Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 68: Chapter 68

I was reluctant to come out, but I’m glad I did.

Maxi had been so busy poring over her books that she had not even had time to practice riding with Rem. She slowly made her way to the back garden.

It was the time of day when the marching cadence of the squires could usually be heard, but she did not hear a sound. They, too, must have gone to participate in cavalry training. She was relieved that she would be able to train in peace.

Will it be different this time?

She settled at a sunny spot and rummaged through her pocket for the magic stone. The surface looked almost transparent as it glimmered under the bright sun. After turning the stone over in her hand a few times, Maxi gripped it tightly.

She clenched her eyes shut and waited for the surface of the stone to heat up. But as she had feared, nothing happened. After making several more unsuccessful attempts, she looked up at the sky and sighed.

Perhaps I don’t have the talent after all…

Ruth could have been mistaken in his belief that she had the potential to become a mage. Overcome with frustration, she kicked at the dirt. The long hours she had spent burying her nose in those incomprehensible books had come to naught. Despairing at her ineptitude, she raised her hand to hurl the stone to the ground but stopped herself at the last moment. She crouched down, crestfallen.

She could hear the distant sounds of blacksmiths hammering away at their anvils and lumberjacks chopping firewood. She buried her head in her knees, feeling like the only stagnant being in this castle.

Suddenly, a sharp voice came from behind.

“What are you doing here all alone?”

Startled, she turned and saw Riftan standing a few steps behind her. He was still armored; he had likely just finished training. She blinked, wondering how he had crept up on her in full armor. Riftan approached her.

“Do you feel unwell?”

“N-No. I-I was just r-resting.”

Flustered, Maxi hastily got up. Riftan frowned.

“When I went to the great hall, a servant told me that you had gone outside without an attendant. Why are you here without Ludis?”

“I-I wanted to g-get some air…”

It was a half-truth. She was almost certain that his anger would only grow if she told him she was practicing magic. Riftan’s face hardened.

“You may be inside the castle walls, but that doesn’t mean you’re safe.” His voice grew louder. “What if something were to happen in this secluded place-”

He stopped talking when he saw Maxi shrink back. He began to look anxious.

“There are hundreds of people in this castle, and some of them have ill intentions. The lady of the castle shouldn’t be in places like this unattended!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Maxi could not argue. He was right. Riftan’s lips, which had been forming a stiff line, softened at her apology. He swept her wind-blown hair back, then grabbed her arm.

“You’re making me worry, that’s all.”

With that, he began to walk ahead, and Maxi trailed after him like a dejected puppy. Though he usually tried to match her pace, he was now walking a few steps ahead of her. She was so busy stealing glances at his cold profile to gauge his anger that it took her a few moments to notice he was leading her away from the great hall.

“A-Aren’t we g-going back to the c-castle?”

“You said you came out to get some air,” he said brusquely, leading her toward the stables. “I told you before that I’d take you to the lake when it got warmer. Well, it’s sunny today. Let’s go for a ride.”

Maxi beamed, but her smile faded when her eyes fell on his armor once more.

“I-I heard y-you had an intense t-training session today. Sh-Shouldn’t you rest?”

“You seem not to have realized just how boundless my stamina is. I could march for three days straight without rest and be perfectly fine.”

Riftan shook his head as he entered the stable. Recalling the relentless passion that he had shown deep into the night, Maxi blushed. His stamina was indeed extraordinary. Fanning her face with her hands, Maxi followed Riftan in. Inside, the servants stopped sweeping the floor to greet them.

“My lord, my lady.”

Riftan waved dismissively, then went straight to Talon’s stall to saddle the horse. Maxi walked over to Rem’s stall. The mare had been sticking her head over the stall, and seeing Maxi approach, she began to paw at the ground in excitement. Maxi patted her neck with an apologetic look on her face.

“H-How are you, R-Rem?”

Rem snorted and nuzzled her shoulder. Maxi laughed and gently stroked her thick mane. Qenal, who had just entered with a bundle of fodder on his shoulders, promptly walked over to Maxi when he saw her.

“Good morning, my lady. Will you be riding with his lordship today?”

“W-We plan to go to the l-lake.”

Seeing her nod, the stablemaster adroitly saddled Rem for her. Maxi took the reins from him and led the horse out. Riftan, who had been waiting outside with Talon, hoisted her onto her horse.

“Don’t ride too fast. The wind is cold today.”

With that, he leaped onto Talon and rode toward the back gate. Maxi quickly followed after him, a look of anticipation on her face. Her heart raced when she remembered their ride through the meadows. Feeling her melancholy dissipate, Maxi rode on in high spirits.

“W-Where is the lake?”

“It’s down this path, just a little west of here.”

Riftan pointed to the winding path that led through the forest. Surrounded by bare but densely packed trees, the trail did not look easy to ride on.

After hesitating briefly, Maxi cautiously steered Rem onto the rough, winding track. They were surrounded by entangled branches. Still, she was able to maintain stability atop the horse; her riding practice had proved fruitful. Observing her skill, Riftan smiled faintly.

“You look far more graceful than you did before.”

“I-I practiced w-whenever I could.”

“Well done.”

Maxi blushed, feeling like a child that had just been praised. Riftan looked over his shoulder several times. When he was satisfied that she was keeping up, he accelerated slightly. Maxi tailed him closely as they galloped down the winding path.

The path grew wider as they rode on, and soon, a glistening silver lake came into view. When she looked down toward the foot of the hill, Maxi gasped. The bright blue sky and rust-colored mountain peaks were vividly reflected on the mirror-like surface of the circular lake.

Pine trees lined the edges of the lake like clusters of spears forming a fence, their dense branches thick with lush, dark green needles. Maxi smiled. She had not seen such greenery in a long while. Between the dense trees, she could see winter birds and wild animals drinking lake water.

When Riftan approached the lake on horseback, a stag that had been poking its head out of a bush darted away. Startled by the noise, birds flew away, and for a brief moment, the woods were in upheaval.

“I expected the lake to have frozen over, but it seems I was wrong.”

Riftan tapped Talon lightly with his heel and rode to the edge of the water. Maxi followed.

“C-Can such big lakes f-freeze over?”

“In the north, lakes even bigger than this freeze solid in winter, and people walk over them.”

Maxi’s eyes widened in disbelief. She had only seen thin layers of ice form in buckets of water that had been left outside in winter. That such an immense body of water could freeze over was difficult to imagine. She looked at Riftan dubiously, half-sure that he was poking fun at her naivete.

“H-How can that be p-possible? W-What if the ice c-cracks and you f-fall in?”

“People do drown from time to time.”

He sounded as nonchalant as if he were discussing the weather. Maxi frowned, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Th-Then why would p-people w-walk on the ice?”

“It’s perfectly safe if the ice is thick enough. Winters are harsher in the north, so unless colossal monsters like hydras are hiding in the water below, chances of the ice breaking are slim.”

Maxi’s eyes went round. Riftan spoke as though he had firsthand experience.

“H-Have you w-walked across a lake before?”

“Not a lake, but something similar. When I was a mercenary, I went on a monster raid in Balto and had to make my way across a giant glacier for three days to pass through the Tranoa highlands.”

“G-Glacier?”

“Glaciers are blocks of ice larger than that mountain over there.”

Maxi was awestruck by these revelations. Just how many astonishing things had Riftan experienced in his twenty-eight years of existence? He had not only defeated the Red Dragon – the most powerful and ferocious monster in the continent – but he had even walked across an ice mountain…

She, on the other hand, had never set foot outside her father’s castle or Anatol, and she was overwhelmed by the maintenance of the castle and her study of the most basic magic. Riftan’s feats filled her with wonder. How magnificent and full of life the world must seem to him! He seemed to be an entirely different species from her.

“H-Have you been t-to all seven k-kingdoms?”

“I haven’t been to Arex or Sykan. Not long after I became a mercenary, I went to live in Livadon for about two years. But after joining whatever raids and battles that were commissioned to me, I ended up as far up as Balto… The money was good there, but the place was practically uninhabitable for humans. So I decided to go down to Osiriya. I stayed in the Osiriyan capital for about three months to participate in a sword-fighting tournament held by the central church. That’s when they proposed to me that I join the Remdragon Knights.”

Riftan cocked his head, reminiscing, before continuing.

“After I returned to Wedon and became a knight, I spent most of my time in Anatol and Dristan.”