Chapter 69:
Just then, a carriage sped past her. It passed her carelessly, but the carriage wheels splashed muddy water all over her. As she lost her footing, she fell with a thud, scraping her palm as she tried to brace herself. Sue Byron was a fool who couldn’t even take care of her own body.
As she was looking at her scraped palm, the carriage that had splashed her stopped up ahead. She stared blankly, wondering what was happening, and then she saw a familiar figure emerge from the carriage. It was Woo Acrea.
Acrea approached her, holding an umbrella a servant had handed him. He was still wearing his smile-mask, but it was undeniable that his presence shone brightly in the darkness of the rain-soaked street.
“Oh my, Master Acrea. What a coincidence to meet you here. I must be lucky.”
Sue quickly brushed off her hand and greeted him with a bright smile. She tried to keep her distance, finally realizing her mud-splattered state.
“Are you heading to the Byron viscount residence?”
Acrea skipped the usual pleasantries, like asking if she was okay or apologizing for the muddy water, and went straight to the point.
“Yes, so please get back in your carriage, Master Acrea. It’s raining heavily.”
“…Byron, you’re not exactly in a position to say that, are you?”
“Am I not? I think I am.”
Acrea sighed as Sue retorted with a sheepish grin.
“Get in the carriage. I’ll take you to the Byron residence.”
“No, you’ll get the Acrea grand duke family’s carriage dirty.”
Sue waved her hands frantically. Acrea replied in a soothing voice,
“Don’t worry about that. It’s not something you need to be concerned about.”
“Haha, it’s really fine. My residence is close by. Thank you for your concern, Master Acrea.”
Acrea fell silent at her firm refusal. He probably hadn’t expected that reaction. He thought for a moment, then spoke again, observing her complexion.
“Your lips are blue. And you look pale. You said you weren’t feeling well, right? You’ll catch a cold. You should get in the carriage, even if it’s close by.”
It was the perfect gentlemanly gesture. But Sue shook her head again. It wasn’t just because of who had made the offer, but because she felt uncomfortable and disgusted by the idea of receiving help from anyone in her current state.
“I’m fine. It really isn’t far.”
“Really? …Then at least take an umbrella…”
“Master Acrea.”
Sue cut him off as he offered her an umbrella. He stared at her as she stepped back. He was waiting for her to speak.
Sue brushed her wet hair behind her ear. She didn’t feel anything in particular about his considerate, gentlemanly gestures. But that was why she wanted to ask him, this pure, shining person,
“Master Acrea, do I look… pitiful to you?”
Sue smiled. Brightly, radiantly, more beautifully than ever. As brightly as the man who shone in this rain-soaked world.
And yet, even as her lips curved upwards, she couldn’t help but lower her gaze.
“I shouldn’t be like this.”
***
Raines Noel Delpheman.
The heir of the Noel count family, who had been granted permission to enter the capital centuries ago. When people mentioned his name, they would first think of his refreshing blue hair and eyes.
Some even praised his eyes, calling them “eyes that hold the essence of the sea”. Raines would suppress the urge to fidget and just touch his flushed neck awkwardly whenever he heard such compliments.
The Noel count family traditionally excelled in magic, but Raines, unusually, had chosen the path of a knight. It was partly because of his lack of talent in magic, but mostly because he was more interested in swords.
The current head of the Noel family, a man who valued rationality, and his wife, readily accepted their son’s decision to abandon magic. They told him to wield a sword if it would bring greater glory to the Noel name.
Raines had always been grateful to his parents for allowing him to pursue the path of a knight, even though it meant deviating from his original mission of strengthening the Noel family’s magic tradition.
At the same time, Raines wasn’t a particularly diligent person. He had a talent for knighthood. He also possessed some magical aptitude, inherited from his parents, and he knew how to achieve good results.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to uphold his family’s honor or that he didn’t respect his parents. He was simply not a diligent person by nature. That was all.
‘Someone who can’t tie the beginning and end of a knot.’
Count Delthel, Raines’s father, sometimes worried about his son’s personality and gave him that nickname. It was meant to be a playful tease, but Raines couldn’t deny it. No, he didn’t. He was actually grateful that his parents didn’t scold him too harshly for it.
The count and countess, who were strict with themselves, were surprisingly lenient with their child. But their love for their son wasn’t based on optimism, believing that he would “change someday”. It was more about efficiency, believing that it would be pointless to create conflict within the family over something as trivial as his lack of diligence.
And so, they chose happiness. They would chat about trivial matters over breakfast every morning, as if they were the most important things in the world.
On weekends, Count Delthel would tend the garden with the gardener, and Countess Haina would read on the terrace, the beautiful scenery as her backdrop. Raines, who loved the “green scent”, would sometimes climb the small mountain behind the mansion alone and gift the berries he found to the servants.
It was a gentle, harmonious, and happy life. And whenever Raines felt those emotions, his blue eyes would sparkle like the sunlit sea.
‘A family without a single problem.’
When someone with a kind face offered that innocent praise, the three members of the Noel family would nod in agreement. But someone with a spiteful face would scoff and shake their head, their heart filled with jealousy.
‘No one, no group, is perfect.’
The Noel family didn’t bother to respond. They knew that engaging with someone filled with malice would only invite more malice.
But whether they had a kind face or a spiteful face, the important thing was that they were both right and wrong.
They didn’t know that even if he tried his best to hold on, the entire structure could collapse if the domino next to him fell.
It all started at the end of last year, just as winter was beginning.
That day, Raines, dressed in his academy uniform, entered the dining room for breakfast, as always. The scene that greeted him should have been the same as any other day. But his parents, who always sat at the table, waiting for him with their usual dignified demeanor, were nowhere to be seen.
The moment he entered the dining room, Raines was met with the sight of his mother, trembling in his father’s arms.
“Ah… No… It can’t be… He came all the way here to… No… Nothing happened… Nothing…”
Countess Haina was huddled in the corner of the dining room, muttering incoherently.
Delthel sat on a chair, his hand on his forehead, his face creased with worry. A sumptuous breakfast was laid out on the table, but no one touched it.
Raines, flustered, asked what was wrong. But his parents only gave him the same answer.
“It’s fine. It has nothing to do with you. Everything will be fine.”
They tried to reassure their only son with their gentle voices. But the unbelievable scene that had already imprinted itself on Raines’s mind would forever be etched in his memory.
Thanks to his parents, who had kept everything from him, he only learned about the tragic incident that had shaken noble society after arriving at the academy.
“Noel, did you hear? Damon Keron, the Red Snake, tried to… Lady Enzhe Lopetrefer…”
Hanjee, who had followed him into the classroom, said excitedly.
“Attempted murder?”
Raines asked back, wondering if he had misheard.
Damon Keron Brell, the viscount’s son, had attempted to murder Enzhe Lopetrefer Kel, the duke’s daughter.
An unprecedented incident had occurred: not only had a Skia’s child tried to kill another Skia’s child, but the target was none other than the daughter of the Lopetrefer family.
At first, he thought Hanjee was just making a bad joke. It was so absurd, so unbelievable. But he couldn’t help but believe it after hearing every student at the academy repeating the name ‘Damon Keron’ ad nauseam.
“But… Isn’t Damon Keron also in the First Knights Division?”
As Hanjee had said, both Raines and Damon were trainees in the same Knights Division. That was why he was even more shocked.
Damon Keron Brell, the viscount’s son.
He wasn’t a boy with a good reputation. He was one of the Skias belonging to the Red Snake faction, and he was also a trainee in the Imperial Knights Division, like Raines.
Raines and Damon had occasionally crossed paths during training and sparring. But they weren’t close, despite being Skias.
Damon, who loved to show off, avoided people of similar or higher status, so it was understandable that they weren’t friends.
In Raines’s memories, Damon was a boy who loved to brag and show off, but he also had a cheerful side.
On the other hand, he barely knew Enzhe Lopetrefer. Raines had always thought of her as the epitome of a noble lady whenever he saw her at the academy. But that was all. Everyone knew that Enzhe was a beautiful, diligent, and kind girl.
‘Why would they suddenly…? How did this even happen?’
But no one at the academy or the Knights Division knew the details of the incident. And while Raines was curious, he wasn’t so insensitive as to go around asking about it. Eventually, his curiosity faded with time.