Chapter: 19
While running away in the dead of night and stealing were certainly not commendable acts, there was a point to them that one could, on a human level, understand.
If what he said was true, if his mother, well past eighty, was truly waiting with desperate hope for her son’s return…
“Sir Max, how did you end up captured here?”
Ivernia asked, slowly crouching down to meet Sir Max’s eye level. A flicker of emotion, a glimmer of grateful surprise, danced in his eyes as he looked up at her.
Quickly wiping his damp eyes, Sir Max straightened his hunched back and began to speak.
“It wasn’t by choice, was it? The South raises its children on tales of thieves who died coveting the treasures of Lietberg, singing them as lullabies. No one in their right mind would ever try to break in here. The problem was that my master’s wet nurse was an outsider. The fool probably hadn’t heard even half of the brutal stories surrounding Lietberg Castle.”
“So you came here because your master ordered you to?”
“Yes. I knew the young lord was naive, but I never imagined he could be that thoughtless. If I had known, I wouldn’t have hitched my wagon to his star, even if it meant giving up my chance for advancement. Not that he’d ever inherit the estate with that head on his shoulders, anyway.”
His explanation was as follows:
Sir Max was originally a knight serving the Barony of Schweiger, a landed family in a neighboring province.
He worked as a guard for Franz, the eldest son of the Baron von Schweiger. Then, one day, his master, tired of his peaceful, mundane life, suddenly conceived a deranged idea.
And that was…
“He said Lietberg Castle had been quiet for too long. That fool Franz thought that the monster, Ram, had finally grown weak. He said, ‘He’s lived for so long, how could he still be in his prime?’ He also added that old tales are always exaggerated.”
“Don’t the people living nearby know that Lord Ram is such a… well-mannered gentleman?”
“Not at all. Until I saw him with my own eyes, I also thought he must have a hideous appearance, just like the rumors said. He hasn’t officially shown himself outside for the last few hundred years. Everyone naturally assumed there must be a good reason for it. In the South, Lietberg is practically considered cursed land, so no one ever even attempted to interact with them in the first place.”
“It doesn’t seem like such a bad place to live, for a cursed land.”
“That’s why, in the distant past, many tried to seize Lietberg. But after every single one of them died before even setting foot inside the castle, no one dared to plant their flag here anymore. Instead, people from the surrounding areas started using this place as a kind of disposal site.”
“A disposal site?”
“Literally. They’d shove garbageāor people who were like garbageāin here and block them from getting out. Over time, it became a land everyone avoided, fearing it was too dangerous. You never knew what kind of lowlife you might run into.”
Preoccupied with one incident after another, she was only now, somewhat belatedly, receiving a basic explanation about this place.
Ivernia was inwardly amazed and thought it was a good thing she had tried talking to Sir Max.
Although the conversation had started for a different reason, she doubted she would have gotten such a coherent answer if she had asked anyone else. Even Hanna, a person like him, sometimes said things that differed from the common sense of the outside world, probably because she had spent her entire life in this castle.
“Truth be told, I followed my master to protect him from people like that. Not from enemies outside common sense like that insane butler. How could I, not even a Blessed One, possibly stand against a hero who made history and his men? I knew that fool Franz wouldn’t get what he wanted, no matter what he did. Naturally, I had no interest in any stolen goods. That’s why I stayed outside alone, under the pretext of keeping watch. But then…”
Sir Max squeezed his eyes shut, unable to continue.
Ivernia could easily guess the ending of the interrupted story.
She finished his sentence for him.
“They’re all dead.”
“…I don’t know. I couldn’t find their bodies or even their belongings. But… well, probably.”
“Did you come back inside to look for your companions and get caught?”
“No. That butler, Guillermo, came looking for me. At first, he lunged at me as if to kill me, but then suddenly changed his mind and said he’d spare my life. He mentioned he happened to need a knight.”
Ivernia buried her face in her hands.
Who would have thought that the common sense notion that the mistress of a great house needed a knight would drag one man’s life through the mud like this?
“You can go and verify if what I’m saying is true yourself. There are plenty of witnesses,” Sir Max appealed with a desperate expression.
Ivernia decided not to waste precious time on a formal investigation. The situation he described was painted too realistically for her to dismiss him as a liar.
After rubbing her face dry for a moment, she lifted her head and spoke.
“Has no one listened to your story? If you had explained your situation to the others, surely they would have…”
“You’re the only one here I can talk to, miss…”
“Hanna is a person too.”
“That maid is the butler’s loyal servant. She certainly doesn’t have the authority to release an intruder.”
“…What about Sir Seven?”
“That fairy thinks three years is about three weeks…”
Recalling Seven’s age, Ivernia stifled a sigh. To someone who had lived over five hundred years, three years truly didn’t seem that long.
“Still, wouldn’t it be dangerous to leave now? It’ll be dark soon, and if you’re unlucky, you might run into a wild beast in the forest.”
“But what if I get caught trying to escape while it’s light? If that butler reverts to his true nature, then I’ll really lose any chance to run.”
It seemed to Ivernia that if he just explained his situation to Ram instead of sneaking away, he could be released with dignity.
But apparently, Sir Max, never having spoken directly with Ram, didn’t have the courage to do so. To him, Ram’s image was probably closer to a man who could turn a subordinate into a fish with a flick of his wrist than a lovestruck husband.
Sir Max pressed his forehead to the floor again and pleaded, “Miss! I beg of you! Please, just pretend you didn’t see me this once!”
“It’s not ‘miss.’ I’m married now.”
At Ivernia’s unexpected answer, Sir Max glanced up at her, his eyes questioning, not understanding her point.
Ivernia emphasized the changed title, putting force behind her words once more.
“I’m a married woman now.”
“Th… that’s true, isn’t it?”
“So, I’ll have you released from here officially.”
As Ivernia smiled with a confident expression, Sir Max awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth in imitation.
His eyes, however, remained filled with questions, as if he couldn’t connect the conclusion to its reasoning at all.
“Sir Seven, are you asleep? It’s Ivernia. I have something I’d like to ask you, if you have a moment.”
Ivernia knocked cautiously on Seven’s door.
Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t gone to bed yet, as a faint sound came from inside soon after.
A moment later, Seven flung the door open with a rough manner, looking quite annoyed by the late-night visitor.
Deciding not to bother him with useless pleasantries, Ivernia got straight to the point.
“Sir Seven, I married Lord Ram, didn’t I?”
“…What’s this all about, showing up at this late hour and suddenly…?”
“You also said divorce is impossible.”
“Yeah, but why bring that up out of the blue?”
“Then, does that make me the true mistress of Lietberg now? Does that mean I have the authority to manage this castle?”
Even though she had spoken clearly without a single misspoken word, Seven still wore an expression of incomprehension.
Staring up at her vacantly for a moment, Seven soon raised his right hand and rubbed his haggard face.
Then, with a voice as weathered as an aged grandfather’s, he spoke.
“Yeah, go ahead. Ransom the treasury all you want for alimony. It’s not like Ram needs to eat to live anyway. Just don’t go selling off this castle too. I don’t want to end up homeless.”
“I don’t need alimony. And I won’t sell the castle. Instead, as the mistress, may I use my authority to release Sir Max?”
She had noticed that Ram, after hearing about Sir Max’s attempted theft, seemed to find his continued stay unsettling.
She thought permission would be granted without any problem, but surprisingly, Seven couldn’t readily answer her question.
Watching Seven stand there with his mouth agape, silent, Ivernia looked at him with concern and asked, “Sir Seven, what’s wrong? Can’t I do it?”
