“Thinking about that time just makes me angry all over again.”
Back then, there was only one path Laslo could take.
He had to display such an overwhelming difference in skill that the Royal Guards couldn’t help but acknowledge him. To those who wished to learn, he would set aside his personal feelings and offer his guidance gladly.
It had been remarkably effective to take the lead on every battlefield where the Royal Guards were needed and show them what it meant to be ‘ruthless.’ Regardless, he didn’t dislike knights who possessed the ambition to improve.
“The desire to become stronger and the willingness to put in extra training are certainly commendable… but why must it be at my estate?”
The three men exchanged glances, then cautiously spoke up.
“Well… the eyes of our superiors are always on us, so the Imperial Palace training grounds are a bit…”
“O-of course, they would surely find it admirable that we are training with the Captain of the Royal Guards. But we worry about how our colleagues might view it…”
The excuses they offered were plausible enough that Laslo didn’t doubt them much and accepted.
“I suppose that could be the case.”
“Then…”
“Weekdays are difficult, but if the weekend works for you, how about next Saturday at 3 o’clock?”
“Next Saturday at 3 o’clock? We’ll be there! We will be there no matter what!”
At Laslo’s consent, the three men’s eyes sparkled with joy.
Laslo, interpreting this as the simple ambition of young knights eager to improve, nodded, finding them commendable.
“Then, head back safely.”
“Thank you, Lord Krissus!”
“Thank you!”
They left with boisterous expressions of gratitude, giggling and congratulating themselves until they were well past the corridor of Laslo’s office, acting noisy until the very end.
‘If only everyone put that much effort into improving their skills…’
Since there were so many who wielded swords while engaging in pathetic politicking, simpletons like these were actually a relief.
What was unfortunate was that they didn’t seem likely to amount to much. He could tell just by looking at them.
‘They look like men who have only just come to their senses; their bodies are out of shape and their posture is poor… even if I watch over them for three hours, how much will they actually manage to take away?’
Perhaps they might only learn the basics, but that might be better for them. If they were to dive into actual combat training, there wouldn’t be a single spot on their bodies left without a bruise.
* * *
[Keep this in mind. It must be one of the ‘Four Great Families’ without exception. Keep your wits about you and do not let your eyes wander to strange fellows.]
The moment she heard those words, Edele realized she was dreaming.
Her dark field of vision grew bright, and as she looked around, she saw the Canyon Count Estate, exactly as she remembered it.
‘How old was I when I started hearing that? Was it from when I began my education at eight? No, I feel like I might have heard it even younger than that…’
The memories of her father’s obsession with the Four Great Families, which had continued for as long as she could remember, flooded back.
There were many nobles in the Piphera Empire, but the four known as the ‘Four Great Families’—the Duchy of Lancaster, the Duchy of Brington, the Marquis of Tolein, and the Marquis of Winblair—wielded such immense power that even the Imperial family dared not trifle with them.
Her father was determined to use a marriage alliance with one of these families as a springboard for his own success.
‘Considering how wealthy the family was, we lacked any real influence.’
The origins of the Canyon Count Family weren’t particularly grand.
Her great-grandfather, a gambling addict, had won a portion of foreign territory in a bet. Decades later, an enormous sapphire mine was discovered on that land, which had previously only provided meager tax revenue.
The grandfather, having become an overnight millionaire, offered a significant quantity of sapphires and chests of gold coins to the Emperor, whose situation at the time was dire. Relieved of his stifling financial pressure, the Emperor granted him the title of Count.
That story had circulated through high society without any embellishment, and because of it, the Canyon Count Family was regarded as a clan with nothing to show for themselves but money.
‘Couldn’t he have been satisfied with being a wealthy Count?’
Even though he held a title, he was never able to exert any real influence and was always treated as a mere nouveau riche, which perpetually enraged him. He believed the only way to escape that perception was to marry his daughter into one of the Four Great Families. It was a severe complex.
[If you can’t do even this much, how could the Four Great Families ever consider you for a daughter-in-law! You must be perfect. So perfect that no one can look down on you!]
Edele sighed as she watched her father, his face twisted in a frightening scowl as he berated her.
Even when Edele was praised by her tutors or received compliments in high society, the Count of Canyon would always find the flaws, point them out, and lose his temper.
‘Why did I have to be the sacrifice to resolve my father’s complex?’
Back then, she had been terrified by her father’s yelling and could only beg to work harder, but it was always a source of doubt and resentment.
If he wanted to be such a dignified and honorable noble, shouldn’t he have walked that path himself?
If he had made donations to orphanages or clinics, or supported struggling artists, he wouldn’t have been called ‘nouveau riche,’ but the Count of Canyon found spending money on such things to be a waste to the point of death.
‘He used to say that spending money on useless things was for fools, but in the end, what did he gain by hoarding his wealth?’
As she thought this, the scene changed again.
The entire Canyon family was seated around a table set with a feast.
However, even seeing her family after so long, Edele didn’t feel any joy. There were no sweet memories worth hoping for in a dream.
[What use is a daughter if she can’t even marry into a good family! If you’re going to be a parasite who spends money without doing anything, get out of this house right now!]
The Count of Canyon would say such things at every meal, ruining Edele’s appetite.
What did it matter if the table was set with delicious, precious food? The only ones allowed to eat their fill were her older brothers; Edele and Lyn had to portion out their food little by little just to avoid being labeled ‘parasites.’
‘Others didn’t know that; they envied us, saying the women of our family were born with slender figures.’
She let out a faint laugh.
She hadn’t known it while living inside it, but looking back after being abandoned, it was true that the Canyon Count Family was a house that deserved to be treated as nouveau riche.
In fact, one might even say they weren’t even up to the level of nouveau riche if they begrudged the money to feed and clothe their own family.
And her father didn’t even stop there.
*Smack!*
A sound of impact she would never forget rang out in the dream.
Edele was slumped before her father, who looked enormous, clutching her cheek.
[You just have to do something so stupid every now and then, don’t you? Are you trying to advertise that you’re a mere girl? You couldn’t hold back for a moment and brought shame upon the Marquis of Tolein? Do you even know what kind of damage you’ve caused to this family?!]
This memory was something she could never erase from her mind.
The summer when she was eighteen. In that season when clothing grew thinner and more skin was exposed, the second son of the Marquis of Tolein had pestered her during an outing.
Because he was the unmarried son of one of the Four Great Families her father obsessed over, Edele had suppressed her instinctive revulsion and walked the trails with him to get some air.
Was it her mistake for believing he would maintain the honor of a great noble family?
Once they reached a secluded area, he had suddenly pressed in close and began to grope her. Startled, she had struggled to break free.
What was it that he had said back then?
“There’s no one watching, so stop playing coy, My Lady. There isn’t a soul who doesn’t know that the Canyon Count Family is aiming for a marriage alliance with the Four Great Families.”
The sheer humiliation of it.
Edele had pushed him away with all her might and ran back to where the others were gathered.
She hadn’t revealed what had happened, but because the son of the Tolein family had returned with his clothes soiled and left shortly after, people seemed to have caught on.
And the Count of Canyon, upon hearing the story, had been enraged to the point of boiling over and struck Edele.
‘He was only worried about having offended the Marquis of Tolein, rather than the fact that I had been molested.’
It was likely that Edele had cast aside all expectations of her father at that moment.
And the Count of Canyon, never changing in the slightest, had treated his own daughter as a mere tool. She was abandoned.
‘Even though I’ve been abandoned, the fact that I feel relieved proves it… yes, this is better.’
Edel squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see any more of the past.
***
“Ugh….”
As she slowly opened her tightly shut eyes, she saw the dawn light brightening through the window.
The moment she realized she had woken up, Edel let out a sigh of relief.
Perhaps because the last thing she saw in her dream was being slapped, she had been clenching her teeth in her sleep without realizing it.
“My jaw hurts….”
Edel rubbed her stiffened jaw and turned over. Only then did she realize that it wasn’t just her jaw, but her entire body that ached. She was also running a fever.
‘I must have had that dream because I’m sick.’
To her, her father was a person who was harmful to her health, even just in a dream.
Thinking that she was fine now and that she would no longer be swayed by that man, Edel tried to calm her racing heart.
However, a feverish body could not be healed by such comfort alone.