Descent into the Murim... No, the Romance Fantasy
On the morning they were preparing to leave the annex, Ella, who was packing her modest belongings, suddenly tilted her head as if something had just occurred to her, and asked Kael.
"B-but, Young Master. How did you know? That the main estate had caught on?"
Kael tugged at the strap binding his luggage with leisure, flashing a grin.
"Someone came by the day before yesterday."
"Someone? You mean besides the messenger from the main estate?"
"Indeed. Up on that northern hill ridge, they were staring right through our annex so intently. It was so embarrassing, I could hardly bear it."
Ella's eyes widened in shock.
The annex was surrounded by dense forests and rugged mountains. The northern hill was so far that no human figure could possibly be discerned with the naked eye.
"Y-you can even sense that?"
Weger, who had been carrying luggage nearby, also gaped in astonishment.
"Haha, once you reach a certain realm, that much comes naturally. So you two must train even harder."
"Yes, Young Master! I'll do my best!"
"Me too, Weger! Starting today, I'll swing my sword even if it means cutting back on sleep!"
Kael smiled in satisfaction at their spirited responses.
"Good, that's the spirit."
After setting all the luggage down in the courtyard, Kael paused before stepping out through the annex's weathered front gate. He turned to look at Ella and Weger in turn, and even at Oliver wagging his tail.
The soft curve of Kael's smile faded, replaced by a heavy, solemn aura emanating from him.
"Before we set off, there's one thing we must address."
As Kael's demeanor shifted in an instant, Ella and Weger shed their playfulness and stood rigidly at attention, faces tense.
"What is it, Young Master?"
"Speak, my lord! I am always ready to heed your command!!"
Kael swallowed a chuckle inwardly.
'This guy's starting to resemble Young Il-rang more and more. Blindly loyal and oblivious, right down to it.'
He lowered his voice gravely.
"The path I tread from here will be far more treacherous than anything before."
Ella and Weger swallowed dryly.
"You can still back out now. Returning home and living ordinary lives wouldn't be so bad. Forget the headache of a ducal house and just live plainly. The choice is yours."
Before Kael could even finish, Weger pounded his chest without a hint of hesitation and bellowed.
"I'm ready to die for you at any moment, Young Master! My life is already yours!"
Weger's resolute shout rang out. But Kael's expression only grew colder.
"Think it through and then answer, Weger. Do you think I desire your deaths?"
"......Pardon?"
"I would rather walk together. Climbing to the heights alone, trampling over my subordinates' corpses—what awaits at the top is nothing but a pool of red blood."
Kael's eyes flickered with the memory of gazing alone from the Demon Tower atop the Shipman Mountain Range, the vast Central Plains stretching below in desolate solitude. He had crushed tens of thousands to rise, only to be left with profound emptiness.
"Even if I stand a bit lower, I want to laugh alongside you all, sharing the same view."
Those words were his sincere plea: never throw away your lives for me—stay alive by my side.
Realizing the depth of Kael's intent, Weger's eyes reddened and trembled. Ella clasped her hands tightly, gazing up at him with moved, teary eyes.
Ella stepped forward cautiously first and spoke.
"I... I'm from a fallen low noble family. You know that, right, Young Master?"
Kael had no information on Ella in his mind. The original novel mentioned Kael's life only in passing, a single indirect line—there was no way it detailed his maid's backstory.
Even so, Kael nodded as if he knew everything, perfectly natural.
"Yes, I know."
"It was a viscountcy managing a tiny village at the edge of the duchy. Until a horrific plague wiped out the entire village."
"Is that so."
A deep shadow fell over Ella's face.
"There were vicious rumors that... the plague was deliberately spread by the ducal house. Of course, I thought it was nonsense, but having lost my parents and all the villagers, I couldn't help leaning toward that awful rumor."
Kael's eyebrow twitched faintly.
"The real reason I entered the Restis household was to uncover the truth behind those rumors, Young Master."
Kael asked, "Revenge?"
Ella waved her hands frantically in denial.
"N-no! How could I dream of revenge against a grand duchy? I just... I just wanted to know why my innocent parents and villagers had to die like that. Why the duchy abandoned us... Just that one reason."
Deep sorrow clouded Ella's features.
"But I learned the hard way that a fallen low noble's daughter could never get close to the truth. No one told me anything; I was thoroughly ignored. So... I decided to give up everything and die."
Ella looked at Kael with eyes brimming with tears. They were filled with grief, but beneath burned an unyielding resolve.
"That's when you reached out to me with warmth, Young Master, when I was on the edge of life's cliff. First, you covered for my huge mistake, then you saved my despairing life."
"Did I? Shamefully, I don't even remember."
"Heehee, pretending not to know out of embarrassment again. You looked far more fragile than me back then. Maybe even rotting inside more than I was. But still, you extended your hand to me without any conditions."
'...Looks like this body's original owner was a decent fellow. Hearing praise like this stings a bit.'
"So I resolved myself. I want to be someone like that. This one life I was ready to throw away—if I could use it preciously for the one who took me in, maybe I'd have a tiny right to live in this world."
Ella's eyes were now dry of tears, filled only with unshakable will.
"I want to stay by your side, always protecting you until the very end. I've prayed and vowed it every night for a long time."
Kael closed his eyes softly, lips curving up.
"Your steadfast resolve... I take it deeply to heart."
Weger, who had been listening silently to the touching confession, suddenly shot his hand up.
"I-I thought about it a ton too!"
"Very well, speak your piece."
Weger wiped his nose and boomed his reply.
"To be honest, I... I really don't know! Unlike Ella, I don't have some sad, grand backstory, and I only ended up serving you because I drew the short straw in the guard lottery!!"
His utterly pure, transparent honesty shattered the solemn atmosphere in an instant.
"Kukukuku, is that so? Drawing lots—must've felt so unfair."
"B-but I want to serve you for life! My mother always said it: treat every person you meet by chance as heaven-sent fate, cherish them! That small mindset will shape the awesome you of the future!! Even if it started with unlucky lottery luck, I believe there's a deep heavenly reason I ended up serving you out of this vast territory!"
Crude, yet underpinned by simple, upright philosophy.
Kael burst into hearty laughter at Weger's bold answer.
"Hahaha! You have a wise and splendid mother. Very well. I've confirmed your firm resolves with my own eyes, so as your lord, I give you my first command. This is the utmost priority, absolute order you must obey above all others to come."
As Kael spoke with feigned solemnity, Ella and Weger gulped and straightened up.
Kael's eyes pierced straight through them.
"Neither of you die before me without my permission. Understood?"
At Kael's weighty command, the frozen faces of Ella and Weger bloomed with irrepressible bright smiles. They looked at each other, baring white teeth in radiant grins.
"Why stand there grinning like fools without answering? Didn't you hear my order?"
At Kael's playful scolding, Ella and Weger bellowed back with all their might, shaking the annex.
"Yes!! Understood, Young Master!!!"
"We absolutely won't die!!"
In response to their vibrant replies, Oliver at their feet barked vigorously.
"Woof!!! Woof woof!!"
"Good. Then let's report to the Murim world... no, the main estate."
And so, the bizarre party of the discarded heir, the fallen noble's maid, the lottery-picked guard, and the martial arts-trained retriever took their first bold step toward the ducal residence.
A few days later.
Restis Ducal Residence.
Urgent footsteps echoed through the peaceful corridor outside the family head's office.
Bam—!
"L-Lady Acting Head!! You must come outside right now, right now!!"
A pale-faced servant flung open the office door without knocking, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Silina, reviewing reports, furrowed her brow irritably.
"What vulgar commotion is this!?"
"S-sorry! But outside, the eldest young master is...!"
"What? Why is Esler? Isn't the boy at the academy?"
Hearing her son's name, Silina softened her icy expression and rose.
But the servant waved his hands frantically, barely catching his breath to correct himself.
"N-not Esler. K-Kael...! Kael from the northern annex has arrived at the main gate!"
"What!?"
Silina's eyes shook violently.
She knew the assassin hadn't returned and that he lived, but she never imagined he'd walk into the main estate on his own two feet.
Clutching her dress skirts roughly, Silina stormed out of the office.
Emerging from the grand mansion's front gate, an unbelievable sight unfolded before her.
Before the imposing main gate boasting the ducal prestige stood a young man holding the reins of a horse laden with simple luggage, personally unloading it. Beside him were a maid, a guard in rustic armor, and a large dog.
The pale, skeletal Kael who looked on the verge of death was gone.
His skin glowed healthily, his back straight, his eyes sharp and piercing.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing here!?"
As Silina shrieked in disbelief, Kael, mid-unload, turned and spotted her.
And in that moment, a bright smile bloomed on Kael's face.
"Oh! Mother! Have you been well all this time!?"
"What...?"
Kael strode forward briskly, bowing deeply in polite greeting.
"Your unworthy son, thanks to Mother's devoted prayers and care, has finally recovered from his long illness and returned to the main estate. I am truly, deeply sorry for causing you endless worry day and night with this foolish child."
"Wh-what did you...?"
Silina's lips quivered.
'Is this bastard mad? Or does he truly know nothing?'
Her mind went blank. Whether that innocent expression was an act or if he'd truly lost all past memories as the messenger reported—even the scheming Silina couldn't read Kael's true intentions.
Facing the stunned Silina, Kael beamed radiantly while inwardly sneering.
'Wench. Don't try to fool me with your clumsy expression management. The years I've spent hiding my fangs and deceiving others from the Shipman Mountains outstrip the breath you've drawn by decades, you weathered old stone.'