Night Brings Courage to Men and Women

The Dawn’s Eye touched the Lierde family’s main estate!

This news spread like wildfire in less than half a day, bringing their presence back into the spotlight.

In truth, the group known as the Dawn’s Eye wasn’t exactly a household name within the Empire.

Of course, if you only looked at their past achievements, they were a group that had trifled with and assassinated someone who was the great-great-grandfather of the current Emperor, and furthermore, they were among the most notorious villains in history who had tried to swallow the Empire itself.

But they were always elusive, and even the remnants of the Dawn’s Eye who were occasionally caught would attempt suicide or engage in concealment operations to prevent information from leaking, hiding their presence in the darkness.

Thanks to that, their influence was subtly spread throughout the Empire, but it was too much for the Empire to completely eradicate them.

Considering that even the former head of the Drake family, who had risen to the position of Magic Tower Lord, was a member of the Dawn’s Eye, it was impossible to know how far their influence reached.

Therefore, from the person who was the great-grandfather of the current Emperor to the previous Emperor, they couldn’t dare to touch the Dawn’s Eye and simply tried to let them fade into the background of history.

At the time, that choice wasn’t entirely wrong.

Clearly, the movements of the Dawn’s Eye were also becoming relatively sluggish, and even though it was for the sake of avenging the previous Emperor, they were reluctant to plunge the Empire into a vortex of war.

However, the current Emperor, Oswell Schride Copen Hespia, belonged to a completely different hardline faction than the previous Emperors.

“Those goddamn traitors… Dare they try to revolt against the Empire again?”

“Ah, I beg your pardon, but it seems so, Your Majesty.”

The minister who brought this urgent news bowed deeply towards him, who was sitting on the throne and striking the armrest with a trembling fist.

Oswell was among those with a very strong desire for revenge and anger towards the Dawn’s Eye compared to the previous Emperors.

From the time he took office, the movements of the Dawn’s Eye gradually intensified, and there were many clashes with them, but the biggest reason was simply that he loved this Empire.

That’s why, even when a rumor spread that the Drake family had contacted the Dawn’s Eye, a rumor that was hard to tell if it was a conspiracy theory or the truth, he even called the current head of the Drake family separately and attempted an interrogation in the name of an interview.

To him, the traitors who tried to defile the Empire were nothing more than pests that should be swept away with a single blow without even giving them mercy.

“And now the Lierde family, are there people who dare to touch the Empire’s Three Swords?”

“It seems that they took advantage of the absence of the eldest son, Hasel-gongja, and attempted an assassination.”

“Hasel Lierde… Yes, he was quite a promising man.”

Oswell’s eyes lit up at the name of a man who was promising enough to be said to be worthy of continuing the Lierde family’s reputation, but then he narrowed his eyes again as if something was strange.

“But it’s strange. I heard a rumor that the position of the next head of the Lierde family has recently changed.”

“Yes, that’s right. Your Majesty must also know about the tradition that has been passed down in the Lierde family for generations.”

“I know it well.”

Because it was such a famous tradition, there would be fewer people among the noble families who didn’t know about it.

The tradition of having the children fight each other like warriors thrown into an arena in order to determine the next head of the family, and choosing the stronger one as the next head.

Some may ask if it’s too barbaric a method, but it was also a tradition that proved that the Lierde family was one of the Empire’s sharpest swords.

Only the strongest person is selected and put forward as the representative, and his bloodline is allowed to continue the family again.

Oswell also viewed that method quite favorably.

“It is said that the one who blocked their surprise attack this time was Kyle-gongja, who recently rose to the position of the next head of the family.”

“Kyle? Hmm, I’ve heard that name before. He used to have a pretty bad reputation. Especially since he was terribly lacking in talent with the sword.”

For him, who was born in a family called the Empire’s Three Swords, that would have been an unavoidable flaw.

Oswell also remembered his name, which was called the shame of the Lierde family, so you can easily see how Kyle’s name was known to the world in a bad way.

“Yes, but recently he’s been showing overwhelming talent in magic. He had a vast amount of mana from a young age, so he seems to have used that to enter the path of a magician.”

“Oh, magic, you say? That’s quite interesting news.”

He, who had been spewing anger until just now, sat up straight with his eyes shining at the news he heard for the first time.

That’s because the Lierde family is a family that has produced outstanding martial artists for generations, befitting the name of the Empire’s Three Swords.

Even the current head of the family, Doberman, is like that, and in the case of the great-great-grandfather, he was an outstanding figure who always appears when discussing the best swordsman in the Empire’s history.

But for a person who has been marked as the next head of such a Lierde family to have the qualities of an outstanding magician, it’s quite surprising.

Especially since there is a subtle sense of competition between martial artists and magicians, and it was common for them to be jealous of each other or look down on each other.

Usually, martial artists grumbled that those who only read books in their rooms and didn’t cultivate their bodies, what would they know, and magicians criticized martial artists as outdated losers who couldn’t even handle magic.

Therefore, in general, there is a slight prejudice against magicians in families that have produced outstanding martial artists for generations, but the next head of the Lierde family is a magician.

‘Well, Doberman isn’t the kind of man to fuss about that.’

Although it was surprising, Oswell understood that it was possible after learning that the other person was Doberman.

Although he doesn’t have a deep acquaintance with Doberman, it was enough to guess what kind of person he was just from the stories he heard in the world and a few meetings.

Doberman is basically a loyal person who doesn’t bend even if he breaks.

And he has a clear respect for the strong, and it doesn’t matter to him whether the other person is a magician or a martial artist.

In other words, he’s a man who likes people with outstanding abilities rather than status or pretense.

For such Doberman, a son who is a magician with outstanding talent that the family has never produced before would be a welcome existence rather than a nuisance.

‘Now that we’re on the subject, I want to see his face once.’

And Oswell wanted to meet the man that Doberman had marked as the next head of the family once.

“Gallian.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Send a letter to the Lierde family right away. I want to meet the man you mentioned, Kyle Lierde, once in person.”

“I will follow your command. But the current atmosphere in the Lierde family is ominous, so it may take some time. Is that alright?”

“Hmm, it doesn’t matter. Tell them I’ll follow their schedule.”

“Yes!”

Despite being a man at the pinnacle of the Empire, this unpretentious side was also the reason why Oswell was so popular.

Gallian bowed repeatedly and left the audience room in a hurry to carry out the Emperor’s orders.

＊＊＊

Meanwhile, night came to Kaintreche Castle, which had calmed down a bit thanks to Roxanne waking up and putting out the urgent fire.

Knock knock.

– Kyle, it’s me. Can I come in?

“Yes, please come in.”

Despite the late hour, Sylvia, who had come to Kyle’s room, carefully opened the door and entered when his permission was given.

Kyle, who had been sitting blankly on the bed alone with many thoughts, didn’t want to show her his weak side, so he hurriedly tried to get up from his seat, but stopped when he met her eyes.

It felt like he had become a mischievous child caught doing something bad.

“You turned off all the lights… Are you feeling troubled after all?”

As only a small table lamp on the desk was dimly lighting the surroundings, Sylvia turned on the lights herself and approached him.

“I guess I am a little.”

“The reason for your trouble doesn’t seem to be just because of the Dawn’s Eye.”

“……”

“Anyway. You close your mouth as soon as you’re at a disadvantage.”

As he lowered his eyes and remained silent at her accurate criticism, Sylvia gave a helpless smile and carefully sat down next to him.

“You were listening to the conversation between my mother and me, weren’t you?”

“……!”

And as she brought out the speculation that she had only been guessing in her mind, Kyle’s body trembled slightly.

At his expression of looking at her as if asking how she knew, Sylvia simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Hehe, I expected it.”

“…Aren’t you angry?”

“Not really. It’s not like Kyle was trying to do anything sinister to me, and I know that he did it to protect me.”

‘Of course, I wonder if it’s okay to listen to women’s secret stories,’ she added, causing Kyle to scratch his cheek awkwardly and avoid her gaze.

Because that appearance was so cute, Sylvia unknowingly smiled and held one of Kyle’s hands.

“Is it still hard to forgive your mother?”

“…I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to forgive her, or if I wanted her to be the villain I thought she was.”

“I think it’s a natural phenomenon. Once you think of someone as a villain, it’s easier to have them remain the villain you knew.”

For some reason, Kyle thought that Sylvia would say something positive like, ‘But isn’t it better than being a real villain?’, but he was somewhat stunned by her unexpected answer.

“So what brings you here?”

“I thought Kyle might be having a hard time.”

“You were thinking of comforting me, then.”

“No, I don’t really have any intention of comforting you. I’m not Kyle in the first place. Without knowing Kyle’s feelings, there’s no way I can give comfort so carelessly.”

‘I’m not that good with words in the first place,’ she said with a bitter smile, and gently stroked Kyle’s hand that she was holding.

“But as the saying goes, when people are having a hard time, it’s comforting just to have someone by their side, right? Just like Kyle was to me.”

“…You acted like we were strangers at first, are you going to stop acting now?”

“Well, Kyle was being mean, so I just responded. Who told you to abandon people like that and leave coldly?”

“…I’m sorry. I have nothing to say even if I had ten mouths.”

Kyle, who had been scolded for saying the wrong thing, was about to awkwardly pull his hand out, but he flinched.

Because Sylvia was now not only holding his hand, but also interlacing her fingers with his and looking up at him from the side.

“Are you trying to get away again like that? The scolding you just heard was nothing, is that it?”

“N, no way.”

“Then stay still. I’m barely holding back from hugging you tightly, you know.”

“Thank you for your mercy.”

If she did that, his heart would be pounding so hard that it would explode, so Kyle sincerely thanked her for her mercy.

Compared to that, interlacing fingers was nothing.

“Hehe, now that we’re on the subject, should I give you a lap pillow again like when we came back from the territory? Feeling someone’s warmth might calm you down a bit.”

Meanwhile, Sylvia, who realized that he was embarrassed, playfully threw out a suggestion to tease him a little more.

If he backed down here, she intended to take advantage of that and tease him even more.

But there was something she had forgotten, that this man always went against her expectations.

“…Then I’ll ask you to.”

“……Y, yes!?”

“I was trying to sleep, but I couldn’t seem to fall asleep. I want to borrow the Princess’s lap for just one day.”

“Yes? Ah, th, th, that’s…”

As the saying goes, it’s not easy for someone who has only been attacking to be mindful of when they’re being counterattacked.

In that sense, Kyle’s counterattack was very effective.

If Kyle had playfully nodded his head to tease her, Sylvia would have noticed that and tried to counterattack again.

But Kyle’s attitude was as serious as it could be.

At the same time, his eyes, which were always strong, felt unusually weak and fragile, unlike usual.

That made Sylvia unable to say anything else.

“A, alright. Since I said it… Here.”

Tuk tuk.

As Sylvia blushed and patted her thigh, Kyle laid his head down without a moment’s hesitation.

Because his head was so dizzy, at this moment, he only had the desire to organize his thoughts rather than feeling embarrassed or ashamed.

“Anyway… You’re so unfair.”

“…Did you say something, Sylvia?”

“Hmph, nothing. Kyle, close your eyes and try to sleep.”

“Yes, but now that I think about it, if this goes on, Sylvia won’t be able to sleep…”

The problem was that as his reason gradually returned, he was more concerned about her.

It was good that he boldly laid down with her thigh as a pillow, but it was already the middle of the night with a dazzling moon in the sky.

If he fell asleep like this, Sylvia wouldn’t be able to return to her room and would have to be stuck here.

But Sylvia didn’t like that attitude.

No, rather than not liking it, it was even more annoying.

‘Why are you only worrying about me even in a situation like this!’

He should just close his eyes without thinking, but why does he have to say lines that shake a woman’s heart until the very end?

Anyway, she thought that she had to tie this man up tightly for the sake of the peace of the women in this world.

Gguk.

“It’s okay. I’ve been indebted to you a lot, so I’ll stay by Kyle’s side for just one night.”

“…Thank you, Sylvia.”

As she pressed his forehead with her finger to stop him from getting up and replied curtly, Kyle finally closed his eyes and let out a faint breath.

As Sylvia stared down at him, she suddenly noticed his chapped lips.

She wanted to steal those lips right now to give him a taste of his own medicine, but she decided to endure it for just one day.

Because revenge doesn’t work if the person doesn’t know about it.

She braced herself, looking forward to the day she would see his flustered face, and vowed to endure it for just one day.

‘But at least this much.’

But she couldn’t help but think that there should be at least a small achievement, and soon she couldn’t resist and put her hand on his lips and gently brought it to her own lips.

She couldn’t tell if it was his lips that were hot, or her hand, or her lips.