***

Kashan, who had left the barracks, had been riding for some time, accompanied by several other men of the Kuth tribe. After a long ride, they arrived at a place near the northern border of the Empire, a place where they had once crossed the border into Seria.

However, unlike the quiet scene before, there were now several Imperial soldiers in uniform standing guard at the border. As Kashan and his men approached, the Imperial soldiers began to stiffen in alarm. So did Kashan’s subordinates.

“Be careful, Captain.”

“They’re just a bunch of knights. Don’t worry about them.”

One of the knights, who appeared to be the most senior, approached Kashan holding a piece of paper. Kashan also dismounted and waited.

“I ask you again. Do you really claim not to know the whereabouts of Seria Luzent?”

The approaching knight held the paper out to Kashan and asked in a rather harsh tone.

“We have already gathered witnesses. There have been several reports of a Kuth tribesman spending the night with a woman believed to be Seria Luzent in the tavern near the crossroads. If you don’t want to make things worse, you’d better confess”.

“Well, I don’t really recognise her from the portrait.”

“Stop playing games. The Count of Luzent has already arrived in the north.”

At the mention of the Count of Luzent, Kashan’s eyebrow twitched.

He’s in the north now? Didn’t they say he died of an illness? Why is he here all of a sudden?

Kashan was careful not to show his inner thoughts, however, and shrugged his shoulders with a dry look.

“I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“It means that the Count’s soldiers have also arrived. Oh, and with the support of other nobles and even the Imperial forces.”

At these words, a faint crack appeared on Kashan’s usually composed face.

‘So now he’s pretending to search for his daughter?’

If not, he might end up exposing everything Kashan has done.

‘That foolish count. He’s gone and made things worse for no reason.’

Kashan’s face, which had feigned calm, now showed signs of irritation. He had a feeling that the count would not back down easily.

“Seria Luzent left the territory of the Empire of her own free will. We simply helped her.”

“Is that really the excuse you’re going to use…?”

“If you don’t believe me, ask her directly.”

Despite his calm exterior, his heart was pounding in his chest. If it hadn’t been for the Imperial Knights, he might have been able to find a way out of this. But with the foolish count escalating the situation, it was becoming difficult to deny it any longer.

“And where is Seria Luzent now?”

“She is safely protected in the territory of the Kuth tribe.”

“I’ll have to see for myself.”

At that moment, a thin, wiry man appeared between the knights, his gait unmistakably arrogant as he stepped forward.

“You bastards. You’re the ones who took my precious daughter…!”

The middle-aged man who appeared was clearly of noble birth, wearing a cloak of expensive cloth adorned with an elaborate brooch. His well-made leather shoes left no doubt as to his status.

His blond hair and blue eyes were an exact match to Seria’s.

When he recognised the Count of Luzent, Kashan’s face contorted in frustration.

Damn it, the man looked so much like Seria that it was impossible to ignore.

“You say she’s safe? You’d better keep that promise.”

But despite the striking resemblance to Seria, his demeanour and the air around him were completely different.

“If you touch a single hair on my daughter’s head, I won’t let you get away with it.”

Some of the Imperial Knights nodded in agreement with the Count’s firm stance. To an outsider, he seemed like a loving father, deeply concerned for his daughter’s welfare.

Even Kashan, who had an inkling of the underlying truth, found himself somewhat puzzled by the scene.

‘What if I’m wrong?’

Kashan furrowed his brow. If Seria ran towards her father with joy at seeing him, what would he do?

No solution seemed to occur to him at that moment.

Even though the circumstances clearly indicated that Seria had been cast aside by the count and abandoned in the north, Kashan’s confidence wavered.

“You’d better bring my daughter back unharmed tomorrow at this time and place.”

The count’s loud, commanding voice echoed through the air. Kashan did not answer, only nodded in acknowledgement.

‘I didn’t expect this…’

Kashan’s expression darkened. He had hoped to simply brush things off and slip away unnoticed. But he had never imagined that the count would enlist Imperial support and head north. And that wasn’t all.

‘How many noble houses have sent reinforcements?’

The number of soldiers seemed higher than expected. And with the Count’s exaggerated actions, it looked like if things went wrong, the Kuth tribe could be made to bear the brunt of the Count’s mistakes.

‘The Count probably wants to pin everything on us.’

Once the Imperial Family starts digging deeper, it’s only a matter of time before everything is revealed.

“Captain, did everything go well?”

“Yes, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Kashan forced a polite smile and climbed back on his horse. His head throbbed with pain.

***

Meanwhile, Seria spent some time with the women of the Kuth tribe.

“Hey, that’s not the way to hold it.”

“How is it possible that you’ve never held a sword at this age?”

“What would you do if you ever met a bad person? How did you live like that?”

It was hard to say if this was time well spent, but the Kuth women continued to try to teach Seria.

“There are so many crazy people in this world. You should at least know how to use a dagger. Even a 7 year old can do it.”

As they adjusted the way Seria held the dagger, they continued their relentless scolding. Seria was not even aware that she was being scolded.

“Why do they keep insisting that I carry a sword…?”

She couldn’t bring herself to say that she was afraid and didn’t want to.

It wasn’t just the women. Even the children of the Kuth tribe began to approach her, showing interest.

“Ha ha ha! Look at the Imperial! She’s learning what we did when we were 7!”

“Wow, but her arms are really skinny. How can someone be so small?”

As more and more of the Kuth tribe gathered, all eyes were on Seria. Fortunately, there was no sign of the animosity that had existed before.

“How pitiful. What kind of life has this woman led that she’s so thin and doesn’t even know how to hold a sword?”

“Well, it’s the Empire. Outside of the nobility, it’s common for people to starve, isn’t it? Probably something like that.”

“At first I thought she was from the upper class…”

Somehow the rumours had spread, and Seria was now seen as a poor and pitiful woman. Of course, Seria still had no idea about any of this.

“The captain really took someone like her in.”

“If she had stayed in the Empire, she would have starved to death in no time.”