#IV. Black Forest

 Lier was a historic city. Before becoming the royal capital of Kylaq, it was the capital of Arnor and Glensium, which ruled the northwestern part of the continent, and the origin of the Roxus people who make up the subjugated class of Kylaq. The royal capital was located in the middle and lower reaches of the Ebony River, said to be the widest on the continent. The river meandered through the central and southern parts of the kingdom, merged with three tributaries, and flowed westward into the North Sea. Lier was a vast basin. The gentle hills, fertile granary region, even sunshine, and beautiful wheat fields were the reasons why Lier could maintain its lifeline despite repeated prosperity and decline.

 The royal palace, built 700 years ago, was an old heritage of the dynasty. The founding king, who was a not-too-distant descendant of the Arnor royal family, began using the castle with the old kingdom’s form intact as the royal castle and continued to expand it. From the quaint charm of the main castle to the annex that adopted the new architectural techniques of neighboring Solerium.

 The royal palace was a place where one could feel the wealth of the Kylaq royal family, which was experiencing a glorious period. Ella looked at the wide garden where spring sunlight was abundant. The banquet was held in the main castle of the royal palace. She vaguely remembered hearing from Anna that it was an occasion to celebrate the safe return of the Holy Knight Order. The main castle and annex of the royal palace. The rear garden where the king’s princesses resided and the spires. More spires. The royal palace was not unfamiliar to Ella. She followed Larque while tracking Baroness Laerik and the child with her eyes. As the banquet would last for four days, most of the knights’ servants were crossing the castle gate together.

 Ella wondered if Marie would appear here, so she looked around even as she followed Larque. If Marie or Anita were here, this long schedule might not be boring. However, she hadn’t met anyone from the Holy Knight Order yet.

 Larque, who was assigned the largest annex in the western part of the royal palace as a bedroom, simply tidied up his appearance and headed to the main castle where the banquet was being held. Ella followed him diligently with a dark face. She was worried about Eselmund, who was babbling in the wet nurse’s arms. He was a baby who had been sick all night. It didn’t seem like the child would have the strength to endure a four-day schedule, not just one day. When Ella’s gaze kept lingering on the baby, Baroness Laerik spoke.

 “Don’t worry. Dr. Belmont said he’s fine.”

 “But.”

 “By morning, he was completely better and smiling brightly.”

The wet nurse stroked the child’s head while murmuring. Ella frowned. It seemed only Ella thought the child wasn’t okay. Well, that’s why even the child’s father didn’t think of separating from the child.

 “Don’t hate His Highness. This is the first banquet where the young master will be shown.”

 “……”

 “It’s unavoidable since this is an occasion to implicitly indicate the successor before officially proclaiming him.”

 Baroness Laerik was composed. It was the custom and culture of the nobility, which Ella couldn’t understand, but the Baroness, being a noble herself, seemed different. She followed Larque with her mouth shut.

 “Welcome back, Duke Durac.”

 The king was a young man. Like previous kings, he had brilliantly beautiful silver hair and his eyes were a vivid purple. Different from the pitch-black darkness of the north. The color of the ruling class not seen in the western races of the continent. Those wondrous and mysterious two colors were the symbol of the royal family. The king was a man who had inherited them intact.

 Ella looked at the young king. And she thought about the vast royal palace surrounding him. The royal castle built from the old Arnor dynasty and the great achievements of past kings. Those great legacies…… Records that were sometimes atrocities and sometimes tragedies were burdens he had to place evenly on both shoulders. She stared at the smile the young king made and then turned her gaze away. He was a beautiful man. His appearance, which stood out due to its foreignness and was also unique, was a different kind of beauty from Larque.

 If Larque gave a thick impression with sharp lines in neat balance, the man was brighter than him and had delicate features. His nose bridge, elegantly carved, and his lips were perfectly beautiful enough to make even the queen jealous, and his eyebrows were graceful. In contrast, his purple eyes were stern, and for Ella, who had only seen the always refined Larque, the man was just fascinating.

 “I merely survived by Your Majesty’s virtue and protection.”

 Larque knelt on one knee with familiarity. However, he still kept one knee upright. As in the north, it wasn’t a complete prostration. In her childhood, Ella sometimes wondered if the Duke really had loyalty to the king.

 He was a man who found it strange to bow his head to anyone, but he was truly accustomed to kneeling before the king, and thus she was relieved that there was someone even the man feared and bowed his head to. But……

 “It is you who has built up my virtue, isn’t it? Queen.”

 “Duke Durac is always humble.”

 The king turned to the queen. The queen, who had been smiling quietly beside the king, looked at him and answered. Larque straightened his knee at the appropriate time even though the king hadn’t told him to rise. The king saw him but passed it off as insignificant. That’s how it was. The Duke didn’t fear the king, didn’t truly bow his head, and didn’t hold any loyalty.

 All Duracs were like that, and the king just remained silent. It might be the royal family who feared. The king had become king by the hand of the north, and the royal family still couldn’t cut off the northern military power. He was truly a disloyal and unfaithful subject. Arrogant and presumptuous. The fact that he was the king’s longtime friend was also a false shell. The king couldn’t possibly welcome such a disloyal subject. Even if she were the king, she wouldn’t keep him close.

 Ella looked at Larque’s back as he bowed his head before the king, then turned her gaze to the baby. Unlike Ella, who dared not appear before the king and queen, Eselmund was beside his father as the Duke’s son. Baroness Laerik, the wet nurse, signaled to Ella to come and hold the baby so she could pay her respects to the queen. Ella hesitated and couldn’t move. Suddenly, her eyes met the king’s.

 “The Duke’s servant girl is hesitating from afar.”

 At the king’s words, an attendant behind him approached Ella. She moved with the attendant. When she finally stood beside Larque, the first person her gaze fell upon was neither the king nor Larque, but the queen. Ella knelt on both knees before the two. It was a crude courtesy, but its graceful line was excellent. The king gladly accepted the courtesy.

 “Rise.”

 The young king’s fresh voice came from above her head. Ella rose from her place and raised her head. The queen was looking at Eselmund, unable to hide her terrible expression. Ella pressed her lips tightly together with her hands neatly folded. Unhidden anger seeped through her lips.

 “The child resembles the Duke a lot.”

 The king’s gaze fell on Eselmund. Naturally, the gazes of all the people surrounding them flowed to the child. Ella generally couldn’t endure such moments. Whenever people looked at her little child, she was always enveloped in a strange fear. Curiosity or hostility. The Duke’s successor, conceived improperly from an improper womb.

 Ella took the child from the wet nurse with familiarity and bowed her pale face. Baroness Laerik, the wet nurse, paid her respects to the royal couple. But even after that, she didn’t take the child back.

 “Mama!”

 Eselmund, who had been sucking his thumb, whimpered and nuzzled his nose against her chest. Ella carefully stroked the child’s black head. As the king said, Eselmund resembled Larque. Although she had carried him for ten full months, the child seemed to have inherited only from his father. Well, since what she had carried for months was his seed, it wasn’t strange.

 Suddenly, Larque stretched out his arm and pulled her waist. The queen’s gaze became even rougher. Ella looked up at the man who was applying force to the arm wrapped around her waist, breathing heavily. It was always the chin. The straight chin as if it would cut. The bluish beard and manly nose bridge…… Her gaze couldn’t climb any higher and circled around the same spot.

 “Did you say the young master’s name is Eselmund?”

 The king asked. As he asked, he looked at Ella. She was startled and nodded. It was the first time the king had directly included her in his gaze. Naturally, her body leaned toward Larque.

 “Yes. That’s right.”

 “He’s cuter than I heard. Isn’t that so, Queen? Look at the young master’s gray eyes. He completely takes after the Duke.”

 The king laughed softly. Even though he was a father with two young sons himself, he seemed fascinated by a child resembling his father. Ella looked at the young son in her arms. The child was wearing clothes of as good fabric as his father and was sucking his thumb. He whimpered slightly and buried his nose in her chest, as if he disliked people’s gazes.

 “Since he’s the Duke’s son……”