Ch#221
221
To think the report he had been waiting for since the moment he regained consciousness was this pathetic.
Recalling the various incidents and accidents she had caused, he couldn’t entirely fail to understand the retainers’ cold attitude, but he couldn’t help the surge of intense displeasure.
He tossed the parchment into the campfire built by the soldiers and turned back to Daren with icy eyes.
“Have an escort unit on standby.”
“Does that mean…?”
“As soon as the withdrawal is complete, I’m heading to Kalmor.”
“Understood. I will finish the handover procedures immediately and have the knights ready.”
The man gave a slight bow and strode toward the area where the Wolfram Cavalry was camped.
Varkas stared down at the parchment as it shriveled and blackened in the flames for a moment before turning back toward the tent where the commanders were gathered.
Once the Northern Alliance, consisting of approximately eight thousand heavy armored warriors, finished establishing their camp, Varkas left a portion of the Imperial elite forces in the rear and led the remaining army toward the southern tip of the Yotengar Mountains. It was to blockade all entry points leading to the rebels’ stronghold.
After stationing troops along every possible route where supplies might pass, he established a new Allied camp at the border between the East and the North.
It was the optimal location—one where he could support the Northern Alliance immediately if the tide of war turned unfavorable, while simultaneously cutting off any escape routes for the enemy.
Now, Bjorn Blodar Heimdall was nothing more than a rat in a trap.
Varkas reached inside his coat and felt the scar remaining on his flank.
It was the first defeat he had suffered since his knighthood.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to repay that humiliation with his own hands, but the man’s ruin was already predestined.
A man possessed by reckless ambition who had plunged the entire North into the agony of war. It was ridiculous to even hold a grudge against the desperate struggles of one who was losing everything due to his own foolishness.
Varkas gazed at the rugged yet elegant ridges of the Yotengar Mountains with cynical eyes before turning his horse’s head.
In the massive barracks built along the mountain range, the banners of families who had sworn fealty to the Imperial family fluttered. After scanning the dozens of colorful flags, he spurred his horse toward the edge of the camp.
In front of the checkpoint, the commanders he had appointed as successors stood in a long line. Daren, who had been conversing with the knights at the center, spotted him and approached through the soldiers.
“All handovers are complete. You may depart now.”
“I will return as soon as Laina’s engagement ceremony is over.”
“There is no need for that. The aftereffects of your injuries still remain, do they not?”
Standing close to the horse as if to prevent others from overhearing, the man whispered in a low voice.
Varkas frowned. He hadn’t expected Daren to have noticed that.
“Do not worry about this place; stay in the East for a while and get some rest.”
The man added in a firm tone.
Varkas stared down at his face for a moment before finally turning his horse with a low sigh.
“If any problems arise, report immediately through the emergency contact network.”
With that, he passed through the checkpoint and began to ride along the gentle ridges leading to the East.
Thirty knights, heavily armed in black iron armor, followed behind him in two columns.
They only reached the Eastern border region as the sun began to set.
After closely examining the public welfare of the Eastern outskirts, including Tarlin, Varkas led his subordinates toward the Southeast the following day.
When they finally reached Kalmor, a vast prairie that had already embraced spring unfolded before his eyes.
For a fleeting moment, Varkas was seized by a strange illusion, as if he had leaped through time.
Valto was a harsh land that remained in winter for half the year. Perhaps because of that, there were times when it felt as though the flow of time had stopped.
He looked up at the blue sky pouring down warm sunlight with a sense of unfamiliarity before spurring his horse forward.
Before long, small and large villages and a massive fortress city came into view. As he passed through the center and stepped into the magnificent fortress surrounded by double walls, hundreds of retainers poured out to greet him.
“Welcome back, Your Excellency!”
Varkas dismounted swiftly and took a slow look at the faces of the soldiers filling the training ground and the servants working in the outer castle. Despite the rumors of chaos following the news of his injury, the faces of the retainers showed a mix of worry, anxiety, and deep relief.
“You have worked hard traveling such a long distance. Seeing you so robust seems to clear away all our worries.”
Modrian stepped forward and spoke in a low, clear voice. It seemed he intended to completely dispel the retainers’ anxieties.
Varkas gave a perfunctory nod.
“I seem to have caused concern. As you can see, I am perfectly fine, so everyone should set aside their unnecessary worries.”
“That is truly fortunate. It seems the heavens are watching over the Grand Duke specifically.”
The old knight spoke in an exaggerated tone.
Varkas felt a weight of fatigue pressing down on his shoulders and handed Toruk’s reins to a nearby servant.
“I wish to rest. I shall go take my leave now, so everyone return to your posts.”
As soon as his instructions were given, the gathered crowd dispersed in various directions.
He crossed the training ground and passed through the inner castle gate. Then, as he passed through the flower garden where buds were beginning to form and approached the Great Hall, he saw the servants of the main castle lined up at the doorway.
Varkas, who had intended to walk past them indifferently, suddenly came to a dead halt. An unexpected person was standing among the crowd that had gathered to welcome the lord.
For a moment, the flow of the air seemed to stop.
He stood frozen like a stone statue, looking down at the woman standing at the very front of the line of maids.
She wore a white veil loosely over her dark wheat-gold hair, which was neatly braided and pinned up, and she was dressed in a loose, grayish-brown dress.
As he slowly scanned the unfamiliar attire, which even exuded an ascetic atmosphere, she lifted her head, which had been slightly bowed.
Like a marble sculpture placed in a temple corridor, the shards of light filtered through the glass windows poured down over her exquisite face.
At that unrealistic sight, the inside of his throat tightened instantly.
Despite her attire being plain to the point of being austere, she was breathtakingly beautiful. And she looked much healthier than when he had last seen her.
Varkas, staring blankly at that face which looked so peaceful it felt like a stranger’s, slowly opened his mouth.
“It has been a long time.”
Her blue eyes wavered slightly. However, the sign of agitation vanished without a trace soon after.
Lowering her long eyelashes, the woman replied in a calm voice.
“……It has been a long time.”
He saw her fingers, clasped in the center, subtly clutching the fabric of her skirt. Yet, the voice that followed was infinitely quiet.
“I heard you were injured. I’m glad… you returned safely like this.”
His features contorted.
Until just before he left, she was a woman who had poured out curses fueled by resentment. It twisted his insides to see her now, offering formal greetings with such composure, as if nothing had happened.
He stepped closer toward the woman, who maintained a detached air as if dealing with a stranger.
He saw her shoulders stiffen faintly with tension. But the eyes looking up at him were boundlessly calm.
Suddenly, a strange impulse to shake that composure surged within him.
“You must be disappointed that I returned alive and well.”
When he leaned toward her and whispered in a low voice, he saw her lips tremble faintly.
He waited for a sharp vitriol to pour out from between them. But she did not respond. She only stared up at him silently with shadowed eyes that were impossible to read. For some reason, a dull ache throbbed near his solar plexus at that lack of reaction.
