Chapter 199
Chapter 199: A Story That Will Become Legend
The masked man spoke.
“No matter how much of a prince you are, if a voice like this... were to leak out, that would be a problem, wouldn’t it?”
“...G-Give it back!”
Kaline flailed his arm as he tried to reach for it.
“Shut up, will you.”
Smack! Smack!
Each time, the masked man slapped him across the face.
Only after Kaline’s face had swelled up and bruised—
“If you try this kind of stunt again, then next time…”
The masked man grabbed him by the collar and brought his face close, blue light flaring in his eyes.
That light grew fiercer by the second.
“Khuh... Kkugh!”
Soon, he unleashed the energy, distorting the air around them and bringing sweat to Kaline’s brow.
Kaline could barely breathe under the pressure.
‘W-What is this aura…?’
It felt like thousands of blades were tearing his sword apart.
“S-Stop... s-stooop…”
Kaline pleaded, but the masked man didn’t stop.
He only emitted an even more intense and violent killing intent, pressing down on him.
Then, after a while—
Thud.
Kaline, who had barely been holding on, dropped his head to the side and wet his pants.
Overwhelmed by the pressure, he had passed out.
“Pathetic bastard. This guy calls himself royalty?”
With that, the masked man tossed Kaline aside and disappeared into the shadows.
And somewhere far away, in a back alley—
“Phewwww, it’s been a while since I’ve done something like that.”
As the masked man removed his mask, underneath it was a mischievous blond young man.
It was Hardin Daphne.
---
A few days later.
At the front of the procession returning to the house of Daphne—
Inside the carriage, Viscount Cobalt looked down at the noble plaque in his hand with a smile.
“Khuhhh, we’ve really become a count’s house now.”
“Congratulations, Father. Or should I say… Count Cobalt?”
“Count, huh? Hahahahaha!”
As Malion chuckled and added his remark, Cobalt couldn’t hide the smile tugging at his lips.
– Here, take this new noble plaque.
– I-It is an honor! Your Majesty!
– I leave it in your hands, our Empire… and my daughter as well.
– Of course!
After the banquet, he had been granted the item during a private audience with Emperor Leorine.
For Cobalt, who had lived his entire life as the head of a third-rate family from the countryside, it was an overwhelming experience.
Even on the way back from the capital, his heart wouldn’t stop racing… and he could hardly sleep.
Amidst all that—
“Snorrrk! Phewwww!”
Came loud snoring from across the carriage.
Hardin was nodding off with his arms crossed, making the racket.
As the two men looked at him, grinning in satisfaction—
“Mmph... I’ll kill you… Kaline.”
Hardin muttered in his sleep.
The smiles vanished, and a chill ran down their spines.
“Did Brother just… say something?”
“Ahem, let’s pretend we didn’t hear that.”
It felt like they’d heard something they weren’t supposed to.
Time passed again.
“Lord! We’re almost there!”
The coachman’s voice rang out from the front.
Malion and Cobalt peeked their heads out the window.
Beyond the vast green plains—Daphne’s estate came into view, with the backdrop of Mudside behind it.
“We’ve finally returned. To the territory of House Daphne… now a Count’s House.”
“Yes, Father.”
Hope and joy were written all over their faces.
***
Since that day—
The Viscounty of Daphne—no, the County of Daphne—returned to its usual daily life.
Of course, the scenery of the house had changed quite a bit compared to before.
The first change that arrived was...
“All right, those applying for the knight order, line up on the right! Those applying to be soldiers, please move to the left!”
“Ah! Please stop pushing!”
They began following the steps of the military expansion that had been planned from the start.
The regular army and the knight order were always overflowing with eager applicants.
“Sir Mulgybson, we need your confirmation on this list.”
“Ah, yes. Just leave it over there.”
“A-Are you all right? You look exhausted.”
“Even if I am, what can I do? It’s something that has to be done quickly. Hahaha!”
Former Commander Mulgybson, along with Manton and Beryl—those in charge—were working through the nights nearly every day just to keep up.
They all complained like they were dying, but deep down, they seemed to be enjoying it.
Of course, this was just the cute part of it all.
“Thank you, Count Cobalt! I’ll definitely be visiting again next time!”
“Of course. Please take care on your way.”
Inside the audience chamber of the Daphne estate, as a noble gave a deep bow, Cobalt responded with a smiling face.
Thud!
The moment the doors shut behind the visitor—
“Khhhhh...”
Cobalt’s shoulders slumped and his face twisted with fatigue.
“T-This is exhausting.”
“...Yes, it really is.”
Malion, standing nearby, let out a deep sigh and scratched his head, as if he felt the same.
“What’s next on the schedule?”
“In ten minutes, you have a meeting with the Black Water Merchant Guild. After that, a discussion with the Viscounty of Gernin, and then a conference with Sir Prion.”
“...Malion.”
“Yes, Father?”
“Have you ever considered taking over as the Lord?”
“If you’ll take over the steward’s duties for me, then yes.”
“...Forget I asked.”
Ever since Daphne had become a county—
An unimaginable number of guests began pouring in.
Families wanting alliances or trade, merchant guilds seeking port access, and more.
People lined up, eager to get involved with them in any way possible.
Thanks to that, Cobalt and every single one of the family's retainers were now—
Living lives where even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough to handle all the work.
“Looks like that’s it for today, Father.”
“G-Good work.”
The father and son pushed aside the mountain of paperwork on the desk and leaned back in their chairs, gazing up at the ceiling.
When they turned their heads to look out the window, the world outside had already been dyed in darkness, and a full moon hung proudly in the center of the night sky.
“How about a short walk to stretch our legs?”
“Sounds good. My back’s sore, I could use a stroll.”
The two left the mansion and walked through the garden.
Cool air.
The scent of grass tickling their noses.
The chirping of crickets and the soft glow of moonlight.
“This is nice, taking a walk.”
“It really is.”
Their overheated heads began to cool off, and the fatigue slowly lifted from their faces.
Then, Cobalt opened his mouth.
“Malion, how are things for you these days?”
“What do you mean?”
“The family’s changed quite a bit lately, hasn’t it? I’m asking how you feel about all of it.”
Cobalt’s eyes gleamed with seriousness.
Malion grinned and replied.
“Well, I like it. At the very least, we don’t have to worry about being kicked off our estate anymore, right? Though, being a little busy is a bit of a downside…”
“That’s true.”
Cobalt responded with a smile of his own.
“I still can’t believe how something this miraculous happened.”
“Same here. I’m amazed myself. I never imagined that Brother… could actually pull something like this off.”
“I feel the same way.”
Every day still felt surreal.
Hardin, who used to threaten the commoners at the drop of a hat, who’d shut himself away and completely neglected his duties as the young master—
He had been someone you couldn’t call a decent person, not even as flattery. And yet, one day, he had completely changed into a different person and brought the family this far.
It was honestly something that could only be explained by the help of God Faeron himself.
Malion scratched his forehead and spoke after a moment of hesitation.
“This might be a stretch, a really big maybe, but… Father.”
“What is it?”
“Are we sure that Brother is… really Brother?”
“Hm?”
“Well, you know. He’s just so different from the Brother we used to know... It could be a doppelgänger pretending to be him, or maybe he’s even possessed or something. That’s possible, right?”
Cobalt blinked, then smiled gently as he replied.
“Well, if such a ghost exists, I’d gladly welcome it. And honestly, it doesn’t seem all that important anymore.”
“Hah, that’s true. I said something unnecessary, didn’t I…”
As the two continued their stroll down the path—
“Haaah! Haaaaah!”
From the distance, a familiar voice shouting practice yells reached their ears.
Drawn to it as if enchanted, the two walked toward the sound...
“Haaaah!”
Under the moonlight, they saw Hardin swinging a wooden sword.
His entire body was soaked in sweat, and completely focused on his training, he never stopped moving.
The two men’s eyes sparkled as they watched.
Because they had both come to the same thought.
‘Beautiful.’
‘…Impressive.’
The two stood there in silence for a long while, simply watching Hardin.
Had it been several dozen minutes?
“Fuuuuuuu…”
Swish!
As Hardin delivered the final strike, droplets of sweat flew through the air, sparkling under the moonlight.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The two began to applaud, and Hardin turned his head in their direction.
“Huh? What are you two doing there?”
“Heh heh. We went out for a walk and saw you training, so we stopped to watch.”
“Khuhhh. You’re amazing, Brother. That was truly impressive.”
Hardin grinned, then tapped his shoulder with the wooden sword as he spoke.
“You two should stop working yourselves to death and practice swordsmanship from time to time. If the family’s weak and your health fails, all of that other stuff is meaningless, you know?”
“All right, all right. I’ll make sure to do that.”
“I’ll keep it in mind, Brother.”
The two nodded with smiles.
A brief silence followed.
Cobalt stroked his chin, then cautiously opened his mouth.
“Hardin, may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“What’s your ultimate goal?”
“My goal...?”
“How far do you intend to raise this family? What kind of knight do you aim to become, personally? That sort of thing.”
Hardin scratched his chin for a moment, pretending to think, then confidently placed his hands on his hips and said,
“To be the best, of course.”
“And by ‘the best,’ you mean?”
“My goal is to raise House Daphne into the best family in the Empire—no, in the entire world. And I… will become a knight beyond even that.”
“Heh, the best in the world, you say? That’s no easy feat. Even Daphne during its days as one of the Empire’s Seven Great Houses never reached that level.”
Hardin shook his head as he replied.
“Exactly. My goal is to build a family that far surpasses that so-called ‘old Daphne.’”
Hardin spoke without a hint of hesitation, as if declaring a certainty.
Perhaps it was his resoluteness that stunned them for a moment—
Cobalt and Malion froze briefly.
“Haha, you mean the family that Lord Varlach and Lord Valter built? Us?”
“Yes. If we do it, we’ll do even better than they did.”
“If our ancestors could hear you, they’d be proud.”
At Cobalt’s words, Hardin gave a slightly awkward smile.
‘Well, technically… I am that ancestor. But I guess it doesn’t matter.’
Hardin looked up at the sky for a moment.
As he stared at a few stars that were shining more brightly than the rest, a few faces came to mind.
The faces of his family and comrades from the past—smiling in satisfaction.
Hardin let out an awkward cough, scratched his head, and replied,
“Well, I appreciate that.”
“They most certainly will.”
Cobalt gave a gentle smile.
Then Hardin shrugged his shoulders and said,
“Brrr, it’s cold. Let’s stop talking and head inside.”
“Right. Let’s go have a bowl of soup and get some sleep.”
“You’re going to have Gadolph make it?”
When Hardin asked, Cobalt nodded without hesitation.
“Of course. Gadolph’s soup is the best, after all.”
“If we wake him up at night, he’s gonna throw a fit again.”
“Haha, it might be better if I’m the one to ask, don’t you think?”
“Well, then I guess we’re eating soup.”
A content smile spread across the faces of the three men.