“Who is the flower for?” Suddenly, the Duke asked. Niall hesitated before answering.
“For a young girl. It’s for her mother.”
“To give a flower to a woman here implies a proposal.” Niall’s eyes widened slightly.
“I didn’t know. But the child I’m giving the flower to is only thirteen…”
“Thirteen is a suitable age for engagement. Tell me, Omega. Can you mate with a woman?” Niall hesitated but nodded. He hadn’t tried it, but it wasn’t impossible.
“You engage in intercourse with both men and women. Impure.”
Niall tried to argue, but the Duke seemed to lose interest in the conversation and looked away. Niall felt thoroughly excluded, despite standing next to the Duke. If he bowed and left now, the Duke probably wouldn’t care.
Niall felt a bit impatient. Why did he act like that back then? If he asked, what would the Duke say? Would he remember being ignored by the well? Niall pursed his lips but couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
The spring breeze, summoned by money, brushed past them and moved on. A magpie flew across the sky, crying out. Beautiful voices dominated the scene.
“Forgive me.”
Then Niall’s hand slipped through the Duke’s hair, and only then did the Duke turn to look at Niall.
“Your Grace, I am not impure.” Niall whispered, removing his hand from the Duke’s silky blue hair. Purple lobelia flowers were tucked where he touched. The Duke had said that he could pick any flower and give it to anyone. So Niall picked a lobelia flower and gave it to the Duke.
“I… now only want Your Grace.”
“….”
“Your Grace, please say something.”
The Duke, wearing a black cloak, stood out starkly against the white rose field. His fingers slowly ascended through Niall’s hair, touching the lobelia Niall had placed. The lobelia petals touched by the Duke’s hand slowly withered, falling off one by one.
“Do you want to die?”
The Duke asked with an angry voice. Niall shook his head. He loved life more than anyone else. Niall wanted to cross the sea and see the end of the world. To do that, he needed to open the Duke’s heart. His heart was so tightly closed.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The Duke, who had been glaring fiercely at Niall, brushed past him. Blood was flowing down Niall’s cheek, left alone in the place where the Duke had gone. “Haha, it hurts,” Niall muttered bitterly, wiping his cheek. “Haha….” Niall was no longer sure if this plan would succeed.
∞ ∞ ∞
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“I’m Rosemary. Rose got her name from me. Thank you for the flower. It must have been hard to find, and it really comforted me a lot.”
Rosemary was elegant and had dignity. Her touch when pulling the hem of her dress or setting the table showed that she had received good education. Frankly, she seemed better than most nobles Niall had seen.
“Excuse me, ma’am. May I ask what work you did in the castle?”
“Of course. You won’t be rude. I originally learned under the majordomo in the castle.”
“Under the majordomo? Is that possible?”
Niall exclaimed without realizing it.
“I guess you’ll be the next majordomo. Honestly, I was surprised. Can a woman rise to such a high position in the North?”
“Of course. The Duke’s captain of the knights is also a woman.”
Upon hearing this, Niall dropped his fork unintentionally. When the fork hit the plate with a loud clang, Niall blushed and apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. It seems surprising to someone from the Central Region, huh?”
Rosemary asked, who was rolling her feet because she found the adults’ conversation boring, to bring a new fork.
“The majordomo had so much work, there was another assistant besides me. It would have been helpful if I weren’t like this.”
“Where are you hurting?”
“My lungs are not good. They say the cold air in the North doesn’t suit me. It’s absurd for someone from the North to say that the North air doesn’t suit them.”
Rosemary laughed, pulling her shawl over her shoulders and wrapping herself. Niall recalled her words that she had spit blood because of her poor lungs.
The conversation between the two naturally drifted into a discussion about the Duke. Like any Northerner, Rosemary also had overflowing awe and admiration for the Duke.
“My husband died on the battlefield. I can receive his pension for ten years after his death. By then, Rose will have grown up.”
Rosemary explained that families of soldiers who fought to defend the North in the war receive pensions. She also mentioned various welfare benefits in the North. Widows without income are given jobs in the castle. War orphans find guardians to take care of them, and monthly payments are made. In case of refugees due to war, they are settled in new lands, and men are conscripted into the army.
“All these benefits were created by the Duke. Taking care of widows, looking after orphans, everything is the result of the Duke’s care for us. So, if I have to fight for him, I will not hesitate to dedicate my life for him as long as he is with us.”
Northerners never said phrases like ‘For the Emperor’ or ‘For the Empire.’ Their loyalty was solely directed towards the Duke.
There were many things to repair in the old house. Niall, trying to avoid the cold, noticed the creaking sound of old wooden panels attached to the wall and offered to mend them. Rosemary was delighted with just that and proposed to Niall to become friends.
‘If she were an Omega.’
On the way back to the castle, Niall thought. Rosemary was a widow with a child. If she were an Omega, she would have been quite fitting into Niall’s ideal type.
‘But she’s neither an Omega nor a male.’
Therefore, Niall and Rosemary could become perfect friends.
When Niall returned to the castle, he felt the entire air in the castle buzzing loudly. Heralds with trumpets were running around, and knights were giving orders loudly to the sowers.
Women rushed forward and tied ribbons fluttering in the wind to their swords, and the latch of the never-before-opened gate rattled as it opened.
“Sir, sir, what’s going on?”
Niall asked, noticing Phil passing by. Phil approached Niall excitedly and shouted,
“It’s war, war!”
“War? Who is it against?”
“Those damn Ruggartons, who else!”
Phil clenched his fist and pounded his chest.
“It’s like an annual event. They’ve invaded the borders again. Those bastards never get tired.”
Ruggarton was another empire located to the left of the Empire of Prastos. A once powerful nation, now gradually losing strength after Prastos entered the ranks of empires, Magnus Duke had recovered the territory that was the empire’s long-standing wish from Ruggarton nine years ago.
The land, considered sacred as the first place where the gods set foot on earth, was revered by the continentals.
Although the land had passed to Prastos, Ruggarton had never given up its ownership of the land. In an attempt to reclaim the land taken nine years ago, Ruggarton would invade sacred sites under the pretext of a holy battle.
Since farmers had to return to till the land in spring, wars only broke out in winter. It was not a proper war but rather an invasion as a vent for the land that was taken away, according to Phil’s explanation. Niall, who listened with keen interest, suddenly looked up.
“Will the Duke be going on campaign too?”
“Of course!”
Phil replied loudly.
“How could the Duke miss out on crushing Ruggarton? We will naturally follow the Duke… Niall?”
Ignoring Phil’s call, Niall ran towards the barracks. He remembered seeing the majordomo looking extremely busy for the past few days. If the reason was the war, it made sense.
War had broken out. The Duke would leave. Niall had never experienced war before. Rumor had it that some wars lasted only a fortnight, while others dragged on for years. If a siege occurred, the Duke might not return until the end of the season.
The Majordomo was in the barracks. He was shouting something loudly among the soldiers, counting numbers, and bustling around. Niall squeezed through the bustling crowd of mixed night and day guards and hung onto the Majordomo’s arm.
“Take me with you too!”
The Majordomo glanced at Niall briefly and shook his head.
“No. Where do you think you’re going?”
“But the Duke is going.”
Niall whispered quietly to Majordomo so only he could hear.
“The Duke needs me. You know that.”
Thanks for the update 🌹
Thanks for picking up this rather strange story.