“The war has begun.”
I felt the blood draining from my body and felt dizzy for a moment.
“Are you okay?”
When I staggered, Kaian quickly extended his arm to support my body. When Kaiy
At that moment, Hannah, who had just gotten off the carriage and was waddling behind him, appeared, her belly sticking out.
“I’ll take care of the young master while you’re gone.”
“Let me go with you. Yes?”
Only then did Kaian nod and extend his arm as if to escort me.
I put my hand on his arm and we walked together toward the office.
Kaian kept on being concerned, so I tried to match his pace and stopped walking every now and then.
However, I followed him without saying anything.
“War?”
It felt like something that had been bothering my sensitive mind all along had suddenly appeared, cutting off my nerves.
The moment I had hoped would never come, the event I had hoped would not happen, had come out earlier than planned, making me even more anxious.
However, more than ever, I had to look calm on the outside. I steeled myself.
There were already several people in the office.
At the Rowen Port bordering the coast and the river, Rohan and Madame Cronach, Baron Colon, the new Rowen administrator, the elite knight commander, and the captain of the castle guard were sitting or standing, filling up the usually spacious space.
“Sit over here.”
When Madame Cronach pointed to the empty seat next to her, I, despite my shameless intrusion, quickly went and sat down. As soon as Kaian went to the desk and sat down, the big men got angry.
“Does this make sense? The enemy is coming from the sea?”
“We’ve been watching the route from the capital to Rowen all along.”
The elite knight commander and the captain of the guard spoke one after another.
They looked quite aggrieved. They seemed to have a hard time accepting that this had happened despite doing their jobs properly.
Rohan opened his mouth.
“I didn’t know they would attack from the sea with the navy.”
“The navy?”
“Yes.”
Kaian furrowed his brow.
“They came in from the sea. Explain it clearly.”
“The southern route.”
“The southern route?”
Rohan nodded and quickly unfolded the chart.
“The route I took to the Sol Continent was the east-west route.”
I felt the blood draining from my body and felt dizzy for a moment.
“Are you okay?”
When I staggered, Kaian quickly extended his arm to support my body. When Kaiy
an opened the door, Madame Repel and the nanny were sitting next to the crib with anxious faces, then smiled at them.
“Bring your Ma’am.”
“Yes, Duke.”
When Madame Repel approached and tried to grab me, I flinched and refused to help.
I ran a few steps and chased after Kaian, who was walking away from the door and grabbed the end of his coat.
“Do you want to go with me?”
“What?”
Kaian looked back and made a sound of bewilderment.
“I want to know too. I want to hear it myself.”
I said urgently.
“What I have to protect. What you’re going to fight against. I need to know.”
“Your complexion doesn’t look so good.”
I shook my head.
“No. It’s okay.”
“I think it’d be better to rest. You’ll take care of Julien here.”
“Bring your Ma’am.”
“Yes, Duke.”
When Madame Repel approached and tried to grab me, I flinched and refused to help.
I ran a few steps and chased after Kaian, who was walking away from the door and grabbed the end of his coat.
“Do you want to go with me?”
“What?”
Kaian looked back and made a sound of bewilderment.
“I want to know too. I want to hear it myself.”
I said urgently.
“What I have to protect. What you’re going to fight against. I need to know.”
“Your complexion doesn’t look so good.”
I shook my head.
“No. It’s okay.”
“I think it’d be better to rest. You’ll take care of Julien here.”
At that moment, Hannah, who had just gotten off the carriage and was waddling behind him, appeared, her belly sticking out.
“I’ll take care of the young master while you’re gone.”
“Let me go with you. Yes?”
Only then did Kaian nod and extend his arm as if to escort me.
I put my hand on his arm and we walked together toward the office.
Kaian kept on being concerned, so I tried to match his pace and stopped walking every now and then.
However, I followed him without saying anything.
“War?”
It felt like something that had been bothering my sensitive mind all along had suddenly appeared, cutting off my nerves.
The moment I had hoped would never come, the event I had hoped would not happen, had come out earlier than planned, making me even more anxious.
However, more than ever, I had to look calm on the outside. I steeled myself.
There were already several people in the office.
At the Rowen Port bordering the coast and the river, Rohan and Madame Cronach, Baron Colon, the new Rowen administrator, the elite knight commander, and the captain of the castle guard were sitting or standing, filling up the usually spacious space.
“Sit over here.”
When Madame Cronach pointed to the empty seat next to her, I, despite my shameless intrusion, quickly went and sat down. As soon as Kaian went to the desk and sat down, the big men got angry.
“Does this make sense? The enemy is coming from the sea?”
“We’ve been watching the route from the capital to Rowen all along.”
The elite knight commander and the captain of the guard spoke one after another.
They looked quite aggrieved. They seemed to have a hard time accepting that this had happened despite doing their jobs properly.
Rohan opened his mouth.
“I didn’t know they would attack from the sea with the navy.”
“The navy?”
“Yes.”
Kaian furrowed his brow.
“They came in from the sea. Explain it clearly.”
“The southern route.”
“The southern route?”
Rohan nodded and quickly unfolded the chart.
“The route I took to the Sol Continent was the east-west route.”
It was longer than the northern route, which was the closest and best route, and it took two to three times longer due to ocean currents and seasonal influences.
“As you know, the southern route was blocked by a gust of wind and could not be used.”
While he was explaining, Madame Cronach covered my ear with her hand and whispered softly.
“I was absent from the capital salon, so there was a gap in the information.”
“It’s not Mom’s fault.”
“Still...”
“Even if you were in the capital, you wouldn’t have been able to stay in the salon. Don’t worry about it.”
We stopped babbling and focused on Rohan’s words again.
“The ship appeared from the southern sea as if it had risen.”
“Did you say that someone calculated the southern route before?”
Rohan answered Kaian’s question with an affirmative.
“That’s right. I have never met him in person, and I was planning to ask around when I next sail to the Sol Continent.”
There were two reasons why Rohan could not go on the voyage he had planned. First, Kaian had taken Rohan with him to the capital when he heard that I was alive.
Second, Hannah was pregnant, and he did not want to leave her behind.
The salon Arvo where Madame Cronach had kept important information was also empty, and it had been a while since Rohan had been to the Sol Continent, so there seemed to be a lot of information missing.
'I said I would hear it myself, but.'
I felt sick.
I felt like all the situations that didn't seem to be particularly advantageous to me were pressuring my whole body from above, below, and on both sides.
'Still, I don't want to not know.'
I didn't want to hear about the whole castle when Kaian was away, and I didn't want to misunderstand or anything like that. I just wanted to know it properly, at least as it was.
I came with such a special and admirable feeling, but there was not a single place to feel safe, and Kaian seemed to be in trouble, so I checked his expression to see if I had come for nothing.
"What happened to the ship? It couldn't have fallen from the sky."
Originally, the technology to build ships belonged to Vermont.
Although Vermont had a northern port, there was another reason why other coastal countries on the continent of Ita could not easily think of crossing the North Sea.
It was because they did not have the technology to build ships that could travel that far and long.
“The ships seem to be Vermont ships. There are fifteen of them.”
“Vermont ships.”
When Kaian frowned, the elite knight commander in charge of the coastal guards stung.
“But those on board are Sol Continent mercenaries.”
When the elite knight commander quickly spoke, Rohan added.
“All ships are flying black flags.”
“Black flags?”
The plain black flags were the symbol of Sol Continent mercenaries. However, Kaian’s face darkened even more when he heard that the attackers were not formally trained soldiers but mercenaries.
Soldiers who had been trained would not suffer much damage even if they were sent straight into battle.
However, Sol Continent mercenaries were literally murderers who were paid to work.
If they were to engage in a landing battle, there was a high possibility that the territory’s residents would suffer great damage.
“I didn’t expect the mercenaries to come right away. This is a headache.”
“Yes.”
“It seems that the one who calculated the southern route is part of the mercenaries.”
“How ridiculous. To think of trading with someone like that.”
Rohan had heard such rumors on the Sol Continent and had secured land that could become a trading port in the name of the merchant group.
“To invade after taking Vermont’s money on purpose. You think you can make a profit by attacking Rowen rather than trading?”
Kaian, whose pride was hurt as the Rowen lord, couldn’t hide his anger.
“What about the damage to the Coast Guard?”
“We were changing shifts when an empty watchtower came close and was hit by a cannon.”
“Are there any injuries?”
“Not yet.”
That was when.
“Who calculated the southern route?”
Everyone looked at her at Madame Cronach’s words.
“A member of the Sol Continent mercenaries...”
“That’s not something just anyone can do, is it?”
Rohan shrugged at her question.
“I’m not sure, but he must be great. He’s nicknamed the Red Wolf.”
“Red Wolf?”
The Sol Continent had not yet been officially ruled by a single nation. Instead, the tribes fought each other for supremacy, and the winner would go to the one who won.
“In the past few years, there has been a force that has been uniting the tribes a lot. It’s a group led by a man called the Red Wolf. He calls himself an admiral.”
“...”
Madame Cronach’s pale face was deep in thought.
“My Lord!”
“Ugh. We’re in trouble. They’ve come ashore with their ships.”
“What?”
Kaian clenched his fists with a hardened face.
Evan stood on the bow of the ship and looked down at the harbor.
“Those little rats.”
Evan scoffed at the sight of those weaklings, who merely carried grain and such along the tributaries of the Shen River and into the inland waterways, building a rather decent port.
“Just two cannon shots and they were gone.”
The buildings near the simple port were empty, and no one had fled.
He slid down the rope ladder. As soon as Evan’s feet touched the ground, the impatient men quickly asked him,
“What should we do, leader?”
“What do you want to ask? Just get rid of it.”
As soon as he gave permission, the three ships in front completely docked and dropped anchor.
The number of mercenaries swarming out from the three huge galleons must have been at least a hundred.
They began to pillage the port town that had lost its master, laughing and laughing. One of his men approached them with a bottle of wine amidst the noisy commotion.
“You should drink toast.”
“You’re the only one who knows something.”
Evan pulled the cork out with his teeth and spit it far away.
“For us!”
He raised the bottle high and shouted loudly, and the men who were intoxicated with the joy of having set foot on the long-awaited land gathered near the ship, waving their hands and clinking their bottles with each other.
“Waaaah!”
“For the new world!”
The taste of Rowen’s wine, which he had tasted for the first time in a long time, was deep and sweet.
Evan narrowed his eyes. The old memories that he had been unable to forget while wandering the bottom of the Sol Continent passed by him.
‘Leoni. There’s not much left now.’
He planned to tear the entire territory apart and burn it all after taking out Claudel, who was held captive in Rowen Castle.
Only then would his wife, who had painfully disappeared in the flames, forgive him.
He drank a whole bottle in one gulp and felt tipsy.
Then, one of his subordinates came running with it in his hand.
“Chief! The Lord sent someone.”
“Bring it here.”
There seemed to be something hard inside the neatly folded letter.
He tore open the envelope with the seal of the lord of Rowen and opened it, revealing a familiar, round, flat piece of stone.
Evan’s eyes widened.
“This, this is...”
“As you know, the southern route was blocked by a gust of wind and could not be used.”
While he was explaining, Madame Cronach covered my ear with her hand and whispered softly.
“I was absent from the capital salon, so there was a gap in the information.”
“It’s not Mom’s fault.”
“Still...”
“Even if you were in the capital, you wouldn’t have been able to stay in the salon. Don’t worry about it.”
We stopped babbling and focused on Rohan’s words again.
“The ship appeared from the southern sea as if it had risen.”
“Did you say that someone calculated the southern route before?”
Rohan answered Kaian’s question with an affirmative.
“That’s right. I have never met him in person, and I was planning to ask around when I next sail to the Sol Continent.”
There were two reasons why Rohan could not go on the voyage he had planned. First, Kaian had taken Rohan with him to the capital when he heard that I was alive.
Second, Hannah was pregnant, and he did not want to leave her behind.
The salon Arvo where Madame Cronach had kept important information was also empty, and it had been a while since Rohan had been to the Sol Continent, so there seemed to be a lot of information missing.
'I said I would hear it myself, but.'
I felt sick.
I felt like all the situations that didn't seem to be particularly advantageous to me were pressuring my whole body from above, below, and on both sides.
'Still, I don't want to not know.'
I didn't want to hear about the whole castle when Kaian was away, and I didn't want to misunderstand or anything like that. I just wanted to know it properly, at least as it was.
I came with such a special and admirable feeling, but there was not a single place to feel safe, and Kaian seemed to be in trouble, so I checked his expression to see if I had come for nothing.
"What happened to the ship? It couldn't have fallen from the sky."
Originally, the technology to build ships belonged to Vermont.
Although Vermont had a northern port, there was another reason why other coastal countries on the continent of Ita could not easily think of crossing the North Sea.
It was because they did not have the technology to build ships that could travel that far and long.
“The ships seem to be Vermont ships. There are fifteen of them.”
“Vermont ships.”
When Kaian frowned, the elite knight commander in charge of the coastal guards stung.
“But those on board are Sol Continent mercenaries.”
When the elite knight commander quickly spoke, Rohan added.
“All ships are flying black flags.”
“Black flags?”
The plain black flags were the symbol of Sol Continent mercenaries. However, Kaian’s face darkened even more when he heard that the attackers were not formally trained soldiers but mercenaries.
Soldiers who had been trained would not suffer much damage even if they were sent straight into battle.
However, Sol Continent mercenaries were literally murderers who were paid to work.
If they were to engage in a landing battle, there was a high possibility that the territory’s residents would suffer great damage.
“I didn’t expect the mercenaries to come right away. This is a headache.”
“Yes.”
“It seems that the one who calculated the southern route is part of the mercenaries.”
“How ridiculous. To think of trading with someone like that.”
Rohan had heard such rumors on the Sol Continent and had secured land that could become a trading port in the name of the merchant group.
“To invade after taking Vermont’s money on purpose. You think you can make a profit by attacking Rowen rather than trading?”
Kaian, whose pride was hurt as the Rowen lord, couldn’t hide his anger.
“What about the damage to the Coast Guard?”
“We were changing shifts when an empty watchtower came close and was hit by a cannon.”
“Are there any injuries?”
“Not yet.”
That was when.
“Who calculated the southern route?”
Everyone looked at her at Madame Cronach’s words.
“A member of the Sol Continent mercenaries...”
“That’s not something just anyone can do, is it?”
Rohan shrugged at her question.
“I’m not sure, but he must be great. He’s nicknamed the Red Wolf.”
“Red Wolf?”
The Sol Continent had not yet been officially ruled by a single nation. Instead, the tribes fought each other for supremacy, and the winner would go to the one who won.
“In the past few years, there has been a force that has been uniting the tribes a lot. It’s a group led by a man called the Red Wolf. He calls himself an admiral.”
“...”
Madame Cronach’s pale face was deep in thought.
“My Lord!”
“Ugh. We’re in trouble. They’ve come ashore with their ships.”
“What?”
Kaian clenched his fists with a hardened face.
***
Evan stood on the bow of the ship and looked down at the harbor.
“Those little rats.”
Evan scoffed at the sight of those weaklings, who merely carried grain and such along the tributaries of the Shen River and into the inland waterways, building a rather decent port.
“Just two cannon shots and they were gone.”
The buildings near the simple port were empty, and no one had fled.
He slid down the rope ladder. As soon as Evan’s feet touched the ground, the impatient men quickly asked him,
“What should we do, leader?”
“What do you want to ask? Just get rid of it.”
As soon as he gave permission, the three ships in front completely docked and dropped anchor.
The number of mercenaries swarming out from the three huge galleons must have been at least a hundred.
They began to pillage the port town that had lost its master, laughing and laughing. One of his men approached them with a bottle of wine amidst the noisy commotion.
“You should drink toast.”
“You’re the only one who knows something.”
Evan pulled the cork out with his teeth and spit it far away.
“For us!”
He raised the bottle high and shouted loudly, and the men who were intoxicated with the joy of having set foot on the long-awaited land gathered near the ship, waving their hands and clinking their bottles with each other.
“Waaaah!”
“For the new world!”
The taste of Rowen’s wine, which he had tasted for the first time in a long time, was deep and sweet.
Evan narrowed his eyes. The old memories that he had been unable to forget while wandering the bottom of the Sol Continent passed by him.
‘Leoni. There’s not much left now.’
He planned to tear the entire territory apart and burn it all after taking out Claudel, who was held captive in Rowen Castle.
Only then would his wife, who had painfully disappeared in the flames, forgive him.
He drank a whole bottle in one gulp and felt tipsy.
Then, one of his subordinates came running with it in his hand.
“Chief! The Lord sent someone.”
“Bring it here.”
There seemed to be something hard inside the neatly folded letter.
He tore open the envelope with the seal of the lord of Rowen and opened it, revealing a familiar, round, flat piece of stone.
Evan’s eyes widened.
“This, this is...”
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