SS #35 The Wind is Always

Alex Bayer.

Heir to the Bayer County, one of the twelve great families of the North.

Yuna.

A mysterious woman whose past, hometown, and identity were all unknown—no, a being who was clearly not human to begin with.

Though the two hailed from different species, let alone statuses and positions, such facts were of little consequence to them.

Alex loved Yuna, and Yuna loved Alex.

For two people already so deeply in love, any other secondary conditions were never even a consideration.

But that was a story that existed only between the two of them.

“Your roaming about outside, fine, I could let that slide, thinking you just had a bit of a wanderlust. Even when you went all the way to the Empire, babbling about some warrior’s training journey, I could somehow tolerate it if I forced myself to think—no, if I considered it a sign of manly spirit.”

Vincent Bayer.

The current Count Bayer.

His blood pressure had skyrocketed, and his face was flushed crimson as he continued to speak.

“After you wandered around for so long, I was prepared to turn a blind eye to a few romantic flings. I figured it was only natural for a lad overflowing with vigor. But this, this!”

Bang! Count Bayer slammed his hand on the desk, finally letting loose a roar of fury he could no longer suppress.

“You brought a woman home? And a woman of unknown origin at that, who knows where she rolled in from?!”

“Father, Yuna is—”

“Shut up and listen to me! I’m not finished!”

Cutting off Alex’s protest in a single stroke, Count Bayer gasped for breath before closing his eyes and attempting to take deep breaths.

His anger was one thing, but he felt he might collapse on the spot if he didn’t lower his own blood pressure first.

“Hoo… Hooo…”

One minute, two minutes.

After steadying his breath several times and downing a glass of cold water he had prepared, Count Bayer finally looked at Alex again and continued.

“Alex, you are the eldest grandson of our Bayer family. And not just any eldest grandson, but my one and only child.”

Alex had no siblings.

In other words, there was no one else to carry on the Bayer family line.

“Find a proper woman. A woman with a clear background—no, a woman of suitable standing, from a family that can help restore the power of our House Bayer.”

Until the previous generation, the Bayer family had been the leader among the twelve great families of the North.

The position of Marcher Lord, now occupied by the Hresvelg family, had also once belonged to the Bayers.

But a single battle had forced the Bayer family to relinquish all that glory.

The annual raid by the northern barbarians and the former Count Bayer’s response.

The former Count had suffered a grave injury in that battle, losing an arm, which forced him to step down from his position as one of the Ten Sword Masters.

But the tragedy did not end there.

Judging it the perfect opportunity to bring down the Bayers, the other northern families conspired to have them removed from the position of Marcher Lord. Stripped of both the glory of the Ten Sword Masters and the power of the Marcher Lord, the former Count had no choice but to return to his homeland.

Vincent Bayer, the current Count, had to experience that entire process firsthand.

He had to watch his father wither away day by day, cooped up in Bailun, a city so underdeveloped it was called a border town even within the North.

I will restore our family’s honor, no matter what.

Unfortunately, Vincent Bayer lacked the talent for the sword.

Through bone-grinding effort, he had succeeded in mastering the Sword of Wind, the unique swordsmanship of the Bayer family, but that was his limit.

Vincent Bayer could not ascend to the ranks of the Ten Sword Masters like his father, nor could he restore the Bayer family to the position of Marcher Lord.

Trials and frustrations.

Rage and sorrow.

The former Count Bayer passed away from illness, and Vincent Bayer inherited the title.

In that same year, Alex Bayer was born.

“You… You are my hope.”

Alex was different from Vincent.

Alex possessed a talent for the sword.

And it wasn’t just any ordinary talent, but a true gift that surpassed even his father, who had been one of the Ten Sword Masters.

“You can become one of the Ten Sword Masters. No, you will become one. So all you need to do is marry well. With the help of just one of the twelve northern families, House Bayer can reclaim the title of Marcher Lord from the Hresvelgs.”

“Father.”

“I’m saying this for your own good. That woman… yes, let’s bring her into our house as a maid for now. Then, once your marriage is arranged and you are wed, you can take her as a concubine. Wouldn’t that work?”

Alex squeezed his eyes shut at the placating tone in his father’s voice.

He knew all too well the feelings that drove his father to say such things.

But that didn’t mean he could nod in agreement.

Accepting the ‘compromise’ his father offered was impossible for Alex.

“I do not wish to do that.”

“Alex!”

As Count Bayer roared again, Alex opened his eyes.

He looked directly into his father’s blue eyes and began to speak.

“Father, the wind is always—”

“Just you dare say ‘free’! Huh? Just you dare!”

Cut off by his father’s preemptive strike, Alex clamped his mouth shut, bit his lip once, and then bowed his head.

“I will take my leave. Let us speak again later.”

Finishing his words quickly, Alex turned and left the study.

His father’s roars followed him from behind, but Alex did not stop.

*

That afternoon, on a quiet hill on the outskirts of Bailun.

“Alex.”

“Yuna.”

Smiling at Yuna, who looked up at him with moist eyes, Alex gently took her hand and continued.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find a way. Father will come to accept you soon.”

Due to Count Bayer’s staunch refusal, Yuna was currently staying at an inn in the city of Bailun, not the Bayer estate.

She must have been quite used to inns, having stayed in them several times on their journey back to the kingdom from the empire, but Alex always felt uneasy leaving her there alone.

“It will be alright. Just trust me. Okay?”

“…Okay.”

Yuna nodded, forcing a bright smile, and Alex pressed a kiss to her forehead.

The sight of Yuna smiling to reassure him was so lovely, yet so pitiful.

How can I get my father’s permission?

What must I do for her to be accepted as the rightful lady of House Bayer?

“Everything will be fine,” Yuna said softly.

Alex nodded. He gently embraced her as she tried to comfort him, and closed his eyes.

*

“I don’t know this time. I can’t think of a way.”

Even Arthur Chase, his old friend who always had an answer to difficult problems, shook his head, admitting he had no solution this time.

He truly couldn’t think of a brilliant plan to change Count Bayer’s mind in one fell swoop.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Collapsing onto his bed as if his body had given out, Alex covered his face with his hands and let out a sigh.

If even his mage friend couldn’t find an answer, how could a swordsman like himself possibly find one?

First, I’ll just sleep.

He would get a good night’s rest and think again with a clear head.

His shoulders slumped, Alex lowered his hands and fell into a deep sleep.

And that night.

Around midnight, when even the moon was hidden by clouds and only darkness filled the air.

Suddenly sensing a presence, Alex’s eyes shot open. He was so startled he shot upright.

No, he tried to, but stopped.

“Yu-Yuna-ssi?!”

On the bed.

To be precise, between his legs.

Peeking out from under the blanket that was loosely draped over him was none other than Yuna.

Alex wanted to ask how she got here, or rather, what on earth she was doing right now, but he couldn’t.

Yuna had placed a finger to her lips with a “shhh.”

“Alex, I looked for a solution, too.”

“A s-solution?”

“Yes, a solution.”

Answering with sparkling eyes, Yuna smiled as brightly as ever and continued.

“People say that in times like these, you just have to create a ‘fait accompli.’”

“A f-fait accompli?”

“Yes, a fait accompli.”

Yuna smiled brightly again. For a moment, Alex wondered who on earth she had heard that from—or if she even knew what ‘fait accompli’ meant—but the thought was fleeting.

Yuna’s small, pretty hand had reached the waistband of his trousers.

“Yu-Yuna-ssi. Wait a moment. Wai—”

“Shhh!”

Putting her finger to her lips again with a stern look, Yuna continued her work. Rendered unable to resist for various reasons, Alex covered his reddening face with both hands.

A few days later, standing in a guest room of the Chase estate, Alex spoke with a grimly determined face.

“The wind is always… swift.”

“…Are you seriously saying that right now?”

Alex and Yuna had gotten pregnant before marriage.

The two of them, who hadn’t even shared a proper kiss on their entire journey from the Empire to the Kingdom, had conceived a child in just a few days.

Yuna was pregnant.

“My head is spinning.”

“To be honest, mine is too. Still… you’ll help me, right?”

At his friend’s desperate question—no, his plea—Arthur Chase sighed and nodded.

*

“—and that’s what happened,” Yuna finished her story with a cheerful smile.

Adelia and Cordelia blinked with blank expressions.

It was only natural, as the story was completely different from what they had expected.

“Mother, Father, how did you two get married?”

The beginning hadn’t been bad.

The tale that began in a remote corner of the distant Empire was indeed a story befitting the Bayer family.

But what followed…

It wasn’t a story of winning over the former Count Bayer with utmost sincerity, but of bulldozing their way through with a shotgun wedding.

And to think it was their mother who had pounced on their father to make it happen.

‘Wh-what are we supposed to do in this situation?’

‘W-well, shouldn’t we just smile?’

After all, their mother was smiling.

After a quick exchange of glances, Adelia and Cordelia let out awkward “ahaha” laughs, while Yuna smiled as brightly as ever.

One minute, two minutes.

How long had the silence, filled with awkward smiles, continued?

“Yuna, here—”

At the sight of Count Bayer appearing at the open door, Adelia and Cordelia felt a simultaneous wave of relief and embarrassment.

It was good that the awkward atmosphere was broken, but they couldn’t help but recall the young Count Bayer from Yuna’s story.

“Ahem, I’ll come back later.”

Sensing danger like the Sword Master he was, Count Bayer tried to make a hasty evasive maneuver, but it was no use.

As if to say, “Where do you think you’re going?” Yuna quickly stood up, pulled on his arm, and said, “It’s fine, the story is over. Why were you looking for me?”

“Well, I just wanted to see you… no, no, I was wondering if you’d like to have some tea.”

Realizing he was in front of his daughters-in-law, Count Bayer quickly corrected himself. Adelia and Cordelia desperately tried to pretend they hadn’t seen a thing.

But one person, oblivious to everyone’s efforts, Yuna Bayer, hugged the Count’s arm and nodded.

“Mhm, I wanted to see you too. But honey, since you’re here, there’s something I’d like you to do.”

“Ahem, what… might that be?”

Barely suppressing the corners of his mouth from turning up at Yuna’s cute display, Count Bayer asked. She turned towards Adelia and Cordelia and said, “After telling the girls the story, I suddenly want to hear it again.”

“‘It’? What do you mean, ‘it’?”

“You know, that thing. The one you used to say every day back then. Do you know you haven’t said it once since we reunited?”

The ‘it’ Yuna was talking about.

Count Bayer knew instantly, and Adelia and Cordelia also figured it out with their animal-like instincts.

“Hurry, please?”

The phrase the young Count Bayer had on his lips every day.

But a phrase he never uttered after growing older, dismissing it as a youthful indiscretion.

“Yuna.”

“Hurry. Quickly. I want to hear it. Please?”

Yuna hugged his arm again, acting cute. Count Bayer broke into a cold sweat and glanced at Adelia and Cordelia.

It couldn’t have been a misunderstanding that he saw a look in their awkwardly smiling eyes that meant, ‘We understand completely, Father.’

“Ah, alright.”

Letting out a dry cough, Count Bayer stood up 멋지게, his face flushed red. He gazed into the distance with a melancholic look and opened his mouth.

“The wind is always—”

He paused, then turned his distant gaze to Yuna—

“—free.”

Meeting Count Bayer’s smile, Yuna beamed. Adelia and Cordelia pinched their thighs hard to keep from laughing.

Count Bayer bit his lip, his face now bright red.

“Honey? Are you sick? Your face is red.”

“N-no. It’s nothing.”

Letting out a hollow laugh, Count Bayer performed the trick of turning his head towards Adelia and Cordelia while looking elsewhere and said, “Ahem, I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Speaking quickly as if he couldn’t wait for a reply, Count Bayer fled the room. Yuna tilted her head a few times, gave a brief farewell to Adelia and Cordelia, and followed him out.

And the two who were left in the room.

Adelia and Cordelia looked at each other, and as if on cue, they spoke.

“I think I know who they take after.”

Yuder and Gale.

What traits they had inherited from their father and mother.

“The wind is always…”

“…free, after all.”

Each thinking of a different man from the Bayer family, Adelia and Cordelia let out a small laugh, then settled into a warm smile.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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