Chapter 33
A carriage bearing Eternia's seal was crossing the empire's border.
Inside the carriage, an old man with his white hair tied back tightly was looking out the window.
A young attendant wearing a mask, sitting opposite him, said, "Lord Callios, according to the rules, you must conceal your identity until we return."
"Ha, that rule talk again. What's there to worry about people in this open field?"
"This isn't a procedure to protect you, Lord Callios. This is imperial territory. If by chance this news reaches the empire..."
"Ah, I get it, I get it. I'm still an imperial citizen, too, why are you so stiff?"
The old man picked up the mask he had set aside and fixed it to his face.
Soon after, the wrinkles around his face and neck smoothed out, and his hair turned jet black.
"Even without this, it's only a matter of time before the empire finds out. You know that too, don't you?"
The attendant, after a moment of blank staring, said, "Are you saying there are spies in Eternia?"
"Of course. Eternia is a place that doesn't guard against the empire from the start. They've never harmed Eternia until now."
"Then the reason Lord Callios is going to Eternia is..."
"I need to go and interfere to maintain the balance, don't I?"
The oath that had bound Callios to the empire was now nearing its expiration.
He intended to cut ties with the empire completely and entrust himself to Eternia.
The news that one of the three Sword Masters who had firmly held the empire's peak was defecting would cause quite a stir.
"I will follow Lord Callios's will, but I wonder if you really need to go this far."
Callios was willing to go beyond just distancing himself from the empire, even to the point of becoming hostile if necessary.
"You saw it too, didn't you? It's not just extraordinary. Can't you imagine what would happen if that child came into contact with the empire?"
They would use every means to put a leash on Eternia's divine power for the empire.
"...In the end, they'd raise him as a Royal Guard, wouldn't they?"
The Royal Guard. The imperial family's direct bodyguard which gathered the peak of the empire's military power.
"I can't bear to see that. It's too much of a waste of talent to let him rot there."
The Royal Guard, considered the highest honor for imperial knights, was, in fact, like a graveyard of talent.
Numerous geniuses who became Royal Guards were sacrificed in the imperial family's power struggles.
He knew this all too well, having personally trained and commanded the Royal Guard.
"But there's the boy's teacher too. If they mess with her wrongly, the empire could become a sea of fire."
"Even that woman can't keep her disciple by her side all the time."
The attendant thought about the implications of those words for a moment.
"You'll take the opportunity when that woman goes north, won't you?"
"That's right. Who knows? They might use that kid as a hostage and later use his teacher too."
"..."
"The imperial family are originally such filthy and vile bastards. There are already several precedents, aren't there?"
The attendant pressed his lips together and thought for a moment.
"I... I'm worried that all of Master's efforts so far will be in vain."
"Haha, what's there to regret at this old age? If I just sit back and do nothing, that Zeldan will resent me forever later on."
***
Silveryn stretched her arms towards the sky.
To reach the mansion, they still had to travel for about two more hours by carriage.
They had stopped the carriage on a forest path for a short rest.
Both doors of the carriage were wide open, allowing sunlight and wind to enter.
The birdsong was pleasantly audible, and she seemed to feel drowsy as she lay down on the carriage seat.
As Silveryn's long hair flowed down and swept the floor, I gathered it with my hands and placed it on her body.
Silveryn, with half-closed eyes, said:
"Thanks."
As the carriage wasn't wide enough, her ankles stuck out of the carriage door.
Silveryn twisted her body, trying to find a comfortable position, and eventually half-bent her legs with her knees pointing towards the sky.
This caused her skirt to slide down her thighs. She then tucked the skirt between her thighs with her hand to secure it.
One shoulder strap had also loosened, revealing her collarbone, and her hair was completely disheveled.
She had no sense of propriety in front of her disciple.
She seemed to think of me as either an underdeveloped child or an invisible person.
As I observed her with a face full of anguish, she glanced at me and said, "What are you looking at?"
"..."
And Silveryn still wasn't wearing any accessories.
I didn't know much about women, but I did know that for important occasions like social gatherings, women tried to look as pretty as possible.
The fact that she went to such an event without doing anything probably meant she had made up her mind about something.
It was almost like a silent protest.
I should hurry to the mansion and finish preparing her gift so I can give it to her...
Silveryn, perhaps feeling bored, reached for the pile of letters next to me and pulled one out.
"That's my letter..."
"I'll read it aloud for you."
"..."
She roughly tore open the seal on the letter and scanned its contents.
"The youngest of three sons and one daughter of the Dalton Marquis family... too long. Another one."
She carelessly folded the letter, tossed it aside, and picked up another.
"Pfft, this one must be young, they say they believe in destiny."
Then another.
"Boring."
She opened four in a row like this but threw them all away without properly reading them.
"This one's a bit unique. Yes, this is what you need to prepare to be eye-catching."
She held up a black letter that looked as if it had been dipped in ink and waved it.
"It's from Amaryllis, who live in the Fog City near Meihen. They're inviting you to visit? Where is Fog City? You've become quite famous far and wide, haven't you?"
It was more like roughly reading the contents and reporting them rather than reading aloud.
I half-listened to her words and said, "Shouldn't we get going soon? I think we'll be late if we delay any longer."
Don't you want to receive your gift quickly?
"I don't know, I'm sleepy. Just start moving like this."
She really closed her eyes like that.
"..."
I tidied up Silveryn's sprawled limbs, closed the door, and started the carriage.
We arrived at the mansion by early evening.
Silveryn slept soundly in a curled-up position without waking even once during that time.
In front of the mansion entrance, large wooden boxes were stacked in layers.
The servants were busy moving these onto wagons.
Everyone was in the midst of preparations for the journey to Eternia.
Silveryn got out of the carriage, rubbing her eyes.
"Teacher. Do we have that much luggage to move to Eternia?"
"Yeah..."
She still seemed half-asleep.
It’s just the two of us going, do we really need to pack this much?
Anyone looking would think we were selling the house and moving.
"This is almost like evacuating during wartime, isn't it?"
She yawned and said, "You think I only have one mansion."
"...?"
Wait. There's another large mansion in Eternia too?
Come to think of it, the luggage wasn't just mine and Silveryn's.
"Are all the others going too?"
"Half will stay, and the other half will come with us."
Among the servants, Liria was also sweating profusely as she moved luggage onto the wagon.
"Liria too?"
"Why would you like her to come along?"
"I'm not sure. Wouldn't it be hard for her to adapt, going to a foreign place for the first time?"
"That little one volunteered to come along herself. I guess she wanted to experience the big world, having learned a bit about it."
"..."
Liria was a child with a strong desire to live well. At her young age, she might have developed some ambition too.
Even if she works as a maid in Eternia, there would be more to see and hear than in Wiesel.
"More importantly, are you all prepared?"
Now, I need to move quickly too.
"No, I have an urgent matter left."
I ran up the entrance stairs, leaving Silveryn behind.
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"There's something I need to do!"
I quickly passed through the mansion corridor and entered my room, firmly closing the door.
On the desk was a box wrapped in paper.
It must be the item I had asked the butler for.
When I unwrapped it, inside was a ruby cut to the size I requested and a silver necklace chain.
The size of the gem wasn't very satisfactory, but this was the best I could get.
The necklace definitely required more effort than a ring, but it was uncertain whether Silveryn would appreciate that.
I took out an unfinished work from the drawer.
It was an accessory with the base work done in cloud iron to secure the gem. However, because the gem was smaller than expected, there was a lot to adjust.
It'll take until past midnight at the earliest to finish.
***
Silveryn was still awake in the late dawn.
She was sitting in a chair, reading a letter by the light of a candle placed beside her.
She tapped her lower lip with her fingertip, her eyes fixed on the letter.
Although the content wasn't particularly amusing, Silveryn occasionally smiled with a pleased expression while reading it.
She had already read it at least three times.
Partly because she had already slept a long time during the day, and partly because her thoughts were preoccupied after reading this letter that had arrived urgently today, sleep didn't come easily.
In the midst of this, quiet footsteps approached from outside the door.
Soon after, a knock sounded.
Knock, knock.
It was rare for someone to visit her room at this hour.
"Come in."
With a creak, the door opened carefully.
It was Damian.
"Teacher."
"What brings you here?"
"I didn't know you'd be awake."
"Did you have another meaningful dream or something?"
Damian cleared his throat awkwardly for some reason.
"No."
He approached her with his hands behind his back.
Silveryn, still not taking her eyes off the letter, said, "Whatever it is, just put it on the table and go."
"...Alright."
Damian placed a small box on the table and glanced at the letter in Silveryn's hand.
It bore the seal of the Knight Order.
"Is it... a sponsorship letter?"
"No."
Damian's face hardened.
"It's an apology letter from the Knight Commander."
"..."
"He says he sincerely apologizes for committing blasphemy with words that went against chivalry. Did you know about this?"
"...Yes."
"He says he'll soon organize a delegation to come and apologize formally?"
"What... will you do, Teacher?"
Silveryn finally lowered her arm, holding the letter, and raised her eyes to Damian.
"Me?"
Damian swallowed nervously and said, "Yes."
"I already told them it's fine. We have to go to Eternia now anyway..."
She trailed off like that, then after a moment, continued, "I'm not really angry since someone already taught them a lesson."
Damian froze for a moment, then suddenly tried to leave.
"...Then I'll be going."
However, Silveryn stopped Damian.
"Why are you running away already? The conversation isn't over yet. I said I'm not angry."
When Damian avoided her gaze, Silveryn chuckled.
Watching his reactions like this was one of Silveryn's small pleasures.
"What's this?" Silveryn asked, holding up the small box he had brought.
Damian awkwardly made up an excuse, "I happened to make it by chance and thought it would suit you well, so I brought it. Especially since you haven't been wearing accessories lately..."
She opened the box. Inside was a necklace with a flower-like metal ornament.
In the center of the flower ornament was a ruby. The craftsmanship was too precise and sophisticated for something made "by chance."
"A necklace?"
"Yes."
Her lips protruded slightly as if displeased.
"Is that it?"
"Pardon...?"
"Is that all, just coming suddenly and putting it down? Nothing else?"
Damian answered stiffly, "I'm not sure what you mean."
Silveryn let out a deep sigh.
"I'll show you."
Then she pulled Damian's wrist.
She immediately picked up the necklace and placed it on Damian's palm.
"Take it."
"...!"
Silveryn turned her body and sat half-perched on the edge of the chair. Showing her back to Damian, she rolled up her hair and lifted it to the top of her head.
Soon, her snow-white nape was exposed.
Damian held his breath for a moment at the sight.
"Hurry, my arms are getting tired."
Only then did he realize what Silveryn wanted.
Damian hesitated for a moment but finally approached behind her and put the necklace on her.
Damian's hands, brushing Silveryn's collarbone, were trembling slightly.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
"I'm finally reaping the rewards of diligently raising a disciple."