Victor Mort (8)

And so, the war with the Southern Kingdom came to an end.

It had been a long war that had lasted over three years. The ones who ended in just half a year a war that could not be won despite the deployment of so many troops were the Knights of the Black Lion from the land of knights.

The Mort Knights became the Empire’s greatest heroes and returned to the Empire amid tremendous cheers. Standing at the very front of the triumphal procession, they looked majestic.

As they passed along the avenue strewn with flower petals, Kaltz grumbled.

“What did those bastards even do to deserve a place in the triumphal procession? If it weren’t for them, the war would have ended a year earlier.”

Kaltz was pointing at the nobles who had been at Command. Knights and lords, mostly from the south, were proudly walking along the flower-strewn road. Victor turned his head away.

“Enough. It’s all over now.”

“Well, that’s true. We’ll never have to see them again anyway.”

“You’re a southerner, so surely you’ll see them again?”

Kaltz answered his liege crookedly.

“What are you talking about? I’m going to live in the north for the rest of my life. I’m sick of the heat and humidity now.”

“You’re starting to speak rather casually.”

“Who cares? We’re going back to Mort.”

Victor laughed. In truth, he genuinely did not mind. Rather, it pleased him because it felt as though things had returned to how they used to be.

He had only just managed to begin speaking about Morteon as well. It was a name he had once been unable even to mention because merely hearing it had been painful. But he did not think Brother Teon would have wanted to be forgotten that way.

Throughout the entire journey home, he spoke with the knights about his affectionate elder brother. And he held on to hope. If he remembered Morteon like this and lived in his homeland with his comrades and friends, then perhaps one day everything would return to how it had been. Perhaps peace would return to his life as well.

Soon, the triumphal procession ended. Victor Mort naturally met the Emperor before anyone else. When the nobles in the audience chamber saw the young Grand Duke, they murmured in surprise. The murmuring was mixed with excitement, jealousy, and admiration.

Victor was not surprised. He knew that his appearance looked rather impressive to others.

The Emperor praised Grand Duke Mort greatly. After commending him for accomplishing a magnificent achievement, he bestowed an enormous reward upon him. It was a small sum compared to the war reparations the Empire would extract from the Southern Kingdom thanks to him, so Victor accepted it willingly.

The Emperor then asked what other reward he desired.

Victor thought for a moment. Others might have wanted a marriage arrangement with the Imperial Family or more land, but none of those things were necessary to him. He merely intended to live quietly in his homeland for the rest of his life.

And so, he answered sincerely.

“I need nothing else. Merely serving the Empire and being granted an audience with Your Majesty is an honor.”

The Emperor laughed heartily in satisfaction.

“You are a true knight! Tell me if there is ever anything you desire, even later. I shall grant you any one request.”

Victor bowed with all the courtesy of a knight and withdrew.

Invitations poured into the Black Lion Residence in the capital. Everyone wanted to meet the Grand Duke, the hero of the war.

But Victor did not stay long in the capital and immediately departed for Mort. He took only the possessions belonging to his father and Morteon that had remained in the capital residence.

The journey home was far more comfortable than the journey there. They were welcomed in every territory they visited and were provided with splendid banquets and fine lodgings. Victor allowed the knights to rest thoroughly. They had endured much suffering, so his knights also needed time to smile.

As his heart grew more at ease, he slept far better as well. Eating and drinking every day, they leisurely reached Mort.

Mort. His homeland was exactly as it had been before. Cool, sandy winds blew, and the leaves were sharp. In the quiet borderlands, the procession of the knights was itself a fine spectacle, so the knights, well aware of that, entered Mort while noisily announcing their return.

At the sound of trumpets, everyone rushed out to the roadside and cheered. Seeing the colorful rooftops and the people whose skin was somewhat pale for Imperials filled him with familiarity.

Victor smiled and waved.

The war would remain in his memories along with his deeply tanned skin, but everything would be fine. The vassals would bring him piles of overdue work, and the nightmares would gradually be forgotten amid the monotony of daily life.

The knights proudly entered the inner castle. The vassals waiting for him before the castle bowed their heads in unison.

“We greet the new Grand Duke.”

Victor nodded, feeling as though he could not breathe. Only then did it truly sink in that he had taken Morteon’s place.

He spoke sincerely.

“You have all worked hard in my absence. I may fall short compared to my brother, but I ask that you continue to assist me.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Victor smiled at the vassals.

He did not particularly like the vassals, but he knew how excellently they and Morteon had worked together. If he wanted to follow Brother Teon’s example, he also had to learn to trust the vassals and work alongside them.

He wanted to take responsibility for the land his brother had loved. Like Morteon, he wanted to become a Grand Duke loved by the knights, the vassals, and all the people of the territory.

Even with his weary heart, Victor made a firm resolution.

He began working the very next day. He received the audiences that had been delayed, read the vassals’ reports, and dispatched knights to subjugate monsters.

He also accepted his retainers’ demand that he enter a political marriage as soon as possible. Morteon would naturally have done so. Marrying someone he loved had been his childhood dream, but now that he had become Grand Duke, that was no longer possible. The names of young noblewomen whose faces he did not even know were discussed in the council chamber. They were daughters of prestigious allied families who would benefit the grand ducal house. Victor showed little interest. Whoever it was, they were all the same to him.

Several weeks passed without distinction between day and night. His insomnia, which had not yet fully healed, kept him working until late. The knights worried, but Victor thought it did not matter. The more he worked, the better a place Mort would become to live.

Then one day, he secretly went out for a walk at night.

It was past midnight. He had been reading documents because he could not sleep, and before he knew it, the moon was already high in the sky. Thinking that perhaps walking might make him sleepy, Victor walked down the corridor without even carrying a lamp.

Then he heard quiet whispering from somewhere.

“……About Lord Morteon. I heard the Grand Duke killed him?”

What?

Victor stopped in place as though he had been struck.

─Victor’s senses were extraordinarily sharp. That was the secret behind his astonishingly precise swordsmanship. To the Grand Duke, their whispering voices sounded perfectly clear.

“……My master said that Lord Morteon and the knights were massacred while everyone else was away. But the only survivor was His Highness Victor. Isn’t that strange?”

“Come on, the Grand Duke is incredibly strong. That must be why he survived.”

“But then why couldn’t he protect Lord Morteon? He survived without a single wound, so why did he let his brother die?”

Each and every word pierced Victor’s chest like a blade.

Another maid whispered.

“But the two of them were truly close. Everyone in the castle knows that.”

“No, that’s not true either. Before he left, His Highness Victor was supposedly planning with Lord Gillard’s faction to seize the position of Grand Duke.”

“That’s impossible!”

“It’s true! They openly went around saying so. And now they’re even boasting that they backed the right person!”

Victor tried to understand the situation.

They appeared to be servants. They either worked in the castle or served the vassals. And as for Gillard……

Victor recalled the group of vassals who had spoken to him before the war. They had said they would support Victor in order to keep Morteon in check. He had never even properly spoken with them outside that encounter in the corridor. So why……

The voices chattered excitedly like field mice.

“Wow, that’s frightening. Is power really that desirable?”

“How could people like us understand what goes on in the minds of our betters? How heartless too, after his brother treated him so well.”

“Come on, the dead one was the fool. What noble keeps such a powerful successor to the title at his side?”

“Foolish Lord Morteon.”

“How pitiful.”

His stomach suddenly turned cold. It felt as though darkness was swallowing his entire body.

He did not even feel angry. Everything merely felt empty.

Victor shook off the remaining voices and slowly returned to his bedroom.

The next morning, he summoned Leonard and Kaltz.

With eyes darkened from lack of sleep, the Grand Duke asked,

“Are there rumors that I killed my brother?”

Leonard was visibly flustered, while Kaltz frowned. Their reactions gave Victor his answer.

“So it’s true. Such rumors are spreading.”

“Your Highness, all the knights know that it’s nothing but a false rumor……”

“I’m not asking about the knights.”

The words of servants were the words of their masters. The people he had seen yesterday were servants of the vassals, and they had said they had heard the story from their masters. If the vassals were saying such things, then all of Mort must surely be saying similar things as well.

Victor stared steadily at Leonard.

“You must be keeping in contact with your family.”

“Your Highness.”

“Tell me, Leonard of Odo. Tell me what they’re saying.”

House Odo possessed territory on the outskirts of Mort. They rarely came to the inner castle, but their history was so long that they frequently associated with the other vassals. They must certainly have heard something.

Leonard lowered his head with difficulty. No matter how painful it was to say, he could not disobey his liege’s command.

“……They say those rumors began spreading from the moment we announced Lord Morteon’s death. They claimed the reason we burned the bodies must also have been to destroy the evidence.”

“…….”

“Furthermore, it appears that Gillard and the other vassals inflated the rumors. They claimed they incited the new Grand Duke and earned their positions…… saying that Your Highness, unlike Lord Morteon, was not indecisive……”

“…….”

“You know it’s all nonsense. They’re merely rumors.”

Victor said nothing for a long time.