Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 49: Chapter 49

Riftan very nearly had to haul Maxi back to the castle on his horse. After carrying her to their bedchamber, he bathed her in warm water, dressed and fed her, and lay her on his chest to lull her to sleep.

This was not the first time that Riftan had cared for her so tenderly. When they were together, he acted little different from a nanny. He constantly tried to feed her, and he was particularly adamant that they bathe together. In the mornings, he liked to snatch the comb from Ludis to comb Maxi’s hair himself.

Such actions baffled her. All her life, she had been told that courtesy, polite disinterest, and duty were all that constituted the relationship between husband and wife. She had never once heard of a man treating his wife with such affection.

Maxi wondered if most husbands were in fact as caring as Riftan. It could be that she had just not been made privy to that fact. After all, she had led a cloistered life within the walls of Croyso Castle. She had been allowed to leave the castle only to visit the church, and even those visits had been forbidden when she had turned fourteen.

Everything she knew about the outside world came from snippets of conversation she had overheard from guests at the castle. The two people who had most greatly shaped her worldview, however, were her father and Rosetta, whose cynicism knew no bounds. Lately, she had been struck by the feeling that her knowledge of the world might not be accurate.

“You’re good with your hands, my lady.”

Ruth’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He was inspecting her calculations with a satisfied grin.

“And a quick learner, too. I must say, I am surprised.”

Unsure of whether his words were meant as a compliment, Maxi smiled wryly.

“D-Doing the same thing over and over t-tends to make one f-faster.”

“We’re nearly done. At this rate, we’ll be able to finish the device by tomorrow.”

Maxi sighed in relief and rubbed her stiff neck. Her initial enthusiasm had not lasted long. She had wearied of the endless calculations and drawing of diagrams, and the mere sight of a piece of parchment was enough to make her recoil.

“I d-didn’t know p-performing magic required a-all these d-documents. I thought i-it would be more s-spectacular…”

“Magic is one of the highest forms of learning, my lady. It requires meticulous calculation and research. Only during battle do you get to see such spectacles. The sorcerers in the Mage Tower never get to experience such glory. They spend their whole lives making diagrams like these.”

Maxi paused in her work and gave Ruth a quizzical look.

“W-Were you a m-member of the M-Mage Tower?”

“Yes, at one time.”

Maxi’s eyes widened. The Mage Tower, also known as Nornui, was an artificial island in the Issyrian Ocean that had been built by the mages of antiquity. It was the birthplace of mages and the greatest repository of knowledge, and even Maxi had heard tell of the tower countless times before her marriage. Home to sages who protected the world order, Nornui was a neutral territory that never intervened in the affairs of other states.

Ruth, however, seemed disenchanted. He began to mutter in disgust.

“Sorcerers in the Mage Tower must accept certain restrictions the moment they become a high mage. In exchange for learning the dangerous and classified magic of Nornui, they are placed under constant surveillance to prevent them from disturbing the world order by using magic for personal gain. That’s why I left.”

“I-Is that a-allowed?”

“Certainly not, which is why the mages of Nornui still treat me like a traitor.”

Ruth’s tone was indifferent. Maxi wondered whether all mages were as brazen as he was.

“Th-Then did you meet R-Riftan after you l-left the tower?”

“Indeed. I met him not long after I became a mercenary. By then, he was already a noted figure.”

Maxi’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “W-Why?”

“For obvious reasons. He was incredibly good-looking and extraordinarily well built for a sixteen-year-old, and he had nerves of steel. Everyone thought he was a crackpot back then, too.”

“A c-crackpot?”

Maxi’s eyes widened at the crude choice of word. Ruth slowly shook his head as if to hint that that was the politest expression that he could think of to describe Riftan.

“The lad knew no fear. He would fight ogres armed only with a dagger, or rush into the mouth of a drake to cut open its skull. He did all sorts of loony things without batting an eye… The memories still give me the shivers. I was a bundle of nerves each time I had to complete a mission alongside him.”

Maxi gaped in horror, cold sweat trickling down her back. To think that Riftan had been so reckless at the tender age of sixteen… He had been even younger than Rosetta, who was in full bloom, and the chipper young squire Ulyseon. Maxi licked her dry lips.

In a trembling voice, she asked, “I-Is he still so r-reckless?”

“Even now, he charges forward without regard for his physical safety. But he no longer takes the perilous gambles that he used to. To be precise, he no longer needs to. He’s powerful enough to slay most monsters without endangering himself. The only time I saw him risk his life these past few years was during the Dragon Campaign.”

“W-What happened?” Maxi asked, unable to stop herself.

Ruth let out a deep sigh. “Sir Riftan has the unusual ability to temporarily absorb his enemy’s magic and transfer it to his sword. It wasn’t something he was born with, but a skill he gained after years of battling monsters. I assume being constantly covered in monster bile and blood had something to do with it. So to answer your question, it was that ability that helped Sir Riftan defeat the Red Dragon. He cut through Dragon’s Breath – the most powerful magic that exists in the natural world – and transferred the dragon’s magic to his sword, which he then used to cut off the creature’s head.”

Maxi shuddered, imagining Riftan rushing headlong into the dragon’s flames. Ruth gritted his teeth. The memory alone seemed enough to make his teeth chatter.

“The slightest mistake could have turned him into ashes, though it’s thanks to that bravery that he is now regarded as the most valiant knight in the continent.”

Maxi had heard praise of Riftan’s performance during the campaign, but she had been blithely unaware of how rash his feats had been. Riftan could have died, and she may never have had the chance to get to know him. Their wretched first night together could have remained the only memory she had of him. Her whole body shook.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you, my lady,” Ruth mumbled in surprise when he saw her blanche. “That wasn’t a proper conversation to have with you. Blast! My apologies. Being in the company of rowdy men can make one rather tactless.”

“I-I was the one wh-who asked.”

She doubted that it was his company that made him tactless, but she decided not to voice the thought.

Maxi set about working in silence. Her mind was in turmoil. As a knight, Riftan would have to brave dangers again in the future. Once winter was over, he would have to answer King Reuben’s call and lead his knights in another campaign. That was a knight’s duty. Who knew if he would return from the next battle? Riftan was powerful, but he wasn’t invincible.

The thought was enough to choke the air out of Maxi’s lungs. She had not realized just how fragile her current state of comfort and happiness was.

“I see that you are distracted.” Ruth squinted as he scanned the desk to assess their progress. He lowered his quill. “Why don’t we stop here for the day?”

Maxi rose and left the library to attend to the new servants who would be arriving that day. She had asked Aderon to hire thirty skilled servants after discussing the matter with Riftan.

She greeted the new hires and assigned servants to train them. When that was done, she made her way to the kitchen. She was met with a flurry of activity as usual, but with the winter preparations nearly complete, the place no longer looked like a battlefield. Once the preparations were finished, time would slow down in the castle, and Maxi would no longer have to rush about frantically.

“We’ll see the first frost in a few days, my lady,” Rodrigo said.

The steward shivered and pulled his coat closer to himself. The temperature had dropped noticeably in recent days.

“W-Will we be able t-to finish all the w-winter garments b-by then?”

“I am told that they are almost ready, my lady. With the additional help, they should be finished before the cold snap.”

As her final task for the day, Maxi inspected the rooms in the castle to ensure that they had enough firewood. She was then able to retire to her room to write her daily log.