Episode 18
He had already passed his eighteenth birthday, and he had received the title of a knight at his coming-of-age ceremony.
When I looked at Ludwig with surprise, he said, “My mother was disowned by the family. So, even though I have a separate birth date, the family record lists the day my mother brought me to this mansion.”
‘I knew that already…’
It was something Ludwig had confided in Jenna in the original story. In reality, the date recorded in his official family registry was over three months different from his actual birthday. But that it was today…
“I’ve never told this to anyone before.”
Ludwig said, his ears turning red. I had stumbled upon something he had never spoken about in his entire life just because of this one flower.
I wondered if he considered me trustworthy or if he had casually shared this information as it passed by. It didn’t matter which one it was, but I hoped that today would be a bit special for him.
After all, his mother had left, and he had been alone for a long time.
“Oh, well… um…”
I hesitated for a moment and then reached out to Ludwig’s collar.
“Sierra?”
“…It might be sudden, but I want to give you this as a gift.”
Ludwig looked down at what I was offering with surprise.
In my hand was a silver bracelet with a red gem embedded in it.
This bracelet had originally been prepared by the family to give to Ludwig. The mask that had been controlling Ludwig’s powers had shattered the last time.
He said he was fine now without the mask, but I had no idea why he felt so relaxed. It wasn’t as if an Awakener had appeared to control his power, and there was no reason for his powers to weaken either.
Then, I remembered this bracelet.
This was one of the many heirlooms of the Drenihan family. After the last Awakening Celebration, my grandfather had promised to give me one of the heirlooms.
At that moment, I suddenly thought of an heirloom I had glimpsed in the original work, the Purification Bracelet of Drenihan. It was the one that Jenna had acquired by causing Drenihan’s downfall in the original work, and I remembered that it had been quite helpful to Ludwig.
The gem embedded in the bracelet couldn’t control the power of a dragon like the mask, but it contained the power of purification. It wouldn’t be as effective as the mask, but it would still help prevent his powers from going berserk.
Of course, it looked like an ordinary bracelet on the surface.
I chuckled softly as I looked at Ludwig.
“I got this as a small token of gratitude for helping me last time… but it somehow turned into a birthday gift. Happy birthday.”
“…”
Ludwig seemed momentarily speechless at my words.
“Ludwig?”
“…This is the first time. The first time I’ve received a gift…”
The first time, it made my heart ache for no reason.
“I’ll fill that gap for you. There, done.”
The silver bracelet on Ludwig’s wrist shimmered with moonlight. It was an undeniably old bracelet, no matter how you looked at it, but it glowed brightly, perhaps because Ludwig liked it.
In the future, someone would surely celebrate his real birthday with heartfelt sincerity. A person for whom this bracelet, a reminder of Ludwig’s past, would become a sanctuary.
Until then, may this bracelet ease his suffering even a little.
“It suits you well.”
I said with a single smile, and Ludwig replied in a subdued voice, “Everything is a first with you.”
His face in the moonlight seemed somewhat distant.
“Huh? What else could I…?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll accept the gift with gratitude.”
Ludwig smiled faintly without interpreting my words in English and looked at me.
* * *
“Then rest comfortably, miss. When you need anything, just pull the cord next to your bed.”
The maid who had come with us from Drenihan bowed and left, closing the door behind her.
As the banquet lasted for two days, the guests who attended both days stayed overnight at the Karsian Castle. The castle was spacious enough to accommodate all the guests and more.
I, too, had been assigned a room to stay the night since I would be attending the banquet as Ludwig’s partner tomorrow.
Lying on the bed, I looked at my bandaged wrist.
“Ugh…”
I was more concerned about Ludwig, who had been with me until a while ago, than the frustration caused by Jeria and Vincent. Something about him had changed, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was undoubtedly a subtle difference.
It wasn’t quite like he was on guard, but the hostile look that had been present in his eyes, a look that generally accompanied his interactions with people, seemed to have softened, if that’s the right way to put it.
In the original story, he had deteriorated to the point where describing him as misanthropic wouldn’t be awkward at all, but perhaps he hadn’t reached that stage yet.
Since we don’t have much information about what Ludwig was like before meeting Jenna in the original story, it’s difficult to say.
As time passed, Ludwig would increasingly suffer from the madness and excruciating headaches stemming from the dragon’s blood. He would undergo a process of further darkening and eventually become the Ludwig I knew.
‘But for now… he seems like a perfectly fine person.’
Even if I thought back to what had happened a little while ago.
‘Really, you didn’t have to escort me all the way.’
‘I’m worried that another troublemaker like Vincent might follow you.’
Despite my reassurances, he insisted on accompanying me to my room.
But that wasn’t all.
‘This is a remedy that will help your bruise heal quickly. Apply it, and the swelling will go down soon.’
He even provided me with medicine for my minor injury. After applying the medicine, he carefully wrapped it with a bandage.
‘The Grand Duke has cleared an entire floor for your comfort.’
No wonder it was so quiet as I walked through the corridor; he had emptied an entire floor. I had wanted to avoid attention, considering the recent incident that had made me the center of attention. How did he know what I wanted so well?
To be honest, my guard against him had almost crumbled due to these small acts of kindness. I had received help from him, and he hadn’t harmed me in any way.
Jenna would return to the Selber Duchy as the personal purificationist for the male leads, including Ludwig, when she turned eighteen.
‘There’s just a little less than a year left until then.’
During that time, Ludwig would fall into madness, overturn the noble families, and become the Grand Duke of the vampire clan. In the original story, when Jenna met him, he had already massacred the nobles and relatives and seized the position of Grand Duke.
The image of Ludwig’s face covered in blood, the same face I had just seen, was beyond imagination.
As I finally began to relax and felt sleep slowly approaching, Ludwig’s smiling face flashed before my eyes.
* * *
The training grounds of the Karsian Grand Duchy’s Second Knight Division.
Even on the second day of the banquet, the sound of training never ceased to echo from there.
Ludwig, the commander of the Second Knight Division, was also present at that location.
He had already finished his morning training.
There was a group of people watching him from a distance.
Damon, Ludwig’s adjutant, was at the center of that group.
Damon had been at Ludwig’s side since he was young, so he took pride in knowing everything about him. From his small habits to the surprising fact that he had certain preferences for food that were different from his image.
But…
“What am I seeing right now, Damon?”
Aaron, the vice-commander of the Second Knight Division, widened his eyes and lightly tapped Damon on the shoulder.
“Someone needs to pinch me. This feels like a dream.”
At Damon’s words, a brave knight promptly volunteered and pinched Damon’s shoulder hard.
“Ouch, that hurt. What, you didn’t wake up yet? This can’t be real, right? Try pinching me again.”
“This time, I’ll do it.”
“Move aside! I’ll do it!”
“Give me a chance…”
One by one, the knights raised their hands and bickered while Damon turned back with a stern expression.
“You’re all so eager to pinch me.”
“Oh, no, it’s not that…”
One of the knights, who had quickly become meek, spoke.
“It’s not a dream, Damon. That’s really Ludwig.”
“Does that even make sense?”
Ludwig, who had been carefully looking at the silver bracelet, was now gently touching it with a cautious hand, as if handling something precious.
The bracelet wasn’t the issue.
The biggest problem was that his cheeks were blushing as if he were a boy in his first love.
The expression “in love” was far too out of place, even if it was somewhat different from Ludwig’s usual demeanor.
It was almost as if the knights were looking at someone completely different, a bizarre thought crossed their minds.
Could it be that Ludwig, the man clad in dragon skin, wasn’t a heartless, emotionless vampire but something else entirely?
His dry, emotionless face had led them to believe that he was a cold-blooded killer, but what was this?
The knights’ faces were filled with astonishment at the sight of his face, which seemed like that of a boy who had fallen in love.
“Milord, what about that bracelet…?”
When Damon, his voice trembling, asked, Ludwig responded nonchalantly.
“I received it as a gift.”
“From whom…?”
Who on earth had the audacity to give Ludwig a bracelet as a gift?
“To someone special.”
Ludwig gently touched his reddened ear and offered only a brief answer before turning away.
The knights who were watching him in a daze as he walked away exchanged puzzled glances.
Someone special…?
Ludwig Karsian had someone special in his life?
‘Who in the world could that person be?’
The answer he provided only deepened the mystery.
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