Chapter 3
I walk down the corridor steeped in silence.
Within the quiet mansion, I can still occasionally hear the sounds of people working, but even those sounds are utterly subdued.
I arrive at Father’s study, not far from Zeke’s room, let out a small breath, and knock on the door.
Knock, knock.
Zeke’s room is my little brother’s room, so even if I could walk in without a second thought, doing the same in Father’s study might really get my head bashed in.
“Come in.”
Father already knows I will come. The fact that I have returned to the estate would have been reported to him first.
The knock was merely a formality.
A spacious study.
In front of the large wooden desk, an artifact far larger than the one I smashed in Zeke’s room emits a soft light.
Beyond it sits a huge man.
The man with blond hair and clear blue eyes fixed on the pile of documents is...
Jeron Debert.
The head of House Debert, and my father.
“I’m back.”
After greeting Father as politely as possible, I am met with an impassive reply as he glances at me without looking away from the documents.
“Looks like you know you did something wrong.”
“…I don’t particularly think I did anything wrong.”
I lowered myself just in case, but as expected, he showed no intention of letting me off.
I let out a small sigh, returned to my usual attitude, dragged a chair in front of Father, and sat down.
“Even after causing such an uproar, you’re still as calm as ever.”
“Well, that’s just who I am.”
“Why would you do such a thing?”
Meeting Father’s eyes, I answered calmly and got straight to the point without bothering to beat around the bush.
That would serve as my answer to his question.
“I intend to enlist in the army, Father.”
Silence.
Father frowned and stared at me as if he had misheard.
It certainly wasn’t something one would expect to hear from the eldest son of a noble house.
In this peaceful era, the army and the front lines were little more than places where family wastrels were forcibly sent to turn them into proper human beings.
That might have been true in the original story, but I didn’t think they were places I would go in this world...
Unfortunately.
That was also the place I needed to go most of all.
“That isn’t an answer to my question, but it is interesting.”
“I’m heading to the front lines, and I’ll be buried there.”
I let Father’s words go in one ear and continued speaking calmly.
It wasn’t a lie.
In the end, I would have to head to the front lines to stop their invasion, and if I managed to prevent the destruction of the world... who knew where the front lines would be?
Nor could I be certain that I would return.
“So I can’t take Elina there. She’s the cherished daughter of House Leonhardt.”
“Oh? So you prepared that excuse.”
Father nodded as he looked at me with interest.
It didn’t matter if he saw through the excuse.
I had no intention of deceiving Father anyway; I only wanted to give him a reason to offer if House Leonhardt lodged a complaint.
“Then I suppose it’s all right for me to say that.”
“…Yes.”
Father’s tone was a little strange, but since that was what I intended to do anyway, I nodded somewhat reluctantly.
Father regarded me with a peculiar look, then let out a small breath and continued.
“Then when are you planning to leave?”
“Probably after the report is submitted, so I’ll leave within two weeks.”
The army wasn’t a place where one could enlist immediately simply because one wanted to.
“You’ve discussed everything with Zeke already, I assume.”
“Yes. When it comes to family affairs, Zeke is better at them than I am.”
Even though everything had proceeded without my knowledge, Father showed no sign of displeasure.
Though Father was now forced to sit behind a desk as the head of House Debert, he was actually the same type of person as me.
He was the sort who wielded swords and relied on his body, not someone skilled at using his head. If anything, Zeke was the odd one out, since he was better with his head than his body.
Well.
That was why I could entrust the family to Zeke.
The reason Zeke was already handling official matters was that he could deal with work Father found difficult with ease.
“All right. I understand.”
“Yes.”
After hearing Father’s short answer, I nodded and rose from my seat.
Now I could finally get some rest.
From preparing for the banquet early in the morning to everything that happened in the banquet hall and after I returned home...
I hadn’t properly rested once.
I had dozed off a little in the carriage, but I hadn’t rested comfortably enough to call it rest.
As I pressed down on my fatigue-heavy eyelids and was about to leave Father’s study, he continued with another question.
“So what is your true intention?”
It was probably a question about Elina.
I didn’t know why Father liked Elina so much, but I calmly answered.
“As I said before, I have never harbored those kinds of feelings for Elina.”
“…Is that so.”
“Yes. Not even once.”
After answering with a deep breath, I left Father’s study without a trace of hesitation.
Having said this much, Father surely understood clearly that I had no intention of changing my mind.
I loosened my tie and continued walking.
‘I’m tired.’
Even as I moved my legs, heavy with fatigue, my mind continued to turn over the matter at hand.
There were only two weeks until I headed to the front lines.
And there was still something I absolutely had to take care of during those two weeks.
@
What place could be called the Empire’s front lines?
East, west, south, and north.
Each direction had its own far-flung edge, but if you asked the people of the Empire to name the most rugged and arduous place of all, they would say without hesitation...
The barren North, where snow and wind never ceased in any season.
And if you had to name one of the North’s most famous figures...
One name would be mentioned first.
The saying that flowers bloom even in barren land existed because of her.
The heir to the Grand Ducal House, and the Ice Princess of the North.
Asilie Halliogrant, the Flower on the Cliff.
Even today, she stood atop the northern ramparts, gazing beyond them as a frigid wind blew hard enough to cut through flesh.
Her pure white silver hair streamed in the wind.
“...Who else is among the new recruits arriving this time?”
With an ice-cold face and an equally cold, blunt voice, she asked her adjutant.
The adjutant standing behind her calmly read through the documents he had brought.
“No different from usual. For the most part, those called wastrels of their houses are being selected and sent here.”
“...I see.”
No matter that the war had ended and an era of peace had arrived, the North was still at war.
It was not a war with people, but an endless war against the magical beasts beyond the Great Wall of the North.
No one could occupy the beasts’ territory, nor could the beasts cross the walls of the North.
Yet that did not mean the fighting—or the war—had reached a stalemate.
Countless people were wounded or killed every day.
That reality did not apply to the Empire’s leaders and nobles.
To them, the North was a training ground for straightening out their immature wastrel children.
It was merely an annoying frontier that devoured enormous budgets every year.
Even so, the soldiers of the North quietly fulfilled the duties entrusted to them.
Because if the North fell, the Empire would obviously collapse completely.
“What about increased supplies?”
“...As always, it’s the same answer.”
The problem was that the magical beasts’ movements had grown unsettling of late.
Their numbers were gradually increasing compared to before, and each individual beast also seemed to be growing stronger.
As a result, the North’s troop losses were slowly increasing.
Yet no matter how many times they reported that fact to the Empire, the only answer they received was, ‘We’ll look into it.’
“I understand. It can’t be helped.”
Asilie lightly bit her lower lip, then nodded with her usual expression.
The North, a land of eternal ice.
And protecting that barren land was House Halliogrant’s duty.
As Halliogrant’s rightful heir, Asilie simply carried out that mission in silence.
She would probably continue to do so until the end of her life.
Even if the Empire they protected ignored them and insulted their life-or-death struggle by dismissing it as nothing more than an exercise in discipline.
Asilie briefly closed and opened her eyes, ran a hand over the hilt of the sword at her waist, and turned away.
She had no intention of resisting the fate that had been given to her.