Chapter 65 Preparation (1)

To turn Vivian into Princess Irune of Pengril—or rather, to hide his son’s murder and gain power through the princess—Count Lauren moved fast.

Before the princess’s body was even buried, he killed or sent far away all servants who had seen the “accident.”

“Where are those boys from?”

The careful count didn’t forget the twins who helped the princess’s group reach his lands safely.

“We don’t know. They said they had reasons and couldn’t reveal their family name.”
“But you at least know their names, right?”

Shaking with fear, Debi Barat told him the twins’ names. She was terrified after seeing Count Lauren cruelly kill the knight Filinger.

“Did they say where they were going?”
“I only overheard a little of their talk…”
“They said they’d go north, up the river,”

Vivian suddenly cut in. Her words weren’t accurate, but Debi didn’t argue. Instead, she suggested another plan.

“They said they might stop by the royal capital after they finish their business. Wouldn’t it be better to act then?”
“Foolish. We must stop them before that!”

Count Lauren told the head butler to summon his right-hand knight and ordered him to find the twins and kill them.

“Ah, yes. There was also the inn where they stayed for a while.”

He spread out a map, thought briefly, and quickly came up with a trick.

“On your way north to catch the twins, break this dam.”

If the dam he pointed at was destroyed, the whole village with Imago’s tomb would be flooded. It was the rainy season, so it would be easy to cause a flood.

After setting this up to remove witnesses, he told the butler to bring skilled tailors and seamstresses to make royal clothes.

It helped him that the princess’s party had been attacked by monsters and lost all their knights and luggage.

When they were alone, Debi Barat warned Vivian that lying about the twins’ destination wasn’t wise.

“We’ll be safe for a while, but the lie will be found out soon. Be smart, Vivian. Our lives depend on it.”
“Yes, you’re right, Mother. Lies don’t last. So you should be smart too.”

Vivian looked straight at her. Debi was shocked because Vivian’s eyes were firm and intense.

This gentle child had never shown rebellion before. Her sudden change was unsettling.

‘Why is she like this?’

With a shadowed face, Debi sighed and said they would talk later. She didn’t want to do anything right now.

“The tailor will arrive soon. Let’s get ready.”

As Debi turned away, tired, Vivian spoke.

“From now on, even when we’re alone, I won’t call you ‘Mother.’”
“What?”
“You’re not upset about that, are you?”

Debi was about to ask why she was so sharp, but a maid knocked—the tailor had arrived. Vivian gave Debi a meaningful look, then left the room.

Walking down the corridor, Vivian remembered that night—the night Princess Irune died—when she saw her mother secretly sobbing in the hidden garden where the princess was buried.

“Vivian, my baby… I killed you.”

It wasn’t strange for a wet nurse to call the princess “my baby.” What shocked Vivian was what came next.

“I’m sorry. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have laid you in the princess’s cradle… My baby, I was wrong. It’s all my fault…”

Vivian fled and crouched alone in the dark all night. No matter how she tried to interpret the words differently, she couldn’t. Only one thought filled her head…

“Was I the real princess? Did she switch me?”

That was all she could think.

After parting from the princess’s group, the two boys rested in a swampy forest with big trees.

They caught big crayfish and freshwater mussels and ate their fill. Kazar brushed the horses, and Ernolf worked on an artifact. It was their first relaxed time in a while.

“It looked simple, but it’s hard.”

Ernolf grunted as he tried to fix the artifact Filinger had given him, using parts he picked up from Imago’s tomb.

He had taken alchemy classes at the academy, so he thought it would be easy—but it wasn’t.

“If you can’t fix it, toss it. We can buy one in a big city. Filinger said his wasn’t custom-made—just bought from a shop.”

Kazar trusted money more than Ernolf’s tinkering.

“I should fix it and use it. Why throw it away?”
“I thought you only cared about good food, but you’re greedy about this too?”
“Who isn’t greedy, little brother?”
“You didn’t even ask for a reward after killing Paragol, so I thought you didn’t care about money.”

It was only because coins lying around didn’t stir his desire. Ernolf wasn’t without greed. When he cared about something, he became obsessively focused—like with fine food and ancient ruins.

“In Cleron, I couldn’t get what I wanted, so there was no point in being greedy. I also didn’t want to get friendly, take a reward, and then be dragged into trouble.”

Kazar was surprised and wondered what Ernolf truly wanted.

“Right now, I want a stable life. For the next hundred years—no disasters, no wars, strong trade so magic items are easy to buy, and a small fief with a house.”

Cleron was in the far northeast, so it was hard to access diverse goods and culture.

Also, in a few years, Pengril and Hellam would fight a large war. If they got close to the two barons, they might be dragged to the battlefield. That’s why they left Cleron quickly.

“Your wish is very specific.”
“Desires are better when specific. That way you don’t waste effort.”

Kazar agreed. In his past life, he became a mercenary leader, was knighted, earned great merit, was praised as a national hero, married a princess, and sat on the throne.

At each step, he set a clear goal and gave everything to reach it—and he did.

“So your biggest wish now is to own land in a safe country?”
“For now.”

He answered and went back to the artifact.

‘I planned to build strength and go to Pengril, but that won’t work.’

Having once ruled, Kazar expected to gain power even more easily if he went to Pengril again.

But honestly, life in Pengril was far from the stable life Ernolf wanted.

‘But does such a paradise even exist in this era?’

Kazar thought of many countries. Pengril and Hellam would soon fight a big war, so they were out.

‘The central and southern regions had tangled power and constant wars…’

If he had to choose, a couple of small countries on the west coast fit Ernolf’s standards.

“How about the Duchy of McKinney, the mayfly’s homeland? It’s like what you described. I heard most intercontinental trade passes through there. They have many high mages, so no country dares to mess with them.”

McKinney had been in wars a few times, but from Kazar’s memory, the McKinney family crushed enemies with overwhelming power, so the wars ended quickly.

“McKinney is good, but it seems troublesome for mages to live there.”

History books said the magic council led by the McKinney family controlled all mages like a military force.

It was rare to find such a stable country in the Warring States era, but Ernolf disliked that. He didn’t want to report all his research, or be dragged around and lose time.

“Do you have another place in mind?”

Ernolf closed the artifact’s lid and looked at Kazar.

“Have you heard of the Kingdom of Delano?”

Delano was a small city-state south of the Duchy of McKinney.

It was allied with McKinney. Though small, it had active sea trade and was near the Polina lode with many precious minerals.

Ernolf believed that, in this era, there was no more stable place to settle than Delano.

“The McKinney family takes all the top mages, so the king of Delano is desperate to hire mages. Rumor says even low-rank mages can get land and a title.”

Meeting Princess Irune was unavoidable, but Ernolf wanted to stop Kazar from becoming a tyrant.

He thought if Kazar built power in Delano instead of Pengril, the future could change.

Also, Kazar’s parents lived near the Polina Mountains, where Delano was. No long detour—perfect.

‘We’ll build strength at Kaluanuie, kill all our enemies, save Kazar’s family, and settle in Delano. Then one goal is done.’

In short, Ernolf’s big goal was “to find a home.”

The first home was for Kazar and his family. The second was the home Ernolf would return to in the future.

“Did your memory come back?”

Kazar’s voice was unusually serious. Ernolf put down the artifact and looked at him.

“What?”
“Never mind. You only say that because you don’t remember. We can’t go to Delano. Let’s go to McKinney.”

Kazar kept recommending McKinney, wanting to use his connection with the mayfly.

“He helped us even by robbing a tomb. He’ll repay us somehow. He has some conscience.”

“Kazar, what does Delano have to do with my memories?”

Kazar tried to end the talk, but Ernolf held on. He remembered something from before.

“You said your grandfather was caught for colluding with the enemy and your whole family was killed. Only your father survived and became a slave. Was that in Delano?”
“Yes.”

Ernolf stared at him for a moment, then asked again.

“How did that happen? Tell me more.”
“I don’t know. My father would know.”

They were separated when Kazar was young, so he didn’t know details. To learn what happened, he would need to meet his father and ask—but as far as Kazar knew, that was impossible.

His father had lost his speech from the shock of losing his wife and child. He couldn’t read, and he died shortly after reuniting with Kazar.

Back then, Pengril was at war, so Kazar couldn’t stay long in the west. In his past life, after his father died, Kazar buried the past.

“Then going to McKinney is also risky. Since it’s an ally, they won’t accept someone exiled from Delano.”

Ernolf wondered if Kazar had settled in Pengril in his past life because he had nowhere else to go, due to his family’s sins.

“We don’t need to decide right now. Who knows what’ll happen? We could die at Kaluanuie.”
“We won’t die. I won’t let that happen. Don’t jinx it.”

Seeing Ernolf so serious made Kazar remember the moment they killed Paragol.

“If you push yourself again…”
“Don’t worry. This time the one who’ll overdo it won’t be me—it’ll be you.”

Ernolf smiled to calm him.

Even without a killing aura, Kazar smelled death around him.

“…What are you planning?”

Until now, Kazar had followed Ernolf’s lead and done the cleanup. But this time, he felt he needed to hear the plan clearly.

“I’ll tell you after I visit the Library. I need to learn how to fix this.”

Ernolf held up the broken artifact.

“Since when did you need my permission to go?”

Kazar didn’t believe it, but Ernolf never went to the God’s Library when Kazar wasn’t around. He didn’t want to suddenly die while alone.

“If I don’t fix this, I can’t sleep well.”
“Stubborn bastard. Fine. I’ll watch. Go.”

With Kazar’s permission, Ernolf leaned against a tree and closed his eyes. It had been a while since he visited the Library, so he had a lot to do.