Ch.118To North (3)

The Windsor Castle is white.

Rather than its original design, it looked frozen. That’s how it became after being in the snow fields for a long time.

Of course, with Windsor’s wealth and talent, they could have made the castle less cold… but since the cold of the snow fields wasn’t particularly bothersome to the Windsor children, it was neglected and left as it is today.

The master of that frozen castle sat on the throne that only a duke could occupy.

She wore a black dress, and her brilliant golden hair fell below her waist. A silver tiara rested on her head.

Victoria Windsor.

The 6th Duchess and the most powerful among all Windsor rulers throughout history.

Perhaps that’s why her children were born with extraordinary talents.

Victoria Windsor wore a displeased expression.

She didn’t like sitting on the throne because it gave her an empty feeling. After all, she wasn’t an emperor, and such authority didn’t suit the Grand Duchess of the North.

However, today it was necessary. This was because her successor and eldest daughter, “Irene Windsor,” had irresponsibly abandoned the first defense line to follow her younger sibling.

“Irene.”

“Yes, Head of the Family.”

Irene, prostrating herself before Victoria, was smiling.

Victoria usually liked how her successor maintained a smiling face no matter what happened, but seeing it again today made her blood boil.

“Don’t smile.”

Irene’s face became expressionless.

“…I was joking.”

“Yes.”

Irene smiled brightly again.

“About this matter… I’m sorry.”

And Irene quickly apologized, taking the initiative.

“Even though you have the authority to act independently, guarding the first defense line is an important duty.”

“Yes. I apologize.”

“……”

Victoria maintained her silence as she looked at Irene.

‘…What should I say?’

In truth, she had been extremely angry.

She had many things to say.

But when Irene apologized like that, she found herself at a loss for words.

More precisely, it was difficult to know how to speak as a “duchess.”

Victoria was a duchess.

She was the leader who protected this vast northern region.

A position where she had to bear the worst consequences within half a day if she didn’t make the right decisions.

That’s why Victoria had to maintain her dignity.

Even with family issues, she couldn’t speak carelessly.

Rather than being a good mother to her three lovely children, she had to be an ice-cold duchess.

The reality was that she couldn’t even see her beloved youngest son as often as she wanted.

But, but…

“How can a successor be faithful only to their own desires?”

To think that her successor, who would inherit the position of family head after her, would behave like this.

As if she herself didn’t want to see him?

She would touch the crystal ball several times a day just to catch a glimpse of Ruide’s face.

That’s why Victoria was angry.

Even today, she had been fully prepared to give Irene a piece of her mind.

But when she actually saw Irene’s face… she couldn’t scold her.

Because Irene was precious?

Of course she was precious. But that wasn’t the reason.

Her anger dissipated for a different reason.

Seeing Irene’s face made it real. Soon, her beloved youngest son, her only son, Ruide would be coming.

She could barely contain the twitching at the corners of her mouth.

“Alright, Irene. There’s no use talking to you about this.”

“Thank you for your mercy.”

“The reason I called you an hour early is because there’s something else.”

Victoria closed her eyes briefly and opened them again.

“There’s something I don’t want to tell Ruide or Amelia. Keep what I’m about to say to yourself.”

“Finally, it’s war, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s war.”

Victoria nodded quietly.

Irene’s smile deepened.

“I’ll go down to the capital immediately and kill the Emperor first.”

“…?”

Victoria blinked.

And her complexion worsened.

Rubbing her face, she said:

“…The war is with magical beasts.”

“That was a joke.”

Victoria sighed.

“Recently, the movements of magical beasts have been concerning.”

“Which defense line are you referring to?”

“All of them.”

Irene’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

“All of them, you say.”

“We need to observe the situation more, but currently the most likely scenario is a ‘Great Calamity.'”

“I heard it happened once 150 years ago. There should still be 50 years left…”

“We can’t be certain. For now, these are just signs. Whether they’ll invade as scheduled in 50 years…”

What’s called a ‘Great Calamity’ refers to a wave of magical beasts that occurs roughly once every 200 years.

According to records, each time, the North suffered devastating damage.

It doesn’t stop at the North. When a ‘Great Calamity’ begins, magical beasts come in numbers and strength incomparable to normal times, and Windsor alone cannot completely block them.

Inevitably, they miss a few. Of course, they don’t miss ground beasts, but the problem is the flying ones.

“But we need to prepare nonetheless. It’s premature to definitively state that the cycle of the Great Calamity is 200 years, as it has only occurred twice in recorded history.”

“Is that why you described it as war?”

“We must choose one of two options. Either strike first to reduce their numbers, or strengthen our forces and wait for the magical beasts to invade.”

The exact cause of the Great Calamity remains unclear.

However, the most plausible theory is the ‘Saturation Theory.’

The theory suggests that it’s a planned invasion to expand territory due to the excessive increase in the number of magical beasts living in the North.

“Reducing their numbers seems better.”

Irene made a quick judgment.

“Whatever the cause of the Great Calamity, reducing their numbers will reduce the risk accordingly.”

“I see.”

Victoria spoke slowly.

“For now, I told you this so you’d be aware. Let’s discuss this further after the vacation ends.”

“May I know why you’re not telling my siblings?”

“It’s not time yet.”

Irene shook her head.

“I felt the same as you, Head of the Family. But I’ve seen them and realized. My siblings have grown, and rather than hiding things forever, we should let them face reality.”

“Do you remember what happened 10 years ago, Rin?”

Irene’s pupils dilated slightly.

Her face stiffened momentarily, then she smiled and answered.

“Yes.”

“I think that’s when it started. When your humanity was extinguished.”

“…I think I’m perfectly normal.”

Victoria spoke with a serious expression.

“No, you’re not.”

“……”

Irene felt awkward.

10 years ago.

It happened when Irene was 12 years old.

At that time, the 4th defense line was under concentrated attack.

The magical beasts, which should have been evenly distributed across the nine defense lines, were causing trouble.

Victoria swept away as many magical beasts as possible at the front, but even with her immense magical power, it was impossible to single-handedly deal with the beasts that had been pouring down like rain for a month.

During a brief lull—

Irene, who had been a quiet child, threw a tantrum for the first time, asking Victoria to let her fight alongside her.

Windsor’s knights fought valiantly with Victoria, but they were gradually depleting their physical and magical strength. And with casualties creating gaps in their formation, they were in a situation where any help, no matter how small, would be appreciated.

Moreover, even at that time, Irene possessed strength greater than most of Windsor’s knights.

After much deliberation, Victoria deployed Irene to the front line.

“That day, when the battle lasted longer than expected. Rin, you fought for about two weeks with your 12-year-old body. When I tried to send you back, you bit and scratched—why were you so desperate to fight?”

Irene answered without hesitation.

“Mother, you fought for two months.”

“I was an adult, and a duchess. But you weren’t. I should have stopped you then…”

Victoria’s voice was filled with deep regret.

After those two weeks of battle,

Irene changed.

Before that, she was just a bit quiet and liked killing bugs, but was still within the bounds of ‘normal.’

After that, it became apparent that she had lost any hesitation in taking ‘life.’

“Magical beasts are also living beings. As a Windsor, they are targets that must be killed, but there is no human who can kill thousands, tens of thousands without being affected. They just become more numb over time.”

Especially since many of the magical beasts at that time had self-awareness.

In her defense, Victoria didn’t know.

She didn’t know that killing so many lives at such a young age would dim one’s humanity.

If she had known… she would never have allowed it, no matter what.

“Rin. You’ve become insensitive to taking lives. Even if they are fellow humans.”

“Is that a disqualification for being Windsor’s successor?”

Victoria shook her head.

“It’s more than excellent.”

For a duchess ruling the North, humanity was unnecessary.

Only the ability to protect what was hers was required.

“Then isn’t that fine?”

“Your siblings are different.”

Irene had to agree.

Secretly, she wished her siblings would become a bit more violent.

Especially Ruide—her honest desire was for him to become like her.

‘…Come to think of it, Rui is the same age now as I was then.’

Still, she had no intention of forcing it.

He was her precious youngest brother, and surely someday he would become like her…

Irene stopped her thoughts there.

The more one dwells on desires, the more one wants to fulfill them.

“I understand. As you said, Head of the Family, I will keep this information from my siblings. But.”

Irene smiled subtly.

“Shouldn’t you see Rui soon?”

Victoria’s cold face transformed into a gentle one.

And then, greatly flustered, she became restless.

“Ah, I’m not mentally prepared yet…”

She rose from her seat and paced around.

“Should I prepare a banquet first? Or should I go out to greet him? Ah, no, before that, what should I say?”

Irene smiled brightly as she watched Victoria, who couldn’t keep her composure whenever Ruide was mentioned.

**

“Are you alright, Hersy?”

“Yes… though I wonder if it’s okay to waste magic like this before fighting.”

Hersy was enveloping herself with wind magic. She was managing to endure by layering air between two wind barriers.

In this state, she could withstand the bitter cold for quite a long time.

However, the problem was…

“A total of 17 people have no countermeasures against the cold, Captain!”

Upon Gilbert’s report, Amelia groaned with an “Ungh.”

‘What should I do… at this rate, we won’t even be able to go.’

Once they reached the 1st defense line, they could obtain artifacts to prevent the cold, but the issue was how to get there.

“…By the way, Ella, what have you been doing?”

Hersy asked Ella, who was sitting on the ground, scribbling something in the snow.

Only Ella seemed unaffected by the cold. Her face was a bit flushed, but she appeared fine without magic.

“Ah, Lady Hersy.”

Ella said with a puppy-like expression.

“I’ve been developing an efficient temperature control magic. I saw Ruide using it. But since using it directly would require too much magic power, I’ve been modifying it. It’s almost complete, would you like to see?”

Hersy examined the magic circle.

“…Huh?”

Her eyes widened.

As Ella said, it was a magic that could be used with just a little magical support.

“I-impossible. You created this on the spot?”

“Yes!”

Ella exclaimed brightly, raising one hand.

‘…A genius.’

Hersy gulped.

Amelia approached from behind.

“Hersy. Have you found a solution?”

“…Yes. Ella has developed a magic that didn’t exist before. At this level, anyone should be able to use it.”

Amelia brightened, then her expression became concerned again.

“The 17 people without cold countermeasures are mostly from the Swordsmanship Department.”

“Don’t worry about that, Lady Amelia!”

Ella stood up.

Amelia looked up at Ella, who was a size taller than her.

‘…She seems more suited to be a knight than a mage.’

Her frame was that of a typical female knight.

“This magic is a group spell. With Lady Hersy’s magic power, it should be perfectly possible.”

“Ahem.”

Hersy cleared her throat, blushing.

“The thing is… the magic I used in yesterday’s training hasn’t returned yet.”

Amelia spoke straightforwardly.

“I see. Then we’ll just have to wait until then.”

Amelia was simple-minded.

Hersy smiled awkwardly and said:

“…There is a way.”

“If we can go right away, that would be better, Hersy. But there’s no need to push yourself.”

Hersy shook her head.

“It’s not pushing myself. It’s just… there’s someone else besides me who can implement this magic.”

“There’s another person with such outstanding skills in the Magic Department?”

“Yes. Though her application skills are low, so she’s not that strong, but there’s a girl born with a lot of magic power.”

Hersy sighed faintly and looked somewhere.

“Sophia Queensberry. Could you come over here?”

“Sophi, Hersy is calling you.”

Justin said, looking at Sophia.

“Ah, y-yes.”

Lilith stood up timidly.

She tucked her short bob behind her ear and walked toward Hersy with a shy smile.

However, her gaze was fixed on Amelia Windsor beside her.

Brilliant golden hair.

A appearance that reminded her of someone.

Was it because they shared the same blood? To Lilith, Amelia looked incredibly attractive.

She inwardly recited with a strong wish:

‘Please wait just a little longer, my lord.’

Lilith, or rather Sophia, barely suppressed the laughter that was about to escape.