Chapter 9 - Warmth Rushes In

Unlike the North, the South was warm.

Even without me doing anything, it was full of warmth, and everywhere was filled with crops growing abundantly.

Coming from a place where all one could see was snow, barren and desolate, to this place, I was thinking how strange it felt when the carriage stopped, and the coachman hurriedly came forward, politely knocked on the door, and said, "Young Master Damian. We have arrived."

So, after several days of travel, we were able to reach the Carsaril family.

***

"Damian!"

The first to welcome us when we arrived at the mansion was a woman wearing an elegant dress.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure who she was.

In the novel, when describing villains, it only vaguely mentioned who they were related to, it didn't provide a detailed character relationship diagram as an illustration.

But judging by the fact that she's speaking informally, seems a bit older than Damian, and appears very close...

I thought she might be Damian's sister who was often mentioned in the letters.

While I was flustered by the unfamiliar sensation of her hugging me and expressing affection haphazardly,

Someone beside us smiled and started to calm Damian's sister.

"Sister, you'll suffocate Damian at this rate."

"But how can I not when our youngest has come!"

"Please calm down a bit."

The moment she released me from her embrace, this time the one who seemed to be the brother carefully hugged me and said, "Welcome back. Do you know how disappointed we were when you just left after getting engaged last time?"

"...Sorry."

Not knowing how to respond, I apologized, and the ones I thought to be the brother and sister looked at me in shock.

Then they started rubbing my face with their palms, checking my condition, and talking to each other.

"Now that I look closely, his face seems to have gotten thinner."

"I've heard that the cold of the North is indeed not something a person can easily endure."

"Or could it be that he's deeply hurt from breaking off the engagement?"

"Of course he would be."

While thinking that the touch of the two mashing my face like rice cake wasn't all that bad,

This time, someone who looked like Damian's mother called out to me from inside and approached.

"Damian. You've been through a lot, come on in."

She came up to me, gently patted my back while examining me, and then with a very sympathetic expression, she said to me, "There's nothing to worry about. No matter how much they're the Wintreaven family, they can't harm the Carsaril family."

"...Yes."

"Then let's go eat first."

An ideal family form to the extent that I couldn't understand how Damian had gone astray.

Thinking that for the first time since coming to this world, I was receiving warmth from others in such a form, I nodded.

***

A corridor decorated with refined elegance to the extent that no other expression but "classic" came to mind.

There, I walked forward seeing numerous maids and butlers bowing politely to us.

Every time I moved forward with my family, I noticed fear and bewilderment spreading across their expressions.

I couldn't know the exact reason for such expressions, but considering that Damian was called a delinquent, I could guess that he must have caused quite a lot of trouble before going to the North.

I wonder what he did to make them react like that.

Compared to the North, I could tell that these were quite skilled servants.

If such skilled servants couldn't properly manage their expressions, I could vaguely guess that he must have done some pretty outrageous things.

I should ask Loraine later.

If I gave her a cup of tea, she'd probably spill everything.

Deciding to do so, we reached the dining room.

I let out a small exclamation of admiration at the sight of numerous dishes piled on the table.

In the North, due to the harsh environment, food culture hadn't developed much, so the variety was limited.

Here, however, there was an incomparable variety of foods spread out compared to the North.

"Your father said he'll be here soon, so let's sit down first."

I nodded, then after reading the atmosphere a bit, I sat down.

The moment I sat down, the ones presumed to be my sister and brother bombarded me with various questions.

"Little one, how was the North? Was it bearable?"

"Come to think of it, your body has changed a lot, you must have trained a lot there, right?"

Interest was based on goodwill.

Receiving interest for the first time, except for Loraine, which I had never received in the North, I awkwardly smiled and opened my mouth, "Yeah, it was fine. I trained a lot too."

I didn't know how Damian had treated his family, but thinking based on the occasional letters they had exchanged, I could tell that Damian had also been good to his family.

So based on this, I answered with appropriate familiarity, and…

"Our youngest... is answering? My goodness."

"You've become much more mature."

Completely unexpected responses came back.

What on earth did he do?

Loraine had once told me that the young master was “slightly” delinquent-like.

Judging by how the family and servants were reacting, it wasn't just slightly.

I was thinking that I couldn't even guess what kind of things he had done when the dining room door slowly opened.

...A monster?

Perhaps he had been on the battlefield for a long time, as the refinement unique to soldiers was ingrained in his body.

He was a man who made one understand what it meant to be overwhelmed the moment you saw him, having honed his aura so sharply that one wondered if he was really human.

There were no particular words, but I immediately realized that this person was Dominic Carsaril, the head of the Carsaril family, and as I was looking at him, Dominic Carsaril looked at me impassively and briefly said, "You've changed a lot."

At those words, the mother, sister, and the one presumed to be the brother looked at the family head in shock.

"D-Dear, what did you just say?"

"What... Did Father just praise the youngest?"

"Uh, uh? That's right."

Not understanding what this situation was about, I was awkwardly smiling and scratching my cheek, pretending to be happy but a bit embarrassed to avoid showing it, when the family head sat down and continued speaking, "I thought you'd be the same as before, having only endured for just over a year before coming back. But looking at your condition, it seems you've shed your arrogant and insolent past and worked quite hard. You've been through a lot."

I received recognition, which I had never received in the North except from Loraine, from a completely unexpected person.

Realizing that my efforts hadn't been entirely in vain, though it felt somewhat ridiculous, I expressed my gratitude sincerely.

"Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. I'm just properly evaluating your efforts."

The moment I heard those words, a part of my heart ached strangely.

It was an unfamiliar sensation, but thinking it wasn't all bad, I just nodded with my head deeply bowed.

***

After finishing the meal, I had a conversation with Damian's mother.

"We've sent a proxy to the North, so the details of the engagement cancellation agreement will arrive soon, so don't worry too much."

"Yes."

It seemed that to formally break off the engagement, procedures must be followed.

It wasn’t like we were minor nobles, but an engagement between two prestigious families.

She said it was right to cut it off smoothly for the sake of political reputation and maintaining mutual relations.

With those words, Damian's mother hugged me again, patted my back several times, and continued speaking, "You've been through a lot."

"..."

Warmth created not by me, but by others.

Even though I knew that this warmth was directed at Damian, not me, I felt the skepticism etched in me beginning to heal.

Everything was just so grateful that I calmly smiled, and she repeated that I had grown up, then as if remembering something, she brought up one thing with a hardened expression.

"However, there's one piece of bad news. To formally break off the engagement, you might have to meet those people again, is that okay?"

"Yes."

Perhaps because it had become a relationship worse than with strangers.

Thinking that I no longer felt any emotion, I nodded, and she stroked my head and stood up.

"Then go back to your room and rest well. If you still have energy left, play with your sister and brother who are probably secretly eavesdropping outside the room."

At those words, I awkwardly smiled and opened the door to find my sister and brother with their ears pressed against it.

Thinking they were an interesting family in many ways, I smiled awkwardly.

***

After briefly telling them what had happened in the North, I laid down on the bed for a moment and it became morning.

I wanted to sleep in a bit longer.

Perhaps because the habit of waking up early and heading to the training ground in the North remained, I found myself moving towards the training ground without realizing it.

The mansion was so large that I got lost for a while.

But by searching mainly around the outskirts of the mansion, I was able to find the training ground without much difficulty.

"Young Master?"

As I entered, I saw Loraine waving at me.

I heard that thanks to the tea I gave her, she felt like she could reach a new realm, that was, Sword Master, so she was training hard with me.

"Are you going to spar today as well?"

"Of course."

"I thought so, so I prepared the items in advance. Please prepare the tea, Young Master."

Come to think of it, where's the kitchen here?

Thinking it was likely to be near the dining room, I was about to head there when I ran into Damian's brother at the entrance of the training ground.

"You came to train so early in the morning? That's admirable."

He spoke to me with the most affectionate expression in the world.

I awkwardly smiled and nodded, and he patted my back and smiled.

"Let's work hard together. Oh, if you need any help, just tell me anytime and your brother will help you."

Feeling the warmth on my shoulder, I silently massaged my shoulder to not lose this warmth as I walked down the corridor.

I saw Damian's sister practicing swordsmanship in the garden.

As I stood there for a moment, blankly watching her beautiful and splendid swordsmanship, a memory I had temporarily forgotten due to the engagement cancellation came to mind.

[Damian started to seriously fall apart after his sister died from an assassination.]