episode_0002

Rendallor, the head butler of Count Raphaelion’s household, was not exaggerating when he claimed to have witnessed the rise and fall of the family, as he was an old retainer and loyal servant.

Starting as a steward at the age of 22, becoming the head butler at 26, and then taking on the role of overseeing the household at the young age of 36, Rendallor’s role was so significant that nothing could progress in Count Raphaelion’s affairs without his involvement.

It was inevitable for him to watch over the growth of Elden Raphaelion, the sole heir of the family.

In the absence of the busy master of the house, Rendallor took charge of Elden’s noble education, and it was he who handled the situations whenever Elden got into trouble.

With the household’s mistress being too frail to discipline and supervise Elden, Rendallor found it challenging to rein in the young man who was running amok in all directions.

With the father frequently absent and the mother bedridden, there was a clear lack of authority figures, but Rendallor took great care of Elden.

He believed that it was the duty, responsibility, and natural obligation of someone responsible for the family’s well-being to guide a young man like Elden, whose world was so distinctly different from the reality he lived in.

Leading such a starkly different individual was nearly impossible, but Rendallor spared no effort in trying.

However, as time passed, his efforts began to fade, and once Elden entered the Royal Academy, they became futile.

Elden’s hidden malice, which he had been suppressing while making friends with bad influences, finally emerged.

He received academic warnings, got into fights with his peers, and even shed blood in the process.

Despite all this, Rendallor never blamed him.

He admired Elden for graduating at the top of his class despite all the incidents.

The eruption of Elden’s hidden malice was an inevitable consequence, a part of the natural order.

It was only then that Rendallor acknowledged that someone born with a certain fate could only walk the path they were destined for.

“Well done, young master. Congratulations on graduating at the top of your class.”

Three years later, when Elden returned to the family, he was consumed by pleasure and debauchery.

Alcohol and women.

Instead of the honor of being carried in a carriage as a top graduate, he returned filled with the instincts of a male.

And Elden, instead of the honor, handed Rendallor an empty bottle of alcohol.

And instead of the honor, he led the drunken women out of the carriage.

“Hahaha! These lewd women. Do they enjoy the taste of money so much? Throw a gold coin to a barking woman and she’ll take it in her mouth. Then it’ll be yours. Hahaha!”

Instead of the honor of being a top graduate, the Raphaelion Count’s garden was filled with the cries of women and money being scattered.

After three years at the academy.

Having awakened in such a short time, he began to acquire all kinds of derogatory nicknames like ‘wastrel’, ‘debauched noble’, ‘black-haired beast’.

Despite his efforts to handle the constant incidents, Rendallor never reprimanded his young master.

Things happened as they were meant to.

Deciding to comply with fate rather than defy it, he silently worked for the Raphaelion family, and when Elden turned 22, he faced a major crisis.

The master of the house had an accident, and the mistress passed away from a lingering illness.

The future looked bleak.

The weight of a significant responsibility fell on the shoulders of the Count’s indifferent heir, and Rendallor’s worries deepened in proportion to that burden.

And it didn’t take long for those worries to become a reality.

Business dealings with Elden’s disreputable associates began to sour, and unable to pay off mounting debts, they had to sell off one business after another.

The family fortunes were declining.

The glory of Count Raphaelion faded away, and Rendallor prepared the household staff for the worst.

After selling off most of the remaining businesses, there was nowhere left to collect money, and the last step was the mansion and the land, so the collapse of the business empire seemed like an inevitable outcome.

However.

“Rendler.”

One day, Elden, who woke up sober for once, called out to Rendler. And he uttered unexpected words.

“They say the engagement competition of the 3rd Northern Duchess is taking place, send in an application for participation.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I must have told you not to make me repeat myself.”

“Oh, yes, yes. I understand.”

It was an unfamiliar matter.

For someone who enjoyed chaos more than engagement, participating in an engagement competition for a woman, treating her as nothing more than a tool to satisfy his male instincts, and knowing the name Elden Raphellion was being called in society, it would be a miracle just to participate in the preliminary rounds.

So when Rendler submitted the application for participation, and Elden was chosen as the final candidate, he thought it was not a miracle but rather a well-planned trick.

Things that are incomprehensible often hide their own reasons.

That must be it.

“Withdrawal, huh, very well thought out, Master Elden.”

At the Master’s declaration of withdrawal, his true intentions were revealed.

As he said, the chances of final victory were slim to none.

Rather than enduring another uncomfortable day at the Northern Duchess’s residence, it would be wiser to return home at this point.

Honestly, he was too embarrassed to present himself to the Duchess.

No, he was an embarrassing man no matter where he presented himself.

He thought it was truly pitiful that the 3rd Duchess had chosen such a man as the final candidate, but it seemed like a fortunate turn of events.

“Then I will prepare the carriage.”

“…You’re not asking for a reason?”

“Would I dare to question the Master’s decision? There’s no need to cling to a fight with no chance of winning, as the Master said. Haha.”

Rendler smiled brightly as he stepped back, and for some reason, Elden felt strange and took a sip of the drink in his cup.

The taste of the first drink he had consumed since possessing this body.

“…Bitter.”

Indeed.

**

Located in the northern part of the continent, the Winterfell Northern Territory was a place where winter reigned all year round.

The vast land was covered with a blanket of snow, the blue deciduous forest wore a white scarf, and white foxes dug through the snow-covered mountains.

Known as the land of extreme cold, when May approached, the rain began to fall in that place.

The icicles hanging from the roofs turned into droplets and fell onto the frozen ground.

And when that season came, the ruler of the Northern Territory, Duke Logan Winterfell, had to bury himself in the piles of documents like snowflakes.

Frozen things do not cause problems.

Melting things are what cause problems.

Moreover, in May, to commemorate the sprouting of life, the long-standing tradition of the family and the grand feast of the Northern Territory, the [Duke’s Engagement Competition], took place.

To handle family matters and Northern affairs, the month of May was more than enough.

Especially this time, the engagement competition was the talk of the entire Northern Territory as the previously hidden 3rd Duchess took center stage.

“…What? Withdrawal?”

The news of the ‘final candidate withdrawal’ that reached him would only sow confusion in the time it took to write it down.

When the blue pupils, as sharp as a dragon on the battlefield, revealed a hint of confusion, the head of the aide, Geld, involuntarily bowed.

“Yes. Your Grace. Elden Raphellion, the candidate, has declared withdrawal.”

“What is the reason?”

“He said he lacks the qualifications.”

“Lacks? After going through tests for a month and reaching the final gate, now he questions his qualifications and withdraws?”

“Yes.”

Declaring a withdrawal that was incomprehensible, Logan leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

The once glorious arm that had swept through the northern battlefield wielding a mighty halberd now demonstrated its vigor.

“There seems to be another reason.”

“I tried to probe, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy.”

“Were there any unusual signs?”

“….”

There were vague signs of something unusual.

However, Gelwood, who couldn’t readily report it as it was still an unverified abstract sign, cautiously raised his luck.

“Well, it’s not particularly an unusual sign, but….”

“Speak freely.”

“He seems to have changed a bit.”

The only words that could describe it were absurdly just that.

He seems to have changed.

At Gelwood’s words, Logan, showing an interesting expression, got up from his seat and approached the window.

Gelwood, the exceptional chief strategist whom Logan had personally appointed, had never been wrong before.

Just by looking into his eyes, Gelwood could see through what was inside, make several moves ahead, and find gold in the dust.

If someone like him seemed to have changed, then he had indeed changed.

In Logan’s eyes, an unmelting snowscape formed by the eyes that had not yet melted appeared.

“For example?”

“The harsh voice that was like a fierce snowstorm became quiet, the intense gaze softened, and the grandiose demeanor melted away, giving a feeling like the Northern Monarch in May.”

“Hmm, a bloodthirsty rogue being compared to the Northern Monarch in May.”

Muttering quietly, Logan scanned the snowscape.

The metaphor of the frozen things melting away like the Northern Monarch in May seemed to throw an interesting topic to the Northern Snow King.

Even if it was an exaggerated expression.

Gelwood’s insight was unparalleled.

To the extent that a foreign king would have coveted him as a royal advisor.

Of course, his words would not change the evaluation of Elden, but it was enough to stimulate the retired general’s doubts about wanting to become the first withdrawer in the history of the Conclave.

Logan turned his upper body to look at Gelwood.

“Although individual meetings with the final candidates are prohibited before the cohabitation begins, exceptional circumstances require exceptional rules. Please make arrangements.”

“Understood. There will be a meeting between the candidates in the evening, so I will make arrangements after that.”

Gelwood stepped back, leaving Logan alone to gaze out the window.

He knew well about Elden Raphellion.

No, he knew well about those who had made it to the final candidates.

Because they all shared one common trait.

Stroking his white beard, Logan whispered to himself.

“Elden Raphellion…. He’s a strange fellow.”

Someone who climbs up with great effort only to come down lightly.

Whether there was external pressure or a genuine realization, he seemed to be someone who couldn’t be underestimated according to the public opinion.

With a wry smile, Logan returned to his seat and began to approve the piled-up documents.