Chapter 53
The rear courtyard of the lord's castle was bustling with preparations for departure.
The two carriages Eisen and I had brought were waiting.
The problem was the luggage.
Karl was planning to stay in Eisengard for the time being to recuperate, then proceed to the academy.
The servants would move the main luggage later, but even the items needed immediately amounted to quite a lot.
And a commotion had broken out in the process of moving it.
“Y-Young Master! Why are you carrying something so heavy yourself? Let us do it!”
“Gasp! Your Highness the Imperial Prince?! Put that down! All three generations of our families will be executed!”
The retainers and attendants were turning pale and stamping their feet anxiously.
At the center of it all were Kairen and Prince Radiance.
The two highborn men had thrown off their outer garments, rolled up their shirt sleeves, and were personally carrying wooden crates.
“Move aside. These are my brother's belongings.”
Kairen hoisted a crate of books, sweating.
“I want to take care of it myself. Don't leave it to someone else.”
It was an expression of atonement and affection: he was willing to endure this much hardship for the brother who had suffered because of him.
The problem was the person beside him.
“Heave-ho! Hngh!”
Prince Radiance was groaning as he carried a crate of clothes.
“Why are you making such a fuss? I'm just carrying some of my friend's luggage. I'm strong, you know. Can't you see these muscles?”
“Your Highness! Please! If His Imperial Majesty finds out, all three generations of our families will be executed!”
“W-we just have to make sure he doesn't find out! Besides, what does rank matter between friends?”
It was complete chaos.
The retainers could neither take the luggage away from them nor simply stand by and watch, so they hovered around the carriages in a panic.
The prince and the young master were stubbornly insisting on doing the work, while the servants looked ready to cry—a complete madhouse.
I folded my arms and watched the spectacle before letting out a deep sigh.
‘...In any case, noble young masters can be a problem when they're too down-to-earth....’
I understood their feelings, but their efficiency left much to be desired.
‘At this rate, will we even get going before sunset?’
“Move aside.”
I strode over and wedged myself between Kairen and Radiance.
Then.
Tap. Tap.
With both hands, I lightly snatched away the crates the two men had been struggling to carry.
“Huh? Varg?”
“Huh? My luggage?”
The two men, suddenly empty-handed, looked up at me in bewilderment.
I balanced the two crates atop each other in one hand and said sternly, though perhaps presumptuously,
“Both of you, move aside. You're blocking the way.”
“No, I want to show my sincerity by doing it myself. I should personally....”
“Keep the sentiment in your heart, and leave the physical work to the professionals.”
I gestured with my chin toward the retainers, who had gone pale.
“The retainers are going to have heart attacks. And, Young Master, those are boxes of books, so they're heavy. You could throw out your back. Do you want to end up in the hospital before you even reach the academy?”
“......”
Kairen fell silent.
His arms were already trembling, so my words seemed to hit home.
“Then I'll take care of this.”
I lifted not only the crates the two men had been carrying, but all the rest of the luggage scattered across the ground as well.
Three on my left arm.
Three on my right.
Carrying the luggage almost like I was stacking a tower, I headed for the carriage's baggage compartment.
Thud. Thud.
Then I shoved the luggage inside like a game of Tetris, leaving no gaps while making sure nothing was damaged.
It was neat.
“Wow....”
Radiance let out an admiring exclamation.
“As expected of Sir Varg. You're incredibly strong. If I had carried all that, it would've taken me until tomorrow.”
He snickered as he looked at the retainers, who were still pale.
“Did you see that, Kairen? The look on the retainers' faces?”
He poked Kairen in the side.
“Whenever I carried luggage, those fellows would clutch their necks and say, ‘Our heads will roll.’ This is the kind of little amusement you don't get every day. Is this what they call the taste of power?”
“......”
Kairen shook his head with an expression of disgust.
I glanced at Radiance as I continued organizing the luggage.
‘...Is he genuinely sunny-natured, or is he just trash?’
He seemed to enjoy other people's suffering, but he also seemed to be trying to liven up the atmosphere.
He was impossible to read.
Just like Elysia.
In any case, thanks to my intervention, loading the luggage was over in an instant.
* * *
It was time to leave.
A cold northern wind blew in, making the flags flutter.
Karl, seated in his wheelchair, faced the Grand Duke and Duchess and Kairen.
The Grand Duke looked down at his son.
“Go and....”
The Grand Duke spoke first.
“Don't disgrace yourself. Don't tarnish the name of Northgard.”
In the past, Karl would have taken those harsh words as the accusation, ‘You are a disgrace to the family,’ and lowered his head.
But things were different now.
Karl met his father's eyes without looking away.
He understood the true meaning hidden within those rough, blunt words.
‘Come back healthy.’
His father was wishing for his son's well-being in his own clumsy way.
“Yes, Father.”
Karl answered with force.
“I will... come back standing on my own two feet. I will prove Northgard's pride.”
“......”
The Grand Duke silently nodded.
Then he turned his back and walked into the castle as if he had no regrets.
But his steps weren't as heavy as usual.
Rather, he looked a little lighter, as if he had set down a burden that had weighed on his shoulders for a long time.
Once the Grand Duke had gone inside, Kairen approached his brother.
“Brother.”
“Yes, Kairen.”
“I'll pack my things and leave when it's time to move into the academy dormitory. Until then... I'll stay at the lord's castle and remain by Father and Mother's side.”
Kairen clasped Karl's hand tightly.
He laid his hands over his brother's, vowing to protect this precarious family and his unstable mother while his brother was away.
“I'll see you again soon, Brother. Wait for me at the academy.”
“Yes. Until you come... I'll make sure I'm fully prepared too.”
Karl clasped his younger brother's hand in return and smiled.
“Take care of yourself, and come soon.”
The two brothers gazed deeply into each other's eyes.
They understood without having to say it.
How much they cherished each other.
Then Karla carefully approached them.
The skin around her eyes was still red and swollen.
She had tried to cover them with makeup, but it couldn't erase the traces of the tears she had shed all night.
“Mother....”
When Karl called out to her, Karla flinched and trembled. She hesitated, then took his hand.
Her right hand was still trembling faintly with guilt.
Even so, her left hand, filled with relief, concealed the trembling.
The hand of the son she had poisoned with her own right hand.
Karla was asking herself whether she had the right to take that hand again.
But she wanted to.
She had to say a final farewell.
“I'm sorry... Karl. I'm so sorry....”
Though the swelling in her neck from the Grand Duke's grip had gone down, her voice was still muffled.
“I... was lacking... I made you suffer so much.”
Unaware of the horrifying truth in those words, Karl simply thought his mother had suffered because of his own frail body.
“Mother. Please don't say that.”
Karl shook his head and patted his mother's right hand.
“I was the one who made you worry because I was weak. You always took care of me, Mother.”
“......”
Karla bit her lip.
Her son's pure faith tore her heart to shreds.
“You must take care of your health too, Mother.”
Karl smiled brightly.
It was the very same smile as the one on the young Karl's face when he welcomed Karla to the castle, unchanged in the slightest.
“When I return... I'll carry you on my back. Just like before.”
“......Carry me?”
“Don't you remember? Before I was injured, I carried you around the garden on my back. Let's work up a sweat again.”
Karl looked down at his legs and spoke as if making a vow.
He vowed to return on his own two feet and show her that healthy son again.
“Sob....”
At those words, Karla finally broke down.
“Yes... I'll wait... I'll definitely... wait for you....”
Kairen, who knew the truth, turned his head away with a bitter expression.
His brother....
He had been far too kind, right to the very end.
That was why it hurt even more, and why Kairen wanted to protect him even more.
Kairen wrapped his arms around his sobbing mother's shoulders.
“Don't worry, Mother. I will... treasure and care for Brother as though he were more precious than my own life.”
“......”
Kairen and Karla's eyes met.
‘I’ll be watching.’
‘I know. I won't... do it again.’
Complete forgiveness was still a long way off, but at least the worst catastrophe had been averted.
The thin thread called family had been precariously woven together again, as though it might snap at any moment.
It takes thousands of strikes from the loom before thread can become cloth.
They had bought the time needed for those thousands of strikes.
While all the farewells were being said.
I looked up at the bedroom window of the Grand Duke and Duchess.
Though it was clearly past the time the Grand Duke and Duchess should still have been there, a figure still seemed to stand behind the curtains.
‘Last night....’
I didn't know what conversation had taken place inside that bedroom.
How Karla had persuaded the Grand Duke.
Or what reason had made the Grand Duke abandon his stubbornness and change his mind.
But when I saw Karla's swollen eyes that morning and the strangely softened look in the Grand Duke's eyes....
‘It couldn't have been an ordinary conversation.’
I was curious, but I didn't need to know.’
I turned my head away.
The fact that I didn't know meant that the other factions didn't know either.
That secret conversation that night had saved the Grand Duke's house and Karl.
‘As long as the outcome is good.’
I turned away with a light heart.
“Wait, Sir Wintersword! Where are you going?”
Prince Radiance grabbed my arm.
“Where else? I have to get in the carriage.”
I was about to head toward Carriage Two, the one loaded with luggage.
“I'll ride in the baggage carriage. I need to sort the luggage anyway, and it'll be more comfortable there.”
Carriage One was supposed to carry Karl, the patient, Count Eisen, who would care for him, and Radiance, the imperial prince.
Nominally, I was one of the lower-ranking people there, so I could say the important people should travel comfortably, but....
Three men, trapped in a confined space—and an awkward combination at that.
If I joined them, I was sure I would suffocate to death.
So I volunteered to be treated as luggage and planned to squeeze into a corner of Carriage Two for a comfortable ride.
But Radiance did not seem inclined to let me go.
“How can I leave you by yourself? I hate being alone.”
“Alone? Count Eisen and Young Master Karl are there with you.”
“Come on, those two will just talk about serious things. I might die of boredom.”
Radiance whined.
“And... don't we have something to discuss?”
“Discuss?”
He grinned slyly and whispered into my ear.
“Since you're working toward sharing a bed with Lady Kara, shouldn't I put our heads together with you to pursue the same with Princess Elysia?”
“......”
“We need a strategy meeting, Sir Wintersword.”
‘That man... he's using that as an excuse to latch onto me.’
“...All right. Fine, let's go.”
I gave up and climbed into Carriage One.
The result was, of course, disastrous.
“Heave-ho... It's cramped. So cramped.”
Even though Carriage One was a special carriage, one of the widest in the Empire....
The problem was the passengers' physiques.
Me, a huge man nearly two meters tall.
Count Eisen, large-boned in the way Northerners tended to be.
Karl, wheelchair and all.
And the tall Prince Radiance.
Four adult men, all of them sizable, were packed into a cramped space.
“Hah....”
Eisen gave a hollow laugh as he looked at my squashed shoulder.
“It's the widest carriage in the Empire... It reminds me of when we crossed the border. Here we are in the same situation again.”
Back then, it had been because of the luggage; this time, it was because of the people.
We had to sit pressed tightly together.
Radiance was on my left, Eisen on my right, and Karl sat opposite us, wheelchair and all fixed in place.
“Ahaha! Still, isn't this better than riding alone?”
Radiance burst out laughing, seemingly delighted by the situation.
“It was dark, cold, and lonely on the way here. Compared to that, this is heaven.”
Then he shamelessly leaned against my shoulder and said,
“And look. Since it's so cramped, Karl's wheelchair won't move an inch even in this swaying carriage, will it?”
“......”
‘It's even more infuriating because he isn't wrong....’
My bulk was firmly pinning Karl's wheelchair against the wall.
Karl smiled and nodded.
“It certainly... feels reassuring. Your Highness. And you as well, Sir Wintersword.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
I rubbed my knees, which were folded because of the cramped space, and gave a bitter smile.
Well, now that I was in here myself, it wasn't so bad.
“Set out!”
At the coachman's shout, the carriage lurched.
We left the Northgard lord's castle behind and headed for Eisengard once more.