ALL NOVEL chapter 32
32 – Before it snows (3)
It was only for a short while to enjoy that relaxation.
It was unfortunate that I couldn’t even confirm that Irene’s face was getting comfortable, but
Because Lopena came knocking on her door and her words made me unable to be in this place.
“Knight, His Excellency asked to meet.”
“…I guess I should go.”
When I lowered her head slightly and looked at Irene, she stared at me and then nodded her head.
Since it was a duke, it was true that I was a little nervous.
I thought that if I called now, I wouldn’t have time to change the bandages, but
I can’t help it. You won’t know what kind of eyes you’ll get if you delay a little bit of time.
“Go. Lopena, call Sir Chris.”
“Yes, lady.”
Surprisingly, Irene looked at me with her head tilted once, as if she had nothing more to say.
What should she say? If she feels a little sad, is it a little excessive?
However, it was important to meet the duke, so when she came out of the room, she saw a familiar face.
Somehow, looking at Sir Chris, whose expression was slightly darker than usual, I lowered her head slightly,
Sir Chris looked at me and opened her mouth.
“Evan, His Excellency called you.”
“I know. I just heard from Lopena.”
“…Well, don’t be too nervous. It’s a little hard to adapt to the atmosphere, but it’s not that bad.”
“Is that so?”
But Sir Chris doesn’t like something in her,
She opened her mouth by clicking her tongue once and tapping her unbandaged shoulder.
“Don’t be too scared. Whatever happens, you’d better just let it go.”
“…I understand.”
Don’t be afraid. What kind of person are you to say this to me?
I’ve fought assassins as well as warlocks.
But since she didn’t have time to ask what she was talking about, she just replied that she knew.
Sir Chris took one look at me with her worried eyes and then she let out a deep sigh and walked past me.
“Yes, do your best.”
At this point, I began to question what kind of person a duke was.
Like Irene and Sir Chris, when she met the duke, she suddenly felt so worried.
Caw-
I frowned at the ominous crowing of crows just in time.
The sky, which had been so blue, turned gray and white again as gray clouds came rushing in.
Why is it that the shady bare tree beneath it feels uneasy for some reason?
Doesn’t meeting the duke seem like something ominous to me?
After staring blankly at the scenery outside the window, I soon turned my gaze and started walking down the hallway.
It was probably because of my mood.
#
The Duke was on the top floor of this mansion.
Among the three floors of this mansion, the most corner,
The place where the Duke occupied the largest space was a place where sunlight did not penetrate well, unlike other places.
The trees planted behind the mansion were probably meant to block the sunlight where the Duke was.
Surely, the scenery outside the window I saw earlier was daytime, but it was as bleak as this corridor.
The flickering candlelight in the dark conveys a strange impression.
What the hell is the need for being so dark? Several thoughts passed through my mind.
Reason to avoid sunlight. It’s childish, but I wondered if the duke was actually something like a vampire.
No creature in this world was afraid of sunlight.
So, do you really just hate sunlight? I asked the butler who guided me to this place,
The butler just shook his head and gave no other answer.
Even the floors are shabby wood, unsuitable for this luxurious gin mansion.
Every time I stepped on it, it made a creaking sound, which was not bothering me.
While other places use expensive materials that make your mouth drop open,
Why did the Duke himself decorate this space so shabby?
It may have been that he had an incongruously frugal personality. However, the thoughts soon dissipated.
It was because a door could be seen in this space filled with shadows in a blend of faint gray and black.
Unlike the shabby corridor, let’s look at the antique door engraved with the pattern of Juris.
The butler next to me bowed his head and quickly retreated to the hall.
“…That.”
I stretched out my hand slightly, but as if I didn’t hear it, I looked at the butler who had gone far away and smiled bitterly.
What are you going to do if you leave it like this? The hand raised in the air fell miserably.
I closed my eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath and looked at the door.
There was a handle under the place where the shield of thorns, the pattern of Yuris, was engraved.
A handle attached to the dragon’s mouth, one of the divine beasts that protects the empire.
Clap-
I just lightly put my hand on it, but I heard a louder sound than I thought, and as I flinched, a voice came from beyond the door.
A profound, low voice that makes the listener’s heart flutter.
I heard a voice that seemed to match this dark hallway, so I opened my mouth to answer.
“This is Evan Fried. I heard you called me.”
“Come in.”
Then the door opens. Why does this moment of holding the doorknob and pushing open feel so long?
And the atmosphere leaking through the door. My face started to harden.
I thought the hallway was dark, but there was an abyss here that was even more soggy and gloomy than that hallway.
Wouldn’t it be nice to think of it like this feeling when you enter the jaws of a beast?
My hands moved at the waist with the sword at the moment because I felt like killing myself from all sides as if my whole body would be stabbed at any moment.
He lets out a heavy breath. The armor of the knights who seemed to move towards me at any moment filled the walls of this room.
I frowned at the sight of silver armor shining in the dark.
Soon, in the darkness, I face the rolling blue eyes.
I didn’t know that the eyes of the anglerfish shining in the deep sea could be like this.
The only predator in the darkness that tries to swallow me.
Regain your reason in those eyes that look at you intensely.
Only then did I understand the meaning of Sir Chris’ words, ‘don’t be scared’.
The owner of this ducal residence, the duke of Julis and the head of one of the five great families of the empire, the shield of the empire.
The momentum and intimidation of a man named Garot Julis were not something I could easily accept.
I caught my breath as if I was going to cut my throat at any moment, and then exhaled roughly and met the blue light and gaze.
If what Irene had in her eyes was the cold that would freeze even summer, then what was in Garot Julis’ eyes was nothing.
It didn’t contain anything. Just stare at the one in front of you,
I couldn’t find any meaning in those eyes.
Maybe that was the reason for the atmosphere I felt after entering this room. Because he faced futility for the first time in his life,
He might have been afraid of the incomprehensible.
But I persevere.
I thought that if I couldn’t accept that look, I would just draw a line saying that this was my limit.
If this atmosphere is for the Duke to test himself.
Raises mana. The mana that flowed through her veins soon began to eat away at her body.
The darkness that penetrated deep into her body was driven away, and a white flame rose from her body.
And when she finally let go of the intimidation that enveloped her body, she heard her voice again in her ears.
“Excellent.”
With those words, the darkness that covered this room seemed to lift in an instant.
It took a moment to stare blankly at the blinding darkness disappearing in an instant.
Looking at the Duke’s fully revealed face, he slightly frowned.
If you were to personify a hawk, would it look like this?
Unlike the star titled “The Shield That Protects the Empire,” His sharp eyes stood out.
His neatly trimmed beard down to his chin made it possible to guess his personality.
The black uniform that seems to be wrapped in darkness,
The duke, who touched the collar above him, looked at me and continued his words.
“Nice to meet you. My daughter’s escort driver. I heard he was hurt, is he okay?”
“…Yes. The wounds are all healed.”
Seeing my bandages in the flickering candlelight, he looked at me intently, then nodded once and opened his mouth.
“It’s nice to sit there. Because there are so many things to call you today. Besides, I had something I wanted to say to you.”
That’s what I want to say. He even sounded like he was going to congratulate me, but somehow I thought it was something different.
No congratulations, but a fundamentally different story.
However, the Duke was standing in front of me, so I just bowed my head slightly and sat down on the sofa he pointed to.
“You looked a little flustered. You must have already noticed that I was trying to test you.”
“Yes.”
I nodded at his words.
I don’t know why, but it was clear that he was testing something on me.
I only realized the darkness from before, but it wasn’t like mana.
There was also a sense of intimidation from him, but the darkness that filled this room was definitely similar to what the black magician I experienced yesterday emitted.
Isn’t it similar to the darkness that covered the moon and stars?
“Isn’t that the energy emitted by the warlock?”
“…Yes. It certainly seems right that you dealt with the Warlock. What I just exhaled is part of the mana extracted from the warlock. It’s in a potion bottle like this, so when you open the stopper, you can exhale it as it is.”
He held out a flask of black mist to me for a moment, then set the bottle down on the table and stared at me.
“Thirty years ago, when warlocks attacked the empire, we called the mana they used ‘darkness’. Then, what do you think there will be a way to dispel that darkness?”
“…If you use mana-“
“No, wrong. The way to dispel this darkness is not to use mana. It’s just getting help from a priest, or someone with special mana using mana.”
After catching his breath for a moment, he opened his mouth again while staring at me.
What was felt in his voice was full of passion.
Rather than being angry at something, a passion close to the joy of someone who discovers something mysterious.
Is the special mana he is talking about, this white mana that I possess?
As if that prediction was correct, his finger was pointing at me.
“The mana you possess drives away the darkness. It’s like the divinity of a paladin. I don’t know how you got that kind of mana, but your power is definitely helpful to this Julis. Perhaps in the future, you may be at the forefront of the shield that protects this empire.”
“Is that so?”
“I am not the type to spin around. When I find talent, I always feel that it should be part of Julis. Don’t you know better that it’s not just a talent to rot as an escort knight?”
A ray of anxiety rises in my chest. How could he not know the meaning of what he was saying?
It’s not a talent to rot as an escort knight, what that means is clear.
“Join the Knights of Yuris. Be a part of Sangvis Sangvis, not Irene’s escort knight.”
“…The lady’s escort knight is also part of Sangvis.”
When I answered that, the duke immediately shook his head vigorously and opened his mouth.
“No, Irene is just Irene. That child is neither Iron Blood nor the owner of Julis yet. I’m still young, immature, and I haven’t achieved anything perfectly. Rather than being an escort for such a child-“
“Your Excellency.”
My eyes are getting hazy. Could it be because I heard gossip about Irene?
Or is it because it is absurd that her father treats his daughter so insignificantly?
Maybe it’s both. A chill began to form in these two eyes, which had held goodwill for a moment.
He was neither a father nor a man worthy of being the owner of Julis.
She wouldn’t have said that if at least she had cared even a little about how Irene lived.
If she had known what she had been doing in this duke’s work, she would not have been young and immature.
I just fell in love with a knight in front of me,
Is there anyone in this world who can give her allegiance to someone who puts down even her own flesh and blood?
My parents seemed to be reflected in his appearance.
He does not regard his children as children, but rather as a means to an end.
A heart for Yuris? He seemed to know that one thing well. However, that was all.
It was something I had already made up my mind about, and I had already thought about it.
The words spoken to him were colder than I could have imagined.
“I will decline.”
“…What.”
“I am the lady’s escort driver.”
His blue eyes flutter. However, there was no change of heart.
When Irene’s eyes shook, it was her heart that fluctuated, but it was funny that she didn’t care about his change.
Just make direct contact with the two eyes that are staring at you.
“Are you rejecting my offer?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know what kind of person I am. Or, do you consider being Irene’s escort knight more honorable than being Julis’s knight?”
“I am honored to be an escort driver.”
“…Becoming a knight will give you honors you never thought possible. If it’s your talent, you might even rise to the rank of knight commander. The youngest, to be a knight commander at the age of 15.”
He opened his arms exaggeratedly and looked at me, but I just looked at him with an expressionless face.
There was no change in my opinion. No matter what he says in the future, even if he gets down on his knees in front of me and prays.
Did he notice my feelings?
The goodwill disappeared from those eyes that were looking at me.
The passion in the void disappeared, and the blue eyes began to harden as if they had become a completely different person in an instant.
A feeling of intimidation enveloped me again. I pressed my shoulders down and gnashed my teeth at the pressure that seemed to pin my body to the ground.
“Are your thoughts still unchanged?”
“…Yes.”
Let the answer that came out of the clenched tooth remain the same, adding a chill to the gaze looking at me.
It was cold. More than when Irene looked at me.
I could feel the bloody veins sprouting in my eyes, as if the cold had penetrated my flesh and pierced my bones.
Maybe he was trying to kill me.
My heart started to beat at the thought that the person who rejected my offer, even if it was Irene’s escort knight, might kill me.
Should I raise mana? However, if I were to raise my sword here and now, I, no, Irene would-
It takes a while for my thoughts to become complicated, and soon all the pressure that was holding me down disappears like a lie.
Why?
Perhaps I am already dead.
Focus returned, and as I looked straight ahead, I saw the Duke’s face still looking at me.
Two eyes as sharp as hawks were directed at me, but they were no longer cold.
Eyes with greater kindness than anything I’ve seen since I met him.
Looking very satisfied, the duke, who even had a faint smile, began to open his mouth slowly.
“Passed.”
What did I just hear?
I stare blankly at him. Passing, then all the suggestions he has asked me so far.
“Irene has been looking for a good escort driver for the first time in a while. If you’re the next head of household, you need an eye to recognize such talented people.”
“…No way.”
“Yes, I put you to the test. Are you truly worthy of being Irene’s escort knight? Are you worthy of hearing what I have to say in the future? Is the knight whom Sir Chris praised so much, really?”
With a satisfied smile, he smiled with his blue eyes sparkling.
“I think we can start talking about the real thing now, Sir Evan. Isn’t it?”
My eyes looking at him widen at the moment.
This man who perfectly suited the name Iron Blood, was far different from the figure known as the shield of Julis.
Isn’t his face with a very humorous smile very different from what I used to know?
Perhaps this is what Sir Chris said about ‘don’t be surprised no matter what’.
I looked at the Duke who was still looking at me for a moment, then sighed and lowered his head.