Chapter 17
Kairon clenched his fists tightly.
The flutter of his unrequited love had been handed over to Kara, and was no longer something he could hold.
His hot blood as a warrior and his admiration were now directed entirely toward Varg.
The gazes of the three crossed strangely in midair.
Kara was giving the boy returning her mask to her a warm, sisterly smile, as though she found him endearing.
She would never dream of it.
That this boy had just buried his first love for her in a corner of his heart.
And me.
I was looking down at Kairon with my arms folded and an oddly complicated expression.
‘Why does this kid have that look in his eyes?’
The jealousy and hostility were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, they had been replaced by an almost oppressively dazzling admiration.
It was the gaze of a child meeting a TV superhero in person.
‘...Don't tell me he's fallen for me?’
Varg felt a chill run down his spine and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. In any case, I'm glad you're unhurt.”
I had a feeling things would get troublesome if we became any more entangled.
I put an arm around Kara's shoulders and hurried back into the clothing shop.
‘Ah, that stings…’
Kairon was still breathing deeply, keeping his eyes fixed on my back—more precisely, on my entire back.
I had only hoped nothing troublesome would happen.
For Kairon, it was the day his world shattered and a new one opened.
* * *
Inside the clothing shop, it was noisy in a different way from the commotion outside.
“There’s still some Behemoth hide left!”
Head Tailor Closer shouted, his face flushed.
He was holding the remaining black hide fabric in his hands.
“Just sign my receipt! I'll make trousers to go with this jacket and send them to your estate! How can you wear only the top and something else on the bottom? That's an insult to fashion!”
“No, I understand how you feel, but....”
Count Eisen fidgeted with his wallet, looking troubled.
“Behemoth hide, you say. How are we supposed to afford it? Our family budget has already exceeded this quarter's spending....”
“I told you, I don't need money! Just let me complete my work! Please!”
“I can't do that! I have the honor of a noble to uphold. How could I exploit someone's labor for free? Failing to pay a fair price goes against my administrative philosophy!”
It was a tense standoff.
A master refusing payment and a noble insisting on giving it.
A bizarre scene in which their pride and philosophies collided.
Watching from the side, I clicked my tongue.
‘...This is so heartwarming it's suffocating.’
They could just take it when he said he was giving it to them.
But neither Count Eisen's stubbornness nor the tailor's madness showed any sign of yielding.
At this rate, dawn would arrive before it ended.
Clunk.
Just then, a heavy metallic clang rang out atop the counter.
“......?”
Count Eisen and the tailor simultaneously turned their heads.
There lay a solid-gold signet ring engraved with the family's crest.
And its owner, Kairon, stood there, running a hand through his disheveled hair after setting it down.
“Use this to pay.”
“Y-Young Master?”
Count Eisen recoiled in surprise.
Kairon pulled the receipt toward him with an indifferent expression.
“Not just the trousers. I'll buy all the other clothes those two chose as well. Everything.”
Scratch, scratch.
He picked up a quill and scrawled his signature without hesitation at the bottom of the receipt.
「Kyren von Northgard」
The moment the name of the Northgard Grand Ducal House was written on it, that scrap of paper became as good as a blank check.
“No, Young Master! This is far too large an amount! The Behemoth hide alone...!”
Count Eisen tried to stop him in alarm, but Kairon snorted.
“It's cheap compared to the price of a life.”
The young master did not even turn around; he merely jerked his chin toward me.
“That man saved my life. Do you think the blood of the Grand Ducal House is worth no more than a few sets of clothes?”
“Ah....”
Count Eisen fell silent.
It wasn't wrong.
If anything, calling it a bargain would have been fair.
Kairon tossed the receipt to the tailor, who was standing there dumbfounded.
“Make the finest clothes. I don't care how much it costs.”
“Ah... Understood! Thank you, Young Master!”
The tailor bowed, cradling the receipt like a treasure.
Situation over.
Having settled the mess with overwhelming wealth and authority, Kairon left the shop with a deliberately cool expression.
Jingle.
The moment Kairon left, I snickered and muttered.
“Not bad, brat.”
“Looks like it's cold outside, Varg. His ears are redder than the count's.”
Kara, sharp-eyed but oblivious, looked back and forth between Count Eisen's cold-prone ears and Kairon's.
* * *
Outside the shop.
The cold evening air cooled the heat in Kairon's body.
The escort knights welcomed him anxiously.
“Young Master... Are you really all right? You should return to the estate and undergo a thorough examination....”
“Enough. I don't even have a scratch.”
Kairon spoke calmly as he brushed the dust from his clothes.
Then he looked at the escort knight.
“And... from now on, don't call me Young Master.”
“Pardon? What do you mean...? Then what should we call you?”
The escort knight asked back in confusion.
It was the affectionate name he'd been called since childhood, as well as the customary form of address for Kairon, who had not yet undergone his coming-of-age ceremony.
Kairon looked up at the sky and spoke softly.
“Just call me Lord.”
“......”
“My elder brother will soon inherit Father's position... I can't keep being treated like a child forever, can I? I'm entering the academy too, so from now on, I should... do my part.”
The immature whining of the boy who had been tailing Kara until moments ago was gone.
His words carried the weight of someone who had recognized his position and duties.
The escort stared blankly at Kairon, then soon bowed deeply with a pleased smile.
The childish young master had crossed the threshold of death once and returned as an adult.
“Understood, Lord Kairon.”
“Good.”
Kairon took the lead and started walking.
Then he suddenly stopped, as though he had thought of something.
The sight of Varg's back from earlier surfaced in his mind.
That explosive leap as he threw himself toward the carriage.
The strength that let him make not even a groan as his back was torn apart.
And above all, that crude, enormous axe hanging at his waist.
A symbol of savage power on an entirely different level from Kairon's swordsmanship.
“Hey, Sesk.”
“Yes, Lord Kairon.”
“Should I... try using an axe too?”
“......What?”
Sesk's eyes flew open.
“A-an axe? But you're a genius with the sword, Lord Kairon! You're destined to become the youngest Sword Master in the Empire's history...!”
“No, it's just that... swords seem kind of sneaky, you know? A man needs one solid blow, right? There's nothing like the satisfying weight of bringing it down with a heavy crash.”
Kairon seriously muttered while pretending to swing an axe through the air.
Sesk nearly fainted.
The future of Imperial swordsmanship was trying to change careers after becoming enamored with axe-swinging.
“You can't! Absolutely not! Lord Kairon! Please don't take away my job as your swordsmanship instructor! The Grand Duke will kill me if he finds out!”
“I'm joking, joking. What a reaction.”
Kairon chuckled as he watched Sesk recoil in horror.
But his eyes did not look entirely joking.
Kairon clenched his fists as he disappeared into the evening glow.
‘Even if an axe is out of the question... I want to have that strength, at the very least.’
The boy's growth had taken an unexpected direction, but it had begun all the same.
* * *
Thanks to Kairon running up the clothing bill with a blank check, Count Eisen's budget had been given room to breathe.
No, it had gained so much leeway that it was as if a dam had burst.
For the time being, we decided not to go far and to eat a home-cooked meal provided by Closer, the clothing shop's owner.
The tailors cleared one side of their worktable and set out a dining table, but the meal was better than most restaurants.
It was clean, quick, and above all, the meat was excellent.
I did see Closer's wife rush out to buy meat before the meal was prepared, then return panting for breath, though.
“Phew... When would we ever get to buy meat with the Young Master's money?”
I could hear the whisper of embezzlement, but the price was not even a speck next to the clothing bill.
“Hmm... Excellent.”
Count Eisen wiped his mouth with a napkin, wearing a satisfied expression.
“As expected... saving on the clothes has made a difference in the quality of the meal. Thanks to that, I expect my son will have fewer complaints to make as well.”
He tilted his wineglass, savoring his leisure.
“Eat your fill. Even if we hurry, it will take a full two days to reach the estate. We will rest along the way, but we'll be spending a long time in the carriage.”
“Thank you for the meal.”
I picked up a fork and generously served Kara's plate with tenderly cooked tenderloin steak and fresh salad.
“Honey, eat plenty. Our baby says it's hungry too. The food here is clean and good.”
“Mm, it's really delicious. I didn't know the owner of a clothing shop could cook too.”
Kara seemed to like it; she ate in small, contented bites.
There was no happiness like watching my wife eat well.
When we finished eating and went outside, a line of carriages ready to depart was waiting for us.
But then.
“......?”
It wasn't the cramped four-person carriage we'd ridden in earlier.
No fewer than three carriages stood in a line.
At the front was a baggage carriage loaded with luggage brought from the tribe and goods purchased at the border.
In the middle was Count Eisen's private carriage, which he would ride alone.
And at the rear was—
“What's that...?”
A grand special carriage that looked twice as large as the others.
A large VIP sleeping carriage.
I couldn't help but gasp in admiration.
‘Wow... So this is what capital tastes like.’
Just a few hours ago, we'd arrived crumpled up like cargo, and now a limousine was ready for us.
I was just beginning to appreciate the power of the signet Kairon had left behind.
Count Eisen looked at the carriages with relief and spoke.
“Actually... these three carriages had already been arranged before the Young Master gave me the signet.”
“Oh, had they?”
“Yes. But to be honest, the strain on the budget was too great... I was rather hesitant at the clothing shop earlier. My emergency funds were too tight to cover the cost of Behemoth hide as well.”
He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.
Yet a strange sense of liberation lingered on his face.
And the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.
“Unfortunately... because the Young Master paid the entire clothing bill, my son's workload has shrunk. He has lost the chance to nag while processing the receipt, so he couldn't be a more filial son.”
Eisen pretended to regret it, but the corners of his mouth were still nearly touching his ears.
To be honest, I had been worried about the considerable rental fee for the sleeping carriage, but with the largest expense—the clothing bill—taken care of, I could breathe easier.
“Of course, even this carriage alone will make him faint when he sees the receipt at the estate... but, well, he'll deal with it somehow. I'm practically a retired old man relegated to the back room now.’
It was a small revenge and act of rebellion by a retired head of household.
I chuckled and played along.
“Haha, that's certainly fortunate news for your son. Shall we set off, Count?”
“Let's depart! The night road is dark, so light the lamps!”
Count Eisen whistled as he slipped the driver a generous tip that he would have grudgingly given in the past.
He seemed to find indulging himself by passing the family's responsibilities to someone else rather thrilling.
We were guided aboard Carriage No. 3.
The interior was beyond anything I had imagined.
The regular seats had been removed entirely, and the whole floor had been covered with soft mattresses and blankets of the finest fur, making a sleeping compartment.
“Wow... It's really a bed?”
Kara took off her shoes and climbed up, marveling.
I climbed up after her.
Of course, because of my huge build, I couldn't stretch my legs out completely and had to draw up my knees or angle my legs toward the window, but compared with the earlier coffin experience, this place was heaven.
Rattle.
The carriage set off smoothly.
Moonlight streamed in through the window and illuminated Kara's face.
Kara wriggled closer, rubbing her face against my chest before burrowing into me.
“Mmm... This is nice. It's warm.”
“I know. We should have done this from the start.”
I wrapped one arm around Kara's waist and carefully rubbed her lower abdomen with my other hand.
Rub, rub.
Since it was still early, all I could feel was the firm abdominal muscle, no different from usual.
Feeling mischievous, I spoke in a grave voice.
“Huh? You ate so much earlier... Has our baby already grown this much? Your belly looks a little bigger.”
Smack!
Kara slapped the back of my hand.
“Don't tease me! And that's... because you keep feeding me, Varg. You keep piling meat on my plate even when I'm full.”
“You should eat plenty of delicious food.”
I chuckled, put away my mischief, and gently stroked Kara's belly.
A faint warmth seeped through my palm.
“Mmm... That tickles, Varg.”
It wasn't visible from the outside yet, but our child was growing inside her.
My family.
My flesh and blood.
The warmth at my fingertips reached all the way to my heart.
An infinite sense of responsibility and affection welled up in me, making me feel as though I could beat down the Empire or even a Demon King to protect this little life.
“...You need to eat well to grow strong. You both need to stay healthy. I'll protect you, no matter what.”
At my quiet vow, Kara burrowed deeper into my arms and nodded.
“Yes. I trust you, honey.”
The three carriages traveled along the border road as darkness settled.
When I looked out the window, Norhaim's snowcapped mountains were buried in darkness and could no longer be seen.
Instead, lights from the Imperial heartland began to twinkle ahead like stars.
Now, the real story begins.
The academy.
The haughty Imperial nobles.
And the twisted plot of the original novel.
But I wasn't afraid.
Because I had the warm presence in my arms and 「First Snowflake」 strapped to my back.
‘Grow well, our baby. Daddy will take care of everything.’
I kissed Kara's forehead as she slept peacefully.
The sound of the carriage wheels cutting through the night rang out like a marching song toward a new battlefield.