Ruvid was looking up at the crack at Duham Palace.
“You’ve done this devilish thing.”
“That’s terrible, the devil is also God’s servant.”1
Klavis, who was next to Ruvid muttered, replied with a smile. Ruvid snorted at the nonsense.
Yesterday, the Dukes decided to take turns guarding the tomb. And the first order was the best-prepared North.
So the prince of the North and his knights camped at Duham Palace and watched over the crack. In fact, this caused the northern knights were worried about this.
That was because the impatient Ruvid wouldn’t like this kind of guard work, and many of the knights predicted Ruvid would be all over the place all the time.
But unexpectedly, he wasn’t irritated or bored.
Rather, like a cat observing fish in a fishbowl, the eagle was enchanted by the form of the crack and was busy watching it.
“Isn’t it pretty?”
Klavis asked, but Ruvid didn’t answer and looked at the crack.
“Can I tell you something interesting?”
Again, it was the same. However, it was the same as Klavis’ self willingness, and he spoke without hesitation.
“Time doesn’t pass in the tomb.”
“What?”
At the unexpected remark, Ruvid narrowed his brows and looked back. Klavis smiled brightly at the attention he had finally gained.
“Do you need to be surprised? No wonder the world of the dead is different from ours, nothing is natural.”
“What are you talking about, are you serious?”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
Klavis put his hand on Ruvid’s shoulder.
“The time is stopped in there. No, should I say it’s repeating? So the time spent in there isn’t reflected in this time. No matter how long you dream, when you open your eyes, it’s only one night.”4
In an unbelievable way, Ruvid frowned and looked at Klavis.
But Klavis’ gaze was subtly deflected. His real eye contact with Ruvid’s face was Marquis Rubel behind him.
“Really, isn’t it funny?”
It was also directed to the Marquis. He was firm at Klavis’ story.
‘Really?’
He couldn’t believe it, but there was no reason for Klavis to lie. Now that the path to the tomb had already opened, lies would soon be discovered.
Marquis Rubel’s eyes shook nervously.
‘Then Lena….’
Did that mean the last six years that the child had spent may not be just six years?
An unexpected proposition led to a dizzying hypothesis.
If Klavis’ words were true and if it’s true that Lena had returned from the tomb. How long did she spend in the tomb? A week? A month? A year?
‘Maybe more than that.’
It could be 10 years or 100 years.
The Marquis grew irritated at the speculation that no one couldn’t guess. At the same time Klavis, who didn’t say this important thing in advance, was annoying.
Marquis Rubel struggled to swallow embarrassment, and Ruvid muttered, as he mumbled over Klavis’ words, “But how did you find that out, you?”
Klavis’ smile grew darker than ever at the indispensable sharp of his question. He couldn’t tell him here that there was Lena Rubel six years ago and there were so many like her.
So he was looking for a reason to catch up with him. However, an unexpected voice interrupted them.
“Now, of course, the story will be shared with the East too?”
Ruvid’s face was distorted by the intrusive voice. Lignan Eitner and the eastern knights were rushing to Duham Palace.
“You’re also the main character.”
Unlike the straight-faced Ruvid, Klavis welcomed Lynn with pleasure. But Lynn walked silently to the crack, ignoring hospitality and coldness.
“Stop.” Ruvid stopped him coldly as the Eastern Duke approached. “Do you realize where is this?”
“This is not the northern territory.”
“Even if it’s not in the territory, if the dog loiters, we’ll chase it away.”
Lynn sighed at Ruvid’s low-quality provocation, and then turned to Klavis, as if he didn’t want to talk more with him.
Klavis finally stepped in.
“Oh, Prince Ruvid. Don’t do that. The Eastern Duke was formally scheduled.”
“What?”
“I want to look inside that first.”
Ruvid alternated Lynn and Klavis with the face of ‘what the fu*k is he talking about?’.
“He himself?”
“Because our Eastern Duke is diligent and competent.”
Klavis’ acclaim made Ruvid’s expression turned cold.
‘Diligent? Competent? That bastard?’
Ruvid bit his lips because he felt bad. Then he shouted suddenly, “I go too.”
At Ruvid’s sudden declaration, Lynn looked at him with the eyes of a fool. But as usual, Ruvid was proud without measure. And Lynn had no right to stop him.
Eventually, Lynn sighed and got on the horse. Then, whether Ruvid followed or not, he went on the path of the tomb alone.
🍃🍃🍃
The sense of crossing the crack was more ordinary than expected. Lynn only felt a slight temperature difference like when he went out on a cloudy day.
When he crossed the crack, a wide plain and hills spread out. But there wasn’t a rush there.
The sky was blazing red and the ground was black without a single blade of grass. It was a scene that would drive him crazy if he kept looking at it.
‘It’s burning.‘
In addition, his exposed skin was aching.
‘Is it poisonous?’
Lynn looked at the ring he wore just in case. Fortunately, the silver was still clear.
The black ground slumped like a shallow swamp, but there seemed that there wasn’t much to run the horse. After checking, Lynn drove the horse and ran on the plain.
Luckily, there was no dead man on the road. It was still clean because of Ruvid’s attack through the cracks earlier.
Lynn climbed the hill to see what was out there. But suddenly, he heard a ping and a sharp sound behind his back.
Lynn realized the sound and turned reflexively. Immediately, an invisible attack passed over his ear.
“Ukh!”
Lynn, who had turned quickly, slipped from the saddle. So he hung upside down and grabbed the reins, he saw Ruvid in inverted view. (just imagined this, lol)
Lynn climbed onto the white horse and clenched his teeth as he saw Ruvid had pulled out his rapier. It was a northern attack that just passed over his head.
Ruvid, who attacked from behind, drove past Lynn as he fell from the saddle.
‘Shall I kill him?’
Lynn had to harden his jaw and climbed back into the saddle, then raced the horse and followed Ruvid. Soon, they climbed the highest hill along the plains.
Ruvid, who had arrived one step ahead of Lynn, said lightly, “There’s nothing special.”
“Don’t talk to me.”
“To myself, you mongrel!”
Ruvid shouted angrily, but Lynn ignored him and looked at the sight before his eyes.
‘What do you mean nothing? Don’t you have eyes?‘
Beyond the hills, he could see a vast expanse of land, rugged mountains, dense forests, and fortifications. It was the castle of the Kings they had to conquer.
But….
‘Why is it like that?’
Lynn looked at the castles in a perplexing mood.
It was strange. Obviously, castle was castle, but there was no basic thing to have a castle here.
‘There’s no road.’
There were no gates and waterways as well as roads. The fortress was a strange shape like a half-melted candle, while only the walls were thick.
‘How to live in a castle like that….’
Lynn suddenly realized that he was wondering if that was his castle.
The dead didn’t live. So they didn’t sleep, eat, or farm. They just swarm around and hunt for living things.
Since it was the castle of such beings, it was natural that there was no reasonable structure such as roads or doors. Rather, it should’ve been considered strange that the king existed and the castle remained.
The moment he thought so, Lynn came up with another problem.
‘Why does that castle exist if it’s not a base for survival?’
Then, there was a roar across the castle. The loud sound rang with myriad echoes, and the dead poured out of the castle at once.
‘What the hell….!’
Lynn clenched his teeth and turned his horse. However, in the midst of avoiding it, Lynn’s gaze was toward the ugly castle and the endless crawling dead.
Lynn thought about it by carving it into his retina.
The dead didn’t live in that castle. Then, why was that castle present?
‘They’re not making a dead man in the castle, are they?’
Lynn thought unknowingly and cursed his idea.
Unfortunately, however, his guess was very close to the truth.
🍃🍃🍃
Meanwhile, the situation in the South was quite different from that in the Northeast. The eastern and northern regions were already patrolling the tombs, where the first meeting of commanders and knights of the South was taking place.
In a very cold atmosphere.
“We cannot accept you as a commander.”
A knight said so, but it wasn’t just his personal opinion. Eighty-eight knights standing beside him were sympathetic to his will with a deep silence.
Lena blinked blankly ahead of the countless rejections.
‘I haven’t said anything yet.’
Dame Lena hadn’t even made her first greeting yet. But somehow, she was rejected before she even opened her mouth.
Lena was puzzled for a moment and soon smiled. She was compassionate when she knew that the southern knights were knights drawn from noble families.
So it was dissapointing.
The one who sympathized with them also got rejected by the selected scapegoats.
It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling, but Lena swallowed her self-help and smiled convulsively.
Then she asked back in an innocent voice, “Can I ask why?”
“We cannot trust you.”
“That’s because we never saw each other yet. Trust is building up gradually.”
The faces of the knights hardened as Lena smiled gracefully. Her answer was rather preposterous because it was too theoretical.
So the knights countered with a frown.
“Building trust is only possible with the least hope.”
“So do you mean that I have no hope?”
The knights struggled, tried hard to put it to the point, but Lena didn’t even notice it. Therefore, the knight that was talking to her was starting to feel uncomfortable.
Whether Lena couldn’t grasp the situation or ignoring reality, she looked as innocent as a seven-year-old child.
The knight couldn’t tell why such a woman had been commissioned as the deputy of the southern knights. So the knight said without hiding the antipathy, “In our judgment, yes. So please step down.”
“This is the decision of the Duke of the South.”
The knight faltered when Lena mentioned Duke Arles. Looking at the figure, Lena asked again, “Are you against the will of the Duke?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then?”
“That why we ask you to step down on your own.”
Lena nodded unknowingly at the cowardly reply of the knight.
The riddle had been solved. She didn’t know anything else, but she wondered how the knights could do this to a Dame who was appointed by the Duke himself.
‘I think he’s planning on throwing them out.’
She didn’t think that Duke Arles didn’t know about this. Lena muttered to herself, recalling the ages of those she saw on the list.
Twenty-year-old men from prestigious families. Lena realized that they were still immature, and asked again.
“But it doesn’t make sense. Why do you think I’m hopeless?”
When asked repeatedly, the knights finally clenched his teeth and said straightforwardly, “You’re suspicious and your age is too young.”
“Is that all?”
“And you’re a woman.”
“Do you think black cats are ominous?”
The knight’s eyebrows curled with a wave pattern at a sudden question. He looked at Lena as if he said, what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about?
So Lena explained kindly.
“I mean, do you believe in superstition? It seems that you believe that a woman of ambiguous origin and young age shouldn’t be a commander.”
The knight barely understood Lena’s words. So Lena smiled and added.
“Would you like it to be more honest? To my preconceptions, you seem weak and incompetent. But the Duke is scary so I intend to bully you and kick you out.”
Lena’s voice was extra soft. So the knights realized the acrimonious mockery of the words a step later. Her severe leap made the knights emotional and asked back.
“If it’s a preconception, does it mean that the reality is different?”
“So I can be a commander, can’t I?”
“Then prove it.”
“I can’t.”
“Are you not confident?”
“Yeah.”
Lena’s resolute answer made the knights puzzled once again. The surrender was too quick for being cheeky.
The knights looked at Lena, thinking she had her tail down. But Lena’s words were not over yet.
“The only way to prove my qualifications here is to beat you up at best, but that will prove to something. Just like yesterday, the Duke’s image will be damaged.”
Lena’s words were full of no malice. Therefore, the anger of the knights slowly grew. The knights gnashed their teeth. Some were openly stared at Lena.
The ugliness shown at Duham Palace yesterday was a painful wound for them. They knew for themselves how bad they were, and they felt shame and despair.
That was why they hoped to replace the commander. They’re not confident, they’re anxious, and they didn’t think they could do this.
Meanwhile, Lena sighed at the knights, who wriggled when they were provoked or teased when they were teased.
‘What should I do with these kids?’
They didn’t have skills or manners, but had lost their military discipline and were proudly committing mutiny. If they went to the tomb like this, they would be nothing but a body with a lot of excuses.
Lena thought that Duke Arles gave her too difficult homework.
It was time to swallow a sigh like that.
“I’m sure you’re good at making fun of your tongue.”
Someone spoke crudely. Looking back at the sound, a knight with a thick neck and a heavy shoulder was heading toward Lena.
When Lena looked at him, he muttered, “I like it. A tongue-tied female commander.”
Some knights were baffled by the frivolous remarks and some disliked it. But some laughed.
As if to be giddy with laughter, the knights’ remarks had become more vulgar.
“You’re going to die, and you should have that kind of pleasure, right?”
It was certainly a statement that crossed the line. But Lena, wasn’t embarrassed, asked the knight, “What’s your name?”
“Why?”
“I just want to know why you do that.”
Lena smiled clearly, then added, “I also have hands and feet.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fighting Lena, I’ll support you by reading your stories…
And anyway, as you may know, I update twice a week so see you in Monday!
Btw, Lynn was 20 years old and Lena was 18 years old.
Comment:
벚꽃지는날(jiho****):
Time goes by differently beyond the crack. So did Lena, and also the Empress, empire, or whatever. Power and wealth are treated as ‘trivial things’.
에몽낭자(erik****):
That ‘deceased’ knight… How dare you touch Lena? Get out of this novel.
러시(ccod****):
Lena said she has hands and feet… That’s the reason she’s going to hit and trample those knights…!!