Chapter 58
Sian almost agreed with Mrs. Lutice’s words as if it were someone else’s story, saying “That’s right.” Revenant let out a light laugh.
“Mrs. Lutice, you’re the one being naive. Would His Highness, Idelin’s owner and Lord of Ivarid, bother keeping a young lady from a long-established noble family by his side? The more men have, the more they tend to favor women who have nothing. They’re easier to handle.”
As if asking “Isn’t that right?”, Revenant winked at Sian while lifting her teacup. Oh, this is clearly mockery. Finally, a proper attack has begun.
Sian thought to herself, regardless of the suddenly chilled atmosphere at the table as everyone looked at her.
“My, Mrs. Carter, that’s a bit…”
“Don’t take it too personally, Haley, since it applies to me as well as the Lady. I actually come from an even humbler background than the Lady, but I was coincidentally saved by my husband and got to live this new life. Just like how the Lady saved His Highness and thus set foot in noble society.”
“Oh my, Mrs. Carter, how can you say such things? Regardless of your origins, you’re now a leading figure in high society.”
“That’s right, that’s right. I remember clearly when Sir Antonio Carter first debuted with you. We were all so impressed by your perfect manners and elegant appearance.”
The noble ladies unanimously praised Revenant. Revenant smiled sheepishly at the compliments directed at her and drank her tea, but it was easy to see that she was enjoying this situation.
“You’re amazing. Come to think of it, certainly…”
Sian smiled brightly and looked at Revenant as if in admiration.
“Sir Dragon Knight was also originally a ‘lowly’ commoner before being chosen by a dragon and becoming a knight, wasn’t he?”
Naturally, the briefly warmed atmosphere at the table quickly chilled.
“It’s so romantic. Not just family background, but a commoner with nothing suddenly becomes a noble through a dragon’s choice, and then by chance meets someone like that and achieves social advancement. Isn’t it like a dream come true for people who have nothing?”
“No, Lady…”
Katie Sands looked at Sian with an expression and tone that seemed to ask if her sense of tact was paralyzed.
The noble ladies noticeably looked to Revenant in response to Sian’s remarks.
“Of course, I too am so happy these days to have obtained such undeserved luck. Mrs. Carter must have felt the same way, right?”
“Lady, I think those words are a bit rude.”
“That’s right.”
“Oh my, was that not an appropriate thing to say?”
Sian pretended to be startled at the ladies’ criticism and covered her mouth.
“I thought it was okay since Mrs. Carter spoke about her background without prejudice. I’m sorry if it was rude, Mrs. Carter.”
“…It’s nothing.”
Unlike the flustered noble ladies, Revenant smiled gently as if unbothered.
“It’s not something that can’t be said. How many people are born with everything from the start in this world? Isn’t that right?”
“Well, that’s true.”
The noble ladies barely managed to laugh at Revenant’s words, but it was extremely awkward. No one seemed to agree with those words.
That’s because, except for Revenant whose husband was originally a commoner, all the women gathered at the table were nobles who could be called ‘born with many things from the start’.
Even Sian, with her fake identity as a baronet’s family in name only. So Revenant’s words, which applied to no one but herself, couldn’t possibly resonate with the others.
Everyone seemed uncomfortable with the topic of class that had somehow emerged. It was all the more inevitable since only Revenant, the host of the tea time and the real power of the gathering, was of commoner origin.
“Since the topic came up, I suddenly remember an old story. Would you all like to hear it?”
Though the ladies had stopped their incessant chatter for fear of making a mistake, Revenant seemed to be enjoying the chilled atmosphere.
Smiling faintly and taking the floor despite the awkward atmosphere, Revenant looked around the table. No one dared to say, “Let’s skip the old story.”
“It’s a story about a child who dreamed of social advancement like the Lady or myself, but ultimately failed to achieve it…”
Having forcibly extracted a silent agreement, Revenant looked at Sian and began to speak.
* * *
A white bird crossed the cloudless blue sky.
The bird glided on the wind with its small wings spread wide. Beyond the head of the bird maintaining quite a high altitude, the Imperial Palace of the Igrion Empire spread out.
The trained bird headed straight for the tall towers of the Imperial Palace that appeared before it. White curtains fluttered beyond the terrace at the end of the third floor. The door was wide open.
Carl noticed the approaching bird and whistled briefly. The bird, which had been flapping its wings as if about to change direction, heard the familiar sound and fluttered towards the one who had called it.
Carl received the messenger bird with a practiced hand and perched it on his hand. A tube containing the message was tied to the bird’s body with a string.
“Good job.”
After untying the string and separating the message, Carl released the bird. Having completed its task, the messenger bird that had arrived without warning flew back through the open door with relief.
Carl confirmed the bird’s departure and checked the sender of the message. The sender was Michael, a member of the Imperial Knight Order and one of the Crown Prince’s men.
[To His Highness the Prince,
I should rightfully visit and convey this message in person, but due to the outward conflict between my master, His Highness the Crown Prince, and Your Highness, I regretfully report via document.
As per your orders, I am reporting the results of reviewing the nobility records from 20 years ago to 5 years ago, about 15 years in total.
To get to the point, there are no officially recorded young ladies who were expelled from their families.]
Carl read the message while leaning against the doorframe. It was a belated message.
Carl had asked Michael to investigate Sian’s background, something he had been curious about all along. Not knowing her exact age but estimating her to be in her early to mid-twenties based on appearance, he had asked Michael to check the nobility records for any expelled young ladies from a minimum of 5 years ago to a maximum of 20 years ago.
Carl wasn’t disappointed by Michael’s message, as he had already learned a few days ago that she was the daughter of Margrave Chandler of the frontier.
No expelled young ladies. Of course. After all, the Margrave Chandler’s daughter was said to have died of an endemic disease.
He felt sorry that Michael’s efforts had been in vain. It couldn’t have been an easy task to search through 15 years of nobility records. Though his interest in the message had quickly waned, Carl read it through to the end out of guilt towards Michael.
[I apologize for not properly completing the task you requested.
The reason I continue this report despite that is because I discovered an unsettling record while checking the nobility records.]
Carl’s gaze changed as he carelessly read the text while scratching his chin.
[Imperial Year 1624, Aira Chandler, the only daughter of Winston Chandler, Lord of Vicrea, dies of an endemic disease.]
…Aira Chandler.
Carl frowned unconsciously. That was Sian’s real name. But despite the opening statement that “there are no expelled young ladies,” Sian’s real name suddenly remained as an “unsettling record” in the report.
…A coincidence? Carl assessed, stroking his chin with the hand not holding the message.
That can’t be. Carl’s face instantly turned cold.
[Before the only daughter’s death, the moon did not rise for two weeks in the Vicrea region. On the night when the moon did not rise, Lady Aira Chandler suffered from an unknown high fever, and two weeks later, on the day of Lady Chandler’s death, the full moon rose.
This is the record remaining in the nobility records. I don’t know why you asked me to look for records of expelled young ladies, but I attach this in case it might help with what Your Highness is looking for.]
Michael’s letter ended there.
“…The moon?”
Carl unconsciously muttered aloud. They say the moon might not be visible for a day or two if it’s cloudy, but for the moon not to rise for two weeks straight…
‘The moon didn’t rise then either.’
Idelin, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly interjected.
‘When that brazen dragon hunter was on our trail.’
“The incident you mentioned last time?”
Carl recalled the past memory. It was just before leaving the Dragon’s Temple, when Idelin had asked why he didn’t ask about the scales.
The circumstance Idelin had first mentioned, remembering after hearing Sian’s story, was this: Just as Carl was busy finding a place to build a castle and find a way to live after arriving in Ivarid, Idelin also had to find a new home.
Due to the nature of the royal family where multiple dragon owners could emerge in one generation, there were many empty nest sites near the Imperial Palace that had been used by past dragons. However, when Carl and Idelin first arrived, Ivarid was little more than empty wasteland.
Therefore, Idelin was also busy roaming inside and outside Ivarid looking for suitable terrain for a new nest, and that’s when he encountered a memory of a young female dragon hunter.
Idelin said that the woman he encountered had a not-so-good look in her eyes, so he didn’t even properly engage, just took a few attacks and then left the place.
If that woman was the dragon hunter Revenant, she might have gotten hold of a scale or two that happened to fall off then.
“Wasn’t Sian not there at that time, you said?”
‘That’s certain. She was alone.’
“Then it had nothing to do with Sian at that time. Moonless nights are quite common, aren’t they?”
‘It’s my guess, but.’
