Chapter 1: A different atmosphere

The First Royal Academy, located in the outskirts of the capital of the Kingdom of Tria.

The campus, imbued with the full vibrancy of spring, was filled with the lively laughter of students.

Under the warm sunlight, Cais was chatting with three childhood friends at an outdoor table.

The first to speak was Serena, a girl with an impressive red ponytail.

“Cais, are you free this weekend?”

“Huh? Why suddenly?”

As Cais asked, puzzled, Serena’s cheeks flushed slightly.

“If you have time, I could help you with your swordsmanship. O-of course, if you want me to.”

At that, Lucia, who was sitting next to them, hastily interjected.

“W-wait a minute, Cais. I… I saw an interesting book at the library… Would you like to read it with me?”

At that moment, the elegant clink of a teacup being set down was heard.

It was Valeria, a noble lady with splendid golden ringlet hair.

As everyone’s gaze fell upon her, she haughtily raised an eyebrow and spoke.

“What are you all talking about? Cais is going to practice magic with me.”

Cais found himself in a predicament with the sudden deluge of proposals from the three girls.

‘This is awkward.’

He scratched his cheek and offered an awkward laugh, but his childhood friends showed no signs of letting it slide.

They were engaged in a relentless battle of wills, with Cais caught in the middle.

Invisible sparks seemed to fly between them.

“Everyone, please calm down. Um… I appreciate all your offers, but I already have plans this weekend.”

A flicker of disappointment crossed the faces of his childhood friends upon hearing his words.

Feeling apologetic, Cais hastily added,

“But if next week works…”

At those words, the eyes of the three girls instantly sparkled with anticipation.

“Is student Cais Raynalsword here?”

At the sudden call, all four gazes simultaneously turned towards the source of the sound.

A man who appeared to be an academy staff member was approaching them, holding something.

Cais raised his hand.

“I am Cais Raynalsword.”

“It’s an urgent letter.”

“Urgent…?”

Cais took the envelope offered by the staff member.

Upon seeing the envelope, clearly stamped with his family’s crest, an unidentifiable ominous premonition washed over him.

As the staff member departed, the three girls’ curious gazes simultaneously fixed on the letter.

“An urgent letter?”

“What could it be about, Cais?”

“Hurry and open it.”

Serena, Lucia, and Valeria each urged him on.

“Alright.”

Cais swallowed dryly and nodded.

Feeling his heart inexplicably pound with unease, he tore open the seal with trembling hands.

Then, he slowly read the contents within.

A moment later, all color drained from Cais’s face.

The letter, held loosely in his hand, fell limply to the floor.

Cais staggered, as if dizzy, and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Cais! What’s wrong? What happened to your face?”

“Cais, are you alright?”

“Don’t tell me… Is it bad news?”

Valeria asked in a voice laced with concern, carefully picking up the letter that had fallen to the floor.

Her eyes quickly scanned the letter’s contents, and her face instantly hardened into a dark expression.

“What is it?”

Serena, unable to contain her curiosity, moved closer to Valeria, and Lucia also leaned in.

The letter read:

[Your father has passed away. You must return home immediately upon receiving this letter to attend the funeral and discuss important family matters.]

The sender was Cais’s elder brother.

Upon confirming the letter’s contents, shock and sorrow instantly spread across their faces.

These three, having frequented Cais’s territory since childhood and being acquainted with Cais’s father, Baron Conrad, were undeniably shocked.

“No way… The Baron…”

Serena murmured in disbelief.

“How could this… suddenly…”

Lucia’s eyes quickly reddened.

Valeria looked sympathetically at Cais, who stood silently, and carefully asked,

“Cais, are you alright?”

“……Ugh.”

As a pained groan escaped Cais’s tightly pressed lips, the girls’ hearts sank even heavier.

****

Cais hastily prepared to return to his hometown for the funeral.

As he packed a small bag and headed to the train station, his three childhood friends appeared with worried expressions to see him off.

However, they weren’t simply there to bid him farewell.

As if it were the most natural thing, they offered to accompany him.

“Cais, we can’t let you go alone. We’re coming too.”

Serena stated firmly.

“That’s right. We owe the Baron a great deal. We’ll accompany you too.”

Valeria exclaimed with a sincere voice.

Lucia’s eyes welled up with tears.

“Especially when things are hard… we should be together. We can’t let Cais go alone.”

Cais found a momentary reprieve from his sorrow, comforted by his friends’ heartfelt concern and solace.

He offered a faint smile.

“Thank you all for your concern. But I’ll go alone.”

“What are you talking about, Cais! Why are you refusing our goodwill?”

Serena flared up in anger.

Instead of answering, Cais gently stroked Serena’s head once.

At the unexpected touch, Serena’s previously raised eyebrows fell, losing their defiance.

“The journey to my hometown is long and arduous, you know.

Besides, it’s still midterm, and missing classes would harm your studies too.

Your willingness alone is enough.

It truly makes me happy that you care for me so much.”

Seeing Cais’s calm smile, they could no longer insist.

Ultimately, they remained standing on the platform, simply watching Cais board the train.

“Please take care on your journey.”

Lucia said.

“Please don’t forget that even when we’re apart, our hearts are always together.”

Valeria emphasized forcefully.

“Yes. We’re practically family with you!”

Serena shouted.

Before long, the train departed.

Sitting in his seat, Cais stared blankly at the rapidly passing scenery outside the window.

The still unbelievable reality of his father’s death.

It weighed heavily on his heart.

What on earth had happened?

What would happen next?

Cais felt a deep sense of fatigue.

****

The nursemaid, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, burst into tears the moment she saw Cais.

“Young master, the head of the family… *sniffle*…”

“……”

Cais silently embraced the nursemaid, patting her back.

Then, he came face to face with his brother, who wore a look of profound sorrow.

“You’ve come, Cais.”

“Brother…”

His mother was not present.

She had passed away within days of giving birth to Cais, due to postpartum illness.

Yet, no one in the family ever resented Cais for that.

On the contrary, everyone cherished and doted on Cais, calling him the last gift his mother had left behind.

The funeral proceedings, which lasted for several days, unfolded in an atmosphere of deep sorrow.

Perhaps due to the lingering effects of his father’s political purge during his lifetime, most other noble families with whom they had connections chose not to offer condolences, wary of the situation.

Only a select few nobles visited the mourning hall.

Even they merely made a brief appearance before trying to leave quickly.

His elder brother, Kaien, said nothing, observing the scarcity of mourners.

But Cais could feel his brother seething with inner fury.

His brother’s fists were clenched so tightly that veins bulged on the back of his hands.

However, the people of the territory were different.

They genuinely mourned Baron Conrad’s death with one heart and one mind.

“He was always a just and exemplary lord who put his people first…”

“He was someone who listened to the small voices of commoners like us, and always showed us warm consideration.”

His elder brother, Kaien, would now bear the duty of becoming the family head, leading the household, and managing the territory.

Kaien quietly called his younger brother, Cais, aside and poured out his true feelings.

“Those damn noble faction bastards. How dare they do such a thing?!”

His brother shed tears, consumed by resentment.

“Brother…”

“Cais, never forget.

This suffering and humiliation our family has endured.

Worse things may befall us in the future.

But we must never yield.”

“…Yes.”

Cais still couldn’t quite believe his father’s death.

“We must have revenge.

We must eliminate all those noble faction bastards who did this and make them taste the same sorrow!”

His elder brother’s tearful voice was laced with deep hatred.

Cais felt deeply disturbed.

His elder brother, Kaien, had always been the reticent type, rarely showing his emotions.

His brother had never before displayed such venom, and Cais himself trembled with fear at the sight.

He also reunited with his elder sister, Cordelia, who arrived late.

She had married into a neighboring kingdom, which was why she was delayed compared to Cais, who was in the royal capital.

The moment Cordelia saw Cais, she weakly embraced him and sobbed.

“Sister…”

“Cais… my brother…”

His sister was so overcome with grief she couldn’t continue speaking.

“Father… he was eagerly awaiting the birth of this child in my belly… and now to pass away so vainly without even seeing his grandchild.

What could be more unfair than this?”

He had known from a previous letter that his sister was pregnant.

Cordelia’s complexion was extremely haggard, as if she hadn’t gotten proper sleep.

Cais said to his sister,

“Sister, you must think of the child in your belly.

Get some rest.”

“Thank you for your concern.

Cais, you look tired too, so you should rest.”

After the solemn funeral mass in the church concluded, his father’s coffin was interred in the underground crypt.

Going to his father’s office, where he used to work, and seeing that empty seat, only then did Cais truly feel his father’s absence and begin to sob.

“Father…”

The next day, Cais had to board the train again without getting proper rest.

“Cais, why don’t you rest a bit more at home before you go?”

“Sister, I appreciate the thought.

But… if I miss more classes, it’ll be hard to catch up.”

He hadn’t been able to attend classes for several days already.

To be a son his deceased father would be proud of, he needed to achieve excellent grades and secure a proper profession.

“I need to gain strength so that our family won’t be underestimated any longer.”

Cais bid a reluctant farewell to his brother and sister and boarded the train bound for the royal capital.

Inside the returning train, Cais inadvertently found himself thinking of his childhood friends.

The three girls who would always welcome him back to the academy, just as before.

Serena, Lucia, Valeria.

He felt a pang of guilt towards his father, but at that moment, he yearned to alleviate this heavy emotion, if only a little.

‘Meeting them will make me feel better.’

Harboring such expectations and hopes, Cais finally turned back towards the academy.

Though he had only spent a few days in his hometown, it felt as if he had been away for months.

Thus, returning to the academy felt like a long-awaited comeback.

Cais looked around and felt relieved.

‘The scenery is no different from usual.

Nothing has changed.’

However, before long, Cais felt a subtle sense of discomfort.

The students’ gazes directed at him seemed somehow strange.

He seemed to hear whispers, and some students hastily turned their heads away when their eyes met his.

‘…Is it just my imagination?

Maybe I’m too sensitive.

I’ve just returned after the funeral, after all.’

Cais tried hard to shake off his unease.

‘More than that, I want to see Serena, Valeria, and Lucia quickly.’

He moved around the sprawling academy grounds, searching for places where they might be.

‘Serena must be at the training grounds.’

True to her martial family background, she never missed a training session.

Cais pictured Serena gripping her sword in his mind.

He missed that sight for some reason, so he hastened his steps toward the training grounds.

‘There she is, there she is.’

As expected, Serena was engrossed in her swordsmanship training alone there.

Her sweat-soaked red ponytail vigorously swayed with her intense movements.

The sharp swish of her sword cutting through the air echoed.

Cais slowly approached her.

‘She hasn’t noticed me approaching at all.

She must be that focused on her swordsmanship.’

Cais smiled at her unwavering devotion to swordsmanship.

The closer he got, the more he noticed a certain scent that irritated his nose.

‘This isn’t the usual scent…? Did she put on perfume?

Serena?

No way.

Who puts on perfume while training?’

Cais completely forgot about the scent, stopping right beside her to call her name.

“Serena.”

Then, Serena, who had been swinging her sword, abruptly stopped her movements.

She slowly turned her head and gazed at Cais.

At that moment, Cais involuntarily felt a chill run down his spine.

Because in Serena’s eyes, instead of her usual warmth, there was only icy coldness.

Her face was cold and expressionless, utterly devoid of any hint of a smile.

“What is it?”