RR 09

Chapter : 09

Count Lediang frowned, openly showing his discomfort at Bishop Benedi’s words. Even so, Bishop Benedi stood firm. When he finished speaking, Count Lediang finally opened his mouth.

“I don’t see why a guardian needs to be appointed. If I’m not around, wouldn’t the Order take good care of Meryl?”

Bishop Benedi smiled gently.

“I wish we could. But I am a clergyman—merely a representative who conveys God’s word. Surely you know that well, my lord.”

With an annoyed gesture, Count Lediang twirled his mustache. Meryl was only thirteen, and he himself was still young—why were they meddling so much? He replied coldly,

“I’ll think about it later.”

“God’s hand reaches those who are prepared in advance.”

“Thank you for your words. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

After leaving the cathedral, Count Lediang muttered under his breath,

“So now they’re trying every trick in the book.”

He knew why. Ever since Meryl had turned eleven, the lords had begun pressing him with marriage proposals, all because Meryl was his only heir. Count Lediang had loved his late wife so deeply that he never remarried. His only concerns were his domain and Meryl.

He taught Meryl everything she wished to learn, even granting her the education reserved for men. She was lovely beyond compare, yet also intelligent—and still pure. Meryl was his entire world. He could not send such a daughter to lords who coveted only her wealth.

“How dare those greed-soaked wretches lust after my daughter.”

Count Lediang’s face hardened. Even after that, Bishop Benedi would occasionally speak to him about the need for a guardian, and each time Count Lediang brushed his words aside.

Then one day, a fever swept through the slums. Children fell in droves. Count Lediang thought little of it at first—such things were common. Plagues always struck the weakest first. But then adults began to fall as well.

That was serious. It meant a loss of labor. Only then did Count Lediang head to the slums himself.

The situation was dire. One out of every three adults who caught the fever died—a high mortality rate. Though late, they paid attention to sanitation, and those still healthy were moved elsewhere.

At first there was no improvement, but when a cool breeze began to blow, the fever subsided. Just when everyone thought it was a relief, Count Lediang collapsed. It was the fever.

The entire domain was plunged into worry. They prayed for him, but he hovered at death’s door. Meryl was sent away to Wintergarden—a fortress-like castle built in the eastern mountains. As long as she was there, she would be safe.

After sending Meryl into hiding, Count Lediang sighed deeply.

“If only I had known this would happen…”

Only then did Bishop Benedi’s words strike home. Who could have known this would be his fate?

Meryl was only thirteen. She had neither husband nor guardian. If he were to die like this, people would rush in from all sides, coveting his wealth. What he feared most was bride abduction—the custom of kidnapping a lone noblewoman and forcing her into marriage. The thought that Meryl might become a victim made his condition worsen.

Count Lediang summoned Bishop Benedi and asked him to recommend a guardian. As if he had been waiting for this, the bishop suggested Akkers IV.

“He is a man of deep faith, praised highly within the Order. And if fighting were to break out, where do you think it would happen? Would the lords fight in a way that harms themselves?”

Bishop Benedi’s words were realistic. If the lords fought among themselves, it would most likely be on Lediang territory. Lords never do anything that would hurt their own interests—meaning Lediang would be trampled.

“Could you write the letter for me?”

He was desperate. He did not know when he might die. Bishop Benedi immediately sent a letter to Archbishop Mille, who had been anxiously waiting for news. Archbishop Mille could hardly contain his delight. When Akkers IV heard the news, he first put on a show of concern.

“My goodness, I didn’t realize the count’s illness was so severe. I must go see him myself.”

Archbishop Mille, startled, tried to stop him.

“No! I hear it’s highly contagious. Your Majesty could fall ill as well.”

“I trust that God will protect me.”

It was a gamble. Count Lediang was deeply suspicious by nature; unless Akkers IV came in person, he might change his mind once he recovered. After persuading him this far, how could they let the chance slip? Though everyone around tried to dissuade him, Akkers IV insisted and went himself to see Count Lediang.

Count Lediang could not help but be impressed. Everyone was watching him, yet the only one who came in person was Akkers IV. No matter how tempting the position of guardian might be, it could not be more important than one’s life—or so he thought. Count Lediang asked Akkers IV to become Meryl’s guardian.

Akkers IV promised him,

“I will do my utmost to care for Meryl. I will protect her wealth and ensure her title remains intact.”

After appointing Akkers IV as Meryl’s guardian, Count Lediang fortunately shook off the illness and rose again. It was a miracle.

But his luck ended there. In the year Meryl turned fifteen, while returning from a patrol of the domain, he was thrown from his horse when it was startled by a beast that appeared out of nowhere. By the time his escorting knights rushed to him, his heart had already stopped. It was a sudden death—an empty, futile end.

Meryl was left alone in an instant, inheriting an enormous fortune as a young countess. Every day she trembled with fear. After Count Lediang’s death, visitors began to arrive at the domain in droves. Once again, a barrage of marriage proposals began. The lords’ relentless advances were so persistent that the once bright and cheerful Meryl nearly suffered a nervous breakdown.

Akkers IV waited patiently for Meryl to reach out for salvation herself. It was remarkable patience. In the end, Meryl sent a letter with her own hand.

“Your Majesty, whom I deeply respect. Since my father passed away, every day has been filled with fear and terror. Because Your Majesty is far away, the lords look down on you and torment me. They come to my domain, go in and out of my home as if it were their own, and open my warehouses as though they belonged to them. Though I have knights, they are not enough to stop them. I am left alone in a vast sea. I fall asleep weeping in pain, and wake up crying out. Please save me from this pit of evil. Please do not turn away from me…”

Upon receiving the letter, Akkers IV immediately led his order of knights and headed for Lediang. It was only natural that Meryl was deeply moved by his kindness when she met him. Raised like a flower in a greenhouse, she was innocent, but that was all—she believed what she saw. Tormented endlessly by the lords, Akkers IV looked to her like a father: someone kind, someone she could trust absolutely.

So when he said this, she did not doubt him in the slightest.

“Meryl, I’m so worried about leaving you here alone. How about coming with me to the capital? I will look after the Lediang domain in your stead. If you cannot trust me, you may appoint your own agent.”

“If it’s not Your Majesty, whom could I trust? You saved me. I will believe in you and follow you.”

King Akkers took Meryl with him to the capital. Meryl followed him with only her maid, Elga.

On the day she finally crossed the drawbridge and entered the castle, she met Noren Akkers as if by fate. With pale golden hair and amber eyes, Noren dazzled her, as though a halo of sunlight shone above his head. At fifteen, she fell for him at first sight and plunged into love.

But Noren did not like her. He already had a woman he loved. Yet Akkers IV forced him.

“If you want to keep Yohas as even a concubine, you must take Meryl as your wife.”

Akkers IV’s eyes burned with greed for the vast income flowing in from the Lediang domain. To him, the fact that nineteen-year-old Noren had a woman he dearly loved meant nothing. That woman was Yohas Lorem, the daughter of Viscount Lorem—a woman full of beauty and gentle charm.

Noren had fallen head over heels for her. To him, who had always lived oppressed under the domineering Akkers IV, she was like a ray of light. Whenever there was a banquet in the capital, he danced only with her and looked only at her, so much so that everyone knew he was in love. The only one who did not know was Meryl, raised like a sheltered flower within her domain.

Noren refused.

“I have already pledged my faith to Yohas. I cannot obey Father in this.”

“To pledge faith to a woman! Such a woman can just be made a concubine.”

“I can’t. I won’t. This is the one command I cannot follow. If anything, marry her to Baron.”

Akkers IV’s eyes went wild. He had two sons: Noren, the eldest and heir, and Baron, the younger, whom he had sent to be adopted into the ducal house of Kisling. If Noren married Meryl and took possession of Lediang, and Baron inherited the Kisling dukedom, the world Akkers IV dreamed of would be complete—yet Noren dared to defy him!

Akkers IV’s fury soared. He immediately summoned Viscount Lorem to the capital.

“You can’t even pay your taxes properly, yet you dare covet my son? If you wish to keep your title, marry your daughter off to another noble at once.”

Now that he had Lediang at his back, threatening Viscount Lorem was nothing. The viscount was terrified. Though he had a domain, his laziness meant he governed it poorly; his taxes were always in arrears, and he was mocked as a viscount in name only.

“I understand. I will take care of it somehow.”

Still, he was a noble. That title fed his family. If it were stripped away, even that would be lost. Viscount Lorem immediately sought a match for Yohas and betrothed her to Baron Jardin.