SWY 138

A voice filled with disbelief called out. Sharhan and Lestel turned to see a man in his early sixties with a slightly hunched back and a head full of white hair.

“Butler?”

Lestel’s eyes widened in recognition. Sharhan also recognized the man. It was Kuph, the former chief butler of Ailun Castle.

“My word, it really is you, Young Master!”

Kuph rushed forward and seized Lestel’s hands, tears streaming down his face.

“What are you doing out here?”

Kuph’s ragged appearance made it hard to believe he’d just stepped outside the castle briefly. He was too absorbed in checking Lestel’s condition to answer right away.

“You’ve gotten thinner… To think the heir of House Ailun would be in such a state… Where on earth did you disappear to without a word?!”

“You answer me first. Why are you out here instead of inside the castle?”

“I retired a short while ago.”

“What? Retired?”

“Yes. I’m too old now. It became too burdensome to keep working…”

“Was it the Marchioness’s doing?”

Kuph flinched at the cold edge in Lestel’s voice and hastily shook his head.

“N-no, of course not.”

“It was the Marchioness, wasn’t it?”

Kuph came from a family that had served the Ailun Marquessate for generations and had especially adored Lestel’s mother, the previous marchioness. Because of this, he had long been hated by Claire, the current Marchioness. She had been looking for a way to replace him with one of her own for years, and eventually succeeded in driving him out.

Under Lestel’s sharp gaze, Kuph averted his eyes before lowering his head and speaking honestly.

“Right before all this chaos began, I caught a slight cold. It was just a bit of coughing, and the apothecary said I’d recover in a day or two with some medicine. But around that time, the Marquis brought in a very important guest… and then he ordered all the sick to be expelled from the castle. The Marchioness had me thrown out because I was ill…”

The bitterness in Kuph’s voice said more than his words. Being cast out from the household he had served all his life must have been a devastating blow.

“Do you know who the guest was?”

“Young Master Kaios, is it not?”

Only now did Kuph notice Sharhan beside Lestel. He blinked in surprise, then nodded, as if it were the most natural thing for Sharhan to be at Lestel’s side.

Sharhan gave a belated nod of greeting and asked again.

“Do you know who exactly the Marquis brought in?”

“I didn’t see the guest’s face, but…”

Kuph glanced around cautiously, as if to check no one was eavesdropping, then lowered his voice.

“It seemed to be His Majesty… Who else would the Marquis treat with such reverence? Of course, that’s just my assumption.”

Sharhan exchanged a look with Lestel, then nodded. It confirmed their suspicion that the Emperor had fled to Serman.

“In any case, let’s head to my place. The sun will set soon, and it’s not safe out here.”

Kuph finally let go of Lestel’s hand and took the lead. Sharhan, just behind, suddenly stopped, and Lestel turned to him in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought someone was watching us.”

Both men scanned the area cautiously but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“What are you doing?” Kuph called back.

Reluctantly dropping their guard, Sharhan and Lestel followed after him.

“This is it. It’s a humble place, but please come in.”

Kuph led them to a house about thirty minutes away from the castle.

“Is this your home?”

“I’m using an abandoned house without permission. When all this started, the only place that came to mind for refuge was outside the castle. But as you’ve seen, the gates have been shut tight.”

“Have they never opened?”

“Not that I know of. I’ve lived my whole life in the castle and had nowhere else to go… I was wandering around, prepared to just survive and die, when I ran into the son of an old acquaintance and came here. I don’t know if the owner of the house died or fled, but it was already empty.”

“An old acquaintance?”

“I’m not sure if you remember, Young Master, but his name’s Adam. He’s the son of the gardener, Mernang.”

“Mernang the gardener… I remember. He tended my mother’s rose garden.”

Lestel recalled him easily, and Kuph’s expression softened.

“Yes. The current Marchioness ordered him to destroy the rose garden, and when he refused, he was beaten and his entire family was expelled.”

“I remember. I hugged him and cried when he came to say goodbye…”

Lestel’s gaze turned wistful. Claire had erased all traces of his mother the moment she officially became Marchioness, including her cherished rose garden.

When Mernang defied her, she had him whipped in a rage and thrown out. She later had another gardener tear the garden apart. In its place, she planted lilacs, her favorite.

Lestel, furious, once ripped up the lilacs and trampled them, only to be punished by the Marquis.

Lestel let out a long sigh, pulling himself from memory.

“What became of Mernang?”

“He passed away shortly after being cast out. The injuries from the beating… his wife died a few years later. Adam wandered alone for a time, but returned to Serman a few years back. He came looking for refuge at the castle after the moving corpses began to appear and happened to run into me. It had been over ten years, but I recognized him instantly, he looks just like his father.”

“So it’s just you and Adam here?”

“No. There’s one more, a free knight. The two of them went out to find food. Ah, what am I thinking, leaving you standing like this… Forgive me. Please, have a seat.”

Kuph quickly pulled out a chair for them.

“Thank you.”

“Much appreciated.”

“You must be cold. I wish I could light a fire…”

He glanced apologetically at the fireplace, which had long gone cold and was filled with white ash.

“We’re fine.”

“There are quite a few survivors hiding in places beyond the castle gates. We could break the furniture for firewood, but if someone sees the smoke, they might come rushing in.”

“I said we’re fine. We’ve even slept outdoors. But you, have a seat as well.”

Lestel gestured for Kuph, who had been standing behind him like in the old days, to sit. Though Kuph tried to decline out of formality, he eventually gave in.

“To think I’d ever be sitting face-to-face with you again… I don’t know what to say.”

“This isn’t the castle, and I’m no longer the heir to House Ailun.”

“What are you saying? If not you, who else could succeed the title?!”

Lestel gave a faint smile, seeing Kuph ready to argue no matter what he said.

“In a world like this, what’s the point of a title?”

“But… with His Majesty still alive, there’s still hope for the Empire to recover–”

Kuph trailed off. He had guessed that the esteemed guest was the Emperor after seeing how reverently the Marquis treated him, contrasted with the arrogant attitude of his attendants.

Still, the Emperor’s arrival had been unimpressive. He was accompanied by barely more than a dozen knights, making it seem more like a hasty escape.

Though Kuph had lived in Serman his whole life and knew nothing of the capital, he wasn’t a fool. Seeing how quickly Serman fell to the dead after the guest arrived, he suspected the capital had already descended into something far worse, and that the Emperor had fled.

If the Emperor himself had to flee so pitifully… then the chances of the Empire recovering were nearly zero.

“Even if they offered me that title, I’d refuse.”

Reading the loathing and hatred in Lestel’s cold voice, Kuph opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. He knew all too well that Lestel’s relationship with the Marquis couldn’t be described with something as mild as “strained.”

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door while Kuph was anxiously looking around, wondering how he could prepare a meal for his young master with nothing in the house. Sharhan and Lestel turned toward the entrance, alert.

“It’s alright. It’s probably one of the two I live with.”

Smiling, Kuph got up and opened the door.

“No trouble, I hope?”

A man with a sword in his hand stepped inside, pausing as he looked around.

“Sir Rael?”

“Lord Lestel?”

Lestel stood quickly, greeting him warmly. Both Kuph and Sharhan were caught off guard. Judging by the “Sir,” the man must be a knight, but Sharhan had never seen him before.

“You know him?”

“You know Sir Rael?” Kuph and Sharhan asked at once.

“He’s the knight I assigned to protect Iris.”

Sharhan’s eyes widened in shock. The next moment, he jumped to his feet and strode quickly toward Rael.