ã€ŠNobleã€‹


 Prologue and Chapter I: Forty-Eight Princes

    If men can repeat their lives, would they opt to do so?

    For those who lived a life of glory,

    Would they relive their lives to experience their triumph all over again?

    For those who lived a life of boredom,

    Would they relive their lives to seek delight and fight their tedium of daily lives?

    For those who lived a life of agony,

    Would they relive their lives to go through it all over again?

    For those who lived a life of mistakes,

    Would they relive their lives to amend those errors?

    Whatever one¡¯s choice of believing whether there¡¯s another life after death, the general consensus would say that human would have no choice but to turn to dust at least once.

    And should men can relive their lives after they turned into dust,

    Would their lives restart and go according to the same course?

    For live starts at one point, and despite its twists and turns, it would always end in the same way

    Then, let joyous news be delivered to those who pass their lives in peace,

    For it takes only one twist of fate to throw their lives upside down

    A twist to make one hungers over glory

    A twist to make one starves over excitement

    A twist to make one aches under agony

    A twist to make one suffers under mistakes

    And for those who unfortunate enough to encounter the whims of fate,

    Let it be reminded to them, that even their lives repeat a hundred times,

    Only one conclusion can be deducted

    So much glory to seek

    So much delight to find

    So much agony to endure

    So much blunder to amend

    So little time

    --- Excerpts from the Archives of the Grand Lunar Regime ---

    =========

    Bravell.

    The city could pretty much be summed as ¡°a majestic port city, an important node of trade, and a home to ten million people¡±.

    But of course, there was more to that. It was, after all, one of the earliest human settlements in the continent.

    For the last two thousand years it had seen all manners and sorts of destruction. Violent rains and storms, long droughts, giant waves, vicious quakes, fire, invasion, war, famine. The city had been toppled over and was utterly destroyed many times, only to rise again from its ashes. The current city was the eleventh city built on that ground.

    Known as the city of valour, and gifted with the title of ¡°City of Heroes¡±. It was a living monument of how persistent human beings can be.

    Within the confines of arenite walls which spanned for over one hundred arvina (about two kilometres) in length and one thousand lvina (about twenty metres) in height, structures¡ªboth old and new, sprawled and amalgamated into its landscape. Even with a horse carriage, one couldn¡¯t reach the edge of the city from the other edge in a day travel. Such was the majesty of Bravell.

    When the previous master of the city, the aged and weakened Grand Lunar Regime, collapsed, Bravell was ushered to be the capital of its continent, known by the tongue of men as Sverzemlya--- the northern lands. The city took another three hundred years before it was incorporated into another state--- a federated empire, the Empire of Fymia. Although like any major cities in the Federation, Bravell had managed to hold on into its autonomy.

    At that present it was the seat of one of the ten states of the Federation, the Holy Principalities of Serenadia.

    The state was governed from a magnificent palace by the center of the city, ¡®The Grand Palace of Bravell¡¯. Even though Bravell never served as the capital of the Grand Lunar Regime, the regime built it so that no man could ever match its splendour. The palace was built from the rarest and sturdiest marble, adorned with precious jewels and exquisite pieces of arts from all over the lands. In the palace there was no less than a thousand room and ten thousands of servants, with its halls, lively and bright, and its ceilings, high and mighty.

    The palace truly was a genuine achievement of mankind.

    It was late afternoon, a certain man was walking through the halls of that palace.

    He was a man of medium stature, if one were to compare him to the average height of the people of Bravell, his skin was fair, his brown hair tied, his eyes, brown, and there was a peculiar faint scar under his right eye. From his tidy, refined clothes one could tell that he was at least no common person.

    The man knew that he was late for his affairs, but he chose to dally anyway.

    After all, the palace never ceased to impress him. Despite it was certainly not the first time for him to be there, he wanted to savour the beauty for a little bit.

    Occasionally, the passing servants would halt and greeted him. He would give them a short reply and continue walking. Dallying as he was, he ultimately reached his destination.

    ¡°Good afternoon. You are quite late, Sir Ravenlicht. The assembly has been going for an hour now.¡±

    A soldier who stood beside a peculiar ornate door adorned with gold greeted him.

    ¡°I¡¯d have to ask the Grand Princess to pardon me for that. I¡¯m afraid I have no excuses for this tardiness, may I pass nonetheless?¡±

    So the man replied, and he was granted entrance.

    As he entered, the vision of an imposing octagonal chamber came to his sight.

    A heated discussion was going on in that room. Before he¡¯d hear what the debate was all about, he examined the room for an empty seat, and secured it.

    ¡°Late, again, Sir Lys?¡±

    The lady by his right seat greeted him with a reprimanding tone as she put a heavy emphasis on her second word.

    ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t really have any reason for that. If my apologies would help, let me apologise then. What did I miss?¡±

    ¡°Bugger all. If anything, both Lord Kashvag and Lady Sinod are at it again.¡±

    The debate between the two had always been, or almost always been, the everyday agenda for that assembly. Particularly, the assembly was the Serenadian parliament, or as it was usually referred, the ¡®council¡¯.

    Except on weekends, the council of forty-eight princes and princesses, and one ¡°Grand Princess¡± would gather to discuss issues concerning their state.

    The forty-eight princes and princess themselves comprised twenty four hereditary princes and twenty four elected princes. The ¡®Grand Princess¡¯ title itself was hereditary.

    Like the title implied, there were fundamental differences between hereditary and elected princes. The state, the Holy Principalities of Serenadia, was a confederate state of forty-nine titular principalities. The elected princes, while titled, were not landed. In the other hand, the hereditary princes were titled and landed, although their lands were inside the city instead of anywhere else in Serenadia.

    Needless to say, while hereditary princes hold their title for life, elected princes would hold the title for only six years. After the end of the six years, a popular election would be held throughout Bravell. If one were to wish to maintain their position, a campaign to bolster support would be necessary.

    It was possible for one to maintain the position as an elected prince, however, provided that he was popular enough, since there was no period limit for an elected prince to rerun his or her candidacy.

    The man, Lys Ravenlicht, was one of the elected princes.

    The system that Serenadia held itself, while seemed to take the aspiration of its common people into consideration, could be called as anything but efficient.

    Lys had no idea why the state would bother to hold an election, while in fact if the hereditary princes wished to control the parliament they could easily do so since the Grand Princess position was hereditary as well. All they need to do was to ask the Grand Princess to accept their motions. If the Grand Princess could not weather their pressure, it would be a given that she¡¯d give in.

    After all, elected princes would change every six years. The hereditary princes would stay there indefinitely. It was better for the Grand Princess to maintain the favour of those who would most likely serve as her lifetime partners.

    So it seemed to Lys that the election was some sort of a clever devised tactic to make people believe that they had a say in the government. While there was some element of truth of it, it was certainly not entirely true.

    It wasn¡¯t a guaranteed case that the hereditary princes would always stay united though, and such was the reason why the system wasn¡¯t precisely efficient.

    The parliament was divided into two factions. One was the Prince Kashvag¡¯s faction, the other was Princess Sinod¡¯s faction.

    They didn¡¯t adhere to a particular belief. One of them could be leaning to leftist policies for one day and then they could lean the other way on the next. One thing for sure was, if Prince Kashvag were to support a motion, it was likely for Princess Sinod to go against him. If Sinod¡¯s motion were to be approved by the parliament, Kashvag would try anything at his expense to make it repealed later. They were in that sort of quid pro quo relationship.

    Both Sinod and Kashvag were hereditary princes, in any case.

    ¡°My point is, Lord Kashvag. More settlements means more taxes. We can still tax them and may warn them that building settlements outside the arenite walls would make them unguarded against whatever menaces out there. However, we have no business to tell them where to live, let alone to punish them for it.¡±

    ¡°I object, Lady Sinod. Let the arenite walls do its job. Letting them to live beyond the walls would ensure disorder for Serenadia. We¡¯ve been doing well to maintain the security of Bravell. I can¡¯t risk myself to allow those settlements, they could turn into a bandit¡¯s lair by any moment now. The last thing I¡¯d like to hear, milady, was the news that shipments from the other states were gone while they were passing through Serenadia. Do you want them to think that we are incapable of maintaining order? They clearly refused the crown¡¯s order and refused to negotiate as well. Why would you think they¡¯d gladly pay their taxes if we let them?¡±

    It seemed that they were still exchanging blows.

    ¡®By the way, what¡¯s the agenda for today?¡¯

    Lys unrolled his parchment. Written on it was the parliament¡¯s agenda for that day.

    Ah.

    It seemed to be a serious issue.

    It appeared that some people were trying to build new settlements outside Bravell in Serenadian land. This was a big no for the council and the government in general.

    There were a lot of reasons to start with, but authorities had found themselves struggling to maintain the order of Bravell alone. If not for certain, these settlements were a potential added hassle.

    Leaving the settlements to deal with themselves was out of the question, too.

    The settlements were practically were under the jurisdiction of the Serenadian Golden Throne. If anything were to happen to the settlements (or if the settlements turned out to be lairs for outlaws), this may be seen as a weakness.

    It would definitely weaken the position of the Grand Princess before the federation and the Fymian High Emperor, it was the last thing Serenadia would want to see.

    The settlers however insisted to maintain their stance to keep building their settlements. Negotiations were made and failed. So that would lead to¡­

    ¡®Suppression, huh¡­¡¯

    The assembly was discussing whether they should mobilise the army to suppress the settler or not.

    In times of peace, mobilising an army is a big deal. This would be the topic for people out there for a month or so.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll settle this with a vote, those who vote aye?¡±

    It seemed that Kashvag had had enough debate for today, and for that he initiated the voting session.

    Twenty, twenty one, twenty four raised their right hand.

    ¡°Those who vote nay?¡±

    Fifteen, sixteen¡­

    Lys raised his right hand as well.

    ¡°Oh? Sir Ravenlicht. It¡¯s quite rare to see you abandoning your general principles of¡­ uh, neutrality and supporting Lady Sinod instead. Did she manage to convince you to join her faction?¡±

    A question from Kashvag.

    That reaction was to be expected.

    Lys Ravenlicht usually would prefer to abstain from voting since he felt it would drag him into either of the two factions. For him to actually vote was a rare sight.

    ¡°No, Milord. I remain steadfast to maintain my strict neutrality. However, I feel that sending an army to suppress a number of poor-equipped peasants wishing to live their lives outside Bravell is overdoing it. And besides¡­¡±

    Lys shifted his gaze.

    ¡°Her Grace doesn¡¯t seem to be convinced.¡±

    All of the other forty-seven gazes were now shifted to the northern side of the room.

    There, the lone Grand Princess of Serenadia silently sat.

    She didn¡¯t raise her hand, thus she was abstaining.

    ¡°Uh, Sir Ravenlicht spoke the truth, Lord Kashvag. I¡¯m actually at a loss. Certainly letting them would cause unwanted problems, but to send an army¡­¡±

    That, she said it with a meek voice.

    Grand Princess of Serenadia, Lulley of the Vatnab House, was a girl in her adolescence. Silk black straight hair, bright blue eyes, characteristic button nose; clothing preference: modest long white dress accented with a silver tiara; exceedingly popular with the people; incredibly good at singing, and¡­

    ¡°B-but if Lord Kashvag think it¡¯s good. Maybe we should go with it¡­¡±

    A complete pushover.

    Perhaps she ascended the throne a little bit too early.

    This was never said out loud by anyone though.

    Since she was loved by the people, taking a stance against her was plain foolishness, even for someone of a noble stature. A move against her would be considered as a move against people Bravell itself. Therefore, critics against her administration were usually held at bay.

    But not for Kashvag.

    Now, certainly Kashvag had won that day, with 24 against 16 votes to be exact.

    Even if the Grand Princess were to vote nay, the army would still be mobilized. The voting system in Serenadia was absolute and while the Grand Princess¡¯ vote was equivalent to two votes (the maximum tallied vote being 50), she did not have the absolute power to reject the decision of the assembly.

    Not to mention that the other princes and princesses abstaining were unlikely to shift their opinion.

    But it wasn¡¯t a complete victory for him, not until the Grand Princess truly supported him.

    ¡°Your Grace. I see that you aren¡¯t thoroughly convinced.¡±

    ¡°As expected, sending an army to suppress a group of settlers is a little bit too cruel for my tastes¡­¡±

    ¡°A group?! Your Grace, they are in their thousands. This isn¡¯t a mere act of defiance. You¡¯ve got thousands of people resisting the crown¡¯s order, it¡¯s a prelude to a possible rebellion!¡±

    So he said, with his voice raised.

    The assembly was consumed by silence.

    Prince Sinn Kashvag was indeed amongst a group of rare people who would dare to raise their voice against the Grand Princess. Perhaps because he knew in the end of the day Lulley would never take an action against him.

    ¡°Cruel? In this case, cruelty is needed to be benevolent. The two may be contradictory, but to be a truly a benevolent leader, it is necessary to uphold discipline and order of the state, even at the expense of thousands of defiant settlers. Unless you think otherwise, would you support this move, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Or do you have something against the move? Either way, you are the Grand Princess of Serenadia, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be a bit assertive, hmm?¡±

    It was a thorough scolding.

    Perhaps it was a trick of the eye, but Lys could¡¯ve sworn that he saw Lulley shivered for a moment there.

    ¡°Yes. Indeed. If it¡¯s really for a greater cause for the country, then I¡¯ll¡­ gladly support Lord Kashvag. I vote for the action to suppress of the settlers as well.¡±

    Said Lulley bashfully, and thus it fulfilled the condition of a complete victory for him. With that, Kashvag¡¯s face floated a faint smirk.

    As for Sinod and those in her faction, they maintained their silence.

    Maybe Sinod knew that the day was already Kashvag¡¯s, anyway since the Grand Princess voted aye, it was impossible to alter the decision as it was now supported by more than half of the assembly.

    For the first time in twenty years, the army of Serenadia was to head out for battle.

    ¡°Well then, now that it¡¯s settled, let¡¯s decide the date for the army to march out. Oh, and tell the scribe to prepare a written declaration of war to the settlers.¡±

    And so Kashvag ended the session, and the rest of the assembly proceeded in an awkward manner.

    ----v----

    The seas had just finished swallowing the sun down as Lys settled himself and took a seat he was accustomed to.

    It was another evening for a tavern named ¡°North Star¡±.

    The tavern was a well-known establishment where most middle-class merchants of Bravell would gather once the sun goes down. The tavern conveniently situated in the midst of the Market District, no wonder it was a preferred place for the merchants to flock together or to gulp the rest of the day away.

    For Lys, unless he really didn¡¯t feel like it, he would frequent this tavern after work.

    ¡°Did you hear? The army is going to war!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Lord Kashvag drove even the Grand Princess to support the hostility against the folks up north. I feel sorry for them, but since they¡¯re so stubborn¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah about that, I heard that Lord Kashvag shouted at the Grand Princess! Poor young lady, she must¡¯ve tried her best to resist that kind of pressure¡­¡±

    Lys wasn¡¯t there for a mere drink.

    The main reason he was there, well,

    It was mainly to pry over the conversations.

    As he listened to three merchants discussing what happened in the parliament chamber earlier that day. Lys silently muttered,

    ¡®The day isn¡¯t over yet and the news has already reached them, huh¡­¡¯

    Lys knew that most of the merchants in the tavern have impressive networks to quickly gather information from around the town, but he never knew the merchants would know what happened in the council chamber, which was supposed to be contained, so quickly.

    Indeed, the tavern was known to be the best place to gather information. Most of what happened in Bravell that day would be discussed by the flocking merchants later at that place.

    Of course, since they gather every night, the merchants in that tavern knew each other by face. Lys has frequented the tavern before he was elected prince, but he kept interactions to the minimum and thus was branded as an unsociable man. No one knew Lys¡¯ name save for the barkeep, and he was known by the folks as ¡°the sulking guy who talks only to the Keep¡±.

    This wasn¡¯t his intention, certainly, but he never knew it¡¯d keep his anonymity even after he got elected. The Market District was located in the northeast of the city and he wasn¡¯t quite known in the northeast. Since he planned to keep it that way, the only one knew who Lys was in that peculiar part of town was pretty much only the Keep.

    Well, for the Keep to know Lys was to be expected, as the Keep was notorious for knowing a lot of names. Ironic that in the other hand practically no one knew his name, he never told and no one ever asked. Everyone just knew him as ¡®Keep¡¯.

    ¡°Hey, Keep, the usual.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Sea beer, coming right up.¡±

    The Keep poured clear greenish liquid into Lys¡¯ cup.

    The name of beverage was certainly sea beer, but it wasn¡¯t an alcoholic drink.

    Bravell was ruled by the Grand Lunar Regime for at least ten centuries, and ruled for that long, a lot of its culture have changed. It was only recently that Bravell could finally see open breweries and booming demand for alcohol.

    The main reason was when the regime was in charge, alcoholic beverages were strictly prohibited and that kind of business was forced underground.

    People at that time could still find such commodity, but they were so expensive that consumption was limited only for the rich. Those who couldn¡¯t afford the spending would still gather in taverns every night, only to enjoy drinks with no alcohol¡ªsince the regime was known to be very strict, and legal establishment couldn¡¯t afford to mess around with the authorities.

    Of course the tavern drinkers couldn¡¯t reserve to mere fruit juice, and thus to compensate the prohibition a lot of beverages were invented during that time. Sea beer was one of them.

    Believed to cure a sailor¡¯s seasickness, the beer was a preferred alternative for most people in Bravell who were sailors and merchants. Only local experienced brew-master can brew it though, and only a few select taverns can make it right. Thus, it was regarded as a prized local commodity.

    However, it was not that the tavern didn¡¯t serve alcohol, Lys just needed to stay sober so he could hear the conversations around him.

    ¡°I can¡¯t really blame Lord Kashvag though. Ever since the Federation it has been very quiet here, how many years have it been since the army last went into battle? Fifteen, twenty? Anyway the regulars are getting restless, if it was only guard duty, the palace might think it would be wise to cut off the number of the personnel¡­¡±

    When the conversation amongst the merchants went to the direction of belittling Kashvag due to the incident with the Grand Princess, one of them suddenly said that.

    ¡°So it¡¯s true, huh?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s true?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re going to war, that¡¯s true right? Just because the army has been inactive?¡±

    Lys sighed. Surely the Keep overheard the conversations too. He might¡¯ve already grasped the idea that a war might be looming anytime soon.

    ¡°Yes. But what I heard back then was different, the army being inactive wasn¡¯t the only reason. No-- in fact it wasn¡¯t even mentioned back then. Defiance against the crown was the main reason, I guess. But now after I heard him, I¡¯m not so sure anymore.¡±

    Perhaps the reason was army inactiveness all along.

    There were approximately fifty thousand personnel in the army, and the state was still regularly paying soldiers¡¯ wages until just in case.

    But since Bravell and the rest of the states have been stable since the Fymian administration, it was inevitable for skeptics to question the effectiveness of their current wages or the overwhelming numbers of personnel.

    When pressured enough, it was almost guaranteed that the Grand Princess would issue or propose cuts.

    This wouldn¡¯t sit well for the current personnel. Their minds must have been occupied by the cuts, probably daily.

    And if it were really to happen anytime soon, those who got cut out have limited options¡ª with mercenary work being the most probable option since there was very little land to toil in Bravell. Not to mention, for those in the military, they may have difficulty to return to ordinary lives.

    To have them remain with their salary cut wasn¡¯t a desirable condition either.

    A war, however small, would justify their existence. It would justify the number of personnel and their wages as well.

    It was like shouting ¡°See? I told you the army is still needed!¡± at the people. That would effectively silence the skeptics as well.

    ¡°But we definitely won¡¯t conscript, so no worries there. Anyway, what did you hear from the other costumers about this, Keep? Are they bothered with it?¡±

    ¡°No, no. Nothing like that. Since the war will be up north and most of the supplies are delivered by sea, business in town pretty much won¡¯t be disturbed. Then again, that¡¯s if you can call it a war.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well I¡¯m not sure if you can call it a war either. It¡¯ll be a set of small skirmishes at best. The settlers are not an army¡­ Facing a real army, they¡¯ll back down.¡±

    ¡°Maybe so¡­ Anyway, it¡¯ll cause a minor disturbance for the North Road trades. Those who use that road are trading with Amalgamatia for silver and Tsaryn for weapons, so silver and weapons will be a little bit more expensive for the next few days. Oh, but the weapons will stay that way for a while I guess. As you can see, weapon merchants here have been energetic since earlier now.¡±

    It was a detailed forecast. If the Keep were to trade, he¡¯d be a major player for sure.

    However, when trying to imagine the Keep as a major merchant, Lys chuckled a bit.

    While it was true that he¡¯s good at price forecasting, Lys just couldn¡¯t imagine him in that way. Probably he¡¯d prefer to run this establishment for the rest of his life instead.

    ¡°You sure know your stuff, Keep.¡±

    ¡°Having these guys over every night, you¡¯re bound to know a thing or two.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t flattery, Lys believed that the Keep was knowledgeable in this subject.

    ¡°Anyway, if anything, these guys were excited about one thing. Since the Grand Princess will be going to war as well----¡±

    ¡°Do they, now? I thought they¡¯d be repulsed by that idea. I mean the Grand Princess is a woman, a very young one too¡­ For them to be in the battlefield is a bit too much¡­¡±

    ¡°What epoch are you from, the Regime¡¯s? Those ladies up northeast¡­ Enricians, was it? They handed our arses over back in the Great War a few decades back. Nowadays women have the same place in the battlefield like men do.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re Lilians, alright. Stories are just stories though, it¡¯s not like you and I ever see them¡­¡±

    Lilia.

    A matriarchal state some arvina away from Bravell in the northeast.

    Lilia was one of the most enigmatic nations, if not the most perplexing, out of the ten states of Fymia.

    It was said that there was no single man in that country, and they were notorious for not permitting any man to enter their territories. That was their condition when they joined the Federation.

    Their capital, Enricia, was rumored to be an ethereal dwelling no man can ever build. Their look was fairer than any look of the fairest maidens. Their eyes was said to change according to their mood. Their blood was supposed to be of a dragon¡¯s.

    There were all sorts of ridiculous and impossible-sounding rumors surrounding them, as there were no chroniclers or travelers that could verify the truth of such tales. No one knew whether stories about them were true or not. Lys would disregard these as tall-tales himself.

    But one thing was known about them.

    Like Serenadian relationship to its chief city Bravell, they never allowed any of their citizens to live outside the confines of Enricia. Lys never saw any of them in his life, and it looks like the Keep never saw them either.

    It was like they were some sort of mythological being.

    Something straight out of a fairy tale.

    They conversed about Lilians, until the topic of their conversation went erratic and lighter. Before Lys knew it, the bittersweet liquor that was on his cup ran out. Lys went for another five cups before he tossed six pieces of silver coins to the Keep as he left the tavern.

    It was indeed, a typical evening for the North Star.

    ====v====

    It was past midnight when Lys finally caught the sight of his estate.

    His residence, inherited from his late father, was a two-story manor with modest outlook. Its masonry was built with limestone boulders, and it had a characteristic gray-colored roof. These characteristics were common for most houses in Bravell.

    As an elected prince, he was entitled to use a personal chamber in the Grand Palace. But he preferred to commute from home every day due to various reasons. He¡¯d use his chamber in the palace occasionally should other circumstances arise in the parliament, though.

    The neighborhood where his estate situated had already ruled by silence at his time of arrival. Occasionally the cries of night insects would break the quietness, but in the end it only reinforced the calm atmosphere of that night.

    Lys returned his horse to the stable and sluggishly turned to the main entrance.

    ¡°There¡¯s still light inside, eh¡­¡±

    He wasn¡¯t pondering. He knew that even it was very late, someone was waiting for him behind that door.

    True to that expectation, as he opened the door a familiar figure came to greet him.

    ¡°Welcome home, sir.¡±

    Illuminated by the faint light of the chandelier was a lady taller than him, with curly hazel hair, hazy blue eyes, and shapely figure. Her figure of speech and movements were so gracious, if it wasn¡¯t for the housemaid attire one could easily mistake her for a noblewoman.

    Such mistake was to be expected, though.

    After all, she was in fact, once a noblewoman.

    ¡°I¡¯m home, Betta. Sorry to have kept you until this late.¡±

    Betta took Lys¡¯ coat off him while shaking her head, ¡°please do not mind¡±, she said.

    Elisabetta Ravenlicht, known better as her shorter nickname ¡°Betta¡±,

    Or, as she asserted recently, ¡°just Elisabetta¡±, was Lys¡¯ older half-sister.

    The circumstances surrounding the Ravenlicht house after Lys¡¯ late father departed was complex, but to simplify things, let it be known that Lys¡¯ mother wasn¡¯t exactly known as a virtuous woman. Albeit she settled down when she married into the Ravenlicht family, Elisabetta was an inerasable proof of whom she once was.

    Back then, Lys¡¯ father, Yernes, didn¡¯t care about what his peers had said about the idea of having her as his own family and raised Betta as his own daughter.

    At that time Yernes was at his apex, he was a major merchant in Bravell and it was expected that he had to deal with Serenadian noblemen. His influence was wide enough for people to consider him as one of the nobles. This influence was a major factor for Lys¡¯ election, and it had successfully made him an elected prince.

    Betta, as Yernes¡¯ daughter, received proper education as a noblewoman, for she was expected to take part in dealing with the family business and relations sooner or later.

    Yernes had expected Lys to excel in politics, and Betta to excel in business.

    Except that didn¡¯t happen.

    Lys¡¯ mother, Lyra, despite the protests of Yernes, made it very clear for Betta that she didn¡¯t share Yernes¡¯ flesh and blood. Betta never showed Yernes her discontent about this, and she treated and respected Yernes like her own father, too.

    That changed when Yernes passed away.

    The first thing she did was to throw away her surname. Later she asked Lys whether she was allowed to remain in the residence, to which Lys replied with a natural yes.

    But things never returned as it used to.

    Betta, in turn, agreed to remain in the house, but only as a servant.

    Then, perhaps what she did in front of Yernes was an act out of gratitude.

    Not even once that she felt worthy enough to be his daughter.

    When Yernes passed away, such act was no longer necessary.

    Of course as a servant, she insisted to call Lys ¡°master¡± at first.

    Lys wasn¡¯t going to have any of that, he argued that Yernes would never accept Betta¡¯s decision, reminded her that they shared the same mother nonetheless, and they had been a close pair of siblings for twenty years. In the end he managed to settle things with her calling him ¡°sir¡± instead.

    Lys still wasn¡¯t happy with it. But at least ¡°sir¡± was better than the subservient servant-like way of calling her younger sibling like ¡°master¡±. Nonetheless, it was the most distant and loneliest way possible to address one¡¯s sibling, especially since Betta had been taking care of him since forever.

    He once thought that it might be better for Betta to marry and start a family of her own rather than staying at the residence as a servant. But Betta had a problem of her own as well.

    Lys lived in a society where hereditary issues seriously mattered, particularly when it comes to marriage. In spite of Yernes¡¯ best effort to introduce Betta to his peers as his own daughter, everyone knew who Betta was. It was her uncertain birth that made it very difficult for her to find a partner.

    In any case, for a family with a stature like Ravenlicht, an unmarried daughter who couldn¡¯t marry for any reason whatsoever was also a possible source of shame.

    For her the options were limited.

    If she didn¡¯t want to be a burden the Ravenlicht house, it was either she remain in the residence as a servant, or leave the residence altogether and let the streets decide her fate for her.

    Obviously for Lys there was only the first choice, surely Betta wouldn¡¯t want to go if it was possible for her to stay.

    Thankfully, even with her antics, Betta didn¡¯t defy one of Yernes¡¯ biggest wish. At that present she was the one managing Yernes¡¯ business and residence, albeit as a self-proclaimed servant instead of Yernes¡¯ heir.

    In the Ravenlicht residence, she had been managing most of the housework with five other maids whose names Lys could never remember. She and Lys had agreed to hire no guards for the house, since there was practically no precious articles in the house itself--- save for a horse, and horses were relatively cheap in Bravell.

    Since there were neither men nor guards in the house, it would mean that he¡¯d have to commute from home. The area surrounding his residence was considered one of the safest parts of the town, but it was better to at least infer that there was a man in the house, just in case¡­

    ¡°Sir? You¡¯ve been spacing out for a while now.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Sorry.¡±

    Betta¡¯s voice brought Lys back.

    ¡°I took the liberty to prepare a bath for you. Since it has been very warm today¡­ But if you¡¯re very tired, please go straight to bed.¡±

    ¡°No, Betta¡­ By the way, mind if I ask you something?¡±

    He recalled what happened earlier that day.

    Serenadia, for the first time after a long while, was going to start a war.

    Although he was a mere elected prince and his army would be borrowed from the hereditary ones, he¡¯d still have to lead the army into the battle.

    ¡°If I were to go to war, how would you feel?¡±

    When she heard that, she raised her eyebrows a bit.

    ¡°It depends. Sir, are you asking a hypothetical question, or is this a question of what¡¯s to come?¡±

    ¡®¡­ She¡¯s sharp¡¯, was what Lys thought. Perhaps when it comes to Lys her intuition was strong. Though as much as he¡¯d like to tell, he had no plans to reveal what happened in the parliament chamber yet.

    ¡°No, never mind... Anyway, you took the trouble to prepare the bath for me. I¡¯ll at least take a quick dip before I retire for the night.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, sir.¡±

    She bowed as Lys started to ascend the stairs to his quarter.

    ¡°¡­ By the way, Betta. Tomorrow might be a good time to start buying silver¡­¡±

 Chapter II: A Twist of Fate

    A few days had passed since then.

    That day, a major parade was held throughout Bravell. People were cheering from the windows of their homes and from the sides of the streets. They waved ¡°The Violet Banner¡±, the flag of Serenadia, known for its unique forty-eight white leaves design with violet background that gave it its name. They chanted the old patriotic songs unheard for a few decades back. A parade that massive was never held since the Fymian administration.

    It was natural. That day was special. It was the day of deployment for the army.

    Amongst those in the center of attention that day was Lys, who was silently sitting on his mount. Beside him, on a mightier-looking stallion and dressed in a fabulous-looking warring attire was Princess Mayda.

    Mayda was a hereditary princess whom Lys was assigned to assist. She was about Lys¡¯ height. Her hair was cut short in a bob-cut, which was typical for warriors or martial arts practitioners who¡¯d find keeping their long hair bothersome. Her eyes were perfect black, which emphasised her stern gaze. Her warring attire was a rather unusual combination of steel armor and silk. Although she wasn¡¯t as popular as Lulley, Mayda was one of Bravell¡¯s most beloved.

    Behind them was her regular army of two thousand men, carrying the symbol of the Mayda Principality, a black shark on a white banner and the symbol of Serenadia, a white bird on a violet banner. They marched together as a fragment of thirty thousand men marching out from Bravell that day.

    As one of the most popular noble, Mayda was greeting the saluting people by raising her right hand, waving and smiling. Lys in the other hand kept his silence. In such silence he could feel his heart growing anxious for various reasons.

    The main reason was Betta. In the end he never said a word to her.

    If Betta were to learn the news, without a doubt she¡¯d be worried sick. She¡¯d spare no expense to prevent him from going. Hence, for some moments Lys thought he saw Betta¡¯s silhouette somewhere amongst the crowd, trying to halt his march.

    Worrying her was the last thing Lys wanted to do.

    At that present, he still believed what he said back then to the Keep.

    He wasn¡¯t going to war.

    The worst thing he could expect was a set of skirmishes with a few possible incidents. The settlers were not an army but a ragtag civilian militia. It wasn¡¯t something to tell Betta about.

    Lys kept assuring himself that he¡¯d be alright.

    He¡¯d return for a week and tell Betta nothing happened while he was away.

    But somewhere in his heart, he thought something was odd.

    For once in the midst of cheering people and lively streets, Lys couldn¡¯t help but to feel a lonesome sentiment.

    ====v====

    Amongst the ten states of Fymia, the lands of Serenadia were known to be the least perilous to travel.

    Outside Bravell, the stretches of Serenadia were mostly flatlands of lush meadows as far as one¡¯s eye can reach. Its one and only highway was well patrolled and people did not have to cross forests or any other possible hostile landscape, thus it was extremely unlikely to get lost. Very rarely, if never, aggressive or dangerous wild beasts would traverse these calm lands. Truly, the state had the serenest and safest road a merchant could ever ask.

    The only woods in Serenadia were located on its northwestern tip of the borders, which happened to be the location of the settlers¡¯ insurgence.

    The woods covered only a few small patches of the northwestern border land, and were previously an infamous gathering place for foragers and hunters from Bravell, for its games were plenty and its herbs were abundant. Occasionally, traders and merchants from neighboring states of Amalgamatia and Tsaryn would come to the woods to trade with the hunters and foragers. They would trade furs with silverwares, antlers with hunting supplies, and so on.

    ¡®The trades and the bountiful harvests might have been also one of the reasons why the settlers stood their position¡­¡¯

    As Lys was pondering aimlessly, he sighed.

    It had been six days since Lys left Bravell. The friendly landscape of Serenadia assured the army¡¯s smooth advance and they have finally reached the northwestern part of the state.

    The army would stop every night and build a makeshift camp. During such nights they would drink and sing in jolly manner. Lys wasn¡¯t happy with it, he found such attitude before warring, and possibly killing, mere insurgent civilians were too disturbing for his consciences.

    Mayda would come to his tent occasionally, asking him about a few things and they¡¯d have pointless conversations. Once, she asked him of his thoughts about the war. In all honesty Lys could¡¯ve had answered her honestly that he thought the whole ordeal was a total waste of the merchants¡¯ taxes. But he kept it for himself, as he had somewhat managed to establish an amicable relationship with Mayda wished to keep their ties cordial even after the skirmish, judging that he had few allies in the council In the end he told Mayda he just wished it¡¯d end quickly without too much incident.

    And indeed, the campaign went on without too much incident for the Serenadian army.

    Then, the fourth day of the campaign came. It was a clear and sunny day, a day one might expect from a Serenadian summer. After a war briefing from Kashvag earlier that day, Lys, Mayda and her army were assigned to survey and scout a certain territory in the borders.

    The territory they assigned to lies just before the Amalgamatian border, the border itself was separated by thin woods that could be easily traveled in fifteen minutes by foot.

    So far, a few skirmishes were fought, but his fragment of an army never had a piece of any action. Kashvag and Sinod, who were assigned to assist the Grand Princess, pretty much handled almost all the battles. Kashvag told the war council that it might be possible to return to Bravell in a matter of days, perhaps in a day or two, should they maintain and keep up with his pace.

    That day, the thought of running into a skirmish wasn¡¯t in Lys mind. He knew they were winning the battle anyway. He told Mayda to bring arrows in case they¡¯d run into the insurgents, but his thoughts were somewhere else. Although he knew it¡¯d do him nothing good, he was still figuring out the motive of their deployment.

    As for why, perhaps Lys was just trying to look for a possible justification should he was forced to kill in that war. He was a politician who had lived a life that, while not exactly idle, was free of violent conflicts.

    After all, he had never done it before, killing. Surely seeing someone live at one moment and dead on the next and being responsible for it would leave some kind of a mark for the rest of his life. Although he had no idea how it¡¯d exactly affect him.

    ¡°Sir Ravenlicht, look.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Huh¡­?¡±

    A band of the settlers¡¯ militia was on the other side of the field.

    ¡°Looks like they¡¯ll attack. Should we deploy?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ Please wait, milady.¡±

    There were five hundred men, at most. The Maydan army outnumbered the militias four to one. They had about forty horses, the rest of the men are dismounted. It was hard to see their weapons, but from what he could see, their weapons were not uniform. Perhaps they just grabbed whatever the Tsaryn merchants offered them.

    It was hard for Lys to decide.

    He¡¯d want to end this skirmish with minimal casualties, none if possible.

    There were plenty of Maydan officers escorting them. Among these officers was the personal war adviser to the lady. And up until then, no comment was made from him. Lys presumed either course of action was acceptable to him.

    ¡°Should we call Lord Kashvag, after all? We¡¯re only here to scout anyway.¡±

    ¡°The men will be agitated that way, Sir Ravenlicht. The campaign''s about to be over and they have yet to gain any merit from these assignments. I¡¯ll deploy th---¡°

    ¡°By all means, milady. Please wait for a moment.¡±

    Returning to call for the main army was probably not the preferable choice for Mayda.

    Although Lys thought that were the main army was here they¡¯d surrender without a fight, he felt that Mayda might find the thought of turning their backs on the enemy to be appalling.

    In addition, from the conversations they had made for the last few days, he concluded that Mayda was one of those warrior-princess breed. The fact that they haven¡¯t had any action since their deployment might not sit well with her. Lys, however, wasn¡¯t about to let her to do anything rash.

    For now, Lys thought, perhaps he should entertain her pent up bloodlust a little bit. But he wasn¡¯t going to suggest anything to Mayda without a second thought from another party available there.

    ¡°Sir adviser, what do you think? Should we engage?¡±

    He called out to Mayda¡¯s personal adviser who had kept his silence up until now.

    He was a man in his early forties, or perhaps late thirties. Bravell haven¡¯t had any violent conflict for the last twenty years, but someone his age would probably know what to do, in fact, he should. He was, after all, her adviser.

    ¡°According to our orders, we¡¯re here only to scout. I personally recommend against it¡­ But I understand that the lady needs a practical experience, regardless whether there¡¯ll be a future battle or not¡­ If the lady wishes to engage, I suggest engaging them from a distance.¡±

    Lys gazed on the other side of the field once again.

    ¡®From a distance¡­ huh? They¡¯re an arvina away¡­ our projectiles will reach.¡¯

    ¡°Milady, please tell the archers to deploy.¡±

    Said Lys to the lady. That would¡¯ve had been for the best, he thought.

    There were five hundreds archers in the Maydian army, and each one of them carried fifteen arrows. Lys predicted that the militia would retreat as soon as they realise there was at least one arrow for each of their head. The rest of the Maydian army wouldn¡¯t have to deploy as well.

    Mayda acknowledged their advice and drew her breath,

    ¡°Archers!¡±

    As soon as her voice reached the banner bearers, violet flags of a white bow and an arrow, which was the sign for archers to deploy, were waved. Her orders were passed to her right and left and eventually the whole force by louder voices of her sergeants.

    ¡°Archers!!!¡± ¡°Archers!!¡±

    ¡°ARCHEEEEEEEEERSSSSSS!!!!!¡±

    Then archers rushed through to the front line with their weapons ready.

    Then, it was an unnerving silence.

    Mayda asked Lys whether it was fine to fire at them.

    Lys nodded.

    With that nod, there was a deafening howl of a horn, with that the archers took their stance to shoot.

    And by the second howl, five hundred archers sent their arrows to the skies.

    The arrows didn¡¯t stay in the skies for long.

    Pretty soon they found their way to the band of settlers. The settlers didn¡¯t have anything much to shelter themselves, many of them were struck and fell down. Probably dead.

    Then another howl, all the archers took their shooting stance back. At this moment there were some movements in the other side of the field, but it didn¡¯t seem like the militia were heading towards the Serenadian army. They didn¡¯t shoot back either. Probably they weren¡¯t armed to do so.

    Second wave of arrows were sent flying into the skies.

    When the arrows reach the grounds, more of them were struck. They didn¡¯t even have time to retaliate and shoot back, perhaps they didn¡¯t have archers in the first place.

    Then, in a clear manner of distraught, the insurgents retreated to the woods.

    Lys, meanwhile, was still dumbstruck.

    He was shivering down to his spine.

    It only took a nod to take down that many lives. He couldn¡¯t count how many fell with those two attacks, but he somewhat felt he was responsible for their lives.

    He wasn¡¯t a soldier or a landed noble.

    He never belonged in this place.

    He didn¡¯t want any of this.

    Heck, he didn¡¯t even feel obliged to do this.

    And yet all he did was to give a nod.

    What he saw made him numb, his thoughts were in a moment of disorder.

    Whoever fell there, they must have had a family with them.

    Had Lys was one of those men who fell, how would Betta feel?

    ¡°Sir Ravenlicht?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Yes¡­?¡±

    For the second time of the day, Mayda¡¯s call broke his trance.

    She was obviously in a good mood.

    The adviser gave her a tap on her shoulder.

    ¡°It seems that we drove them off.¡±

    ¡°Well done on your first successful deployment, milady.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, thanks to you and your archers, milady¡­ We¡¯ll be back before dinner I suppose, should we return?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good that we have them routed by just arrows. But for the campaign to end, we¡¯ll just have to resort to extra measures. I¡¯ll give them a chase, would you two come?¡±

    ¡®A chase?¡¯

    A second of stillness passed.

    ¡°A chase?!¡±

    Her horse neighed loudly and drowned out his voice.

    ¡°No! Wait¡­ Sir Adviser, stop her!¡±

    It went in an instant.

    Mayda probably wasn¡¯t having any more of Lys¡¯ ¡®wait, milady¡¯, she hadn¡¯t even heard Lys¡¯ reply when she cried ¡°CAVALRY, FORWARD!¡±, as she instructed the whole cavalry to follow her and started to chase the remnants of the militia. The adviser shrugged, sighed and shook his head, he gave Lys a short nod and galloped after her.

    Lys had yet to recover from the shock of his first ¡°kill¡±. All he did for the next few minutes was to see Mayda go. Lys¡¯ eyes followed Mayda and her cavalry speeding towards the woods.

    ¡­ And it was then.

    It was then that it came.

    It was a gut feeling.

    A very nasty one, in fact.

    Lys was not educated in the arts of warfare. He had no battle experience either.

    He knew not of strategy or clever maneuvers and the like.

    But he didn¡¯t like the idea of having to chase an angry group of people to the woods where he couldn¡¯t see things.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Not one bit.

    After all, driving away the enemy with two waves of arrows might have been too good to be true.

    The day was supposedly over when the militia was routed. But it didn¡¯t.

    He didn¡¯t want to go forward, the dead bodies on the other side of the field were not visible to him and thus he managed to suppress his guilt. Going there would mean seeing them in all its gory detail.

    But for now, he had to stop her.

    He just knew he had to.

    ¡°Sigh, this is going a little too fast for me¡­¡±

    All of the cavalry had left Lys save for the thirty mobile guards Mayda left to guard him. He frantically asked them to hand over their fastest horse since his obviously wasn¡¯t exactly mounted on the best one, and quickly rushed to Mayda¡¯s side.

    His hand were wet in cold sweat,

    He tried to call Mayda. But perhaps the hooves of the horses and the heat of battle made his voice never reached her.

    He never made it when the Maydan cavalry and his adviser entered the woods either.

    When his turn came to enter the woods, however¡­ there were no cries of battle.

    Instead, the sickening smell of blood, and with it, horrors he wished he never witnessed.

    Evidently, Lys saw some men flee the woods for the Amalgamatian badlands,

    The Maydan cavalry of three hundred horses, on the other hand¡­

    They were all but wiped out in a mere five minutes.

    There were ropes tied between the trees.

    Arrows were struck on the horses and the dead men.

    He was wrong, they did have such weapons after all. They were hunters, for the Judge¡¯s sake.

    Most likely, the arrows and the ropes were the reason why the cavalry were defeated.

    Their archers had been hiding in the woods all along, waiting for pursuers to come.

    Those men on the field were the bait. They actually wanted to think that they were routed, and for pursuers to come.

    It was a flawed plan for an ambush. There were many holes in their plot.

    Had Mayda didn¡¯t give a chase, the plan would never succeeded.

    But it did.

    At that moment, Lys dismounted. His thoughts told him to look for Mayda.

    The woods were not that thick, he¡¯d find her within minutes.

    Hours, if his luck was bad.

    But perhaps for Lys, that day, his luck had already hit rock bottom.

    ====v====

    What happened for Lys next happened as if it were a collection of fast-moving images before his eyes. He witnessed as things unraveled before him, but he had not the mental capacity to process what he saw.

    It took Lys approximately fifteen minutes to find Mayda. Her distinctive wardrobe, although tattered, gave Lys the clue that it might have been her.

    When he found Mayda, she certainly wasn¡¯t in her best shape. She was lifelessly lying on the dirt. Apart from her tattered gear, an arrow had pierced her right limbs and, as Lys was trying to hold his scream, another arrow had pierced one of Mayda¡¯s eyes.

    It was her right eye.

    Blood was flowing from what was her right eye.

    Despite her horrible state, Mayda, however, was still breathing.

    The same can¡¯t be said to the man lying not far from her. The adviser was dead, guts spilling out and all. In the end he never got a chance to stop her¡­ but at least he was there to defend her in his last moments, apparently.

    Silence. He found his heartbeat was rising on an abnormal rate.

    In such panic, Lys quickly mounted his horse to return and inform the rest of the force that Mayda was still alive, but she¡¯d need immediate attention.

    He was a little worried whether the militia would be back. But when the rest of the force picked Mayda up, there were no signs of them.

    As for what happened after that, Lys couldn¡¯t be sure.

    He could only remember the essential parts.

    Amongst them was their return to the main camp where Kashvag reprimanded him to no end, blaming him for what happened.

    In front of the council, as Kashvag raised his voice, he informed the council that Lys was there to assist Mayda, who was known to the council to be not particularly patient. As a fellow member of the council he should¡¯ve understood the subtle meaning of his assignment and prevent such circumstances from happening. But not only did Lys fail his expectations, some important men of the Mayda house were also dead.

    A miracle left Lady Mayda alive, but with the alleged cost of temporary paralysis of her left arm, and of course, she¡¯d lose her right eye. When she woke up, Lys didn¡¯t remember what Mayda said to him. But it wasn¡¯t a word to blame him. Perhaps.

    In a fit of rage, Kashvag ordered the main army to set fire to the woods.

    He ordered an expedition to be sent to Amalgamatia to hunt down the escaped guerilla forces responsible for Mayda¡¯s near-fatal injury.

    In addition, he announced that the campaign was to be cut short and all the forty-nine princes and princesses were to return to Bravell immediately. Once they¡¯d reach Bravell, the council, through the Grand Princess, would declare Mayda as the heroine of the campaign.

    Lulley didn¡¯t voice her objection in any of these.

    No one else did.

    Even Sinod, who usually would say a thing or two, didn¡¯t say a single word.

    Later, they embarked on a non-stop journey to Bravell. They didn¡¯t even stop for the night. Getting Mayda to Bravell to receive further treatments was the main priority. In their way back, there were neither songs nor laughter.

    They reached Bravell two days later after the incident, in the dead of the night.

    When the party returned to the Grand Palace, Lys was instructed to stay in the palace for the night. Amongst the whole party, Lulley was shown to be the most fatigued, she¡¯d collapse anytime soon. Her usual carriage was lent to Mayda, and she had to ride her own horse. It surely wasn¡¯t a pleasant experience for her.

    Lys himself didn¡¯t have any time to rest.

    The council members, excluding Lys, were later summoned by Kashvag early that morning, Lys was instructed to be on standby and thus he had not the chance to get any sleep. When he tried to enter the parliament chamber, he was barred from entry for an hour, and when he was allowed to enter the, all other eyes gave him unsettling looks.

    There, Kashvag sat in wait. He showed a clear sign of exhaustion and displeasure.

    ¡°Sir Lys Ravenlicht.¡±

    On the first sight of Lys, Kashvag began talking.

    ¡°The parliamentary tribunal to decide your punishment for what happened to Lady Mila of the Mayda House has reached a verdict.¡±

    And he started by saying things incomprehensible for Lys.

    ¡°A tribunal? A verdict?¡±

    Lys stood in disbelief.

    Silence. No one was there to answer.

    ¡°Excuse me, Lord Kashvag. If this is about what happened to Lady Mayda, I believe I have told you my version of story. Lady Mayda rushed forward without I could even react! I did even ask her adviser to stop her----- and what do you mean you held a tribunal without my presence, and, by the Judge, a verdict? I¡¯VE DONE MY DUE! What do you think you are doi---?!¡°

    ¡°Would you like to go to prison, Sir Ravenlicht?¡±

    A shocking question.

    Who knows what Kashvag had told the council before his admittance to the chamber.

    ¡°We¡¯re not particularly keen to hear excuses, sir. No one was there to testify to lighten your case. What happened was, you were there with Lady Mayda, you failed to prevent Lady Mayda from that disastrous accident that cost her her right eye. Thirty witnesses from the Maydan army told us that you had minutes to stop her yourself, but you were just there, idling, waiting. You were late in rescuing her. In addition, your incompetence gave way to the necessary action of burning the northwestern woods, which will hurt our revenue and the loss of jobs for some of our citizens.¡±

    It took a few minutes for Lys to swallow all that,

    So what happened was, he was officially to blame for the whole incident.

    And since the adviser was dead. He couldn¡¯t be here to testify for his defence. For some reason the other guards Mayda had assigned to guard him testified against him, too. He didn''t know whether it was out of spite as they need someone to blame for Mayda''s injury, or whether it was caused by Kashvag''s pressure.

    On an added bonus, albeit Kashvag was the one who ordered the burning of the woods, the public would otherwise know that Lys was responsible instead. Depending on how Kashvag¡¯d spin the story, this might cause him to suffer in the next campaign.

    ¡°What if I were to refuse this verdict?¡±

    ¡°You will be stripped of your title and will be replaced immediately. In addition you¡¯ll go to prison, with no definite day of release.¡±

    Now, that was not a desirable answer.

    Lys never thought what he did would make him eligible for all that.

    He knew Kashvag never liked him, but he never knew he¡¯d go this far.

    ¡°May I have my defence?¡±

    ¡°I told you that we¡¯re not keen to hear your excuses. The witnesses spoke and what happened as I narrated a while back was already an established fact. The tribunal was held and a decision was made. Say a word more, I dare you. You¡¯ll be on your way to the city prison by then.¡±

    By then Lys made sure his mouth shut. He knew he had already lost the game.

    There was no way for him to go to prison. That¡¯d be the same as killing Betta.

    It appeared that Lulley did not make any moves to defend him. None of the council members, in fact, jumped in to defend him.

    Kashvag wanted him out. And out he¡¯ll go.

    ¡°Well. Fortunately, despite of your thoughtlessness back then. Lady Mayda will recover. Of course the poor lady will lose her right eye, but the Mayda house was thankful enough for their daughter¡¯s return. She wasn¡¯t dead and that was enough for them, so the house of Mayda decided not to press the issue any further. Unless you say unnecessary things here, we could not send you to prison.¡±

    There was a clear annoyance on his face as he said that. Especially that last part.

    Kashvag took a short breath, and continued his onslaught.

    ¡°Despite of the magnanimity of the Maydas, however, the council has decided that you¡¯ll have to be punished nonetheless. But it¡¯ll be a constructive and a rehabilitative punishment for you and the state. We decided to exil---- no, send you on a diplomatic mission. To Iurzemlya. The Archduchy of Rosenfeld to be exact.¡±

    Iurzemlya, the southern continent.

    Even if he were to use the fastest ship, it was at least one month away from Bravell.

    This was certainly a temporary exile.

    Kashvag even were about to say it himself. He was exiled as ¡°punishment¡±.

    ¡°Your job, is to ensure good relations with the Archduchess in behalf of Serenadia. Actually we¡¯ve had had a few missions to that country, but we never managed to get very far with them¡­¡±

    Lulley nodded at that sentence break.

    It seemed that she agreed that Serenadia had made no progress with whatever they¡¯ve had been discussing with this Rosenfeld.

    ¡°As a fellow state in the Fymian Empire, we can¡¯t leave our relationship as it is. Rosenfeld itself is a very¡­ curious country, but perhaps as a merchant¡¯s son, you can figure them out¡­ despite of your incompetence you¡¯ve shown earlier this week, you might do well in this second chance. Rejoice, you can even consider this as a holiday. We''ll even pay for your travels, see? Oh¡­ you have two years there before you may return.¡±

    Two years of exile.

    Heaven knows what Betta would say when she¡¯d learn all of this.

    Lys was trying to contain his anger, he was too tired to show any sign of resistance.

    He couldn¡¯t let Kashvag interpret his emotions as an act of defiance either.

    ¡°Are you displeased in any way, Sir Ravenlicht?¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡±

    ¡°Good! I heard that Rosenfeld is cold all year-round. I do certainly hope you like cold weather, Sir Ravenlicht. It¡¯ll do well to cool that anger-tinted face of yours down.¡±

    He did well to figure out Lys¡¯ confined anger.

    Lys himself didn¡¯t know his face was red.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be leaving in seven days at most, prepare whatever you need at that time. A notification will come to explain your mission. Oh, and don¡¯t bother to come here in those spare days¡­ Well then, you are dismissed.¡±

    With his fate finalised. Lys bowed to the council and the Grand Princess, and turned his back to leave the chamber.

    ¡°Now that the most unpleasant affair was taken care of, Ladies and Gentlemen, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all tired. Feel free to rest for the day, we¡¯ll have another meeting first thing in the morning. That would be all.¡±

    As he stepped out from the chamber, he could hear the closure of today¡¯s assembly.

    ¡®Most unpleasant affair, eh¡­¡¯

    ====v====

    After being dismissed from the council, Lys rode through town with no specific direction.

    He was not in the mood to go to the North Star, he was not in the mood to go home, either. The Keep and Betta might have expected him, but his bitter face would be a painful sight for them, so he steered clear from those two places.

    When he finally got a grip on himself, he found himself in the southern part of the city, where the town docks were.

    He learned it first from the sound of ocean waves, and the cry of evening birds.

    Before him were the vast seas. The sun was going down. The sky was giving a wondrous hue of red, orange, yellow, blue and black. The lines of the clouds were moving swiftly. The moon and stars were starting to show their figures. It was a picturesque perfection.

    Lys had seen the view countless times before.

    When he was a kid, he¡¯d occasionally wonder whether there were actually things beyond the horizon, where the sun would set and ships disappear from his sight. Perhaps the earth and the seas truly did swallow them, but they always return the next day.

    He¡¯d wonder, but never once the thought that he¡¯d have to be on one of those ships which disappeared before his eyes appeared on his mind. However, unlike them, he wouldn¡¯t be able to reappear in a single day.

    Never for a moment would he assume that a day would come when he had no choice but to cross the familiar ocean he had seen for years. He thought the arenite walls would guard his life and oversee his death. Although his father might¡¯ve sailed the seas at some point, he had never let him on the boat, citing dangers, giant serpentine monsters and all that.

    He carefully inspected the ocean, desperately looking for a mass of land at the other side of the waters. Perhaps those small lumps he wished he could find were Iurzemlya.

    But he didn¡¯t find such a thing.

    Perhaps Iurzemlya was just beyond that line between the skies and the ocean.

    Perhaps it really was a faraway place, where people normally wouldn¡¯t reach.

    Maybe it wasn¡¯t all that bad. He¡¯d just have to come to the place he was supposed to go. Stay. Make a few acquaintances and conversations. Do whatever to kill time. And perhaps before he knew it, two years would pass.

    However, he realised there was another meaning to those two years.

    Kashvag had effectively prevented him to rejoin the parliament for the next period, the next election will be held in two years as well. There was no way for him to return in time for the campaign before the election. No campaign was a sure-fire way to lose his position.

    He couldn¡¯t have anyone to fill in for his campaign either, as the only one he could think of, Betta, had not has the capacity to deal with politics.

    Not to mention the kind of wild rumour that might spread upon his departure, courtesy of Kashvag¡¯s.

    Lys¡¯ career in politics might have had sunk and hit the seabed altogether that day.

    Losing the advantage of being an incumbent elected prince was the fatal blow. In Serenadian politics, those who somehow failed to keep their seat in parliament could never get elected due to various factors, and losing incumbency was deemed as a symbol of incompetency by the people. Although in theory, those who lose their seat can rerun their candidacy in other elections, to actually able to return as an elected prince was a rather rare case.

    Lys had yet to make peace with himself as well.

    He still remembered, a nod could result in deaths of many.

    Sure, they¡¯d say war is horrible and gruesome. They¡¯d say those without the guts to see the horrors of it would do better to stay away. And so on, and so on. But to truly see how blood splattered like it was natural, that was a different scene altogether.

    At that moment Lys thought the prospect of those who could do all that, and yet could as well return to sleep peacefully in the nights and wake normally in the mornings, these people couldn¡¯t be right on their heads.

    Lys thought, perhaps the Lord, the Highest, the just Judge, decided that he¡¯d immediately receive his retribution for unlawfully taking others¡¯ lives.

    As the scripture said, ¡®for in the eyes of the Judge, no war is a just war.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t do anything but a nod, an acknowledgement for Mayda to start deploying her archers. Maybe, just maybe, it was why that he could get away just with his titles stripped.

    Mayda, certainly, was not so fortunate.

    As the tides rose, and the sound of the waves grew louder, Lys sighed.

    ¡°Sigh¡­ what am I going to do from now on, old man¡­?¡±

    No one was there to answer him back.

    Since it might be the only chance for him to leave Bravell in all his lifetime,

    Perhaps, going to the other side of the world was not that bad after all.

    ====v====

    Loudly, while trusting her head on the gentleman¡¯s shoulder, the lady cried and sobbed.

    The crying lady was the self-proclaimed former noblewoman, Lys¡¯ cherished older half-sister. And the gentleman, seemingly expressing a peaceful emotion, was none other than Lys Ravenlicht.

    As for why they were in such position, the story goes a few minutes before.

    After accepting the fact that he had no choice but to go to the other end of the world, Lys finally had the guts to return home. To his surprise, the moment he returned he¡¯d find his sister in a terrible state, her hair was horribly unkempt, her eyes, bloodshot and dim, her attire, completely disheveled. There were traces of stream of tears over her cheeks. It was easy to tell that she had been deprived of her sleep for at least a few nights.

    The first thing Betta did when she caught the glimpse of him was to hug him.

    It wasn¡¯t an ordinary hug.

    For Lys, it was a hug so ferocious in strength that he never experienced in his whole life. It was nowhere near bone-breaking, but the gesture had effectively told Lys how worried Betta was.

    Little did she know he¡¯d be gone for a while longer, two years, in fact.

    He thought telling Betta would give him a hard time, and what Betta did make it harder for him. But nonetheless, Lys was feebly smiling. Of course Lys still felt terrible for Betta, but something else mattered more for him. That thing unconsciously made him smiled.

    Ever since Yernes died, never for once Betta acted as his sister. She was acting as if she were a distant, completely unrelated, lowly maidservant, doomed forever to serve the house of Ravenlicht

    That hug was out of her familial instinct. It was a hug free of whatever burden she had been imposing on herself for the last few years.

    Thus, Lys smiled.

    When Lys told Betta that the council ended up exiling him for the next two years, she went into a rage. Although she didn¡¯t go and break some stuff, Lys could tell how she felt when he could feel her nails sinking into his skin.

    ¡°How could¡¯ve they done this to you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll never accept this. I¡¯ll give them a piece of my mind!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I¡¯ll leave. I¡¯m going to Iurzemlya as well.¡±

    Fluidly, those sorts of words came from Betta. Lys did not respond but to shake his head horizontally, it was a trip meant for him and there was no way for him to bring her with him.

    Besides, Betta had to stay and maintain the residence and take care of the family enterprise. Both the residence and the enterprise could make it without Lys, but certainly not without Betta.

    ¡°You have to stay. These things can¡¯t stay afloat without you.¡±

    She was still sobbing, but nonetheless managed to produce a reply.

    ¡°I told you I don¡¯t care. My former master is gone¡­ now you¡­ what if the ship never made it to Iurzemlya? What if there were pirates? What if there were some mistake and the ship lost its way? What if you died in Iurzemlya? Killed by pack of wolves? Fell victim to local bandits? I know it¡¯s constantly cold in Rosenfeld, what if you got sick because of it? If they didn¡¯t like you and conspired to take you down? What if the news never reaches here? ¡­ what am I ever going to do without you?¡±

    ¡°You make it sound like heinous things were waiting for me at every turn¡­ they say ¡®words are wishes¡¯, so don¡¯t say those words¡­ Wait, when you say ¡®former master¡¯, did you mean our father?¡±

    As it was leaning on his shoulder, Betta¡¯s head made a slight movement.

    Perhaps it was a nod.

    ¡°If father were to hear that from you¡­ Even in his grave, he¡¯d weep you know¡­¡±

    Yernes would definitely turn in his grave if he were to see his daughter in the state she was in.

    What she referred him as would in addition turn him in his grave one hundred times over.

    He didn¡¯t know how to calm her down. So gently, Lys caressed Betta¡¯s messy hazel hair with his right hand to fix it, hoping she could work things out. She was indeed older than him, but at times like these, she wasn¡¯t a particularly reliable older sister.

    Obviously she didn¡¯t like the idea of losing her only family. Albeit temporarily.

    Lys never liked it either. But he was still stupidly smiling peacefully nonetheless.

    It was the first day after a long while for him to get his sister back. He knew it wouldn¡¯t last long--- probably Betta would revert and act like a servant again tomorrow morning, therefore, he¡¯d want to savour the feeling.

    The siblings didn¡¯t exchange a word after that. Words cannot properly say what Betta was currently feeling. Neither it was for Lys. He didn¡¯t know what Betta was feeling, but it was a comfortable silence for him.

    Lys allowed Betta to tire herself out in his embrace. After a long deal of minutes, eventually he¡¯d feel her grip on him weakened--- Betta had succumbed to her exhaustion as she fell asleep on his shoulder.

    Still without a word, serenely, Lys carried his slumped sister back to her chamber.

    ====v====

    The wind was blowing rather strongly that night. At that time, there, at the docks, were a man and a woman. They were the Ravenlicht siblings, who were about to be separated for at least two years anytime soon.

    Despite he was given a week to leave, Lys decided to make haste and at the fourth day after his sentencing, he was finally bound to leave for Iurzemlya that night. A merchant vessel his sister prepared was lying in wait, all the ship needed to start sailing now was for Lys to get abroad.

    After her burst of emotion when Lys returned to Ravenlicht estate, Betta had returned to her passive and subservient attitude later that morning. She was the one who prepared the trip for Lys, and decided the vessel that¡¯d bring Lys to the southern continent should be one of his late father¡¯s enterprise¡¯s trading vessels.

    Betta told Lys that Kashvag had prepared an overcrowded and disagreeable boat that might sink any moment for Lys at the day of his departure. At that week, there happened to be an enterprise trading ships which was scheduled to head for Hexagrund, a port city in Iurzemlya. Betta asked the council whether Lys was allowed to travel with his own vessel, the council pretty answered that they didn¡¯t care. Of course, Betta would choose her safer alternative to take his younger brother abroad.

    One thing that Betta lamented, however, was that Hexagrund itself was not the ideal port city to reach the Archduchy of Rosenfeld. It was located on the northeastern tip of the southern continent, and the capital of Rosenfeld was on its southwestern side. Lys would have to travel at least half of the continent to reach the archduchy, which would, on a horse or a carriage, most likely take a month.

    Betta, however, said that it was better than what the council had prepared for him. The boat Kashvag prepared was bound for Raule, another port city, which was even farther from the archduchy. Not to mention that the boat would make a stop before it would reach its final destination. Had Lys were to go along with the council¡¯s plan for him, it¡¯d take him six months to reach Rosenfeld.

    Betta saved him from such ordeal, and he¡¯d be able to reach his destination in a mere two months instead. One month on the sea, the other on land.

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m truly sorry it has to be Hexagrund,¡± Betta said apologetically while handing him a covered basket and two scrolls, ¡°The archduchy actually has their own port, I believe it was called Shian¡­ But it appears all Serenadian vessels had been denied entry for the decades, ours might not be an exception¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to mind it, Betta¡­ two months are far shorter than six. You really saved me there¡­ what are these scrolls?¡±

    The scrolls were sealed with official Serenadian seal.

    Previously, he had received a scroll from the council, stating his mission in Iurzemlya. To sum up, it was an order for him to secure a trade deal with the archduchy over a list of commodities, consisted of items he never knew before. He was ordered to secure Serenadian interests in Rosenfeld by assisting them in any way they require. The letter was pretty much that.

    ¡°Could these be, yet more orders?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Betta shook her head horizontally, ¡°These, sir, are introduction letters. Apparently those irresponsible people in the council did not tell you that without these, you have no way to identify yourself and you may be denied access to the Archduchess of Rosenfeld, its current lord.¡±

    ¡®Haha¡­ Kashvag really does hate me, huh.¡¯ Lys mumbled. He couldn¡¯t believe how thorough Kashvag was to place all of these inconveniences for him. First was the boat, then this.

    ¡°These letters were written by Lady Min Taknash, my connection in the council.¡± Betta added, ¡°She felt that your exile was unlawful and it was a plain abuse of power. An elected prince couldn¡¯t be treated like that¡­ But she couldn¡¯t resist Lord Kashvag¡¯s influence over the council either, so she said nothing when he arbitrarily decided to ban you, sir, from the council.¡±

    ¡°No, I get her point.¡±

    Even Sinod, who outwardly seemed to be an opposition to Kashvag, couldn¡¯t do a thing when Kashvag decided on an issue.

    This Lady Taknash, as far as he could remember, was one of the hereditary princesses. She was one of the rare neutral members and supported neither Kashvag nor Sinod. Being in the neutral faction, he knew she did not have the power to argue against what Kashvag said.

    ¡°According to what Lady Taknash had told me, currently, Serenadia has no envoy assigned to Rosenfeld for the last six months. The last envoy is still in Iurzemlya, and now currently acts as the envoy to the Hexagrund Communion instead¡­ Her name is Lady Haluna of Himskarr. She¡¯ll be the one receiving you once you arrive in Hexagrund. Please give her one of these introduction letters when you arrive.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ why would she resign?¡±

    ¡°That, sir, I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know.¡±

    What an ominous words to say.

    For a country like Serenadia, it was odd to leave a country without envoy. It was essential for Serenadia to trade with any countries possible. More varieties of commodities mean more trades, thus more incoming tax. From what he had read, Rosenfeld had a lot of commodities unavailable in Serenadia. It should¡¯ve had been one of its crucial trading partner.

    Despite of that, they had yet to assign anyone since the last envoy resigned from her post six months ago. Lys was starting to suspect he was sent there because no one else wanted to.

    Moreover, Rosenfeld was turning down Serenadian ships from entering its port. They may have their reasons, but whatever it was, Lys thought the relationship between Serenadia and Rosenfeld must¡¯ve been anything but cordial.

    ¡°The other letter is for the Archduchess. But if it¡¯s impossible to give it to her, Lady Taknash said it would be fine to pass it to the archduchess¡¯ adviser instead. Another merchant fleet of ours had left Bravell for Hexagrund two days prior, and through it I have sent a letter to Lady Himskarr to inform her your estimated date of arrival. All you¡¯d have to do is to give the introduction letter and she¡¯ll escort you to Rosenfeld.¡±

    ¡°I see, thank you, Betta, You really did a lot, I¡¯m really grateful.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. It is my duty.¡±

    Betta gave a short bow as Lys checked the contents of the covered basket.

    It was filled with bottles of sea beers. There was about thirty bottles of them.

    ¡°Betta, who gave you these?¡±

    Lys knew who gave Betta his favorite beverage, or at least, he had a hunch of who it might be. But he decided to ask anyway.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I didn¡¯t know his name, sir. He didn¡¯t tell me his name¡­ but he told me he was a friend of yours. He knew you are going to leave Bravell for the next few years, and this was, quoting him, ¡®a take-care-on-the-road gift¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it okay? I mean you didn¡¯t even know his name. Seeing how far the council went to get rid of me, this could be poison¡­¡±

    ¡°I have checked the contents beforehand. I drank one bottle. It¡¯s safe.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­..¡±

    She just said something outrageous there.

    But Lys wasn¡¯t in the mood to retort. It was good that it wasn¡¯t poison. The thoughtful sender, then, as Lys thought, was the Keep. He must¡¯ve had caught on with the news. Lys hadn¡¯t stopped by the North Star recently and he must¡¯ve asked around.

    As expected from one of Lys¡¯ few friends in the town.

    Carefully, he inserted the scrolls into the basket. He felt that he was lingering for far too long. He knew that the longer he lingers, the harder it was for Betta. He decided to give his good-bye now.

    ¡°Well then¡­ I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    That was when he realised the corners of Betta¡¯s eyes were watery.

    ¡°Are you holding back your tears?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am.¡±

    It was a short answer. Before she apologised about Hexagrund earlier, Betta hadn¡¯t said a word to Lys today. She was very silent in the estate and in the carriage that brought them to the piers, too.

    ¡°It¡¯s not healthy to hold them back, you know?¡±

    Surprisingly, Betta responded with a smile.

    ¡°You¡¯re going for a vacation, sir. It¡¯d be wrong to send you with tears.¡±

    So she went with a smile.

    Perhaps to cope with her emotions, she¡¯d thought that Lys was going for a vacation. Lys smiled back to his sister. If she were to think Lys was there for a vacation, then for Lys, a vacation it¡¯d be.

    ¡°A long vacation it is then! I assure you, no more politics for me when I return, maybe I¡¯ll just focus on dealing with the enterprise, you don¡¯t mind if I intrude your work, right, Betta?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, it¡¯d be my pleasure.¡±

    It was her brightest smile yet.

    Lys nodded, and said his final word.

    ¡°Thanks, sis. I¡¯ll be back in a while. Please take care of the house.¡±

    ¡°I certainly will. Please be safe on your trip, sir.¡±

    She gave him a bow to send him off.

    Lys turned to the other way and started to walk to the vessel.

    On the piers, a few crews had been expecting him and shown him the way. As he got on board, the captain who had been waiting for him ordered the crews to immediately set sail.

    ¡°Arrrr! Our man is here! Raise the anchors, hoist the sails! TO HEXAGRUND, YE SCURVY DOGS!¡± the captain shouted.

    The anchors were raised, and the sails were hoisted. Slowly but surely, the ship started to separate itself from the piers as the winds pushed the boat southward, steadily taking the ship to Iurzemlya.

    Lys stole a glance back.

    There, Betta was still bowing.

    It was dark, and Lys couldn¡¯t be sure, but he could¡¯ve sworn he saw big droplets of tears falling.

 Chapter III: Iurzemlya (Former Part)

    Initially, the concept of sea travel was exciting for Lys.

    He¡¯d stare at the open seas for hours. The sun would appear from the waters, and then it would sink back to the bottom of the sea. He would stare at the night skies, as the stars were brighter than he could ever remember. Occasionally exotic fishes, some with wings would jump to the surface. The crews and captains would teach him how to fish, and he¡¯d have fresh, monstrous fishes he caught prepared by a talkative cook as his dinner. His cabin might be dreary and had a few furnishings, but he personally felt that he was satisfied with it.

    But he got bored of them pretty quick. In the end Lys would just stay in his cabin all day long, if he wasn¡¯t busy chatting with the crews about the most trivial things. Sure, he got to hear a few strange tales about the seas, about how giant creatures inhabit the depths and how ships would suddenly gone and found later without its crews, but as amusing as the crew stories were, Lys would later found himself running out of sea beers the Keep had given him, and as a result, he was getting weary of the rough rocking by the second.

    That was why, when the captain announced that Hexagrund was within sight, he almost jumped in joy.

    He rushed out from his cabin, and from the decks, he found himself the sight of a port. There was a surge of excitement and a little hint of anxiety as he saw the red-colored town in front of him.

    At last, Iurzemlya appeared before his eyes.

    Lys remembered from the history books he read as a child. He remembered that Iurzemlya was supposed to be war-torn, or at least, it had been war-torn for a very long time.

    The continent was the cradle that gave birth to the regime, a long-lived empire once encompassed all the lands men had ever known. During the zenith of the regime, Iurzemlya was the center of culture and learning. People would folk and gather to find riches, wealth and knowledge under the regime¡¯s banner.

    Alas, however, like anything mortal, no nations would bear the fate to stand for an eternity. The regime, especially Iurzemlya, eventually fell into a continuous civil war after the original imperial line perished. ¡®Grand Lunar Regime¡¯ would remain in name only for several centuries, before it eventually fell into the obscurity of history.

    The seeds of the long-lived, once-powerful and all-encompassing regime¡¯s demise were in fact, sprouted first in Hexagrund.

    Over one thousand years ago, in a startling twist, the ruler of Hexagrund and the regime¡¯s most trusted general, the Duchess of Reamist, raised her arms against her benefactor.

    The reason behind her conduct was never made clear and had been a subject of a long debate between historians. What was known were the facts that the conflict was at least ten years long and it split Iurzemlya into two. The Duchess of Hexagrund possessed the eastern half of the continent, and the regime was left with the western half.

    Eventually the rebellion was successfully put down, but it came with a hefty price. The long conflict deprived the regime of most of their resources, and it never recovered. A few years later, the imperial bloodline went extinct.

    When the Duchy of Reamist declares their independence for the second time two centuries after the conflict, the regime was powerless to put up a fight, and steadily crumbled then after.

    The Duchy of Reamist, later known as the Queendom of Reamist, didn¡¯t last long. The passing of its first queen marked the dawn of Reamistian Republic. Nevertheless, like its predecessor which it broke off from, the republic was thrown into another civil war which formed the current outlook of Iurzemlyan political map.

    The eastern part of Iurzemlya, which was the republic¡¯s territory, was divided into the northern half and the southern half. The northern half was the pro-republic state, Communion of Hexagrund, and the southern half was the pro-queendom state, the Queendom of Pentagrund.

    When the Reamistian bloodline finally died in Pentagrund later, the conflict between the states died with it. However, the two states never reunite. The southern half was now governed by the regency that replaced the Reamistian queens which gave the southern state its present name, the Vulkan Regency. Reinforcing the peace between them was the fact that both of the states were subjugated by the Fymian Empire later, and now both of them were two of the Fymian ten states.

    The put it simply, Hexagrund obviously played a central role in the theater of most conflicts in Iurzemlya. From all those information he read, he thought he¡¯d see a depressing, slumped town trying to recover itself from the brink of destruction.

    Instead, what he saw was a vibrant port city. Its waters were crowded with ships of all sizes, and even from a distance away he could tell there were people of all ages enjoying themselves on its pristine white shores. A lovely red-roofed white castle, adorned with something that looked like stained glass from his distance, sat atop a cliff overlooking the bay and the town, as if it was the jeweled crown of the city. To add to the scenery were peaceful blue skies and white streaming clouds that had a secretive yet serene feel about them.

    Perhaps Bravell was not the only proof that men are, indeed, persistent beings.

    ¡°Ah, Hexagrund,¡± the captain clicked his tongue at the sight before him, ¡°One can never grow tired of this scenery.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I¡¯ve seen a lot of wonderful things. But this¡­ is simply breathtaking.¡±

    It was plain perfection. Lys could feel his expectations of Iurzemlya were rising.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been spending your whole life in Bravell before, yes? You¡¯re bound to see even more wonderful things, sir¡­ Oh, and I believe we have the clearance to dock into the VIP piers. Let¡¯s see¡­ must¡¯ve been the ones with the least crowd¡­¡±

    The captain steered the wheel rightwards and started to sing in good mood.

    ====v====

    When Lys disembarked, there was a group of soldier in light uniform and a distinctive pair of a man and a woman. The man was probably his late teen, was particularly short. He had flawless black hair, and somewhat slanted eyes that were also black in color--- a fitting match to his hair. He dressed in a loose, strange-patterned robe and a tall hat Lys had never seen before. The woman, in the other hand, was presumably in the midst of her twenties. Her stature was average by Serenadian standards, her light blonde hair was tied on both sides, her irises were deep blue colored, her nose was straight-edged, and there was a kittenish warm smile on her face.

    The woman carefully inspected Lys¡¯ features for a few minutes before she decided to greet him in a careful tone.

    ¡°Tied brown hair, a scar under his brown right eye, then I believe¡­ you are Sir Ravenlicht, yes?¡±

    The lady must¡¯ve had been the one Betta was talking about.

    ¡°Indeed I am, greetings, Milady.¡±

    He proceeded to take her right hand and kiss the lady¡¯s palm back.

    ¡°Oh my!¡± she exclaimed in surprise, genuinely looking pleased as she was chuckling lightly afterwards, ¡°Serenadian customs, yes, I almost forgot myself. I¡¯ve been in this continent for so long, I¡¯ve forgotten some of our ways. Then I¡¯ll greet you the same way.¡±

    The lady took a step back and raised her skirt hem a bit.

    ¡°I am Haluna Ioshimar. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Sir Ravenlicht. Welcome to Hexagrund.¡±

    Then, she quickly let go of her hand and assumed her normal position, still chuckling.

    ¡°Ioshimar? I believe I was supposed to meet Lady Himskarr¡­¡±

    ¡°Himskarr was my maiden name. I¡¯m married now, see?¡± with a lively manner, she brandished a white ring on her ring finger, ¡°And how impolite of me¡­ Allow me to introduce you, the gentlemen over here is Lord Charon Feodor, one of four ruling ministers of Hexagrund.¡±

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    As Himskarr introduced the man, he slightly bowed as he greeted Lys.

    ¡°Charon Feodor, Hexagrund¡¯s ¡®Minister of the Left¡¯. Welcome to Hexagrund, sir. How are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your concern, Lord Feodor¡­ Lys Ravenlicht of Serenadia.... and as to how I¡¯m feeling¡­ terrible, actually,¡± Lys said the truth in a half-joking manner, he didn¡¯t know why he did that, but perhaps it was because that Feodor was obviously younger than him and he felt that it was fine to tell how he truly felt, ¡°Now that I¡¯ve just realized it, but perhaps spending some time on that boat made me a little bit weaker.¡±

    ¡°I believe the physicians called that condition ¡®boatman¡¯s illness¡¯, it seems that people are temporarily weaker after spending some time on the seas. Must¡¯ve been all that sun and rocking.¡± Feodor smiled as he shook his head in confirmation.

    ¡°Give it some time and you¡¯ll recover eventually, sir¡­ In fact, actually we would prefer you to stay here and rest for a while, but Lady Haluna here insisted that you must leave immediately¡­¡±

    That was the first time Lys ever heard about such strange illness, but as much as he¡¯d want to find out more about it, he was pretty sure in that last sentence Feodor implied that he was to continue to his journey as soon as he arrived.

    He had been doing nothing but resting in his cabin for the last few days, but he could tell that he was exhausted after that long voyage. He¡¯d like to stay in Hexagrund to recuperate before he¡¯d head to Rosenfeld for a few days, but it seems it wasn¡¯t happening.

    He couldn¡¯t understand why Himskarr would want him to leave immediately, so he asked her about it.

    ¡°Lady Himskarr, can you elaborate on this?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can¡­ But before that¡­¡± Himskarr extended her hand as if she was asking something from Lys.

    ¡°Milady?¡±

    Lys knitted his eyebrows in confusion.

    ¡°You have something for me, right? Like¡­ a letter from Min¡­ Lady Taknash?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that.¡± Lys made an awkward laugh as he reached out his hand to the left side of his pocket bag where he had put the two scrolls from Betta, he grabbed one of them and handed it over to Himskarr.

    ¡°Hmm, hmm... Yes. This one. Let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    Himskarr received the scroll, hastily unrolled it and carefully read its contents. She nodded a few times and mumbled incomprehensible words before she rolled the scroll back as she made her comment.

    ¡°I see. I thought the scribe had made some sort of a mistake. But it¡¯s true. They¡¯re really sending you to Rosenfeld.¡± She made a grave look as she put the scroll away, ¡°I can¡¯t figure out why someone on his first diplomatic mission would end up there... but if you¡¯ve heard the news about them, I can assure you it¡¯s actually not that bad there¡­ maybe.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Maybe?¡±

    ¡°Yes, in some ways, maybe.¡± She rolled her eyes as she replied Lys with a vague and confusing answer, ¡°Anyway, since I¡¯m accompanying you there, we¡¯d better get a move on. You asked me earlier as of why we should leave now. It¡¯s because, in a few days the rainy season would come¡­ and when it rains, the roads to Rosenfeld would be too muddy and difficult to travel¡­ but that¡¯s the least of the concerns.¡±

    Perhaps she was trying to imply that the roads were littered by bandits during those times, or some sort of other bad things worse than a road with a certain difficulty to travel.

    But Lys wasn¡¯t going to give in just yet.

    ¡°If it¡¯s just for today it won¡¯t matter right? You said that the rainy season might be a few days away, but it¡¯s not like it¡¯ll come tomorrow. Since I¡¯ve just been here, and I¡¯d like to look around for a while so¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ That¡¯s a little troubling for me.¡±

    ¡°Maybe you should let him, Lady Haluna.¡± Feodor stepped in, perhaps he also felt that there was actually no rush needed, ¡°At least let him stay for the afternoon. Although he isn¡¯t the ambassador to our state, he¡¯s still an honoured guest here. If he wishes to look around Hexagrund, I don¡¯t see a reason why he shouldn¡¯t.¡±

    Himskarr didn¡¯t seem to agree right away, she was still lost in her thoughts and didn¡¯t respond to Feodor.

    ¡°I heard that you come from a family of traders, Sir Lys,¡± Feodor turned his attention to Lys once again, abruptly changing the course of the conversation, ¡°Have you perchance heard of ¡®mermaid¡¯s silk¡¯ before?¡±

    Lys pondered for a few seconds.

    ¡°Only in passing, but yes. I believe my father talked about it once¡­¡±

    It was not the first time he had heard that. But he couldn¡¯t remember what it was. He did, however, remember several miscellaneous things about it, like that it was not available anywhere in Bravell due to a certain issue he couldn¡¯t recall as well

    ¡°Then I assume your merchant blood in you would find interest in what I¡¯m about to say¡­ Bear with me for a while please, Lady Haluna.¡±

    He stole a quick glance at Himskarr, and then continued.

    ¡°It is a commodity only known in the far east until very recently. Fairly the strange material, it is¡­ They are most fine, truly delicate, and very rare too¡­ as they lie exclusively in the deepest depths of the oceans south to the Atlaean islands. Only after literally thousand dives could you get a few of them¡­ While I¡¯m not one for delicate fabric myself, there¡¯s a reason why people has been willing to pay a fortune for them. It¡¯s quite intricate to weave, yes, but if a master tailor were to treat it with the right herbs and essence, then any dress weaved from it will give you this shimmer no prime silk could ever emulate. Let the sunlight shine upon it and, oh, that golden colour, beautiful sight, I assure you¡­ shame that you can¡¯t wear it in the north because of this certain moth unique to your land that seems to love it to bits¡­¡±

    Before Lys realised it, Himskarr had already stopped being lost in her own thoughts and was now listening to Feodor intently.

    With a slight pause, he carried on,

    ¡°Earlier this morning, a crate full of this precious fabric came from Atlae. A friend of mine and a major merchant in the town, Mr. Heisler Sycs--- maybe you¡¯ve heard of him----, was apparently the one who brought it into the town. He bought quite a large amount of them, which is exceptional, considering how rare this commodity is. As I said, it¡¯s given that it¡¯ll still be sold at a fortune, but despite its outrageous price from what I¡¯ve heard he has been flooded with orders, probably from speculators or some socialites--- I¡¯m not sure. Anyway, it¡¯s still available if you go to his place right now¡­. but give it five, no four days, and it will all be gone. Then you will have to wait for years until another crate of them could grace our port.¡±

    After Feodor was done with his exposition, there was an odd glint in Himskarr¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°¡­ For someone who fancies things like that, that would truly be a shame now, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±

    He added.

    ¡°Ah¡­. that sounds¡­. really interesting.¡±

    For some reason, what Feodor had said seemed to have some sort of a special effect on her, as her tone was suddenly filled with all the desire in the world.

    For a moment there, Lys thought she¡¯d start sprinting or something.

    ¡°Ca-can¡¯t be helped then! Just for the afternoon, okay? We¡¯ll be leaving when the sun sets! Feodor will take you to my carriage once it starts to get dark, anyway for now, please excuse me!¡±

    She hurriedly bowed and left Lys and Feodor in a rush.

    As Lys witnessed Himskarr getting further away, he wondered why Feodor wouldn¡¯t tell Himskarr that the shipment was coming tomorrow instead.

    ====v====

    Thanks to Feodor, that afternoon Lys found himself relaxingly walking the streets of Hexagrund with Feodor himself as a guide. As they were walking around the town, Feodor would explain a few bits about Hexagrund.

    From what he heard from Feodor, apparently Hexagrund saw very little changes during its course of years. Unlike Bravell, which had been destroyed and rebuilt many times over, the layout of Hexagrund remained unchanged from its original design when it was built by the city¡¯s founder.

    The city was thoroughly planned. Built on an elevation that served as a natural fort, it was still fortified by a six hundred arvina (about twelve metres) tall wall from six equal sides, which was probably the origin of the city¡¯s name. The city proper was divided into three wards, the upper Eva ward, the middle Freya ward, and the lower Lisa ward. Each named respectively for the first queen, the first prime minister and the first hero of the Reamistian state. A wall with the same height of the outer wall marked the borders between the wards, each with its own reinforced gate. Apparently the idea was to make the city a three-layered fortress before a hostile force could besiege the castle.

    Historically, during the reign of the monarchy, each ward would be dedicated for a specific class of people. Noblemen and their family would inhabit the Eva ward. Affluent commoners, like major merchants or famous artists, and high-ranking officers would find their refuge in the Freya ward. The rest of the mass, meanwhile, would live their lives in the Lisa ward. The first thing the republicans did when Hexagrund fell to their control was to remove such restrictions and encourage the citizens of each wards to blend and forced some people to move between each wards in order to hasten such process. But apparently, according to Feodor, although the less prosperous could now access the upper ward and the castle, they were still sometimes seen with a special kind of contempt by their more affluent neighbours, even after all these centuries after the policy was enacted.

    Feodor brought Lys into an unassuming eatery in a certain corner of the Freya ward for lunch. There was hardly a sign on the building, save for a tiny wooden plaque near its entrance. What written on the plaque was unintelligible for Lys, so he didn¡¯t know the name of the place, but he was indeed taken aback when he got inside.

    While not big, the interior of the eatery was truly bright and sophisticated. The placement of their desks and the choice of their furniture gave off a formal yet comfortable feeling about them. There were only a few desks in there, which accentuated a cosy atmosphere, and it may be a sign that the owner prioritised a customer¡¯s individual dining experience rather than potential numbers of customers served at a time. But the highlight of it all was the wide window that provided them with a crystal-clear view of the shores and the seas. It did make the eatery a little bit warm, but it wasn¡¯t something Lys couldn¡¯t bear.

    They took a seat and Feodor called an attending waiter right away. Rather than letting Lys choose his own meal, he asked Lys whether he disliked a particular thing, to which Lys answered no, and then started a barrage of orders. Among them were dishes that Lys had never heard of. The waiter nodded and then left for the kitchen.

    Lys and Feodor made small talk for approximately an hour until four waiters brought in a bronze platter each. Among the dishes they brought was an herby grilled fish dish with soft, edible bones, a roasted bird dish with glistening crispy brown skin, and a selection of fresh garden salad with a touch of with what might¡¯ve been olive oil. The winning entry, however, was the unpretentious clear reddish soup he sampled for the last. At first mouthful, the soup tasted peppery and a bit sour, and that was about it. But then he realised there was a fair amount of tiny meat chunks on the base of the bowl, and when he took it with the soup, it was a different experience altogether.

    Perhaps it was the inherent flavour of the meat, the perfect timing when it was cooked, and the amount of salt in it. The tiny irregular bits presented a wondrous balance of flavour when taken together with the slightly sour stock. He ate it with so much vigour and focus that when he realised that he had emptied his bowl, he realised that it was the first time for him to eat something so quickly, much to his shame. Though Feodor himself was focusing on his food and did not make a remark about it.

    Lys wasn¡¯t a peculiar man when it comes to food, he would eat what Betta cook without a question and that was the extent of it. He never asked for or about a particular dish, but apparently he had discovered a new favourite. So much so that he forgot that he was still feeling terrible due to the time he had spent on the seas, and contrary to his usual indifferent attitude to food, he asked Feodor about the soup.

    ¡°The soup was made with a certain fish as the main component of its broth. The name of the fish in the local tongue is hard to pronounce, but I¡¯ll tell you its name in the common tongue. It¡¯s called ¡®quartzfish¡¯. It¡¯s a bony fish with shiny, crystal-like scales that mainly lives beneath the craggy shallow seabed a bit west of the city¡¯s coasts. Fishermen used to toss them back to the sea, because they were, well, inedible.¡±

    And apparently they sold for very little too. That was, until a poor certain chef decided to make a stock from it after breaking its hard scale. It wasn¡¯t a one-time attempt, but according to Feodor¡¯s accounts, by the time the chef released the dish for the public after he was sure he had perfected the recipe, it swiftly became the new star of the town. After a few generations, all three wards had developed their own version of the dish, and the elite restaurants in Eva ward would sell their fancy take on the dish for at least three gold coins per portion, which amounted to a month¡¯s wage of a typical manual labourer.

    To Feodor¡¯s palate, however, the Freya ward¡¯s version of the soup was the most flavourful among the three. This version would commonly be prepared with tiny chunks of spiced pheasant meat, which he thought went well with the quartzfish broth and its aromatic herbs. An opinion which Lys agreed with, although he never tried the other two versions before.

    He later added that the soup that Lys had was not actually the most excellent in the ward. There was another eatery that specialised on the soup, but he thought that it would be better bring Lys there for a dining experience with the best possible view of the seas in Freya¡¯s ward instead.

    ¡°¡­ And I feel that in this occasion, this eatery would be the best place to host you, but¡­ it seems that you¡¯ve taken a liking to the dish. Glad to know that, maybe I should¡¯ve taken you to that place instead¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no. This is a lovely place, Lord Feodor. Bravell is a coastal town, too, so I thought I¡¯ve had seen enough of the shores and the seas for the rest of my natural life¡­ but I must say I¡¯m pleased to learn that I was wrong. The vistas of Hexagrund have been breathtaking for me, and the dishes you¡¯ve treated me this afternoon----- while I¡¯m no gourmet---- was more than merely decent. I¡¯d like to come here again¡­ when I¡¯m off duty.¡±

    ¡®Probably with Betta¡¯, Lys thought, she probably could emulate this quartzfish soup so he could enjoy it every day until he had enough of it, though at this point, he didn¡¯t think that a day when he¡¯d find the dish unexciting would ever come.

    ¡°Please do,¡± Feodor made a small nod and politely smiled, ¡°During your tenure, you may actually take a few weeks of vacation if you ask the archduke. Provided that she¡¯s willing, of course, but I can¡¯t see why she wouldn¡¯t allow you to. Ah, let us go to that place I mentioned the next time your grace us a visit.¡±

    Feodor wiped his mouth and called the waiter once again to settle the bills.

 Chapter III: Iurzemlya (Latter Part)

    By the time the left the eatery, the sky had already started to tint itself with a light orange colour. The gentle sunlight of dusk was enveloping the redbrick-accented buildings of the Freya ward as Lys and Feodor were navigating along the colour-textured granite cobblestone road to the Lisa ward.

    Lys¡¯ sickness had already mostly subsided by then. He was feeling thankful for it, for now he could enjoy the street musicians¡¯ tender lute tunes to the fullest without the lurching feeling in his stomach. The ocean breeze softly brushed Lys¡¯ cheeks, as it carried the appetising aroma of homemade cooking from the houses nearby, again rousing the hunger of his satisfied stomach. The bell of a nearby clocktower rang five times, and soon after he could hear the calls of mothers calling their children home.

    He was so absorbed in the atmosphere, and thus it was not until after he passed through the reinforced gate to the Lisa ward that he realised that a lot of animals were freely roaming about the town¡¯s streets.

    Though that was not the complete point--- Bravell had a lot of animals wandering about it as well. What he noticed was that all of them had some sort of deformities or peculiarities. At first it was rather mundane, like striped horses, two-tailed cats, horned dogs, and so on. But as he continued his observation, even more of these curious-looking animals showed up.

    There was a fox that was about as tall as Lys¡¯ waist, its fur was so bright red it looked as if it were in flames, and then there was what looked like a bipedal giant otter with the sharpest fangs he had ever seen.

    Lys finally halted his steps when he saw a hissing, levitating snake crossing his path. He pointed at it and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Lord Feodor¡­ excuse me, but¡­ what are these, uh¡­ animals?¡±

    There was no surprise in Feodor¡¯s face, as if he had expected that question for some time now.

    ¡°Ah, about time you asked,¡± He said, as his eyes followed after the direction of Lys¡¯ gaze, ¡°I thought that you didn¡¯t find them strange or perhaps you read about them before, so I didn¡¯t mention anything about them¡­ Oh well, it¡¯s true that most of these beasts live in the Lisa ward...¡±

    ¡°No. I know I¡¯ve said it a lot today, but never have my eyes beheld the sight of these strange creatures in my life.¡±

    ¡°Well, hmm, it¡¯s true that this is your first visit¡­ They¡¯re ¡®arcane beasts¡¯, Sir Lys. And they are endemic only to Hexagrund.¡±

    According to an apocryphal tradition, he said, they were beasts that were birthed by the abundant stream of mana concentrated in the northeastern part of Iurzemlya. These mana streams might¡¯ve been evidenced by the fact that there were a lot of magi states in the area before the land was united by the regime. Though, after magic was branded as heretic arts, the knowledge to harness the arcane was lost to the oblivions, and thus there was no way to validly confirm the apocryphal account--- for mana could not be seen with the naked eyes of men, and thus it was impossible to draw a conclusion whether it was indeed the origin of these beasts.

    Regardless of whether there was an element of truth in the account or whether the account was a mere conjured tale, it was for a fact that most of the arcane beasts could only be found within the current borders of Hexagrund.

    As a matter of fact, the existence of the beasts had been central in the lives to the citizens of the Hexagrund communion and its preceding states. The republic had employed the beasts for various duties and jobs, and during the queen¡¯s rule, there was an arena for them to fight each other in the eastern reaches of Freya ward.

    The battles were held in a grand scale and they were once the most prominent event in Hexagrund, where the master of the winning beast would be granted lofty ranks and riches. The tradition persisted for a while after the republicans¡¯ insurrection, but after widespread protests from two of Hexagrund¡¯s wards, the ministers at that time banned the event and the battle practice altogether. The ban remained in effect, and according to Feodor, it was likely that the ban would be enshrined in the republic¡¯s constitution in the coming years to turn it into a permanent law.

    Despite of the ban, however, individuals were still allowed to possess the beasts, if ¡°possess¡± was the right word to describe it--- since apparently the beasts choose their own master and even by then the master doesn¡¯t hold absolute control over them. Possessing them would require a ¡°treaty¡± between the beast and the aspiring maser, and bar a few exceptions, attempts to establish these ¡°treaties¡± would require a state-issued licence.

    There was also a strict law to prevent the beasts from being taken overseas, which was the reason why Hexagrund port authorities would closely inspect every outgoing vessel, sometimes for hours. Apparently one of Hexagrund¡¯s terms when they joined the federation was for them to be able to keep these regulations in place and for High Emperor to personally enforce these laws across the federated states.

    ¡°Of course¡­ no system is perfect, if someone desires to smuggle them overseas, then there¡¯s still Raule too. So there might be a few of them out there. But the fact that you don¡¯t know about them might be evidence that the system is in fact working¡­¡°

    ¡°What¡¯s with Raule?¡±

    ¡°¡­ This issue may be foreign to a centralised society like Serenadia, Sir Lys, but enforcing a policy made by a central authority across the state is actually an intricate business. There¡¯s a significant group of minority with substantial influence in Raule with their own set of policies on these beasts¡­ and because they nominally act as the government of the Hexagrundian state as well, the High Emperor can¡¯t stop them from making policies on them per the terms, so, well, it¡¯s rather complicated. As I said, exceptions do apply though¡­ in the first place we don¡¯t require a licence for a few of them and you might as well find these exempt beasts back in Bravell¡­ like that white bird over there.¡±

    What Feodor pointed was an oversized cuckoo, perching quietly on the low branches of a nearby tree. Despite of what he said, he never saw them too back in Serenadia as well.

    ¡°We call that bird ¡®vorbota¡¯, quite the convenient little cutesy beast, it is.¡± He said, as he stroked his chin while carefully observing the bird, ¡°They don¡¯t have physical peculiarities like other arcane beasts¡­ nor do they have their superior ferocity or power, which is among their common trait. If you look past the fact that they¡¯re a bit larger than your average bird, they look completely like any other common birds.¡±

    The vorbota chirped at them and was now observing them back, as if it knew Feodor was talking about it.

    ¡°But there is one thing that convinced us that they are indeed among of those beasts. Now, it is a given that all of the arcane beasts understand the human speech to a certain extent. But vorbotas are on an entirely different level.¡±

    Although Feodor didn¡¯t have one because he couldn¡¯t establish a treaty with them, he knew that vorbotas were supposedly intelligent. People who possess them would assign them to deliver their messages by attaching their letters on their legs. Of course, at first glance, this wasn¡¯t anything new. After all, homing pigeons could deliver messages as well. But what made the difference between them and the pigeons was the fact that they could deliver the message even if they had never been in the recipient¡¯s place.

    The sender would simply show the vorbota a map, recite the physical description of the recipient and the recipient¡¯s place, and any other specific instructions--- such as whether that the message must be delivered in the mornings or the evenings, or whether that the recipient must not be seen when they receive the message---- and if the vorbota takes flight, it would mean that it had enough information to conduct the delivery. It would never leave without understanding its task first, and thus a person who wasn¡¯t very good with words would never be able to utilise it. Though, in the first place, it would be unlikely for these people to be able to form a treaty with one.

    As chances of misdelivery was virtually non-existent, the vorbotas were so reliable that the Hexagrund Post Office had been employing them as their main courier for generations, provided that it wasn¡¯t an overseas delivery and the letter was light enough for them to carry.

    ¡°Now, the method to establish a treaty is different for each one of the beasts. The reason why we don¡¯t require a licence for them is because attempting a treaty with them is very simple and it practically doesn¡¯t have any risk attached to it¡­ All you have to do is¡­ let me show you.¡±

    Feodor started to whistle. He whistled three times, to be exact. The first whistle was long and high-pitched. The second was as high-pitched as the first, but shorter. And the third whistle was a low-pitched, short one.

    Lys paid a close attention to the vorbota on the branch, expecting some sort of reaction from it.

    Some moments passed¡­

    Nothing happened, though.

    It didn¡¯t even flinch at all. It was still quietly observing them, unmoving.

    ¡°Another failure¡­ Hmm, oh well¡­¡± Feodor let out a short sigh and smiled bitterly, ¡°If you¡¯re curious, feel free to try it on your own, sir.¡±

    Feodor was looking at him expectantly.

    As for Lys, he wasn¡¯t sure if he should do that.

    ¡®Arcane beast aside, do I really need a pet, though? I don¡¯t even know how to keep one¡­¡¯

    And considering that this wasn¡¯t his final stop in the continent, there was still the matter of transporting it, and then the people in Rosenfeld would probably make a comment on it.

    Though there was no denying that they seemed to be convenient to have.

    Feodor was still waiting for him to try. Lys thought it was probably because he was embarrassed and didn¡¯t want to fail on his own. Though, it was possible that he was purely curious as well.

    ¡®He has been a good host too, so¡­ no harm in trying, huh.¡¯

    So he opened his mouth, and let out three shrill whistles. He tried to emulate what Feodor did, first was the longest, the second was shorter than the first, the third was even shorter than the second. But he forgot that the third whistle was supposed to be lower in pitch. Feodor didn¡¯t correct him though.

    As for the vorbota, it was still resting quietly on the branch, gazing...

    Though it did let out a chirp.

    It was a failure too, apparently.

    ¡°Ah, did I fail?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t react¡­ so yes. I suppose you did. Well it¡¯s only your first try and sometimes it¡¯s difficult to---¡°

    It was subtle. But Lys could feel something was landing on his left shoulder.

    Then, soft feathers smoothly grazed his cheek.

    One,

    Two,

    Three times.

    He turned his head leftwards, and there was a wood-coloured cuckoo-like bird perching on his shoulder.

    Lys was a little bit taken aback, but if he were to make a sudden move here, he might scare the bird. So he tried to stay put.

    ¡°¡­ Oh, you did it after all. That was a success. Uh, you¡¯ve gotten yourself a¡­¡­. brown, vorbota?¡±

    Feodor¡¯s eyes initially went round, but after observing it a bit closer, he squinted at it. Lys realised that a few onlookers seemed to be staring at the bird with quizzical eyes as well.

    ¡°What¡­ is there something wrong with it?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s just¡­ that, ah, never mind. It really is a vorbota.¡± He shook his head, apparently looking a bit bewildered, ¡°Anyway, now you seal a treaty with it. Tap its wings lightly, and repeat it for another two times. After that, the vorbota is yours.¡±

    Perhaps he was surprised because he could pull it on his first try.

    Or perhaps he didn¡¯t know he was doing it wrong all this time.

    But Lys knew it couldn¡¯t explain the onlooker¡¯s eyes. They didn¡¯t make any fuss about it though. They stared it for only a few seconds, whispered something to the next person if they were walking with a companion, then moved on.

    Lys gazed at the bird again.

    Its dim red eyes had his own reflection staring back at him.

    It was nothing short of strange. Lys felt that as if it were trying to peer into his thoughts. The bird stayed like that for a moment until it tilted its head, almost as if it were asking a silent question towards him.

    ¡°Eh. Is this okay though¡­? I mean, there¡¯s your law too¡­¡±

    And there was also the matter of what the archduchess and her men might say, he thought.

    Still, it was only a bird. Feodor said it could understand human speech very well too. If they were to voice a complaint against it, he could simple ask it to go back to Hexagrund.

    Or perhaps he could send it to Betta, though he wasn¡¯t sure if it could fly that far away. It¡¯d be really convenient for him if it could though, since he could stop her from being a worrywart by sending her regular messages.

    ¡°As I said, sir. You don¡¯t require a licence to establish a treaty with a vorbota. It¡¯s fine. Just, try to take good care of it. Consider it a gift from our state.¡±

    The man who made the laws here said so himself.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Thus Lys raised his hand, and cautiously patted its wings.

    The bird closed both of its eyes as he finished his third pat.

    ¡°Now, a treaty has been established between you and the beast.¡± Feodor nodded, still somewhat wary, as if he was searching for something in his memories, ¡°All¡¯s that left is to give it a name¡­¡°

    ¡®That¡¯s it?¡¯

    He thought something dramatic was going to happen.

    As he was establishing a ¡°treaty¡± with a bird dubbed as an ¡°arcane beast¡±, he expected some sort of magic would trigger, at least a light would appear from somewhere or something like that, but the whole process was actually rather anticlimactic.

    ¡®A name, huh.¡¯

    He never owned a pet before. He knew what he was getting now wasn¡¯t exactly a pet. But if he were to call it that, perhaps Feodor would protest, so¡­ perhaps some sort of a partner?

    He remembered that his sister used to have a pet bird once. It was a gift from their father. He couldn¡¯t remember when Yernes bought it for her, but it was for her birthday. Needless to say, Betta cherished it. It stayed with her for years and she would set it free from its cage to ¡°let it spread its wings and play somewhere else¡±. She¡¯d open its cage in the afternoons, pet it a few times on its head, let it fly away, and then it¡¯d return to its cage on its own before the sea completely swallows the sun. She¡¯d pat it again before she goes to sleep, occasionally talking with it. And that was her daily routine for almost three years.

    Approximately two years before Yernes passed. One day she repeated that same routine again. Except, that time the bird didn¡¯t make it back. He remembered that initially, she didn¡¯t cry. She¡¯d leave the house whenever she had free time from all of that tutelage their father had prescribed for her without a word. And although she didn¡¯t tell Lys about it, he knew she was looking for the bird. But then the thirtieth day came, and the bird still wasn¡¯t back at its cage. Then and only then did she break down and cry.

    Come to think of it, she never picked up another pet after that.

    If he recalled correctly, its name was¡­

    ¡°¡­ Alright. Your name¡¯s Brunn. Little one.¡±

    Back then, it was Lys who gave the lost bird its name too.

    Of course he¡¯d remember.

    When her sister asked for a name, it was the only thing he could think of as a child. Because the bird was, well, brown.

    ¡°Brunn¡­ isn¡¯t that¡­?¡±

    A light of recognition lit up in Feodor¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Well. I don¡¯t fancy complicated, unpronounceable names. And the bird kind of reminded me of an old story in the family. So, yes¡­ it¡¯s ¡®brown¡¯ in my home tongue.¡±

    Feodor let out a forceful breath, as if he was trying to contain a sudden burst of laughter. He was shaking for a while, until he turned the other way and by then it was most obvious that he was still trying to subside his unwanted reaction.

    ¡°Are you alright, Lord Feodor?¡±

    Feodor gasped and coughed before he replied back,

    ¡°¡­ No¡­ my apologies. I was being rude, I¡¯m truly sorry.¡±

    He said so while tapping his chest, then he started to walk without glancing back and gestured Lys to follow him.

    ¡°Come. Let us tarry not.¡± He pointed at the clock tower, still waving for Lys to follow him, ¡°Lest Lady Haluna will get upset with us.¡±

    ------v------

    When Lys finally saw Himskarr, she was waiting with both of her hands on her hips. Discontent and annoyance were clearly shown in her face.

    ¡°You¡¯re late!¡± Himskarr cried, her hands were on her hips, ¡°What¡¯s keeping yo---- Ah, a vorbota.¡±

    However, perhaps she was just pretending to be upset, since her attention immediately shifted to the bird perching on Lys¡¯ left shoulder even before he could finish her own question that was supposed to be admonishing him there.

    Indeed, her lips broke out a smile. That was, until she took a closer look at it.

    ¡°Brown feathers¡­?¡±

    That was the second time Lys heard that.

    Was it really that uncommon or something?

    ¡°Is there, uh, something wrong with it?¡±

    He ended up asking the same question, but now it was directed to Himskarr instead.

    ¡°My husband actually has one of them¡­ so I know about it to an extent.¡± She said while stroking Brunn on the head, ¡°Such docile creatures, they are¡­ Once they got into a treaty with a master, they won¡¯t fly away when others approach to stroke them---- well, unless the bird really doesn¡¯t favour them or the master told them to stay away from strangers. Anyway¡­ as far as I know, they were supposed to come only in white.¡±

    Ah. So that was why Feodor was acting a little bit strange a while back.

    But he wasn¡¯t really making a big deal of it. So perhaps it was just because it was brown and he never saw one like Brunn before and that was why Feodor was a tad surprised then.

    Both Lys and Himskarr shifted their gazes to Feodor.

    Feodor shrugged in response.

    ¡°Well¡­ truthfully, it¡¯s the first time I see one myself too. But I¡¯ve tried to inspect it and no matter how you look at it. It¡¯s a vorbota¡­ so.¡±

    Himskarr didn¡¯t look so convinced.

    ¡°You sure? Could be something entirely new altogether¡­ If you¡¯re letting an undocumented species out of the borders, you might not hear the end of it from the prime minister, Charon.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to file a report later¡­ but, it¡¯s not like a case like this never happened.¡± Feodor scratched his chins, then he looked upwards to the evening sky as he spoke, ¡°Recently it has come into our attention that few beasts were deviating from their usual colour. As they don¡¯t exist in our registry, some of our citizens came forward to report them...¡±

    He later pointed at an emerald-coloured badger-like beast that was passing by.

    ¡°We examined those unusual specimens but didn¡¯t anything definitive, and while there were calls to examine them closer, the Prime Minister has already dismissed the issue. No plans to add them to the registry as well, since there¡¯s practically no difference between them and the usual ones.¡±

    So apparently it was a recent thing, Lys surmised.

    The change of colour was indeed uncommon, and at some point, it was a concern for Hexagrund. But after they investigated into it, apparently they had dismissed the events as being one of nature¡¯s wonders.

    Their colour¡¯s different. They weren¡¯t in the records. It was indeed uncanny so we looked into it. We found nothing. It wasn¡¯t that serious of an issue after all. Their colour¡¯s bloody different and that was it. Nothing to see here, move along now.

    It was like that.

    Feodor then continued to assert his point, this time from another point of view.

    ¡°Besides, he already made a treaty with it. There is no legal avenue to separate a master from their beast unless in extremely specific conditions, like continuous abuse. And then there¡¯s the fact that the more powerful the beast is¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ The more dangerous it would be to establish a treaty with it.¡±

    Himskarr finished his sentence for him.

    So there was no chance that Brunn was a powerful or a dangerous beast.

    ¡°¡­. Maybe it¡¯s the odd one out.¡±

    If that was how Feodor was going to play it, then there was no reason for Lys to complicate the matter any further.

    The question for him now was how to take Brunn with him, now that he was going depart from the town. It might be impossible to take it inside the carriage, as it was Himskarr¡¯s carriage, not his.

    But just in case, he tried to ask her.

    ¡°Lady Himskarr. Is it fine to keep Brunn inside the carriage?¡±

    Himskarr shook her head, then she pointed at the carriage¡¯s roof.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell it to stay there instead?¡±

    ¡°How, though?¡±

    ¡°As I told you, Sir Lys. They understand human speech.¡± Feodor interjected to answer his question, ¡°Tell it to find a comfortable spot on the carriage¡¯s roof. It¡¯ll do just that.¡±

    ¡°<You heard the man, if you can understand him, do as what he says.>¡±

    Brunn cooed and took flight from Lys¡¯ shoulder. There was a slit on the carriage¡¯s roof that¡¯d normally difficult to see unless someone was really trying to find it, but it just went there right away and made it a temporary nest for itself.

    ¡°Wow. It really does understand what we¡¯re saying¡­¡±

    He spoke that line earlier in his local tongue too.

    Lys was actually somewhat skeptical about Brunn. But now he was starting to believe that vorbotas were indeed something remarkable. Brunn seemed to have grasped the whole concept of human language, its only problem was it couldn¡¯t reply back.

    What was more riddling for him was the possibility that Brunn might understand more than one tongue as well.

    ¡°Now¡¯s the bird on board¡­ have you got any other luggage you want to take with you?¡±

    Himskarr asked. Now that she brought it up, his luggage was still in the enterprise¡¯s vessel. He didn¡¯t have the chance to ask the captain to unload it, as Himskarr and Feodor practically ambushed him the moment he got off the ship.

    ¡°Ah, I left it in the ship¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s inside your luggage?¡±

    ¡°My travel wardrobe¡­¡±

    He already brought his purse with him. What he left there was mainly that. He didn¡¯t bring any other personal article with him, too. He couldn¡¯t figure out what to bring in the first place.

    ¡°Is that it?¡± Himskarr waved her hand dismissively. She tittered for a second as if she had just heard a joke before she approached Feodor and reached for his hand, ¡°Leave it then, you won''t get to use it---- Charon, thank you for your time.¡±

    ¡°Do you have to leave now? It¡¯s getting dark and I¡¯m not sure if now would be a good time to depart¡­¡±

    So asked Feodor, genuine concern was reflected on his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We won¡¯t reach the woods until tomorrow morning¡­ You know better than anyone that the country¡¯s highway is safe anyway. Also, they may be a few days away, but the rainy season isn¡¯t here yet.¡±

    She kissed his cheek and released his hand, then she went to board her carriage without glancing back. But she did say a bit more before she got in.

    ¡°That silk you told me about was wonderful too. Shame that Sherl never told me about it before¡­ His coffers just got a bit emptier now. He wouldn¡¯t mind, would he?¡±

    Feodor sighed and lamented silently but he was still grinning, probably because Himskarr was talking about a mutual friend between them. Then he shifted his attention to Lys and said,

    ¡°Farewell, Sir Lys.¡± Feodor grabbed his hand and shook it firmly, ¡°It was only for a short time, but thank you for your visit. Pay us another visit once in a while¡­ your new companion might miss its hometown after all.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I had a pleasant afternoon. To the point I almost wish I was stationed here in Hexagrund instead. Thank you, Lord Feodor. The Judge be with you.¡±

    They proceeded to shake their hands a few moments more until it got awkward, at least for Lys.

    After he was done with his parting message, Lys followed after Himskarr and boarded the carriage. As soon as he settled in, Himskarr¡¯s chaperone closed the carriage¡¯s door. Later, there was a voice from the front to ask Himskarr whether they were ready to depart, to which Himskarr replied yes.

    The carriage then started to move. Outside, Feodor waved at them for some moments before his figure was gone from the window.

    It wasn¡¯t until the sun set and Hexagrund was no longer in sight that Lys asked Himskarr about Feodor.

    ¡°Lord Feodor was addressing me with my first name. You¡¯ve been here for a while, Lady Himskarr¡­ Is that the common practice by Hexagrundian standards¡­?¡±

    She narrowed her eyes, then she looked the other way to gaze the view outside the window.

    ¡°We¡¯re not exactly in the north, are we? And while we¡¯re on this topic, you¡¯ve been calling me with my maiden name for the whole day now. By Serenadian standards, you¡¯re being rude, you know?¡±

    She was smiling when she said so, and her tone was a jolly one. But it wasn¡¯t exactly a pleasant smile, nor it was a friendly tone.

    ¡°Call me by my husband¡¯s surname or Haluna. I prefer the latter, so Haluna¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    Now that she mentioned it, yes, there was that kind of thing too.

    Because she seemed to be a little pouting, he wished that it wasn¡¯t going to be an awkward ride all the way to Rosenfeld.

    ====v====

    The roads throughout the journey were quite well-maintained. That, combined with his fatigue and perhaps the well-built carriage made Lys able to spend most of his time sleeping. Himskarr¡ªno, Haluna had also been sleeping just fine, and there were two drivers on the front bench so there was no need for them to pull over to sleep. Hence, during the last five days, they had been travelling almost non-stop.

    Occasionally, however, they would stop at villages or settlements for food. There were also a few occasions where they¡¯d have to sit on the surface and use their hands to eat, which was a completely foreign concept to Lys. He had to observe Haluna, who didn¡¯t seem to be even a bit bothered by it, until he could figure out how to separate the cooked flesh from the bone by his hands. But most of the dishes were spiced really well, and as his palate was satisfied with them, he didn¡¯t raise a complaint.

    As for the security of the roads itself, Haluna told Lys that during the dry season, the roads of Hexagrund would be as safe as a road could ever be.

    The wooden poles posted at a certain interval on the roadside acted as some sort of a nest for luminescent little blue butterfly-like beasts that served as a source of light for the driver during the night, making it safe for them to push on without worrying about the dark.

    In addition to that, the roads were also patrolled by large greyish beasts with a distinctive pair of tusks that would approximately pass them by every half an hour or so. These beasts maintain the road by removing obstacles, such as fallen trees, from the path. The beasts, according to her, were also as sentient as most other beasts. They could tell if there was a crime, like robbery, happening and stop the perpetrators by attacking them. Their hard skin would protect them from arrows and swords and their sharp tusks would be a serious threat to those they deem as a threat. One could tell when they pass by from their low-pitched cry and the minor vibration they make as they move about.

    The problem with them however, was that both of these beasts were averse to the rain. This was the reason why Haluna couldn¡¯t risk traveling during the wet season.

    There was also an added risk for those who travel through the woods that lie before Rosenfeld during the rainy season. For during that period, a kind of rare beast would show up in the woods. Haluna didn¡¯t mention the name of the beast, and apparently the beast itself wasn¡¯t the problem. The problem was that some treacherous group of people would be there and hunt them for their hearts, a potent cure for syphilis.

    Hunting these beasts had been made illegal in Hexagrund and offenders would be subject to capital punishment, and that was why these hunters couldn¡¯t risk a witness and murder any potential witness on sight. There were some investigations held by the state, but so far they didn¡¯t manage to make any breaks yet. Although, she said that Feodor¡¯s friend in the Justice Department might have ¡®some idea¡¯ about the person behind these groups of people, it was just that he didn¡¯t have a damning evidence to take the person to court.

    ¡°There¡¯s a town called Renellfeld ahead. Due to the terrain ahead, we¡¯re going to switch to horses there.¡± Haluna mused, while staring outside the window, ¡°I don¡¯t fancy horse-riding, but we don¡¯t have any other alternative to cross to the Archduchess¡¯ territory¡­¡±

    She frowned a bit, perhaps due to her self-imposed image that she¡¯d be doing so in the near hours. Later, she sighed, and moved her gaze away from the window.

    ¡°Once you get back to Bravell, tell that Taknash she owes me one.¡±

    Lys couldn¡¯t be sure if he¡¯d ever go back to the Grand Palace, but for now he figured that it was better to say ¡®sure¡¯.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to.¡±

    Then back to the window her gaze went.

    ¡°Renellfield, milady.¡±

    The man on the front bench announced so. If the map was truthful, then it¡¯d be the last stop before they cross into Rosenfeld. It had been a long journey for Lys, and what he said made him a tiny bit happier since he was getting very close now.

    ¡°Take us to the attire workshop I used to frequent.¡±

    She said faintly, but loud enough for the man outside to hear.

    ¡°As milady wishes.¡±

    Well, her attire was indeed not suitable for horse-riding.

    Perhaps she would want a trousers or something.

    ¡°We¡¯ll make a brief stop there to buy you a fur coat¡­ I personally recommend one made from wolf pelt. Oh, and get some fleece-wear to layer up as well. I¡¯ll be getting some for myself, too. I can¡¯t go cross the borders looking like this.¡±

    Fur, she said.

    Lys cringed. He never liked that particular material. Leather is one thing, but there was something about wearing fur. It was like being hugged by a dead animal and it wasn¡¯t exactly a pleasant feeling.

    ¡°Can I pass on that?¡±

    Cotton and hemp should be warm enough for him, he thought to himself.

    When she heard Lys¡¯ response, Haluna seemed to be a bit more tired than she was a second ago.

    ¡°¡­ Be my guest then. Oh and by the way, see those mountains there?¡±

    She directed his sight to the right side of the window.

    There was a line of mountains spanning mightily before his eyes, it didn¡¯t seem that close, but one would able to reach their foot with a few hours riding. As most of Serenadia consisted of flatlands, it was a strangely imposing sight for Lys. It might be possible that their peaks reach the heavens itself. Even stranger that he didn¡¯t realise that they were there before Haluna pointed them out, though.

    So he nodded. Awed by their sight. Speechless.

    ¡°Right. Rosenfeld¡¯s just beyond those. There¡¯s a narrow pass on the lowest mountain among them, and that¡¯s the only way to get there. Now, see that white colour on the upper part of the mountains there? Hmm, you have any idea what that is?¡±

    Indeed, as she said, most of the mountains were capped by something white. He had heard from his tutors that there were some weather phenomena unique to certain lands. What he saw there could be one of those, and he might have an idea of what it could be. He might be wrong though, and he might look stupid if he did. So he waited for Haluna to answer her own question.

    ¡°That¡¯s called snow, child of the shore. And there¡¯s a reason why the word for it doesn¡¯t exist in our tongue¡­ us Serenadian, we aren¡¯t built for that. Alone, they might be harmless, but if the icy wind were to blow them our way¡­ well.¡±

    Shivers.

    There might be a reason why Haluna didn¡¯t complete her sentence.

    What is icy wind, anyway?

    ¡°But Rosenfeld¡¯s got plenty of those, so you might want to get used to it. I won¡¯t stop you if you want to go there with that attire of yours. Hold onto my words though, you¡¯ll be having the worse time of your life then.¡±

    Her face when she said so kept an impression on Lys. So much so when they arrived at the workshop, he grabbed the heaviest fur and the thickest fleece he could get. He also bought himself a hat with flaps that seemed to be made from a dead sable or some sorts. Haluna bought a dense-looking trousers, a white pelt coat, two fleece wears, a pair of gloves and a furred boots.

    The ride to the lowest mountain she referred to was painful for Lys, especially because of the unfamiliar feeling on his head and ears and his whole skin in general.

    But the most painful moments were hours later into the ride.

    To his dismay, even after he followed Haluna¡¯s directions, he was still having the worst moment of his life.

    They had been riding from early morning and they reached the foot of the mountain before noon. He finally got to see that white substance up close and felt them by his head. It didn¡¯t feel that bad. But as they get higher and higher, the story changed.

    The once calm winds were now violent, as it was literally slapping the cold thing called snow to his face. The path they was traversing was remarkably narrow, only a horse could fit in once at a time. The white wall of the mountain was on his right and a dangerous-looking slippery cliff was on his left. Not rarely that they had to dismount in order to confirm the path, which was mostly covered in white, and every time they do so was truly a thing straight out of the nightmares for Lys.

    Brunn was flailing about as it tightly held on to the horse¡¯s neck in front of him. It was faithfully flying nearby until a moment ago. Probably it found the wind to be too strong for him to fly about. As for Lys, he was barely hanging on as well.

    ¡°Just¡­. hah¡­. just, how high does this mountain get?!¡±

    He said so, shouting, gasping for air. He could feel a certain pain on his chest every time he breathes and he knew that his breath was getting short. Considering that even something so banal like breathing was painful for him now, he felt he finally got a glimpse of the possible reason as to why Kashvag seemed to be pleased when he sent him here.

    ¡°Quit whining.¡± She briefly replied. Her voice was barely audible due to the loud noise of the wind, ¡°Be thankful that we didn¡¯t run into an avalanche. We¡¯ll be there very soon.¡±

    Lys couldn¡¯t see her face from the back. But he could tell that she was trembling herself as well.

    ¡°What¡¯s an avalanche?!¡±

    ¡°A very bad thing.¡±

    She surely wasn¡¯t in the mood to talk.

    Lys figured that she truly meant it when she said they weren¡¯t built for snow. It was amazing that she could manage as the previous envoy to the Archduchess under a condition like what he was feeling now.

    They continued to push until the light of the day was fading away. By then they finally got into a safe-looking, fairly wide, flat field. He caught up to Haluna, and when he saw her face, a satisfied smile was plastered there.

    She pointed at a desolate slate-coloured structure on a distance. Giant banners of a white or silver crescent on blood-red backdrop were hanging on its outer fortifications.

    ¡®That¡¯s the Rosenfeld banner¡­ did we cross the border already?''

    Lys asked himself. It was strange, though. There was no activity there, and he couldn¡¯t see even a single patrolling soldier typically posted in borders ahead of him.

    ¡°The vampire¡¯s keep. Schneienkreuz. We¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Vampire, what?¡±

    Lys was sure he heard her wrong.

    What vampire?

    Haluna, again, acted like she didn¡¯t hear his question.

    As if she was trying to keep Lys in suspense, she went ahead before him, saying nothing but a single word before she paced her horse forward.

    ¡°Come.¡±

 Appendix I: Illustration & Concept Arts

    Map of Iurzemlya

    Concept Art - Betta

    Concept Art - LulleyThis tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    2D Concept Art - Lulley

    2D Concept Art - Min

    2D Concept Art - Kahsvag

    2D Concept Art - Sinod

    2D Concept Art - Haluna

 Notice I (Not a Chapter)

    To the ten kind souls who followed the story and especially the three who favoured my humble tale. I apologise for the lack of content for the past few weeks. I''ve been having a lot of things on my plate. Though rest assured that a new chapter will come in the following days.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    In the meantime, please feel free to reach me to direct your concerns about the direction of the story through PM or if you have something else to discuss about. If you are a fan of a grimdark story with medieval settings. You might also enjoy a translated work a mine as well. Please feel free to look for "Circus of Oubeniel" in the meantime.

    Thank you for your patience.

 Chapter IV: The Count of Schneienkreuz (Former Part)

    ¡°You might be wondering why I didn¡¯t take my vassals with me.¡±

    Haluna¡¯s words were the first thing Lys had heard besides the howls of the snowy gale outside.

    They walked through the slate-coloured keep¡¯s unmanned gatehouse a few moments ago, and as they made their entrance into its front hall, there was nothing there but an oppressive silence. Perhaps the reason why she decided to talk then was to chase off what uneasiness she might have felt as the quietness of the cold stone halls crept into her heart, the same silence that apparently drove Brunn away to fly somewhere else before they passed through the keep¡¯s main door.

    The keep¡¯s front hall was nearly nondescript. Its ceiling, high as it was, wasn¡¯t as high as the Grand Palace¡¯s. There were candle-stands in the hall, and a simple-looking chandelier was hanging overhead, but it was not the ornate, jewel-decorated, stunning-looking chandeliers he could find all over the halls of the Grand Palace. There were a few turquoise-coloured banners hanging on the walls. At the banners¡¯ centre was the Rosenfeld¡¯s crescent, and inside the crescent was a strange-looking symbol or pattern that looks like a spider¡¯s web. He surmised that these might be the keep¡¯s or the hold¡¯s banners, which should¡¯ve commanded some respect as their symbol, though even they appear to be washed-up compared to the vivid and bright violet banners he had used to see.

    Though Lys was aware those weren¡¯t at all a fair comparison. The Grand Palace was mankind¡¯s achievement at their finest. Here was a border post in a far corner in the world he had no idea of.

    The one thing that set apart the hall from being a lackluster-looking room was a large painting on the other side of the walls.

    ¡°It¡¯d be against the wishes of the master of this hold. That¡¯s why.¡±

    Haluna continued on her own as Lys didn¡¯t offer her a response.

    To those words, Lys carefully gazed at the large painting once again.

    Its frame was shining, almost as if it was itself a source of light. The dim shine of the frame accented the timeless-looking colours of the painting. Lys wasn¡¯t an artful man himself, but as a son of a merchant he knew a thing or two about colours and pigment and the like. He could tell even at a glance that the pigment that composed the painting had been made from the most precious gems and stones. And the colours the artist had used in the elaborate painting clearly told him that it was painted by a maestro.

    The subject of the painting itself wasn¡¯t anything dramatic. It was a portrait of a man. What clothes the man was wearing there was foreign to Lys, but apparently it was a military uniform of some sorts, evident from the decorations that might¡¯ve been badges of honour on his chest. As for the man himself, he was a stern-looking, masculine beauty. His sharp chin and slight frown complemented his harsh, clear cyan eyes and soft-angled eyebrows. The elaborateness of the painting made Lys felt like the man was literally staring at them from beyond the frame, judging them silently as they came to approach him.

    ¡®Is he ¡®the vampire¡¯¡­?¡¯

    That might¡¯ve been the case. Perhaps that apparent sternness, cold facet of his gave him that unfortunate nickname.

    ¡°Apparently that master doesn¡¯t favour other people too much¡­ This place seems to be deserted.¡±

    Lys voiced his mind as their footsteps resounded faintly as they tread the turquoise-coloured ornamented carpet. The flickering flame of the candles in the hall offered them meager eyesight, but the soft warmth that came along with it was a welcome addition.

    But what was happening around Lys, or what he perceived from it, made the warmth mean little as Lys was unconsciously shivering. As he put it himself, the lord might¡¯ve had been a misanthrope who wouldn¡¯t welcome any presence save himself, hence the lord¡¯s title.

    That, or something terrible had happened here.

    Haluna didn¡¯t seem to be alarmed, though.

    There was a tinge of uneasiness in her looks, yes, but none of those random and paranoid glares at the surroundings. She walked with confidence and clearly she had somewhere to go in her mind. She was a seasoned traveler. She¡¯d know, or at least, she should¡¯ve known if something was indeed wrong with that place.

    ¡°Oh, quite the contrary¡­ He likes people. Humans, I mean.¡±

    Haluna replied ambiguously.

    It didn¡¯t seem that the lord liked people in the way when the word ¡°like¡± is normally used, though...

    ¡®If he really liked people so much, it didn¡¯t make any sense that he would let his home devoid of them¡­¡­ In fact, did Haluna just imply that the master of the fort was something other than human?¡¯

    Lys held his forehead in pain. He could feel his accumulated fatigue getting to him.

    All he knew that he just stepped in to some absurd place and he was expected to stay there for the next two years. He had a few words of complaints, but he was sure Haluna would just turn the other way even if he voiced them.

    The conversation between them died again as they traversed through a set of uniform empty hallways, each as silent and as undecorated as the other, until they stumbled upon what seemed like an inner courtyard.

    The courtyard was a spacious field of white flowers with occasional, symmetrically built slate-coloured pillars protruding from the icy surfaces. The falling snow enhanced the flowers¡¯ surreal splendor as the small cold crystals brushed their white petals lightly--- a countless numbers of pale white that enriched the petals¡¯ colours with one more shade of white.

    ¡®This is¡­¡¯

    What he saw there was... ethereal.

    It was as if the courtyard was there as a contrast to the dull interiors of the keep.

    Truly, it was a breathtaking sight that would¡¯ve been a perfect thing to behold¡­ except for the fact it was actually too cold to enjoy it.

    ¡°Snow roses,¡± Haluna commented before Lys had the chance to ask her, she gazed the flowers briefly before she shrugged and moved on, the sight apparently mundane, or perhaps even unimpressive to her, ¡°As you might have noticed, not many plants can live around these parts¡­ these are one among the three sorts of flowers that can still bloom in the freezing hell that is Rosenfeld.¡±

    And just as she said, there was only one type of flower in the field.

    Apparently the only difference between these ¡®snow roses¡¯ and the common roses Lys knew was the fact that they had no thorns with them, other than that, the look of the flowers themselves were highly reminiscent of the roses that grew in the gardens of his estate.

    ¡°¡­ The seat of their ruling family, Mondkastell, has the second sort. They appear to be exactly like these ones, but with a slightly different colour. Incidentally, the bulbs of these two flowers are edible and they can serve as an emergency provision in times of famine¡­ though I wouldn¡¯t recommend them myself. They¡¯re starchy, and bitter too.¡±

    Her face was twisted as she voiced her remarks. Apparently she was recalling an unpleasant experience in her head.

    ¡°I can¡¯t begin to imagine how bulbs might taste like¡­ and the third is¡­?¡±

    ¡°An even rarer kind, not quite a thing of legends or fables, but it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration if I were to say that even the people who live in these lands wouldn¡¯t know a lot about it¡­ I¡¯ve never seen one myself, none of my acquaintance here either. Strange, I can¡¯t seem to recall its name¡­¡±

    Lys stole another glance at the unprecedentedly large courtyard once more as they took the roundabout way to avoid stepping on the flowers. Inner courtyards weren¡¯t that common in Serenadian architecture so he hadn¡¯t seen a lot of inner courtyards himself, but he was quite sure that the width of the field was proportionally strange. It was as if the keep was deliberately built around that field of flowers. He realised that that might¡¯ve been true as the other side of the hallways seemed to be arvinas away.

    ¡°Say, Haluna. Perhaps it¡¯s just me. But¡­ doesn¡¯t this inner courtyard feel a tad bit¡­ too extensive?¡±

    Generally an inner courtyard would have the function as an alternative place to the indoors to entertain guests and the like. However, the idea of entertaining guests outside while it was bitter cold to the point that it was difficult to breathe was inconceivable for Lys.

    Haluna sighed,

    ¡°I just explained it to you a while back, didn¡¯t I? Their bulbs are safe to eat... In other words, this is where they store the keep¡¯s reserve food supply. Or I suppose, it was. I mean, I can¡¯t imagine how anyone would put something so unpalatable in their mouths. And given that not many people live here now, the place is nothing more but a simple flower field now----------------------- we¡¯re here.¡±

    Before them was an engraved white marble door.

    Haluna grabbed its heavy looking handle and pushed with an ¡°mmph¡±, and as soon as the door opened Lys could feel a stream of warm, rose-scented vapor flowing from the inside.

    What lies beyond the door was filled with gentle light.

    Tranquil colours of a sizable stained glass were projecting through what was left of the daylight, reflecting the light it had altered to the corners of the room. Hundreds if not thousands of small candles were floating on a stream of slightly steamy water, as its countless lights were mirrored by the water¡¯s surface. Near the stained glass were a few candleholders, each candles were different in their sizes, and none of their flames had the same hue.

    Then, there were the crisp sound of running water.

    ¡­ Roses.

    White petals of roses were floating there on the small stream, its steam was the agent of the fragrance that filled the room.

    And there near the stained glass, on the far side of the room, was a slender, long-haired figure, dressed in a black pelt overcoat .

    It was the first living soul Lys had seen for a while ever since he had set off from Renellfeld.

    The figure was facing the other way when they opened the room, perhaps lost in the wondrous scheme of colours the room had offered them. But now that the cold winds from the outside announced Lys¡¯ and Haluna¡¯s arrival, the figure began to turn Lys¡¯ way.

    Lo, the figure was that of a lady¡¯s, and what Lys saw there was beyond any figment of Lys¡¯ imagination.

    The first thing Lys noticed about her was her clear, ruby-coloured irises.

    Then her almond-shaped eyes.

    Her thin lips, slightly pouted. Her upturned nose, and then her slightly pointed chin.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Her straight, silken ashen hair, and the blue flower that rested on that hair, glorifying it.

    The small, crescent-shaped silver pendant that contrasted the black overcoat she was wearing.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been told that I¡¯d have guests today. You could¡¯ve picked a better time to show up, however.¡±

    So she spoke.

    Her voice, it was tender, mellow.

    ¡°Lys Ravenlicht of Serenadia, milady. Apologies for our¡­¡­.. poor timing of arrival. If it may pleases milady, please know that we¡¯ve been riding since the first light from Renellfeld.¡±

    Lys approached her, a brief moment of silence as they gazed at each other.

    Then he reached for her right hand, and kissed its backside.

    The moment felt¡­ surreal.

    She was taken aback for a moment, as she jerked and her eyes went round, but then she returned to her default expression with a bitter smile floating across her lips.

    There was a chuckle from behind him.

    Then it broke into a loud laughter. Haluna was laughing, almost to the point that she seemed to be losing her breath, her laughter echoed throughout the halls, the surreal atmosphere that Lys felt gone with it.

    It took her a while, but eventually, she managed to recover.

    ¡°Beautiful as you¡¯ve always been.¡±

    That was the first words she spoke after she regained coherent speech, and with it, Haluna bowed with her hand on her chest.

    ¡°And you¡¯re as whimsical as ever¡­ I¡¯m fully aware that you may find this hilarious, but truth be told¡­ I¡¯ve grown rather tired of this jest,¡± The lady shifted her attention to Haluna, her tune was slightly tinged with lethargy, ¡°Come here.¡±

    Haluna approached the lady, gave her a peck on her left cheek. They hugged for a while and then parted as she took a few steps forward.

    ¡°Er¡­ what¡¯s going on here?¡±

    Lys asked Haluna as he lost comprehension of what was taking place before him.

    ¡°Ah, let me introduce you, Sir Lys. The one¡¯s standing before you is none other than Ilya von Rosenfeld. He¡¯s the lord of this place, the Count of Schneienkreuz.¡±

    =======V=======

    Dinnertime.

    The scent of the burning firewood as it crackles.

    Three goblets, three small bowls, two silver plates and one wooden plate on the long dinner table.

    And on the dining chairs sat Haluna and the Count of Schneienkreuz. Their conversations, which were kept to minimal exchanges ever since they left the hall near the flower field, had just died down yet again. Lys was still filled with embarrassment due to what happened in the hall where he met Ilya for the first time. It was hard for Lys to find the right words to say after that, every word just appeared to sound awkward by then.

    Lys tried to focus on the dinner while trying to recover, but what he was chewing there wasn¡¯t much of a help.

    There were two dishes before him. The bowl had a tasteless, greenish soup that almost tasted like stale water, and then there was the dry, chewy meat that was terribly hard to swallow on the plate. It was a miracle that the poor knife could slice through it in the first place.

    The goblet had a black, cloudy liquid that gave off a curious scent. Lys didn¡¯t have the courage to try it, not yet, at least. The soup was enough to quench his thirst.

    In normal practice, although he never did so, he could ask for another dish. It was a common practice in Bravell to tell the attending servant to change the dish should the eater didn¡¯t find the dish to suit their palate..... except that in this case, he couldn¡¯t. Doing so would possibly be an offence to the count.

    Apparently there was no other person in the decrepit keep but the count herse--- himself. No maids, butlers nor chamberlains attending the halls and the rooms, no guards patrolling the hallways and the entrances, and thus no kitchen-wenches nor chefs cooking in the kitchen. The meals were thoroughly prepared by the count personally from start to finish. Haluna did help him by setting the table--- silverwares for Lys and Haluna, woodenwares for Ilya. The table setting was a tad peculiar, but when Haluna said that it was the virtue there for the host to humble themselves before their guests, he could draw a line from there.

    Perhaps the reason why Haluna didn¡¯t bring her vassals with her was because of this very reason. The count had to attend to his guests alone. Judging from their interactions, Lys could surmise at the very least, they weren¡¯t strangers, or perhaps they were already friends¡ªas no Serenadian women would kiss someone¡¯s cheek unless the other party was a close associate. It was highly probable that Haluna simply did not want to draw more trouble for the count.

    ¡°Milord. About what I did a while back¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Haluna interrupted him before he had the chance to finish his sentence, ¡°Ilya had already grown used to it. He knows that there¡¯s currently a poor understanding between his race and humans and general. He didn¡¯t find a fault in your remarks.¡±

    Ilya nodded at Haluna¡¯s word, his smile was still bitter, but gentle nonetheless.

    ¡°Have you heard of Roseis before, Sir?¡±

    Ilya asked as he split the meat before him with his hands.

    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve heard of it, Milord.¡±

    ¡°Then you can rest assured that I didn¡¯t take offence to that little incident.¡±

    His fangs were showing a bit as he grinned.

    ¡°Roseis are the common name for the sons and daughters born from the humans and the nymphs that dwell in the rivers of Enricia¡­ I believe those nymphs are called Lilians now.¡± Haluna explained in Ilya¡¯s stead, her fingers fidgeting as the meat was resisting the knife they were holding, ¡°Despite their human blood, the nymph blood still runs strong in their veins¡­ hence their appearance. Rosenfeld men are all like him, so you better don¡¯t pull that off ever again.¡±

    Lilians.

    The term was familiar to Lys¡¯ ears. He recalled that the Keep had mentioned it once before his departure to the borders. He did mention that all of them were women. As it turned out, they were nymphs. Of course all of them would be women.

    It was still somewhat came off as a surprise for him, since he thought of them as the stories of the old.

    ¡°Nymphs? So, you¡¯re not a vampire, milord?¡±

    Ilya coughed as Haluna broke into laughter once again.

    ¡°Not at all, no,¡± Ilya¡¯s cheeks blushed lightly, as if he just heard something embarrassing, ¡°That¡¯s what the foreign dignitaries used to call me. A moniker, if you will. There¡¯s no solid evidence that vampires ever existed¡­ but since there are folk stories about red eyes and all that, that¡¯s the main reason why they attached the moniker to me. Some people still call me with that, and I must say I¡¯m not proud with it.... but I¡¯d say I¡¯m getting used to it.¡±

    ¡®Hearing that vampires don¡¯t exist from a nymph''s descendant feels surreal, though...¡¯

    Lys mumbled inwardly.

    ¡°Well it¡¯s no wonder why people would think of that. You live like a hermit and you keep your interactions minimum. People would have ideas¡­¡±

    Said Haluna, as if she was saying something akin to a light criticism against the count.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± He shook his head horizontally, ¡°Look, you might¡¯ve never seen them during your visit a few years back, Haluna. But we do have servants¡­ they just don¡¯t live here. It¡¯d be impossible for me to maintain the place alone, but It costs a lot of silver to keep men here, as merchants don¡¯t come here at all and summoning them would take more coins from the treasury, I let them live in Spaetjahr instead with the army. The weather there is much more forgiving than what we have here. They come three times every fortnight and help me maintain this waste of a keep¡­ Though I must say even if people live here, this place would still be unmaintained.¡±

    He concluded his words as he sipped the contents of his goblet, his gaze was directed to no one in particular.

    Lys remembered Spaetjahr from the map he carried with him. It was supposedly the first town on the base of the Rosenfeld¡¯s side of the icy mountains. According to the count, the army had been living there with his servants, so apparently it was quite the sizable town.

    ¡°But aren¡¯t you worried though? This place is unmanned. There¡¯s always the risk of larceny or the like¡­.¡±

    Lys asked the count, he shook his head another time.

    ¡°I¡¯m not. Larceny in this place would be the height of all follies. There are only a few coins in the treasury, and nothing else. Though when push comes to shove, there¡¯s a bell-tower attached to the annex that I can use to notify people.¡± He took a brief pause and took another sip from his goblet before he continued, ¡°¡­ Quite the old relic, the bell-tower is¡­ I could never figure how the men before me built it, but here''s what I know of. The bell do ring loudly, and it is so loud it reaches far, all the way to Spaetjahr. Unlike your perilous road that spans from Renellfeld, the terrain from there is a lot more forgiving¡­ it¡¯s possible for the bulk of the Archduchess¡¯ army to reach this place and man the baileys and watchtowers in just a few minutes.¡±

    ¡°There''s still a chance that they may come... and you¡¯re still a noble, Milord. Aren¡¯t you worried for your life?¡±

    Back in Bravell, the idea of having a noble¡¯s manor to be unattended by servants and guards is ludicrous. Not only that their presence itself was the symbol of status, their attendance would normally ward the house from thieves or any unwanted guests.

    For Lys, the count may argue that keeping servants or guards would put a heavy burden on his coffers, but in the end the fact that he was a noble with a peerage didn¡¯t change. If raiders were to decide that this desert of a keep was to be their next target and capture him in the process, it¡¯d cost him much, much more.

    Such was the difference between a noble and the commonfolk. There was value attached on their very lives. One probably couldn¡¯t ransom a common man, not unless the man was closely attached to a person in power or of wealth. But a nobleman, that would be a different case entirely.

    Ilya let out a stifled laugh.

    ¡°Sir,¡± He turned to gaze at Lys, peering directly into Lys¡¯ eyes, ¡°What does being a noble mean to you?¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    Lys stopped his attempt to get the next cut his meat.

    ¡°As I said, what does being a noble mean to you? Does it mean you¡¯ve got to live in lofty manors as a superior existence above the commonfolks, as you attend balls--- parties, and, perhaps, rule the masses, as you go by?¡±

    This time it was Lys who shook his head.

    ¡°Milord, I¡¯m an elected noble. I¡¯m not a noble by blood.¡±

    And as he knew best, there was a major difference between him and those who held the post due to their bloodline.

    ¡°Regardless. Ah, perhaps you¡¯re trying to infer that nobility is defined by bloodline?¡±

    While Ilya wasn¡¯t completely wrong, it wasn¡¯t exactly the point that Lys was trying to make.

    ¡°No. it¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡­.

    Gone were the words from his mouth.

    In the first place, he didn¡¯t actually know the meaning of the word. From the years he experienced not long ago, stepping into palaces with guards saluting him, he thought he knew the gist of it. But now that someone asked him about it, vexing as it was, he just couldn¡¯t find the right word to answer the question directed at him.

    ¡®What does being a noble mean, anyway?¡¯

    Lys knew he was privileged, and he never was under the illusion that he struggled to receive such privilege. So, were the privileges that he had made him a noble? Or was it because of the people that he was a noble? And even with all those banters, the answer lies nonexistent.

    Ilya reached for another sip from his goblet as he saw Lys¡¯ troubled face.

    ¡°Relax.¡± He said, waving his free hand, ¡°I¡¯m not expecting for an answer¡­¡­. not now anyway.¡±

    He finished the contents of his goblet and rose up.

    ¡°You see, Sir Lys----- you don¡¯t mind I refer you with your given name, yes?¡±

    ¡°If it pleases you, Milord. I¡¯m fine with it.¡±

    ¡°Good. May I remind you that you¡¯re a prince though¡­ which roughly translates as a count here. We hold the same rank so it¡¯s fine for you to dismiss the formalities when you speak with me¡­ After all, formality has little use in these wretched parts of the land¡­ Anyway, I digressed.¡±

    He walked to the pile of woods near the furnace and threw a handful of them into the fire.

    ¡°For me, Sir Lys.¡± He continued, his tone was as tender as when they first met, ¡°Being a nobility means that I have to sit for hours every single day in my life to do administrative work.¡±

    He turned his back to face Lys again, the remnants of the cold breeze from the outside swept his hair, and the light from flame of the furnace was reflected on his clear red eyes.

    ¡°Times have changed¡­.. Long gone are the ages in which the commonfolk could be convinced that their purpose of living was to serve their landlords. The overlord of this white land must always be a direct descendant of the First Queen, and that will not change---- not in the near future. However, I remain here not because of the First Queen¡­ I remain because the good people of this county see the merit in me holding this office for them, and I¡¯m only but one among many.¡±

    Lys could understand what the count was trying to say. Or perhaps he thought he could understand the hidden meaning between the count¡¯s words.

    He was trying to infer that meritocracy prevails over this land. It was merit that made him a lord, and it was merit that kept him in that position. If he were to disappear the next day, people would request the monarch to find a suitable replacement for him, and finding a person as meritorious as he was would be a simple task.

    He was, in a way, expendable. That was why he didn¡¯t fear for his life.

    Though that didn''t sound "noble" to Lys. If Lys parsed his words correctly, then there was definitely a fault in Ilya''s thought pattern. Nonetheless, he wasn''t in the position to a criticise someone he barely knew.

    ¡°Though I suppose what I said didn¡¯t answer my own question. Know this, Sir Lys. I asked because I wanted to know the answer--- I don¡¯t have an answer myself.¡±

    He sighed, then he returned to his seat.

    ¡°It would be interesting if you have an answer when our time together came to a pass¡­ which is still a long time coming.¡±

    He reached for a pot from beneath the desk and poured another of the black liquid into his goblet.

    ¡°How do you find the meat, Sir Lys?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine¡­ I¡¯d say it¡¯s, uh¡­ free from factors in which I could complain about.¡±

    Tut, tut. Ilya shook his head disapprovingly.

    ¡°You know, Haluna was once like you.¡± He said, though the was no blame in the way he was talking about it, almost as if he was plainly reminiscing, ¡°At this point I suppose all you northerners are just some stuck-up bunch¡ª¡°

    ¡°--- Don''t shift the topic to me now, Ilya. You know----¡±

    Haluna interrupted, but Ilya raised his palm to stop her.

    ¡°Oh, no. Don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m not trying to poke you in front of your compatriot---- ¡®Stuck-up¡¯ is hardly a criticism anyway¡­ Well about the meat, I know better than anyone else that the meat of gralean hares are not the most palatable. They¡¯re hard to chew, probably because they move around so much. My sister used to hate it¡­ I think she still hates it now. But you could¡¯ve told me, that way I may present you something more palatable tomorrow. You¡¯re my guest and it¡¯s my duty to see if you¡¯re eating well.¡±

    Then, he pointed at Lys¡¯ goblet. The mysterious liquid that Lys didn¡¯t dare to drink even a drop.

    ¡°Here¡¯s my second question. Why are you not touching your goblet, Sir Lys?¡±

    The liquid is strangely black, it gave off a strange odor, and from the looks of it whatever was there didn¡¯t seem to be something that could be drunk without him spitting it out afterwards. But of course it wasn¡¯t possible for him to say any of those.

    Perhaps he never meant to ask the question for Lys to answer, as he continued after the pause.

    ¡°Fear of the unknown, I presume. Here¡¯s a suggestion¡­. Bottoms up.¡±

    He drank the contents of his goblet one more time, this time it was all at once.

    Seeing that, Lys had no choice but to follow suit.

    He grabbed the goblet, held his breath as the cold silver reached his lips, and let the dark liquid inside flood the insides of his mouth.

    ¡­

    Bitter.

    There were no other words than that. The bitterness that his tongue tasted paralysed him.

    But as he gulped down and the next flood of the black liquid flood once again, he could notice some changes.

    First, he felt that his body was feeling warmer, as if the cold air that plagued his breath was slowly being expelled out from his system. It felt comfortable, and more than anything he could feel that the small shivers that his body unconsciously made ever since he reached the upper parts of the Gralean Mountains were being subdued.

    And as his body grows warmer, he felt that the liquid itself began to change in taste. Its taste was changing to a sweeter tone, as if he was drinking something else entirely in every single gulp. By the time he finished the contents of his goblet, he was feeling invigorated and warm, and the aftertaste suggested that in the end the liquid tasted as sweet as any fruit essence.

    ¡°I see that colours are returning to your pale face, Sir Lys. Good for you.¡± He nodded, grinning while he grabbed his chin, ¡°Though I daresay your long travels have made you exhausted and you¡¯ve yet to fully recover.¡±

    Ilya glanced at the rest of the meal and reached for his utensils to resume his interrupted dinner.

    ¡°One week,¡± He said, before he put another mouthful of the rubbery meat in his mouth, ¡°You will stay here for one week to recuperate before I accompany you to Nebelkreuz. I wanted you to stay in Spaetjahr during the rest of your tenure----it¡¯d be more humane for you that way¡­ But you¡¯re expected by my cousin. What better ways to prepare your heart for the bitter coldness of Nebelkreuz than to stay here in this decrepit, old and chilled keep of mine?¡±

    As long as he had that drink he just had before, though, Lys felt it wouldn¡¯t be a problem.