MTO C25

Chapter 25

Chapter 3. The Relief Festival

The carriage ran for quite some time before finally arriving at the duchal castle of Eglence.

“Welcome, Saint Michel. You must be weary from your long journey. I am Lawrence, chief steward of Eglence Castle.”

The one to greet him was an elderly but imposing butler, his stern expression radiating authority. He looked so much like a character torn right from a manga that Michel murmured in awe. Moments like this always reminded him that he truly had stepped into the world of a webtoon.

“Hello, Steward Lawrence. Thank you for making me feel welcome. Is Kaidan… Brother Kaidan currently in the castle?”

“The Duke is presently supervising the knightly training. If you have words for him, I shall pass them along.”

Michel had expected to see Kaidan immediately, only to learn that even now, he was busy. When he answered that there was nothing urgent, the butler led him to a guest chamber—the very same one Michel had once experienced as his cell during confinement.

“Then, please rest at your leisure.”

The steward bowed impeccably and withdrew. Left alone, Michel stretched his cramped body and glanced around. He had only been away from the castle for a few days, yet the scenery of the chamber already felt strange, like stepping into a new place.

A room as vast as a palace chamber, yet Michel felt no ease. Too small to be a prison, yet too large to feel comfortable living alone.

Better if the festival would simply begin already.

As in the carriage, so too in the castle—he could not drive out the gnawing doubt in his chest. He kept telling himself leaving the orphanage was right, yet something still rankled.

At length his thoughts grew so heavy he tried standing on his head to shake them out. Usually, exhausting his body silenced stray thoughts. But not today. No matter what he did, the anxieties clung stubbornly.

KNOCK KNOCK.

“Yes!”

How much time had passed? Michel raised his head at the neat rapping. A maid entered respectfully after announcing herself—only to see Michel on the floor in a full split, folded out like a frog. She flinched in startlement. Fearing she might flee, Michel straightened up swiftly.

“What brings you?”

“Th-the Duke requests—if the Saint is well enough—that you join him for dinner.”

Finally!

Michel had been all but craning his neck waiting for Kaidan to appear.

He hurriedly left the room. He had assumed guards would be posted outside, but to his astonishment, the corridor was empty.

…They hadn’t imprisoned him?

Like elephants raised chained to stakes, who no longer think to flee even once unbound, Michel had believed himself confined and so had kept himself shut willingly in the chamber. If he had realized otherwise, he would have taken walks, let his mind find respite!

He exhaled in brief exasperation, but quickly followed the maid, his head swiveling like a curious sparrow. During his stay he had never truly looked over the castle, and so each corner was strange to him.

After turning several corridors and descending a staircase, a savory aroma assailed him. Hunger surged, saliva welling in his mouth.

“This is the Great Hall of Eglence Castle.”

Stepping into the chamber, Michel’s eyes widened. The Great Hall lived up to its name—stunningly vast.

Dozens of candles blazed upon chandeliers, bright as daylight. Walls were draped with banners and tapestries adorned with the sigil of Eglence. A long table overflowed with delicious dishes, servants scurrying between platters, lending the room a festival’s air.

And amid it all, like king upon his throne, sat Kaidan.

“Kaidan! …Brother, I greet you.”

Michel’s voice leapt with unguarded gladness. He remembered—too late—David’s instruction, and quickly bowed. Kaidan cast him a cursory glance before raising his hand with practiced grace.

“Leave us. I would dine with the Saint alone.”

The servants scattered at once. The hall fell silent with just the two of them at opposite ends of the table.

By placement, Michel’s seat was across from Kaidan. But instead, he carried his cutlery and sat down at Kaidan’s side. The table’s length would have made conversation awkward otherwise.

Kaidan’s thick brows arched sharply, but Michel leaned amicably closer.

“How have you been, Brother Kaidan?”

“…It seems David has not wasted his time on you.”

A brief comment on his etiquette. Michel grinned.

“Of course. David’s been teaching me with such zeal.”

Though in truth, he had memorized little more than basic forms of address. But it wasn’t a lie—David was indeed tireless as a teacher.

Heh. It really is nice to see him again.

It felt as though an eternity had passed since they last met, though it had only been a handful of days. In that time, however, Michel had realized something crucial.

Kaidan Eglence.

This was the high noble who, in the original story, adopted Heart.

The emblem of the gold eagle button on the knights’ uniforms had jogged the memory. That very button was one Heart cherished through the original plot.

“I give you a choice. Cut off your wrist and keep your freedom—or follow me quietly.”

So had gone the first words of Kaidan to the boy Heart, who had fled the orphanage after Leon’s death and lived as a petty thief. With his reputation for ruthless fairness, Duke Eglence offered even a child the choice. Heart had chosen to keep his hand, and thus entered Eglence Castle.

There he endured brutal training as a squire. The Duke recognized the boy’s potential and adopted him as son. Yet as father, he was merciless—never a single word of praise, only endless drilling with the sword.

But when Heart, once grown, first struck him during sparring, he smiled faintly at last.

“Now you’re finally worth something.”

Years later, Heart left for the capital to compete in a grand tournament. His feats brought incomparable renown to House Eglence—until the northern dragon rose. By the time Heart returned, Valois was ruins. Knights dead. Servants slain.

Most northern lords had abandoned their lands. But Duke Eglence stayed to the last, defending until death. His head was fixed upon the castle spire in mockery.

In despair, Heart received a letter written before his death—the Duke’s will:

“So live, my son. Survive.”

Clumsy in expression, but sincere in love. Discovering this too late, Heart wept bitterly, and thereafter dreamed only vengeance against the dragon that had taken everything.

Michel’s eyes shone wet as he gazed at Kaidan now. He had forgotten the Duke’s name in the tale’s ending, when Heart only remembered him as “Father.” Yet of all characters, Duke Eglence had been Jeong‑oh’s favorite.

His design had been dashing. His character—stern, silent, yet deeply devoted to his land and to Heart—had stirred Jeong‑oh’s heart. Michel remembered weeping with Heart when reading the letter at the story’s end.

But Kaidan himself, alive and oblivious to such musings, drew his brows in suspicion.

“Why do you stare at me in such a manner?”

Michel shrugged sheepishly. He couldn’t admit, I was recalling your death. As Kaidan’s piercing gaze lingered, Michel scrambled for another topic.

“Ah—yes. David stayed behind at the orphanage, with the Sister and the children. He wanted to ensure their safety.”

He did not mention the creditor thugs. Why spread such scandal, already hunted by so much shame?

To Michel’s relief, Kaidan didn’t pry. Instead he poured wine into Michel’s silver goblet, red liquid gleaming richly against the metal.

“Here. A drink.”

He raised his own glass first. Michel—hesitated.

“Thank you, but I must decline. I don’t drink.”

“Why not?”

“Huh? Well, alcohol’s not good for health… And besides, I’m a priest.”

The thought of the old headmaster’s drunken ruin made him recoil further. To taste the same might make him no better.

Even back in Korea, Michel had never understood why anyone enjoyed the stuff. If stomachs must be filled, more food was better.

“One cup won’t harm you. Sometimes churches themselves distribute wine they brew to parishioners.”

That revelation stunned Michel, his eyes wide. “Really? Uh—right, of course they do.”

“…Try it. I ordered the finest wine in the castle. You won’t regret it.”

At last Michel raised the cup reluctantly. To refuse again a host’s insistent offering would itself be impolite. Perhaps Kaidan simply wanted company in drinking. Either way, Michel had no choice but to humor him.