Chapter 84

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Waking from sleep could bring all kinds of feelings. Sometimes you woke relieved after a frightening dream. Sometimes an unpleasant nightmare left you in a foul mood. And sometimes you tried desperately to fall asleep again, unwilling to leave a sweet dream behind, though sleep would not come.

But surely the best way to wake was to open your eyes naturally after a deep, dreamless sleep, without a trace of fatigue.

That was how Ricard woke. Birds chirping tickled his ears. Why was the bed so comfortable? And that familiar smell. It almost felt as though he were home. Home? Wait a moment.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a wall. Turning his head, he found a familiar ceiling.

There was no chandelier or anything of the sort, but the way the stones fitted together and the shape of the ceiling supports were all too familiar.

This was neither an inn nor the Ehrenberg branch building, nor his quarters at the imperial palace in Nibelungen. It was his room in Stormhertz. Huh?

Ricard sat up and looked around. The room looked a little bare without his belongings, but it was unmistakably his. Was he dreaming now, of all times?

He soon knew it was no dream, however. Marie was asleep right beside him.

She lay on her side, hands clasped together and snuggled close to him, breathing softly like a baby.

Her nightdress was rather sheer, though, so Ricard squeezed his eyes shut and turned away.

It felt as though a devil were creeping into his head, but then his last memories came flooding back, immediately drawing his attention elsewhere.

After winning the final, Ricard had been too dizzy to make much sense of what was happening. He thought he might have heard screams, but his memory ended there.

His best guess was that Marie had brought him to Stormhertz after he lost consciousness.

The Emperor had a personal domain surrounded by what could be called satellite domains. As a result, Stormhertz was both near to Nibelungen and far from it, depending on how you looked at it.

House Kaldebern had been founded during the reign of Martellus II, the sixth Emperor, when Chaldebert was granted a domain for his military achievements. Naturally, the Emperor could not give away land he did not have, so he had carved a piece out of his own personal domain.

Thus, as one of the imperial family's satellite domains, the lands of Count Kaldebern were both close to and distant from the capital. It was fortunate that Marie had covered a considerable distance by carriage. The journey would have taken about three days on foot.

Later, through the practice of dividing inheritances, Ricard's family had branched off from the count's family and settled in Stormhertz, a corner of the original domain.

Their house was Kaldebern; their birthplace and ancestral home was Stormhertz. In other words, they belonged to the same house as the count. And since Graut, the eldest son, had even married a daughter of the count's family, they were two families and yet one.

They had even sworn a pact that if one line died out, the other would carry on the house.

The count's family was naturally the senior branch, but theirs was not a lord-vassal relationship. Even so, they generally went along with the count's decisions.

It was a little complicated, but put simply, to outsiders they looked much like a count and his vassal baron. Look beneath the surface, though, and they were simply one family.

What mattered was that Marie had unwittingly fled into lands belonging to the Kaldeberns and encountered Abelich while he was patrolling the domain's border.

Like a gift from God, or a miracle.

Marie had not come here deliberately, but Ricard thought she had been very wise. It was a happy misunderstanding.

Ricard adjusted his raging erection, got out of bed, and opened the window, which resembled a wooden lid, propping it up with its support. Fresh morning sunlight streamed inside, and the beloved landscape of home spread out before him.

White smoke curled from the chimneys of the houses, somehow looking appetizing. With the harvest just finished, some of the domain's people were already hard at work threshing.

He felt the cool autumn morning air against his skin. Without thinking, he drew a deep breath, only for it to catch halfway in. Pain stabbed through his chest like a needle.

"Ugh!"

Ricard clutched his chest and grimaced. It seemed to be the poison.

He cautiously tried another deep breath. Normal breathing was fine, but inhaling deeply brought pain. It truly was a vicious poison. As vicious as the hatred behind it.

Still, he was not discouraged. Being alive was something to be grateful for. There was nothing he could do about it right now, so he put it out of his mind.

Marie curled up, apparently cold. Ricard closed the window again and tucked the covers around her.

Just then, the bedroom door opened and someone came in. It was his sister-in-law, Aileen.

"Oh my! Sorry."

"Pardon? Oh, n-no. It's not what you think."

CLICK.

His sister-in-law shut the door before he could even greet her, let alone explain.

Ricard considered going after her to deny it, but decided against it. It no longer mattered what she thought.

Still, it was awkward. After all this time away, what a way to come home.

His father had probably left on an early patrol, and his eldest brother seemed to have gone out to inspect the domain as well.

Suddenly, he wondered how his second brother, Bilter, was doing. But Bilter really was at the ends of the earth, which made news hard to come by. All he could do was pray that he was well.

It had been three years since he left home. And now he was back. That alone made even this empty room look different.

Those precious childhood memories seemed to come alive again. Nothing here had really changed. It gave him a sense of security.

Ricard had neither a book to read nor anything else to occupy himself, but simply looking around his room and remembering the past kept him from getting bored.

At times he found himself smiling for no particular reason. At others, he missed his mother or worried about Bilter. He wondered how much his nephew had grown, and how Butch and the other people of the domain were doing.

"Thinking about old times?"

Marie had woken without his noticing. She asked the question while still lying beneath the covers, drawn up to her chin.

"Huh? Oh, yes."

"Your father seems like a good man."

"He can't have had much to say. Did you meet my brother? And my sister-in-law?"

"Briefly. We didn't get to talk for long."

"Really? Hmm... Want me to show you around the domain?"

"Yes."

Ricard filled a basin with water and had a quick wash, then put on the clean clothes folded in a neat pile. They seemed to be his eldest brother's. They fit him perfectly.

His meteoric-iron sword was broken, though. Only his dagger remained, just as when he had left this place.

Even broken, the sword had been made of such fine material that he could have taken it back to a smith, or at least sold it for a handsome sum. It was a shame, but he did not dwell on it.

Marie's clothes consisted of a blue dress that allowed easy movement. It seemed to belong to his sister-in-law, but Marie was tall, so it was a little short on her. The hem should have reached her calves, yet it ended above her knees.

It did not matter if it fit poorly. This was not a city, so there was no fashion to worry about.

Marie twisted up her long hair and tied it in place. Once she had finished getting herself presentable, Ricard left the room with her.

Or rather, before he could, Marie called to him.

"Wait."

"Hm?"

When Ricard turned, she pulled him closer by his clothes and kissed him. There was nothing to be embarrassed about anymore. This much felt natural now.

They smiled at one another, stars shining in their eyes.

They opened the door again and left the room. It was not a large manor, so the corridor was short. They went straight to his sister-in-law's room to greet her.

She was sewing, and his nephew was fidgeting beside her, dressed in girls' clothes.

Dressing little boys in girls' clothes was a tradition, and something of a superstition. It was supposed to help them live long lives without childhood ailments. Naturally, Ricard had worn them too, until he was five.

Until the age of ten, boys wore either boys' or girls' clothes without much distinction. Only at ten did they begin wearing boys' clothes exclusively, with those around them expecting them to act like men and pull their own weight.

And Ricard was doing an admirable job of pulling his weight. More than his own weight, in fact.

"Aileen, I'm going to show Marie around the domain."

"Oh? Finished already?"

"Pardon? Finished what? No, that's not..."

His sister-in-law gave him a knowing smile. Really, it wasn't like that.

"Say hello. This is your father's second younger brother."

His three-year-old nephew hid beside his mother and poked half his face out to give a quick little bow. He looked shy rather than frightened.

"You should greet him properly."

"H-hewwo. I'm Fwitzwit."

His nephew's name was Fritzrit. He had only recently begun talking, so his pronunciation was not quite there yet.

"Hello. You can call me Uncle Riki."

"And I'm Marie. I'm going to be your aunt."

Marie introduced herself boldly. She was not wrong. She had been promised in betrothal to the tournament's winner, and Ricard had won.

The family had heard a brief account of what had happened yesterday, too, so they already knew all about Marie.

Ricard was the only one who felt a little awkward.

"Are you feeling better?"

His sister-in-law directed the question at Ricard. Not wanting to worry her, he kept quiet about the trouble with his lungs.

"Yes. You needn't worry."

"What about breakfast? I ought to serve my new sister-in-law something, at least."

"Ha ha ha..."

"I'm fine. Riki will make sure I'm fed."

"Oh my, how indecent."

"What? I-indecent?"

"I'm teasing. Even as a child, Young Master Riki always managed to keep himself well fed while he was out and about, goodness knows where or on what."

His sister-in-law seemed determined to keep teasing them. They had not been this close before, but now that Ricard had grown so much, she seemed more comfortable speaking her mind. So she had a playful side.

Perhaps she had wanted to be friends with Bilter and Ricard once they grew up. They had been children back then, after all.

"Father and my husband will be back toward evening. You remember, don't you?"

No matter what happened, the whole family was expected to eat supper together.

"Of course. We'll be back in time for supper."

Taking Marie's hand, he left his brother and sister-in-law's room. The defensive tower attached to the castle was nothing to look at, so he headed straight for the courtyard.

Village women were bustling about, carrying various things. Being a rural domain, it had no dedicated servants or hired help. Instead, the women from the village came to help with the chores.

When hands were short, even the lord's wife had to pitch in, shoveling animal dung or carrying things. That was the kind of place Stormhertz was.

"Young Master!"

"Good morning."

"My, how you've grown! And what a lovely bride you have."

Who didn't enjoy being called pretty? Marie's face blossomed into a smile.

"You're pretty too, ma'am."

"Oh ho ho, aren't you a flatterer?"

"By the way, is there anything to eat?" Ricard asked.

"Aren't you having a proper meal? Still picking up food wherever you go, I see. There's fresh butter. The bread hasn't been out of the oven long either, so it shouldn't be hard yet."

"I don't just eat anything I find. We'll go have a look."

Ricard smiled as he spoke. In the pantry, they found the freshly delivered butter and bread.

He sliced a large loaf with his dagger and gave Marie a piece, then spread the bread generously with butter. After that, they each took an apple and left the courtyard.

They strolled through the domain, munching as they went. Houses were scattered here and there, and the newly harvested fields looked like close-cropped heads.

There were all sorts of things to do in autumn, so everyone seemed busy. Still, they looked happy. For now, at least, there was plenty to eat.

"I'm jealous," Marie said as they walked together.

"Hm? Of what?"

"Everyone likes you."

"When I was little, they all called me 'gentle' Young Master Riki. I suppose I was obedient. Never threw tantrums, never cried, never caused trouble."

"Really? That's different from how you are now."

"Why? How am I now?"

"You're incredibly stubborn."

"So are you, Marie. But we get along."

"We do."

It was strange that two such stubborn people got along so well. But in a way, neither was blindly stubborn. They were usually easygoing; it was just that once they made an important decision, they would not budge.

"There's a place over in those hunting grounds where I used to play as a child. Shall we go?"

"Yes."

Ricard and Marie crossed a field of autumn flowers and entered the forest. Before long, they reached a little stream. This was where he had built a hideout and played with the older boys from the village.

The hideout was still there. With the village children busy helping during harvest season, none of them were around.

A crude but charming little shelter stood among the large trees. Now, he would barely fit inside, even if he curled himself up as tightly as he could.

"Looks like the children still play the same way."

Even as he said it, a fond smile spread across his face.

"We'd play here until sunset, and then my eldest brother would carry me home on his shoulders. I'd watch the sun setting over the fields."

Those days came back to him with startling clarity. His second brother, Bilter, would beg for a turn, only to sulk when their eldest brother refused, saying he was too heavy. Later, Bilter had offered to carry Ricard on his own shoulders, only to find he was too heavy to stand up with.

The memories warmed Ricard's heart, yet saddened him too. Nostalgia. Longing. He could come home, but those days would never return.

"Let's go over there."

"All right."

Marie followed where Ricard led, walking through his childhood. He rarely spoke of his home or family, so even the ordinary things felt special.

They seemed all the more special because her own upbringing had been not merely bleak, but cruel and harsh. Why else would her dearest wish have been freedom?

So even as she genuinely envied him, she found herself drawn to him anew. This glimpse of his happy childhood made her feel certain that they could live happily together. Having children, raising them, growing old—even death itself seemed as though it could be happy.

And so Ricard and Marie roamed Stormhertz. When they grew tired, they sat and rested. When they were hungry, they were given soup or stew. And along the way, he warmly greeted people he had not seen in years.

Everyone truly did light up at the sight of Ricard. There was no fear or awkwardness before a noble; they all seemed to regard him as their own son or younger brother. To Marie, it was wondrous, almost dreamlike.

Rural communities tended to be insular, with a strong communal spirit. When that went wrong, they could turn foul like stagnant water, but Stormhertz had remarkably strong bonds and solidarity.

That same insularity also meant that despite the tremendous fame Ricard had earned in the outside world, the people merely heard snippets of news and thought that he must be doing well.

What mattered to them was living their lives in their own accustomed way.

Ricard actually preferred it that way. He liked that they treated him just as they always had.

The people of Stormhertz hoped never to worry about their next meal. When someone faced hardship, they helped as though it were their own concern. When war came, they answered the call and fulfilled their duty. They were simple, steadfast people.

Perhaps all of that had played a large part in shaping who Ricard was inside. In his previous life, though he had wandered aimlessly in pursuit of death, he had been too occupied with his own survival to think of anyone else.

Before they knew it, the sky was turning red. On the way back, Ricard suddenly crouched down, patted his shoulders, and said to Marie,

"Hop on."

She burst out laughing, but it did sound fun. Without refusing, she climbed onto his shoulders.

Ricard sprang to his feet as though he could not feel her weight at all.

"Eek! Warn me before you stand up!"

Marie nearly lost her balance, but steadied herself by grabbing his head. Laughing, Ricard carried her back to the castle.

Sunset over the autumn fields. It had been a perfect day.