"We must definitely stop him!
"Even at the cost of this life, this country cannot fall into the hands of the devil!"
Gabriel was satisfied by the determined expressions of the Brotherhood executives.
"Therefore… Please continue to exert yourselves in the future. For the sake of the Empire of God, yes, a certain degree of compromise will be necessary."
"Compromise…?"
"The scriptures forbid murder and lying, but for this country, Ribato will forgive us. Of course, it must not be done for any other reason."
The staunch purists were slightly flustered. However, Gabriel before them was always a servant of God who spoke only the right words, and Carlyle, the "devil's minion," seemed like an opponent who could not be defeated by "kindness" alone.
In the end, they decided to break the precepts they had upheld "carefully" like their lives, to a "limited" extent.
***
The wind from the north is definitely different.
After crossing the border of Pervaz, Carlyle said as he smelled the wind coming through the carriage window.
The south would already be sweltering, but Pervaz still had a cool breeze from time to time.
"Winter in Pervaz is long. It usually starts from late October and lasts until next March."
"And it comes with a cold that makes your balls shrink, right?"
"…Yes."
Asha was beginning to wonder if she had given a bad example. This was because Carlyle would always talk about "balls shrinking" whenever he mentioned the cold in Pervaz.
"Why on earth are you so fixated on that story?"
She couldn't understand, but Carlyle had been beyond the realm of understanding from the beginning, so she shrugged it off.
More importantly, she was finally back in Pervaz.
'It's been three months.'
She hadn't thought she would be away from Pervaz for so long. The victory in the war against the Lure people already felt like a distant memory.
However, the sight of Pervaz outside the window was just as devastating now as it was half a year ago, and it still felt like Lure scouts' heads would pop out from beyond.
"It's worse than I thought."
Asha snapped back to reality at Carlyle's words.
Just as she had warned him, the road conditions in Pervaz were bad, and the carriage had been shaking wildly since earlier.
The horses pulling the carriage and cart were neighing, and the servants walking were stumbling.
Asha felt ashamed that it all seemed to be her fault.
"You're right. In fact, when my father first moved to Pervaz, it wasn't in very good condition either, but after a long war…"
Carlyle frowned momentarily.
"It's not just the roads, is it? It's been a while since we crossed the Pervaz border, but I haven't seen anything decent yet."
It was natural that the roads were a mess, and the fields that should have been lush and green were all barren dirt fields.
There was a bad smell coming from the ravine where a flock of crows were perched, and it was hard to see a single person even though it was midday.
Looking around Pervaz, where only the sound of crows could be heard, Carlyle chuckled at Asha, who was wearing an embarrassed expression.
"You have to rebuild all of this, how much do you think you can get from my father?"
"For the immediate need of food and medicine, and the cost of reconstruction, about 500,000 Verona…"
"500,000 Verona? What are you going to do with that? Are you going to live for another year or two and then give up on the world without any regrets?"
Asha had originally spoken a little more than she had thought, but even that was ridiculed by Carlyle.
But wasn't the emperor reluctant to give even that?
"So the best card you could play was me. You were lucky."
"…That's right."
"Do you even know what luck is?"
Carlyle said as if he was impressed.
Anyway, he wasn't wrong. 500,000 Verona would have been barely enough to keep them alive. And then winter would have come again, and who knows how many more would have died if nothing had been restored…
As Asha was lost in thought, the procession finally reached the gates of Pervaz.
From that moment on, Asha became very tense.
"It's like… a dying island."
Carlyle muttered as he looked at Pervaz Castle.
Pervaz Castle, which had a deep moat dug around it and high walls built, served as the 'last bastion' even during the long war.
Thanks to that, there were many damaged places here and there.
Not only the appearance, but also the inside.
"I'm sure they've cleaned it up a bit, but the condition of the castle is not very good, so you may find it uncomfortable to stay here."
"I feel like I've heard that a hundred times."
Carlyle had an infinitely carefree attitude.
'Well, he's been through war zones since he was a child, so he wouldn't complain about a little uncomfortable sleeping place. Judging from the way he endured the camping without a single complaint on the way here…'
No matter how old and gloomy the castle is, it would be better than camping, wouldn't it?
Asha thought so and closed her mouth.
But even so, she couldn't shake the feeling of unease.
"His Highness Carlyle Evaristo, the First Prince of the Chad Empire, has arrived! Open the gates!"
The knights at the front of the line held up the imperial flag and showed the entry permit with Asha's seal.
With a creaking sound, the chains were released and the tightly closed gate descended and hung over the moat.
There were no fanfare or flower petals like in the imperial palace. Only the dark warriors of Pervaz stood in two rows on either side to sullenly welcome the return of their lord.
The villagers who came out to a few steps away were the same. There was no one shouting or cheering.
"Why do they all look like humans who resemble the lord? Are being speechless, expressionless, and blunt the characteristics of people from the northern region?"
"Well, I don't really know what people from other regions are like.... But compared to the capital, I guess that's the case."
"That wasn't a question I asked expecting an answer. I can tell just by looking."
Asha got off the carriage first, thinking she didn't know which beat of Carlyle's to follow.
She tried to escort Carlyle, but he followed her down with a look of absurdity, so there was no need to do so.
"Welcome."
Decker, who had been guarding Pervaz instead of Asha, came out with other warriors and greeted them.
After greeting Decker by patting him on the shoulder and nodding, Asha entered the castle with Carlyle, who was expressionless, and his entourage.
To her surprise, the castle was much cleaner than she had expected.
"You've worked hard, Decker."
"It's nothing."
Asha whispered softly to Decker, but she was secretly proud that at least this wouldn't be disrespectful to the prince.
However, that was just Asha's thought.
"It's a mess."
"What should I call this...."
Giles clicked his tongue with an irritated look, and even Lionel, who was otherwise good-natured, half-opened his mouth and muttered as he looked around.
"It's amazing that there are still such castles in the empire. Well, Pervaz has never been properly incorporated into the empire, so I guess it's natural?"
Pervaz Castle was large and had well-divided rooms and warehouses, but that was all.
The castle, made entirely of stone, felt almost no warmth, and there were no aristocratic luxuries or decorations.
No, there wasn't even a need for luxury goods. There were many essentials missing.
Giles scoffed at Lionel's assessment.
"Shouldn't this be designated as a historical site? The fact that a 3rd century style castle is preserved in such a pristine condition is of academic value, but it seems unsuitable for people to live in."
It wasn't just Giles and Lionel who reacted this way.
The expressions of the servants who followed them were filled with horror and fear.
"Y-you want us to stay here?"
"No way! Even though it's Pervaz, are you asking us to host His Highness the Crown Prince in this place?"
"We came all this way and the only place to unpack is this? Oh, I want to go back."
Complaints and dissatisfaction erupted here and there.
But Asha was also wronged.
'Who asked you to come? And I warned you several times.'
It was their fault for not assuming there could be a worse situation than what they had experienced. She had done nothing wrong.
Moreover, Asha couldn't see what was missing from Pervaz Castle.
'It was said to be a castle used as a royal palace in the past. This is good enough, what is it.'
But she couldn't bring herself to say such words in front of Carlyle, who was looking around the castle with an expressionless face.
The palace or mansion he lived in was truly like heaven.
'Are you thinking you've come to hell?'
There was no way good words would come out.
As expected, Carlyle only opened his mouth after looking around for a long time.
"It looks like an outhouse that an ogre would use."
"Huh? What part...?"
"Where else? This castle. If this can be called a castle."
Asha clenched her teeth, thinking that Carlyle had a good imagination.
She was about to ask what the people who were living well in that ogre outhouse were, but she held back because Carlyle was the kind of person who would answer 'ogre poop' and more.
TL/N: An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet.