The North was a cold and dark place.
Even the dazzlingly white sunlight that poured down was cold. This was the only place on the entire continent where a frigid sun could be felt..
On the once barren plains, now stood open grounds with symbols of civilization lined up in full display.The various buildings and the crowds filling the streets attested to the might of the Yurdina family.
The only true tropolis and undisputed center of the North.
This place was called ‘Yurdina City.’
The Yurdina family’s prowess in cultivating a bustling city in this arid permafrost was truly remarkable. To call it a historic achievent was truly fitting.
The North, originally, only had at best village-level communities. With the arrival of the Yurdina family however, the North could finally be incorporated as an organised administrative region.
Therefore, it was needless to say how influential the Yurdina family was in the North.
The one who sent the invitation was also a mber of that Yurdina family.
The sole heir of one of the Empire’s five great noble families and the one overseeing military authority, personally requested my assistance.
Often referred to as the ‘Sun of the North’, her na was Delphine Yurdina.
In most regions, the ‘sun’ carried a mythical significance.
It was the very entity that enriched the land and the source that brought light and warmth to the world. There were many regions that revered it as a divine being.
For instance, even the Church of the Heavenly God associated the sun with the god Arus.
There was a story that long ago, the Heavenly God Arus and the Evil God Oros made a bet and Arus, deceived by a vile trick, tore out his own liver and eyes and embedded them in the sky.
Among them, the liver beca the sun and the eyes beca the moon.
Thus, the wicked beings of the world lt away under the sunlight.
The North, too, revered the sun in this way.
Rather, the North was a place where the sun was more precious than anywhere else. Devoid of the sun, it would have no choice but to beco a land of perpetual ice and snow.
From the very beginning, it was a land cursed by Delphirem’s sin.
Without relying on Mother Nature’s grace, survival itself was impossible. Thus, even in the North, the aning implied by the ‘sun’ was bound to be extraordinary.
The leader of all Northerners, the absolute ruler that was second only to the Emperor.
It was a fitting title for the one and only heir of Yurdina, fad for their legacy of invincibility.
However, perhaps due to the harsh conditions, the Northerners’ sense of aesthetic was not particularly refined.
They had always valued practicality over style and strength over logic.
This was a place where, if there were resources to invest in art, they would rather choose to feed their starving warriors. As a result, even the Lord’s Castle inevitably gave off a desolate feeling.
Of course, everything necessary was provided.
In fact, the facilities themselves were luxurious. The materials and furnishings all appeared to be of the highest quality.
Even so, perhaps due to its lack of the splendour and refinent expected from the residence of a great noble, Yurdina Castle gave off a sowhat bleak feeling.
I walked along the dark and sombre corridor.
Ahead of , the old knight assigned as my guide moved forward. He was soone I was already acquainted with.
Was it ‘Sir Alex’? I was indebted to him because of the incident at the Percus territory.
He was the knight who led the thousands of Yurdina’s private soldiers in the fierce battle against the Corpse Giant. This ant he had the family’s trust to that extent, and it seed he had since returned to Yurdina City.
Senior Delphine, who had invited , left to attend to so matters.
It was purely by chance that I ran into her as I stepped out of the warp gate. Since I hadn’t given any notice of my arrival, soone of Senior Delphine’s stature wouldn’t have had the ti to idly wait around.
Thus, having reached Yurdina Castle, just as I was about to take a mont to rest, I received another ssage.
Senior Delphine was looking for .
I had no reason to refuse, so I promptly began following Sir Alex.
In the process, I realised again just how remarkable her family was.
We had been walking for several minutes, but the hallways seed endless. I wasn’t quite sure where I was at this point.
Silence fell, but only briefly; with nothing but the sound of our footsteps, I found my boredom increasingly difficult to suppress.
Finally, as my patience wore thin, I decided to speak to Sir Alex.
“Um, Sir Alex?”
But there was no response from him. He was always a man as stoic as a statue.
Though he had seed a bit more relaxed at the Percus territory.
Undeterred by his cold deanour, I continued to speak.
“I am really grateful for what you did in the last battle. Thanks to you, many residents of the territory who were in dire straits were saved…”
“It wasn’t a battle for anyone.”
His words sharply cut off.
At his firm tone, I montarily fell silent. I hadn’t expected such a cold response to a simple courtesy.
The North truly was a cold place.
As I was processing this, Sir Alex added in a flat voice.
“It was a battle fought solely for honour. Northern soldiers don’t retreat in the face of the enemy… So there’s no need for you to feel grateful or indebted.”
It was such a straightforward declaration, but it only left more puzzled.
Is Sir Alex rely expressing his true feelings, or is he saying it out of consideration for ?
He felt quite different from what I saw of him back in my hotown. Back then, he seed more of a generous temperant, but now he was the very embodint of a typical Northern knight—sharp enough to cut upon touch.
Perhaps the recent state of the war had not been going well.
I recalled Senior Delphine’s face when I encountered her at the warp gate. It was rare, but she had looked sowhat haggard.
If even Senior Delphine was like that, it wouldn’t be strange for Sir Alex to be even more on edge.
As I fumbled over my thoughts, we seemingly walked for a while longer.
Then, he stopped in front of a heavy door and guided in a low voice.
“The Young Lord is waiting for you inside.”
‘Young Lord.’
It was a title I hadn’t heard in a while.
It wasn’t an uncommon term in noble society. In families where the successor had already been chosen, people would formally address them with the title ‘Young Lord’ as a sign of respect.
This was a practice more typical of high-ranking nobles.
While the lower nobles grow up in a more relaxed atmosphere, high-ranking ones are imrsed in the competition for succession from a young age, which naturally led to differences in how they were treated later on.
Such society resembled, in a way, the ecosystem of the wild.
Winner takes all.
Once the successor was determined, everyone in the family had to kneel before them, regardless of prior relations. The title ‘Young Lord’ carried that very significance.
It ant to treat them as being in a position equivalent to the family head, even if they weren’t officially one yet.
Rembering this sent a cold sweat down my spine.
Senior Delphine was soone who commanded the unwavering loyalty of her vassals. What if, by any chance, soone were to witness her calling ‘Master’?
I couldn’t deny the possibility that, to erase the family’s dishonour, they might eliminate .
My fears, of course, had a low likelihood of coming true.
I had, after all, both the Emperor and the Imperial Intelligence Agency backing and was currently making a na for myself as the rising star of the Empire. It wouldn’t be easy, even for the Yurdina Family, to lay a hand on .
Yes, it wouldn’t be easy—literally.
In other words, it wasn’t impossible either.
After all, Northerners often acted without considering the consequences.
Unable to completely shake off that lingering worry, I quietly opened the door and stepped inside.
There, a beautiful woman stood with her back to the cascading sunlight.
Her intense crimson eyes sharply contrasted with her flawless, pale skin, and her golden hair glead as if spun from molten gold.
Her slender limbs and the alluring curves of her figure stood out even through the armour. At a glance, she seed so flawless that she almost looked like a statue.
Yet, anyone eting her gaze would instantly realise.
In those eyes, where burning ambition, desire and an obsession with victory intertwined, a hint of boredom lingered. An intoxicating allure that dripped like honey.
That gave her flawless physique an astonishing sense of vitality.
Though she looked sowhat weary, even that could not diminish her sun-like beauty.
It was a face I hadn’t seen in a long ti.
Overco with joy, I unwittingly opened my mouth.
“Senior Delphine…!”
“I’ve been waiting for you, Master.”
It was already the second ti today I’d heard those words. Filled with joy, I approached Senior Delphine.
And in doing so, I reaffird sothing.
She looked a bit down.
I didn’t know the reason, but it was clear that she wasn’t in a good mood. Otherwise, she would have already tried to tease .
Like subtly showing her cleavage or emphasising her hips.
Seeing that she wasn’t doing such things today, I concluded that Senior Delphine didn’t even have the energy to play around.
So I couldn’t help but feel a bit worried.
Wasn’t she always so confident and proud?
Seeing her in such low spirits left feeling uneasy.
Just as I was about to offer so words of comfort,
Senior Delphine stood up and imdiately wrapped her arms around my neck.
Whoa… As I was trying to steady myself, her face was suddenly right in front of mine.
Then, with a weak smile, she whispered to .
“…Would you like to co to my bedroom for a mont?”
It was an offer that was hard to refuse.
For various reasons.
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