# Chapter 1: The Winter Snow Falls, the Departed Return
The sky was a flowing tapestry of clouds.
Under the sunlight, the wolf flag flapped proudly over New City of Kaliye, while the lingering snow melted slightly in the warming temperature. Inside the city gates, a cadre of heavy cavalry thundered past with a “boom,” marching out of the city toward the south, soon disappearing into the snowy distance.
Inside a towering ancient castle in the city, soft candlelight flickered across a long table, fragrant incense wafted through the air, and a dozen fierce warriors sat in sequence before the table. Positioned beside the head of the table was a female knight donning fiery red armor, her hands propped under her chin, eyebrows knitted tightly. Like the other men, she slightly turned her head to fix her gaze on the head of the table, listening intently to the beautiful lady seated there.
“…if we cannot resolve the winter food supplies in time, the Southern Eagle City is bound to fall into chaos once again. This matter must be jointly handled by Shanter Castle, New City of Kaliye, and Erin Castle. Annie, please inform Miss Erin promptly. We need to send those barrels of wine left in Fred City down south quickly; the soldiers there need it…”
“The heavy snowfall will soon block the mountains, and the southern offensive will also slow down, but the army won’t retreat far. They will lie in wait, quietly observing whether Eagle City can survive this winter. This is our most pressing issue, something we all must unite to overcome. As support from the rear, we must act swiftly; we cannot afford to slow down even for a moment…”
The calm and graceful lady sat poised, methodically delegating tasks one after another. The meeting continued until sunset, and people began to trickle out. The lady took a sip of water and stood up.
“The head of the Church should be arriving soon. Annie, come with me to greet him—”
Suddenly, a steward burst through the door, capturing everyone’s attention.
He looked flustered as he rushed to the knight named Annie, whispered a few hurried words into her ear, and handed her a crumpled report. His eyes darted nervously toward the lady, betraying his unease.
“What’s wrong?” the lady asked, her brow furrowing. “What’s happened?”
The knight said nothing, her face growing grave as she opened the report, quickly scanning its content. Her complexion drained of color, as if all the bl**d had drained away in an instant.
Instinctively, she attempted to hide the report.
But the next moment, the lady, sensing something amiss, snatched it from her, lifting it to her eyes to read.
The more she read, the paler her face became.
Moments later, the lady lowered the report, her gaze trembling, lips quivering, slowly lifting her eyes to Annie, catching sight of the knight’s equally pale face and anxious eyes. She heard Annie standing up to say, “Lady, this may not be true…” That statement buzzed in her ears as the surrounding voices turned into a hum, and the meeting room began to sway, the tables and chairs appearing to flicker in and out of focus, as if everything wasn’t real anymore.
A lie…
Lady Catherine told herself in her mind. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something to Annie—but the words eluded her. It felt as though her bl**d had been drained, and then, in the next moment, it rushed back frantically, flooding her vacant mind.
“Lady!”
Crash—
With the sound of a toppled chair, darkness enveloped Lady Catherine as she collapsed.
…………
The rain had ceased for a few days, and the air in the Royal City carried a hint of chill. The streets were lined with houses, densely packed in the bustling city center, where pedestrians bustled to and fro. A luxurious war chariot rushed through the center of the street, with Queen Elizabeth sitting inside the spacious carriage, rechecking the report in her hands over and over again.
Then suddenly, she tore it into pieces.
“Stop…”
She rapped on the carriage, addressing the beast driver with a quiver in her voice, her fingers trembling as well.
“Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”
Sitting across from her, Rect opened his eyes and noticed the shredded remnants of the report, confusion creeping into his expression. He instinctively went on alert, sensing something was amiss.
However, Her Majesty paid no heed to his inquiry, her face colder than ice. When the war chariot finally stopped, she remained silent for a long while, until Rect began piecing the report fragments back together and saw the contents.
“How is this possible…?”
The man stared in disbelief, his eyes wide open.
“Turn around, to the diocese.”
The Queen breathed heavily.
“Your Majesty, please calm down…”
“To the, diocese.”
Her Majesty stated each word with precise emphasis, struggling to rein in her turbulent emotions, but her fists clenched against her knees made a faint whistling sound, causing Rect’s heart to tighten. He quickly lifted the carriage curtain, waving to the attendant to rush. Moments later, the war chariot turned, racing toward the northern part of the city.
“Stop when we reach the church. Arrange a meeting with the Pope. Rect, later find Sharman and Little Reikmon, gather two thousand Royal City guards. We’re making a trip to the Holy City… today.”
“Don’t let anyone stop me.”
…………
“Ah—”
In the shaded path of the Academy, a girl’s sorrowful cries drew glances from passing students.
Beneath a chestnut tree, a doll-faced first-year student knelt on the ground, clutching a crumpled report, her face turned up with mouth agape, gasping for air as she wailed. Tears streamed in torrents down her cheeks, while a noble girl with silky golden hair patted her back, her own eyes red from crying too.
“Sarah…”
“This is a trick! Sophia, this is deceiving us—”
“Get up…”
“What are we going to do, Sophia… what are we going to do…”
“Ah—”
The heart-wrenching cries of the girl echoed far and wide.
…………
Alectine City.
The crimson sun descended over the eastern mountains, the broken silhouettes of the city walls fading into shadows, as laborers wrapped up their work, walking into the city in small groups. The corpses outside the city remained largely uncleaned, and with the evening breeze came a mix of foul odors.
Many had already begun to fall ill.
In the rows of white tents to the east of the city, faint groans could often be heard. The nun-led rescue efforts—mostly comprised of women—were bustling to and fro, the glow of miraculous healings shining from every corner, but wounded knights remained unhealed. Occasionally, someone would quietly d*e in the stillness of the night.
The city’s safety fell into chaos, especially at night, where m*rder and looting were rampant, and once in a while, they would catch lurking heretics hidden among the crowd.
Nevertheless, the war had finally ended.
The survivors wallowed in this sentiment, praying daily to the deity, thanking the Pope for granting them a new life.
The church located in the northern part of the city buzzed back to life. Communication with the outside world resumed a few days ago. That night, the young knight Barry sent off a letter to his family. He stepped out of the crowd, walking to the end of the street, and his knight’s armor drew heroic glances from everyone passing by.
Barry relished this attention. Beside him, a noble girl named Lilith constantly echoed his worth.
“Barry, you’re really something, just like your sister…”
She had said this countless times in recent days.
He enjoyed hearing such compliments from her, even if he knew the distance between himself and Little Shay was a gap he could never bridge in this lifetime.
But praise was always delightful! He longed to share this feeling of recognition with Little Shay. He thought back to their last argument, feeling a pang of longing to apologize, but since then, he hadn’t seen her again.
Perhaps she left the city with the knights to hunt down the fleeing heretics… Given the current situation, she should return soon.
When she does, he must sincerely apologize…
Although, an apology is one thing, his determination to pursue his dreams would remain unwavering… That point needed to be made clear as well…
In the days ahead, becoming stronger was his true goal…
With such thoughts, the young knight awaited his sister’s return and the letter from his grandma in their gradually stabilizing and peaceful city.
Neither of those things ever came.
…………
Winter had arrived.
Snowflakes drifted down on the southern shores of Silgaya, falling like feathers, melting into the waves crashing in. The blue surface of the sea shimmered with a garnet hue.
On the coast, people came and went, various trade ships docked at the port, as scruffy sailors carried boxes of goods, barefooted, disembarking from the vessels to transport cargo to the stone warehouses not far away.
Silver-armored knights of the Sixth Knights Order stood nearby, interrogating ship captains as new ships arrived, logging their stay durations and tallying the number of crew on board.
Further away, many watchful eyes remained glued to the port’s activity atop the lighthouse, waiting for the next merchant vessel to set sail. Amidst the clanging of the anchor, a drunken middle-aged captain climbed aboard with a grin, saying to the leading knight, “Captain of Knights, thank you for your help these past few days! Without you all, I wouldn’t have cleared this cargo anytime soon, and might have even gotten robbed one night…”
He continued, summoning a sailor nearby to take a small velvet box from him and offer it to the lead knight: “Sir, just a little token of gratitude for your understanding and assistance.”
The lead knight wasn’t one to turn down such gestures. Likely, they were quite accustomed to this. He nodded and gestured for someone else to take the box, casually glancing at the sailors and workers boarding the ship, saying, “I trust the merchant ships from Sogai, but given how rampant heretics have been lately, the exit has tightened. It’s easier for ships to come in, but leaving isn’t quite as simple…”
“Yes, yes, we understand.” The captain nodded repeatedly but then wore a wry smile, “It’s a tough world we live in. We’re also worried sick over it, so at night we’d rather rest on the sea than light too many lamps, fearing the heretics might raid…”
As the group exchanged pleasantries, they boarded the ship. The sailors and workers began to gather, as the captain chatted with the knight, while the other knights went forward to count crew members. Upon confirming the numbers, they recorded them, and everyone dove back into their tasks.
Before long, the captain said to the knight, “Next time, I’ll be counting on you again,” as the knights prepared to leave the deck. Suddenly, they spotted piles of untouched wooden crates in a corner of the deck, next to which stood a woman in her twenties, dressed in coarse burlap with a thick fur coat draped over her. Her hair was damp but strikingly beautiful, a shimmering white.
She faced away from the captain and the knight, extending her hand to catch the falling snowflakes, causing the knight to pause in his steps, feeling she was unexpectedly stunning apart from her slightly shabby appearance.
“Who is that…?”
“Huh?”
Following his gaze, the captain laughed, “Ah, that’s the daughter of an old friend. Her parents died young, and before they passed, entrusted her to me; she’s been with me through thick and thin. The poor thing… She even served you tea once, don’t you remember, Captain?”
“Oh…”
The captain waved him off. He couldn’t possibly recall what a tea-serving girl looked like; those kinds of minutiae never stuck with him. After hearing the captain’s words, he didn’t dwell on it, casually saying, “Ah, she’s from Eborista, right? Gorgeous hair color.”
Excitedly, the captain responded, “Yes, yes! That child doesn’t talk much, but she’s nimble. When she’s back, I’ll have her serve you some tea.”
“Sure.”
The knight waved and disembarked with his men, heading off.
The captain watched them leave, the smile slowly fading from his face as they did.
Before long, the sails filled with wind, and the merchant ship set off, departing the coast into the vast sea.
The briny winds blew gently, and amidst the chaotic clamoring, the woman on the deck turned her head, her cerulean eyes gazing at the port gradually fading into the horizon. After a long while, it seemed as though she was etching something into her heart before she turned, walking toward the stack of wooden crates. She pushed aside the front box, extracting a damp black coffin from within.
She shook the water off her hair, lifted the coffin, secured it with rope, and slung it over her back, stepping down the deck. Though the coffin wasn’t large and appeared rather light, the woman carried it effortlessly. Yet if anyone pressed their ear closely to listen, they would hear the faint “thud, thud,” reminiscent of a heartbeat emanating from within.
With this peculiar coffin on her back, she descended from the deck and walked along the corridor. Since the sailors were busy on deck, she drew minimal attention, quietly reaching the end of the corridor before opening the door to enter a cabin.
In the dim room, the captain had long been seated at a table, awaiting her return.
Upon seeing her enter, he exhaled in relief, smiling warmly.
Different from the tipsy smirk he wore when faced with the knight, the captain’s smile now carried hints of reassurance and warmth, much like a family member safely returning from battle.
“Ailna, welcome home.”
