Episode 2
As soon as the young man came into view, everyone looked toward him, seemingly captivated by his presence.
He stood in silence, staring at the coffin laid at the end of the black velvet aisle.
Eda, too, looked at him with a surprised expression. His face was exactly the same as when they first met five years ago.
Unlike Ivar’s pale complexion, his skin was tanned to a healthy degree, with jet-black hair falling over his forehead.
His golden eyes, which flashed with such intensity as if they could cut, seemed to be the only thing truly alive in this gloomy funeral.
However, the line of his thick eyebrows, always arched as if in a scowl, made him appear perpetually angry even without meaning to.
This gave him a fierce impression, and along with his eyes, it was enough to make anyone’s knees tremble.
Tightly shut lips, and a masculine and strong jawline. His body was even larger than his brother’s, reminiscent of a beast.
Astaldo was the younger brother of her husband, the sword of the Grand Duke. Always taciturn, he became Ivar’s blade, following his orders and took charge of killing people.
The Butcher of Wesselwolf. The Murder Fiend. The leader of the Black Wolves.
He had earned countless titles. Young children even said that he could command black wolves.
His tasks were primarily slaughter and bloodshed. He exterminated bandits, killed monsters, and fought in wars against the Nyt, who dared to invade the Grand Duchy’s domain.
Even Eda, who stayed locked in her room, heard the cheers upon news of his victories, which shook the Grand Duchy.
Astaldo was both the pride and the terror of the Wesselwolf Grand Duchy.
And now, upon hearing of his brother’s death during the war, he had returned to this place.
It was during such a war that he heard of his brother’s death and came here.
He knelt down on one knee and bowed. His face, though composed, clearly showed a trace of mourning.
At that moment, Astaldo placed something he was holding in front of his brother’s coffin.
Only then did the others realize that Astaldo had brought something with him.
An object wrapped in red silk.
Eda felt a wave of unease the moment she saw what Astaldo held. That red silk was stained with a dark, blood-like blotch.
He tossed it before the coffin.
“This is what you wanted, brother.”
With a soft thud, the cloth fell away, revealing its contents.
At its center was a human head.
Hair streaked with white, eyes rolled back, mouth agape in death.
Eda was so shocked she couldn’t even breathe.
For a moment, it felt as if a foul stench had wafted over.
“Hic—!”
People let out small gasps. But the moment he looked around, even those sounds disappeared.
“The head of King Nyt. I offer it to my brother.”
Everyone was well aware of his violent and cruel nature. However, no one could say anything about his cruelty in bringing the head of the enemy nation’s ruler and offering it like a flower at a grave for his brother.
Eda was no different. But having lived as a wanderer and seen many corpses, she did not scream in horror.
Even so, like the others, she held her breath in fear at his actions.
When Astaldo, who had offered the head to his brother, stood up, Ingrid’s sobs grew even louder.
But he walked past Ingrid without a glance and came to stand directly in front of Eda. After a moment, he took off his black gloves.
“Flowers.”
“……”
Eda, who had been bowing her head, flinched at the sight of the tanned bare hand held out before her eyes.
The man’s hand was large enough to nearly cover Eda’s face, and a pearl-like scar was visible on it.
“Please give me a flower.”
Now that she thought about it, she was carrying the flower offering basket. Ingrid and she had both been holding them, and since most people had taken flowers from Ingrid’s basket, Eda had forgotten she had one too.
When Eda handed him a flower, he accepted it. His hand brushed against her cold fingers.
Eda was startled. His bare skin was scorching hot.
She reflexively looked up at the man. His expression was dry, but for a moment, his eyes seemed to burn with passion. As if filled with desire.
Startled, Eda flinched, quickly pulling her hand away and lowering her head. Astaldo’s gaze, as if looking down on her, seemed to fall and stab into her.
Turning away from Eda, who was blushing bright red, he placed the flower beside the grotesquely lifeless face of his brother in the coffin.
It was a quiet mourning. However, it was also a mourning that seemed cold in some way.
The people stirred in a strange kind of excitement.
They had been too shocked to realize it before, but the fact that he brought back King Nyt’s head meant he had won the war.
Greed flickered in the eyes of those now imagining the spoils of war and vast lands.
Eda stared blankly at Astaldo’s back.
Ivar’s grotesquely dead body and another corpse. It was a strange funeral, where cold tribute and the thrill of victory became entangled.
And so, the man returned—bringing with him death and victory.
* * *
Eda was running. Her leg throbbed from where she had fallen. Her pursuers were already close behind her.
With the five-day funeral over and the appearance of a new successor causing chaos, the watchful eyes of the guards had grown lax and were no longer as sharp.
She had struggled so hard during those five days just to find a chance to escape. But since she was expected to stay present the entire time during the funeral, she couldn’t bring herself to make a move.
Only after the funeral had concluded and she returned to her room did Eda immediately begin packing her things.
Naturally, she had no fine jewelry or valuables.
All she had was a bit of money, some food, a broken lyre, and a rusty necklace that Risonel had once given her as a gift.
Eda recalled Astaldo’s terrifying face.
The severed head, and the moment their eyes briefly met— she knew it instinctively.
That man would show no mercy. He would order her execution while calmly looking her in the eye.
Even as a person’s life vanished and their existence came to an end, he would feel nothing. She might even end up beheaded like one of the tribute offerings Astaldo had brought.
Whenever she thought of him, all she could see was the face of a beast, devoid of emotion. She couldn’t die like this. No, not like this. That was why Eda decided to run.
There had always been a hole in the wall she had noticed before. She was sure that if she escaped through it, she could survive somehow.
Hadn’t she once lived as a wanderer with her mother and sister when she was young? As long as she could play an instrument, she wouldn’t starve to death anywhere.
She would slowly make her way back to the Mahina Duchy. Surely, her brother, Risonel, would take her in.
And so, she carefully headed toward the Confinement Palace. The Confinement Palace had long gone without maintenance, and rumors of ghosts kept most people away.
It had been pure chance that she discovered the hole there. Hidden by vines and moss, it was an invisible gap but she could tell it was there.
Eda passed through the hole without much difficulty. Though it was a small hole, her petite frame allowed her to slip through easily.
Beyond the castle walls lay a field of green grass. Eda took a deep breath.
As expected, just because she had exited the heart of the palace didn’t mean the city lay immediately beyond.
Still, essential facilities for maintaining the palace like stables and smithies would be found in this area.
The people here were the palace servants, so there was still a risk of being discovered and recognized.
Still, it was better than running into a pack of wolves that roamed Wesselwolf.
Eda ran between the neatly tended trees, avoiding the eyes of the people.
She pulled her hood low to hide her shabby silver hair, and smeared her face with dirt to conceal her features.
Up to that point, Eda truly believed her escape had succeeded.
But she hadn’t gone far before she was spotted by patrolling knights.
Her knee ached from a fall she had already taken during her escape. The hem of her dress had caught on a branch and tore, leaving her thigh exposed.
And that wasn’t all. While fleeing from them, Eda’s foot slipped into a sunken patch of ground, and she made an unseemly second fall.
Soon after, she was “escorted” by the knights.
“Ivar has really left this palace in a mess. If even a woman can escape so easily.”
She looked at the knights mocking her husband.
They were unfamiliar faces, not the ones she usually saw in the palace.
Though they weren’t rough with her and seemed almost humane, unlike Ivar’s knights, they gave off the sharp, lethal air that was characteristic of well-trained soldiers.
It would be impossible to escape from them.
As she was being dragged along helplessly, Eda nearly fainted on the spot. That was because standing in front of the palace gates stood Astaldo himself.
Standing with the gates behind him, Astaldo looked like the grim reaper.
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
If there are any errors, whether it be grammatical, spelling, translation, or website-related issues, feel free to let me know. (´◡`) Anyway, thank you for reading!