Chapter 65: Eighth Episode: Chapter 1 (1/2)
Chapter 65: Eighth Episode: Chapter 1
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The sun set for a while at the west side of the horizon. The clouds for the rainy season came early and depressingly. Night seemed to invade Andrew Haila all of a sudden. The suffocating breath in the city depressed people. As we walked on the street, only the deep humming of the night bugs and the clatter of the horse’s hoofs of the knights on duty could prove the slightest hint of life within the strongest ford on the Westland.
There was a team of knights on the street. The one leading them was a Colonel who wore a golden military outfit. This Colonel completed his duty. If he could not find that Prince who walked at the heart of that unit, he believed that he had already been sent to military department.
The Colonel’s group departed on the night His Royal Highness Prince O’Neil left Andrew Haila in private. But just as the God of Light was looking for trouble with him, he was always just a bit slower than the Prince’s unit, until the night two days ago he found this young master at the site of war of the Traisen Front.
Oscar was protected in the center of the unit by the knights. Since the invasion of the Persians, the city implemented curfew and light control.
Even though Andrew Haila was very far away from the border, to the Persians who were used to travel a long distance, they were able to travel to anywhere they wanted to even at a wide land such as Narcissus County. Of course, coming here did not mean that they could go back. Just like what happened was at the Traisen area, the second young master of the Andrew still captured the Mogadishu’s Main Knight Army Units at Neliger Valley. Only after the opponent lost a third of their force did they retreat from the battle, letting the panicky Persians run back through the border.
At the mansion of Duke Andrew, the whole family was anxiously waiting for their youngest yet highest status member of the family. They all heard about little Oscar and his direct Knights Division involved in a bad fight at the mountains. According to the news, this child almost lost his life there.
Speaking of this, Mam Celia was angry and anxious. It seemed that her youngest son was still immature. Regarding battlefields, she believed that the mentally-ill third son understood it better than her youngest son. How could this kid do this to her? She had sworn not to let this child get hurt ever again, but this kid loved adventure so much.
The living room was full of people. The important members of the Andrew family and Nedgabel Family were all here. This seemed to be a ceremony. When the man of the family returned home from war for the first time, the representatives of the family had to show their kindness and blessing.
Her Royal Highness Princess Alanis still maintained her impeccable lady-like manner, but only the Princess would know what she was truly thinking about in her heart. ”My little Oscar! Quickly come back! I have just experienced the most boring week in my life!”
Upon thinking about this, the Princess felt bitter. Due to her honorable identity and the invasion of the enemy, to protect her safety, Duke Andrew signed the order himself – the Princess was grounded. The secret guards of the Military did not allow her to leave the mansion for even a step.
Even though this was understandable, but... Her Royal Highness Princess looked around. The people of Andrew was the most withdrawn bunch of people. They did not like balls, did not like to discuss about fashion and arts, did not like shopping, and did not like walking at the park and all sorts of entertainment. In fact, the Andrew’s mansion was the first nobles’ mansion the Princess saw with no garden. Thus, everything here was unbearable. So, little Oscar! Let’s leave this place quickly!
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”Sasha!” Oscar recognized the small silhouette in front of the corridor by vestibule of the mansion in a glance.
”Brother Oscar, you are back!” The little miss fell into a warm embrace.
”Yes, I am back.” The young man did not know what he should say more. He could not remember since when he became clumsier around Sasha.
”Mam and many other seniors were waiting for you.”
”I know, bring me to them. They must have waited for a long time!”
Oscar took Sasha’s hand and headed towards the living room. Along the way, many relatives came to give him a hug. In the end, the little Prince took 15 minutes to walk from the corridor to the living room.
Greeting the people seemed to follow a certain pattern. As the mother of family, Madam Celia sat at the most obvious place in the living room. The seniors in the family came to hug the young man one by one and kiss his cheeks.
Lastly, Madam Celia sat her youngest son on the sofa beside her. She let little Oscar confess his wrongdoings to her one by one. After greeting the Princess, Oscar began to explain his experience: from encountering enemy during the journey to chasing them to the deeper part of the mountain, then from the assassination to the last fight that eliminated them. The women in the family would scream out loud when they heard the key parts. At the same time, the men, especially those of older ages, excitedly nodded to the extent that their faces were all red. In between, there were a few who thought they were old and experienced commented on the war strategy taken by the young lad and his brother.
”Kid! Did you bring back some war trophy?” An old man directly asked the young lad.
”Hmm?” Oscar was a little stuck. He forgot the name of this grandfather.
”This is Grandfather Vedaan. Grandfather Vedaan is responsible for chairing the Family’s Senior Group.” Sasha carefully hinted her brother by his ear.
”Oh….. Yes! Grandfather Vedaan!” Oscar signaled to the military officers standing by the side of the door. After saluting to him, this military officer turned around then left. After a while, he came back to the living room with two big baggages. The Andrew Family has many weird traditions. Take for example, young men who go to war the first time must bring back war trophies. Anything would be fine as long as it belonged to the enemy. These trophies would be sent to the Hall of Heroes. That was the best offering to their ancestors. At the same time, after receiving the trophy, the family would officially recognize you as a member of the Narcissus Knights.
”Grandfather Vedaan, I brought back the blade of a Black Belt Warrior and the chained blade used by the Persian’s assassination unit.” Little Oscar unwrapped the baggage and gave them to the seniors in the room one by one.
The old men and the young lads came together to take a look at them with curious faces. That machete used by the Black Belt Warrior was truly a magnificent product. This blade could be the few top trophies in the collection of the family easily; the chained blade used by the assassin was more new to them. The Persians back in those days disdained using such shameful techniques. The use of the chained blade could only prove that the Persian warriors have fallen.
Vedaan took a close look at the chained blade. After looking at it for a while, he gave it to another old man beside him.
”Then, what do you guys think about this child?”
”What’s wrong Vedaan? This child was pretty good!” An old man said. ”He eliminated the assassination unit of the Persians, successfully eliminated a Black Belt Warrior and led the Red Tiger to assist that punk Figg to win a key war.”
”Yes yes, I know.” Vedaan kept nodding. ”I understand these perfectly well! But, the Madame present today, every seniors in the family, I only wanted to remind everyone that we have never given a military title of the Narcissus Knights to a Prince of the Empire.”
The living room was quiet all of a sudden. Oscar’s expression was so dark that it was terrifying.
”Sir!”
Everyone was searching for this crisp lady’s voice. They saw the most honorable Princess of the Morisette Kingdom rise gracefully from her seat.
Vedaan quickly stood up and greeted her courteously. He was not prideful enough to sit while he talked to the Princess of the Empire.
”His Royal Highness Prince O’Neil immersed in the fight just like any other Narcissus Knights, but he had to come home and receive such doubts. I do not know why Sir Vedaan could so easily express his distrust towards the royal family, but I do think this is unfair to His Royal Highness.” Alanis paused for a bit here. She glanced sideways at Mam Celia who was sitting at the main seat with a hint of challenge. ”I am sorry, everyone in the Andrew family. I may have said something that I should not have said. Maybe... These words should not be said by me.”
The Princess sat down. She exchanged a glance with the little Prince. She knew the Prince was expressing his gratitude, but she believed the Prince would understand her intention. From the perspective of an outsider, there seemed to be some unspeakable coordination between the Prince and the Princess.
Lady Duchess Andrew Celia thought the negative emotions of the family should be less by now, but it seemed that they truly planned to bring the trust issues towards the Prince out to the open. Moreover, the one who expressed this opinion was the president of the Family’s Senior Group.
But Madame Celia was provoked and embarrassed by the Princess. This girl’s last words was obviously directed towards her.
”Uncle Vedaan!” Celia stood up. ”Please talk about this at a later time. Little Oscar is about to return to Dulin. We have lots of time to discuss about this problem after that.”
Vedaan smiled. He didn’t say anything more, and simply closed his eyes. From his perspective, there was no need to offend Dortmund’s First Lady for a kid who has not grown out of childhood. After all, Dortmund ruled the army and his First Lady then ruled the family in name.
”Well then. Let’s look at this. Isn’t there another baggage?” An old man hoped to break this awkward conversation, but the action of the Prince frightened him!
”Don’t touch it!” Oscar jumped. It could be said that he snatched the baggage back from that old man.
”Oh god! Child! What’s wrong?” Celia was a little troubled. Giving this attitude to the seniors in the family should be punished.
”This is the remains of a knight. According to the tradition of the Narcissus Knight, the one who received the final confession of the soldier who sacrificed himself is responsible to send his remains and weapon back to his hometown.” Oscar had the baggage in his hand. He stood there as if he had just lost his soul.
Vedaan wanted to scold the child for being rude, but he also felt that he should take care of the knight who had sacrificed himself. It appeared that that knight suffered a horrible death, or else it would not cause such strong emotions in a child.
Vedaan at last snorted coldly, but Oscar could not care less.
”Brother! Brother! Wait for me!” Sasha followed Oscar right at his back closely. Since the young lad snatched the baggage, everyone was not that interested anymore. Hence, everyone simply left.
”What’s wrong? My little angel.”
”You know at that situation just now, I have no right to speak. My status does not allow me to...”
”Sasha... My dear dear little sister!” Oscar held his sister’s face. He interrupted the little miss who wanted to quickly explain everything. ”I know. I know it all. I won’t blame this on you. There are people in this family who are cautious around me. This is something that cannot be avoided. It can’t be help when there is a crown of top member of royal family on my head!”
”But... But this isn’t fair!” Sasha cried. She did not know and understand. Why couldn’t the seniors in the family think about how much pain and difficulties her brother had gone through? Other than having doubts, didn’t they have other things to do?
”Sasha! My little Sasha!” Oscar hugged his sister tightly. ”You are crying again. You’re a crybaby! Where is your strength and calmness? This is not Andrew’s Narcissus Corolla! You must trust your brother. On top of that, I am the youngest son of that old man. If I didn’t want to go, can those old guys truly drive me away?”
”But... But...” Sasha kept sobbing. She truly did not want be separated from her brother. She could no longer stand that.
”There’s no buts!” Oscar felt this was the time to make up his mind! ”If I am to leave, I will bring you with me! A few days ago when you had your birthday, I swore that we will never be separated again! Could you have forgotten about such important matter?”
”Really?” Sasha finally smiled rather than cried. ”But if father and mother do not allow this...”
”Who cares!” Oscar was getting impatient. He felt that Sasha was becoming cowardly all of a sudden. ”My little miss, let them go to hell! This time, no one can stop me. No one can separate us. If they dare to try, do not forget that I still have a direct Division under me!”
Sasha finally smiled happily. ”Brother! Oh god! It can’t be that you plan to initiate an armed riot? Believe me, the first one to arrest you must be the knights directly under your command. They won’t listen to your orders and oppose to the family!”
Oscar pretended to be terrified. ”Oh is that so? Then what should we do? Oh god! Listen to me, Sasha, quickly pack up your things. We shall move out now!”
The little miss’s crisp laughter seemed to fill the whole mansion. But to Her Royal Highness Princess who watched the whole scene at the turning corner of the corridor, the joke of the Prince and the little miss was not something enjoyable.
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In the morning, a priest in the army arrived in the mansion of Duke Andrew. This surprised the person responsible to greet him. Could it be that another member in the family sacrificed himself again? If not, why did the priest in army came to them?
The military officers who greeted the priest finally breathed a sigh of relief. They received the answer of the priest: it seemed that he came to meet up with His Royal Highness Prince. The people in the mansion let out the sound of ‘Tsk’ at the same time. What could they say about this honorable young lad? Didn’t he know how bad luck it was to greet a priest in army in his house?
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Oscar pushed the window of his bedroom open. The smell of morning came gushing in. The young lad carefully breathed in the smell of soil that mixed with the flower scent of Narcissus. This was the smell of hometown, the smell of his blood.
There was a huge dressing mirror standing by the window. Apparently, his father paid a huge price to have it specifically made for his mother from Italia. The dressing mirror reflected a young lad’s figure right now. The black armor on him still looked hideous. He wore a new riding boots and a cape on his shoulder that was of the same style as the Red Tiger Division. That bright red stood out from the crowd. The young lad even tied his hair into a small tail. He did not wear the helmet because the armor on the helmet made his face looked even rounder.
The knocking sound was heard. Lastly, Oscar checked the sword he had on him and the silver button used to hold the cape still at the collar. The emblem of the Andrew Family was carved on this button. Then next, the most difficult moment to bear had come. He took a deep breath and walked out of the room.
On one of the streets of Andrew Haila City, a medium-sized unit walked from the east towards the west. The one leading the team was an officer who looked extremely young. Behind him was a Major General and the priest in army. And then there were eight knights of honor with black suits. The passerby paused and the people by the road side stopped working. The whole street seemed to become quiet. The standing crowd took off their hats respectively, some even got on their knees. They knew the appearance of this team indicated another sacrifice of a brave warrior and the loss of happiness of another family.
The residents of the street went to their backyards and plucked numerous blooming narcissus flowers. They threw the fresh flowers at the right knights of honor. When these eight knights moved, they must keep a certain distance to indicate that they were holding the coffin for the brave warrior.
Even though the people respected this team to the extent of being devout, they all stood far away from the team. The ladies and the old men mumbled the words of the God of Light in a low voice. They were afraid that this team would stop in front of their house. They were afraid that the warrior who had sacrificed himself was their son or husband.
Oscar orders the team to stop. He looked at the postbox of the family in front of him. The crooked words written on the postbox were written by a child. ”This is the family of Gol Freed!”
”Your highness, it is this place!” Murat reminded the young lad in a low voice. He saw the young lad was staring blankly at the house in front of him. ”Your Highness, do you need me to get the door?”
”Oh... No!” Oscar finally got back to his senses. ”I can do it myself.”
The young lad jumped off his battle horse. He could faintly heard a low sobbing sound that came from the crowd behind the team of knights. There seemed to be people who were saying de Barry’s name. This was the place he lived in and grew up. The neighbors were all proud for being acquainted with de Barry. But now, the priest was here. This meant that everything was finished.
Oscar went to the side of the door made of oak of the house. He turned back and glanced at Murat hesitantly.
”That’s right. Just as I have taught you.” Murat advised the young lad once again. He hoped that nothing wrong would go for this kid.
His Royal Highness Prince rang the copper bell by the door.
”Who is it?” Behind the door a lady’s voice came through. Oscar felt his heart was squeezed.
The door opened and the sunlight poured into the walkway. Behind the door stood a beautiful housewife. She was tall. She even wore an apron on her skirt.
”Are you Madame Gol Freed? The wife of Colonel de Barry Gol Freed?”
”Yes... I... I am!” This Madame wiped her hands on the apron uneasily, but her expression quickly turned pale. She saw the priest behind the young soldier.
”Oh no...” There was no need to say anymore. Madame Gol Freed already understood. She leaned against the door and slid down it out of strength as if all air in her body has been removed.
Oscar held Madame Freed who was on the ground, but for some reasons, the seemingly thin woman was extremely heavy. The young man could not even help her up from the ground.
The lady cried, but without any sound. She used all her strength to cover her mouth. She did not want to embarrass her husband even though her husband already left her forever.