Conquering the Emperor

Chapter 202: For Better or Worse

“What?” I asked, not sure if I heard him right.

Ren turned to face me directly before he repeated what he had just said.

“I came back looking for you here; but I couldn’t find you. I did tell you to stay at home, but I guess you didn’t listen to my warning,” Ren said before smiling gently at me.

Ren came back here looking for me? He came for me?

However, on that day, I wasn’t at home. I was too busy dealing with the wounded along with Uncle Gobei, Auntie and the other doctors.

“My people were under attack and so many were heavily wounded. How do you expect me to just sit idly at home when I can heal them?” I asked sarcastically.

“I guess you’re right about that...” Ren whispered.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to use that tone with you,” I apologized softly.

I didn’t think that Ren would come back for me. If it was true, maybe he did care for me back then. However, that didn’t matter as much as the future that we are working towards together. We must win this war and head back soon before more people get hurt.

“It’s ok. You don’t need to apologize. I promise to rebuild your town when we get it back after we win this war. It’s the least that I can do...” Ren said softly but I didn’t miss the slight regret in his tone.

“Thank you, Ren,” I thanked him honestly.

“Let’s head back. I can’t leave Shin to deal with everything all alone for too long,” Ren said as he got on his horse and offered me a hand.

...

For around two more weeks the war went on and it was clear that our initial progress didn’t take us very far towards our ultimate goal of winning the war. After almost a month of fighting, the soldiers and everybody else were exhausted. I started having trouble sleeping at night as my stress and fatigue ate up at me. As the days went by the number of deaths in the medical camp rose. More soldiers were injured, and many ended up losing their lives.

At first, I had thought that I had developed an emotional immunity to their deaths. However, I found out later that it was just my brain fooling my heart to stop myself from feeling any guilt or grief. Some nights, everything that I had been holding it would burst out like an opened dam and I would suffer greatly from an emotional breakdown.

Reality was very different from our initial expectations. The war had no signs of coming to an end and stress had started to take a toll on Ren as well. Every night when he came back, he was evidently tired and not in the best of moods. The same could probably be said for me and for everyone else at the end of every day.

Although I was tired, I tried my best to do everything to cheer him up and comfort him. I offered to massage his back and shoulders. I made him warm herbal tea. I told him stories to keep the mood light and to get his mind off the war even if it was just for a second.

Tonight, Ren was up late again, and I watched from the bed as he worked from his table with a single candle by his side. I knew he was trying not to disturb me after he had firmly ordered for me to go to bed. However, I couldn’t go to sleep without Ren sleeping by my side. I understood that he had work to do but I was very concerned for his health.

“Ren...” I called his name softly as I got out of bed and walked over to his side.

“Can’t sleep?” Ren asked without looking up from the report that he was writing.

“I’m not sleepy yet so I’ll wait for you,” I replied as I sat down on a chair.

“I’ll be done for the day after I finish writing this letter,” Ren replied, his eyes still focused on his writing. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

I wondered what he was writing but I didn’t dare to ask. Regarding his work, I knew that there were many confidential things that he couldn’t tell me. Usually, I wouldn’t pry into his work. I watched him silently as he finished up his letter and carefully folded it before placing it into an envelope.

“The war will probably stretch on for much longer than I had thought. We just got news that the other empire is sending more troops as back up. I’ve just finished writing up a letter to the emperor asking for reinforcements,” Ren told me solemnly.

“I see. You should rest then. It’ll be bad if the head commander gets too tired or sick, right?” I said before I smiled at him and took his hand into mine.

“Rin, let me know if you want to go back to the palace first, ok? I’ll try to arrange a trip back for you if you want,” Ren said as he looked at me with concern.

“No. Definitely no way. I’m going to stay here until we win this war and then we can go back together,” I said with determination.

Ren breathed in deeply before sighing at my words. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

“Let’s go to bed then,” Ren said as he got up from his seat, pulling me up with him.

Reinforcement from the capital arrived within a few days after the emperor received Ren’s request. More men fighting meant that more got injured, more died, and more had to be treated. I’ve never been to the frontline, and I had no idea of what was going on there. However, I could tell that the scale of this war was much larger than the last one that Ren fought at my town. It was as if the two empire was battling each other out while using my town as the venue for their fight.

As time went by, I was convinced that this war was staring to have less and less to do with my town and more to do with the direct power struggle between Ren’s empire and its neighbor.

--To be continued...