Chapter 5: The Lady of the North

It was the early morning.

Isaac had already stepped into the garden with his bag slung over his shoulder.

The rose garden, proudly known as the pride of Helmut, had yet to bud even a single rose—still too early in the season.

Come June, when the Sword Festival begins, the roses will be in full bloom, drenching the surroundings in their enchanting fragrance.

These Helmut roses are a special breed, blooming right up until the brink of winter.

‘They were beautiful.’

In Helmut, a place stained only with ugly and bitter memories, the one thing truly beyond any description other than “beautiful” was this very rose garden.

In a corner of that splendid garden—

A single lilac bloom, a small purple flower, had sprung up out of place, as if trying to steal a march ahead of its time.

“…….”

Just looking at that little thing, which made Isaac frown without even realizing it, was irritating.

He couldn’t understand why Helmut’s meticulously thorough gardeners had left it as is.

‘I should pluck it.’

The moment he moved in to yank it out—

A knight, slightly taller than Isaac, with a youthful face that could have passed him off as a mere boy, stepped forward and saluted.

“Sir! I am Jonathan, assigned to escort Isaac Helmut to the Malidan frontlines! I look forward to serving you!”

“Ugh.”

The booming voice made Isaac wrinkle his brow.

Jonathan wore an innocent grin like a child, yet bore the weighty Helmut armor and a greatsword on his back.

With a short-cropped head of blond hair befitting a soldier, he appeared naive. Isaac offered him a handshake.

“It’s Isaac. Let’s get along, shall we?”

“Yes, sirrr! I will absolutely ensure your safety, at least until the Sword Festival!”

Jonathan was one of Arandel Helmut’s minimal conditions for allowing Isaac to head to the frontlines at Malidan Barrier.

Should Isaac die or attempt to escape there, it would cause no small trouble, so they’d assigned him both an escort and a watchdog.

‘They’ve sent someone more careless than I expected.’

Arandel must have ordered a knight to accompany him, and after the order trickled down, they ended up with this random nobody.

After all, what need was there to send a first-rate knight to monitor Isaac, who couldn’t even swing a sword properly?

“Well then, let’s head—”

“Ah! Isaac.”

They were just about to depart when someone interrupted yet again.

Checking to see who it was, Isaac found the eldest son, Lohengrin, approaching with a gentle smile.

His long red hair billowed, and his entire body seemed to radiate a crimson aura, likely from recent training.

Eldest son Lohengrin—

To put it simply, a personality disorder incarnate.

A madman whose emotions swung to dangerous extremes, he had repeatedly beaten Isaac under the guise of “sparring” whenever his mood soured.

This same Lohengrin, for the first time ever, was smiling kindly at his brother-in-law.

“So I hear you’re leaving. My, how could this be? A divorce, of all things? We’ve spent years together, building memories.”

‘This lunatic.’

How skillfully he spouts nonsense.

Those so-called “memories” consisted only of him venting his anger by beating Isaac in forced training matches.

Lohengrin lowered his voice conspiratorially, his smile turning sly.

“That bitch Rihanna demanded a divorce from you, didn’t she? She’s aiming for the family head position! Father said it’s fine if she bears a child, but if she’s opting for divorce instead, don’t you see what it means?”

“…….”

The eldest son and the eldest daughter—

This conversation revealed exactly why Arandel might have struggled to choose between them, despite the eldest son being older by a year.

“If she has a child, she can’t become head of the family. That’s why she’s going for a divorce! By divorcing, she ensures she won’t get pregnant, leaving herself a chance at becoming the head of the family!”

“...”

“Ah, yes.”

“...”

Lohengrin smirked, as if he’d discovered something ingenious.

“Isaac, don’t you want revenge? Don’t you crave a thrilling payback against Rihanna who cast you aside just for the sake of the head’s seat?!”

“…….”

“Then you’ve got to get stronger.”

With a conspiratorial grin, he slipped something from his chest into Isaac’s hand.

“This here.”

“You know what this is, right? Rose Elixir! Helmut’s family-only permitted tonic!”

Lohengrin leaned in, his voice a sticky whisper.

“As the eldest son, I can get this for you. Drink it, survive, grow stronger, and return. I’m counting on you, brother.”

Winking, Lohengrin departed, presumably back to his training.

‘“Brother,” my ass.’

In this life, until just a few days ago, he’d forced Isaac to grip a sword and pummeled him for not improving his swordsmanship.

Now he acted as if he was doing him a favor, all because he wanted to undermine Rihanna and secure his own position as head of the household.

“Um, Isaac, sir?”

“Just pretend you didn’t see anything.”

Jonathan glanced around nervously.

With a sigh, Isaac opened the lid of the so-called Rose Elixir he’d been handed.

Its distinctive fragrance was faint.

“Click.”

Rose Elixir? More like bullshit.

It was diluted, and then diluted some more. Clearly worthless.

‘He probably plans to frame Rihanna by claiming she gave a live-in son-in-law like me this restricted family tonic.’

Isaac sighed.

No doubt the moment he left, Lohengrin would point to discrepancies in the ledgers and try to pressure Rihanna.

‘Pathetic.’

Honestly, it was hard to imagine Rihanna being swayed by such petty schemes.

Isaac glanced back.

Inside the mansion, Rihanna didn’t appear. She had likely drunk herself into a deep sleep last night.

[Take care.]

It was a pitiful final word of farewell for someone setting out, but—

“Let’s go, Jonathan.”

He no longer wished to remain in this mansion.

With that, Isaac and Jonathan departed for the frontlines.

***

[Isaac, the Grandmaster said it, didn’t he? If only your legs had been intact, you would have surely become a great swordmaster.]

It was a vivid memory.

A white-haired woman smiled as she spoke to me.

‘That’s just empty comfort.’

When I gave a bitter smile, the woman’s expression turned serious.

[The Grandmaster offering mere consolation? And I feel the same. If only your legs had been fine, if only you hadn’t become that damned Helmut family’s son-in-law…]

‘Don’t get worked up. You tend to get too emotional.’

[Those Helmut bastards are all muscle-brained idiots. They couldn’t even recognize your talent.]

‘You’re not listening, are you?’

[Silent sword Isaac! The man who wields a sword through words and knowledge. We all know how much your instructional manuals have helped. Thanks to you, my spearwork has advanced by several levels.]

‘Alright, I get it. How many times are you going to say that?’

[I mean it, Isaac.]

[Truly.]

[Thank you.]

[It’s such a shame we met so late.]

‘Have you been drinking?’

[It must be because the showdown with the Transcendent Race is almost upon us. There’s probably no chance we’ll survive, right?]

‘…….’

[If I had met you earlier, surely our family wouldn’t have perished so meaninglessly.]

‘You’re overestimating me.’

[Really? You think so? I don’t.]

She gave a bitter smile.

[It’s late, Isaac. Go get some sleep.]

‘Yeah, you too, don’t push yourself too hard, Caldias.’

[……Hey, you know.]

‘Hm?’

[Silverna.]

‘…….’

[My original name that I discarded for the sake of the family.]

‘…….’

[Silverna Caldias.]

‘…….’

[That is my real name, Isaac.]

***

“Isaac!”

“Huh?”

At Jonathan’s call, I slowly opened my eyes.

Several days had passed.

I’d been riding in this carriage for so long that my body ached in various places.

Still, youth is a blessing.

I loosened my still-unbelievable right foot and listened to Jonathan shouting.

“We’re almost there! Even though it’s the very frontline, the road is pretty clear, so we made good time, huh?”

“Yawn… Yeah, seems like it.”

A white puff of breath escaped with my yawn.

Even wrapped in blankets, a chilly draft seeped in through the carriage, chilling me through and through.

This is the northern part of the kingdom.

Here stands the great Malidan Barrier, built to hold back the swarms of beasts.

And defending it is—

“From here on, it’s enemy territory, so we must be cautious!”

“Enemy territory? They’re nobles of the same kingdom. What enemy?”

After camping out with Jonathan for a few days, I’ve learned something.

Put nicely, he’s pure-hearted. Put bluntly, he’s a fool.

He even seems to be bullied. He said something about ‘training’ that involved controlling his sleep, food, outings, even bathroom breaks.

Once, he even wet himself…

“Isaac-nim! Isn’t this the Caldias territory? They’re Helmut’s rival! Helmut the Greatsword, Kaldias the Spear!”

He tried to make it sound like some grand heroic saga, but it’s just noble pride and rivalry in the end.

Anyway, it’s true that Helmut and Caldias don’t get along.

This is exactly why Rihanna was worried.

Just mentioning we’re from Helmut will likely make them hostile.

“What if they beat us up? I used to get rolled up in blankets and thrashed at night. This time, they might actually pummel us for real!”

“Don’t worry, luckily both of us have plenty of experience taking hits.”

“You’ve been beaten up before too, Isaac-nim!?”

“Haven’t you seen Helmut’s direct heirs ‘helping’ with their training?”

I got beaten there all day. Any Helmut knight should know that.

“Oh, I don’t participate in training. I’ve only been a Helmut knight for a year.”

“Then what have you been doing?”

“Lately, I’ve been doing horse-imitation training! Since a knight must know how to connect with horses, they said.”

“You id—… Ahem, Jonathan? Seriously, drop being a knight. At least in Helmut. Maybe somewhere else?”

“My heart is made of roses!”

“Then you’d be dead already.”

With a sigh, I looked up at the approaching Malidan Barrier.

I never came here in my past life, but it looks just as I’d heard.

‘I can see why the northern people revere the Malidan Barrier as something sacred.’

It’s like a colossal statue safeguarding humanity.

Countless marks and scars of time serve as medals, proof of how long this wall has protected our lands.

In my past life, when the Malidan Barrier finally fell—

The kingdom’s defenses were pushed back helplessly. If Helmut’s greatsword hadn’t stood firm, the capital would have quickly fallen.

As we neared the wall—

“Hah! I knew I smelled some sickly sweet honey stench that only some piss-stained brat would like!”

A thunderous female voice boomed across the sky, followed by cackling laughter from atop the wall.

“Spreading girly flower scents up here in the North?! So cloying it makes the bear meat I ate today want to crawl back up!”

“I-I-…Isaac-nim?”

“Stop the carriage, Jonathan.”

“Y-Yes!”

Jonathan pulled the reins with a squeak, halting the carriage.

A woman looked down at Isaac from atop the wall, her brows furrowing.

“Ha! I am the spear and shield of the Malidan Barrier!”

I hadn’t even spoken, yet she proudly introduced herself.

“Silverna Caldias! Now state your identity, you runt!”

I let out a hollow laugh.

So at this time, she still hadn’t discarded the name Silverna.

‘Yes, Silverna.’

As the winds carry me,

I’ve come to meet you.

“Hey! Who are you, you pipsqueak?!”

“…….”

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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