In the gymnasium located in Winter Castle:
It was still early in the morning, but I was quietly swinging my sword in an empty gymnasium.
Although the Edelweiss family was one of the continent's leading mage families, their strength was not solely focused on magic and wizards.
Of course, when people hear about Edelweiss, they tend to think of a magic corps composed of all 4th or higher-rank wizards, but even within Edelweiss, a knight corps composed of pure knights who could use Aura existed, even though it was not so well known.
Compared to the magic corps, they seemed relatively inferior, but befitting the only three dukes in the empire, they were composed of exceptional individuals rather than the typical noble knightly order.
"Oh, Young Master! You are the first one here again today! If it weren't for Herbert's sleep talking, I could have woken up earlier."
"Good morning, Young Master. And it's okay to just ignore what that bastard said. I wonder who's talking about it. Tsk."
Compared to the other knights of the same age, even those two people running towards the gymnasium where I was now seemed to have a fairly high level of skill.
If someone were to ask me how I knew that fact since I had only just arrived at Winter Castle and why I was familiar with those two individuals, it was because I continued my training habit even after arriving at Winter Castle, which I had started back at my own home.
On the day I arrived here, Joachim called me and introduced me to the important figures of the castle, including the commander of Edelweiss' knightly order.
His name was Wilhelm Hartman.
The old knight, who had reached the level of an aura knight, had scars on his face enough to tell what kind of life he had led.
Even before my name came out of Joachim's mouth, he was looking at me, with fire gushing out of his eyes.
As expected, I was held by Wilhelm for a while as soon as Joachim's introduction of me was over. He had met my father on the battlefield and told me many stories about him, saying that I resembled him a lot. Overall it was a really painful time for me.
I didn't think that the day would come when I could hear from others the stories of heroic acts I had heard hundreds of times from my father and knights.
Could one feel bad about hearing praise for their own father? It was just that the story Wilhelm told me was one I'd heard so often since I was a child that it felt repetitive and a bit boring.
Joachim frowned as if he didn't like Wilhelm's behavior, but he couldn't bring himself to stop him from complimenting my father while talking to me. He knew that stopping him from talking about it would not be a good look.
Honestly, regardless of that, I was hoping Joachim would stop Wilhelm's talking as he usually did when he talked to my father.
Anyway, no matter how the first meeting was, thanks to Wilhelm, I was easily introduced to the Knights of Edelweiss and the gymnasium. This was the reason I was able to know the skill of the knights.
As soon as the knights heard my name from Wilhelm, they all sent me envious glances, which allowed me to once again understand what the name Kraus meant to the knights.
If I had to choose the people who would be most delighted by my engagement to Elena in the Winter Castle, it would undoubtedly be Wilhelm and the Edelweiss Knights. Indeed, as soon as they heard that I was engaged to Elena, they all cheered and were happy.
However, while watching their reaction, I didn't feel like I had to live up to their expectations.
This kind of gaze was what I'd been through most of my life in the South, so I was too used to feeling the pressure of their gaze.
Above all, I had become too accustomed to feeling the burden of their gaze, and that was why I didn't feel the need to conform to their expectations.
I moved my body as I usually do, and after that, under the leadership of Wilhelm, who had been watching me quietly, I had a few simple matches with them, and within a day I succeeded in melting into them.
The two knights in front of me now, Herbert and Gilead, were the ones who lost to me in our duel back then. I thought it might be a bit humiliating to lose to a younger boy, but they started training with me after seeing me training early in the morning.
"Young Master. When do you plan to return to Sarham?"
"Well. I haven't really thought about it, but probably not more than a week."
"In that case, then how about having one more duel with me before you leave?"
"Hey, Herbert. Do you think five days of training and a duel will do anything? The result is obvious. Young Master, I'll ask you to spar with this guy next."
I didn't really care. After all, they were both knights and warriors, so they were obsessed with victory and defeat.
The sun was shining brightly in the dark sky.
Illuminated by the sunlight, they glistened with their own sweat, and so did I. The cold wind of Merohim cooled the sweat in an instant, but the bodies of the knights, tempered with an aura were not weak enough to shiver in this cold weather.
When the training was over to some extent, Herbert spoke to me while wiping the sweat on his sleeve.
"Come to think of it, how was the banquet yesterday? Ah, I wanted to participate as well, but I was dispatched to guard the outer fortress."
"There wasn't anything special, really."
For Herbert, it seemed like a shame that he couldn't attend the banquet, but for me, it was just a slightly noisy gathering of people. If there was anything decent about the last night, it was probably being able to see Elena's dress.
As I thought about it, there were many things that happened.
Suddenly, the Tower Master of Twilight popped out from behind. On top of that, I met the male lead candidate who I thought I would only see after a year. It was only a short meeting where we exchanged names, but just meeting the lead character of the original story was enough to leave a strong impression on me.
"But since the banquet is over, we won't be meeting for a while."
It was inevitable that we would meet at the academy a year later, but until then, I won't see Richard's face. There was no reason for me to go to the Tower of Twilight, and since Elena would be staying in Sarham after leaving Merohim, there was no reason for Richard to come to Sarham, where there was no Mage Tower.
It was still too early to judge that he had given up on his feelings for Elena based on his meek withdrawal from last night's banquet. Therefore, I was relieved to know that there was no point of contact for Elena and Richard to meet for the time being.
Anyway, I couldn't leave any causes for concern.
As my worries eased, I felt lighter. I put my sword in the storage and took a deep breath.
Indeed, exercising in the morning makes a person mentally and physically healthy.
The morning air was chilly compared to the Sarham's morning, but it was refreshing and invigorating. It felt like tiny needles of ice were piercing my lungs, but it helped clear my mind and wake me up.
"Now let's go back…"
"….."
As I was about to turn my head to return to my room, I met someone's eyes. As soon as I saw him, I couldn't help but freeze on the spot in amazement and bewilderment.
The person I met eyes with also stopped in their tracks and just stared at me with a blank expression. He had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well. He timidly greeted me with a charming face.
"Ah, hello."
Richard Erthuwen.
He hadn't left the winter castle yet.
***
After leaving the banquet hall, Richard quietly walked towards the white tower located behind the castle.
The news of Elena's engagement suddenly reached his ears. When Richard heard the news, he felt like he had been hit in the head with a hammer.
Richard met Elena at the gathering where his father forcibly took him and had fallen for her at first sight. It wasn't just because of her inhuman beauty. Her intelligence and knowledge, which matched his, had made Richard's heart beat faster.
Afterward, using the friendship between their fathers, Richard began to visit the winter castle often to meet Elena.
At first, she was unresponsive and blunt, but as he continued to talk to her, she began to respond more. Although their conversations were inadequate, Richard was satisfied with them.
It was a well-known fact that their fathers were good friends. Richard knew this, so he was secretly hoping for an engagement between him and Elena. He didn't doubt that it would happen.
That was… …Until he heard the news of Elena's engagement.
He had a feeling that his father had been looking at him suspiciously for a few days, and now he knew why.
However, Richard couldn't give up his heart just because he knew that Elena was engaged.
He thought and believed that it was just a strategic engagement between nobles, which was a common thing.
Richard couldn't bear the thought of losing his beloved because of a mere strategic engagement. That was why he made up his mind to see it with his own eyes.
It felt like an invisible string of hope was holding onto his clenched fist.
"Thank god…"
There was nothing in Richard's hand as he headed towards the tower.
The sight of Elena smiling with her fiancé at the banquet hall was enough to shatter Richard's heart. The man standing next to her also had an affectionate look in his eyes towards her, which meant that everything he had thought about their relationship was wrong.
Although there was nothing in his mouth, he felt an unusual bitterness in his throat today.
It was both sad and dizzying for Richard to realize that he couldn't be in that place, but seeing Elena's happy face made him feel happy as well.
Even though it was a dark night, the inside of the tower was still bright. There was no distinction between day and night for scholars who were constantly seeking knowledge.
Richard was a wizard belonging to the Tower of Twilight, not Dawn, but as long as it was a basic magic book, he could read it regardless of his affiliation, so the Tower readily let him in. However, would a magic book, which was literally just the basics, help a wizard who had risen to the 5th rank?
Richard wasn't ignorant of the fact that he could not forget it by reading books, but it didn't matter now. He took out books not for learning, but to fill his head with words that filled the book.
After a few hours had passed, Richard had read all the books he could read, and the morning sun that entered through the tower's narrow window was welcoming him. His head was no longer dizzy.
Feeling the warm morning sun, he felt like writing a poem. Richard had never written poetry in his life, but his mind felt that way anyway.
Richard knew he was not himself right now.
Humming a tune, Richard left the tower. For some reason, the sunlight looked brighter today, as if blessing his future.
Yes, he had to forget. Start a new life.
He still had a lot of life left. It would be a waste of life to keep clinging to such worries at the mere age of sixteen.
As he repeated these thoughts to himself, he felt his strength gradually returning to his body. He couldn't control himself in this excitement, and he immediately started running towards the winter castle. The cold wind pierced his lungs, but it didn't matter. Richard wanted to run.
The white castle sparkling in the morning sun was so beautiful that Richard ran while taking in the surrounding scenery.
"Ah.."
But Richard's running, which seemed like it would continue, soon stopped.
He was immersed in the scenery, but when the image of the person who was vividly engraved in his memory was reflected, Richard seemed to have lost all the energy he had just been exerting.
He was looking at him, and he was looking at him too.
"Ah, hello."
Richard's heart raced.