Chapter 240

Chapter 240 - The White-Haired Knight

As soon as Raymond returned to the mansion, he listened to David’s report before even taking off his armor.

That was because even the written report he had received had seemed anything but ordinary.

“…You said His Highness the Margrave met with the Young Master and left.”

“Y-Yes. That is correct. He came directly to the mansion in an aerial warship and stopped right above it.”

“His battering-ram temperament has not gone anywhere.”

Raymond let out a faint sigh and set down his helmet.

As one of the Three Generals, he had faced the Margrave a few times, though not many. Each time, the Margrave had never hidden himself.

Whether his temper was foul or not, he displayed it without the slightest restraint and made the other party lower their head on their own.

He must have shown that disposition without restraint to the Fifth Son as well.

“Is the Young Master in his room now?”

“Yes. If you are going to see him, you should remove your armor—”

“No. Not today.”

Raymond shook his head.

“In any case, the Three Generals must also attend tomorrow’s social gathering. We will depart together, so there is no need to visit him late at night.”

“Yes, understood. There is also something I could not deliver to you in writing, General.”

“What is it?”

David mentioned the person the Youngest Son had foretold before Raymond arrived: the shield.

“His Highness the Margrave said he would send someone to the Young Master. I cannot say for certain, but that person should arrive here at the mansion by tomorrow morning…”

At that notice, some of the mysteries in Raymond’s mind were resolved.

“I can understand to some extent what His Highness the Margrave and the Young Master discussed.”

“Should I prepare to receive him?”

“He is someone sent by His Highness the Margrave. He will not like anything cumbersome, so, David, guide him to the Young Master appropriately.”

“Understood.”

Raymond let out a sigh and took off his armor piece by piece.

The Margrave, also called a Little Snowfield Giant among the central nobles, had come and gone from this place.

In all likelihood, before the Margrave, countless nobles and great merchants had sent letters.

They must have wished to meet the person who had entered the Imperial Palace, whose every door had been locked, reached the emperor, and even pushed aside the Wisdom delegation that had come as envoys.

“I settled on the outskirts of the Imperial Palace because I wished to live in peace. Yet after admitting one troublesome guest, there has not been a single day when the gates of this house could remain closed.”

With a self-mocking laugh, he thought of tomorrow. Just that made his head begin to ache.

The social gathering was a battlefield of weasels.

They were all people who hid their fangs and claws behind shadows, watching greedily for their opponent to expose their throat.

However, Raymond was not worried about the Youngest Son. Rather, he pitied the central nobles who would face the Fifth Son.

The Fifth Son of Millesdusk was specialized in deception to the point that even the Fanatical Knight Leo had instantly become wary of him.

“An invisible bloody wind will clearly blow tomorrow.”

Raymond murmured as he looked out the window.

The moon, not far from full, hung brightly in the middle of the night sky.

***

Pale moved from the Margrave’s side to the district of the Three Generals.

When he walked up to the gate, a man wearing a splendid feathered hat received him.

“You are the person His Highness the Margrave sent, yes?”

“That is correct. I am Pale, a borderland knight.”

“I am David, attendant to General Raymond. The General instructed me to guide the guest to the Young Master.”

“I thank you for your kindness. Also, here is His Highness the Margrave’s seal.”

The white-haired knight held out a medal engraved with a massive wall from inside his clothes.

Because of the hot weather, the only thing that identified him as a knight was the imperial border-style sword at his waist.

“Yes. I have confirmed it.”

After lightly examining the medal, David led the way.

They passed through a thick, low-lying fog and arrived at the mansion of General Raymond, one of the Three Generals.

Befitting a knight who protected the Empire’s airspace, it was a place as white as summer clouds.

After staring silently at the mansion for a moment, Pale followed David and arrived before a certain room.

Knock, knock—

“Young Master. Sir Pale, the knight sent by His Highness the Margrave, has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

The voice that came from inside had more weight than expected, yet it was a strangely youthful voice.

“You may enter.”

“Thank you.”

“Then I wish you luck.”

“…?”

Pale turned his head at those incomprehensible words, but the attendant had already turned around and disappeared.

“…What was that?”

He muttered and opened the door.

Beyond the door stood a man whose skin looked even paler under the sunlight.

He was leisurely reading a book and turning the pages.

The bloodshot eyes that had been directed toward the black letters soon looked away from the white paper and toward the white-haired knight.

“Are you my shield?”

“…That is correct.”

As expected, the tone was unbearably arrogant, befitting a blood kin of a Great Family. Pale spat inwardly.

“What is your name?”

“Pale.”

“Your affiliation?”

“I belong to His Highness the Margrave’s direct knight order, ‘Cold Iron.’”

TAP—

The Youngest Son closed the book and straightened his posture.

“If that is all, then you are a rather useless shield.”

“……”

“Is someone of your level enough as the spear I will place in the Margrave’s hand someday?”

“…That is something you may judge later.”

The white-haired knight answered quietly while his hand stroked the hilt of his sword.

Although he had said that he could be judged later, he himself had already finished judging this side.

What that judgment was could be read entirely from the blue eyes beneath that white hair.

To begin with, he was a transparent fellow, just like his superior, the Margrave.

The Youngest Son laughed softly and said,

“You do not even see me as someone you need to protect.”

“I will simply fulfill my responsibility.”

“We shall see about that in time.”

“……”

The white-haired knight shut his mouth without adding anything more.

The more he watched him, the more this fellow reminded him of someone. That someone was the one who had stood at the gate of the Dark Moon Grand Castle.

Like that fellow, Pale made him want to tease him endlessly, and his reactions showed immediately, which made him amusing.

“When will you leave the Imperial Palace?”

Seeing as he asked about his working hours as soon as he arrived, he was indeed a straightforward fellow.

It was plainly obvious that he did not want to do this.

“When my companions draw close to the Empire, I will leave.”

“In order to place a spear in His Highness the Margrave’s hand, you will have to meet with your companions and defeat Wisdom. Can you win?”

The Youngest Son rose from his seat.

“I appreciate you worrying about me, but that concern is excessive.”

He took off the coat he was wearing and put on the clothes he had worn at the banquet.

With that alone, the Youngest Son’s preparations were complete.

“There is no need to go so far as to trust me. You only have to trust the Margrave you like so much.”

“…His Highness?”

“Yes. The Margrave bet that I would win, did he not? That is why he made a deal to receive a spear from me.”

The Youngest Son walked past the white-haired knight.

“Let us go. For reference, I intend to drink every cup of alcohol anyone offers me. Stop me as needed.”

“……”

Pale could only silently watch the difficulty of his mission leap upward.

At the same time, his resentment toward the Margrave grew. What warm Parfe? The frigid walls of the borderland were far easier on the mind.

“Young Master. The carriage has been prepared.”

When they went to the front gate at the appointed time, Raymond was there with David.

He had prepared two carriages.

“It seems you should ride with me, Young Master.”

The Youngest Son nodded obediently.

“Let us do that. You follow from behind.”

“…Yes.”

The hound-like knight did not even nod and simply answered. His pride was no small thing.

Well, all the knights of the borderland were like that.

Once he climbed into Raymond’s carriage, David closed the door. At the same time, a moving closed room was formed.

As soon as that closed room was made and the coachman set the horses moving, Raymond spoke.

“I heard His Highness the Margrave came and left yesterday.”

“That title comes naturally to you too.”

“If one considers our military positions, we Three Generals are at the top, but that does not mean we can ignore His Highness the Margrave’s bloodline.”

The Margrave held the noble title of count, but because of the blood of the Imperial Family, he was ultimately no different from a king.

Thus, the Empire’s nobles used the title of Your Highness for him, the king of the borderland.

Of course, that was only because the Three Generals here acknowledged him and used that title. It did not apply to the blood kin of the East.

The Youngest Son nodded roughly and continued.

“So you are curious about why the Margrave came to see me.”

“I can guess that to some extent. All the central nobles know that His Highness has a strong interest in the conquest of the North.”

“Then you want confirmation from me. You want to confirm whether the Margrave, who is so interested in the conquest of the North, is truly trying to borrow even Millesdusk’s hand.”

“Shamefully, yes. In addition, judging by that knight, it seems you accepted some sort of deal His Highness proposed.”

The Youngest Son smiled softly and asked,

“What is that knight that you would make such a guess?”

“What do you mean, what is he? He is a borderland knight famous enough for his reputation to reach Parfe.”

“It has not reached the East.”

The Youngest Son lied. To be precise, it was a lie that was not quite a lie.

Rumors about the white-haired knight had not reached the East, but at least he knew of him.

He heard it once more from Raymond’s mouth.

“Pale is young, but he has been marked as the next Margrave. To be honest, in the borderland, they must place the person the borderland itself follows at the head.”

“I see.”

The Youngest Son only nodded with an expression that held no particular impression.

However, mischief had already stirred at the corners of his mouth.

“His hair is far too white for someone who is supposed to be the next Margrave.”

Raymond nodded at those words as well.

“Because of that, there were many suspicions. Suspicions that Pale might carry the blood of Winterbringer.”

“Even if such suspicions existed, the Margrave would have put an end to them, would he not?”

“That is correct. There was gossip about his own successor, so there is no way His Highness the Margrave would have remained still.”

Raymond cleared his throat briefly and continued.

“In any case, Young Master. Please take care of yourself.”

“I know.”

“Even so, you must be even more cautious. You have the shield called His Highness the Margrave and even the guard called Pale, but this is the center.”

This was Parfe, said to be so vast that it would take an entire day to walk from its east gate to its west gate.

Anything could happen, and this was the domain of the central nobles.

However, there was one fact Raymond and the others were overlooking.

“Do not worry. I know as much as they do.”

“I envy that confidence.”

“Then learn it.”

Raymond laughed softly and turned his head.

He seemed to think that this confidence was a joke, but the Youngest Son was sincere.

After all, this place, the home of the central nobles, had once been the player’s home far more often in the past.

***

One hour before the social gathering.

The Crown Prince was led by his younger sister’s hand to the back garden of the Imperial Palace.

Compared to the front, this place was relatively quiet, and there had not been much to see. Now, however, something had appeared.

“What do you think?”

“Wow…”

Crown Prince Exil swallowed a low sound.

His younger sister guided him to a red ice sculpture.

The sculpture resembled the younger sister who had guided him closely enough that he could tell at once it had been modeled after her, but something about it was different.

After realizing what that was, the Crown Prince asked,

“Does this sculpture express the future you, Exia?”

“That is right.”

The Crown Prince admired it once more.

“Judging by the craftsmanship, it must be Dante’s work.”

“That is also right. I received it as a gift.”

The Princess left out the circumstances that had led to her receiving it and only said that it was a gift.

Therefore, it was easy for the listener to misunderstand.

“Since marriage discussions are being exchanged, Dante must want to get on your good side.”

“…That is not it. There is no way it could be.”

A man who wanted to get on someone’s good side would not visit that person’s room in the middle of the night, would he?

The Crown Prince looked at the sculpture and once more adjusted the clothes he had dressed in for the social gathering.

“Like this sculpture, I must also be dignified today.”

“What reason is there for you not to be dignified, Older Brother? I will be by your side, so hold your shoulders proudly.”

“Thank you.”

The Crown Prince smiled warmly and headed toward the social gathering venue.

It was time to go out onto a battlefield without spears or swords.