Chapter 656: Welcome To Thornvale
Without realizing it, Rohan’s mind drifted toward his lord.
The first thing that came to him was his lord’s appearance. Handsome was far too plain a word to describe him. No, Michael was beyond that—beautiful, even. Yet despite his almost delicate features, there was nothing feminine about him. His body was slender but held a quiet, masculine strength that made one forget his appearance entirely when he moved or spoke.
Still, that beauty had caused no small amount of trouble within the territory. The lord himself was unaware of it, but Rohan had seen enough to know.
After their visit from that certain old knight, Michael had begun to move more actively around Thornvale. It began with food, specifically, the sudden appearance of several tons of processed supplies deep in the forest. Even now, Rohan had no idea how it had been done. The goods looked too refined, too perfect, as if a powerful mage had personally grown them.
He did not know, of course, that these goods came from Aurora, a world far beyond his understanding. Michael had been careful, concealing the items’ origin with ordinary casings and simple packaging, but even so, their quality spoke volumes.
Then there were the armors and weapons. The men who used them swore they felt lighter yet stronger than anything forged locally. Rohan had wondered more than once where his lord obtained them, but he never dared to ask.
Perhaps if he were stronger, he might have risked curiosity. But he wasn’t. And deep down, a quiet instinct told him that his lord’s strength was beyond what any of them could measure. Whether he was still within the Grand Stage or already above it, Rohan couldn’t say. But he had seen enough to know that Michael was not ordinary.
Because of his lord, the territory thrived. Under his direction, Thornvale had begun to change faster than anyone expected. Roads were repaired, granaries filled, soldiers properly equipped—all within a few months.
Yet for all his power, kindness, and efficiency, the trouble always circled back to his appearance.
Once Michael started appearing more often in public, Thornvale’s young women began to lose their composure. Rohan had caught servants gossiping about the lord’s "eyes like glass" and "smile that could make angels jealous." Some women went out of their way to wander near the manor gates just for a glimpse of him.