Circumstances of a Fallen Lord

     Days had passed since the Royal Knights took control of Duke Anies’s capital residence. The situation hadn’t changed much from the beginning. The Royal Knights didn’t interfere with Luisen’s and the mansion residents’ daily lives, but they kept steady watch over the surroundings of the mansion and strictly restricted access from the outside.

     In particular, Luisen was imprisoned within the mansion. When he announced he would be leaving, the Royal Knights used all their excuses to send him back into the mansion. Several attempts to sneak out of the mansion failed. While the Royal Knights turned a blind eye to the servants to some extent, they showed no leniency towards Luisen.

     ‘This can’t go on like this…’ Luisen paced inside his bedroom with an agitated expression. The lack of sleep he had experienced for the past few days left dark circles under his eyes.

     ‘It wasn’t enough to push them out of the mansion. I’ll need to clear them out completely…’

     The Royal Knights’ pretext in taking control of the mansion was ‘protection.’ So, in order to get rid of them, Luisen needed to obtain the power to protect himself.

     The best option would be to recover the duchy’s captured knights, who were held captive near the capital, and bring them to the mansion. However, to do so, prisoner negotiations were essential, but nothing could be done because of the Royal Knights’ interference.

     The general’s documents contained instructions such as who he could negotiate with and how to pay the ransom, but Luisen was unable to implement anything.

     ‘Because I can’t leave the mansion!’

     He tried to send an agent, but the Royal Knights wouldn’t even allow that. Anyone who could replace Luisen, such as the deputy chancellor or the few knights that were left, were prevented from leaving the mansion.

     Luisen attempted multiple times to persuade Sir Boros, but the man drew a line, stating that he couldn’t offer more help than simply not monitoring the mansion.

     Sir Boros and the Royal Knights complied with orders to a degree, balancing their efforts to to avoid Luisen’s resentment with avoiding the first prince’s rebukes.

     They were quite experienced in the art of surviving through difficult situations, but that was truly frustrating for Luisen.

     ‘It’s not like I can jump over the mansion’s walls.’

     Trying to jump over the wall to avoid the Royal Knights’ surveillance? That was impossible for Luisen’s physical capabilities.  He tried to ask his own knights to do so, but they failed as they were caught by the Royal Knights.

     ‘If only Carlton was here…’

     The mercenary would have somehow smuggled Luisen outside without anyone noticing.

     Luisen sighed as he looked at Carlton’s clothes hanging in his bedroom. Every day–every hour–he missed Carlton anew.

     ‘Carlton…’

     Since the mercenary left for the castle, Luisen hadn’t heard from him. There was no way for the young lord to find out how his lover was faring.

     He hadn’t expected that Carlton would be able to return anytime soon–and he thought he would be okay with that fact–but, the young lord wasn’t fine with that at all. He depended more on Carlton than he had realized.

     Even though he wasn’t particularly busy, Luisen’s complexion was getting worse day by day, partly because Carlton was absent.

     ‘Why oh why did Carlton become a subordinate of the first prince?’

     If not for that, the mercenary would be beside him right now. The thought of the first prince having Carlton by his side while Luisen longed for him made his insides boil. Moreover, didn’t the prince betray Carlton’s loyalty before the regression?

     ‘Carlton is better off beside me. Rather, he should be beside me.’

     Luisen was so inflamed with jealousy that he wanted to bite and tear at his handkerchief.

     As Luisen angrily kicked the carpet, the deputy chancellor entered the room. Annoyance evident on his face, the young lord looked at the man, “What business do you have with me?”

     “Someone who states he is Carlton’s lieutenant has sent news.”

     Luisen’s eyes opened wide–the news he had been waiting for.

     Sir Boros, along with the other Royal Knights, knew about everyone in the capital estate. The only person they were unaware of was Carlton’s subordinate because the man had secretly entered the estate after the Royal Knights had withdrawn to outside the manor walls.

     As a result, Luisen entrusted a few tasks to Carlton’s subordinate and discreetly sent him out of the estate. To avoid the possibility of being caught while coming to and fro, the lieutenant had instead sent the news to the deputy chancellor.

     “He said that he has conveyed my duke’s message to the Eastern Great Lord.”

     During their journey to the capital, the two Great Lords had coordinated their story to some extent and made excuses for sending back former prisoners, who were held by the eastern nobles, back to the Anies duchy. Finding out how far that had progressed was the lieutenant’s first mission.

     Amidst the lack of communication with nobles from other regions, the Eastern Great Lord was the only one Luisen could trust. If the Eastern Grand Duke fulfilled his promise and released the prisoners, allowing them to join the capital estate, the Anies household would be able to further escape the Royal Knights’ grasp.

     However, the deputy chancellor’s countenance was incredibly dark.

     “What’s wrong? Did the Eastern Great Lord go back on his word?” Luisen asked.

     “No, the lord did release the prisoners as promised and they were ordered to transfer to the capital. It seems they did arrive, but…”

     “What happened?” Luisen urged.

     “The first prince has blocked their entry into the city. He stated that individuals with ambiguous identities cannot be allowed into the capital.”

     “Ambiguous identities! These are people from the Anies Duchy–how could their identities be uncertain? What better certification is there?”

     “It seems he is using that as an excuse. Most likely.”

     Luisen groaned, “The first prince must be plotting against me. He’s doing everything to hinder me.”

     Luisen even wondered if the prince had summoned him to the capital for this purpose. However, he still felt dubious, ‘No matter how great the first prince is, he’s still merely a prince… He must realize that acting so extreme can become a disadvantage for him later on.’

     It was not feasible to continue keeping Duke Luisen, who was a Great Lord, imprisoned–regardless of any king’s desires. Luisen had the duty to prepare for the funeral and coronation. If the prince’s actions continued to obstruct that sacred duty, the other Great Lords would not remain silent. No king would want to ascend the throne while facing the opposition of the Great Lords.

     Especially for someone like the first prince, who had taken the throne through a civil war and was in a precarious position.

     “Does he have some hidden agenda?”

     It was all a mystery. That’s why Luisen needed Carlton to return.

     “Nevertheless, the Eastern Great Lord said he would try to find a solution. He mentioned a way to bring back the captives from other regions.”

     “Why would that man help? He’s not someone who would lend a hand so readily.”

     “Who knows. He mentioned something about God’s will…”

     “Hmm…”

     The Eastern Great lord must be more fanatically faithful than Luisen had thought–it was something the young lord hadn’t realized prior to regression.

     “However, in my opinion, we cannot solely rely on the Eastern Great Lord. He’s a calculating nobleman, and he’ll surely ask my duke for a favor in the future.”

     “I suppose so.”

     “We should get rid of the Royal Knights, yes? We are unable to do anything because of them.”

     Luisen agreed with the deputy chancellor, “I did think of a method, but…”

     Since the young lord couldn’t sleep at night, he had much time to think about various things. Thanks to this, he thought of a way to clear away the Royal Knights.

     However, Luisen would incur significant risk.

     Luisen explained to the deputy chancellor what he had cooked up in the middle of the night. As expected, the deputy chancellor opposed the plan quite vehemently, “Isn’t that too dangerous? If something goes wrong, the Anies duchy’s prestige will be greatly undermined. The household’s honor could fall even more than what it is now.”

     “That’s true.”

     “It’d be best to put something like that on hold.”

     “Alright.” Since Luisen himself hesitated to implement this plan, he quickly acquiesced to the deputy chancellor’s opposition.

***

     However, that night, Luisen had no choice but to change his mind when a secret guest arrived.

     It was well into early morning. Unable to sleep, Luisen remained awake; he sat at a table by the window, practicing reading using the light of a little candle and the moonlight.

     But, at some point, the moonlight began to waver.

     At first, he wondered if it was a cloud. However, when the distortion repeated several times, Luisen inadvertently looked out of the window.

     ‘Aaaarghhh!’

     The young lord screamed inwardly. He was so startled, his voice wouldn’t come out. Standing at the end of the long terrace connected to his window was the Death Knight.

     ‘Wh-Why is that thing here?!’

     Luisen bolted out of his chair and took a step back. Cold sweat running down his back, the nightmares of his past began to resurface.

     ‘No. Don’t think about it. Don’t think.’

     Trying to push away all the negative thoughts that appeared when he saw the Death Knight, Luisen eagerly recalled Carlton and the one-armed pilgrim. Thanks to that, he calmed down enough to use the chair he had been sitting on as a weapon.

     ‘Let’s pull ourselves together. That thing… It’s just Ruger.’

     The Death Knight was still a frightening creature, but Luisen felt better when he recontextualized that being as ‘something that had originally been Ruger.’

     Tensing his entire body and keeping in mind the self-defense techniques Carlton had taught him, Luisen glared at the Death Knight. The young lord thought that the knight had come to kill him–after all, it followed the commands of the demon worshipers.

     However, no matter how long he waited, the death knight did not attack Luisen. It merely stood there, staring at the young lord.

     ‘What’s this? What is it doing? I feel like I’m going crazy.’

     The young lord felt even more nervous because he had no idea what was happening. However, it was even more frightening to ask the Death Knight why and for what purpose it had arrived. He felt that breaking the silence that hung between him and the knight of death would be unwise.

     They observed each other for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew; Luisen’s hair fluttered. As his hair strands fell onto his face, Luisen blinked for a moment.

     ‘Huh?’

     The Death Knight had vanished in that brief moment. Luisen kept vigilance and stared at his surroundings for a little longer, just in case, but the spot where the Knight had stood remained empty. The breeze passed through the vacant space.

     ‘What the… That’s it?’

     Luisen felt as if he had witnessed a haunting; he stepped out onto the terrace. The mansion–asleep and silent for the night–was tranquil, as if nothing had happened.

     Similar incidents had occurred before, in the previous timeline. The Death Knight would always watch over Luisen from a slight distance, in the darkness. Upon reflection, the Knight had never approached too close. That distance played a heavy role in solidifying the young lord’s belief that the Death Knight was a mere hallucination.

     ‘Ruger, you bastard. Whether it’s back then or now, why are you just observing me?’

     Luisen grumbled and turned around. However, his eyes caught sight of something noticeably different from before.