"This, this is..."
A reddish stone, trimmed to the size of a large gold coin, had grooves in it.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
As his heart pounded, the back of his head tingled.
'Why is this here...'
It was a name tag he used when doing business in the village below the mountain from Plogne Village.
Originally, Evan was of the Vermont family bloodline. Naturally, he had a proper identification card that was accepted within the Oberon Kingdom, but after marrying Leonie, he didn't want to wear it.
He was satisfied with his life as 'Evan' after leaving the Vermont family.
That's why he, too, wore a name tag with his own mark engraved on the stone as if he were a Plogne Villager, and the last time he used it, he quickly remembered.
'Before the village caught fire. I wrote it when I left Herzol's prescription at the pharmacy.'
Since Claudel had not been baptized in ice, he was sometimes worried. People never know, but he wondered if the child would be able to live in the relatively mild Plogne for the rest of her life.
So he urgently sent a letter to the Castle de Valmonde and asked for a prescription from the old man who had been his butler during the previous Duke’s reign.
Then he completely forgot about it as he took Claudel and Hannah to the Castle de Valmonde. He trembled at the Temnes who were trying to burn down the village that had been reduced to ashes and completely erase all traces.
All the way to the Castle de Valmonde, his eyes were rolled back and he was a little crazy. He was blinded by revenge.
After that, he had been banished to the continent of Sol by the Duke of Vermont, so he had never even thought about it.
‘Who on earth brought this?’
It must have been his. In fact, there was not a single other message in the envelope that he had expected. He had thought it would be a message begging for his life or a message of persuasion.
All Temnes had done was send an identification card that was clearly his, wrapped in a blank piece of white paper in an empty envelope.
‘There’s only one person at the pharmacy who knows that I left this.’
When he thought about it, something felt like his heart was being squeezed.
“Where is the messenger who brought this?”
“He’s waiting for you on the road leading to the castle at the entrance of the village. Leader?”
“Leader!”
Evan ran frantically, pushing through the bewildered men.
The men, who were dazzled by the salty smell of the sea, swayed.
“Oh my. I came here with high expectations.”
“The women of the Ita Continent are still beautiful even when they’re old.”
Madame Cronach stood upright with her hood down.
The Red Wolf.
The one who calculated the route of the gusty southern seas.
She thought that this couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘Evan was originally a navigator.’
Everyone there’s eyes widened at her words.
'While the Duke of Vermont was busy with his succession training to inherit the family, he studied navigation for a long time.'
The skills of building ships and the knowledge required to sail a ship were extremely rare and valuable.
Since Vermont monopolized the opportunity for practical training along with the port, rather than leaking it to the outside, they provided opportunities for learning to talented people in the family or the vassal families.
The more valuable the knowledge, the more it was passed down from person to person rather than being recorded. It was so strange that Evan, just as he was about to lose his boyhood and become a young man, was driven out by the Duke of Vermont and ended up living in a remote mountain village without a sea.
Madame Cronach vaguely thought that the Duke of Vermont was a truly cruel person.
She had never specifically asked Evan about it, fearing that it might hurt him.
She thought that it was because Duke Vermont had driven a man who loved the sea and worked at sea to a mountain valley.
But Evan loved her very much and was content to raise a daughter and live with the Gods as if they were His adopted children.
Don’t even think about returning to the castle of Valmonde. Even if he hadn’t told her to, if he had just left her alone, Evan would never have returned to Vermont.
‘It must be very likely.’
She couldn’t imagine anyone else who could do such a huge thing. It was when Madame Cronach was recalling memories of her husband from more than ten years ago and chewing on them.
“Hey. Why are you being so arrogant?”
“Say something.”
“Don’t be expensive. Do you know how scary our leader is?”
“Yes. You have to look good to us so we can say good things about you.”
The captain of the elite knights of Rowen who had come to escort her clenched his sword hilt in his hand.
“That bastard..."
“Enough.”
When Madame Cronach raised her thin, pale hand and commanded, the sturdy man took his hand off the sword with an indignant face.
The men who were watching with wide eyes jeered.
“Oh, hyoh, hyoh. Did you see that just now?”
“Stop. I said stop.”
They giggled, imitating Madame Cronach’s tone and gestures.
“Damn. Sister. It’s too good. What should I do?”
“Say something else. Stop. Not that kind of thing.”
After seeing her paralyze the armed soldiers with just one word, the men became even more excited.
Finally, one of them suddenly took off his shirt and threw it on.
“Oh my. It’s hot. It smells like sweat.”
“Hey. You punk. What the heck are you doing!”
The naked man approached Madame Cronach with a sly grin.
“Let me smell the flowers, my sister.”
Even when the trembling man came close to her, she stood still without trembling or retreating.
And yet, she did not look discouraged or afraid, so the guys who had come to cut off people’s heads were rather interested and started to pee like a puppy that needed to pee.
“You should take off your hood and talk...”
Boom!
With a tremendous sound, the trembling man’s body flew through the air and crashed into the bushes next to him.
Everyone there stared at the giant who appeared as if he was attacking them like a beast.
“Huk. Huk.”
The man, who had been breathing heavily as if he was snickering, took off the hood Madame Cronach had been wearing without giving her time to stop it. The man who had been panting just a moment ago stopped breathing. His eyes met with her small, pale face that seemed close enough to be held in one hand and her brown eyes full of thoughtfulness.
A reddish stone, trimmed to the size of a large gold coin, had grooves in it.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
As his heart pounded, the back of his head tingled.
'Why is this here...'
It was a name tag he used when doing business in the village below the mountain from Plogne Village.
Originally, Evan was of the Vermont family bloodline. Naturally, he had a proper identification card that was accepted within the Oberon Kingdom, but after marrying Leonie, he didn't want to wear it.
He was satisfied with his life as 'Evan' after leaving the Vermont family.
That's why he, too, wore a name tag with his own mark engraved on the stone as if he were a Plogne Villager, and the last time he used it, he quickly remembered.
'Before the village caught fire. I wrote it when I left Herzol's prescription at the pharmacy.'
Since Claudel had not been baptized in ice, he was sometimes worried. People never know, but he wondered if the child would be able to live in the relatively mild Plogne for the rest of her life.
So he urgently sent a letter to the Castle de Valmonde and asked for a prescription from the old man who had been his butler during the previous Duke’s reign.
Then he completely forgot about it as he took Claudel and Hannah to the Castle de Valmonde. He trembled at the Temnes who were trying to burn down the village that had been reduced to ashes and completely erase all traces.
All the way to the Castle de Valmonde, his eyes were rolled back and he was a little crazy. He was blinded by revenge.
After that, he had been banished to the continent of Sol by the Duke of Vermont, so he had never even thought about it.
‘Who on earth brought this?’
It must have been his. In fact, there was not a single other message in the envelope that he had expected. He had thought it would be a message begging for his life or a message of persuasion.
All Temnes had done was send an identification card that was clearly his, wrapped in a blank piece of white paper in an empty envelope.
‘There’s only one person at the pharmacy who knows that I left this.’
When he thought about it, something felt like his heart was being squeezed.
“Where is the messenger who brought this?”
“He’s waiting for you on the road leading to the castle at the entrance of the village. Leader?”
“Leader!”
Evan ran frantically, pushing through the bewildered men.
***
The men, who were dazzled by the salty smell of the sea, swayed.
“Oh my. I came here with high expectations.”
“The women of the Ita Continent are still beautiful even when they’re old.”
Madame Cronach stood upright with her hood down.
The Red Wolf.
The one who calculated the route of the gusty southern seas.
She thought that this couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘Evan was originally a navigator.’
Everyone there’s eyes widened at her words.
'While the Duke of Vermont was busy with his succession training to inherit the family, he studied navigation for a long time.'
The skills of building ships and the knowledge required to sail a ship were extremely rare and valuable.
Since Vermont monopolized the opportunity for practical training along with the port, rather than leaking it to the outside, they provided opportunities for learning to talented people in the family or the vassal families.
The more valuable the knowledge, the more it was passed down from person to person rather than being recorded. It was so strange that Evan, just as he was about to lose his boyhood and become a young man, was driven out by the Duke of Vermont and ended up living in a remote mountain village without a sea.
Madame Cronach vaguely thought that the Duke of Vermont was a truly cruel person.
She had never specifically asked Evan about it, fearing that it might hurt him.
She thought that it was because Duke Vermont had driven a man who loved the sea and worked at sea to a mountain valley.
But Evan loved her very much and was content to raise a daughter and live with the Gods as if they were His adopted children.
Don’t even think about returning to the castle of Valmonde. Even if he hadn’t told her to, if he had just left her alone, Evan would never have returned to Vermont.
‘It must be very likely.’
She couldn’t imagine anyone else who could do such a huge thing. It was when Madame Cronach was recalling memories of her husband from more than ten years ago and chewing on them.
“Hey. Why are you being so arrogant?”
“Say something.”
“Don’t be expensive. Do you know how scary our leader is?”
“Yes. You have to look good to us so we can say good things about you.”
The captain of the elite knights of Rowen who had come to escort her clenched his sword hilt in his hand.
“That bastard..."
“Enough.”
When Madame Cronach raised her thin, pale hand and commanded, the sturdy man took his hand off the sword with an indignant face.
The men who were watching with wide eyes jeered.
“Oh, hyoh, hyoh. Did you see that just now?”
“Stop. I said stop.”
They giggled, imitating Madame Cronach’s tone and gestures.
“Damn. Sister. It’s too good. What should I do?”
“Say something else. Stop. Not that kind of thing.”
After seeing her paralyze the armed soldiers with just one word, the men became even more excited.
Finally, one of them suddenly took off his shirt and threw it on.
“Oh my. It’s hot. It smells like sweat.”
“Hey. You punk. What the heck are you doing!”
The naked man approached Madame Cronach with a sly grin.
“Let me smell the flowers, my sister.”
Even when the trembling man came close to her, she stood still without trembling or retreating.
And yet, she did not look discouraged or afraid, so the guys who had come to cut off people’s heads were rather interested and started to pee like a puppy that needed to pee.
“You should take off your hood and talk...”
Boom!
With a tremendous sound, the trembling man’s body flew through the air and crashed into the bushes next to him.
Everyone there stared at the giant who appeared as if he was attacking them like a beast.
“Huk. Huk.”
The man, who had been breathing heavily as if he was snickering, took off the hood Madame Cronach had been wearing without giving her time to stop it. The man who had been panting just a moment ago stopped breathing. His eyes met with her small, pale face that seemed close enough to be held in one hand and her brown eyes full of thoughtfulness.
She had on heavy makeup and her hair was swept down to her face in a way that was different from before, but how could he not recognize the person he had promised to spend his life with?
“...Leonie.”
As soon as he said that name, tears flowed down Evan’s cheeks.
Evan approached her face with trembling hands as if to caress them, but then frowned. Seeing his dirty hands, he hurriedly took out a handkerchief from inside his clothes and wiped his palms.
His subordinates, who had been running after him, gasped and called out to him.
“Chief!”
“What’s going on all of a sudden, Chief!”
Then he glared at them menacingly and glared.
“It’s the Admiral. Call me the Admiral.”
As soon as he turned his head, he began to cry again.
“Leoni.”
Then she finally opened her mouth.
“Evan. You’re alive?”
At those words, the large man knelt before Madame Cronach.
“Uh... Heh heh. Heh.”
Madame Cronach reached out to the man who was crying without even being able to breathe. Then he grabbed her hand with his trembling hands and placed it on his cheek.
“...Hey.”
The guy who had been flying into the grass and walking away after being hit by that sight opened his eyes wide.
“C-Chief?”
“What are you doing?”
“Uh-huh. Uh-uh-uh.”
He who had been sobbing violently glared at them with his bloodshot eyes filled with tears.
“Admiral. Call me Admiral.”
“T-T, Your Highness the Admiral.”
“What do you want me to do?”
The guys who had been watching without being able to do anything at the awkward title slowly gathered together and retreated.
Evan muttered endlessly in a hoarse voice.
“...They were alive.”
They couldn’t leave that place for a long time until the sun set and the whole world was dyed in a fiery glow.
After clearing the people out of the office, Kaian looked at me.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“That damned thing of being fine.”
Kaian blurted out in discontent.
“What brought you to the Market Place? You seem to be going there a lot these days.”
“I went to see if there was anything I could give to Julien.”
“I see.”
The man, who had been tense the whole time, smiled gently at Julien’s excuse.
“Was there anything you liked?”
“You were sweeping the marketplace for baby stuff before.”
When Kaian found out I was pregnant, he had brought a cart full of all sorts of things.
“Your selection was so good that there wasn’t anything special.”
In fact, I wanted to find something that could be a gift for Kaian, but it was true that the things he had given to the baby in my stomach were classy.
“Let’s go and look around together next time.”
“Yes.”
My heart was pounding with excitement, but I was also sad.
Today, I insisted on attending the emergency meeting because of the declaration of war.
It was almost as if I had done something in vain.
Unlike Kaian who had told me to rest while taking care of the baby, he had not told me to leave or anything like that during the long meeting.
“I was grateful that you were with me.”
My eyes widened at the sudden words.
“It gave me strength.”
“...Really?”
“Of course.”
When Kaian opened his arms, I quickly went to him and hugged him.
It was a precarious moment where I could have cried if I had made up my mind too easily.
After realizing that I had to send him off to a difficult place, I had been like this all along.
“Your mother will do well. Don’t worry too much.”
“I’m not worried about my Mom.”
My nose was three inches.
“My lord! Madame Cronach has returned!”
“Really? Understood.”
“Let’s go quickly.”
I and Kaien hurried out of the office and headed for the castle gate.
I staggered in shock when I saw the man getting off the carriage with Madame KlCronach.
‘Father?’
When my mother had spoken earlier, I had been half-believing it.
I was just staring at my father in confusion.
Evan, who had come closer, frowned fiercely and spat out harshly.
“I never imagined I would see my enemy so close.”
“...Leonie.”
As soon as he said that name, tears flowed down Evan’s cheeks.
Evan approached her face with trembling hands as if to caress them, but then frowned. Seeing his dirty hands, he hurriedly took out a handkerchief from inside his clothes and wiped his palms.
His subordinates, who had been running after him, gasped and called out to him.
“Chief!”
“What’s going on all of a sudden, Chief!”
Then he glared at them menacingly and glared.
“It’s the Admiral. Call me the Admiral.”
As soon as he turned his head, he began to cry again.
“Leoni.”
Then she finally opened her mouth.
“Evan. You’re alive?”
At those words, the large man knelt before Madame Cronach.
“Uh... Heh heh. Heh.”
Madame Cronach reached out to the man who was crying without even being able to breathe. Then he grabbed her hand with his trembling hands and placed it on his cheek.
“...Hey.”
The guy who had been flying into the grass and walking away after being hit by that sight opened his eyes wide.
“C-Chief?”
“What are you doing?”
“Uh-huh. Uh-uh-uh.”
He who had been sobbing violently glared at them with his bloodshot eyes filled with tears.
“Admiral. Call me Admiral.”
“T-T, Your Highness the Admiral.”
“What do you want me to do?”
The guys who had been watching without being able to do anything at the awkward title slowly gathered together and retreated.
Evan muttered endlessly in a hoarse voice.
“...They were alive.”
They couldn’t leave that place for a long time until the sun set and the whole world was dyed in a fiery glow.
***
After clearing the people out of the office, Kaian looked at me.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“That damned thing of being fine.”
Kaian blurted out in discontent.
“What brought you to the Market Place? You seem to be going there a lot these days.”
“I went to see if there was anything I could give to Julien.”
“I see.”
The man, who had been tense the whole time, smiled gently at Julien’s excuse.
“Was there anything you liked?”
“You were sweeping the marketplace for baby stuff before.”
When Kaian found out I was pregnant, he had brought a cart full of all sorts of things.
“Your selection was so good that there wasn’t anything special.”
In fact, I wanted to find something that could be a gift for Kaian, but it was true that the things he had given to the baby in my stomach were classy.
“Let’s go and look around together next time.”
“Yes.”
My heart was pounding with excitement, but I was also sad.
Today, I insisted on attending the emergency meeting because of the declaration of war.
It was almost as if I had done something in vain.
Unlike Kaian who had told me to rest while taking care of the baby, he had not told me to leave or anything like that during the long meeting.
“I was grateful that you were with me.”
My eyes widened at the sudden words.
“It gave me strength.”
“...Really?”
“Of course.”
When Kaian opened his arms, I quickly went to him and hugged him.
It was a precarious moment where I could have cried if I had made up my mind too easily.
After realizing that I had to send him off to a difficult place, I had been like this all along.
“Your mother will do well. Don’t worry too much.”
“I’m not worried about my Mom.”
My nose was three inches.
“My lord! Madame Cronach has returned!”
“Really? Understood.”
“Let’s go quickly.”
I and Kaien hurried out of the office and headed for the castle gate.
I staggered in shock when I saw the man getting off the carriage with Madame KlCronach.
‘Father?’
When my mother had spoken earlier, I had been half-believing it.
I was just staring at my father in confusion.
Evan, who had come closer, frowned fiercely and spat out harshly.
“I never imagined I would see my enemy so close.”
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