Chapter 24: Side Story: Ivanna

Ivanna, drifting among refugees, often gazed at the night sky and pondered:

If there's a fixed amount of fortune and misfortune in this world, perhaps those born in this era are shouldering all the future misfortunes as well?

Without such baseless, illogical fantasies, she couldn't accept this absurd reality.

Her father died.

Her mother died too.

Neither of them had noble deaths.

The passing of these two, who had showered Ivanna with more love than anyone else, was trivial and fleeting—remembered by no one but her.

If this wave of misfortune passes, if we survive this ordeal, perhaps an even greater fortune will come.

Maybe her mother and father would come back to life.

If there truly was a god in this world, it would only be fair to grant such fortune.

But reality wasn't so kind.

What follows war isn't fortune, but a prolonged and grueling post-war chaos, as devastating as the war itself.

The educated, knowing that victory in war doesn't end all troubles, despaired over the yet-to-come future and took their own lives.

Sometimes, when Ivanna saw a high cliff or a precipice, or when she stumbled upon a sharp dagger on the ground, she fell into deep contemplation.

If nothing changes even after overcoming this ordeal, is there any point in continuing to live?

She took steps towards the cliff.

She reached for the dagger.

Standing at the edge of the cliff, she couldn't bring herself to take that final step. With the dagger pointed at her throat, she couldn't push it in all the way.

Even while thinking she wanted to die, Ivanna crawled along the ground, somehow managing to survive.

Someone, help me. Please, I want to live more.

With only the desire to live, she moved her legs that felt like they might fall off at any moment, pushing forward.

This world is far too cruel.

She spent nights hoping that someone, anyone, would change this world that no one else seemed able to alter.

But in the end, no one appeared.

So the girl thought: if no one else will change it, then I'll do it myself.

Whether the contradictory goddess in the heavens found this wish admirable or not, Ivanna managed to reach Bart without perishing in a foreign land.

Upon arriving in Bart, Ivanna was fortunate enough to connect with a distant relative and was taken in by their household.

However, that relative was far too elderly, so Ivanna moved to the capital and relied on her uncle.

Her uncle was a kind man.

Perhaps even more than Ivanna herself, he mourned the death of her parents and understood her situation.

When she expressed her desire to learn magic, he was delighted and readily agreed.

Ivanna wasn't particularly gifted in magic, but she quickly grasped her teacher's lessons.

However, this was merely average talent, which fell short of what Ivanna truly desired.

I want to change this world somehow.

A vague wish that hadn't yet taken shape even in her own heart.

To fulfill that wish, an average level of talent didn't seem like it would be much help.

After learning basic physical enhancement magic, studying court etiquette, and taking various lessons including household management, Ivanna volunteered to become a maid in the royal palace.

Having learned much in the capital and becoming acquainted with various nobles, securing a position as a maid wasn't particularly difficult.

Ivanna believed that to influence this world, she needed to be close to those who held power over it.

Knowing that no one would listen to the advice of a mere maid, Ivanna kept her words to herself.

She didn't act rashly, always taking a step back, and listened to others rather than sharing her own thoughts.

She diligently carried out her assigned duties, and even when asked for advice, she carefully chose her words to never overstep her bounds.

Perhaps due to these efforts, she soon became a personal maid to the royal family and established a solid position among the maids.

While faithfully carrying out her duties and biding her time, she heard the absurd rumor about the Hero Coin. Ivanna took this as a sign of the kingdom's impending doom.

She had only seen the Hero's party from afar on the day of their triumphant return, but Ivanna was well aware of the relationship between the Hero and the royal family from the gossip circulating in the castle.

They weren't in a position to force the Hero to be deployed.

If he went to a larger country, there was a high chance he'd settle there and never return.

But as a mere maid, Ivanna wasn't in a position to interfere, so she could only watch helplessly as time passed.

Then one day, the Hero's party, which had been rumored to have been wiped out due to the lack of news, returned silently.

Although she had only seen them from afar, Ivanna had thoroughly researched them and could recognize them immediately.

The return of the Hero's party meant either the Demon King was dead or they had failed and come back.

If it was the former, only one kingdom would fall, but if it was the latter, the entire world was in danger.

The Hero's lover and Elang, the mage who essentially led the party, had returned, but the Hero was nowhere to be seen.

All she could see was a shabby man with his face tightly wrapped in coarse cloth.

She had a bad feeling about this.

Although she would have found out eventually even if she did nothing, the overwhelming anxiety spurred Ivanna into action.

It was a sensitive time, and if it became known that she had approached the Hero's party, she could be falsely accused of being a spy from another country.

She needed to approach him naturally, as if by chance.

That was her plan, but...

"Miss, if you have a moment, could you spare me some time?"

She truly did encounter Elang by chance.

*****

"...I'm sorry, but it's against my duties to engage in casual conversation with a guest of the castle while I'm on duty. Please forgive me."

To avoid giving the impression that she had intended this, or perhaps conscious of unseen eyes, Ivanna took a small risk and distanced herself slightly from Elang.

Fortunately, Elang stopped her.

Even if someone had witnessed this moment, they wouldn't consider Ivanna a spy.

While answering Elang's questions, she mixed in unnecessary words to gauge his reactions.

She tried to sow distrust about the Hero Coin by mentioning blackmail, and lied about possessing a Hero Coin to observe his reaction.

In a way, this choice was correct.

Elang's first words, spoken with rage as if his parents had been murdered, were to sell the Hero Coin.

Contrary to the information about his gentle nature, his extreme anger caught Ivanna off guard.

As she followed him shortly after, she witnessed Elang knocking down knights.

He entered the audience chamber and didn't come out for a while.

When she met him again, he was stumbling along with a dejected look, as if he had lost everything.

His appearance was so pitiful that Ivanna couldn't bring herself to speak to him and simply waited for the right moment.

Soon after, when even Commander Leius emerged from the audience chamber with an expression as if his chest had been pierced, Ivanna approached him, as they had some acquaintance.

"...Ah, it's you, miss."

"Commander. You don't look well."

"Is that so? I suppose I have reason to..."

Initially, she had planned to offer tea or alcohol to slowly open his heart, but he seemed to have reached his mental limit and spoke before that.

Everything that had happened in the audience chamber.

The unbelievable story about the god who became the prototype for the goddess, and how the Hero was actually nothing.

In any other situation, these words would have been dismissed as nonsense, but they strangely carried weight.

Watching the lamenting Leius, Ivanna thought:

This is the turning point for this world.

If there was anyone who could be a variable in this doomed country, there was only one person.

The kind-hearted but broken-spirited mage.

The one who demanded land that no one wanted was the only variable that could save the people of the kingdom.

The scene from that time flashed before her eyes.

She turned her gaze to Leius, as if turning away from those who had abandoned her, or whom she had abandoned.

To the knight who had been betrayed in his loyalty and was now facing a future of national ruin alongside her, Ivanna spoke:

"...Commander. If that's the case, shouldn't we also consider our own survival?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you think there's no way out, why not first listen to the shallow wisdom of this insignificant maid? It's not too late to give up afterwards."

"If it's just listening..."

It was a forceful proposal based on their usual familiarity, but perhaps because he was already pushed to the extreme, Leius unexpectedly accepted readily.

After concluding what was essentially a blank contract, Ivanna became Elang's maid.

From that day, her journey with Elang began.

At first, she thought of Elang as a mere variable.

He seemed mentally exhausted from the arduous journey, so she tried her best to comfort him.

As time passed, she got to know Elang as a person.

Unlike typical arrogant nobles, he always used respectful language and showed respect to everyone, regardless of whether they were maids or commoners.

As she assisted Elang, her desire to help people gradually changed into a wish to see the world with Elang as king.

He wasn't the ideal ruler often seen in history books, but he was kind and, above all, honest.

One could tell that his demeanor wasn't fake just by observing how he looked at his surroundings.

Every time he saw streets devastated by the long war, his eyes were filled with deep sorrow.

Even though he had been in despair not long ago, a corner of his heart still held the desire to help those suffering.

If Elang had been king from the start, wouldn't he have avoided threatening the rulers of other countries with something as stupid as the Hero Coin?

No, compared to that...

Perhaps because the shock of King Germis's Hero Coin was so great, at some point, Ivanna's standards for a good king had significantly lowered.

But even taking that into account, her belief that Elang would make a good king remained unchanged.

A king doesn't need to have exceptional administrative skills.

If he has the virtue and power to gather capable subordinates, such shortcomings can be easily overcome.

She wanted to make Elang king.

As she pondered this goal, different from her initial one, and hurried along the road, they finally arrived in Bart.

What awaited them at Bart's gate wasn't bandits, but a reflection of her past self.

Just as Ivanna had been in the past, people abandoned by their country were starving by the roadside.

"What will you do?"

When the opportunity arose to confront the dilemma in her heart, Ivanna didn't hesitate to ask.

Elang didn't answer immediately.

That was actually good. If he had answered right away, she might have been disappointed by his lack of thoughtfulness.

She accompanied Elang, feeling as if she held an answer sheet where she couldn't tell if each moment was correct or incorrect.

If Elang had a problem, it was that he lacked confidence in himself.

The memory of three years of abuse in the Hero's party still constricted Elang like an indelible scar.

It wasn't a matter of character, but of perception.

Once this misunderstanding, which only he failed to realize, was corrected, Elang blossomed brilliantly and performed miracles.

On that day, it wasn't just Elang who gambled, who lacked confidence in himself.

Perhaps she had been waiting all along.

For someone who could extend a hand without hesitation to those who had fallen and lost their strength.

For someone with such power and heart.

On the way back to Bart, sitting next to Elang in the driver's seat, Ivanna asked him:

"Without your power, these people can't even satisfy their hunger. They've been abandoned by their country, abandoned by the world. Is there any reason for you to take in these people who have been abandoned by everyone?"

Perhaps because he realized it was a probing question?

Far from getting angry, Elang gave Ivanna a faint smile and said briefly:

"I can't abandon those who have been abandoned by everyone."

"......"

Her choice wasn't wrong.

There was no more doubt or hesitation.

Gently cradling the precious feeling that had just been born in her heart, Ivanna vowed:

To dedicate infinite loyalty and love to this man.