Chapter 11
Ivarid, the southernmost region of the Dragon Empire Igrion, was an area with abundant sunlight where roseberries grew well.
Despite this, due to the notoriety of the Red River that wrapped around three sides of Ivarid, people couldn’t bring themselves to put down roots in that land. Only gatherers occasionally entered and exited the area to harvest raspberries. However, when Carlston Klaus, the master of Idelin and the third prince, was granted that land as his territory, the abandoned land was reborn anew in just 10 years.
Massive walls were built to prepare for possible dragon attacks, and those who used to come and go from afar for gathering formed communities, created villages, and built cities. The Ivarid Castle, where the lord would reside, was constructed after a grand project that lasted seven long years.
Built on the peak of Mount Avanda, the highest point in Ivarid, the castle was both a source of pride and a reliable refuge for the people of Ivarid.
This Ivarid Castle had never once had its lights go out since Lord Carlston Klaus began residing there, but as with all disasters, everything changed in an instant.
“Has His Highness’s whereabouts still not been found?”
Alfred Rubens, the regent and acting lord, had deep shadows cast over his face. Fatigue from the overwhelming work that had been ongoing for quite some time, along with anxiety and worry about how long this situation would continue, were etched deeply along the wrinkles on his face.
“Sir Elma is inquiring everywhere, but…”
Administrator Sullivan couldn’t finish his sentence and lowered his head. Alfred let out a long, troubled sigh.
“What on earth could have happened to him… He was severely injured, so he couldn’t have gone far…”
“Surely we don’t have to prepare for the worst-case scenario?”
“Tch, don’t say such unlucky things.”
Alfred frowned at Sullivan’s careless words.
“Do you know who His Highness is? He’s the master of the silver Idelin, a direct descendant of the founding dragon Yggdrasil. Such a thing is not only impossible, but it must not happen.”
“But…”
Sullivan was about to raise an objection to Alfred with a gloomy face when someone knocked on the door outside.
“Lord Rubens, it’s Derick. Are you in there?”
As Alfred and Sullivan looked towards the door, a calm voice flowed in from outside. Instead of answering, Alfred crossed the room to approach the door.
When he opened it, Derick, the prince’s head chamberlain, was standing outside, neatly dressed in a suit. Seeing Alfred, the acting lord, Derick bowed politely.
“What’s the matter?”
“A guest has arrived.”
“A guest?”
Alfred frowned.
The fact that the prince had been accused of assassinating the Dragon King and attacked by the Crown Prince was already widely known throughout the empire. A guest at a time like this?
“Is it someone from His Majesty’s side?”
Alfred tilted his head, feeling puzzled.
“No, it’s not. But they’re not the kind of people I should be greeting either.”
“Who are they?”
“They introduced themselves as mercenaries, but…”
Derick trailed off. At the unclear answer, the doubt on Alfred’s face only grew deeper.
“Why would mercenaries…?”
“You’ll understand the details if you go out to see them. They’re waiting in the reception room, so why don’t you go take a look?”
After thoroughly piquing curiosity, Derick said no more. Alfred, who had been tilting his head left and right, also concluded that going out to see for himself would be the quickest way to resolve his curiosity.
“Alright.”
As Alfred answered, Derick’s face relaxed, and he bowed once more before turning around. Alfred looked at Sullivan, who had been listening to the conversation from inside the room.
“Come with me, Sullivan.”
Sullivan, who had been standing still, nodded.
Although it couldn’t compare to the imperial palace in the capital with its thousand years of history, the reception room of Ivarid Castle, which had been completed relatively recently, was quite luxurious and neatly arranged.
Particularly noteworthy was the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Intricately crafted crystals hung in multiple tiers, and when the wind came in from outside, they swayed gently, creating clear sounds like music.
“Wow… It’s so beautiful.”
Sian, instead of sitting on the sofa that the head chamberlain Derick had guided her to, was engrossed in admiring the chandelier while standing.
The spotless marble flooring, the elegant curved sofas – everything in the reception room was luxurious, but none could compare to the splendor of the beautiful and magnificent chandelier.
Across from Sian, who was staring at the chandelier in a daze, repeatedly saying how pretty it was, sat a woman with long black hair, quietly sipping the tea that a maid had brought. Her lips touching the teacup curled into a subtly satisfied smile every time an exclamation of admiration escaped Sian’s mouth.
“They must really be rolling in money.”
Sian suddenly said, her face enraptured as if bewitched by the lavish world inside the castle. The woman, who had just taken a sip of tea, made a strange choking sound.
“This is really raising my expectations for the visa… I mean, private property.”
“Shh.”
The woman sitting on the sofa frowned at Sian’s bright and cheerful voice.
“Stop with the careless remarks, Lady.”
“Oops.”
Belatedly realizing that someone might hear, Sian tapped her own lips. Seeing the traces of overwhelming wealth both inside and outside the castle, her excitement bubbled up, and her palms were covered in cold sweat.
As she casually wiped her palms on her pants, Sian looked at the woman sitting demurely on the sofa.
“Ca… Karen should be careful with her words too. Isn’t your voice too clear and transparent?”
The woman with black hair elegantly cascading below her shoulders was undeniably beautiful to anyone who looked, but what escaped from her lips painted with red lipstick was a deep baritone.
Ahem, at Sian’s pointed remark, the woman, or rather, Carl in disguise, cleared his throat with a sheepish expression.
“Anyway, speaking of that chandelier, it’s a masterpiece among masterpieces, made by the descendants of legendary dwarf craftsmen who mined crystals from a thousand-year-old gold mine and processed them one by one. You can’t even imagine how much trouble I went through to procure it.”
Carl said, raising his voice a couple of tones with a proud face. It was still far from a complete female voice, but not enough to realize he was a man just from his face.
Ah, I see, Sian responded half-heartedly, with an expression of listening to an old person’s story.
“But if it’s a thousand-year-old gold mine, shouldn’t they be mining gold? Why are they mining crystals there?”
“Oh, you don’t know anything.”
When Sian asked curiously, Carl in disguise let out a small laugh as if she didn’t know anything.
“Well…”
But Carl, who had opened his mouth, blinked his eyes instead of giving a convincing reason. Anyone could see he had fallen into doubt, thinking, ‘That’s right…’
“Shh, someone’s coming.”
Sian’s eyebrows were just starting to twist at Carl’s increasingly peculiar expression. The sound of footsteps grew closer from the corridor outside the reception room.
Carl carefully set down the teacup he had been drinking from. The action was so smooth that not even a clinking sound came from the cup, very befitting of nobility.
For a moment, as Sian and Carl fell silent and waited, the footsteps steadily approached. Sian found herself glancing at Carl without realizing it.
‘They’ll definitely recognize me.’
Carl’s voice, filled with worry, seemed to echo in Sian’s ears.
‘Especially Alfred, the regent, who came here with me from the imperial palace. He’s known me for over 10 years, there’s no way he won’t recognize me.’
When Sian had suggested dressing as a woman, Carlston had worried with a very reluctant face.
Sian had replied that people are creatures of prejudice, and they wouldn’t easily think that the injured prince who had disappeared would return in the form of a woman.
But now that the footsteps were approaching so close, she felt tense about whether something unexpected might happen.
Carl, feeling Sian’s gaze, looked back at her.
It’ll be alright, Sian said with her eyes unconsciously. Carl nodded slightly as if understanding her meaning, but unlike before, the tension was evident in his stiff expression.
Soon, there was a presence at the arched entrance of the reception room. And what appeared were a middle-aged man with thinning white hair and a younger man.
The two stopped in their tracks, their eyes widening as they discovered the two figures inside before even entering the reception room. They looked surprised, clearly not expecting that the unannounced mercenary guests would be two women.
“May the dragon’s blessing reach the heavens. Greetings, Lord of Ivarid. I am Sian Roosevelt of the Dragon’s Claw mercenary group.”
As if she had expected this, Sian erased any sign of tension from her expression and smiled leisurely. It was Carl, not the middle-aged man or the younger man, who cast a glance at Sian’s smooth, almost glib greeting.
He was amazed, even dumbfounded. Carl stared at Sian’s side profile for a moment as she smiled nonchalantly.
“May the dragon’s blessing reach the ends of the earth. Welcome, please excuse us. We were told that guests had arrived, but we were momentarily taken aback as we hadn’t heard that they would be such beautiful ladies.”
The middle-aged man, Alfred, came to his senses at Sian’s voice and returned the greeting. Sian and Carl unconsciously exchanged brief glances.
