Emperor of Steel 499 Karen Disappears 3

When he showed up at the long-distance teleport gate, the paladins were all ready.

It was because they already received orders from Arch Duke Gregory.

His orders were to bring the Symphonia Kingdom's king once he arrived.

"You have come, Your Majesty."

"Reina, the Pope?"

Luke asked Gregory who greeted him.

"She has been in slumber for the past few days. And we have tried all kinds of methods as well as divine magic, but everything was in vain."

"What happened? Did someone do anything?"

What he meant was an attempt to assassinate her.

Luke, who knew that the Holy Empire still had men who opposed Reina, couldn't help but think so.

"It wasn't an assassination. She suddenly passed out for no reason."

Gregory led Luke to Reina's bedroom and explained in detail.

A few days back, she stopped by the Arthenia Magic Tower for a moment. It was said that she fell unconscious while she was talking with Meister Reas.

Luckily, he was quick to get a hold of her.

But three days ago, she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and began to scream and ask for Symphonia Kingdom to be contacted right away.

The problem was that she immediately fell into slumber again.

After hearing all the information about Reina one after the other, Luke realized that Reina's conditions was a bit similar to the time when she accepted the Aether's power and went missing.

'Is it related to something, or is it just a coincidence?'

While he was thinking about this and other possibilities, a lady came to give them news from the bedroom.

"The Pope just woke up."

"Is that true?"

At the nod of the lady, Luke and Gregory felt relieved.

"Yes, but as soon as she woke up, she began to cry."

'She is crying?'

What was even happening?

In a hurry to see her, Luke entered the room to see Reina overwhelmed in tears.

While she was grieving for something, Arch Duke Gregory asked the paladins and the priests in the bedroom to leave.

His goal was to create an environment where the two could talk freely and sweetly.

Reina raised her head after she heard Arch Duke Gregory leave the room and opened her lips while looking at Luke.

"You have come."

"Yes, I heard you suddenly became ill."

Luke sat down on the bed and held Reina's hand, trying to make her feel his warmth and love for her.

"You look very lean. I asked you to not overdo it…"

"No, it wasn't because of work."

Reina shook her head and wiped the tears off of her face.

"Honey, I had a very scary and sad dream."

"Scary and sad dream?"

"Yes. It was a horrible nightmare that I don't even want to think about."

Reina told Luke about the nightmare she had.

"I had the first one when I fell unconscious at the magic tower. The knight of grey energy who resembled you was at swords length."

'That was the fight with Hiros…!'

Reina's story continued, and Luke's ears couldn't help but comprehend it.

"I dreamed of it, and it made me feel uneasy, but I believed in you, so I went back to work."

That was when her second dream came, three days ago.

In those dreams, Luke was severely injured and was being nursed in a place that seemed like a magic tower.

Suddenly, a wicked army of Undead with grey energy flocked toward the tower and fought with Luke.

"It really didn't feel like a dream. It felt very real. Even after waking up, I wasn't able to tell the difference between my dream and reality."

'Reina, that actually happened… Well, it was a future that almost happened.'

The tragedy would have happened if not for Karen saving him.

Anyway, it was a future that disappeared, but it was surprising that Reina, who was unconscious, saw it.

'Was it because of her relation to the Aether?'

According to Hwang Bo-sung who had memories of the future, Karen had succeeded in reverting the space-time using her power of Aether.

Perhaps, the fragments of space-time that changed history were seen by Reina who possessed the power of Aether.

'Maybe Reina losing consciousness could be related to the collapse in the space-time's original timeline too…'

Anyway, Reina was too startled with it and wanted to immediately talk to Luke.

"That was when I had the third dream… There I was, the mother of a child."

"Huh, you were?"

Luke was startled at Reina's sudden story.

Reina knew how absurd it was too.

"It was surely strange. We haven't even slept together yet."

'That is because of that man outside the room.'

Arch Duke Gregory disliked the two of them getting wed.

But thanks to Reina's stubbornness, he finally accepted it, but he objected to the part where it came for them to share a room.

His claim was that if the Pope became pregnant, the authority of the Pope, which was only strengthening, would shake once again.

And Luke couldn't refute to a perfect claim, so he sent Reina back to the Holy Empire.

"When I think about it, maybe it was because the two of us hoped for a child."

"We never know. Some scholars say that dreams are the mirrors of inner consciousness."

Luke nodded and asked Reina.

"Yeah, what kind of kid? Did the kid look a lot like you?"

"She resembled you, our daughter. She was very cute and lively."

"I guess she must have been a tomboy."

"Yes, but suddenly…"

Reina didn't talk again and began to cry. It was because a scene in the dream, which she disliked the most, came to her mind.

"Suddenly, some white light swallowed her. The light began to burn hot, and she was sick. She kept crying for help, but there was nothing I could do for her."

Luke wiped Reina's tears.

"Calm down. It was just a simple dream."

"A simple dream? What if it was something like before?"

"If so, then we need to be careful, so don't worry so much."

Nodding at Luke's words, Reina buried herself in Luke's arms.

Her loved one was still alive. She wanted to feel his warmth, and the sound his heart made.

Luke swept Reina's hair and patted her head.

'A kid, a child of Reina and mine.'

Luke, who was thinking about the story Reina said, suddenly recalled Karen.

Even though he wasn't sure, Philip did joke that she looked like his daughter.

'There were corners that resembled Reina, and she was cute.'

The words she spoke were very few, and she seemed very familiar.

'She followed me way too much. Maybe she came from the future…?'

Erwin was said to be Karen's teacher. When she came to the past, the Hwang Bo-sung of the future accompanied her as an escort.

And above all, she appeared at the moment when he was in a crisis and saved him.

If the world of ruin had to be saved from Arsene's hand, she should have gone further to the past.

'But Hwang Bo-sung said nothing about it. Does it have anything to do with him? Or is he hiding something even after knowing the truth?'

Luke suddenly recalled the time he spoke with Auster in the abandoned castle, well, Hwang Bo-sung from the future.

That was where he said that he could reveal neither his nor Karen's identity and that Karen helping him was dangerous for her.

'I need to find the child.'

Whether she was his daughter that was born in the future or not, she was still a child he had to take care of.

Chapter end