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A training ground located in Winter Castle.

Though it was still early before dawn, I was quietly swinging my sword in the empty training ground.

Even though the House of Edelweiss is renowned as one of the most prestigious magical families on the continent, their power is not solely concentrated in mages.

Of course, when one thinks of Edelweiss, the image of an army of mages ranked at least at level 4 comes to mind; however, there exists within Edelweiss a knight order composed entirely of pure knights who wield auras, even if it isn’t widely known.

It’s true that they seem relatively lacking compared to the mage order, but as a noble house with only three dukes in the empire, they were comprised of individuals that were indeed superior to typical noble families’ knights.

“Ah, young master! You’ve come out first again today!! If it weren’t for that Herbert kid’s sleep talking, I could have risen a bit earlier.”

“Good morning, young master. And you can just ignore that guy’s words. Who is he to talk? Tsk.”

Just looking at those two rushing toward the training ground showed that they possessed quite remarkable skills compared to other knights of the same age.

If you were to ask how I, who had not been here long, knew such a fact and why I was on friendly terms with them, it was simply because I kept training without shaking off the habits I had from my time at the Count’s house since arriving at Winter Castle.

On the same day I arrived here, Joachim had called me over and introduced me to the key figures of the castle, among whom was also the captain of the Edelweiss knight order.

His name was Wilhelm Hartmann.

The old knight, who had reached the level of Aura Knight, had scars all over his face that told of the life he lived, and the pure fighting spirit emanating from his muscular body indirectly indicated the level he had attained.

He had been looking at me with fiery eyes even before my name came out from Joachim’s mouth.

As expected, once Joachim’s introduction ended, I found myself stuck talking to Wilhelm for quite a long time. Having met my father on the battlefield, he shared stories about my father, which was a truly excruciating experience for me.

I never imagined the day would come when I would hear tales of my father and knights from someone else after hearing them hundreds of times myself.

Would there ever be a bad feeling from hearing praises about my father? It was just that the stories Wilhelm shared were ones I had heard so often since childhood that they felt a bit dull.

Joachim seemed displeased with Wilhelm’s attitude, making a sour face, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell him to stop. He knew it wouldn’t look good to interrupt someone praising his father.

Honestly, I was hoping Joachim would silence Wilhelm just as he normally treated my father.

In any case, regardless of that initial meeting, thanks to Wilhelm, I was quickly introduced to the Edelweiss knights and the training ground. That’s how I came to learn about the order’s abilities.

As soon as the knights belonging to the order heard my name mentioned by Wilhelm, they all looked at me with envious eyes, which made me understand once again the significance of the name Kraus among the knights.

If I were to choose who in Winter Castle would be the happiest about my engagement to Elena, it would undoubtedly be Wilhelm and the knights of Edelweiss. In fact, when they heard from Wilhelm that I was getting engaged to Elena, they all cheered with joy.

However, even seeing that, I didn’t feel any urge to meet their expectations.

I had experienced such gazes more than enough back in the south, so I had become too accustomed to feel burdened by their attention.

More than anything, I already knew that I stood above what they thought, so perhaps that’s why I felt such ease.

I moved my body as I usually did at the Count’s house, and under Wilhelm’s watchful eye, I engaged in a few simple sparring sessions with them, successfully blending in among them in no time.

The two knights in front of me—Herbert and Gilliard—were the ones who had lost to me in that sparring. I wondered if they felt frustrated about being defeated by a younger boy, but seeing me training early in the morning, they started to join me in practice.

“Young master, when do you plan to return to Sarham?”

“Well, I haven’t thought too deeply about it, but I probably won’t stay more than a week.”

“In that case, let’s have one more sparring match the day before you leave.”

“Hey, Arthur. What kind of result do you expect from just five days of training? It’s pretty obvious how it’s going to turn out. Young master, I’ll be next after this guy.”

Frustrated? Not a chance. They were indeed knights, and as warriors, they cared about victories and defeats just like the rest.

Before long, the sun fully appeared in the once-dark sky.

Bathed in sunlight, they sparkled with the sweat they had shed, and I was the same. Though the cold wind of Merohim quickly chilled our sweat, the body of a knight tempered with the aura was not weak enough to shiver in such weather.

As our training session neared its end, Herbert wiped the sweat rolling down his arms and spoke to me.

“By the way, how was the banquet yesterday? I would have liked to attend too, but I got assigned to guard the outer castle.”

“Nothing particularly noteworthy happened.”

I replied nonchalantly to Herbert and stood up to place the sword I had been gripping back in its place.

The banquet.

Herbert seemed to feel regret for not being able to attend, but for me, it had just been a little noisy gathering of people. If there was anything decent from last night’s banquet, it was probably that I got to see Elena in her dress.

Upon reflection, a lot happened.

Suddenly, the Twilight Tower Master popped up from behind me. And besides, I ran into a candidate for the male lead whom I had thought I wouldn’t see for another year. Just sharing names in a brief encounter, but meeting the protagonist of the original story left quite the strong impression on me.

“Well, since the banquet is over, there shouldn’t be any chance of meeting for a while.”

It’s certain that we would meet at the Academy in a year, but until then, I wouldn’t have any reason to see Richard. I wouldn’t be going to the Twilight Tower, and once Elena leaves Merohim, she’ll be staying in Sarham, so Richard wouldn’t have a reason to come to Sarham without a magic tower.

Looking at how he left the banquet so willingly, it was too early to conclude that he had given up on his feelings for Elena. Therefore, I felt relieved knowing that, for the time being, there would be no opportunities for Elena and Richard to meet.

In any case, I shouldn’t leave any room for worry.

With the weight off my shoulders, I felt as if my body had lightened. I put the sword away and took a deep breath.

Surely, exercising in the morning keeps the mind and body healthy.

Compared to the mornings in Sarham, while it was a bit chilly, the refreshing morning air pierced my lungs. It felt like ice was being poured into my chest. Regardless, it cleared my mind.

“I should head back now…”

“…..”

Just as I was about to turn my head to return to my room, I made eye contact with someone. Upon seeing him, I couldn’t help but freeze in surprise and embarrassment.

The moment our eyes met, he too stopped in his tracks and stared at me blankly. Perhaps he hadn’t slept well, as darkness lingered around his eyes, and he timidly greeted me with an awkward expression.

“Ah, hello.”

Richard Ertuven.

He hadn’t left Winter Castle yet.

*

Leaving the banquet hall, Richard quietly walked towards the White Tower located behind the castle.

The sudden news of Elena’s engagement reached his ears like a hammer striking his head hard.

He met Elena at the gathering his father had forced him to attend, and he had fallen in love with her at first sight. It wasn’t just her inhuman beauty. Her intelligence, which was the only thing they could converse about, sparked Richard’s heart that had been stagnant.

Afterward, using the connection between their fathers, Richard started visiting Winter Castle often to see Elena.

At first, she had only been curt, but as he kept engaging her in conversation, she began to respond to him to some degree. Although the exchanges were too limited to be called a proper conversation, Richard was more than satisfied with that alone.

The friendship between their fathers that everyone knew about. Everyone knew François and Joachim were close, and Richard was aware of that, expecting that discussions of an engagement between him and Elena would arise soon. He had no doubts it would happen.

That was until he heard the news of Elena’s engagement.

Somehow, for the past few days, his father had been looking at him with a sympathetic gaze; was it because of this?

However, Richard couldn’t simply give up because he heard that Elena was engaged.

Political marriages among nobles were commonplace, and he believed that Elena might also be in that situation.

He couldn’t stand the thought of losing the woman he loved just because of some political union. Therefore, he made up his mind to confirm it with his own eyes.

It felt like he was holding onto an invisible string of hope with his clenched fists.

“Thank goodness…”

Richard’s hands were empty as he walked towards the tower.

The sight of Elena smiling alongside her fiancé at the banquet was enough to shatter Richard’s heart. The affection in the eyes of the man standing next to her indicated that all his assumptions had been proven wrong.

Even without anything in his mouth, today, for some reason, the saliva sliding down his throat felt bitter.

The sorrow of knowing he couldn’t stand there, yet feeling happiness at seeing her smile, was dizzying him.

Despite the darkness of the night, the tower inside remained bright. Scholars, relentlessly seeking knowledge, knew no distinction between night and day.

Though Richard belonged to the Twilight Tower, he could access basic magical texts without restriction, so the tower let him in without a fuss. Yet, would such basic texts help someone who had reached level 5 as a mage?

Richard wasn’t ignorant of that fact, but at this moment, anything would do. He retrieved books not for learning, but to forget, starting to overwrite his mind with the dense letters filling the pages.

Hours passed this way. Once he had read all the accessible books, the morning sunlight streaming through the tower’s windows welcomed him.

His mind was no longer a mess.

Basking in the warm morning sunlight stirred a desire to write poetry within him. Though Richard had never even glanced at poetry in his life, nonetheless, his heart felt that way.

Richard recognized that he wasn’t himself right now.

Humming to himself, he left the tower. Today, the sunlight seemed especially bright, as if blessing his future.

Yes, it was about forgetting. It was time to start anew.

He still had much life left to live. There’s no greater waste of life than being stuck in such a dilemma at just sixteen.

As he repeated this to himself, he felt a little more vitality returning to his body, and overwhelmed by that exhilaration, Richard broke into a run toward Winter Castle. The cold wind pierced his lungs, but that didn’t matter. He just wanted to run.

The White Castle shone brightly in the morning sunlight, and as Richard absorbed the surrounding scenery, he dashed forward.

“Ugh..”

However, just as Richard seemed to be able to keep running, he came to an abrupt halt a short while later.

Though he blended into the scenery, the figure of a person deeply engraved in his memory flashed before him, robbing Richard of all the vigor he had just felt.

He was looking at him, and Richard found himself looking back.

“Ah, hello.”

Richard felt embarrassed.

 

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