Chapter 16

Baron Vinrad, Kairen de Lufino Vinrad, was a man who had left the main Royden family in his youth and built his life from the ground up.  

Had people learned he was the younger brother of the former Duke Royden, it would’ve caused an uproar.  

But very few knew the truth—because Kairen himself never talked about it.

There was no point.  

If he did, everything he had built would be overshadowed by Royden’s brilliance.

“Hurry up! I heard there’s a special guest at the main house!”  

He chuckled heartily, eager to finally get a look at Rodella Syveric—the woman his nephew, Aivert, had kept so tightly under wraps.  

He’d wanted to plant someone nearby to observe her, but that would’ve been far too rude.  

If Aivert ever found out, he would be furious.  

Even Kairen, as his uncle and a Royden, wasn’t sure he could withstand Aivert’s wrath.  

So instead, he employed a Royden-style workaround.

“Let’s say I dropped by after a hunting trip nearby—too tired to go straight home.”  

He was still cooking up the excuse in his carriage when it happened.  

—Clunk! Rumble!

The carriage rocked violently.

“Huh?”  

It tilted sharply to one side. Outside, the knights’ startled voices could be heard.

“What now?”  

Kairen poked his head outside—only to see one of the wheels completely shattered.

“Well, well. Stop for a second.”  

He stepped out and examined the broken wheel.

“I checked it before departure… I’m so sorry, sir.”  

The knight looked flustered, but Kairen just waved him off.

“It’s not your fault.”

Inspecting the wooden wheel, Kairen noticed something odd—subtle marks deliberately etched into the grain.  

He turned the wheel to the opposite side and spotted a small piece of paper, expertly secured.  

Plucking it free, he unfolded it and read:

Take a day off and rest until tomorrow. —A.R.

The “R” was written in special ink.

Ordinary eyes would see just a letter.  

But to Kairen, it gleamed with a soft, shimmering violet.

It was a secret visible only to those who had ingested a specially brewed ink made using the Royden family’s blood.  

A mark only known to those who truly understood Royden.

And who else would deliver such a cheeky little message using the Royden way?

“Hahahahahaha!”  

Kairen burst into laughter.

‘You adorable little bastard!’

While he was amused, the knights were anything but.

“S-Sir! We have no spare wheels!”  

The backup wheel they always carried was nowhere to be found.

“We’ll ride to the nearest village and try to find one immediately. We’re terribly sorry!”

But Kairen held up his hand.

“No point.”

The village’s wheels had likely already been bought out or disabled.  

Riding there on horseback wouldn’t change a thing—they’d accounted for that, too.

“He said ‘until tomorrow,’ so just wait. When the time comes, I’m sure we’ll find a freshly made wheel waiting for us in that village.”  

Shaking his head in amused defeat, he muttered,  

‘The more you try to hide her, the more curious I get, dear nephew.’ 

Again, he burst into laughter.

Thus, while someone was quietly excluded—Rodella herself unaware—the joyful gathering at the Royden estate came to a close.

Just a few days later… a new piece of news arrived at the Azure Knight Order.

* * *

Farmer Thomas Brown was an unlucky man.

“Of all times—during harvest season, really?!”

His main crop was Beruba, a plant known for its tenacious life force and deep roots, which had made it valuable even during wartime. Because its roots weren’t tainted by monster blood, it was often called a famine-rescue crop.

But Beruba was hard to harvest. Its roots had to be yanked out of deep soil, which meant heavy physical labor.

That’s why, during this season, Thomas normally hired over a dozen young laborers who would be sweating it out in the fields by now.

—Whoooosh…

But today, Thomas was the only one standing in his Beruba fields.

Rumors of monsters gathering in the nearby mountains had scared everyone off.  

No one applied to help, not even when he offered double the pay.

For Beruba, once its harvest period passed, it would harden and lose its market value.  

Back in the old days, people would still boil and eat the toughened ones, but not anymore.

At this rate, everything he’d worked so hard to grow would rot in the ground.

“Sigh…”

He looked toward the village entrance with a worried face.  

There was one option left.

[Notice: Azure Knight Order Civilian Support]

A flyer that had gone up in town not long ago.

The Azure Knight Order was full of strong, capable men, and pulling up a little Beruba would be a breeze for them.

The only problem?  

They were infamous for destroying everything they touched.

Who in their right mind would trust civilian aid to such a crew?

Normally, Thomas would’ve scoffed and walked past the notice—but desperation made him cling to it like a drowning man to a reed.

He visited the nearest Azure Knight Order branch and applied for aid.  

Judging by their flustered expressions, even the knights hadn’t expected someone to actually use the program.

“Ah, yes, of course. We’ll notify headquarters immediately and get back to you as soon as it’s approved.”

They confirmed the aid was scheduled for today.

“I just hope that cursed administrator or whatever doesn’t show up…”

Even commoners had a general idea of what kind of people ran the knight orders.  

Most administrators were nobles who looked down on commoners—they didn’t need to know names to know the type.

So Thomas prayed:  

‘Please, just not the administrator. Anyone but that person.’

And then—

“Rodella Syveric, new administrator for the Azure Knight Order. Pleased to meet you.”

As she arrived with over ten strong knights in tow, Thomas nearly cried.

‘We’re doomed…’

He forced a smile as he greeted them—but internally, he wept.

She was clearly noble-born, and nobles had no idea how the world worked.  

Surely, she would start bossing them around without understanding a thing.

But then—his fears slowly began to dissolve.

“All right, we’re harvesting Beruba! If you damage the stem-root connection, it’ll spoil fast and lose all market value!”

Nobles didn’t even eat Beruba during the war, much less know how to handle it.  

Yet here she was—perfectly familiar with the crop’s traits.

“Be mindful when pulling!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

And the knights… were actually being careful?

Thomas didn’t know it, but before they were dispatched, their captain Latine had warned them:  

“For every single item you break, expect to spar with me afterward.”

The threat had lit a fire under the knights.  

This job was a matter of life and death—reputation-wise, anyway.

They had to do well.  

No more injuries from lack of civilian cooperation!

Their eyes gleamed with urgency.

“Well, then… I’ll leave it in your hands.”

Thomas found himself nervous at the unexpectedly serious attitude they showed.

Just then, a knight who looked to be of high rank raised his hand.

“Begin.”

What Thomas didn’t know was that this man was none other than Aivert Royden—the Vice-Commander himself.

It was absurd for someone of his position to personally lead a civilian aid mission.  

But the moment Rodella said she’d go, he had followed her without hesitation.

“Beginning now!”

So began the terrifyingly precise harvest of Beruba.