Duke Pendragon

The carriage slowly passed the streets of the kingdom’s capital under the escort of the royal knights. Residents were rather disinterested in the group, not because they despised their kingdom’s royal family, but because the carriage was disguised as a regular, common vehicle.

The royal family’s carriage was decorated with the Pendragon family’s crest and pulled by eight horses, but their carriage was without the crest and pulled by only four horses. In addition, the escorting knights were dressed similarly to ordinary mercenaries.

‘Such peace…’

Isla observed the passersby with a satisfied expression.

Perhaps it was because they were currently in the royal capital of the kingdom, but the city appeared peaceful and lively.

In the past, the royal capital’s population numbered less than 10,000, but now it was a huge metropolis with a population of more than 100,000 residents. Moreover, three satellite villages were created within a radius of 20 kilometers around the royal road, and each of their populations exceeded 10,000.

It was perfectly reflective of how rich and prosperous the Pendragon Kingdom really was.

Soon, the carriage came to a crossroad and headed down a path. The Pendragon Kingdom’s royal road connected various parts of the kingdom.

“By the way, Mister Isla.”

“Hmm.”

Isla nodded in response, and Raymond continued with a curious expression.

“We have a flying carriage in the castle, right? The one pulled by the griffons. Why are we not riding that?”

“Ah, well, about that…”

The flying carriage was designed by Isla’s lord, Alan Pendragon. It was truly a breakthrough, innovative invention in many ways.

It was certainly useful for regular transport, as well as during wartimes.

Nevertheless, there was a simple reason why they were not utilizing the flying carriage this time around.

“It is dangerous to travel by the flying carriage to places we have never been before. Just as there are roads and paths in the sea, there are wind routes in the sky as well. Of course, griffons are creatures that instinctively sense such paths, so they will be fine, but since the carriage is pulled by more than one griffon, the carriage could be greatly shaken by the wind or even crash into a mountain. As such, we do not travel via the flying carriage to new places.”

“Aha! I see. It’s similar to how a wooden boat sometimes spins in the river, right?”

“Hooh. Exactly.”

Isla was amazed.

Even though Raymond was only seven, he seemed to understand Isla’s words properly.

‘He truly is the blood of the lord. He takes after the lord in being intelligent.’

Elsia possessed platinum blonde hair just like her father, but Raymond had black hair. It was rather pleasantly plain.

As such, most people had a hard time believing that the two children were twins. However, time after time, Isla thought Raymond took after his father more so than Elsia.

Without any instructions or explanations, Raymond was naturally attracted to the scimitar. He practiced with a wooden version of the weapon. Moreover, he was able to see far. He was able to fathom many things from a simple sentence. In that sense, Raymond was very much like his father.

“Aunt Mia, where are we going first?”

Mia had always adored her nephew and niece since they were born. She replied with a bright smile.

“Well, we are currently on our way to Edenfield, where Lord Elven is serving as the governor-general.”

“Edenfield? What kind of place is that?”

Raymond asked with sparkling eyes, and Mia stroked his head while silently dying from his cuteness.

“It is one of the largest cities in the Aragon Empire. Edenfield is the name of a city as well as the nearby area. The granaries and wheat fields are extremely vast and wide.”

“Wow! How big is it?”

“Well. Hmm, even if Mister Karuta runs all day, he will not be able to cross from end to end.”

Mia was known to be rather peculiar since she was young. She adored stories relating to monsters, and even now, she still retained her habits even though she was a proper lady in her late teens.

No matter how much stamina Karuta possessed, he could not possibly run for an entire day. But even if he did, it would be impossible to measure how much distance he could cross.

However, Raymond was only seven-years-old, and he interpreted Mia’s analogy to his own. He roughly perceived it as being ‘extremely wide’.

“Wow! Wow! Even if Mister Karuta runs all day!? Woooww!”

Raymond expressed shock and wonder. Unsurprisingly, Elsia and Raymond were extremely fond of Karuta.

Ordinary children were afraid of other races such as the orcs and centaurs, but the two were different.

Even now, they would playfully hang from Karuta’s large fangs whenever they saw him. Orc warriors cherished their fangs and took fastidious care of them, since the fangs were the symbol of the orc warriors. He even polished his fangs up to several times a day, but even Karuta was helpless in front of the twins. He found them adorable even when they were hanging from the symbol of his pride.

Of course, Kazzal was battered to the point of death after sneakily attempting to do something similar.

“Your Majesty Isla, you have never met Lady Anne-Marie, have you?”

“That is correct, Princess. I have had the pleasure of meeting Governor-General Edenfield in the past, but never his daughter. To be honest, I only found out that he had a daughter after hearing from His Majesty Aragon.”

Isla’s expression and voice turned somewhat dry when Mia brought up the topic of his bride candidates. Mia fully understood why he reacted in such a fashion. Feeling a little solemn, she tried her best to speak in a bright voice.

“From what I heard from Her Majesty the Queen, she is very bright and beautiful. Although I have never met her before either, from what I know of her father, Lord Elven, she must be a wonderful lady.”

“You can never really know someone before meeting them.”

“…..”

Isla responded in a rather cold voice, and Mia promptly fell into silence.

‘Ah…’

Isla felt guilty after seeing her appearance.

How could he fail to control his own emotions when he was already over 30 years old…? Besides, was she not his lord’s younger sister?

“I apologize, Princess. I was not trying to reprimand or offend you.”

“I, It’s alright. It is true. Just as you said, you can never really know someone without meeting them.”

Irene was always bright and cheerful in nature. In contrast, Mia had always been quiet and gentle since childhood.

Moreover, she did not speak properly until only seven or eight years ago. Of course, she had fallen into such a state after experiencing massive shock, but those who remembered Mia’s old state became quite nervous when dealing with her.

Isla changed the conversation in consideration of her.

“Ehem. Anyways, I saw that there were quite a few young nobles and knights in the castle. Is it because of you, Princess Mia?”

The Valvas Cavaliers were known for their passion. Isla was relentless and straightforward when it came to matters between men and women.

Naturally, he did not express himself in front of everyone, but it was different for the people of the Pendragon family. They were like family to him.

“I, It’s not like that…”

Mia’s face turned red like a ripe apple.

“How could that be? Whenever I looked, none of them could take their eyes off the Princess nor breathe properly. I heard countless sighs of the young knights.”

“It’s not...”

“No! It's true! Sir Robson and Sir Tyler too! Whenever Aunt Mia appeared, they became sick!”

“R, Ray…!”

“Hooh? They became sick?”

“Yeah! Their faces turned red and they started stuttering and speaking nonsense! And whenever auntie left, they sighed so heavily! They were definitely sick!”

Raymond shouted excitedly, and Mia stole glances at Isla. Even her ears were turned to a shade of beet-red.

“Hooh…”

Isla responded with a solemn look.

“You have a good eye. It is a kind of disease. There are no known medications to treat the disease as well.”

“Ahh! I don’t know about Sir Robson, but Sir Tyler can’t die. He always plays with me… W, what kind of disease is it?”

Raymond spoke with teary eyes, and Isla replied with a serious expression.

“It is a disease known as lovesickness…”

“L, lord Isla!”

Eventually, Mia raised her voice.

***

The carriage travelled leisurely against the backdrop of early spring. Soon, it came to a stop at the entrance of a village.

“What is the purpose of your visit?”

Although ordinary villages did not necessarily inspect all passersby, Aden Village was located only 50 kilometers from the royal road. Moreover, it was protected by walls and had a population in the thousands.

As such, there were separate entrances for pedestrians and carriages, and the guards greeted the envoy with a firm, but polite attitude. The carriage was accompanied by as many as ten guards.

“We are…”

One of Mia’s escorting royal knight started to speak, but was interrupted by the opening of the carriage door. A voice came from within.

“Shelby, it has been a while.”

“Huh?”

Shelby was the captain of Aden Village’s guards – a man in his mid-to-late 30’s. He forgot the situation and became wide-eyed at the voice.

It was a familiar voice that he yearned to hear.

And the handsome, toned man coming out of the carriage was…

“C, captain!”

Shelby shouted loudly as tears started forming in his eyes. However, he quickly collected himself and gave a salute as the guard captain.

“Former member of the Pendragon Duchy’s griffon unit! Rider Michum Shelby greets Captain Isla!”

He was one of the heroic warriors and griffon riders from the past. He had accompanied Isla to the South and fought bravely.

However, most griffon riders experienced fall accidents, and Shelby was no exception. After suffering an injury from an accident, he retired at an early age.

Afterwards, he was granted the status of a guard captain at a fairly large village with the grace of the Pendragon family.

“How have you been? I think you have gained some weight.”

Although Isla was cold to others, he was generous to his subordinates. In addition, Shelby had honorably retired after being injured while fighting more bravely than anyone else.

“N, not at all, captain! Ah! My apologies! Your Majesty Isla!”

The guard captain hurriedly knelt down on one knee.

He had forgotten himself in the moment after seeing his captain once more, who was basically a living legend. His captain was mostly unchanged from the past even after seven years, but he was now the king of a nation.

“It’s fine. Anyways, I am glad to see that you are healthy.”

“I am grateful for your words, Your Majesty.”

The guard captain stood up straight and smiled awkwardly.

“Anyways, what brings you all this way?”

Although the gap in their status was enormous, they shared a bond forged in battlefields of life and death. The guard captain asked with a bright expression after regaining his old attitude.

“Hmm.”

Isla glanced back towards the people who were whispering amongst themselves. It was a relief. From their appearance, it seemed they did not know who he was.

Perhaps it was only natural. After the Pendragon Kingdom developed enormously, Isla only visited once or twice a year. Moreover, he almost exclusively visited the castle. It could be said that almost no one would recognize his face.

“I am on my way with Princess Mia and Prince Raymond.”

“Whu-ut!”

The guard captain’s eyes bulged with shock after hearing Isla’s whisper.