Rufus entered the capital city with the cheers of the people.
“Long live Rufus!”
“Long live the mighty Rufus who killed the Demon King!”
“Glory to the Baron Inferna!”
The people hailed at Rufus, who rode a gilded white horse into the city.
The whole street was a festival venue. Small pieces of coloured paper glistened and fluttered in the air.
Flags engraved with the seal of Rufus’s family, the Barony Inferna, fluttered everywhere, and they sang hymns from all over the place.
To the citizens of Hevnia who lost numerous family and friends during the long war, Rufus was their saviour who ended the terrible suffering.
The celebration of the end of the war would last all week.
[See you at https://blog.millenniumsnow.com ( ˊᵕˋ )°♡.]
“Brother, I missed you!” Rufus’s brother, who came up to the capital from the periphery of the Inferna estate, hugged him.
“Edel,” Rufus hugged his brother. Before joining the subjugation force, he was still a kid with a runny nose. However, he has grown beyond recognition over the past three years.
There was no longer a weak boy who was grabbing his clothes and crying over his brother going to war. His younger brother was a respectable man now.
“Edel, you’ve grown a lot.”
“Yes. Sooner or later, I will be bigger than my brother!”
“That’s funny,” said Rufus, looking down at his brother, now fifteen years old.
It’s been a long time since he had laughed. Until now, he had lived on the threshold of death for so long that he thought he had forgotten how to laugh.
“Rufus,” an old woman appeared behind Edel.
“Grandmother,”
It was Baroness Inferna, the only adult left in the House of Inferna.
Even after Rufus had grown up, she maintained the title because no one knew what would happen in the future after he had left for the war front.
On the day Rufus was driven to the battlefield, she did not cry.
‘Rufus,’ said the old lady, holding her grandson’s hand tightly. ‘Please take this.’
She gave him a double-edged sword. It was a sword that only the legitimate successor to the house of Inferna could inherit. It was unique in shape, overlaid with pure silver, which is known to be very lethal to the demons.
‘Go and cut down the Devil’s neck. You can do it.’
Rufus remembered that the hand handing him the sword was shaking.
“I knew you could do it,” Grandma held Rufus’s hand tight.
“Thank you for coming back alive.”
“…”
Rufus hugged his grandmother without saying anything. Her skinny arms around him where thinner than bars.
Not only that.
The eyes that had always shed light on the future of her grandchildren were now turning murky, and the hands she used to pray for them could no longer support any pressure.
His grandmother has become undeniably old.
Each day Rufus lived was a day she was closer to death.
“Grandmother…” When he called for her, something seemed to be stuck in his chest.
He realized that he was in a hurry to survive all this time and forgot that he had not much time left to spend with his grandmother.
“… How’s grandmother’s condition?” After taking Baron Inferna to her room, Rufus asked Ethel quietly.
“…” Ethel couldn’t open his mouth easily, and Rufus could guess what the silence meant.
“Grandmother… I don’t think it’s going to be easy for her to get past this year.” Ethel, who hesitated for a long time, bowed his head.
“Lies!” He must be spitting nonsense!
“I’m sorry,” Edel couldn’t raise his head. And in fact, Rufus knew.
Grandma was about to die.
But he didn’t want to admit it. He hasn’t prepared his mind yet. So, please, he wanted someone to tell him.
Grandma’s not going to die yet. His grandmother would be alive for a long time, and she will happily spend the rest of her life with him, who has returned from that hellish battlefield.
Then, there was a face that suddenly came to his mind.
‘Yes…’
She would be able to tell him. She said she was a saint who could predict death.
And she prophesied that he would come back alive from the war. So this time again, she’d be able to tell him for sure.
His body reacted even before his thoughts went that far. Rufus ran out of the palace, where he stayed with his family.
“Brother!” there was an urgent cry from Edel left alone in the hall, but he didn’t look back.
He ran and ran.
He ran towards the dazzling palace of Princess Sordid.
“Oh, Sir Rufus! What brings you here…?” The knights guarding Princess Sordid’s palace recognized Rufus at a glance.
“Sarubia.”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t there a maid named Sarubia in this palace? Bring her to me.”
“Hah, did you say maid?”
“Hurry!” Knights surprised at Rufus’s approach, scattered around.
After a while, they brought a woman to Rufus.
The one from his memories, before he knew it, she had already grown into a mature woman.
Nevertheless, he could recognize her at once.
Her ivory-coloured hair created a gentle atmosphere.
There was no mistake.
“Sarubia.” Rufus put the unforgettable name on his lips once again.
The memories of that day came back to him.
The day he was sent to the subjugation force after he had asked the king for Princess Sordid without even knowing the beauty. This young woman was the one who whispered words of encouragement to a young man who had been gripped by the fear that he would soon die.
A strange woman who stole his first kiss in return.
Since then, Rufus has fought with himself, overcoming several death threats.
The horrors of war drove people crazy.
The anxiety that you may be buried in a miserable land that no one recognizes.
There were hose hellish moments when you couldn’t be sure whether you will be alive and able to return to your former life, once the war ends.
The only reason he could bear each time was her one word.
“Uh…”
The maid blinked her golden eyes and stared at Rufus. And then…
“…Do you know me?”