Chapter 1: Chapter 1

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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The Holy Norman Empire—a righteous, holy nation in the frigid North Continent.

According to legends, the Magnus royal family had ruled the nation since time immemorial. Countless emperors had sat on the nation's white-gold throne, yet none of them held as many accomplishments as the reigning emperor: Charlus, first of his name.

It was ironic, considering the man never wanted to be an emperor. All he ever wanted was to keep going on crazy adventures with his knights: The Luminous Knights. They would follow him anywhere, even to the farthest ends of the globe.

However, it all changed when he and one of his knights, Astoria, came across the remains of an ancient civilisation while climbing the highest mountain on the continent. While wandering, they stumbled upon a hidden crown on a pedestal that sat in the middle of the frozen wilderness.

After coming into contact with the crystallised knowledge left behind by the Great Sage, the emperor reached enlightenment. He saw his destiny to connect the world's future and hope, unifying humanity under one banner through mutual understanding.

An era of peace and prosperity was born. For the people of the Northern Continent, at least.

The emperor wasn't alone in his quest to spread the teachings of the Great Sage who committed his life to pursuing knowledge across the continent. His knights, too, helped. Buried by the ever-growing piles of paperwork was one of the Luminous Knights: Rinaldo, son of the late Duke Dordogne.

Rinaldo was a tall, lean young man with cold, piercing red eyes and shoulder-length black hair that resembled the sky at dusk. Despite his fearsome appearance, his renown as the most intimidating person on the entire continent was only based on rumours.

People called him “Evil-Eye Rinaldo” because of the “power” of his “cursed eyes”. However, he was only an ordinary person who was terrible at expressing his emotions.

The young man lamented his fate. Life was not fair. While his emperor and the other knights were meeting with dignitaries from the Setem Kingdom of the Southern Continent, he was stuck here doing paperwork.

But again, if life were fair, Rinaldo wouldn't be born with unfeeling eyes that could cut through people's hearts with no remorse. Rinaldo had been quite unusual for as long as he could remember. He had his opinions and thoughts, but he couldn't seem to express emotions like a normal person.

Rinaldo turned to face his comrade-in-arms, who shared the same misfortune. “At least I'm not alone.”

“I wish I could be more helpful.” His comrade, a young woman with maroon-red hair that looked as if it was burning, sighed. “But I'm farsighted, you know?”

“It's okay, Astoria. Not everyone is perfect, like Charlie.”

Despite not being content with the emperor's decision to leave the two of them inside the palace, they knew their absence was necessary. For the success of the negotiations, terrifying or maiming the dignitaries to death was out of the question.

It was one of the easiest decisions the Emperor had ever made. The Emperor had a reputation as a man who got things done and a nation to rule. He was the man the country needed to keep going for the sake of the entire continent.

“I still can't believe it, you know? I had maimed no one for a week. It's a record.”

“Yeah, Charlie's gift is working.”

While most people found Rinaldo's appearance frightening, Astoria was the opposite. She looked like a harmless kitten, but she was prone to sudden emotional outbursts and violent mood swings. Whenever something unprecedented happened, she would be the first to respond by using violence as the answer.

Throw Astoria into a problem, and it would cease to exist. Everything around the problem would also disappear. From the problem's existence to the solution. It was a small price to pay for a quick and easy answer.

The emperor had to craft an enchanted necklace to prevent her from losing control. Only he and Rinaldo knew the necklace wasn't magical at all. Astoria herself was the sole person responsible for her relative sanity.

The emperor had many talents. Magecraft was not one of them.

“I wish I wasn't born like this, you know? I sometimes wondered if my parents abandoned me because I'm a monster.”

“We're both monsters. Us monsters stick together. There's nothing we can do to change our circumstances, so why not get to work and try to make the most of it?”

Rinaldo and Astoria worked together, hoping they could help protect the future of the people and maintain peace. They were both dedicated to their work and to their emperor, the person who saved them. Even their dedication had its limits, however.

After two hours of filling out forms, Rinaldo finally piped up. “I'm not getting any closer to the bottom of the desk.”

“When will we get to go home?”

“I don't know, Astoria.” Rinaldo took a deep breath. “I don't think we're going to.”

That was the moment that Rinaldo knew he would spend the rest of his life doing paperwork. He would never get married, have children, then retire to the countryside, where he would be free of all responsibilities.

Speaking of marriage, it wasn't as if Rinaldo was popular with women, to begin with. The intensity of his gaze alone was enough to deter suitors from approaching him. Every time someone met his line of sight, they would stop moving, thinking one wrong move would cause their undoing.

How many assassins and spies had surrendered themselves to authority after locking eyes with him? Rinaldo couldn't remember. He lost count after 42. The total count had to be in the high 80s, probably 90.

“Can I ask you a question, Astoria?”

Astoria titled her head. “You just did, you know?”

“Another question, then. Am I really scary?”

“No.” Astoria's reply was instantaneous. “Your mother is scarier.”

Rinaldo nodded, pleased with the answer. It seemed like he was not the only person to fear that woman—no, that witch. The thought that someone else shared his opinion on her was comforting.

There was nothing wrong with Rinaldo's mother. She was flawless in every aspect, and that was the problem. There was no such thing as a human without flaws, after all.

The only moment when she looked human to Rinaldo was when his father died. She looked vulnerable back then, burying her head deep into her husband's unmoving chest in tears. It was the first time he saw her expressing genuine emotions.

“She is always smiling, you know? It's unnatural. How can someone be happy all the time?”

“We should stop talking about her before she notices.” Rinaldo's tone was hushed.

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Astoria was smarter than she appeared. She didn't say the woman's name even once through the conversation, knowing it could summon her. When Rinaldo asked her to drop the topic, she didn't protest either. It was a wise decision on her part.

However, it was too late. A bird-shaped projectile made its presence known by coming into contact with the nearest window before landing on the top of the desk. The window shattered into dozens of pieces on impact.

Crushed glass and pieces of the window shattered in every direction, onto the couch, and all over the strange-looking bird that stood right before them. Unlike most birds, there was nothing organic about its body. It was a creature of steel instead of flesh.

The two knights blinked at each other in shock. Rinaldo crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

“You don't have to be a genius to figure out what just happened.”

Astoria's eyes widened in horror. “We are doomed!”

“Don't worry. It's only carrying a letter.”

True to Rinaldo's words, the bird was carrying something on its beak. It was a device that could store and show information with the push of a button. Ancient technology was fascinating, Rinaldo thought. Whatever happened to people who developed them, he wouldn't know.

After reading the letter's contents, Rinaldo's expression somehow turned more serious than usual. He looked up at Astoria. “Marry me.”

“Wait, what did you just say? It's too sudden, you know?” Astoria muttered in complete bafflement. “What did the letter say, anyway?”

“My mother claims she is dying and can't act as the Duchess any more.”

Astoria gasped. She was afraid of the woman, but she wouldn't wish for her death. If Rinaldo's mother died, the title of Holy Norman's scariest woman would pass to Astoria by default.

“Is there anything we can do to stop that? I don't want her to die, you know?”

“I think it's a ruse. I always know I have to inherit the title someday, but I need to find a spouse first before that can happen. By pretending to be unwell, my mother can force me to marry my cousin unless I proposed to someone else in one week.”

“This cousin of yours, is she okay with this?”

“Of course. Knowing her, she will do anything to make me suffer.” He sighed. “She used to call me ugly, steal my toys, and push me to a freezing river.”

There was a possibility that the girl's cruel treatment of him was her way of showing him he held a place in her heart. They were children when that happened, and children were cruel creatures in their innocence. Rinaldo would rather not think about it.

“Your cousin sounded like an awful person, you know?”

“She is worse than you can imagine.”

It had been years since their last meeting. The spoiled girl from Rinaldo's childhood was no longer a little girl. She had blossomed into a fine young woman. Her appearance might have changed, but Rinaldo doubted he could say the same about her personality.

A knock at the door drew his attention from his thoughts. Rinaldo opened the door, and the sight of a familiar woman covered in blood greeted him. She was pretty, with long, flowing blonde hair, and she didn't flinch as Rinaldo met her gaze.

While the crimson liquid drenched the rest of her body, her face, and hair remained spotless. As for how she could do that, only she would know. A lady's secret was something no one should ever find out, after all.

The woman stood there, her eyes regarding Rinaldo with her calm gaze. “We have a problem.”

She ignored the devastation surrounding her. To her, the current state of the room was of no concern. It was the expected result of leaving the two most troublesome members of the Luminous Knights alone together.

Astoria turned to leave the room and walked past Rinaldo. “We always have a problem, you know? I'm going to get some fresh air.”

“Is this about the negotiation?”

At Rinaldo's question, the woman nodded and explained what had happened. She had caught some assassins from the Oeste Kingdom trying to do their job: assassinating dignitaries from the Setem Kingdom and then pinning the blame on Holy Norman's side.

Like any other attempt at disrupting peace, it ended in complete failure. One of them exploded in a shower of blood and body parts when he resisted arrest. The other one was awaiting interrogation in the dungeon.

“As our interrogation expert, we need your help to extract intel from the prisoner.”

Contrary to everyone's belief, Rinaldo wasn't an interrogation expert. Let people think what they wanted about him: he couldn't care less about his reputation. There was nothing he could do to change it—not without making it worse.

“The interrogation can wait.” The prisoner wouldn't be going anywhere, Rinaldo thought.

No one ever broke free from the dungeon, dead or alive. Rinaldo had the maids to thank for that. They preferred working in silence, and they were always thorough in their clean-up duty, leaving nothing behind.

Rinaldo didn't quite understand why they were so efficient, but he knew better than to ask why. Besides, making the prisoner nervous through waiting was something an interrogator of his supposed calibre would do.

“What could be more important than the interrogation?”

“I need to ask you a question first.”

“What is it?”

Rinaldo knew the woman expected a related question. He wasn't happy to prove her wrong, but still asked regardless. “Olivia, will you marry me?”

Olivia, the emperor's stewardess, was the only normal human amongst the Luminous Knights. Unlike her peers, she wasn't capable of extraordinary feats, such as splitting a mountain in half or crossing an entire battlefield in the blink of an eye.

It was precisely because she was human that Olivia possessed the greatest asset of all: the human ability to think. Her mind allowed her to calculate long-range strategies, predict enemy movements, and craft a unique battle plan. Any opponent who underestimated her would pay dearly for their arrogance.

She was calm, had a good temper, and took care of people around her. Rinaldo wasn't picky, but he knew if someone were to become his wife, they should have at least one of those qualities. Appearance didn't matter. What was on the inside was the most important.

“Sure. When is the wedding?”

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