Chapter 1 (Part 1)

“E, E…… my name is Edan.”

The man, as if uncomfortable with speaking, stuttered even his own name and opened his mouth awkwardly.

His hair, which might have shone like the afternoon sun, was damp and sunken, perhaps due to his long journey and the hardships he had endured all his life.

‘Ugh, look at this filthy thing.’

That was the first thing the head maid said upon receiving him.

He was said to have fought under the lord’s banner. Although no one in the castle recognized his face, it wasn’t entirely impossible, as the fame of the young lord of Tarnu, the warrior Erdason, had spread throughout the kingdom, and many followed him.

That fame, however, had become a thing of the past.

“Did you witness the lord’s last moments?”

“Yes, I… saw it with my own eyes.”

“Oh, dear God.”

“Ahuh, my lord…”

“Was it at Schwafelt?”

“Yes. He died honorably there…”

“Oh, dear God…….”

“Oh no…….”

Every word Edan spoke was like an obituary. The benevolent master of the old castle, who had reluctantly gone to war ten years ago and sent news sporadically, had finally, truly, not returned.

In the midst of the castle’s servants weeping, Edan stood with his head bowed, hands clasped together apologetically.

“You brought the treasured sword.”

The voice was so faint that it could only be perceived if one listened carefully. Like a breeze brushing against a blade of grass. Edan involuntarily lifted his head.

In the center of a face so pale it seemed to glow white, soft sapphire eyes shone. Those eyes looked more lively than the platinum hair, which was always groomed to shine by the maids’ hands.

“Madam.”

“We will ask the questions.”

“Please remain seated, Madam.”

The woman, who had been precariously leaning on the lord’s audience chair, stepped down one step at a time. The castle’s servants moved as if to support her, but a slight wave of her slender hand held them back.

Edan’s gaze lowered step by step to match her footsteps.

The lady, the Madam, approached silently and extended her hand. As he thought he should gently take that hand and kiss it, he slightly bowed his head.

“No.”

Her voice, like ripples, contained a hint of laughter. Only he, who was closest, could tell that there was laughter in it.

“The treasured sword.”

“Ah.”

His rough face under his rough hair flushed hotly.

Finally, he carefully took out what he had carried for years, as if presenting an ancient mystery. It was a bundle wrapped in a military blanket, stained here and there with blood of unknown origin.

It was too large for the Madam’s thin hand to grasp. The head maid and the butler stepped forward again, but she quickly grabbed the bundle, warding them off once more.

As the leather strap that had been tightly bound was untied, the blanket slipped from her hand.

What appeared was a dagger the length of a forearm, encased in a crude leather sheath.

No matter how one looked at it, it didn’t seem deserving of the name ‘treasured sword’. Though it was decorated with jewels like crystals and rubies…

The Madam’s eyes, after gently grasping the hilt, turned to the man. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

He, bowing his head apologetically, shifted only his eyes towards the gaze he felt on his forehead. At that moment, as if by chance, his eyes met the Madam’s blue ones.

As he swallowed dryly from tension.

“The treasured sword of the wheel, they say.”

Her voice, like a murmur to herself, flowed softly.

“Only Tarnu can draw it, and only Tarnu can be revived by it…”

Her gaze never left him as she muttered, making Edan think she was speaking to him.

His Adam’s apple moved up and down significantly.

“You must be tired from the long journey. As the one who witnessed the lord’s last moments, give him a room.”

“Madam.”

The butler’s desperate voice seemed to ask her to reconsider, but she turned as if she hadn’t heard a thing. As she left the audience chamber, her gaze fell on the man once more.

Under his shaggy bangs, his green eyes shone, never leaving the Madam.

As if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

***

The gates of Tarnu castle opened for the first time in ten years. Though the side gates were opened for merchants and laborers, it was not for guests coming from outside the castle.

The lord of Tarnu, Erdason, who had made a name for himself as a hero in the five-year war against the duchy in his youth, responded to the royal summons ten years ago.

At that time, his wife was twenty. For his young wife, Erdason ordered the castle gates to be locked, and as his return was delayed and he eventually lost his life on the battlefield, the castle was locked even tighter.

The widow, who literally remained only because she couldn’t follow her husband in death, could do nothing but lock the castle for her kind husband who left no heir. To hide from the collateral relatives who coveted the inheritance.

And the gate opened for the first time in ten years for the guest, Edan, who came to deliver Erdason’s relics.

“So, you’re not from the North?”

“No.”

“Well, from your accent, it’s clear you’re from somewhere around here.”

“Did many young men from the East follow the lord when he went to war?”

“Even from our estate, dozens went.”

“In the end, those who returned were…”

The servants’ faces darkened.

The royal family’s long-held desire to subjugate the foreign nation had found its opportunity, and the order fell to Tarnu’s lord, the hero Erdason. No one expected it to end in defeat after seven years.

“The lord was wise. It was wise to lock the castle.”

“He cherished Madam dearly…….”

“No, besides that, it was fortunate. We can be self-sufficient, so even during the rainy season, we have no problems, unlike other estates that are in chaos every rainy season.”

“Well, it’s fortunate for us, but not for Madam. That’s why the collateral relatives…”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Damn, it’s about time they came again.”

“They’ll cause a ruckus again. Poor Madam.”

“Uh…”

“Hm?”

As Edan’s cautious voice, who had never spoken unless asked, sounded, the servants’ eyes, busy chattering around him, all turned to him.

“Are the collateral relatives aiming for this castle?”

“Ah, did the lord tell you something?”

“Well, yes…”

“Right, Tarnu’s troublemakers are those collateral relatives.”

“You served the lord closely.”

“It’s been years. Since the lord passed…… they come and cause such a fuss around this time. They can’t enter the main castle where Madam is, but they cause havoc in the village below.”

“I wonder if they’ll cause a scene knowing the castle gate opened this time.”

“They cause havoc?”

“Well, Madam is very soft-hearted……. With no heir, they tell her to give up the castle and return to her maiden family or something.”

“Oh, that noble bishop once sold off his granddaughter, didn’t he?”

“Damn, Nux or Wex or whatever.”

The servants shook their heads. The mention of the Madam’s maiden family and the bishop was an unkind explanation for this foreign young man, but no one seemed to care.

From their sparse explanation, Edan seemed to understand roughly what they could and could not tell him.

Without showing further curiosity, he moved the leaves the servants had swept into the compost bin.