**Chapter 23**
‘Thinking about that time makes me angry again.’
Back then, Laszlo had only one path he could take.
He had to display an overwhelming difference in skill that the guards couldn’t ignore. And to those who wished to learn, he had to teach them willingly, setting aside personal feelings.
Besides that, showing his ‘ruthless’ side in every battlefield where the guards were needed worked like a charm, but he didn’t dislike knights with a desire to improve.
“It’s admirable to want to become stronger and to think of training extra for that… but why do you want to do it at my place?”
At this, the three men exchanged glances before one hesitantly spoke up.
“Well, it’s because… we don’t want our superiors to notice us at the royal training grounds…”
“Oh, well, of course, they would appreciate us training with the captain of the guards. But we’re not sure how our colleagues would see it…”
Their excuse was plausible enough that Laszlo accepted it without much suspicion.
“That makes sense.”
“Then…”
“I can’t do weekdays, but if weekends are fine, how about next Saturday at 3 PM?”
“Next Saturday at 3 PM? We’ll be there! No matter what happens, we’ll be there!”
At Laszlo’s agreement, the three men’s eyes sparkled with joy.
Laszlo, interpreting their eagerness purely as the ambition of young knights wanting to improve, nodded in approval.
“Then, take care on your way.”
“Thank you, Sir Chrysos!”
“Thank you!”
They left after a noisy display of gratitude, chattering and celebrating until they were out of Laszlo’s office corridor.
‘It’d be nice if everyone was this focused on improving their skills…’
There were many who, rather than focusing on swordsmanship, attempted petty politicking, so straightforward guys like them were a relief.
The unfortunate thing was that they probably wouldn’t achieve much. Laszlo could tell just by looking at their appearances.
‘They’ve only just come to their senses; their bodies are all broken down, and their stances are bad… Even if I spend three hours with them, I wonder how much they’ll take away.’
Perhaps just teaching them the basics would be the best for them. If they started real training, there wouldn’t be a spot on their bodies without bruises.
* * *
[Remember this: it must be one of the ‘Four Great Families.’ Stay sharp and don’t get involved with the wrong people.]
The moment she heard that voice, Edel realized she was dreaming.
Her vision, initially dark, gradually brightened, and as she looked around, she recognized the Count Canyen’s estate exactly as she remembered.
‘How old was I when I first heard that? Was it when I started my education at eight? No, it feels like I’ve heard it even before that…’
The incessant reminders from her father about the Four Great Families of the Empire of Pispera had been ingrained in her since she was very young.
The Pispera Empire had many nobles, but the ‘Four Great Families’—the Lancasters, the Berringtons, the Tolleins, and the Wynblairs—held such power that even the royal family couldn’t easily touch them.
Her father was determined to marry her into one of these families to use it as a stepping stone for his own advancement.
‘Despite the family’s wealth, we didn’t have much influence.’
The origins of the Count Canyen’s family weren’t particularly illustrious.
Her great-grandfather, a gambling addict, had won a foreign territory as a bet, and after years of collecting modest taxes from it, an enormous sapphire mine was discovered there.
Her grandfather, suddenly wealthy, presented a significant amount of sapphires and gold to the then struggling emperor, who in return granted him the title of count.
This story, told without any embellishment, spread through society, and the Canyen family was seen as having nothing of note besides money.
‘Couldn’t he be satisfied with being a wealthy count?’
Despite being a count, he could never exert significant influence and was often dismissed as a mere upstart, which infuriated him. He believed that the only way to escape this perception was to marry his daughter into one of the Four Great Families. It was a deep-seated complex.
[Do you think the Four Great Families will consider you as a daughter-in-law if this is all you can do? You must be perfect. Perfect beyond anyone’s reach!]
Edel sighed as she watched her father, his face twisted in anger, scolding her.
Even when Edel was praised by her tutors or received accolades in social circles, Count Canyen always found faults and criticized her.
‘Why did I have to be the one to sacrifice for my father’s complex?’
Back then, she was too scared of his fury to do anything but beg to try harder, but she always had doubts and resentment.
If he truly wanted to be a noble of high caliber and honor, shouldn’t he have led by example?
Had he donated to orphanages or hospitals for commoners, or supported struggling artists, he might not have been labeled an upstart, but Count Canyen loathed spending money on such things.
‘He always said spending money on unnecessary things was foolish, but what did he gain by pouring money into other places?’
As she reflected, the scene before her changed again.
She saw her entire family seated around a feast-laden table at the Canyen estate.
However, even at the sight of her family after so long, Edel didn’t feel particularly happy. There were no sweet memories worth longing for in her dreams.
[If you can’t marry into a good family, what use are you? If you’re going to be a leech, spending money without doing anything, get out of this house immediately!]
Count Canyen’s words during meals always killed Edel’s appetite.
No matter how delicious or rare the food laid out, only her brothers could enjoy it freely. Edel and Lynn had to eat sparingly to avoid being ‘leeches.’
‘Others envied the slim figures of the women in our family, not knowing the truth.’
A bitter smile formed on her lips.
She hadn’t realized it while living there, but looking back after being abandoned by her family, she saw that the Canyen family deserved to be treated as upstarts.
Any family that begrudged the money to feed and clothe its own wasn’t even worthy of being called upstarts.
Her father didn’t stop at just that.
*Smack!*
An unforgettable sound echoed in her dream.
Edel, clutching her cheek, was on the floor before her towering father.
[You always do something stupid like this, don’t you? Are you trying to show off that you’re a woman? Do you have any idea how much damage you’ve caused the family by embarrassing the Tollein Marquessate?]
This memory was indelible.
The summer when she was eighteen. During that season of thin clothes and more exposed skin, she had been invited to a picnic where the second son of the Tollein Marquessate made advances on her.
Believing in his honor as a nobleman from one of the Four Great Families her father always mentioned, Edel suppressed her instinctive revulsion and took a walk with him.
Was it wrong to trust that he’d uphold his noble honor?
When they reached a secluded spot, he suddenly drew close and started groping her. Startled, she struggled against him.
What had he said back then?
“There’s no one watching, so why not play along, young lady? Everyone knows the Canyen family is aiming to marry into the Four Great Families.”
The humiliation!
Edel pushed him away with all her strength and ran back to the crowded area.
Although she didn’t explain what happened, people seemed to get an idea from the Tollein boy’s disheveled appearance as he hastily left.
When Count Canyen heard the story, he was furious and slapped Edel.
‘More worried about offending the Tolleins than the fact that I was assaulted.’
Edel probably gave up all expectations from her father at that moment.
Count Canyen continued to treat his daughter as a mere tool until he eventually abandoned her.
‘Feeling relieved to be discarded by my father… Yes, it’s better this way.’
Not wanting to revisit the past, Edel closed her eyes tightly.
* * *
“Mmm…”
When she slowly opened her eyes, she saw the window with the dawn light seeping through.
As she realized she had woken from her sleep, Edel sighed in relief.
Perhaps because the last scene in her dream was being slapped, she had clenched her teeth while sleeping.
“My jaw hurts…”
Rubbing her stiff jaw, Edel turned over. Only then did she realize that her whole body ached and she had a fever.
‘Maybe I had that dream because I’m sick.’
Her father was harmful to her, even in dreams.
Thinking that she no longer had to deal with him, Edel tried to calm her racing heart.
However, her fevered body couldn’t be soothed by mere consolation.
