asked what I’d give you?”
Lakrahan’s red lips curled upward in a sneer.
“There’s no god in this world who makes deals with humans. Fake Bercheria.”
At that moment,
she moved her foot and stepped closer to Lakrahan.
“……!”
Before he could react, the sensation of the blade cutting flesh traveled up his hand.
A single drop of crimson blood welled from her slender neck and trickled down.
“What are you doing!”
Blue veins bulged on Lakrahan’s hand as he gripped the hilt tighter.
When he tried to pull the blade back, she seized it barehanded where it touched her neck and pressed it deeper.
“What on earth!”
Lakrahan swiftly yanked the blade away.
But her hand already bore a long gash and bloodstains.
“Ha.”
Lakrahan dropped the sword to the floor and let out a hollow, disbelieving laugh.
Even in this moment, she stared at him with an expressionless face.
He couldn’t define the emotion he felt right now.
Even though the Bercheria he so deeply hated stood before him, even though she recklessly sought death herself—
instead, at this very instant, he felt as if all his senses had gone numb.
“This is what I wanted to show you.”
The woman reached out and held her hand before him.
Then, something unbelievable happened right before his eyes.
The wound sliced open by the blade healed as if by magic.
Even the bloodstain vanished as though evaporating.
“Can you still not believe I’m Bercheria?”
Lakrahan’s dark eyes slowly swept over her.
His gaze, drifting from right to left, was tangled in confusion.
“You’re right. I don’t intend to make a deal with you.”
Her golden hair cascaded like waves as she gently tilted her head.
“I’m threatening you right now, Lakrahan.”
Lakrahan’s eyes remained fixed on her red lips, as if bound there and unable to look away.
“Lakrahan Edkins.”
Lakrahan had just returned from war and hadn’t even changed his clothes yet.
His worn armor was covered in countless sword marks and dents.
“Your Imperial Majesty.”
When he removed his helmet, fine, glossy black hair fell over his forehead.
Contrary to his rough exterior, the face hidden beneath his mithril armor was that of a youthful, delicate boy.
Smooth skin that seemed to slip through one’s fingers, refined features, and even his softly parted red lips.
“Come closer, Lakrahan.”
Lakrahan set down his blade, dulled from taking tens of thousands of lives, and slowly ascended the steps.
In the vast banquet hall where everyone held their breath, only the clinking of his armor echoed.
Lakrahan approached the emperor and knelt on one knee.
It was the proper respect owed to the imperial sovereign.
“You’ll be turning eighteen soon, won’t you?”
Lakrahan replied flatly.
“Yes.”
Gerard tapped his fingernails together, picking off the grime as if bored.
“I heard you lost your father and brother in the war.”
When Lakrahan lifted his eyes, Gerard, who had been staring elsewhere, turned his head toward him.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other.
The gaze of the twenty-seven-year-old, who had learned the world only within the palace walls, was shallow.
“I’ve never lost them. Not once.”
The eyes of the seventeen-year-old boy, who had learned the world far too quickly, held unfathomable depth.
“…So what if they’re dead? It doesn’t matter anyway.”
Suddenly, Lakrahan felt a wave of nausea rise in his throat.
He had sold his soul to a demon to lead this empire to victory.
Slaying countless lives, he thought only of protecting his homeland.
Even when he received the letter informing him that his mother, having lost her husband, had taken her own life in despair, his only thought was that he must win this war.
Only then would his family’s sacrifice not be in vain.
But now he saw it clearly—it had all been a hopeless, one-sided love.
Neither the emperor of this land, nor the goddess who once guarded it, nor Periat itself—
nothing here had ever loved Lakrahan.
“Alright. What is it you desire? Speak freely. It’s the empire’s tradition to grant anything to a war hero.”
In that moment, Lakrahan knew exactly where he needed to return.
“The North.”
To the place that had never betrayed him.
“I wish to return to the North.”
To the place where his people still remained, waiting to be protected.
“That’s all.”
Lakrahan was already utterly exhausted, even before he’d truly lived life.
“There’s someone.”
After dinner, Lakrahan sat surrounded at the table by his knights.
It was an unexpected remark from Lakrahan, who had remained silent throughout the entire meal.
Wyatt, seated opposite him, wiped his lips with the back of his hand and asked,
“Who do you mean?”
Lakrahan, resting his chin in his hand, tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop.
“Just someone.”
“…What?”
“Suppose someone risked their life to save another. How would you see that person?”
When no answer came, Lakrahan lifted his head.
All the knights, who had been boisterously drinking moments before, were now staring at him.
“What? Why?”
“My lord, could it be you have feelings for that woman?”
“…What woman?”
“That woman! I knew it!”
“What are you talking about?”
Lakrahan, as if the words weren’t worth hearing, rested his chin again.
“There’s nothing like that.”
Wyatt couldn’t contain himself and shot up from his seat.
“Is it because she’s pretty? Are you fond of a stranger whose origins you don’t even know, just because she’s beautiful?”
“I already said no.”
“I know, I know! She really is stunningly beautiful. But that doesn’t mean you’d betray Princess Kelita, whom you’re about to be engaged to, for that unknown woman…”
When Lakrahan’s eyes narrowed sharply, Wyatt clamped his mouth shut.
He had always stood closest to Lakrahan on the battlefield.
Wyatt often described Lakrahan in one sentence when speaking to others:
If he’s your ally, nothing could be better; if he’s your enemy, he’s more terrifying than Lucifer, king of demons.
“Betrayal?”
At Lakrahan’s word, Wyatt scratched the back of his neck.
“I just meant it that way… I misspoke.”
Everyone in the North knew why Lakrahan was to be engaged to Kelita, the emperor’s younger sister.
The emperor deeply distrusted Lakrahan, who had returned as a war hero.
Had Lakrahan not left for the North immediately after the war, he might have been accused of treason and executed—
just like the other nobles in the capital.
“My lord, please understand. Before the war, when the captain served at court, he was infatuated with the princess. He was completely smitten just because she smiled at him a few times.”
“Hey! What nonsense are you spouting? That’s not true!”
Lakrahan turned his gaze away from the noisy Wyatt and looked instead at Jeffrey, seated right beside him.
Jeffrey gulped down the strong liquor in his hand and set the empty glass down.
“My lord. Do you perhaps know this?”
Jeffrey leaned closer to Lakrahan, wary of being overheard.
Jeffrey, who occasionally spoke words that cut straight to the heart of the matter, might just have been preparing the very words Lakrahan needed most right now.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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I have a inkling that Lione is probably Berche’s ‘Mother’?