Chapter 31: Requiem Knights

Before even an hour had passed, a servant came and spoke to vilen at the door; then vilen returned and seemed a little hesitant

"I’m sorry, young master, but the Grand Duke requests your presence in his office."

I raised my head and looked at him with annoyance for a moment, but upon seeing his limping gait, I could do nothing but sigh...

"Prepare the bath for me."

Let us not add to this old man’s misery.

"At once, young master."

He got up and went off somewhere. I didn’t have to wait long before he returned and the bath had been prepared for me, so with the maids’ help I had a bath. Having been sweating for four days due to the fever... let’s just say I smelled like a corpse.

After my bath, and with the help of the maids, I put on decent clothes. Although I don’t usually bother with such details, that doesn’t mean I mind looking smart on occasion... especially in front of strangers, for an outcast like me has nothing but his reputation to uphold in their eyes...

And given that I’ll have to wander almost the entire length and breadth of the castle to reach the Grand Duke’s office, passing through the outer courtyards, there’s a high chance I’ll encounter some strangers.

"Is there anything I should know?"

Just to be on the safe side, I asked Vilen; perhaps he knows what’s been going on over the past four days, or why the Grand Duke sent for me.

"I haven’t been briefed on anything, young master."

Disappointing but expected; let’s put it out of our minds.

Before I left, I noticed a book on divination carefully placed on my desk, so I pointed to it.

"Give this to uncle Radmir’s servant; he left him here for this very purpose."

"Understood, young master."

Once the maids had finished the final touches, I stood in front of the mirror to look at the finished product.

There I found a quintessential northern lad—handsome, blue-eyed, blond-haired—standing bored in front of the mirror.

wearing white trousers, a white shirt with a black waistcoat over it, and short black gloves.

Although my eyes and hair don’t resemble hers, I’m the only one of my brothers who’s taken after mother’s features. I don’t know if this is a curse or a blessing; perhaps it’s this face that stops them from beating me, even though I’m the outcast son!

But it’s a face that reminds me, every time I look in the mirror, why I’m an outcast.

Never mind...

Let’s just go.

I rarely leave my room, as I’m officially jobless, but these days I can hardly even sit in my room. I don’t know if the Grand Duke is suffering from a split personality or what.!

Did he punish the sides character No. 1 and my valet just because I had a fever? Yet he didn’t even give me any time to rest; the moment I opened my eyes after four days, the first thing he did was summon me!... What a strange man!!!

As for the Grand Duke’s office, it’s in the northern section of the castle, literally on the other side of my room. And, to our misfortune, unlike the imperial residence in the capital—which consists of multiple palaces you can travel between by carriage—here you have to get everything done on foot.

And unlike the Throne Room, which is in the centre of the castle, it took me over an hour to get there because I had to pass through the Knights’ Courtyard – a place which, on its own, takes over half an hour to cross, as it’s the training and training ground for over 1,000 knights and knight-in-training who reside in the castle permanently.

Damn the designer and the architect...

But as soon as I entered the north Section, even the air seemed calmer here, and all the knights guarding the place are the Knights of Requiem Knight Order—the true elite of the Grand Duchy.

The Requiem Knights, or what are generally known on the continent as the Knights of Death: the least of them could be considered... . Let’s say a master swordsman in fantasy novels...

That’s right; each of them represents the pinnacle of human strength, and in any great power you’ll find no more than a hundred or two hundred of them, because training these knights is difficult—you have to train them whilst taking care that their own domain doesn’t kill them.... Not to mention their missions that cost a lot of lives - they are the men of difficult missions

And legend has it that this is why they are called the Knights of Death, because they literally live side by side with death in order to enhance their abilities and prove themselves worthy of their status and title

I do not know our exact number, but it is certain that our number of Knights of Death must have risen significantly of late, unless the last two Grand Dukes in succession were fools

For our House has gained a significant advantage in this regard thanks to our number one side character; and in fact, given that he is merely an illegitimate child, this may well have been the sole reason why the former Grand Duke kept him, recognised him as a son, and gave him the name Korvekar.

otherwise, in noble houses, illegitimate children are rarely kept in the household unless they possess something that catches the family’s attention and makes them worthy of their care; such children have no right to the throne, no inheritance, no claims of blood, and no legal rights whatsoever on the part of the father—or sometimes even the mother, should she have abandoned the child.

They are more outcasts than I am, even though I am the one who caused the greatest disaster to the house of Korvekar

...