73. The Most Expensive Cheese

After the Blackthorn subjugation concluded successfully.

Arendal, who had returned to Hellmunt, was already resting due to circulating rumors about his illness.

His eldest son, Loengreen, had departed for Evergard, the capital of the Albion Kingdom.

He was attending in Arendal’s place to receive honors for the successful defeat of the Blackthorn.

Therefore, Hellmunt was currently flowing around the eldest daughter, Lianna.

It wasn’t as if the weighty, solemn atmosphere from Arendal’s time had completely vanished.

However, all the servants agreed that the silence in the manor felt lighter.

And.

Lianna now stood before a small, nameless grave.

“……”

From the grander perspective, a woman who attempted to assassinate a traitor of the Transcendent race but failed.

Of course, Millie had no knowledge of things like the Transcendent race, so it couldn’t be interpreted to that extent.

To Lianna, she was an assassin who tried to kill her mother.

Nevertheless, she closed her eyes tightly before the grave, offering a moment of silent mourning.

The old Lianna wouldn’t have known what to do or what to feel standing before her grave.

But through her mother’s death, the parting with her husband, she had gained a certain measure of growth.

“Thank you for opening my eyes.”

Lianna placed a single white chrysanthemum before her grave, whispering the words.

“Thank you for supporting Isaac.”

Clear, unwavering eyes.

Within her crimson gaze, the blind storm cloud called ‘love’ no longer lingered.

“I will take you to a place where you can rest peacefully.”

Lianna turned.

Behind her, the knights of Hellmund, prepared for the exhumation, stood in formation.

“She is an benefactor of my husband.”

Lianna spoke as she walked past the ranks.

“Treat her with utmost respect.”

And so, the preparations for the transfer began.

By the princess’s request, she would be moved not here, but to a cemetery in the capital, Evergard.

And Lianna herself would take on the duty of escorting her.

Not only to protect Millie, but because she too had work to do in Evergard.

“…”

The divorce from Isaac.

The princess had sent word that she would personally attend as witness.

Divorces at this time were rare, and the procedure rather complex, making a witness crucial.

For the princess of a nation to directly fulfill that role…it meant, in effect, that the moment the marriage was declared invalid could no longer be reversed.

“It was something I braced for.”

She ran a hand over the ring on her left ring finger.

Her expression remained unchanged.

Calm. Still.

A rose-scented wind brushed past Lianna’s hair, as if in consolation.

But the rose scent, a symbol of Hellmund, felt all the more unsettling to her.

Soon, she would depart for Evergard.

To finalize things with the man she had first loved.

And, perhaps, would love for the last time.

* * *

A few days ago, Isaac arrived in Evergarde and had been, quite literally, healing.

Early morning.

The early sunlight streamed in from the window, enveloping his body in the soft embrace of the plush bed and blankets.

A tempting, almost fatal comfort, as if the bed itself was pulling him deeper.

But as the hour approached, Isaac opened his eyes and rose from his bed.

He made his bed, washed, and changed.

Done.

He went directly to the next room.

“Silberna!”

“Umpf?!”

Silberna, just waking up, startled and pulled the covers over her head.

“Come on, get dressed!”

“Then you should’ve woken me earlier. Didn’t you say you’d wake up early today?”

Isaac stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. Silberna peeked out, seeming embarrassed as she shouted.

“J-just let me rest! I haven’t had a break like this since the North, always on duty!”

“Rest time? What did you say when we were drinking last time?”

The night they enjoyed celebratory drinks after arriving in Evergarde. Silberna, flushed and red-faced, had proclaimed.

[I! Will become stronger! I will! Smash everything!]

It seemed that her feeling useless in the battle against the Sword Demon had left a deep impression.

Since then, Silberna had certainly trained hard, but having tasted the warmth of the capital and the royal palace’s modern facilities, so different from the North’s outdated ones, she had become somewhat lax.

“Okay, okay, just get out now! I’m going to change!”

“Alright, *Bbyak!*”

“I told you not to do that!”

Silberna shot up and charged at him with a pillow. Just a moment ago, she had been embarrassed to be seen in her pajamas, but now she brazenly threw back the covers and rushed him.

Isaac chuckled and quickly stepped outside.

Ever since arriving in the capital, Silberna had suddenly started acting cute, saying “*Bbyak!*” repeatedly.

Unfortunately, it had become nothing more than an embarrassing memory.

‘Unbelievable.’

Isaac stood outside the door, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Anna must have taught her, but Isaac couldn’t believe she’d blindly copied it.

A side unseen in her past life.

Back then, when Caldia and the Barrier of Marid collapsed, she’d seemed emotionally worn.

But this Silverna was clearly different, and Isaac found it pleasing.

“Heh.”

It was a small laugh, to be sure.

Had she heard it?

Silverna’s face flushed crimson as she flung open the door.

“You were thinking about it again, weren’t you?! I told you not to laugh!”

Isaac’s acquiescence, Silverna’s huffing… neither noticed.

Reflecting on it now, her little act had worked quite well.

‘Ppi-gyat, indeed.’

The fact he was still mulling it over proved as much.

“Ahem.”

Thirty minutes or so passed.

Silverna emerged from her room.

“What took you so long?”

Isaac, who had been reading, furrowed his brow. Silverna merely pouted.

“I’m a woman, you know?”

“…More like a Northern Valkyrie.”

“This isn’t the North.”

The pair, still bickering, made their way to the Royal Knight Training Grounds.

A place dedicated to fostering knights, it was impressively vast.

Not merely a wide-open space like the training grounds of the North, but equipped with dozens of specialized apparatuses.

Protective gear for sparring, of course, but also magical devices that allowed for more realistic simulated combat.

Even analysis of combat was possible; when Isaac first came here, he’d been as delighted as a child in a playground.

It was early, and the training grounds were empty.

They always were.

Since Isaac and Silverna had arrived, they were the first to unlock the training grounds each day.

Isaac considered it late, but compared to others, it was still early hours.

Physical conditioning, swordsmanship, spear practice, wooden sword sparring, mock battles…

The training consumed them until the ranks of knights were filled to bursting.

Past midday, they finished showering and met outside.

“……”

“……”

There was a peculiar air between them, meeting after showering in the training grounds’ facilities.

A strange feeling arose when they saw each other’s hair, still damp, and skin, so flawlessly clean.

‘What is this feeling?’

Sylverna, a lifelong singleton who only considered men as comrades, soldiers, protectors, or those needing protection, didn’t recognize the nebulous emotion swirling within her now.

Handsome, the ferry’s heartthrob, champion festival flirt, charmer of noble ladies, the man who plucked the Crimson Rose, defiler of married women.

Isaac, burdened by his many titles, knew it all too well.

‘A woman’s freshly bathed state is usually reserved for the bedroom, isn’t it?’

He wasn’t sure about the other knights, but for them, a confessed couple, such moments couldn’t be easily dismissed.

Awkwardly, they departed.

Having finished training early, they were headed to none other than the underground prison.

Having obtained a pass from the Princess in advance, they passed through without further ado.

They entered the musty, airless waiting room of the dungeon, where Sharen sat on a chair, nodding off.

“Sharen.”

“Huh?!”

Isaac called out, startling her awake, and she wiped a thin trail of drool from the corner of her mouth.

“…Waking up just like someone I know?”

Sylverna elbowed him, shooting him a glare as she recalled this morning, and he chuckled.

Upon spotting Isaac, Sharen burst into tears.

“Isaacc! Trade places with meee! I don’t wanna be hereee!”

“…Ask Loewengreen to trade.”

As Alois’s representative and protector, a member of the Helmont direct line was assigned to wait at the prison.

Loewengreen and Sharen took turns standing guard each day.

“Loewengreen, that idiot, ran away!”

Ran away?

He’d seen him at the training grounds a moment ago.

“Waaah! I wanna stroll through town with Isaac! I heard they have delicious sweets here!”

He soothed her with a comforting pat on the head, and her whimpering voice finally quieted down a little.

Whatever the case, it seemed clear Loengreen had fled because he didn’t want to be here.

“But why did Isaac come? That person isn’t here anymore.”

By ‘that person,’ she meant the Grand Master.

The Grand Master had essentially received a summary trial and was already living near the Princess.

Although, for formality’s sake, he hadn’t received his greatsword yet, he was being treated with every consideration.

“I’m going to see him this evening. Today, I came to see Alois.”

“What? Weren’t you here to see me?”

Perhaps she’d secretly hoped he’d say he’d come for her. Sharen crossed her arms, puffing out her cheeks in disappointment.

Isaac poked her cheek with his finger, letting the air out, then headed inside with Silverna.

Or, rather, just before going inside.

Isaac stopped and looked at Silverna.

“Wait here.”

“…Why?”

“I think I’m going to say things you won’t want to hear.”

“Hmm?”

She wondered what he meant, but Silverna shook her head.

“No way, I want to spit in that b*stard’s face.”

“…”

Silverna, audacious as ever, threatened to display some Northern mockery.

After a moment of consideration, Isaac decided to warn her plainly.

“Just remember, anything I say inside is not what I truly feel.”

“Warning me like that just makes me want to listen even more.”

Silverna shrugged.

Isaac shook his head, unable to dissuade her, and stepped inside.

The dungeon was in such poor condition that ‘squalid’ hardly did it justice.

It wasn’t just that it was unkempt.

On the contrary, it had been maintained too well, leaving the air thick with a cloying dryness and the pungent odor of sulfuric acid.

A place deliberately designed to prevent the inmates from living in comfort.

At the very end of it all.

Even in the gloom, Alois’s red hair blazed, chains wound around his neck and one arm as he waited for Isaac.

“You vulgar cur.”

Alois, after so long.

Perhaps he no longer felt the need to conceal his animosity?

No longer ‘brother-in-law’, but a steep drop to ‘vulgar cur’.

It almost drew a mirthless chuckle from Isaac.

“How’s the arm?”

At the jab about his missing limb, a vein pulsed violently on Alois’s forehead.

The clatter of the chains was testament to the depth of his rage.

“A baseborn wretch like you, the very notion of you marrying my sister was absurd! If not for you, my sister wouldn’t suffer so! My sister is everything to m-!”

“I’m not interested.”

Isaac cut him off, his voice chilling, punctuated by a sigh.

“Lianna arrives here tomorrow.”

He explained the reason for his visit.

“The Princess, of her own volition, will grant us a divorce.”

Isaac raised the ring still on his left ring finger as he spoke.

“Finally, things are falling into place, you base-…”

“I intend to withdraw from the divorce.”

“…!”

Alois’s eyes widened. The lips that had been so free with their taunts clamped shut.

He waited, heart pounding, for Isaac’s next words.

“I’ll reclaim Lianna. And we’ll have children, raise them. Naturally, I’ll become the head of Hellmundt.”

“You baaastard!”

*Crash! Crash! Crash!*

The chains rattled violently.

Alois roared with a fury Isaac had never witnessed.

It only elicited a sardonic smile.

“That’s all I came to tell you.”

“You dog! You lay a finger on my, my sister! I’ll smash your damned face in, even if it’s the last thing I-“

Silberna thrust her hand through the bars.

A surge of white aura blasted from his palm, striking Alois squarely and slamming him against the wall.

*Thud!*

“Guh…?! Caldiaaas!”

“Shut your mouth, you’re repulsive.”

Silberna’s voice, icy and sharp.

Alois’s gaze burned into him, face as crimson as his hair.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

Isaac turned on his heel.

“Brother-in-law.”

“Iiiiiisaaac!”

*Thud.*

After Isaac and Silberna exited.

“I understand why you told me not to listen.”

Silberna nodded, seemingly convinced. Isaac knew it wasn’t exactly pleasant to hear, to be honest.

But it was necessary.

“I needed to provoke Alois.”

“Well, if you say so, I’ll believe it. But…”

Silberna glanced at him sideways.

Isaac answered before she could ask.

“The documents are already done, and I’ve secured the Princess’s observer. There’s nothing to cancel.”

“Ahem, I didn’t ask?”

Silberna gave an awkward smile and took the lead, and Isaac chuckled softly, casting one last glance towards the prison cell where Alois was.

‘Please, I’m begging you, Alois.’

If you’re the man I know, you won’t be able to stand it.

You’ll try to stop it, by any means necessary.

Just like you shattered my legs in my previous life.

‘You will become the bait they absolutely cannot resist.’

The ones with a particular interest in Hellmunt wouldn’t simply leave Alois locked up in a prison.

To Isaac, Alois was a type of cheese.

Foul-smelling, but capable of luring out the rats.

“Alois.”

The most expensive cheese in the world.

“You will surely, take their hand.”

Oblivious to the predicted betrayal.