Staying at the Earl of Tenen’s mansion was impossible, so we found accommodations in the village.

I was worried that the territory would be a mess since Clint had dropped all business, but more than any village we’ve passed so far, the people were more lively.

No matter how much he neglected his work, it must be possible because the lord is a good person.

“Lady Teriella.”

As I entered the restaurant alone, Jaelim, who had been waiting, waved his hand. As I approached, he looked around and carefully chose his words.

“Sir… no, Lord Levanfell?”

“He doesn’t respond no matter what I say. He says he’s not even thinking about eating.”

“If even Lady Teriella’s words have that little effect… The Earl’s appearance must be quite a shock.”

“The shock is a problem, but what’s more problematic is that he doesn’t seem like he will give up easily. It would be better if he just gave up and went back.”

Levanfell had come here thinking it was the end. It wasn’t halfhearted.

If Clint also doesn’t give up his stubbornness until the end…

“A conclusion will be reached one way or another this time.”

“I hope the outcome is good.”

“……Did Clint say his family had suffered misfortune when he went to war?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Jaelim reluctantly answered with an unpleasant expression.

“How did that happen?”

“Uh…”

Normally, I wouldn’t ask until he spoke, but the situation was as it was, and there was no helping it.

Jaelim licked his lips as the food and alcohol I ordered came.

I didn’t feel very hungry, looking at the steaming food, perhaps because I was feeling downcast.

“I can’t elaborate as it’s the past of you two, but…”

“I don’t want to hear the details from someone else’s mouth either. But I need to know why this happened to find a solution.”

Jaelim let out a deep sigh and filled the glasses. Then he offered me a glass. It seemed like a story hard to tell and listen to without alcohol, so I downed the strong drink in one go.

“It’s a story from when Lord Levanfell and I were young. You’ve heard that the Earl was Lord Levanfell’s fencing instructor, right?”

“Yes.”

“Actually, the Earl didn’t formally teach Lord Levanfell. Lord Levanfell’s mother didn’t want it. But the Earl, who was the knight commander at the time, discovered Lord Levanfell by chance.”

Discovered? Talking about a chance encounter as ‘discovery’? …But do you call such a chance encounter ‘discovery’?

“The Earl pitied Lord Levanfell. Lord Levanfell was of similar age to Lady Tenen at the time, so maybe he thought of Lady Tenen when he saw Lord Levanfell.”

“…….”

“So he taught him fencing secretly. Lord Levanfell liked it, and he had talent.”

He taught fencing secretly? Even if Lord Levanfell’s mother, who was a concubine at the time, didn’t want it, was there a reason to teach him secretly?

“It was fun back then.”

Jaelim smiled faintly, perhaps reminiscing. However, the smile soon faded. The sunlight on his face disappeared, and a shadow fell over it.

“And then the World Tree disappeared.”

The Dark Age.

It was the chaos and darkness of the continent. My mother was always in pain, hearing the news of the continent at the time.

My mother mourned as if all that had happened was her fault.

“A great war broke out during that confusion. The Earl naturally went to war, and his family went missing then.”

“Missing?”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise. Jaelim filled two glasses again. We emptied our glasses again, looking at each other.

I could feel the strong liquor flowing down my throat. But strangely, my mind was getting clearer.

“Witnesses stated that Lady Tenen was kidnapped while trying to protect a child sold for debt.”

“Kidnapped together? What about the escort? There must have been an escort knight.”

“Yes. But the escort was caught off guard. The escort’s body was found in an alley’s garbage dump.”

Could that happen? If it was a knight of the Tenen family, who was the knight commander at the time, they would surely be an elite knight. Did they get caught off guard in an instant?
“The Countess went out herself to look for the missing young lady but did not return.”

“……The investigation?”

It was a case of noble kidnapping. Even the knight of that noble family was found dead. Moreover, that noble was none other than the commander of the Imperial Palace’s knight order, Clint Tenen, who had earned merit in war.

It was an important case, enough for the Imperial Palace to personally investigate.

“The investigation was certainly carried out, under the direction of the Imperial Palace?”

But.

“No.”

Jerim shook his head.

“There was no investigation. Not until Count Tenen returned.”

“How can that be?!”

I clenched my fist and pounded the table with frustration.

“Count Tenen, who returned late, set out personally to find his wife and young lady. But it was already too late.”

“……”

“They were found as corpses at the foot of a cliff behind the mountain. Discovered by a herb gatherer, not the Imperial Palace’s knight. They had been left for so long that they were greatly damaged by wild beasts.”

It was gloomy.