The Blue-Eyed Knight (1)
“What are you thinking about?”
Josef, who was momentarily dazed by the pouring sunlight, quickly opened his eyes and raised his head.
As his vision became increasingly clear, he could see Peter looking at him closely.
He seemed to be pondering for a moment whether he should worry about his weak son as a father or scold him harshly as the head of the family.
“It looks like you were tired.”
“sorry.”
His father’s gaze began to slowly appear in Peter’s eyes.
You must be tired.
Starting from Shoara, we had to constantly run up to Sturmá and prepare to make Vlad a knight.
It would have been impossible for a boy named Vlad to be appointed as a knight in the youngest and shortest period of time in the history of the Bayezid family without the presence of Josef.
“I gave the child the same status as you wanted.”
“thank you.”
Josef quickly looked out the window to come to his senses.
Although it was difficult to see the outside scenery clearly due to Peter’s appearance, the snow hanging on the window frame gave Josef a cool feeling.
“Soon, a meeting will be held where all the northern lords will gather.”
“······Is that so.”
However, there was no need to wake up by looking at the window.
Peter’s words that he soon heard came as a surprise to Josef.
“Is this a grand meeting?”
“okay.”
The Northern Conference has not been called once in over ten years.
Josef’s eyes naturally began to grow heavy upon hearing that this would happen soon.
‘I didn’t even feel it.’
Since it was a gathering place for all the northern lords, there must have been signs seen everywhere.
But Josef had no such feelings at all.
This may mean that security was maintained that strongly or that the process was carried out in such a hurry that no one noticed.
“I want the lord of Deermar to sit in that position.”
One word with many meanings.
When Josef was embarrassed for a moment and could not open his mouth, Peter grabbed the bottle of alcohol next to him and began to quietly pour it.
Soon, only the scent of clear brown light and the sound of flowing water filled the office.
“Baron Alicia will know. “Dermar can no longer cross between the north and the center.”
The peaceful times are over.
Now is the time to come together to survive.
And that choice will be even harsher for fiefdoms that have maintained neutrality, such as Deirmar.
“······Will she choose us?”
“I know what you’ve worked so hard to do.”
Peter looked at his son sitting across from him with deep eyes.
His second son, Josef Bayezid, is smart but weak.
However, I know that he struggled so desperately because he was not born with sharp teeth.
“I will do my best to support you. As far as Deermar is concerned, you are Bayezid.”
So, you should also repay that struggle.
Both as a father and as the head of the Bayezid family.
“thank you. father.”
“It’s been a while since you came up, so take a break for a few days. “Enough to satisfy your mother.”
As Josef, who noticed that the conversation was over, left the office with a subtle smile, Peter picked up the glass next to him with a short sigh.
“I’m worried…”
Deremar is probably not the only one wondering what to choose.
Peter also stands at a crossroads and will have to make a decision in the coming years.
The blood of nobles should be cold blue.
Because on their shoulders were an immeasurable amount of duty and responsibility.
Peter stood up and looked out the window, holding a glass full of alcohol.
Winter was coming with falling snow.
As Advisor Ragmus said, it seemed like this winter would be colder than last year.
※※※※
Shiny cloak, shiny armor.
Vlad, who left the mansion in the same manner as yesterday, was now standing on the walls of Sturma.
“It was a scene like this.”
Vlad said, looking at the scene in front of him.
The color of dusk passing over the horizon was turning the northern plains, along with the walls of Sturma, red.
“It was a sight I wanted to show you at least once.”
Ramund said, looking at Vlad, who was looking ahead with a blank expression.
He had always been dressed in shabby clothes, but his current appearance was completely different from before.
Although he didn’t have full armor, he was wearing the surcoat and cape that knights often wear, and he looked like a knight with such dignity that anyone who saw him would bow his head.
“The walls of Sturma have grown by drinking blood.”
Vlad turned his head without realizing it when he heard a serious voice coming from next to him.
“The blood of our enemies and the blood of Bayezid.”
Ramund was there, facing the boy in a very different atmosphere than before.
“And when the time comes, you too will have to give up your blood.”
“······.”
Vlad, who seemed to know what Ramund was talking about, simply nodded quietly without saying anything.
It takes someone’s blood to protect something.
And the beings called knights were people who swore that they would willingly give up their blood when that time came.
The old knight was explaining the fundamentals of knighthood to a boy who had just become a knight.
“all right. “Young man.”
“It’s Ramund.”
The one who wandered in the lowest places who now speaks his name.
“From now on, call me Lord Ramund.”
He had wandered around with his old body in search of the honors he had not been able to collect, and now he was holding only the last piece of honor in his hands.
“Take it.”
And finally, the old man was able to escape from the lowest position.
By handing the boy the last coin he had with him.
“What is this?”
“The price of your armor that I paid for.”
The meal I got from you, the lodging fee at the inn I rented from you.
And for all the possibilities you showed me.
One ducat to pay for it all.
“Just this?”
“That’s all.”
Vlad frowned at the badly rusted coin, but Ramund just smiled at the boy who knew nothing.
“Enough is enough.”
The old man had owed the boy a lot over the years, and it was not a result of a reckless attitude, but a thorough intention.
The boy, who had naturally become a supporter of the lowliest according to Ramund’s intentions, was just confused by the old coin he had just taken out, but could not complain in any particular way.
Now, the old man in front of the boy was not an unknown old man, but someone who was his long-time senior.
“Please come visit my manor sometime later.”
“Iknow, right. “I guess I can go there and get the missing amount.”
Ramund smiled at the quietly grumbling boy.
“Your visit is always welcome. “Lord Vlad.”
“······yes?”
Vlad was momentarily taken aback when he saw Ramund calling himself Sir.
Because I haven’t learned what to say in response in times like this.
“It’s been fun so far.”
Vlad only made a subtle expression as he saw Ramund offering to shake his hand.
The unadorned sword had served its purpose, so he parted ways with the boy.
The old knight has done his duty and now wants to part ways with the boy.
“······.”
Seeing Ramund saying goodbye to him, Vlad just caressed the coin he gave him.
For the boy, the breakup was still just an awkward moment.
The setting twilight illuminated the two people, along with the walls of Sturma, in red.
Vlad’s hand, which was shaking Ramund’s hand, was rising as slowly as the slowly waning sunset.
※※※※
A blue-eyed man was walking through the mansion.
The servants around him urgently lowered their heads as they looked at the shining armor and the flowing blonde hair.
There was no place in the mansion where the man was walking that was not illuminated by light.
Sunlight shines through the windows on all sides, and statues and ornaments sparkle in the light.
The ornaments boasted an old-fashioned charm as they were old, clearly showing how noble the owner’s taste was.
“I just got back to work. father.”
Mircea walked into the lobby with confident steps, got down on one knee in a polite manner, and bowed his head towards the person sitting at the top of the hall.
“······Are you here?”
The twilight light of his last breath illuminated the spot where he was sitting.
The hand, which looked like a withered old tree, was stained with red light shining through the window.
“······Report it.”
His age and energy could be seen in his voice, which cracked without any moisture, like a metallic sound.
The man who Mirshea called her father was barely able to bear the weight of the years, so he could barely sit in a chair as if he were being carried on top of him.
“sorry. father.”
At the difficult voice coming from above, Mirshea lowered her head even more as if she was sorry and began to report what happened in the north.
Lindwurm, the white dragon.
Because they realized their potential, the northern dragon that the dragon fragments lured out was subdued by Bayezid’s knights, not the Dragon Slayer Knights.
“······Barbarians. “I don’t know my subject.”
The old man, who collectively described the northern men as barbarians, raised his bony fingers and tapped the armrest, unable to hide his disappointment.
The prejudice against the North that began a long time ago was still alive and well in the old man’s soul.
“sorry.”
Mirshea knew very well that his failure would be a great disappointment to his father.
However, there was a big variable in my failure, and that variable will definitely bring great joy to the old man who is currently disappointed.
“But father. “I found a nice boy in the North.”
“······A nice boy?”
The withered old man twitched his eyebrows at Mirshea’s sudden report.
Although everything on his body had faded to white due to the heavy years, his blue eyes were still sparkling.
“Have you ever been to the North? There we found a young dragon that had not yet opened its eyes.”
Hearing Mirshea’s words, the old man closed his eyes deeply.
My closed eyelids were constantly twitching, as if I was searching through old memories.
“Have you only been to the North? “I am a person who has seen every place in the world throughout my life.”
A seed is something that has the potential to become something.
In order to spread those possibilities, the old man has been traveling around the continent over the years.
It was the old man’s belief and wish, and it was something worth risking his life for.
“Did your heart break when you saw that child?”
“That’s right.”
“What was the color like?”
At the old man’s words, Mirshea raised her head and looked at him.
Blonde hair and blue eyes.
The color conveyed by the blood of the Dragullia family was there.
“It’s just like us.”
“······okay.”
The dry old man smiled darkly at Mirshea’s words.
With that smile, the twilight that was barely hanging on the horizon began to disappear.
“Still, seeing as the dragon pieces haven’t called, it looks like he hasn’t opened his eyes yet like you said.”
Darkness began to seep into every corner of the mansion along with the old man’s voice, which had suddenly become moist.
A completely different appearance from the mansion seen in the sunlight.
The antique statues only looked ominous as the dark shadows seeped in, and the paintings depicting beautiful landscapes gave off an eerie atmosphere to anyone who saw them.
“Sowing seeds is always hard, and the waiting time is painful, but still, humans keep repeating the task.”
The lobby was finally filled with darkness.
There, at the highest point, a man I had never seen before stood up.
“I have been like that too.”
Rich blonde hair.
Clear blue eyes.
And a middle-aged man with a dignified appearance and aura.
A man who had absorbed the moisture from the darkness was coming down the lobby.
“I’d like to see that child.”
Brigantes, the capital of the empire.
A mansion in the center of that place too.
The oldest blue eyes were shining in the place where Duke Dragullia, the Duke of Dragon Blood, was said to reside.
