Chapter 43

Victory in a civil war entails much more than simply being chosen as the next head of the family by pushing Toren aside. It means gaining the ability to obtain far more.

While how effortlessly one receives these rewards depends on their own capabilities, it seems that Serasie doesn’t appear to have such concerns.

Toren Hiart.

Now, it’s time to decide the fate of my older brother, whose very surname, Hiart, is at risk of being taken away.

Since I can’t trust Father, I need to personally establish a way to monitor him.

In addition, as a woman and a magician, I need to win the trust of the northerners. I also have to take care of the long-delayed matters of the social scene.

In political relations akin to a battlefield, connections are invaluable. It’s reassuring to think that helping both Lacatus and the Dranunus family’s revival to establish strong connections was a good plan.

To do that, I must first show up in society. While it’s uncertain whether Eclecia Salon, which once rejected me, will accept me again, it doesn’t matter much. Considering the rare chance of being the young mistress of the North, they likely want to create strong ties with someone in a decent position.

The old elders of the North are the same. Regardless of how much they may dislike me as a woman and a magician, they have no choice in the matter.

The lineage they so value now has only Serasie left.

They once cast away three daughters with their own hands, and the eldest son has had his family name stripped away.

Imagining the elders’ deeply wrinkled faces congratulating me in the future is quite exhilarating, a contrast to the position they held when they urged me to drive away my mother.

Serasie gazes at the boy who made all this possible.

He came to help on the front lines and stayed by her side even during rare moments of rest.

Kalen swung his staff around casually as he sat on a rock of snow, gazing off into the distance.

“What are you thinking about?”

When Kalen gave her one last chance, so much changed.

Even now, when she thinks he’s not by her side, her thoughts go dark, but when she pictures their joint future, it somehow becomes bearable.

A fleeting moment for eternity. Serasie named the eternal time waiting for Kalen as such, for Kalen will never betray her trust under any circumstances.

“I was looking at Hiart Mountain.”

Kalen, gripping his staff, spoke without shifting his gaze. Although Serasie is a magician, she couldn’t help but feel that the staff, somewhat outdated, strangely gained charm in Kalen’s hands.

“Do you want to go back?”

The view from the top of Hiart Mountain is not the sort one forgets easily. Is he reminiscing about those past events?

“No.”

“Then?”

“I was thinking about the cave.”

Ah. Serasie sighed softly.

It’s a memory still vivid enough to cause goosebumps. The monstrous eyes weren’t easily forgettable either.

“Because it reminded me of someone I know.”

Kalen absentmindedly rubbed near his heart.

Upon seeing this, Serasie recalled Kalen’s body.

The wounds he sustained then were severe enough, but there was something else that seemed more worrisome.

“…Does it have something to do with the scars?”

“How did you know?”

“I, I happened to see it…”

Telling the truth wouldn’t be unusual in this situation. His clothes had been torn in a tense moment, and it wasn’t hard to understand.

But Serasie was shy and involuntarily changed the subject.

Could you really see someone’s naked form by chance?

Kalen, tilting his head, soon nodded.

“The symbol there seemed familiar, which is why I went in. I didn’t expect to find such a monster, but in the end, it was something I recognized and I managed to deal with it.”

A story she didn’t know. Kalen rarely spoke about his past, so opportunities to hear about it were rare.

Is his disregard for his own well-being a trait he’s had from the start?

Seeing his body filled with terrible scars made it clear. At the time, she hadn’t had the chance to closely examine him, but even just from the faint memories she had, it was enough to understand how much pain his body had endured.

“I’ll have to take one last look before we leave.”

Kalen, placing his staff at his waist, stepped down from the rock.

Though she wanted to go with him, by the time she said anything, Kalen was already far ahead.

Was stepping ahead so disheartening?

Serasie quietly regretted her actions once again as she followed the footprints in the snow.

The moment the civil war was won and most things were wrapping up,

*

“Will you keep your promise?”

“Yeah… It’s a promise I made with Kalen.”

The promise as a bodyguard had long ended.

When Toren was deposed and his encounter with Azcalc concluded,

Kalen came to the north and agreed to serve as Serasie’s bodyguard, while at the same time,

Hiart would collaborate with Lacatus to revive the Dranunus family.

Since she kept her promise well,

now it was Serasie’s turn to repay the favor.

Surely, that’s the meaning Kalen was conveying.

However, one thing was overlooked.

The fact that the promise Serasie understood was entirely different.

Kalen didn’t know that.

As her face slowly turned red while observing the boy’s expression,

until she eventually bowed her head,

Serasie couldn’t say a word.

A promise refers to brewing new wine and presenting it to Kalen again.

The words “don’t forget the promise” pierced deep into her heart.

A promise twisted due to Kalen’s misunderstanding of Serasie’s feelings,

and a meaning of promise born from a misunderstanding.

Still, strangely, this twisted promise fit the situation well.

Both of them didn’t notice this subtle distortion.

In fact, they had no leisure time.

Serasie’s handling of the aftermath of the civil war meant she didn’t need to examine her overlooked distortion in detail.

And Kalen had much to think about on his own.

One of them was Serasie’s subconscious mind.

Invariably, in Serasie’s subconscious mind painted in crimson,

Kalen’s presence also existed.

Just like Eliana’s winter island.

It would be hard to ask her to hide her subconscious.

Hiding the most potent weapon from the now crucial Serasie was too much.

Like how they managed to overlook it during Eliana’s time,

but coincidence becomes inevitability when it happens twice.

Mages themselves aren’t common, and it’s even rarer for them to be idolized for their subconscious minds.

Moreover, it’s rare for someone else to appear in their subconscious minds.

And if that someone is found to be the same person,

A rare event multiplied by another rare event,

And then another rare event.

If something rare happens four times,

can you dismiss it as coincidence and move on?

Anyway, Kalen’s mind was complex for these reasons.

Serasie’s subconscious, the emblem of the spirit called the king carved in the cave.

It’s natural not to notice whether their thoughts align when they hear the word ‘promise.’

“Well, I’ll go then.”

Separations grow uglier the longer they are dragged out.

Kalen, though he was also reluctant to part, had a lot to do.

Just as Kalen tried to cut the farewell short, he was held by the right arm.

“This.”

At the same time, a small brooch was handed over.

The small brooch bore the crest of the Hiart family.

“Can I wear this on yours as well…?”

Serasie, holding his arm, hesitantly,

gripped the strap of his glasses.

The strap where a brooch she received from Eliana was attached.

Serasie was saying she wanted to hang her brooch there as well.

“…”

Kalen barely managed to stifle the urge to absentmindedly ask why.

Since Serasie had shown signs of regret over parting since they were dealing with the aftermath of the civil war together.

And it wasn’t out of place to see it as a final farewell gift.

There’s a noble etiquette where gratitude is expressed with a brooch engraved with the family crest.

Recalling Blamia’s teachings, Kalen nodded toward Serasie who was looking at him earnestly.

The beautiful ruby gleamed brightly as she opened the brooch and hung it on the glasses strap.

“Done.”

When she handed him the strap on her palm,

the insignias of Lacatus and Hiart were engraved side by side.

“Bye, Kalen.”

When she shifted her gaze, there was a gentle and bashful girl smiling.

Kalen silently gazed at the smile before nodding and turning around.

The dangling glasses strap with the glittering brooches.

Only the Hiart insignia seemed particularly dazzling, and it wasn’t just Kalen’s illusion.

While picturing the departing boy’s silhouette,

Serasie stayed there for quite some time.

*

“Pi-ne.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Etiquette teacher. Is she still around the family?”

Serasie, who was looking at her reflection on the mirror in the corner of the room,

Despite her figure being ambiguously unsuitable for neither side,

this body she detested so much lately has started to feel slightly different.

Would it suit the heart of a boy who favors muted colors?

Serasie wondered aloud to the nearby maid.

A capable child despite her past, having earned recognition for her abilities,

Serasie, who currently could hardly be pleased by anyone but Kalen,

ultimately had to prioritize abilities over all other factors.

Pigne had been diligently learning the family’s business since being released from the underground prison.

Though startled by Serasie’s sudden question, there was no reason to withhold the information she knew.

“Yes, Miss. She is currently supervising the training of senior maids…”

“Could you guide me to her?”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

Though startled, Pigne carefully fulfilled her guiding duties.

Thus, in the room where the family’s senior maids were being trained,

with the click of the door opening,

and hair fluttering, not blood-colored, but wine-colored,

Serasie summoned the Hiart family’s etiquette teacher.

“Miss?”

“Could I ask you for one thing? Anna?”

“Um…?”

Caught off guard by this unexpected situation, the etiquette teacher, called Anna, couldn’t fully understand Serasie’s words.

But among them, there was one that was crystal clear.

“A lesson in bridal etiquette…?”

“Yes.”

Once cheerful, the expressions on her face were now icy.

“Because I felt it necessary.”

Once the girl who had torn etiquette books with her own hands,

she had come back to the etiquette teacher.

While unfolding the final chapter of the etiquette lessons she hadn’t experienced before, in bride training.

*

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