Chapter 4.1 – The Beginning of Love (2)

Marquis Velarc, Sylvester Amadeus, first met Marianne Lane at the rear gate of the Knight Order Fortress. Normally, Sylvester had no reason to use the rear gate of the fortress. His residence was situated near the front gate of the fortress, right next to the Imperial Palace.

Since the training for the Second Knight Order, composed of mages, was not conducted outdoors, there was no reason for him to visit the training grounds near the rear gate. Even the dining halls were divided into two, just as the First and Second Knight Orders were separated.

Sylvester’s visit to the rear gate was due to a simple coincidence—one that became a fateful encounter for him.

The reason Sylvester headed to the rear gate was straightforward: it was because of his father. To be precise, Sylvester wanted to avoid an awkward meeting with his father, which led him to escape through the rear gate.

Sylvester’s father, Duke Derma, Eirn Amadeus, was different from his son, who was a battle mage and magic swordsman. Eirn was a mage proficient in elemental magic but refrained from entering the battlefield. He was not a knight but a scholar dedicated to researching magic.

However, the title of scholar alone could not encompass his achievements. Eirn was the Duke of the fertile land of Derma, a mage whose name would go down in history, an honorary professor at the Imperial Academy, a sage trusted by the late emperor, and the representative of the Empire’s mages.

He also bore the title of an excellent father. However, Eirn had only raised Sylvester to become a great mage; he had not formed a close relationship with him. The relationship between Sylvester and Eirn was strained. That didn’t mean they couldn’t share a cup of tea together—it simply meant their conversations rarely exceeded three sentences.

That day was no exception. In fact, it was worse. Sylvester didn’t want to exchange even three sentences with his father. He had recently received a letter—a gentle suggestion yet firm coercion—urging him to seriously consider marrying the only daughter of Duke Shult.

Sylvester did not want to have a loveless marriage like his father. He knew all too well how cold, harsh, and dreadful the cycle of such a marriage was.

So what did Sylvester do? He threw his father’s letter into the fireplace.

People often said this about Sylvester, who didn’t have even one lover, a common occurrence among young power-holders:

“He must be incapable of feeling emotions, so it’s no surprise he doesn’t understand love.”

“He probably sees love as nothing more than a small pebble on the ground.”

Considering Sylvester’s usual words and actions, such assumptions were understandable. But in truth… Sylvester believed in love. He believed that one day, he would encounter a fateful meeting and find love.

He had been waiting for someone he could genuinely love and who would genuinely love him in return. If he couldn’t find such a person or love? Then he had no choice but to live alone forever.

After staring at the fireplace where the letter had burned, Sylvester left his office while his aide, Allen, was away. He left the building and headed straight for the rear gate of the fortress. He aimed to reach the residential area beyond the rear gate—a place his father, Eirn, would never set foot in.

In the residential area, there was a small café run by one of Sylvester’s few remaining comrades. Sylvester planned to kill time there. It might seem laughable to some, but it was better than spending hours facing his father.

However, Sylvester didn’t manage to leave the Knight Order Fortress smoothly. Near the rear gate, he found himself stopping unexpectedly.

Sylvester’s gaze landed on a shadowed corner that didn’t receive much sunlight. A very unfamiliar sight caught his eye: an empty iron cage, a steel post embedded in the ground, chains wrapped around the post, and scattered food and water bowls nearby.

Soon, Sylvester’s attention shifted to five somewhat emaciated dogs and a curly-haired person. A gentle voice carried by the wind reached Sylvester’s ears.

“Is it tasty? I spent quite a bit today…”

The voice belonged to a woman who didn’t seem to care about getting her clothes dirty as she plopped herself onto the ground. In front of her, five dogs were each lying in separate spots, chewing on well-cooked chunks of meat.

“It must be tasty since you’re eating so frantically without even acknowledging me.”

The woman spoke as though slightly disappointed, stroking the forehead of the dog closest to her. At that moment, Sylvester briefly thought about separating the woman from the dogs.

The military dogs of the Imperial Knight Order were notoriously aggressive and hostile toward anyone other than their assigned knights. In short, they had bad tempers. Even if they appeared weak and exhausted, the dogs living within the fortress were undoubtedly military dogs.

But the woman didn’t seem to be their handler. She wasn’t one of the mages from the Second Knight Order, nor did she resemble a knight from the First Knight Order. Her build was too small and frail to be a knight.

Perhaps she was a civilian working within the fortress or an outsider. Regardless, the important thing was that stroking the heads of unknown dogs was far too dangerous. Sylvester felt he needed to intervene before the woman lost her fingers.

Sylvester quickly walked toward the woman and the dogs.

“…?”

But there was no need for Sylvester to act. The dog being stroked by the woman closed its eyes in contentment and purred softly. Its tail swayed gently from side to side.

Watching the dog, the woman began to laugh aloud. Her face, framed by thick glasses, lit up with a big smile. It was a warm, affectionate laugh filled with love for the dog.

Sylvester stood frozen, unable to say anything, simply watching the woman and the dogs. He observed the laughter and tranquility passing between them.

It was an incredibly warm scene. Sylvester thought that no Imperial artist could capture the temperature surrounding them in their paintings.

Turning away, Sylvester hurriedly left through the rear gate. His steps were urgent, as though he were fleeing.

Even while sitting in a café near the rear gate, downing cup after cup of strong coffee, Sylvester couldn’t help but recall the scene he had witnessed in the secluded corner. An indescribable, peculiar feeling stirred within him, as though he were a tree awaiting an approaching storm.

The next day, Sylvester returned to the secluded corner near the rear gate. He timed his visit to coincide with when he had seen the woman and the dogs the previous day. He didn’t come with any impure motives or intentions; Sylvester simply wanted to understand the strange feeling that had shaken him.

Sylvester hoped the woman wouldn’t be there. But contrary to his hope, Sylvester encountered her again. This time, she was feeding the dogs, just as she had done the day before. Once again, she was sitting on the ground.

Sylvester watched from a distance as the woman fed the dogs and left. He stood there in a daze, observing the process before trudging back to his office. Only upon returning did Sylvester regain his senses. When he did, he was greatly shocked. He almost slapped his own cheek.

‘What kind of… perverted behavior is this?’

Feeling confused by his actions, Sylvester resolved never to set foot near the rear gate again.

But exactly three days later, Sylvester found himself at the secluded corner once more, making his previous resolution meaningless. It wasn’t a conscious decision to visit the corner. While lost in thought during a walk, Sylvester suddenly realized he was standing there. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say his subconscious had led him there.

…Truly.

However, Sylvester didn’t meet the bespectacled woman this time. The corner was occupied only by the dogs; the woman was nowhere to be seen. After some hesitation, Sylvester approached the dogs. As soon as the dogs lifted their heads and recognized Sylvester’s face, they immediately tucked their tails and backed away. Whimpering sounds accompanied their retreat.

Sylvester was confused. Watching the dogs act playfully toward the woman, he thought they were unusually friendly for military dogs. However, now, the same dogs tucked their tails and fled as soon as they saw him.

“…What did I even do to deserve this?”

With a serious expression, Sylvester knelt down to meet the dogs at eye level. The dogs stared back at him with curious eyes, their tails still tucked low.

Who were these dogs, and who was that woman…? 

Sylvester’s curiosity grew. He felt like asking his aide, Allen, to investigate the woman feeding the dogs near the rear gate. But Allen would undoubtedly ask, “Huh? Why are you suddenly curious about that?” Investigating an ordinary woman wasn’t part of Allen’s job.

Moreover, Sylvester wouldn’t be able to answer Allen’s question. Why was he curious about this woman? Sylvester himself couldn’t figure it out. Regardless of the reason, Sylvester wanted to know more about the dogs and the woman. So, he decided to handle it himself.

Dressed like the knights who commuted daily, Sylvester approached the guards stationed at the rear gate. He had a hunch that showing up as his usual self wouldn’t yield much information. Of course, even with his forehead covered by his hair and wearing ordinary clothes, his strikingly handsome face and well-built physique remained unchanged.

Sylvester questioned the guards and knights passing through the rear gate. Through this process, he learned that the dogs in the clearing were once search dogs and that the woman who had been feeding them worked as a librarian at the library.

He also discovered that none of the knights he questioned knew who was officially responsible for the dogs.

A group of aging military dogs without handlers and a woman who took care of them. Sylvester thought he had a rough idea of the story connecting the dogs and the woman.

“But why are you asking about this?” 

One of the knights Sylvester had questioned asked slowly after providing all the answers he could.

“You’re not a spy, are you?”

The knight narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Sylvester, who remained silent. What kind of spy would openly declare themselves as one? Sylvester looked at the man with disdain.

Startled by Sylvester’s cold gaze, the knight’s complexion turned pale. Was Sylvester a spy from the Kingdom of Zera across the sea? Or perhaps from the Kingdom of Dayan beyond the desert? The knight’s thoughts seemed to spin rapidly.

“I’m not.”

“Then why… why are you asking about this? Are you planning to use the woman and the dogs as bait to—”

“I’ve fallen for her.”

The words slipped out without thought. Sylvester furrowed his impeccably handsome brows. Could this foolish voice truly be his? No, it couldn’t be. He must have been momentarily overheated.

“That came out wrong… I’ve fallen for the dogs.” 

Sylvester added unnecessarily.