CH 6: Changes of 10 years

It was a strange sight. The two children, who were thrown naked in a beautiful room, were staring at each other with blankets and sheets wrapped around them.

When Kalion – who had wrapped himself in a sheet – moved, Erna shouted, “Don’t come near me! If you move even an inch closer, I’ll kill you!”

“Hah! It’s you who should keep this in your mind. Don’t you dare come to this side,” said Kalion, dismissively. Then he glanced sideways at Erna. Seeing her shivering and shaking, he clicked his tongue. “You better not die,” he said. Seeing Erna opening her mouth to retort, he hurriedly tried to clear any notion that he cared about her. “Because if you die, something much worse than you will come here,” he said.

At those words, Erna yelled at him, “That’s what I should say! The person who seems more likely to die any moment is you!” Even though she hated bickering, she couldn’t help it. She had helped him earlier. Oh god knows why I bothered, she chided herself, I hate him.

Erna was exhausted. She was so annoyed at Kalion and so focused on yelling at him that she momentarily forgot the situation they were in. Kalion bowed his head, leaning back on the bed as though he didn’t want to see her anymore. Equally peeved, Erna sat with her back against the bed. She brought her knees to her chest and then buried her face.

When she was living in Haband, her life had been without much hope. She had expected for things to be better after leaving the palace, but the outside world turned out to be more terrible than she had previously anticipated. 

Erna looked around the room. It was a very luxurious and beautiful room located right at the center of the Grand Ducal Palace. Did they really want the two of them to spend the night together? The fireplace in the room was burning warmly and the herbs on the wall smelled pleasant. So Erna was even more terrified. Her knuckles turned white as she tightly gripped the blanket.

As the night grew deeper, Erna vowed repeatedly that she would never forget today’s disgrace. One day, she would definitely pay everyone back. When that day came, she would kick that wretched Kalion out.

In those vengeful thoughts, the night passed in silence.

Gradually, ten years had passed by.

... * * *...

The Grand Duchy of Hessenguard was a powerful territory that was under the control of not only the Grand Duke but also a powerful council body. The Council, which was established about five generations ago, was now an integral part of the Duchy of Hessenguard.

The Council respected and followed the authority and rights of the Grand Duke, while the Grand Duke took the Council’s advice, recognizing the Council as his proxy. They had a mutual understanding of these sorts of things.

During the chaotic time – caused by the suicide of the 17th Grand Duke and the arrival of the two new Grand Dukes from other kingdoms – the people of Hessenguard were worried whether the Council would disappear. From the perspective of the kingdom with strong royal authority, the Council would surely appear as insolent schemers who coveted the throne. However, with the two kingdoms kept in check, the Council still had a strong foundation in Hessenguard. 

Vanessa, who had been serving as the Chairman of the Council for ten long years, sat in the conference room with a worried face. In front of her were two personal letters in ornate boxes. 

Just as she was about to take a sip from a cold cup of tea, she heard the sound of footsteps outside, and soon the door to the conference room opened. Vanessa rose from her seat and cheerfully greeted the person who came in.

“Ah, Miss Erna, you’re here.”

Vanessa looked at her with admiration for a moment. The fine golden hair that reached down to the waist scattered the sunlight coming from the window. With every step that Erna took, a beam of light twinkled over her hair. Erna’s steps were steady.

“How are you, Vanessa?” she asked, smiling brightly.

Vanessa looked at Erna and recalled young Erna from a long time ago. Her bright golden hair and dark green eyes hadn’t changed. Aside from that, everything about her had changed. The pimples that marred her face had disappeared without any trace. All that remained now was clean, unblemished skin. Now that her puberty had completely passed, the features were now properly developed. Round forehead, straight eyebrows, a high and sharp nose, and small, plump red lips. 

The princess of Haband, who was once ridiculed for her ugly and tacky appearance, had now grown into this beautiful woman who could leave people awestruck after a glance.

“What’s wrong?” asked Erna, noticing Vanessa staring at her. Vanessa, for her part, smiled warmly and shook her head.

“It’s nothing of consequence,” she said, “Please do sit. As you may have already heard, a letter from Haband has arrived.”

“It’s not only from Haband, it seems,” said Erna, looking at the table. The two letters on the table were sealed with different emblems. With the dragon emblem was from Haband while the other was from Aether, with the emblem of a bear. That means… 

Erna grimaced. She heard heavy footsteps behind her in the hallway. The person who had arrived opened the door without so much as a knock, like Erna. There was only one person in the whole of Hessenguard beside Erna who could enter the conference hall without a knock.

“Sir Kalion, you’re also here,” said Vanessa, smiling and bowing.

Erna was not the only one who had changed over the course of ten years. Kalion who made his way in was so tall that it was hard for Vanessa to look at him without tilting her neck a little upward. When he opened the door, his head almost brushed the casing at the top. The little Kalion had grown up to an impressive physique: broad shoulders, thick, sturdy arms and strong chest. He hardly seemed like the little boy who had looked so skinny and starved in danger of dropping dead any second.

“The earthworm is here,” murmured Erna.

Kalion smiled and Vanessa in greeting and turned to her. “Long time no see, pumpkin,” he said, gleefully. 

Erna and Kalion sat down at the two ends of the long table which could seat a dozen people at a time. Erna sat at the far left, as far as she could get away from Kalion. He chose the far right, maybe thinking the same. They always did this whenever they had to sit at the same table in the Grand Ducal Castle. It was silently agreed as a rule by the both of them to sit as far away from each other as possible.

Besides the animosity between the two, there was another reason for it. Erna’s room was on the far left in the castle, and Kalion’s on the right. The middle room was the Ducal Couple’s bedroom. The two Grand Dukes, whose seats had been so naturally determined, were now indispensable to Hessenguard.

It had already been ten years since the two became one through marriage and took the position of the Grand Dukes of Hessenguard. With Hessenguard becoming a vassal state of the two kingdoms, the people of Hessenguard had assumed that Haband and Aether would exploit Hessenguard as they pleased. But that didn’t happen.

After they got married, some nobles stayed behind on the pretext of supporting the two. Their heads were filled with the thoughts of intimidating the Hessenguard’s Council and using the names of the new Grand Dukes to siphon off Hessenguard’s resources. But that year, a terrible plague hit Hessenguard’s capital. The whole capital reeked of burning corpses. Even the Grand Ducal Castle could not escape from the clutches of the plague.

When a person died from the plague inside the Castle, Marquess Canavan, who had planned to stick close to Erna for a long time, returned to the kingdom of Haband faster than anyone else. The same had been for Kalion. When the healthiest knight in their group died a few days after collapsing from a high fever, everyone made up excuses to leave the castle. They quickly packed their luggage and returned to the Aether Kingdom.

And now, only Erna and Kalion were left in the Grand Ducal Castle. This became an opportunity for the two to escape from the interference of the two kingdoms. It was a sort of reprieve but still stressful. The people now worried that they would have to wait for another authority figure if something happened to the two. So great care was taken of them. With their oppressors now gone, the two began to change quickly under the care of the unfamiliar but kindhearted people. 

These had changed the two of them drastically. Erna had stopped stressful eating and now she was much more organized and level-headed. While Kalion, who couldn’t even drink water properly, ate heartily. They both had changed.

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