Chapter 271

Chapter 271

“I-is he... sick or hurt somewhere....”Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

“Not at all, m’lady! There’s no way that Sir Calypse will get injured. The Commander is in good health. His incredible health is unbelievable, and powerful! Take a look at this port alone. Sir Calypse has made Anatol the best commercial city in Whedon. So much has happened while the lady was away. Soon, Anatol will become a county. His majesty the king has promised to grant Sir Calypse a new title as a count soon as he returns from the expedition. The lady will soon be a countess!”

As Yulysion went on, he became more and more excited and poured out surprising news passionately. Max, who was looking at him with a perplexed expression, asked him in a trembling voice.

“Riftan... left for an expedition? He’s not h-here right now?”

A disappointed expression reflected on Yulysion’s face. He confessed in a slow tone as he rubbed his nape with his hand that was clad in leather gloves.

“Sir Calypse went last month on an expedition to Livadon by the King’s order. There was a conflict last year in the northwestern region of Whedon and Livadon have sent reinforcements as support. This time, monsters began sprawling in the eastern part of Livadon. His majesty the King wanted to repay last year’s favor by sending Whedon’s most powerful knight. Perhaps, he wanted to brag to the world that Whedon’s royal family has a knight branded as the incarnation of Uigru.”

“And so... in exchange for his loyalty, Riftan will be granted the title of count.” Max muttered with a bewildered expression on her face. The disappointment that Max felt was indescribable, she was expecting that she would soon meet Riftan. “Then... When will Riftan return?”

“The subjugation is not expansive so it will not take long. The last time a report was sent, it stated that they shall be back before spring.”

Max bit her lips. They would only be staying for a week at most. When the Holy Knights would arrive, the dispatch team would be heading straight to Pamela Plateau. The thought of not seeing Riftan before a long journey seemed to darken the light in her eyes.

“Please don’t be too disappointed. I will send a telegram to Sir Calypse as soon as we arrive at the castle. If he is informed that the lady is back, he will immediately wipe out all the monsters and rush to get back here.”

Yulysion tried to comfort her, but it didn’t help make her feel any better. Not only did she doubt that Riftan would really do as such, but it will take at least a month to get there from Livadon, no matter what rush it took. Even if Riftan hurried back as soon as he got the information, Max would have already left for Pamela Plateau by the time that he arrived.

Max somberly shook her head. “I’m not... returning for good. Supposedly, I have to train for a year more, but... in exchange for joining the dispatch team, I was given a special magic ceremony to receive my attribute. I will have to leave for Pamela Plateau with the other wizards in the next few days.”

“Pamela Plateau?”

This time around, Yulysion was the one who felt shocked. He stood there with his mouth agape and stared at her with a puzzled expression. As Yulysion was about to speak again, his men stopped in front of the restaurant with four carriages. Their conversation was eventually cut from there. Max got into the carriage with the wizards who just came out of the restaurant. It seemed as if Yulysion wanted to talk more, but he climbed up on his horse as his men came by handing his horse’s bridle.

“We shall continue our conversation at the castle.”

Yulysion leaned his head into the window, sighed, and rode his horse to the front and took lead. Then, Sidina, who was sitting close to Max, began prodding her as if she had been very eager to know the truth.

“Max, are you really Lady Calypse? How could you pretend to be so innocent all this time?”

“The World Tower’s principle... is to keep status and family a secret.”

“Friends sometimes exchange secrets! I thought we were friends...”

“I’m s-sorry. It wasn’t easy to bring up the truth.”

Sidina let out a breathless sigh as Max looked around and apologized embarrassingly.

“Well, it’s not that I don’t understand. The Remdragon Knights are indeed famous but in Anatol, there is ‘that person’... If it was revealed that Max is Lord Calypse’s wife, you would have suffered a lot.”

The butler greeted her with a young smile over his wrinkly face. Max also smiled brightly at Rudis who was right behind him.

“Rudis, have you been well?”

“I am doing well, I am delighted that the lady appears to be healthy too.”

The maid gave her a sweet smile and gently held her hand. Their warm hospitality seemed to have eased the tension. After greeting the rest of the maids, Max introduced Calto Serbel and the other wizards who were standing stiffly.

“These are... guests from the World Tower. Please provide them with our best rooms. Everyone is exhausted from the voyage.”

“I’ll do as you have ordered.”

“It would be nice to have some food.” Annete, who was sniffing her nose towards the kitchen, spat out. “If only I could eat several thick bacon and great-tasting ale, I’ll be more than satisfied.”

Calto Serbel shot her a stern look, warning her to behave gracefully, but Annette ignored him and gave Rodrigo an expectant gaze. Rodrigo then bent his back to bow and politely spoke.

“Please warm yourself up in your room and I shall have a meal prepared for you soon.”

The servants soon gathered their luggage and began climbing up the stairs. Yulysion wanted to talk more with Max, but one of his men called him and he was forced to leave the castle once again. As he left reluctantly, Max went up the stairs with the eighteen wizards. Rudis guided her to her room naturally. She thought that it was inappropriate for her to stay in a better room compared to the team’s leader, Calto, as she came here as a member of a dispatch team and not the lord’s wife, but Calto didn’t seem to mind.

As the servants led the guests into their rooms, Max hesitantly entered her own room. Then, a familiar sight filled her vision. She then looked carefully into the cold room filled with a gloomy darkness. Nothing had changed in the room since she had left.

“Shall I bring you a bath and a change of clothes?”

Rudis asked, pulling the curtains off the window and skillfully lighting a fire in the fireplace. Max took the cat out from under her cloak and set him down on the floor. Roy, who had been shivering from the cold, immediately rushed to curl up in front of the fireplace. Rudis was surprised to see him.

“Oh my goodness, I have always wondered where this little one has gone off too... how did he go after the lady?”

“It seems that he was in my luggage when I left.” Max looked down with pity at the cat who had suffered from a tough time. “Could you bring Roy... something to eat? He couldn’t eat anything while he was on the ship.”

“I shall bring him milk when I bring the water for your bath. Please wait for a moment.”

As Rudis headed out, Max took off her thick coat, laid it on the back of the chair, and slowly walked towards the bed. The sheets were clean, but they were cold. They smelled faintly of fiber, which meant they had not been used for a long time. Max touched the colorfully embroidered quilt and glanced at the empty armor and weapon racks. She tried to find traces of him, but she couldn’t find even a single strand of his hair.

As Max stood in the middle of the room, she felt like an intruder hiding in someone else’s house. She barely was able to return to the home of her dreams, but she couldn’t feel as comfortable as she did before. She turned around slowly with a gloomy expression. Then, a large wooden box on the shelf next to the bed caught her eyes and Max wondered if it was Riftan’s. She curiously picked up the box and opened its lid. Inside the well-crafted box were several faded parchments. They were probably contracts or important documents that he had kept.

As Max disappointedly closed the lid back, she paused at the familiar seal that was on the corner of the parchment. Max pulled out the parchment and turned it over: it revealed a familiar handwriting. She blinked blankly and looked down at the letter she had sent to Riftan two months ago. Her throat tightened with hope and pain. Why would he keep her letters on the bedside? Perhaps they were left there for no reason. Maybe Rudis or some other maid did this and not Riftan. Max felt hopeful, but she was also afraid to be discouraged, so she tried not to put much meaning into it. However, her hand trembled as she pulled out the bunch of parchment. She took a deep breath and read through the letterheads. It seemed like all her letters from the first year she left, and the succeeding year were all kept—there were more than thirty pages.

She swept her eyes over the sentences she had written, she held back on the words she wanted to express, and they all appeared surprisingly clerical and dry. She felt at loss and out of words as she looked down at the letters that told him she was doing well. Max’s eyes slowly blurred. How did Riftan feel while reading these letters of hers? She couldn’t read all of it as her heart felt like it was going numb. She was about to place it all back inside the box, but she noticed another sheet of yellow-colored parchment at the bottom of the blackened box. The letter didn’t appear like it was one of the telegrams she sent as it did not have the World Tower’s seal stamped on it.

Max hesitated for a moment then picked it up. At first, she couldn’t figure out what it was. Later, she then realized that it was the letter she had written back in the Levan Monastery. It was the letter she had asked the leader of the Holy Knights, Quahel Leon, to deliver. She looked down at the letter which she had written such a long time ago that she could not even remember what she wrote. She hurriedly pressed her eyes against the sleeves of her robe as she felt her eyes watering.

Her heart broke at the thought of Riftan who had kept this letter for so long. At the same time, a deep sense of relief flooded her, knowing that he also missed her. Max held the worn-out letter against her heart.

Note – LF: I can relate to Annette, honestly. I need food too after a long journey lol. Anyway, who’s cutting onions? Riftan really kept those letters all this time Nymeria: UGH I feel like crying T.T