Episode 212
* * *
The following year, shortly after the eldest son and eldest daughter of Saxony and Lancaster announced their engagement.
To celebrate Dale’s seventeenth birthday and the upcoming wedding, the Duke of Saxony was preparing a more splendid celebration than ever.
However, Dale, who could be said to be the person involved, had extremely complicated feelings. Charlotte would be no exception.
It was late at night, and Dale, unable to sleep, was staring out the duke’s window in silence.
Mother Elena was very happy that Dale was finally getting married to Charlotte, who was adopted into the Lancaster family. Without knowing the details, she was probably just purely happy that she was getting married to a girl who had been with her since childhood.
It was just then.
There was a knock.
“Who are you?”
Dale took a breath and opened his mouth.
“It’s me, Dale.”
It was Charlotte Lancaster.
Charlotte entered Dale’s room hesitantly, wearing a black silk nightgown instead of the usual knight in night crow armor.
Silence fell. In the silence, Charlotte smiled intricately.
“I was so happy when you accepted Lancaster’s offer.”
“… … .”
“Even if it was a decision made for political reasons.”
Charlotte muttered bitterly, and Dale didn’t answer.
“I’m glad you need me.”
Because I just don’t know what to say.
The sword does not think, but the one who holds the sword must think.
Dale wrapped his arms around Charlotte’s shoulders and hugged her without saying a word. Charlotte gasped, but her embarrassment didn’t last long.
The dawn sky was extremely dark and gloomy.
* * *
The next morning at dawn.
“Lize.”
“Brother!”
From an early age, there was a younger sister named Lise and a master named Sepia who practiced magic in the courtyard of the House of Saxony.
“I heard that Charlotte is going to be my new sister-in-law!”
“Yes, so you too should study magic harder so as not to be ashamed.”
Dale smiled silently as he looked at Lize who was smiling innocently.
“Yes! I’ve already become a 1st circle wizard!”
Eight-year-old Lize is the same age as Dale when he got his circle engraved after turning eight. Strictly speaking, it is not comparable to Dale at the time, but it is undeniable that Lize is growing up quickly.
The mana circle rotated around Lize’s heart, and a pure white, pale cold energy scattered around her like jewels.
It was beautiful.
“It’s so pretty.”
After saying that, Dale glanced around. There was the elf master Sepia, who was silently standing there.
“Lize, I have something to talk to Sepia about, so could you step aside for a moment?”
“Okay, brother!”
At Dale’s words, Lize nodded without any doubt. After watching Lize walk away, Dale opened his mouth after a long silence.
“Sepia.”
“Do you have anything to say?”
Sepia smiled and asked back. It was the kind smile of an elf wizard as always.
“I am…….”
It was when Dale was hesitating and about to open his mouth.
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
Sepia spoke. Her voice was soft, yet had an incomprehensible sense of distance.
“I’m worried.”
But Dale didn’t back down just like that.
“What will you do with Miss Charlotte’s feelings for you?”
“… … .”
“I don’t want to see Miss Charlotte in pain.”
Sepia said.
“I have lived for a time that you cannot imagine. But human life is not like that. It is short and fleeting, and I have seen countless foolish decisions made by people who are swayed by fleeting emotions.”
“Then why are you staying with the Duke of Saxony?”
“It’s to teach Lize.”
Sepia answered coldly.
“I just want you to be happy with Miss Charlotte.”
“… … .”
“As a human, don’t forget the preciousness of every moment.”
For the first time, I could sense a faint sincerity in her voice.
“Is that really what Sepia wants?”
“… … .”
Sepia didn’t answer. She just nodded silently. So Dale didn’t ask any more questions.
That was the end of the story.
* * *
At the Duchy of Saxony, the ceremony of marriage between Dale, the eldest son of Saxony and Lancaster, and Charlotte, the eldest daughter, was announced.
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The gathering of two of the three major ducal families of the empire would, without a doubt, capture the attention of the entire empire.
Including the incredibly complex inner workings hidden behind it.
Charlotte Orchard, daughter of Lord Barthel, the new swordsman. However, Charlotte’s mother Vanessa remarried the Archduke of Lancaster and gave her daughter the surname ‘Lancaster’.
In addition, Charlotte Orchardt was protected by the Duke of Saxony until she came of age, and has now grown into a swordsman with the name of Seven Swords of the Continent and Heavenly Sword.
It was this girl who took the name of Lancaster and became married to the ‘Black Prince’ of Saxony.
No matter how much the power of Lancaster is not what it used to be, they are still the grand princes who make up the three major ducal houses of the empire. The fact that Lancaster and Saxony have united and joined forces has a significant meaning.
As the wedding date drew near, the empire’s leading nobles flocked to celebrate the couple’s union.
The imperial family was no exception.
The first prince of the empire, Lancelot, and the two siblings who stand at the top of the Red Tower, the Bloody Duke Marquis Yuris and ‘Lady Scarlet’, were together. With Ray Yuris, the son of Marquis Yuris and the successor to the Red Tower.
Countless powerful men spanning the entire empire gathered together, each with their own cause.
The aim was to understand the ‘order of power’ that would change through the union of the two dukedoms.
An irreversible crossroads of fate was approaching.
* * *
At that time, the Shadow Supreme Court, which was dependent on the Saxon Duke’s Castle. Furthermore, the hideout of the “Grave Walkers”, which had been reborn as an intelligence unit directly under Dale, including the “Mountain Assassins”.
The swords of Dale were there, except for the Duke of Saxony’s loyal sword, the wide-sword Sir Helmuth Blackbear.
Lady Shadow, Aurelia of darkness and truth who protects Dale from the shadows.
Master Salgeom Baro and the Wandering Sword.
Lastly, the new Seven Swordsman who holds the Heavenly Sword’s Wife, the knight ‘Charlotte Lancaster’ who will become Dale’s wife.
Three swords with the nameless title of the Seven Swords of the Continent, along with the Sword of Shadow.
“Congratulations, Black Knight.”
At the same time, the Shadow Saintess opened her mouth right next to Master Baro. Her eyes were covered with pitch-black bandages, but she smiled meaningfully as if she could see beyond them.
“But, our Lord of Shadows, you had better be careful.”
“I am always careful.”
Dale answered, and the Shadow Saint shook her head.
“I know you are being cautious, Your Majesty. But I can sense that the threat to the Shadow Lord is growing bigger each time.”
“What should I be careful of?”
“In this place, the order of power between gold and shadow will be irreversibly reversed.”
The Shadow Saintess said.
“Are you talking about the place where Charlotte and I have our ceremony?”
“It is only a name. Your Majesty has already established your influence on this continent in an irreversible way, and it is not your gold that is unaware of it.”
“The Duchy of Saxony is my father’s fiefdom. I wouldn’t easily commit a foolish act against anyone.”
“You could look at it that way. But you must not forget that the territory is also a ‘territory of Saxony.’”
“… … !”
The Shadow Saint spoke, and Dale swallowed softly.
“Are you talking about the 《Eldritch》 beyond the Demon King’s territory?”
The northernmost point where generations of Saxon lords have fled, cheating death.
“Your Majesty the Immortal sees the same scenery as I do. And I, too, can see the same scenery as you do.”
“… … What do you see?”
“The old lords of Saxony are gathering at the ‘Shadow Tower’.”
“Are you aiming for this Duchy of Saxony?”
“I don’t know until then.”
The Shadow Saint answered, and Dale frowned.
“The royal family, the Red Tower Lords, and the most powerful people in the empire are gathering for Charlotte and me.”
After a moment of thought, Dale opened his mouth, calmly summarizing the current situation.
“If the 《Eldritch》 of the Shadow Tower are going to move, now would be the perfect time to welcome them.”
“Do you plan to call yourself a Golden Rider and fight against the old Shadow Clan?”
The Shadow Saintess asked back. Dale asked back sharply.
“And is your Lady fighting for those old Saxon lords?”
In an instant, Master Baro’s expression hardened. The Shadow Saintess continued speaking in the rapidly becoming tense atmosphere.
“Don’t worry, it’s right now.”
“Miss Maria, no… …Saint Mary.”
The somewhat softened voice of Maria, the true name of the Shadow Saintess, stopped her knight, ‘Master Baro’.
“I am loyal only to the Shadow Lord. And the Immortal Frederick and the old Shadow Clan have lost their right to do so.”
“I hope that loyalty will continue to be directed towards me.”
The Shadow Lord answered with a pretended coldness.
* * *
A carriage departing from the Imperial Capital, heading north to the frozen lands of Saxony.
The Bloody Duke, Marquis Yuris, was there, sipping wine. With Lady Scarlett, and by extension, his son, ‘Ray Yuris’.
A clan of blood elves who thirst for blood, who cannot be called the rulers of the empire.
“You’ve gotten quite full, my lovely little sister.”
“It’s almost time, you know.”
Lady Scarlett’s belly was swollen, like a mother about to give birth. And she wasn’t wrong.
That day, through Kangma’s ritual, the devil’s seed was safely conceived in Lady Scarlett’s womb.
“I can feel the child is happy.”
As she said this, Lady Scarlett also sipped her wine.
It was blood-red wine.
* * *
Some time after that.
The continent’s leading nobles and powerful men gathered to witness the ‘order of power’ that would change the empire, but most of them were unaware of the inside story and filled the Duchy of Saxony.
In the great hall of the Duchy of Saxony, preparations began for a banquet of unprecedented grandeur.
The House of Saxony is not just one name, but the House of Lancaster, whose family crest is the red-and-white rose, is also one axis.
The curtain has finally risen on the ceremony.
The night crow and the red-and-white rose overlapped, and the ‘Black Prince’ of Saxony raised his head in the center of the great hall of the ducal castle.
Charlotte Lancaster was also in front of him.
Not in her usual armor, but in a gorgeous dress, like a princess dreaming of a rosy future.
There was his mother Elena, who was watching her son with emotion, his younger sister Lize, who was purely happy, and his elf master Sepia, who did not show up until the very end.
At the same time, applause was heard.
Marquis Yuris, the Bloody Duke, was applauding the two as if blessing them.
With a very ominous smile.
