Behind the Celebratory Feast

The celebratory feast that took place immediately after defending the foundation of the duchy was held according to Lady Rozemyne’s wishes, who desired to show appreciation to the volunteers from Dunkelfelger. Some expressed their gratitude to the knights for their assistance, others asked about the battles in Ahrensbach or Gerlach, and still others recounted the defense of Ehrenfest…

Among the lively conversations being exchanged here and there, there were also those who brought up the topic of my father, who had been our enemy.

“How in the world did Lord Grausam survive that purge?”

“I heard there were several impostors. Could it be that some of them are still out there? And didn’t his son, Lord Matthias, escape from being implicated? Could it be that he is hiding something…?”

I felt the sharp glares and harsh words directed at me. They waited until Lady Rozemyne was a short distance away, then skillfully whispered their gossip just loud enough for me to hear.

…At times like this, I wonder what kind of expression I should show.

Should I laugh along with everyone while harshly criticizing my father and family, who had sided with Lady Georgine? Or should I feel indignant at being thought of as someone who would do the same as him?

I didn’t know whether I should respond or not.

“Matthias.”

As I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable, Cornelius gently patted my shoulder. He gestured with a subtle hand movement that we should step outside. I glanced over at the table where Lady Rozemyne and the aub were seated, wondering if it was acceptable for him to leave his guarding duties. Noticing my gaze, Leonore and Judithe gave me a slight nod in response.

…Could it be that my presence, as the son of my father, is an inconvenience to Lady Rozemyne?

Perhaps the guard knights were concerned that any criticism towards me might instead be directed at Lady Rozemyne who carries my name. Now that Lady Georgine and my father had been defeated, I probably had no value left. I was almost certain that once we left the great hall, Cornelius would tell me, “You are a hindrance, so wait in your room.”

I braced myself, but even after we exited the great hall, Cornelius didn’t stop. He continued walking purposefully toward a specific destination.

“Cornelius, where are we going?” I asked as I followed him.

He replied, “To the knights’ barracks. We need to be examined by a doctor. All knights who have reached adulthood or fought in battles against something other than feybeasts are required to do so.”

Cornelius suggested that it would be better to go early since it would get crowded after the celebratory feast. He also mentioned that he would bring Laurenz along later. Cornelius explained that it was done in turns because it would overwhelm the doctors if everyone went at once, and not all of Lady Rozemyne’s guard knights could leave their duties simultaneously.

“Hm? What are you surprised about, Matthias?”

”…I thought you were taking me out of the great hall to isolate me since my presence might lower our lady’s reputation.”

“Today is a celebratory feast, a time to honor those who fought valiantly in this battle. Unless you wish to be absent or leave early, we won’t force you to do so. In fact, Gretia has been working in her room instead of attending the celebration since the beginning, hasn’t she? Who told you such a thing?”

…Who?

It wasn’t until Cornelius asked that I realized the words “You’re a hindrance, so wait in your room” that had resurfaced in my mind were actually from my father. Neither Lady Rozemyne nor my fellow retainers had said anything like that to me.

“No, it was just something I assumed from the words of the nobles.”

“If something like that was enough to make us want to isolate you, Lady Rozemyne wouldn’t have taken your name in the first place.

As her brother… I should apologize if Lady Rozemyne’s consideration wasn’t sufficient. You see, Rozemyne is remarkably indifferent to the opinions of the nobility.”

Cornelius, now shifting from his role as a guard knight to that of a concerned brother, crossed his arms and let out a troubled sigh. He explained that Lady Rozemyne, having grown up in the temple, something that is often seen as a flaw among nobles, also experienced delayed physical growth due to the effects of the jureve. Cornelius also noted that if she had reacted to every comment from the nobles regarding these matters, she wouldn’t have been able to survive.

“It was precisely because of that indifference that Rozemyne wasn’t swayed by the words of the nobility. She was able to push forward with her plans for the printing industry and continue her religious duties as the High Bishop. I believe that this ultimately led to her obtaining the Grutrissheit.”

I nodded in agreement, silently adding in my heart that it was exactly because of Lady Rozemyne’s unique qualities that she was able to accept our names and prioritize saving the lives of the children taken to the orphanage.

“But, of course, this indifference can sometimes work against her,” Cornelius continued. “Rozemyne doesn’t place much importance on noble etiquette or appearances, and while she does try to be mindful of your positions… She likely can’t fully empathize with those who are troubled by the words of other nobles.”

Cornelius apologized, but I shook my head.

“I have already been saved more than enough by Lady Rozemyne. If anything, I should be the one learning to let the words of others roll off me in order to survive.”

And besides, I can’t keep being trapped by the words my father once said.

As I renewed my resolve, Cornelius gave me a slightly exasperated look before making a fist and lightly tapping me on the head.

“You’re overthinking it. Rozemyne isn’t the type to take the nobles’ words seriously and abandon you all, so just relax. For now, at least understand that much.”

Seeing him work so hard to compensate for his sister’s shortcomings reminded me of my own brothers. They used to caution me to stay away from our father whenever he was in a bad mood and taught me how best to approach him when asking for favors.

I suddenly recalled those memories of my brothers and let out a quiet sigh. Perhaps because they died while I was at the Royal Academy, leaving behind neither bodies nor feystones, I still hadn’t been able to fully process my feelings. Even so, I knew I shouldn’t speak of my feelings for my family or of those nostalgic memories. To the nobles of Ehrenfest, it would be talk of traitors, and to my family, I’m the traitor who betrayed them.

“Come on, Matthias. Get your check-up done already,” Cornelius urged.

When we arrived at the knights’ barracks, Cornelius pushed me forward in front of the doctor. The doctor gave a wry smile at Cornelius’s eagerness as he turned to face me.

“Since the civil war, they’ve almost completely stopped training for combat against people at the Royal Academy, so young knights have only experienced fighting feybeasts. You might not realize it yet, still being in a state of excitement, but many people report feeling unwell after fighting other people.”

In the past, during the era of treasure-stealing ditter, there were apparently casualties at the Royal Academy. Unlike that time, now the competitions only involve defeating feybeasts summoned by the professors’ magic circles. The doctor noted that apprentice knights aren’t at all accustomed to interpersonal combat.

“In his first battle under such circumstances, Matthias faced his own father. You can imagine the impact of that… Moreover, at the celebratory feast, he was exposed to malice as the son of an enemy. Judithe, who witnessed the reactions of the knights fighting in Ehrenfest, has been very concerned about those who avoided guilt by association through name-swearing.”

Cornelius informed the doctor about Judithe’s concerns, the atmosphere in the great hall, and the details of the battle at Gerlach’s summer hall that he seemed to have heard from Lady Rozemyne. He provided such a detailed explanation that it appeared as if he knew I wouldn’t have spoken up myself.

After finishing, he turned on his heel, saying, “I’ll bring Laurenz.”

“You seem to be blessed with good colleagues,” the doctor said with a gentle smile. I nodded slightly, responding with a small “Yes.” Realizing how much my fellow retainers were looking out for me, I felt a bit embarrassed.

“Hey, Matthias. Mind if I come in?”

After I finished the doctor’s examination and was sent back to my room, Laurenz arrived almost immediately.

“Laurenz, weren’t you told by the doctor to return to your room as well?” I asked.

I had intended to return to the celebratory feast and resume my guard duties, but the doctor ordered me to return to my quarters. Despite being in a similar situation, Laurenz had come into my quarters rather than going to his own, which made me glare at him.

Laurenz, however, remained unfazed and merely tilted his head. With a casual smile, his orange eyes narrowed, and without asking for my permission he sat down in a chair. It seemed he had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

“Didn’t the doctor tell you, Matthias? That you shouldn’t be alone for a while?”

I recalled how the doctor had said, “Fighting feybeasts is different from fighting people. And, of course, it’s not just that. In your case, it was a battle against your father. The psychological burden you are feeling is likely far heavier. You shouldn’t be alone, at least not tonight,” even though I felt fine.

However, considering that thoughts of not just my father but also my family kept resurfacing, I believed it might be better not to be around others. I feared I might say something I shouldn’t.

“I’ve heard that some people spend time together in groups at the knights’ barracks. Why don’t you go there?”

“Are you suggesting I go hang out with those who fought in the Noble’s Quarter? Do you not know what kind of battle took place there?”

“I heard that Lord Wilfried played a significant role near the north gate… but was there something else?”

Laurenz sighed, running a hand through his hair as he said, “I see, you had already left by then.” He then explained, “The area near the north gate was attacked by Lord Grausam’s double and the Devouring soldiers, but the real trouble in the Noble’s Quarter came from the nobles who were name-sworn to Lady Georgine.”

“There were still some left? I thought they were all executed during the purge…”

Like Muriella’s mother, even nobles who hadn’t attended the gathering that Lord Bonifatius had stormed were executed simply for having sworn their names to Lady Georgine. Since I had heard that the memories of the dead were examined to trace these connections, I didn’t think any nobles who had sworn their names would still be alive to cause trouble in the Noble’s Quarter.

“The true nature of name-swearing is that it’s done in secret,” Laurenz replied quietly. “It’s not surprising that some people didn’t know about certain relationships. If they weren’t at Lord Grausam’s gatherings, it probably means they never intended to serve their lady as our families did. They must have been simply lying low, just waiting for the purge to end.”

Apparently, these were people who, back in the day, were pressured to swear their names to Lady Veronica if they wanted to join her faction, but instead they recklessly swore theirs to Lady Georgine, thinking about longevity and siding with someone closer to their age.

“But to have your life held in someone else’s hands? That’s something you shouldn’t take lightly, no matter what,” I said, finding it hard to understand how they could make such a decision so easily.

”…Back then, it was common practice to swear one’s name to join a faction,” Laurenz reminded me. “Lady Gabriele introduced it, and Lady Veronica enforced it. Our parents also insisted that swearing one’s name and swearing loyalty was the norm.”

…Ah, that’s right.

We had also been told by our families to swear our names to Lady Georgine upon coming of age. I had wanted to hold out until the very last moment, but if the purge hadn’t occurred, I likely wouldn’t have been able to resist my family’s demands and would have ended up swearing my name to her.

“What did those nobles who pledged their names actually do?” I asked, trying to grasp the situation.

“They were ordered by Lady Georgine to sow chaos among the knights by throwing attack magic tools around,” Laurenz explained.

The nobles rampaged through the Noble’s Quarter, throwing attack magic tools while crying out, “This isn’t what I wanted! Help me!” and “I want to release the name-swearing!” Despite their pleas, they continued to cause havoc until the knights subdued them. Shortly after, upon Lady Georgine’s death, they supposedly died while screaming in despair.

“Seeing the fate of those who recklessly swore their names and had their lives controlled was a heavy burden for the knights—completely different from ordinary feybeast hunting or capturing criminals. Do you really think we, who are blood relatives of the enemy and have sworn our names to Lady Rozemyne, can fit in among those knights?”

Even if I was told to stay with someone, Laurenz was the only one in a similar situation as me, and I was the only one in the same position as Laurenz.

“It can’t be helped. You can stay,” I said with a sigh. “Look, there’s tea that the attendants left behind. If you want some, help yourself.”

“What’s with the arrogance?” Laurenz retorted.

“And what about you, Laurenz? You walked in here without any invitation or notice from the attendants and decided to stay, didn’t you?”

“Well, that can’t be helped either. There aren’t any attendants around today,” he replied with a shrug.

Laurenz and I, along with other knights who didn’t have families to send attendants, relied on attendants assigned to the knights’ barracks by the castle. These attendants weren’t dedicated to individuals but were responsible for several rooms at once. Normally, this arrangement wasn’t much of a problem since the knights had different schedules due to night shifts and training. However, on busy days like today, we tended to be neglected.

As Laurenz poured himself some tea, he looked at me, ”…Hey, Matthias. Do you think you’ll be able to come to terms with it?”

“I’m not sure. It doesn’t feel like it’s truly over.”

I thought that as his son, I should be the one to face my father and bring the matter to a close by my own hands, to repay the Aub who had decided to spare me from being implicated.

Yet before I could return to the office after being thrown out of the window, the battle had already ended. I had heard that Lady Rozemyne and her guard knights delivered the final blow, and when Lady Georgine died, all those who had sworn their names to her also met their end. So, logically, my father couldn’t still be alive. I knew that, but because I didn’t witness his final moments, and because there was no magic stone left behind after his death—only gold dust—I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wouldn’t be surprising if my father somehow managed to survive using some unknown means.

“He seemed to have used several magic tools I’d never seen before. Was Lord Grausam strong?” Laurenz asked.

“You were watching from the balcony, weren’t you?”

“I want to hear it from you, Matthias, and I just want to talk about it… We’re probably the only ones who can have this kind of conversation, right?”

He was right, there was no one else I could discuss this with. Laurenz and I were the only ones who truly understood what it was like to face such a situation.

Laurenz sighed as if resigned to the situation and began counting on his fingers. Even among Lady Rozemyne’s guard knights, those from different factions wouldn’t be able to empathize with the experiences of our families. Even those who had sworn their names, like Roderick and Gretia, did so voluntarily, comparing their loyalty to Lady Rozemyne against their ties to their families. Their situation was slightly different from ours, who had sworn our names to avoid execution.

Even among those who had avoided being implicated alongside their families, like Muriella, there was a stark difference. She claimed to have no sentimental attachment to her family and said she was happier now. While she appreciated the stable life she had when her family was alive and was grateful that her life was spared, she didn’t share the nostalgic feelings that Laurenz and I sometimes had.

“Barthold and Cassandra are completely out of the question. They were practically under house arrest in the castle once the battle began. Would you really feel like sharing your current feelings with them, Matthias?”

“No. If they start complaining that this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t reported my family, especially when they know nothing about the horrors of Gerlach, I’m not sure I’d be able to keep my emotions in check.”

I chuckled bitterly, recalling Barthold’s tendency to grumble about everything. Indeed, Laurenz was likely the only one with whom I could discuss my father or my family.

“Lord Grausam was strong, wasn’t he? He absorbed Lady Hannelore’s attack and converted it into his own power, after all,” Laurenz remarked.

Prompted by Laurenz, the last image I had of my father came to mind. He was so covered in feystones and magic tools that there was hardly any humanity left in him.

”…Yes, he was strong. Honestly, I underestimated him. Despite the fact that he had deadly poisons and magic tools, I thought, ‘He’s a scholar; there’s no way I, a knight, could lose if we fought head-on.’ But I was completely outmatched.”

“So, even with Lady Rozemyne’s blessings boosting your abilities, you were only able to fight him to a draw. That’s impressive.”

“Yeah, apparently he was prepared to face Lord Bonifatius.”

I don’t think my father accounted for the effects of aging on his opponent. His caution wasn’t misplaced, though, since Lord Bonifatius had reacquired his divine protections, enhancing his mana and physical strengthening to a level that surpassed even the effects of aging.

“Still, I never expected you to be thrown out of a window like that.”

“No, I wasn’t exactly thrown out.”

“Really? Lady Rozemyne said that’s what it looked like…”

“It might have seemed that way to Lady Rozemyne, but it wasn’t quite what happened.”

At that moment, my father grabbed me with his right hand, and with his left prosthetic hand, he precisely aimed to take my life. I heard him mutter, “Give me that feystone,” and I thought I was done for. However, that attack was deflected by the protective charm I had.

“It was the charm that Hartmut and Clarissa were distributing. It activated at that moment.”

”…Ah, the one Hartmut made to compete with Damuel,” Laurenz said, recalling the situation.

Damuel, despite being an adult guard knight, remained in Ehrenfest instead of accompanying us to Ahrensbach. This was because he had received a secret directive from Lady Rozemyne. Although they used a magic tool to prevent eavesdropping, making it impossible for anyone to overhear their conversation, it was clear from observing them that there was a strong bond of trust between the two. I remember Cornelius shrugging and saying, “Damuel has served the longest after all,” while Hartmut, frustrated, remarked, “To think he received an order that even I wasn’t privy to.”

In response, Hartmut decided to prove his worth by creating protective charms for us retainers, insisting that he could be just as useful. These charms were designed to activate only when one was facing death, and he had crafted them based on a recipe left by Lord Ferdinand.

We received the charms on the condition that we praise Hartmut’s brilliance to Lady Rozemyne. However, it was extremely challenging to convey his excellence in a way that wouldn’t come across as forced or make it seem like Hartmut had prompted us. I often wondered whether our attempts to compliment Hartmut were actually reaching Lady Rozemyne in the way we intended.

“If he weren’t so insistent on meddling and making things complicated, it would be much easier to straightforwardly praise him for being so skilled and competent…” I mused.

“I’ve never said this out loud before, but in some ways, Hartmut reminds me of my father.”

Specifically, the way Hartmut devoted himself entirely to being the most useful and indispensable retainer for his lady, how he thought only of her, his fanatical, almost blind determination to fulfill her wishes, and his ruthless efficiency as a scholar when working against his lady’s enemies—it all evoked memories of my father.

“Wait, what? Are you telling me Lord Grausam was like that? Did he spend time at home singing endless praises to Lady Georgine or offering prayers to her?”

“Pfft. No, not quite,” I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd image of my father reverently praising and praying to Lady Georgine like Hartmut did for Lady Rozemyne. My father had never shared his feelings or spoken about his lady’s greatness with me, nor did I ever see him offer prayers.

That laugh seemed to break the tension in my body, releasing some of the stiffness that had built up in my heart. Slowly, I began to open up to Laurenz about my feelings.

“If I had seen that side of him, maybe I could have understood my father’s loyalty and devotion to Lady Georgine a little better. I could have asked him if he ever felt any emptiness in offering such blind loyalty without any reward, or how he felt about dragging his family into his fanatical devotion.”

To me, Lady Georgine’s actions seemed to completely disregard her retainers, and I never understood why my father would swear his name to serve someone like her. When I once pointed out that his loyalty had no reward, he immediately shut me down with a sharp “Silence!” At the time, I thought his response came from me hitting too close to a painful truth.

“I wanted to believe that maybe my father had just gone too far, that he had reached a point where he couldn’t turn back and regretted it… I really wanted to think that.”

“Wasn’t that the case?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “He truly devoted himself to Lady Georgine. For my father, loyalty needed no reward, and even at the end, he had no regrets.”

Facing him head-on in that battle made it clear to me. The fight in Gerlach was solely to buy time for Lady Georgine to claim Ehrenfest’s foundation. For my father, if sacrificing his own life or homeland was what was best for his lady, he did it without hesitation.

“In that moment, I wasn’t his son. I was merely an obstacle blocking the path of his lady.”

“Matthias…” Laurenz began, his voice soft.

“It’s the truth,” I said firmly. “My father wasn’t glad that I avoided execution. He genuinely intended to kill me. If Hartmut’s charm hadn’t activated and the impact hadn’t sent me flying, I would’ve been dead. My father didn’t even glance at me after I was thrown aside by the charm’s force. Unlike you and Lady Rozemyne, who called out in concern, he didn’t care where I ended up.”

I still vividly remembered seeing my father turn his back on me as I was hurled through the window. It made me feel like a child again, desperately thinking, “Just look at me, even for a moment.” But, as always, that wish went unfulfilled.

My father likely feared that Lady Rozemyne’s blessings would continue to boost the combat abilities of the other knights one by one. Instead of pursuing me, who had been flung out of the mansion’s barrier, he judged that eliminating Lady Rozemyne was more important.

“Without Lady Rozemyne’s blessings, I wasn’t even worth considering as an opponent. I wasn’t a threat to my father, not even at the end. I was just a negligible existence, not even worth his attention,” I said, the realization weighing heavily on me.

The fact that I never got what I wanted from my father and could never truly understand him left me feeling deeply disappointed. But maybe, just maybe, the thought that I wouldn’t follow the same path as my father could bring me a small sense of relief.

“My loyalty is half-hearted compared to my father’s,” I admitted bitterly, letting my frustration spill out. Laurenz furrowed his brow, looking puzzled.

“What do you mean, ‘half-hearted loyalty’? Are you saying your loyalty has disappeared now that you’ve eliminated the enemies who threatened Ehrenfest and fulfilled your duty as the son of the mastermind?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… it’s lacking. Compared to my father, I’m nowhere near as devoted…”

I hadn’t expected my words to be interpreted as a loss of loyalty toward Lady Rozemyne, so I quickly denied it, panicking. Laurenz’s expression only grew more confused as he responded with a bewildered “Huh?”

Laurenz looked at me with a teasing smile and said, “As long as you don’t betray your lady and fulfill the duties you’re given, that’s loyal enough, isn’t it? Unlike Lady Georgine, Lady Rozemyne doesn’t demand name-swearing or fanatical loyalty. You don’t need to have the same intense willingness to do anything to fulfill your lady’s desires and blind loyalty such as Lord Grausam or Hartmut. What you’ve been doing so far is more than sufficient.”

His words made me pause, realizing with a start that I had subconsciously been measuring my loyalty against my father’s extreme devotion.

“Matthias, you have a tendency to go to extremes once you set your mind on something. That’s something you share with Lord Grausam. Don’t let yourself get too caught up and run off the rails,” Laurenz added, his tone half-joking. The idea that I might resemble my father in some ways made me feel both embarrassed and uneasy—those weren’t traits I wanted to inherit.

I studied Laurenz closely as he spoke. He was letting me do most of the talking, keeping his usual smile, but I realized that, like me, he must have his own burdens to bear. After all, we were in similar situations. It seemed I was finally beginning to notice these things.

”…Laurenz, have you managed to find any closure?” I asked, turning the conversation toward him.

The smile faded from Laurenz’s face, his orange eyes darkening slightly. After a long silence, he quietly replied, “I’ve just come to understand that nothing has changed.”

“What do you mean by ‘nothing has changed’?” I pressed.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” he answered. “Even after defeating Lord Grausam and Lady Georgine, we’re still the sons of criminals from the former Veronica faction. We’re still in a position where we have to swear our names to the archducal family just to survive. And the malice from the other nobles hasn’t gone away. Nothing has changed.”

Laurenz let out a heavy sigh and slowly shook his head, his hair swaying with the motion.

“I think I was hoping that by contributing to this battle, the way people looked at us would improve, and maybe even the Aub would grant us some kind of pardon. But it seems the opposite has happened. The watchful, wary eyes on us have only grown stronger, and it feels even more uncomfortable to stay in Ehrenfest now.”

His words resonated with me as I recalled the looks and whispers during the celebratory feast. I hoped that it was just a temporary reaction fueled by the excitement of the battle’s end, but I couldn’t be too optimistic.

“Whether we end up in the Sovereignty or Ahrensbach, at least we have the chance to leave. I suppose that makes us fortunate. But I worry about Barthold and Cassandra, who have sworn their names to Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte, and there’s Muriella, who remains with Lady Elvira.”

”…I’m worried about Bertram,” Laurenz admitted, his voice tinged with concern. “He’s my half-brother, but now he’s the only family I have left. I’ve thought about bringing him with me if possible. If Bertram eventually swears his name to Lady Rozemyne, maybe we could stay together. After all, Lady Rozemyne is the one who’s shown the most understanding of our position and circumstances. At least under her, our lives wouldn’t be at risk, right?”

However, it seemed that this idea hadn’t been well-received by Lady Rozemyne’s retainers. Even if Lady Rozemyne herself was willing, her surroundings and retainers were not so lenient.

“It seemed like the idea of Bertram swearing his name to Lady Rozemyne wasn’t accepted by the other retainers,” Laurenz continued, his tone resigned. “It’s not just about Lady Rozemyne herself, the people around her aren’t so forgiving.”

“Even though Bertram came from the orphanage just like Dirk, he became a noble. However, unlike Dirk, he’s seen as ungrateful and treated with suspicion. Even Gretia from our own faction began to see him as a dangerous element and distanced herself. I regret not being strict enough with him from the beginning. Because of that, Hartmut’s opinion of me has plummeted,” Laurenz said with a bitter smile.

Bertram, still young and struggling to adapt to the changing circumstances, was perceived as holding dangerous views that challenged the archduke’s decisions. This perception also led to Laurenz being judged as a man who couldn’t properly discipline his half-brother.

“When Hartmut suggested that it might be better to ‘remove’ Bertram before he reached the age where he could swear his name, ensuring that Lady Rozemyne wouldn’t even notice his absence, I was horrified.”

It seemed Laurenz had been deeply worried about whether Bertram would survive until his baptism. I had noticed that Laurenz had been spending more time at the temple, but I had assumed it was to maintain his connections. I hadn’t realized it was out of concern for his brother’s life.

“I once told Hartmut that he was being too harsh on a child who had lost both parents,” Laurenz continued. “But he coldly reminded me that I had demanded self-restraint from the first-year student at the Royal Academy who, during the winter of the purge, wanted to send a letter to his parents out of worry. He sneered, saying he was asking the same from Bertram.”

Laurenz’s words hit hard. In our precarious position, where our lives could be ended at any moment, we had little choice but to accept what was necessary to survive. Even after participating in the battle to defend Ehrenfest, the gaze of those around us hadn’t changed. I could deeply empathize with Laurenz’s sense of disappointment.

“Bertram’s future will depend entirely on the mercy of Lord Melchior. Even though we defeated Lady Georgine and contributed significantly to the battle as nobles of Ehrenfest, the life we once had will never return. We need to understand that… we need to understand it for ourselves.”

Losing our families and being in a position where we must swear our names to survive—this is our reality, and it’s clear from this battle that it won’t change.

“Do you think things might improve if we leave Ehrenfest?”

“Who knows, but I believe that, for as long as we remain within the reach of Lady Rozemyne’s mercy, we won’t die easily.”

“For someone who’s usually pessimistic, that’s surprisingly optimistic, Matthias,” Laurenz said, narrowing his eyes at me with a hint of discontent. I chuckled lightly and pointed to the charm that Hartmut had given Laurenz.

“Lady Rozemyne values the lives within her reach and would be reluctant to let them be extinguished. Hartmut, being the diligent and capable scholar that he is, will do everything in his power to fulfill her wishes. So, I’d say our lives are pretty safe.”

Laurenz glanced at Hartmut’s charm, his expression growing increasingly complex before he let out a wry smile. “It’s everything besides our lives that I’m worried about.”

At least for now, both of us were under the protection of Lady Rozemyne and Hartmut. Perhaps there was some hope to be found in that, a small flicker of light in the otherwise uncertain future we were facing.