Even after the Red Rose Count took Latilda away, many nobles remained at the party. They were digesting and analyzing the day’s events from their own perspectives. Given that the only recent topic of conversation had been the bloody wars between the two counts, the matter of the White Wolves offered a fascinating subject to discuss throughout the night. However, the most significant news of the night was undoubtedly the declaration of war by the Red Rose Count.
Servants bustled about, clearing the remaining food and dishes. The musicians, who had almost non-stop played for several hours, ended their strenuous day and began packing up their instruments.
Outside the party hall, some nobles hurried home, eager to spread the day’s news, while the majority returned to their lodgings within the castle or in Normant. Royal guards watched over the nobles on their way, while the captain of the guard fussed over their placement. There were also some nobles who discreetly handed money to the royal servants, hoping to secure a private meeting with the White Wolves, despite having not spoken a word to them yet.
From the northern tower, Kassel watched the procession of nobles, their paths lit by torchlight, returning home and reflected on the events of the party.
He had been too tense. The food and drink were excellent, but to maintain his clear mind, he didn’t indulge in them fully. Now, he started to feel hungry.
After the Black Lion Count, followed by Count Enoa, and then the Red Rose Count. Particularly, the unexpected appearance of Count Johnstein had taken him by surprise. He had anticipated that there would be at least one noble who, like Count Enoa, would doubt the White Wolves’ visit and attack. He had already discussed how to handle this with Sheyden, so it wasn’t unsettling. But he had assumed he wouldn’t meet Count Johnstein until the next day and hadn’t prepared for it at all.
Without a strategy to meet the enemy, Kassel had to think on his feet, anticipating the possible turn of events. Thankfully, Count Johnstein disappeared after taking only his daughter with him.
“I’m not sure if it’s fortunate or unfortunate. Loyal has joined the Red Rose Count!” Sheyden worriedly remarked.
“Isn’t it a good thing? In the end, Loyal has essentially become a spy on their side,” Kassel optimistically responded.
“It’s not necessarily a good thing. Considering it’s Loyal,” Sheyden wasn’t as optimistic. Upon reflection, Kassel recalled his first encounter with Loyal at the party, and the distinctly unpleasant look Loyal had shot his way.
“Yeah, Loyal seemed to dislike me.”
“Are you the knight protecting the daughter of the Red Rose Count?” Kassel had approached Loyal, who was in the party hall first. Dunmel had already visited Loyal at the barbershop and briefed him about the rules of the White Wolves.
‘When one person acts, others follow.’
Kassel acted as if he didn’t know him, and Loyal complied with the rule.
“Yes.”
Kassel asked again to confirm it was indeed Loyal.
“Are you the one that dealt with the bandit leading the pack of stray dogs?”
Loyal calmly responded, “Who said so?”
“I met one of the surviving bandits.”
“Was there a problem?”
“Not particularly. I have a long story to discuss with you, but it’s too long for this place.”
A servant passed by them carrying wine. As Kassel handed him an empty wine glass, he asked in a slightly louder voice as if intended for the servant, “You don’t seem to be from Camort. Where are you from?”
“From a place where I would get scolded by my friends if I told.” Loyal responded wittily, causing Kassel to burst into laughter.
It had been a pleasant first encounter. Kassel believed that Loyal would be a jovial person like the other White Wolves and they would have a good relationship.
“My name is Kassel.”
“I’m Loyal.” Loyal asked, sneaking a glance at Kassel’s waist.
“I heard it’s forbidden to bring weapons into the party hall.”
Obviously, Loyal wasn’t asking because he didn’t know. He was a previous owner of the short sword. He kept in mind that someone might overhear them.
“I had permission to carry the sword around at the party.”
There was an expression of relief, but his tone was icy.
“Where did you find it?”
“In the village of defectors.”
“I see.”
Loyal fell silent for a moment. Kassel thought Loyal would say something first, but when the silence grew too long, Kassel spoke up.
“What will you do from now on?”
“I’ll do as I’ve heard.”
“If we disagree, we will adjust accordingly.”
Loyal nodded his head.
“I understand. But how did you become captain?”
Reminded that Loyal had been the previous captain, Kassel answered.
“By getting the permission of all the White Wolves…”
“All of them?”
“Yes?”
Without even looking at him, Loyal responded to Kassel’s surprised expression.
“Did you get the permission of all the White Wolves?”
Loyal was smiling, but his voice was so cold it was scary.
“Oh, you mean you didn’t…”
“Regardless of what the others said, remember that my consent was not added. So it would be wise to decide when to return the sword.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Latilda’s appearance, and Kassel had no choice but to chat with her, pretending they were getting along well.
‘Right. I haven’t been recognized by Loyal yet. And I can’t say I was directly approved by Dunmel either.’
Even on a tower with such a pleasant breeze, Kassel felt heavy-hearted. For a moment, he even forgot that King Charles was standing next to him.
“Considering what Count Enoa said earlier, it might be dangerous for you to be alone with me. Don’t you think?”
The king said.
“Think the other way. The fact that nothing happens even when I’m alone with you demonstrates your majesty’s ability.”
Once he would have felt awkward in the presence of great people whose names alone were intimidating, but now he was not burdened even by being alone with the king of a country. Rather, it had become a time of rest.
“I’ve told you several times, we are here to help you.”
“There were many things in the last few years, and in the meantime, I’ve become a scared rabbit. Understand.”
The young king, about the same age as Kassel, smiled like a boy.
“Besides, how do you feel about seeing the two counts?”
“I understand the extent of your concern. It’s like raising a beast in the yard.”
The king rested his hand on the railing. Silence spoke for him.
Kassel waited until the king spoke first.
“I don’t know if you know, but I ascended to the throne at the age of 14 after my father, Charles II, died in pain after losing the Lontamon War ten years ago. I saw Camort sinking from a great nation playing the greatest aristocratic politics beside my father in Acrand, to a powerless weak country. I also saw us becoming the first victim of the Lontamon Conquest War and having to write a humiliating surrender document.”
The king squeezed out his words.
“After reluctantly taking the throne and barely managing the nation with the help of the Duke of Shayfield, when the duke died, I was left with nothing to do. Pushed around by the breath of Count Lumerier, I am now even at the mercy of Count Johnstein. Sometimes I think if I really deserve to be the king. I don’t know how pitiful I am.”
‘Is there any way to encourage a person who is interpreting the situation pessimistically and self-deprecating? Even if he is a king.’
Kassel continued to listen.
After taking in the cold wind for a long time, the king changed the subject.
“By the way, how is the queen of Aranthia? It was five years ago when I first met her. It was an impressive meeting.”
“What was she like, the Queen of Aranthia you saw, Your Majesty?”
Kassel listened to his story as if he knew the queen he had not yet met very well. He intended to meet the queen of Aranthia through the king’s story.
In fact, the White Wolves were also very uncomfortable when asked about Queen Sanadiel.
‘Is there anything I should know about Her Majesty the Queen?’
In response to Kassel’s question, Sheyden gave a strange answer.
‘You make it up. No matter how you make it up, it won’t be weird at all.’
‘So it doesn’t matter whether I describe her as an angel from heaven or a demon from hell?’
When Kassel made his sarcastic remark, Gerald insisted.
“She’s more on the devil’s side.”
“She’s more on the angels’ side.”
Azwin ended up fighting with Gerald over that matter again.
Judging by their reaction, it was rather fortunate. Even if they didn’t know much about the queen, it wasn’t unnatural.
“After Lontamon withdrew, it was a gathering where each nation came together to form alliances. Despite participating as a king of a nation, the gathering was so filled with distinguished people that it was nerve-wracking. Actually, anyone present there would have felt the same. It was the first meeting of war heroes, whose reputation each knew, but the faces they saw for the first time.”
The king, while wrinkling his brows like an old man reminiscing about events from just a few years ago as if they were a century past, narrated his tale.
“The Royal Knight Commander of Irophis or the Chief Judge of Carnelock’s Lumerus family was there too. Ah, the presence of Deradul of the Dragon Knights was really impressive. Of course, Captain Quain of the Wolf Knights was even more remarkable. His youthful presence overwhelmingly commanded the room. Had the fallen Welch of the Excelon Knights been there, all the top knights of Acrand would have been present. Although Captain Quain was the captain of the same Wolf Knights, he gave off a completely different impression than you. How do I put it…”
‘Of course, it must be different, but is he doubting me because of this?’
Kassel swallowed his saliva and waited for what the king would say next. The king shook his head.
“No, I can’t remember well. I just remember that it was different. I have no particular intention of comparing you to him. Anyway, that conference in Carnelock continued for a week, and I still remember my encounter with the most beautiful woman in the world whom I found in the garden on the first day.”
The young king spoke nostalgically, like one would when reminiscing about their first love.
“It was a slightly rainy garden. You might not know, but the gardens of Carnelock are like the depiction of heaven itself, so beautiful. And there, I chanced upon a woman with long, slightly wet golden hair, dressed in white, gazing at the lake. It was as if an angel had descended… or maybe a fairy from legends.”
The king took a short breath.
‘Is he recalling it like a first love because it actually is his first love?’
Kassel simply smiled. There was no need to make it seem like he understood the king’s words.
“I approached her as if I was enchanted and made a childish confession of love. You would understand, right? The mean spirit of a young man, not even twenty years old, using his royal power to win over a beauty! It must have been obvious what my intentions were. Yet, she listened to my story quietly, with a smile.”
There was a hint of tears in the king’s eyes.
‘The request for reinforcements to Aranthia wasn’t just for political reasons.’
Kassel thought.
“I spoke a lot, but she said nothing. Yet, the silence was… infinitely comfortable. The more I talked, the more ashamed I felt for approaching her with impure intentions. You may not believe it, but the woman shone more as she listened, and at some point, didn’t her originally golden hair emit a pure white glow? I felt disgust to the point of hatred for myself, who had rushed at such a pure beauty with a man’s lust. I made a confession as if I were enchanted.”
“What did the queen say? She never told such a story. How did you confess?”
“With blatantly cliché words. ‘From the moment I saw you, I fell in love with you. If you come to my kingdom with me, I will give you everything I have.’ It’s so embarrassing to think about it now.”
“And the queen’s answer?”
To Kassel’s question, the king quickly responded. It seemed like he wanted to share this story with someone.
“First, she laughed out loud. Then, she said, ‘So you want Aranthia right now?’ Only then did I realize that she was Queen Sanadiel, and I instantly felt like a five-year-old child. By the time I regained my senses, Queen Sanadiel had already left the garden…”
The king, partly amused, partly embarrassed, told of his shameful past. Then he looked surprised.
“Oh, what am I saying… Please forget it. It was a story I never told anyone.”
“I won’t tell my colleagues either.”
Kassel, with a grin, whispered something into the King’s ear.
“Well, might as well share my own story. It may seem petty in scale, but let’s see who’s in the more embarrassing situation.”
Kassel recounted the story about Janette and Luchi, from Lurun village, who were the reasons he had ended up on the battlefield. He lightly embellished the part where jealousy over Luchi had led him to run away from home and become a mercenary.
The King laughed merrily.
“It seems we both have a rather unfortunate sense of romance.”
“I might be a notch worse in that respect. Do you remember Azwin, one of my comrades? I still itch to lift her skirt whenever she carelessly sleeps with her legs exposed. I’m just like a teenager unable to shake off his puberty. This is a serious secret, your Majesty. If Azwin finds out, I’m dead meat, and I mean it literally.”
Kassel emphasized the latter part.
“Captain Wolf harboring ill-intent towards a fellow female knight, indeed that’s a secret to be kept for eternity.”
“I may not claim to know much about the Queen, but anyone who faces her is bound to be enveloped by such mystique that they inevitably blunder. I have seen Her Majesty barely a handful of times, and each encounter has left me flustered, not knowing where to rest my gaze. But once you start a conversation, you tend to forget that nervousness soon enough.”
Combining the image of the Queen as described by Azwin and Sheyden with what the King had just said, Kassel crafted a lie. This fabrication was his own creation of the Queen of Aranthia.
Luckily, the figure he concocted mirrored the Queen from the King’s memories. Intriguingly, Kassel himself was awestruck by the description he had forged and found himself longing to meet Queen Senadiel.
“Such beauty is not for everyone.”
The King chuckled.
“So, did you end your encounter with Queen Senadiel with that?”
Kassel asked suddenly.
“I have not met her since. There aren’t numerous such meetings after all.”
The King seemed puzzled by the question.
“Falling in love at first sight is a significant matter. You chose to ignore that feeling, your Majesty.”
“So, even if the other party is the Queen of Aranthia, I should remain true to my emotions, Captain?”
“Aren’t there times when one needs to be loyal? If you enjoyed meeting her, you could have at least hoped for another encounter. But you chose to sever the ties with her immediately.”
“I’m not quite sure what you’re implying.”
Kassel took a deep breath. He once again summoned the imagined Queen in his mind. Azwin had spoken of a Queen who seemed to have scooped all the nobility and purity in the world, and then she added one thing.
‘Surprisingly, she’s lonely. She has no friends. When I sometimes visit her for a chat, she becomes as happy as a child. She gets so bored that she sometimes disguises herself as a common maiden and wanders around the village.’
In this situation, Kassel had to draw out the King’s sincerity. For this, he had no choice but to use the Queen of Aranthia, despite her title.
‘Your Majesty, the Queen, if I’m overstepping, I apologize.’
Slowly, Kassel relayed the words of the imagined Queen to the King.
“You may have forgotten, your Majesty, but the Queen remembers your brief encounter. That’s why we are here. To maintain appearances, I made up a story about a gift, pretending to cater to Count Lumerier’s whims, but there actually is a gift. The White Wolves, five knights who overshadow all knights in the world, are a gift from Queen Senadiel to the friend she met years ago. Feel free to use them.”
King Charles opened and closed his mouth several times, at a loss for words. His expressions shifted rapidly, from joy to sadness, and then to an awkward smile.
“Did Queen Senadiel call me a friend?”
“Yes, those were her exact words.”
Kassel egged him on mentally.
‘Now, King Charles, say it! That you will wield the power of the White Wolves!’
However, the King suddenly began to tear up.
Kassel was taken aback.
“Your, your Majesty?”
With blond hair and blue eyes, the slender king was looking away with teary eyes, evoking a sense of empathy in Kassel.
“Nobody…”
He struggled to complete his sentence.
“Nobody calls me a friend… She, however, called such a naive young man her friend.”
Caught off guard by the unexpected development, Kassel failed to steer the conversation as he had planned.
‘Huh? He shouldn’t be this moved.’
Originally, it was time to discuss the reason for requesting the main army in Aranthia, or specifically, what the king should do. However, the king only wept.
Kassel could only guess why he was crying.
‘The queen called him a friend? Just for that?’
Suddenly, Kassel remembered that back in his hometown, he had not a single person he could call a friend, or who would call him a friend. Although he had not been particularly tormented, he didn’t have any close friends either. Kassel could understand his loneliness.
Around the king, there were only old ministers. They were the ones who couldn’t be friends, only knowing how to represent other nobles while receiving their support. The local nobles who manipulated the young king for their own gain, who would consider him a friend? All they did was ignore him, flatter him, or use him.
He was also an orphan. After the Duke of Shayfield, whom he must have regarded as a father, died, he had lost his pillar of support.
‘I thought the king describing himself as a scared rabbit was too weak, but I understand. Who could not be like that in the same situation?’
Kassel held King Charles’ hand.
“You don’t have to give it such a deep meaning. In fact, couldn’t we think about it more simply, Your Majesty? We could soon become good friends.”
“You and I?”
“I mean, we could be companions who understand loneliness and share idle talk.”
The king wiped his tears and shook his head.
“Do you think the surroundings will let us be friends?”
“Aren’t we the only two here at this moment? Even if we were to say, ‘That bastard Lumerier’ here, no one would know. Isn’t that right? The wind is strong, and the guards are far away, they won’t hear.”
Kassel shrugged his shoulders.
“Bastard?”
The king seemed startled, just mumbling that word. But he slowly plucked up the courage to say it louder, and eventually he yelled it into the night sky.
“Lumerier, you bastard!”
Kassel hastily grabbed his wrist.
“Whoa, that was a bit too loud.”
“Huh? Was it?”
–TL Notes–
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