Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

In the previous chapter, we mentioned that the father of Olivia and Cirilla, Emhyr, wanted nothing but the crown of Nilfgaardian. He had long planned his ascension with Vilgefortz’s help.

To leave as a family member of the “Lioness of Cintra,” Queen Calanthe was not an easy task. Being a family member was another matter of hardship.

Therefore, Vilgefortz and Emhyr had engineered a plot to fake their deaths in a shipwreck. Pavetta, Cirilla, and Emhyr would be “dead,” in the deep sea with Vilgefortz guaranteeing their safety.

Olivia was never meant to be part of the “survivors.” Although Vilgefortz was a peerless strategist, adding Olivia to his band would greatly increase the risks of failing. He did not have any use of Olivia now, other than being the newfound love of his secretary. For the sake of his subordinate’s loyalty, Olivia must be alive.

It was the year when Olivia became four, and Cirilla became five. Still disguised as Dony, Emhyr found the perfect window of opportunity.

His family of four reached the island of Skellige Isles. The owner of Skellige Isles, King Bran, was the brother of Eist Tuirseach, the second husband of Queen Calanthe. [1][2] It was just another family visiting trip for the nobles.

King Bran had aged. Most of the matters on Skellige Island were now in the hands of his nephew, Crach an Craite. [3] Naturally, Crach was placed in charge of Emhyr and his family.

When Crach was much younger, he had followed his uncle Eist to arranged courtship of Queen Calanthe’s daughter, Pavetta. That night, he became friends with Geralt and Dony. Of course, he was not aware that Dony was actually Emhyr.

Crach eventually became one of Geralt’s closest buddies, but he detested Dony. Crach was known for being an honest and straightforward person. Physically, he was robust and strong, and he was a good wrestler. He soon earned himself the title, “Sea Boar.” He was the capabl e barbarian that King Bran would trust, and he would not trust a man with a cunning face such as Dony (Emhyr).

Crach always doubted Dony’s intentions of courting Pavetta. However, he put those personal thoughts aside and welcomed them as guests. He was happy to have Cirilla and Olivia around.

Therefore, Crach demanded that his two children, Hjalmar and Cerys played with Cirilla and Olivia. [4][5]

Hjalmar was the eldest among the four. His sister, Cerys, was slightly older than Cirilla.

Crach did not like Dony, and the feeling was mutual. He thought that the nobles of Skellige Isles were all barbarians and knew nothing about chivalry and courtesy. His Nilfgaardian was far better off compared to these islands. People lived far better lives here, unlike the Skellige Isles, where most people had to bleed to put food on their table.

Therefore, Emhyr wanted to frame Crach for his apparent death.

First, he had to leave evidence that pointed towards Crach. For starters, forging a document that showed The Sea Boar approving of their voyage to sea before they left. Of course, Crach never actually agreed to them dropping anchor during this season.

Emhyr accepted Crach’s rejection, but still left the port that night with his family. He was desperate to go back to Nilfgaardian. Confident with Vilgefortz’s arrangement, Emhyr could almost taste the air of Nilfgaardian.

In Emhyr and Vilgefortz’s meticulous planning, there lay a significant oversight: the innocent looking Princess Pavetta.

The bigger a pretty vase, the more troublesome it could be. Pavetta noticed that her husband was acting weird. Who would insist to set sail during this season? Though she neglected her responsibilities as a mother, she managed to sneak Cirilla and Olivia away from the ship before it was deported.

Just as the ship was closing in on the “shipwreck” point, Emhyr realized that his daughters had not followed!

No matter how perfect a plan may sound, something would always try to upend it all. Emhyr had even drunk in celebration with Vilgefortz the night before they carried out their plans. He spoke about the struggles and suffering in Cintra, as if he already the King of Nilfgaardian…

At that crucial moment, Pavetta confronted him about his dangerous act. They started to quarrel, and Princess Pavetta questioned Emhyr if he loved her…

Emhyr had never loved Pavetta. He could only think of the throne of Nilfgaardian. He wanted it back.

Emhyr never thought of killing Pavetta, but when Vilgefortz could not find Cirilla on the ship, that changed…

The ship was over the Sedna Abyss.[6] A treacherous, maelstrom-prone area. Without hesitation, Vilgefortz conjured a storm and gathered sea water in the air. After a moment, the gathered sea water turned into a huge tide and rushed towards the ship!

At the brink of being shipwrecked, Vilgefortz opened a gateway and sent only Emhyr through the portal. Pavetta was lost in the sea. Emhyr was the only survivor in that accident.

“Dony” was officially dead in the sea. Emhyr went back to his homeland and led the revolt against the usurper.

With the help of Vilgefortz, he managed to take control of his kingdom and slew the usurper. With one foot on the corpse, he avenged his father’s death and claimed his crown.

“When my Pavetta died, the sky cried for her. I will never let the sky cried for me.”

After Emhyr’s coronation, peace did not come immediately. After some period of political strife, all of his enemies were either dead or exiled. He took the gravestones of his enemies to decorate the floor of his ballroom, earning him the nickname of “The White Flame Dancing on the Barrows of his Enemies” or in Elder Speech, Deithwen Addan yn Carn aep Morvudd. Perhaps he should be called “Emhyr, the dancer on tombstones”

Translation Note:

[1] King Bran, former King of the Skellige Isles, lived a long and storied life. When he finally felt decrepitude taking hold of him, he went into the woods to hunt a bear armed with only a knife – and thus ended his reign. It was remembered as an honorable and respected one, though some complained he preferred raiding to confronting the Isles’ long-term problems, and that he let his wife’s tongue wag too freely. Some connected the two, claiming Bran sailed out to fight overseas battles to put off dealing with the ones awaiting him at home.

[2] Eist Tuirseach (d. 1263) was a Jarl of Skellige during the reign of his brother, King Bran, and Crach an Craite’s uncle. He became the King of Cintra via his impromptu marriage to Queen Calanthe and, sometime later, he also gained the crown of Skellige. He ruled with his wife until 1263 when he was killed at the Battle of Marnadal during the Nilfgaardian invasion of Cintra.

He was described as being a sinewy warrior with a dark face, an aquiline nose, and white teeth. He was also, at least according to Queen Calanthe, noble, knightly, and classy.

[3] Crach an Craite, also known as Sea Boar (Elder Speech: Tirth ys Muire) and the Wild Boar of the Sea, was a nephew of King Bran Tuirseach of Skellige and was mentored by Eist Tuirseach, his other uncle.

In his early years he was a contender for the hand of Princess Pavetta of Cintra. However, it never came to anything. After King Bran passed the throne to Eist Tuirseach, Crach became Jarl of Skellige, the leading commander of the military forces. He also had a brief affair with Yennefer and remained fond of her afterwards, which he demonstrated by helping her in her search for Vilgefortz in 1267.

He was known for sometimes showing his fiery temper as well as a healthy appetite. During his youth, he was described as a broad-shouldered man with a mop of red hair. Later when he was a grown adult, his eyes were said to be hawk-like.

[4] Hjalmar an Craite, also known as Wrymouth(Polish: Krzywogęby meaning “slack jaw”), born 1248, is the son of Crach an Craite and is Cerys’ older brother, who he has a constant, but good-natured, rivalry with. He was in love with Ciri.

[5] Cerys an Craite, aka “Sparrowhawk”, was the daughter of Crach an Craite, and Hjalmar’s younger sister. The young woman was a courageous islander like her father and had inherited all his stubbornness. She was very self-confident and always ready to prove she could fulfil any task as good as a man, which caused her and Hjalmar to have a constant, but good-natured, rivalry. However, unlike her brother, she appeared more levelheaded, choosing to investigate and think things through first before jumping to conclusions.

[6] Sedna Abyss, also known as Sedna Trench, is an infamous location in the seas between the Skellige islands and Cape Peixe de Mar[1] and tends to be avoided by the Islanders as ships disappear in this area due to unnatural causes. In particular, if entered, a maelstrom forms out of nowhere and the unlucky ship disappears. It’s later revealed the Islanders were right about it being unnatural. Unbeknownst to most, the mage Vilgefortz created the magical maelstrom here, using it to teleport any ships that enter it away to one of his hideouts in faraway Ebbing, where the ship and most (if not all) the crew die on crashing into the land. At one point in the 1250s, he worked with Emhyr to try and bring him, his wife Pavetta, and their young daughter Ciri to Nilfgaard while making it look like the family perished at sea by using this maelstrom, but the plan went awry and only Emhyr was teleported away.