Chapter 21: Winter Is Coming

Though he went all around the place with Dieter all year round, it had been half a year since he last saw his little sister, Siana. Their father, Count Helder, though, would occasionally visit the estate to impart his teachings to the knights.

The Helder Family was a prestigious family that was known to give birth to notable knights. In fact, the count himself was a distinguished knight who once held the position of the first commander of the royal knights. Since his retirement due to injury, he had been supervising the training of both the royal knights and Duke Edel’s knights, as well as providing them military guidance based on his experience as a war veteran.

And he was particularly close to Rodrick.

As a child, Rodrick spent a lot of time in the count’s estate. At the time, the count had just retired from his position in the royal knight, so he had enough time to teach Rodrick what he knew.

From the age of six to ten, Rodrick practically lived at the Helder Estate, practicing diligently from sunrise to the unset. There, he met Dieter, who was of the same age as him, and Siana, Dieter’s sickly sister.

Back when they were younger, Siana was practically inseparable from Rodrick, but now, she wouldn’t even look for him when she paid a visit to his estate. As for why, well, she just didn’t have any particular business with him.

According to his master, the count, Siana’s health had been improving, and sure enough, her complexion did look better than he remembered. Currently, she was talking with her brother in high spirits as her brother occasionally shook his head with an exasperated look on his face.

“Please excuse me, Your Excellency.”

At that moment, Theobald entered his study.

He reported about the duchy’s situation after the storm hit and then moved on to the update on the matter of the criminals they detained.

All of them were sentenced to an exilement. Their actions to force Urien to live in that shed was a crime, but the shed was still within the estate and they hadn’t harmed him physically, so in truth, the estate had no legal grounds to punish them.

But, the duke’s estate housed the knight order that was authorized by the royal family. Lustrand might have entered a ceasefire with Belmania, but the war wasn’t over yet. But even if it was, committing such a treachery inside the duchy that directly bordered Belmania would still warrant a heavy punishment.

It was even more so when the target of said treachery was the duke’s consort himself.

The fact that the previous duchess, Rodrick’s mother, had been brutally murdered, the estate could make an even stronger case.

And so, the exiled servants were sent to a hidden town in Northern Lustrand, where those who had served heavy sentences were sent to. They wouldn’t be punished there, but the town was strictly managed by the kingdom—it was essentially a penal colony—so they’d be under surveillance 24/7.

Those who were likely to commit the same crime, under suspicion of treachery or inciting ideological crime would spend their lives there until they were cleared. As for the exiled servants, they’d probably spend six months to several years in the town and they’d be released in due time. However, now their family would be under the surveillance of the kingdom’s Social and Security Department and the royal family’s intelligent agents. It’d be hard for the servants to marry or even be employed even if they were released.

Lady Camilla, the one who plotted directly against Urien, was sent to the same town along with her husband. She was also barred from ever entering the duchy and from having any future contact with the duke’s estate, despite her coming from the family that had served the duke for several generations.

Originally, her entire family was supposed to be sent to the town, but in consideration of her father, Roselle, who had contributed greatly to the estate, only the couple was sent to the North. Roselle himself was also banned from entering the duchy.

However, Theobald could go and visit him if he wanted to.

“There is no desire or intent to rebel against this decision in the criminals’ heart. Only despair is evident.”

Rodrick nodded at his report.

Urien himself didn’t have much thoughts about those former servants, that was the reason why they were let off so easy.

Theobald had confirmed this stance of his as well.

“Recently, Lord Urien has been frequenting the library.”

“So it seems.”

Naturally, their course of conversation turned to Urien. Rodrick had told Urien that he had approved of his friendship with Theobald

He also encouraged Theobald to continue as they were before. After what had just happened, he judged that it’d be best for Urien to have someone who’d be by his side at all times.

Besides, it was more than likely that Theobald wished to stay friends with him.

At least that was what he thought, but the tone of Theobald’s voice made it difficult for him to judge how close they really were.

“Have you been accompanying him lately too?”

“Occasionally, yes.”

His tone was formal, as if careful not to disrupt the relationship dynamic of the duke’s consort and the duke’s younger brother. ‘Are they not friends? I heard that they aren’t only going to the library together, but to the western forest too. In his report, he also said that they had tea in the shed for the past three months…’ Rodrick thought.

In his eyes, it was clear that the two were close, Theobald just didn’t want to show it. He always spoke in a stiff tone in front of him and was always keeping his guard up.

So, Rodrick just gave up and ended their conversation with, “Please continue to look out for him in the future.”

Theobald bowed to him respectfully, and left with a, “Please excuse me.”

The two brothers hadn’t talked much to each other for the longest time. Unlike the elder brother who went around killing people on the battlefield, the younger brother was surrounded by civilized and educated people as he did his best to manage the estate. Considering that, it was only natural that they ended up not talking much. He was still young and he had the potential to shine in the peaceful world that was about to come—a completely different person than Rodrick.

However, now that he had befriended Urien, they had something in common.

They could just talk about Urien, but whenever they had the chance to, their conversation would just die down like what happened just now. In the end, they only exchanged reports about him.

And so, Rodrick decided that if he could get more information about Urien, he’d probably be able to have a more pleasant conversation with Theobald. If Urien could tell him what it was that he usually talked with Theobald about, it’d be ideal.

With that thought in mind, he invited Urien to another dinner. Unfortunately, he still found it difficult to bring up Theobald in their conversation.

As for why, it was because the more things that he knew about Urien, the more he felt like he was losing his mind.

“Will he be satisfied if I bury this on the trunk of a tree somewhere…?”

Urien was acting strange today too. He suddenly stopped walking, caught an insect, quietly put it in his pocket, then acted like nothing happened. Perhaps he thought that Rodrick didn’t notice what he had just done.

‘He was staring at a cricket intently the other day too—huh, wait.’

‘Does Theobald like insects too?’

“…I’m going to the library.”

Rodrick told the butlers in his study that and headed to the estate’s library. He didn’t have strong feelings towards insects, save for bees, but he figured out that it might be nice to read a book or two on them in his spare time.

So, he decided to ask the servants stationed in the library to tell him what kind of books that Urien and Theobald usually read, but when he got to the library, Urien was there.

He was sitting by the window, reading a book.

The box that Theobald carried back during the stormy night was placed on the part of the table where the sun shone. In that dark library, with the curtains drawn, the area where Urien was sitting felt like it was showered by an ethereal glow light, as if that whole area was separated from the rest of the room.

For some reason, he seemed to be smiling as he was staring at the box—his mouth was moving, as if he was talking to it. ‘Am I just imagining it?’ Rodrick thought of calling out to him, but Urien seemed to really enjoy what he was doing right now.

After all, the smile that he showed right now wasn’t the subtle smile that he showed Rodrick, but a genuine smile.

He was smiling inside this estate that treated him horribly.

Rodrick turned on his heel and left the library, without even leaving the shadowy area at all.

He thought to himself that, as long as he could live a peaceful life here, it’d all be fine.

They’d just need to let time pass by, there was no need for them to do anything for each other.

——But then, Urien just stopped smiling entirely.

Two weeks after that, Rodrick found him in the library, sitting while staring out the window with a blank look.

From outside, a cold wind blew in, bringing with it the signs of winter.