CH 24

‘It’s Snowing Too Much’, Kyrie Buchanan

A tall, blond, beautiful young man appeared in front of Kyrie’s eyes. Kyrie, to put it more precisely, immediately realized who he was as soon as she looked into his eyes.

‘You are not human.’

The red-purple eyes were uniquely beautiful, but at the same time, they were chillingly indifferent. Just like Nathaniel.

The man who appeared spoke in a middle-ranged tone, as if scratching the bark.

〔My name is Lore Leschaux. I want to talk to you, Kyrie Buchanan.〕

‘He is also the Patriotic Lord.’

He was so much like Nathaniel that she didn’t believe him. If there’s anything else, there’s no savory, primitive power smell from Nathaniel.

Kyrie bent over to help catch her breath.

“This is Count Buchanan’s daughter, Kyrie. First of all, may I ask you about my horseman’s condition?”

〔I’ve put him to sleep. There’s nothing wrong with him, and he’ll naturally wake up when we’re done.〕

“Okay, I think we’d better get off the wagon first.”

〔Thank you for your understanding.〕

She was calm and so was Leschaux. Kyrie, a little relieved, reached out.

“You wouldn’t cut me off just because I asked for an escort, would you?”

She showed no signs of ill-humor in her words.

〔It’s my job as a knight.〕

With that simple act, Kyrie recognized the courtesy, decency, and chivalry he had in his body.

‘It is also similar to Nathaniel. There will be no screaming in the middle of the night.’

Since she didn’t feel any malicious intent, Kyrie did not hesitate to get out of the carriage and head for the trails of Highland Park.

Leschaux spoke first.

〔Sorry for using this rough method. If I go to the mansion, he will notice, and it’s not good if there are many people present, so I chose this method.〕

“It’s okay. If you had put everyone to sleep on the side of the street, I might have run away.”

〔Unlike Nathaniel, I’m not good at magic, so I don’t have that skill.〕

“I see. After all, does Nathaniel have a good knowledge of magic?”

〔I don’t think it’s the level that the wizards of the time can catch up to.〕

After a brief discussion of a common acquaintance, the two went to talk about the main topic.

〔How much do you know about Nathaniel?〕

“Well, even if you ask like that…….”

Here, Kyrie stretched her words a little and took some socially agreed action. (T/L She tried to choose a polite action in order to not offend Leschaux)

Leschaux responded dryly.

〔Call me as you please.〕

“Oh, I’ll call you Sir Lore.”

Kyrie hid her heart and smiled brightly. Since he’s a “Lord”, it was enough to call him “Lord,” but who would dare do that?

‘Except for Nataniel.’

“Anyway, I can only tell you that I don’t know as much as Sir Lore knows.”

〔Did he tell you a story of the past?〕

“Very little. It was so long ago that it sounded like a dream to me.”

In a moment, Leschaux stopped walking. Kyrie also naturally stopped her feet and twisted her shoulders toward Leschaux.

〔Has Nathaniel ever said anything about the royal family?〕

“Not without, but why do you ask?”

〔Why〕

For the first time, he abandoned the ‘yes’ tone. In addition, a faint tension emerged in his red-purple eyes.

No, it wasn’t tension.

‘That’s fear.’

Leschaux whispered.

〔Can’t you feel it when you see him?〕

“What is it?”

〔The desire to destroy.〕

“It’s not that I can’t feel it. I just thought a lot of it had subsided.”

〔It’s not wrong.〕

Leschaux lowered his eyes.

〔But we don’t know yet.〕

“Is it the end of the world that Nathaniel really wanted to bring this country to ruin?”

She felt the need for a more detailed explanation.

“Nathaniel said that the founder Vallabriga suddenly put him asleep with the magic of Orewinbridge.”

〔Did he talk so far?〕

Leschaux showed a faint surprise. He seemed more surprised that she was closer to the truth than Kyrie said.

〔Sorry, but I don’t deserve to say anything he didn’t say. If you have any questions, you should ask yourself.〕

“Is that so?”

Kyrie sighed.

“I can’t. Both of you are talking as if Nathaniel was wrongfully asleep.”

She felt the need to be more specific.

Leschaux made a bitter smile for the first time.

“Does Sir Lore think that Nathaniel will take revenge on the royal family?”

〔That’s right.〕

“You don’t seem to be interested in Nathaniel’s resentment.”

〔Not really. If I could atone for it, I would. But the revenge that you think he’s going to do, and the revenge he’s actually going to do, is going to have a huge difference.〕

“But you can stop him.”

Kyrie said what he was thinking. Not only did she have this thought, but anyone in this country would have thought that even if ‘The End’ appeared again, it would be okay because there was the Patriotic Lord.

Leschaux narrowed his eyes to realize where Kyrie’s thin tension was caused.

〔Kyrie Buchanan, you have a big misunderstanding of Nathaniel.〕

He turned his head and stared at the wide pond by the promenade. Just in time, the wind blew and shook the eucalyptus leaves. A harsh voice, like a shriveled bark, rang to the crunching sound of the leaves.

〔It was Nathaniel who taught me swordsmanship. And I have never surpassed him.〕

Kyrie opened her mouth wide with astonishment.

“Wait. Did he teach Sir Lore about swordsmanship? But he… is ‘The End’? The Founder, the Legendary Knight, and Sir Lore condemned together…”

Leschaux opened his mouth slightly, then shut it like a clam.

Kyrie narrowed her eyes and looked at Leschaux attentively. There was a slight sense of déjà vu, but Leschaux continued before she could pick it up.

〔He was already unknown even when Vallabriga and I were still young and human.〕

“Then who the hell is he? No, what is it?”

Leschaux looked back at Kyrie. He opened his mouth, no fragment of emotion was visible on his doll-like face.

〔I do not know.〕 (T/N: FCK IT WHEN WILL WE KNOW!?)

“You don’t know?”

〔We didn’t know anything back then. I simply did not know him, so I easily borrowed his strength, easily feared him, and easily let him go.〕

Kyrie was speechless for a moment. After a while, she was compelled to say this.

“Wait a minute, I mean, you got help from Lord Nathaniel for the founding of the country, and you abandoned him because the war was over?”

〔That’s right.〕

It was an honest answer with no excuses, but to Kyrie, that honestly felt disgusting.

“That’s betrayal.”

Unknowingly, she said with an elevated voice.

Once again, she remembered the back of Nathaniel, who was looking at the vast snowy forest. Did he originally have the calm solitude on his back? Or was it born out of betrayal?

“Then, Lord  Nathaniel really did nothing wrong, 540 years….”

Kyrie mumbled as if she couldn’t believe it. She tried to calmly open her mouth.

“Did you agree to seal Nathaniel, Sir Lore?”

〔Not really, but I think I expected it to happen implicitly.〕

“Why?”

〔Because he was so high, so unidentifiable, so strong, so beautiful. To the point where I wanted to bring him down in any disgrace.〕

Leschaux closed his eyes.

〔So I wanted to meet you.〕

“I don’t want to hear what’s next.”

〔I hope you listen.〕

Leschaux looked at Kyrie slowly, as if opening up.

〔Please stop Nathaniel.〕

Kyrie forgot that it was rude and moistened her lips with her tongue.

“You can’t expect too much. I’m nothing to Nathaniel.”

For Kyrie, Nathaniel’s voice, which said, ‘It’s not worth that much to you’,was still clear in her ears. But Leschaux shook his head weakly.

〔Originally, everything was meaningless to him. I’m afraid you’re the only one who has any meaning. You can trust me.〕

“I don’t risk my life for something groundless.”

〔There’s basis.〕

“What is it?”

Leschaux lowered his cherry-colored eyes in the dark. 

〔The evidence is that you are still alive.〕

“That’s a sophistry.”

Despite being cool, she noticed that there was something Leschaux hadn’t said. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to urge it, but she didn’t know if she could intervene with him any more.

She was not a passionate totalitarian, and her loyalty to the royal family was on the verge of collapse in her work with Prince Eden.

And for Kyrie, Nathaniel’s anger was taken for granted. That part was the biggest problem.

‘The one involved, Vallabriga, is dead, but he is a descendant of a person who took power based on his high blood.’ (t/n: he=the current emperor)

Kyrie thought it was right to stop him because it was not the fault of the current emperor, but in her heart, Nathaniel’s situation was more understandable.

“Honestly, I’m confused. I don’t think it’s my business.”

Leschaux quickened his pace as he realized that Kyrie was reluctant to do this.

〔You don’t know how dangerous he is. The situation is now entering the countdown.〕

“I think you’re exaggerating.”

Leschaux shook his head.

〔It’s still snowing.〕

Kyrie almost heard MarryAnne’s voice overlap with what Sir Lore said. 

‘What’s with the eyes? What’s all this fuss about?’

“Please tell me so I can know. There’s an unprecedented heavy snowfall, but it’s not a big problem. Winter will soon pass. ….”

〔No. Spring won’t come at this rate.〕

Leschaux’s already low voice became even lower. Kyrie glanced at him.

“If you’re trying to persuade me, give me a more convincing reason.”

Leschaux hesitated very briefly. However, whether he was a quick judge or not, he quickly returned with a stiff look like a stone.

Now there was no need for cumbersome spying between the two. The conversation went on quickly.

〔In the past, he was called “King of Winter” by allies.〕

“That’s a romantic title.”

〔You’ll change your mind when you hear everything.〕

“Okay, let’s hear it.”

Leschaux took a moment to pause, then opened his mouth.

〔He used a sword in the early days of the subjugation, but at some point he changed his method, saying, ‘It’s too cumbersome.’〕

“How?”

Leschaux looked at Kirie.

〔At first, it was just heavy snow, and it wasn’t until halfway that people realized something was strange.〕

Kyrie blinked. That’s exactly what she thinks these days. 

‘Strangely, it snows a lot this year.’ That’s what she thought.

〔But then it was already too late. There was a cold that could not be solved by human fire, crops froze, and animals died. Enemies fell in the snow and died.〕

Leschaux‘s eyes sank deeply.

〔At that time, Orewinbridge and I seemed to be the first to realize. That he was not human.〕

Kyrie managed to open her mouth.

“……I don’t understand. Why did he do that?”

Leschaux smiled bitterly. It was a face with regret.

〔That part made us feel more real. Because there was no reason.〕

“What?”

〔He made the entire continent as permafrost for no apparent reason, and while doing all of that, he just smiled with boredom as usual.〕

Leschaux slowly stretched out his hand. Brushing the snow off Kyrie’s stiff shoulders and hair he continued.

〔Do you understand? ‘It’s snowing too much’, Kyrie Buchanan.〕

T/N: I will refrain myself from giving funny comments in middle of the Chapter…..because the mood will get ruined