LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 5 - Maiden of the North
✦ Chapter 5 – Maiden of the North ✦
「Translator – Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
Early morning.
Isaac stood in the garden, his bag slung over his shoulder. The rose garden, the pride of Helmund, had yet to bud.
By June, when the Sword Festival began, the roses would bloom in full, filling the air with their enchanting fragrance. Helmund’s roses were a special variety that bloomed until just before winter.
‘Beautiful,’ he murmured. In this place called Helmund, filled with nothing but ugly and bitter memories, the rose garden was the only thing that could be described as beautiful.
In a corner of that very garden.
A single purple lilac, sprouting rudely and precociously.
“…..…….”
The little, stubborn flower that furrowed his brow was one that Isaac had planted. He couldn’t fathom why Helmund’s meticulous gardeners had left it untouched.
‘I should pull it out.’
As he moved to yank it out.
A knight, slightly larger than Isaac and with a boyish look, stepped forward and saluted.
“Lord! I’m Jonathan, and I’ve been assigned to escort you, Isaac Helmund, to the Malideen Walls! I look forward to working with you!”
“Oh.”
Isaac instinctively furrowed his brows at the booming voice. Jonathan wore a child-like bright smile, despite being clad in Helmund’s heavy armor and wielding a greatsword.
With military-style short blonde hair, he extended a handshake innocently.
“I’m Isaac. Let’s work well together.”
“Yes m’lord! I will definitely ensure your safety until the Sword Festival!”
Jonathan was one of the minimal conditions Arandel Helmund set for sending Isaac to the Malideen Walls. As his bodyguard and a watchful eye, he was meant to prevent any disasters if Isaac died there or attempted to flee.
‘Seems like they’ve sent a rather naïve fellow.’
Perhaps the head of the household ordered for a knight, and in the shuffles of hierarchy, this mediocrity was assigned. In any case, there was no need for a highly skilled knight just to oversee Isaac, who couldn’t even wield a sword.
“Then let’s head straight—”
“Ah! Isaac.”
Just as they were about to depart, another interruption came. This time, to see who it was, Isaac turned to find the elder brother, Roengrin, approaching with a gentle smile.
Red aura emanated from his entire being as he approached, his crimson hair swaying wildly. He must’ve been training until just now.
The eldest son, Roengrin. To put it simply, he was mentally unstable. A maniac prone to extreme emotional swings, he was someone who had physically abused Isaac countless times just to vent his frustrations. And yet, for the first time, he was smiling at his brother-in-law.
“I heard you’re leaving. My, my, how could this be? To think you’re getting a divorce. We have years of shared history and memories…”
‘Crazy bastard.’
How could he spout such utter nonsense so convincingly?
The only memories they had of him involved him hitting them under the pretense of sparring when he was in a bad mood or toying with them for his amusement.
With a smile still plastered on his face, he leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “Rianna, that woman, she asked for a divorce, didn’t she? She’s aiming for the head of the family! Father said it was okay to have a child, but moving to divorce implies that, doesn’t it?”
“…….……”
The conversation revealed why Arandel was torn between the eldest son and daughter, despite Roengrin being a year older.
“If she has a child, she can’t become the head of the family! So, she opted for divorce deliberately. By divorcing, she avoids pregnancy, leaving the option open for becoming the head!”
“Ah, yes.”
Roengrin chuckled as if he had just stumbled upon some great revelation.
“Isaac, don’t you want revenge? Don’t you crave sweet revenge against Rianna, the woman who discarded you just for the position of family head?!”
“…………”
“Well then, let’s make you stronger.”
With that, he stealthily slipped something from his pocket into Isaac’s hand.
“What’s this?”
“You know what this is, right? Rosericer! The Helmund elixir only granted to those with the blood of our family!” He whispered, a smug grin on his face. “As the eldest son, I can do this much for you. Drink this, survive, gain strength, then come back. I believe in you, brother.”
He winked and turned back to his training.
‘Brother, my ass.’
Not even a few days ago, this same ‘brother’ had forced a sword into his hand, whining about his swordsmanship not improving, only to beat him up under the guise of training; the sight of him trying to backstab Rianna just to secure his position as the family head was pathetic.
“Um, Lord Isaac?”
“Just pretend you didn’t see.”
Jonathan cautiously gauged the situation. Isaac sighed and opened the lid of the Rosericer Roengrin had given him.
The distinct aroma was faint.
“Tch.”
Rosericer, my foot. It was watered down, even more diluted than usual.
‘Probably intends to frame Rihanna by claiming she gave the family tonic to the son-in-law.’
All he could do was sigh.
Likely, the moment Isaac leaves, they’ll use the discrepancy in the Rosericer records to pressure Rihanna.
‘Pathetic.’
Honestly, it doesn’t seem like Rihanna would be swayed by such petty actions.
Isaac subtly turned his head.
Inside the estate, Rihanna still hadn’t appeared. Having been drunk last night, she was probably in a deep sleep.
[Take care.]
A farewell much too plaintive for someone leaving.
“Let’s go, Jonathan.”
Isaac no longer wished to remain in the mansion any longer.
And he and Jonathan set out for the front lines.
❖
[Isaac, the Grandmaster said it—you could have been a great swordsman if only your leg was whole.]
A vivid memory.
A white-haired woman smiling as she spoke to him.
‘An empty consolation, surely.’
As he forced a bitter smile, the woman replied with a serious tone.
[Would the Grandmaster offer mere consolation? I believe the same. If only you had a sound leg. If only you hadn’t become that cursed Helmund’s son-in-law…]
‘Don’t get too worked up; it’s a flaw of yours.’
[Those muscle-brained Helmund fools. They couldn’t even recognize your talent.]
‘You’re not listening, are you?’
[I know, Isaac the Silent Sword! The man who wields a sword through words and knowledge. We all know how invaluable your manuals are. Thanks to you, my spear has progressed by several stages.]
‘Alright, alright. How many times must you say it?’
[I mean it, Isaac.]
[I truly do.]
[Thank you.]
[It’s a pity we met so late.]
‘Have you been drinking?’
[It’s because the battle with the Transcendents is approaching, I guess. Our chances of survival are slim, aren’t they?]
‘………….’
[Had we met earlier, I’m sure our family wouldn’t have met such an empty end.]
‘You’re overestimating me.’
[Really? Do you think so? I don’t.]
He gave a bitter smile.
[It’s late, Isaac. Go get some sleep.]
‘Alright, don’t overdo it, Caldias.’
[Hey, listen.]
‘Hm?’
[Silverna.]
‘………….’
[The name I discarded for my family.]
[Silverna Caldias.]
[That’s my real name, Isaac.]
❖
“Lord Isaac!”
“Hm?”
Isaac slowly opened his eyes at Jonathan’s call.
Several days had already passed. His body ached in protest, having been confined to a carriage for so long.
Still, youth is a blessing.
He stretched his right leg, still amazed that it moved at all, and listened to Jonathan’s excited chatter.
“We’re almost there! Despite being the front lines, the roads are well maintained, so we’ve arrived quickly!”
“Yawn, seems that way.”
A yawn escaped Isaac’s lips, a puff of white mist accompanying it. Despite the blanket he had draped over himself, the carriage’s chill seeped into his bones.
This was the north of the kingdom.
The great Malideen Walls was built to hold back the marauding beasts.
And those guarding it were—
“We need to be careful from here on out, it’s enemy territory.”
“Enemy territory? We’re all nobles of the same kingdom.”
After spending several days traveling with Jonathan, Isaac had realized a few things.
Jonathan was, to put it nicely, innocent.
To put it bluntly, he was an idiot.
He even seemed to be bullied. People used training as an excuse to control his sleep schedule, his meals, even barring him from leaving his room or using the bathroom. He had even wet himself once because of it.
“Lord Isaac! This is the territory of Caldias! Rivals to Helmund! The greatsword of Helmund against the spear of Caldias!”
He may have spoken as if he were recounting a grand epic, but in the end, it was nothing more than a petty rivalry between nobles.
Still, it was true that Helmund and Caldias didn’t get along; this was why Rihanna had her worries. Being from Helmund would lead to considerable discrimination here.
“What if they beat us? I used to get rolled up in blankets at night; here, they might actually beat us up!”
“Don’t worry, fortunately, both of us are well-versed in getting thrashed.”
“Have you been beaten up too, Lord Isaac!?”
“Haven’t you seen those direct descendants’ training sessions?”
I got beaten all day there. As a knight of Helmund, he should know that well.
“Oh, I don’t participate in training. I’ve only been a knight of Helmund for a year.”
“Then what do you do?”
“Recently, I’ve been training to understand a knight’s communication with horses by mimicking their behavior!”
“Are you stu-… Ahem, Jonathan? Seriously, you should just quit being a knight. How about another place if not Helmund?”
“My heart is made of roses!”
“Then you’d have already died.”
With a sigh, I looked up at the approaching Malideen Walls; though I had never seen it in my previous life, it matched the stories I had heard.
‘I can see why the northern people hold the Malideen Walls so sacred.’
A truly massive stone guardian protecting humanity.
The scars of time etched across its surface, like medals on a veteran’s chest, were a testament to how long it had stood sentinel, protecting their land.
When the Malideen Walls fell in my previous life, the Kingdom’s defenses crumbled rapidly. If it hadn’t been for Helmund’s greatsword holding the line, the capital would have been overtaken swiftly.
As they drew closer to the wall…
“So it was the cloying stench of honey, the kind that only brats with weak bladders would enjoy, that I smelled!”
A woman’s booming voice echoed from above. At the same time, a chorus of boisterous laughter rained down from the top of the wall.
“To think someone would dare spread such a delicate floral scent here in the north! It’s enough to make me lose my appetite for the bear we’re having tonight!”
“A-A- Lord Isaac?”
“Stop the carriage, Jonathan.”
“Yes, Sir!”
With a screech, Jonathan halted the carriage.
As Isaac stepped out, a woman peering down from atop the Wall furrowed her brow.
“Ha! I am the spear and shield of the Malideen Walls!”
She introduced herself boldly, despite Isaac not uttering a single word.
“Silverna Caldias! State your name!”
Isaac couldn’t help but chuckle.
So, she still went by that name at this point in time.
‘Yes, Silverna.’
Just as the wind had guided him…
He had come to meet her.
“Well? Who are you, pipsqueak?!”
“…………….”
END of CHAPTER
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