BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 47 – Stillness

I slowly opened my eyes.

To a white light.

The light was soft, warm. It didn’t assault me the way I had expected.

It filtered through a light fabric, a curtain swaying with a barely audible breeze.

A simple wooden ceiling...

Clean, free of cracks, no blood, no writhing shadows.

I stared at it for long seconds,

Waiting for it to collapse, to shake, or for a delayed nightmare to pounce on me.

But nothing happened.

I breathed.

The air entered my chest easily...

With an unfamiliar ease.

It took a moment...

Or perhaps more.

I didn’t know when the sleep ended,

Nor when consciousness began to return to me.

But the first thing I felt...

Was not pain.

It was stillness.

A strange, heavy stillness, as if the world had finally decided to stop screaming.

Only then did I realize...

That I was still alive. And that the mission was successfully accomplished..

I tried to move my hand.

It moved.

By slow, heavily,

But without a scream from the bones,

Without that sharp pain I had expected.

I turned my head slightly.

The scent of herbs...

Bitter, warm, unfamiliar.

A clean patch of cloth wrapped around my chest, my shoulder, my side.

Perfect layers, tightened with a care that an indifferent person wouldn’t provide.

Someone sat here for a long time.

Someone made sure I would survive.

A few more seconds passed before I tried to stand up.

A bad idea.

My body immediately refused.

Not with pain... but with exhaustion.

A deep exhaustion, as if every cell inside me said in one voice:

Not now.

I rested my head back down.

And closed my eyes.

Memories of the battle tried to surface,

The limbs, the screaming, the yellow light, Radian’s fall...

But they were distant.

Muffled.

As if someone had placed a barrier of cotton between them and me.

I looked at the ceiling again.

No monsters.

No lethal leaps.

No countdown to death.

Just... stillness.

And inside me,

For the first time in a long while,

My mind felt clear.

I whispered in a faint voice, barely audible:

"...How long did I sleep?"

Silence answered me.

Then...

Footsteps.

Calm. Measured.

Carrying neither haste nor fear.

They stopped near the bed.

I felt a gaze.

I didn’t open my eyes immediately.

Then came the voice, low and steady:

"Seven days."

I opened my eyes this time.

To a face I knew.

A tired face,

And eyes that hadn’t slept much.

"Louis," I whispered.. and my lips parted into a smile carrying a look of affection.

"Seven days then," I continued calmly.

Louis placed her palm on my forehead..

A shiver from the cold stung me. "Your hands are cold," I whispered.

"What a child you are," Louis grumbled and continued, "Your condition is normal.. You’re back, welcome home.."

She didn’t smile.. what kind of "welcome" was that.. But

"You didn’t sleep, did you.. during the past days?"

"I slept enough," she answered calmly.

"Your eyes," I said, "say something else.. Did you take care of me and the others as well.. Joe?"

"Everyone is fine and woke up before their leader," she replied.. then she picked up some water bottles and added, "Their leader who likes others to stay up for him for a week as if he were a baby," then she smiled faintly.

"Why didn’t you let someone else from the village help you?"

"Do you want a commoner to take care of you.. have you gone mad?" She seemed angry.

But I smiled..

"Welcome back. This is the real Louis."

"Damn you," she answered, then quickened her pace without looking back... but I caught a glimpse of a shy smile.

Again, I tried to sit up.. I succeeded..

Aaaah.. I sighed deeply.. From the second floor of Louis’s house, I looked out at the active village.. dozens of lively movements.

"I missed this atmosphere," I whispered..

Then..

{ Ding.. Ding.. Ding }

{ Notifications have been postponed until full recovery }

What a gentle whisper..

{ Would you like to display them now? }

Should I?..

Three missions ended at once.. will I get something good from them? Of course, I will.. But?

My knowledge suggests that the system won’t let me enjoy my rewards without soureing my mood.

Yes.. I’ll leave them for now until I recover my strength.

I need to check on the others now.

I moved toward one side of the room.

A beautiful white wardrobe stood there, its surface traced with intricate golden engravings.

In my previous world, we would have called something like this a royal wardrobe.

those lavish patterns alone were enough to grant it a noble presence.

In truth, the entire room shared the same atmosphere.

The large bed, crowned with arches and ornate panels, completed the scene.

It seems Louis dreams of becoming a queen... hahaha.

I opened it.. it contained clothes for me.. I put on a white shirt.. and black trousers. They were perfectly comfortable.. Then I went out.

Upon leaving, I came across the garden surrounding Louis’s house.. full of roses and vegetables.. Everything was elegantly arranged.

It was my first time visiting her home. I don’t know why I hadn’t done so before... but

I remembered those tired eyes... and the overwhelming sense of care that had settled over me because of her.

"A whole week without rest... just to make sure I was safe," I whispered... and I decided to reward her properly.

Even though I knew she wasn’t looking for it... this wasn’t her nature, as far as I could tell.

Still, I would do it... as a token of my appreciation for her.

"Better than my house, of course," I whispered.. then I continued my way..

My nearest destination was Joe’s house.. In the front yard, there were two children, a boy and a girl.. It seemed the girl was a year or two older.

It was also a two-story house, but much larger than Louis’s. perhaps three times the size.

The surrounding grounds were vast as well, filled with a variety of trees, and even some vegetable patches. It was truly a big house.

It made sense. After all, he had a family, and he also owned 10% of what the city’s woodcutters harvested. One could say that this allowed his family to live in comfort in such a huge home.

I approached the little ones...

Although I had met them on more than one occasion before.. I only remembered the girl’s name—Judy, perhaps.. The boy’s name was Bo, Bao, or maybe Shis.

"Hello, children," I greeted them.. they returned the greeting with respect and bowed.

"How are you?"

"Fine, sir.. thank you," Judy answered.

"Very good.. Judy, where is your father?"

"Lady Monali sent for him."

"She," the boy Bo or Bao nudged his sister and said, "The Princess Lady Monali."

Hahaha. The Princess Lady.. it sounds like a nice title. "Alright children, be careful not to get hurt while playing.. give my regards to your mother." Then I moved on, followed by their voices:

"As you command, sir."

My second destination.. Monali’s house. It’s good that Joe is there too.. I’ll check on them.. then I must tell them.

Damn... Monali is going to lose her mind when I tell her I summoned that many families who can’t do anything,

, hahaha.

But I have a plan.

Passing by the main road, everyone stood in line cheering for my safety.. The affection they offered one after another with their shouts truly moved my heart. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Of course, I didn’t rush through all that kindness; that would have been disrespectful.. After two hours...

I reached the house of the Princess Lady haha.

It was a house similar to Louis’s... it seemed they had asked Soman to make their homes alike... or perhaps one of them

was copying the other, hahaha. Of course, if I said that in front of them, I’d be dinner for the whole village.

But Monali’s house was slightly different... there were no vegetables, but quite a number of flowers.

The same ones I had given them that day we celebrated, when I distributed flowers to everyone.

It seemed the princess wasn’t looking for a quiet life as a housewife, but rather to be a woman of leadership...

Before I could even knock on the door, it opened.

"Sir!" Joe shouted, jumped, and hugged me.

Aaaah.. we both screamed in pain.

"What foolishness," a voice whispered from behind.

"How are you, Joe?" I asked him, and his answer wasn’t delayed. He seemed in the best of health.. he was like a tank indeed.. there was a sword hanging on his chest, and here he was like a bull.

On the other hand, my eyes turned toward Monali.. she was radiant as usual. That "corpse" that was lying in the yard had disappeared, and our beautiful princess had returned.

"Shall we drink tea?" I said.

"I’m going to do something and come back quickly, it’s not important.. do I have your permission, sir?" Joe asked.

"You have it, but.. instead of coming back, you should do some work."

Then I followed Monali inside.

"I have no words.. you do whatever you want every time, sir." Monali answered angrily and continued:

"Families in this number and with no ability to work? What are we going to do with them?"

Well, after a period of pretending to be tired, Monali calmed down haha.

Then I went back home.

Now, it’s time.. to find out what I gained from those harsh battles.