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Chapter 41
Temple (3)
“Looks like something’s bothering you.”
Bright and cheerful by nature, she paid no attention to the maid’s sensitive reaction.
Just as Linda was about to put the medicine back in her bag and close it, her gaze dropped.
On the floor of the corridor lay a round keyring with several keys attached.
It must have fallen when she bumped into that maid earlier.
“She’s going to cry her eyes out when the head attendant scolds her for losing these.”
Smiling playfully, Linda jingled the keys on the ring and rounded the corner, chasing after the maids.
They were visible up ahead.
Trying to sneak up quietly on her tiptoes to startle them, Linda’s face gradually stiffened.
Unexpectedly, the maids were gossiping about her.
“Look at that, she’s going to the lord’s chamber again today.”
“Probably to give him medicine.”
“You idiot, before she used to come right back out. Lately, have you seen how long she stays? That’s more than enough time to… do it several times. Looks like the young lord’s become a man.”
“Oh my god. So she seduced him while pretending to nurse him back to health?”
“Wouldn’t you? The partner is the lord himself. I found her disgusting ever since the rumors started—how she goes around pretending to be some saint, treating villagers. Does she think she’s an angel? She’s nothing but a slut.”
The maid who had bumped into Linda earlier continued her bitter tirade, her eyes flashing with jealousy.
Unable to bear hearing any more, Linda tapped the maid on the shoulder.
“Hey!”
The maid flinched and turned around—just in time to get a hard punch square in the face.
“Ahhh!”
With a short cry, she stumbled backward, tripped over her feet, and crashed to the floor. The other maid stood frozen, panicked and at a loss.
“Why… why are you hitting me?!”
The punched maid wiped the blood running from her nose, her voice breaking.
“Because you deserve it. Could you repeat to the lord’s face exactly what you just said?”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I heard every word. If you thought so little of the lord that you’d invent such lies and drag me into it, then should I report you immediately for insulting him?”
At the mention of insulting the lord, both maids trembled in fear.
After glaring at them for a while, Linda tossed the keyring onto the floor.
“I’ll let it slide this once. Watch your mouths!”
Ian was studying the history of the kingdom, reading aloud and asking Linda whenever he stumbled upon an unfamiliar word.
Even though the trip to Randell village had left him exhausted and injured, he did not skip his lessons.
If I’d studied with this much dedication back home, I might’ve gotten into a good university. Not that it would’ve mattered—I’d still have ended up fighting those bastards from another world.
Suppressing the pain radiating from the wound on his back, he continued reading. But he couldn’t ignore how gloomy Linda looked on the other side of the book.
She’d been like that ever since she entered the chamber earlier.
At last, Ian set the history book down and looked straight at her.
“Did something happen? You look upset.”
“No, nothing.”
“Don’t lie. I can see it all over your face.”
Leaning forward, Ian studied her expression more closely.
“You’re angry, aren’t you?”
“…My lord, I think people are getting the wrong idea.”
After some hesitation, Linda finally spoke.
“What do you mean?”
“This room.”
She gestured to the spacious, ornate bedchamber behind the table.
“Because I spend so much time in here… people are misinterpreting it. You know what I mean.”
“What’s wrong with staying long in—ah!”
Realization dawned on Ian, and he scratched his chin with an awkward smile.
“I see. I suppose people could take it that way.”
Only a handful of people—Rondo, Harmond, and a few others—knew that he was actually studying in the chamber. To outsiders, the misunderstanding was almost inevitable.
“You don’t need me anymore. You can read and study on your own. So today will be my last day.”
“What? No way. I still have so much to learn from you. And studying alone is boring—you need someone by your side to praise you, to nudge you when you start dozing off. I’ve only gotten this far thanks to you, Linda.”
“Please don’t force it. You’ve always liked studying, my lord.”
“Me?”
Ian pointed to himself in disbelief.
“You haven’t gotten a single question wrong so far. That means you genuinely love books. Just like before you lost your memory.”
“I studied to survive. I didn’t want to be scorned as an ignorant lord.”
“Exactly. You didn’t do it because of me.”
“…Do you really want to stop? If you’re worried about people’s stares, we can move. Let’s use the library.”
The manor’s archive contained a study reserved for successive lords.
“Even if we move, once suspicion takes root it doesn’t go away easily.”
“Who dares suspect such a thing? I’ll have their heads.”
“I’m sorry, my lord. Because of me…”
Lowering her head, Linda stayed still, her calm eyes downcast.
Ian watched her in silence. She seemed to have made up her mind completely.
“No… if anything, I should apologize. I couldn’t have learned this fast without you. That’s the truth.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“I just want to ask one thing.”
“Yes?”
She raised her head, her clear eyes meeting his.
“Do you like Sora?”
“…Yes. She’s beautiful.”
Answering in a small voice, Linda quietly left the chamber.
“Damn it.”
Closing the history book, Ian collapsed onto the bed.
Without Linda, studying suddenly felt hollow.
—Regretful?
Blanzor drifted down from the air, peering at Ian lying on the bed.
“Of course. My only friend in this place just left me. I don’t even want to study anymore. I don’t want to do anything.”
You sound like a sulking child.
“Who the hell upset Linda? If I find out—”
It’s only the lessons she won’t share with you. You’ll still see her often.
“Still… it feels empty. And I feel guilty.”
Sighing, Ian got up and changed into his training clothes.
You’re not seriously going to train with that injured body, are you?
“I need to grow stronger—fast. Every fight leaves me battered.”
Kicking the door open, he strode into the hall.
The head attendant was there with two maids and over ten guards, including Rondo.
“My lord.”
They all saluted.
“Head attendant.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Tell the cook to bring lunch straight to the underground training hall.”
“Open the gates! The captain of the guard has returned!”
At sunset, Captain Jallang Deporte rode at the head of his men, banners flying, as they entered Alberne Castle.
Astonishingly, though there were injuries, not a single soldier had been killed.
“Dismiss the troops. Tonight, they may lodge outside in Camieux.”
Issuing orders to his lieutenant, Hesse, Jallang turned his horse toward the lord’s manor.
The roads within the castle were well kept; his horse’s hooves rang crisply on the stones.
“Captain!”
The guards at the manor bowed deeply as he dismounted, their eyes brimming with respect.
Among the guard, there was not a man who did not revere Jallang.
Nodding slightly, he handed over the reins and entered the manor.
“Where is the lord?”
“In the underground training hall.”
“…The training hall?”
He paused, then turned and headed downstairs.
Helmet tucked under his arm, his strides were measured, the guards along the passage snapping to salute as he passed.
Before long, he reached the arched stone gates that blocked the training hall.
“Welcome back, Captain.”
Rondo greeted him brightly.
“The lord is inside?”
“Yes.”
“Open it.”
With a grinding scrape, the stone doors swung open.
From the high steps, Jallang looked down.
In the vast training chamber, sword in hand, the young lord looked back up at him.
Their gazes met, sparking like crossed blades.
The lord’s unflinching stare made Jallang’s eyes deepen.
For a moment he studied the young man in silence, then slowly descended the steps.
The closer he came, the sweatier Ian’s palms grew—not from fear, but from the keen instinct that he was facing a truly formidable opponent.
Then, all at once, Jallang’s overwhelming aura softened.
“Kneeling before you, I, Jallang, report my mission complete.”
Before the lord, he dropped to one knee, head bowed.
Ian exhaled slowly, forcing a smile onto his face.
“Well done. I’ve been waiting for your return.”
“During my mission, I crossed into Robellon territory. Please punish me.”
“I know the circumstances. If anything, you deserve reward, not punishment.”
“…I am ashamed.”
“Enough, stand.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Rising slowly, Jallang’s eyes lingered on the sword in Ian’s hand.
“I hear you lost your memories.”
“That’s right. It hasn’t been easy, adjusting.”
Ian swung the sword lightly, gauging Jallang’s expression.
“You seem better this way.”
The captain’s tone was calm.
“Really? You mean that? The treasurer doesn’t think so.”
“From my view, it is so.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Ian sheathed the sword and placed it on the rack.
“I don’t know how I treated you before… but from what I’ve gathered, you were the one who shielded me from the treasurer and clerks. That right?”
“I only protected the castle.”
“Don’t be modest. I hear things too.”
Ian grasped Jallang’s calloused hand.
“You’ve stayed by my side, protecting me, even after my father died. That means more than I can say.”
He deliberately mentioned the late lord in Jallang’s presence. But Jallang’s face betrayed no reaction.
Releasing his hand, Ian stepped back.
“I’ll need your help more than ever going forward.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I’d love to sit down and discuss the future of the domain right now, but let’s leave that for tomorrow. You should rest.”
“As you wish.”
When Jallang quietly withdrew, Ian leaned against the rack, arms folded.
The meeting with the captain had been unexpectedly smooth. Respectful, proper—like the polish of a man who’d once served kings in the royal knights.
Of course, he couldn’t see what lay beneath.
“Blanzor, what do you think? He doesn’t seem so bad. Did he really kill the former lord?”
No matter how many times you ask, what I witnessed does not change.
“Damn it. It’s not like I can just confront him with ‘why did you do it?’”
I stood by the Emperor and saw countless heroes and traitors. They all had two faces. If the captain has value to you, use him. After all, the late lord wasn’t even your real father.
“True enough. And there’s no one else to replace him anyway.”
Ian stroked his chin, staring at the sealed doors of the underground hall.
“For now… let’s watch and see.”
