Chapter 14

Rumble.

Glancing at the smelly clothes pouring in front of him, Ian was convinced of what he had been thinking. It seems he was trying to make a hardship rather than a way to live. As he looked down, the laundry piled up one more time on the side as if there was no end.

I knew it would be like this, but I didn’t know it would be this way.

There was a wry smile, but it was not the time to smile when I saw the clothes that began to pile up for the third time. When Ian didn’t show any sign of movement, Fred shook his head and clicked his tongue as if he knew what was going on his mind.

“Hey, you’re just gonna watch? If you’re in the Knight, you have to do the laundry first.”

It was obviously a rule that had just been made.

What does a substitute knighthood have to do with laundry?

But no one corrected it. It was an implicit agreement that he did not like the presence of Ian even if he didn’t say it out loud.

After all, it was the Knights Templar.

I didn’t like it from beginning to end anyway.

Fred, who had been making a lot of noise since the morning, changed his mind as soon as he saw Ian following Ailee.

Although he was not short, his skinny body and pale skin gave off a weak atmosphere. It was one thing that men, who had never seen Ian this close, thought of in common.

This is also an article. They didn’t think Rox would give a sword to such fine hands.

Rather, embroidery seemed to suit him better. He had a typical aristocrat image that would be perfect for rummaging through books and having tea in the garden.

Most of the people in the procession, including Fred laughed at these nonsense talks.

“I can’t believe you killed three people with your wrists tied up.”

“I’m glad you didn’t pee at the sight of a body.”

I couldn’t understand the topic. So I wanted to at least wash my eyes rather than look at them talking with their expressionless faces. But even after doing so, I couldn’t find anything that I like.

It’s not a matter of kicking out one of these b*st*rds.

No matter how powerful the Grand Duke’s title is, what could he do if he gets locked up in a room?

Fred, who shrugged confidently because he already had countless experiences, once again opened his mouth to Ian.

“You won’t be treated like a prince here. We only divide the ranks thoroughly by skill. Well, we just do the laundry when we are new.”

“I know. He won’t be able to finish it by evening if he starts now.”

Daniel, who was wiping his sword with a cloth, also intervened.

It was certainly too much to finish by evening. It was not difficult to make laundry because they always sweat while training even in this cold weather.

The smell of sweat vibrating from the clothes was uncomfortable even for Fred, who was accustomed to this environment.

These b*st*rds stink of training. 

Ian collected everything he had been wearing, so he added it to the pile.

However, Ian, who stared at the mountain-like clothes, had a face that did not show his thoughts at all. Strangely enough, Fred approached with a twitching mouth.

“Ah, do I have to tell you what laundry is? The nobleman has never done it himself.”

It was sarcastic no matter who heard it.

When Ian took his eyes off the floor and raised his head, Fred stopped at a distance and started talking exaggeratedly as if he was teaching someone a little lacking.

“It’s laundry. Washing your clothes. With your hands. Got it?”

Are there any people who don’t know that?

Ian, wondering whether there would be anything like detergent here, glanced at Fred as if he were a local idiot.

Ian, who nodded moderately without knowing the circumstances, turned away.

“….You are going?”

In fact, none of the maids in the mansion were responsible for laundry, so none of them got water on their hands.

Fred imagined he was at loss, looking blankly at Ian’s back as he walked out the door. He didn’t look back even once at Fred’s wild voice.

But without stopping, Fred, who raised his hand, pressed Ian’s shoulder and continued the rest of the speech.

“All the dirt can be removed with water.”

Every time he accented his pronunciation, he deliberately put a lot of effort into it. He seemed to be trying to get a head start at the beginning, but unfortunately, this situation was a quite normal one for Ian.

I’m not angry about this.

Ian, who lightly tapped Fred’s finger with the back of his hand, bowed down.

That curly hair was right. Even if I do it from now on, I can’t finish it by evening.

Fred, who was about to say something to his suddenly thrown hands, was speechless at the sight of Ian lifting up a bundle of clothes.

“Are you sure you want to…?”

“I was just going to do this, but I didn’t mean to make you do the laundry, just to be silly.”

Ian, who was unexpectedly strong enough to cover the front, looked at Hana, who was watching the situation right next to him.

So where am I supposed to do it? 

When I wrinkled the laundry and frowned, the knight, who was spacing out for a moment, suddenly told me about the fountain outside the east porch.

When the predecessor Hyer was alive, those who visited the Great Spirit must have visited the warm stream at least once, but no one is looking for it now.

It was good to say that Hyer’s pride was the warm stream of water that cut through the air every day without freezing despite the cold weather changing its shape. Many people still remembered the spectacular water stream flowing through the snowfield.

But that’s a long time ago.

There has been no hot water since Logan was crowned Grand Duke.

No one knew the principle, not the device. They just thought it was a symbol of blessing because it happened all at once.

Now it has turned into an eyesore and is sometimes used when punishment is needed. It’s not frozen, but the water is as cold as ice, so it was punishment just to let your hands in.

The royal family can’t do laundry. Even a baron who is not high in rank makes his subordinates do it. Moreover, Rox was a more conservative country than Shertian.

“I heard that you don’t eat with your own hands!”

Regardless of Fred’s state of confusion, anger and bewilderment, Ian, who went out to the hallway, found the eastern porch after a little while of searching.

There was no big reason for his decision to join the Knights. It was painful to just stay in the room like. Unlike modern times, when there were so many things to kill time, there was nothing here. Even though he tried to read books, he had to know how to write, Ian couldn’t even write his own name.

Well, maybe I’ll see him again.

I still remembered him stiffly sitting on a horse.

It was not strange to suffer from assassination because of his high status. However, what bothered Ian was about the Knights, who could have killed the man, but no one came forward.

Is there a different power structure?

They may be threatening to oust him from his post just because they heard he was weak.

The misunderstanding that Kyle raised was getting stronger within Ian over time.

It was very different from the truth, but it was originally the misunderstanding which he believed.

Arriving at the fountain, Ian stepped on the snow piled up and lowered his eyes. Inside the well-crafted decoration, there was really unfrozen water.

That’s why there’s no detergent.

I wondered if I could just use water, but I could see a wooden board sinking under the water.

Ian, who rolled up his sleeves to his elbow for the rugged surface was similar to the laundry board. He tucked his arm into the fountain.

Splash.

It didn’t freeze, but it naturally bit his molars at temperatures that match the sub-zero weather. The cloth I was wearing wasn’t as thin as it was during the procession, but it didn’t matter what you were wearing when you dipped your hands in water like this.

It’s so cold. It was only when his right arm was all wet that Ian, who safely took out the wooden board, picked up the clothes he had thrown on the ground.

I knew it was simple bullying, but I was used to it.

I did the same thing in the nursery before I was adopted.

Ian, who had been dumped in a public toilet with only the umbilical cord cut off, spent his childhood there in a suburb of Seoul.

The director, who is famous for nibbling away the subsidies, was the only person who could wash up with warm water because he was most reluctant to pay for heating costs in winter the day before the sponsor or welfare worker visited him.

As a result, most of the children, who had always been sick, had to wash their clothes with cold water. The season when one child started coughing and then other children started coughing as if they had been waiting.

Children were sick but had no one to take care of even if they seemed to have other diseases. That’s the signal that winter has come.

Amongst them, Ian, the oldest, always took care of his younger brothers’ clothes and dipped his hands in ice water. There were so many young children that they couldn’t do anything themselves, so the basin was often filled as it is.

It wasn’t hard though.

It was better to have blisters on your hand than to be told outside that you didn’t have a mother.

Luckily, on the day Ian was adopted overseas, the director said, while staring into the balance of his bankbook with several zeros.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡHey. Eat and live well there.

It turned out to be a meaningless remark. It’s rare that he said hello in a good mood. Knowing this, Ian had no choice but to nod. For Ian, who was quite too old to be adopted, this was a stroke of luck.

That night, a smile came out even though he was sleeping under an old blanket. As he quickly covered his mouth with his hands, the child sleeping next to him tossed and turned.

It was the first time that the small daycare felt nothing. The pounding heart seemed to be attached to the ear.

It was like that, back then. Ian, who didn’t know anything, finally thought he was going to have a family.

He couldn’t have imagined that in the future he would be the one to put a gun in his family’s head.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Stay safe and healthy along with your loved ones. And have a good day!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned for more.

~Dazzel.D~