Victor Mort (4)

As Kaltz had predicted, an expeditionary force was assembled as soon as the wheat harvest ended. However, the expeditionary force was not as large as expected. Since it was formed mainly around the armies of the southern region, they said few knights from other regions had been summoned. Only several experienced senior knights from the Mort Knight Order, rather than the entire order, were to participate.

Those selected held a departure ceremony with Morteon’s blessing. Standing in the training ground that had suddenly become spacious, Victor hoped they would return soon.

However, the war unexpectedly turned into a prolonged conflict. Once the front line had formed, neither side wanted to suffer casualties, so they merely faced each other without any major battles. It was not easy to overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers either, because the Southern Kingdom was an island nation. Landing on the island after breaking through the enemy navy was no simple matter, so the commanders appeared reluctant to attempt it.

Time passed while the situation remained stagnant. Once it became clear that the grand duke would be unable to return for a long time, the atmosphere in Mort grew strange. The vassals who had been watching one another began fighting over their interests. Territorial disputes, conflicts over mining rights, and even requests to break engagements arranged for alliances—Morteon grew visibly exhausted from mediating all manner of petitions.

Even Victor became entangled in a peculiar situation.

“Oh, young lord! It has been a long time.”

Vassals whose names he did not know approached him in the corridor. Adorned with dangling jewels, they showered him with flattery.

“We heard you recently subjugated the urgs in the mountains. As expected, you are remarkable!”

“Only the young lord could hunt such terrifying monsters in a single stroke.”

Victor narrowed his eyes. He could not understand why people whose faces he barely recognized were praising him like this. He asked bluntly,

“What do you want?”

The vassals flinched at his harsher-than-expected tone. However, they quickly began rubbing their hands together again and continued.

“What else could it be? We merely wish to become closer to you, young lord.”

“You are my brother’s subjects. I do not understand why you would take an interest in me.”

“How could you say that? We serve the entire House of Mort. Naturally, that means we are also your subjects.”

They smiled and subtly added,

“Besides, Lord Morteon is not yet the grand duke, is he?”

“…….”

“And since you are so exceptionally talented, perhaps…….”

“My brother will become the grand duke.”

Victor cut them off sharply.

He was deeply displeased, but speaking more aggressively would accomplish nothing. For the future of the knight order, he could not afford to make enemies of the vassals. Victor maintained as much composure as possible and said,

“I am a knight, and I have no interest in politics. That is my brother’s responsibility.”

“My, young lord.”

The white-haired vassal at the front shook his head. He was the only one whose name Victor knew. Gillad, perhaps.

With an inscrutable smile, he explained as though speaking to a child.

“Those who possess strength are followed by power, whether they wish for it or not. That is the nature of strength.”

After speaking, he bowed deeply and departed with the other vassals.

Victor glared at their retreating backs in confusion.

Before long, Victor grasped the situation. Ominous voices were emerging mainly among the vassals who had suffered losses because of Morteon’s “mediation.”

The heir had not yet been officially confirmed, and the second young lord was exceptionally talented, so they argued that the balance between the two brothers should be adjusted before the grand duke returned. In the process, they intended to restrain Morteon and secure their own interests.

Victor could not understand it. He had always openly shown how close he was to Morteon, so why would they think he intended to steal his brother’s position?

However, Leonard said it had nothing to do with Victor’s will.

“Vassals fundamentally side with whoever benefits them. Since the grand ducal family has multiple sons, it is natural for some of them to harbor other ideas.”

Leonard spoke stiffly. Perhaps because he himself came from House Odo, a long-standing vassal family of Mort, he appeared uncomfortable discussing it.

But Victor had no time to contemplate such matters deeply. He bit his lip tightly and sank into thought.

Morteon had been extremely busy lately. He had already spent more than ten years carrying out the lordly duties entrusted to him by their father, but Victor had never seen him this busy. He was already struggling enough, and the thought that Victor’s existence was being used as a means to torment him made his insides twist.

“Pointless scheming…….”

His friends restrained him when he openly radiated killing intent.

“Victor, reacting aggressively isn’t the answer. You know that.”

“Right. It’s a story that will disappear once the war ends anyway.”

There were already said to be complaints among the nobles of the capital about the war’s lack of progress. It was only natural, since merely maintaining the expeditionary force consumed an enormous amount of tax money.

Mort had not issued any particular official stance, but it had allowed word to spread that it was displeased with its lord remaining on the battlefield indefinitely. A ceasefire negotiation might begin soon.

So Victor viewed the situation too optimistically.

He thought matters would soon be resolved and his father would return. Then everything would go back to normal. Morteon would work as the heir to the territory, and Victor would prepare to become knight commander. They would worry about the straw to distribute in winter or the growing number of drakas, just as they always had, and live that way…….

“─Young lord! You must come to the audience chamber immediately!”

An attendant who rushed inside interrupted Victor’s thoughts. The three knights stared at him in surprise. The servant was panting heavily and deathly pale.

Without a moment to hesitate, the three ran toward the audience chamber.

Victor stared blankly at the scene before him.

The audience chamber was already filled with the sound of weeping. The vassals wiped tears with their sleeves, and some of the knights had collapsed to the floor and were sobbing.

The imperial messenger bearing the crest of the Imperial Family continued speaking.

“……The bodies will arrive in Mort shortly, and the new grand duke has been ordered to depart with the entire knight order as soon as the funeral rites are complete.”

“I understand.”

Only then did Victor look toward Morteon in the seat of honor. Morteon’s gentle face was twisted with anguish. He paused to steady his breathing, then rose from his seat.

“My father, the grand duke, has fallen in battle.”

Ah.

Victor clenched his fists without realizing it. He had sensed the truth the moment he entered, but hearing it directly from his brother carried a different weight.

Morteon spoke in a voice filled with pain.

“It was the result of a cowardly ambush by the enemy. Not only my father, but all the other knights of Mort who were with him are said to have fallen as well. I…….”

He struggled to steady his voice.

“I am deeply grieved. They died honorably as knights, but those left behind can only mourn. It was a tragedy that should never have occurred.”

“…….”

“I express my sorrow for the pain that has befallen my family, my subjects, and all of Mort. But we cannot simply continue weeping. That is not the duty of a knight, nor of anyone who bears the crest of the Black Lion.”

Morteon slowly descended from the dais and received the emperor’s letter with both hands. He declared,

“In accordance with His Imperial Majesty’s command, the entire knight order will depart as soon as our comrades’ funerals are complete.”

A tearful roar erupted.

Victor could not even think to look at his friends as he stared at Morteon. His brother looked down at the letter with solemn eyes, as though declaring that he could no longer remain in his childhood.

The funeral was not held until several weeks after the bodies arrived. Since it had been impossible to recover every corpse amid the war, many of the coffins were empty.

Victor followed the funeral procedures with his mind blank throughout. Surprisingly, he felt almost nothing while standing before his father’s grave, but when he faced the graves of his comrades, tears suddenly welled in his eyes. Leonard and Kaltz were already wailing before the graves of knights they had been close to.

But Victor did not cry. Morteon had not shed a single tear. He was gentler by nature than anyone else, but now he was the Grand Duke of Mort. A grand duke could not collapse and weep before a grave.

“Victor.”

Morteon called him softly. When Victor approached, he pulled his younger brother into a tight embrace. His brother quietly said,

“……Many things will change.”

“Yeah.”

Victor nodded.

Now they truly had only each other left. They had lost their mother, their father, and even the knights who had been like brothers to them. They now had to bear the full weight of this immense house by themselves.

And war awaited directly before them.

Morteon asked,

“Do you remember the promise we made when we were children?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I’m going to make you the commander of my knight order. Since we’re at war, I’ll fulfill the commander’s role for now.”

His brother raised his head and asked,

“Help me from my side, Victor.”

Victor squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

Ever since the day Morteon had chosen his future for him, Victor had trained for this moment. It did not matter whether what lay before him was a horde of monsters or a war. This was his life and his purpose.

He could do anything to protect his brother and Mort.