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330. Siblings Ep – Purpose

In the dim light of dawn, Nella woke from her slumber. As soon as she got up, she tightly hugged her husband, who lay beside her.

It was part of the sweetness of newlyweds, but also because it was cold. Despite having thoroughly prepared for the brutal cold from the north, there was no way to completely block it out.

Just as autumn was coming to an end, and here we were already.

Nella smacked her lips, patting her dear husband’s belly, before coming to her senses and getting up. Lifting the cotton blanket her parents had given her, the morning air was indeed chilly.

Time to get to work.

As she got out of bed and placed her feet on the floor, it crunched under her. Couldn’t afford anything like a carpet, just straw.

The straw mat made sure her shoes didn’t freeze from the cold rising from the floor. Nella put on her shoes, washed her face with cold water, and tossed a handful of firewood into the dying embers of the fireplace.

“Sweetheart, wake up.”

After waking her husband, she poured milk into her precious kitchen tool, a cast iron pot, and heated it. Setting a simple meal on the table (without eating) she hurriedly got ready to head out.

“I’ll be back.”

Her wife was leaving at the crack of dawn. Her husband might be displeased, but Nella had no choice.

She was the only one who could look after the Count. The newly acquired maid had run away.

Nella braved the chilly dawn air to enter the almost desolate Lord’s Castle. The guard was dozing off.

Still, she, being the head maid, scolded the guard awake and promptly went to the Count’s room. He probably hadn’t slept well…

‘Huh?’

Upon opening the door, she found the Count fast asleep.

Had he finally dozed off just now?

With all the candles scattered on the bedside table and books strewn about, it seemed so. Nella lay down softly next to the Count as she usually did.

This was her job.

The Count couldn’t fall asleep without a woman by his side.

When she first started working, she was really surprised. Held captive by a lecherous noble who wanted a bed warmer, she had thought, “What am I going to do?” and had glared at the situation.

She had even considered running away, but then what would happen to her peasant parents? With a heavy heart, she entered the bedroom.

But the Count (although she had not expected it, as mentioned before) had indeed never laid a finger on her. When she lay next to him, he would just fall asleep.

Having kept watch by the Count’s side for several years…

“I got married.”

Nella quietly gazed at the profile of Brestin Zauer.

What does being a noble matter anyway?

Trapped in the past, unable to sleep. How pitiful.

At that moment, the Count let out a soft groan and began to stir, just as Nella was about to tap on the bed to signal her presence. Brestin’s eyes snapped open.

“Oh! You’re awake? I’m here. Please go back to sleep.”

“…”

Brestin stared at Nella for a moment, let out a sigh of either relief or frustration, and sat up.

“Is it morning?”

“Yeah. I just started work. Oh? Are you getting up?”

“…Looks like I managed to rest a bit. Prepare breakfast.”

With a surprised ‘Huh?’ Nella rushed off with a happy face, while Brestin pulled back the heavy winter curtains. He stared blankly at the bed filled with sunlight, captivated by the cold stink of blood.

Dragging his eyes away from the bed, he naturally searched for a bottle of alcohol. At that moment, he spotted something strange.

A long triangular candlestick, typically used for rituals, was rolling by the door.

‘Why is this here?’ he thought, picking it up and heading outside. The candlestick finally found its rightful place at the end of the corridor, where a person he wanted to see desperately but also wanted to forget was drawn.

“…”

A moment later, Brestin asked Nella, who brought him breakfast.

“Where did the guests from yesterday stay?”

“Um… where was it? Ah! Prince Eryal is using the first-floor guest room, and the Princess said she’d take the room at the end over there. I gave my room to the maids, and the servants and knights are staying in the annex.”

“Hmm.”

“…Did I assign the rooms incorrectly? Actually, it wasn’t me who divided them; those maid sisters did it on their own… Should I ask them to change it?”

“That would be a big mistake.”

Brestin exclaimed in surprise.

“You saw royalty for the first time, huh? The guests who just arrived are people of extremely high status. Even I can’t casually change their room arrangements. And it’s not Eryal, it’s Yeryel. He’s the rightful heir of the Conrad Kingdom.”

“Even though this is your castle?”

“Sort of like that. I don’t know why the Prince of the Conrad Kingdom is here, but causing a breach of etiquette wouldn’t do us any good… Anyway, be careful.”

“Yes-! I’m just so glad that you haven’t touched alcohol since morning and you slept well without me.”

Nella chirped cheerfully.

Whether they were royals or not, they were no different from the nobles in her eyes.

In fact, Brestin didn’t worry much about the prince who had come from a faraway kingdom either. He just thought, ‘It’ll be busy around the castle for a while…’ like the time the princess wandered into his room at midnight.

As for him, he intended to not care about what the prince did while here… It wouldn’t take long to realize how naïve that thought was.

Dialo Brina.

The prince had brought along the second son of the Count Brina family, someone he truly didn’t want to see. Brestin’s eyes sparked with fire.

*

“Why did you bring that person along?”

Lean asked while bringing Ray along. Ray shrugged his shoulders and replied as if he didn’t know either.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You brought him here!”

“I mean, I have no idea why that person is needed. I just had a feeling it would be necessary to bring him along…”

If we summarize Ray’s words, it went like this.

Soon after being contacted through the mirror, Ray woke up.

Having the memories up to the 20th turn when Astroth descended, he was ecstatic that everything changed according to his wishes.

His mother was alive.

The Asran Kingdom had continued in unity without division, continuing the legacy of the ancient Maunin-Letii kings and queens, and Abrival Castle was peaceful. His father, who had locked himself in the study to read, was now active as a knight.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Ray spent a few days savoring the peace and identifying what had changed. A younger brother he never had appeared, which seemed to stem from his mother’s revival, and Dehorman was no longer a great warrior.

Aside from that… oh!

Then he discovered it. The lord of Abrival Castle had changed.

Unlike before, Abrival Castle was now under the ownership of the Kazak barony.

It had belonged to the Kazak barony before, but during the Nine-Day War, they sided with the Aster Kingdom and had their lands confiscated right after the war.

And a lord was dispatched to govern the confiscated territory, and that was none other than Dialo Brina.

There was a significant change, so Ray decided to meet the lord.

Abrival Castle was being administrated by ‘Daniel Kazak,’ the heir of the Kazak barony. From Ray’s impression, he was a congenial but somewhat stubborn lord.

The impression was not bad.

He tended to handle matters strictly according to principles, but being young, that was understandable, and he respected the Ainar Tribe, which made up most of the population of Abrival Castle.

Just as Maunin and Letii had hoped for the autonomy of the barbarian tribe.

But that had been the case even before the lord changed. The new lord Daniel merely appeared to be a replacement for the previous one, so Ray turned his gaze elsewhere.

Then where did Dialo Brina go? Upon reflection, he realized he had connections with him.

Hadn’t Lean asked him to finalize the smuggling that Count Brina had tried to do previously?

Ray felt that the change in the lord might provide some hint.

Not Count Diego Brina or his first son Diuro Brina, but their second son Dialo Brina may be necessary to carry out the task Lean requested.

Ray headed straight to find Dialo Brina.

Though he didn’t know where he was, using Tracking Skill, he made some excuses to his parents and summoned Kus to embark on the journey. Not long after, he managed to encounter Dialo Brina.

However, the Dialo he met was entirely different from the one Ray knew…

“So that’s why you brought him along.”

“Ah, why do you interrupt me when I’ve come all this way?”

Lean shrugged his shoulders and turned back.

Behind the cart guided by Ray sat a very skinny man.

While Ray looked on, curious about the prince, regardless, that was Dialo Brina. The chubby figure he once knew was nowhere to be found, replaced by a merchant who looked like he had been living a hard life.

A fate not uncommon for those born as second sons or illegitimate children.

It was customary for the firstborn of a noble family to inherit, while second or third born lived lives not much different from those of commoners.

But having a good start, they had the means to receive a quality education and could lead decent lives.

Yet such individuals were surprisingly rare. It was not easy to prepare for a change in their surrounding circumstances that they knew would come soon, and those suddenly thrown into the world of commoners struggled to adapt.

It looked like Dialo Brina was one of those.

Ray reached a conclusion based on his assumptions.

“In any case, I don’t know why that person is necessary, but since he’s a merchant and part of the Brina family, he might be able to mediate the smuggling between the Zauer family and the Brina family well? It seems we’re tied together for that ‘purpose.’”

“Hmm… That sounds plausible, but… No. You brought him well.”

Lean tapped the philtrum on his upper lip as he spoke. Ray immediately recognized that habit.

When he’s pondering, he taps something with his index finger; that’s Lean’s habit.

“Why? Did something go awry?”

“…Zauer said he already knew about the plan of Marquis Tatian. I tried to probe, but he cut me off before I could.”

“Oh dear.”

This time Ray shrugged his shoulders in response. There was something oddly similar in the way the two of them acted.

“Well, we’ll find out when we go. You just arrived, didn’t you?”

“Yesterday. I thought you’d be here before me. Was that person (Dialo Brina) far away?”

“Not exactly; part of it was that I played a bit with Lera first. By the way, I have to go back before this year ends.”

“Why?”

“If Lera doesn’t return inside, she won’t let me be. Maybe it’s because I dragged her, but… she got really mad.”

“Haha.”

Lean laughed knowingly. More than Lera’s temperament, he understood Ray’s situation.

Ray could never refuse Lera’s requests. The idea of breaking off the engagement with someone like Ray… Suddenly, Lean asked.

“By the way… I notice you’re not angry with us anymore. You were ready to beat up Reb when we met. What do you remember up to?”

“…Up to when Minseo returned.”

“Aha. So, you just don’t remember capturing Malhas. That makes sense.”

Ray fell silent for a moment. Watching Woody and Kus clatter along beside him, he finally spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

Though the subject was missing, Lean understood it was meant for Minseo. He simply continued on quietly without giving a detailed response.

Minseo already knew, after all.

Woody seemed to have taken a liking to Kus.