Chapter 14

Chapter 14. Entering the Family Registry (2)

With the baroness and Tyron present, the baron and Aslaf knelt before the holy statue and prayed. The monk asked the baron,

“I ask Baron Oleg Lenke, who has received the mercy and grace of holy God. Is Aslaf truly your son?”

The baron raised his head, looked at the monk, and spoke in a trembling voice.

“I swear to God that Aslaf is my son and a member of House Lenke.”

The monk asked Aslaf,

“Aslaf. Will you serve Sir Oleg Lenke as your father, Lady Anne Beden Lenke as your mother, and Tyron Lenke as your elder brother, and strive for the honor of House Lenke and the harmony of the household?”

Aslaf looked at the monk and swore.

“I swear.”

The monk sprinkled holy water over Aslaf and prayed.

“Aslaf Lenke, son of Oleg Lenke, is now a member of House Lenke of Beden Castle. May God’s blessing be with Aslaf.”

The monk wrote Aslaf’s name into House Lenke’s family register and the records of Beden Castle. Baron Lenke, the baroness, Aslaf, and the witnesses signed the record the monk presented in turn.

After they left, Baron Lenke remained in the chapel, turned to Aslaf, and looked at him with a serious and honest gaze Aslaf had never seen before.

“My son.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I hope you understand that I did not acknowledge you as my son just to send you to the Rong tribe in Tyron’s place.”

“I know.”

“I told you that if you proved you possessed courage worthy of a noble, I would acknowledge you as my son. Since you have the courage to step forward and go to the Rong tribe, you deserve to be acknowledged as noble blood.”

Baron Lenke, unaware that everything had been part of Aslaf’s design, praised his boldness.

“Sometimes, I wonder whether you really are my son.”

“Do you think I am not your son?”

“That is not what I mean.”

The baron shook his head.

“I have not experienced that many people, but even so, there are things I can feel. I know by instinct that you will become a far greater man than I am.”

The baron stopped speaking and shook his head for a moment, as if lost in another thought.

“When I look at you, I do not know why, but I am reminded of His Majesty Alexei I. His gaze, his bearing, his way of speaking....”

For a moment, Aslaf wondered if the baron had noticed that he was Alexei I’s reincarnation, but such a thought never even crossed the baron’s mind.

He smiled bitterly and trailed off.

“What was I saying just now?”

Then he patted Aslaf’s shoulder and spoke clearly.

“This must all be God’s providence, but in any case, thank you for being born as my son, Aslaf.”

When the baron left the chapel, the residents who had been watching from the side greeted Aslaf.

“We look forward to your guidance, young master.”

“It is fortunate that you were acknowledged even now.”

Iwan, who had watched the entire scene, approached Aslaf with a bright smile.

“Congratulations, Young Master Aslaf.”

It felt awkward for Iwan, who had been his friend, to suddenly speak respectfully, but there was nothing to be done when that was how society worked. In the Empire, a clear distinction existed between nobles and commoners.

“But are you really going to the Rong tribe?”

Iwan asked him cautiously.

“They say the Rong tribe are ignorant and ferocious bastards.”

“The Rong tribe aren’t so impossible to deal with.”

Alexei I had both fought wars and made peace with the Rong tribe, so he knew their traits well. He had even been to the villages where they lived. Smoke had risen from pinewood bonfires, and the smell of hunted animal meat being smoked to dry had filled the air. Even now, whenever he smelled pine, the memory was so vivid that he could feel the damp forest air from that time.

“Rather, they’re simpler and easier to deal with than the Yeon tribe.”

The Rong tribe were large and strong, but they were a race that lived scattered while hunting individually, so they did not gather together much. The only time they gathered was when there was nothing to eat in the mountains and they came to the Empire to plunder.

If one gave them the food they wanted and permitted trade, they followed orders surprisingly obediently.

Alexei I had defeated the Rong tribe in war, made a peace treaty with them, and then hired them as mercenaries. For the poor Rong tribe, mercenary pay was money they could hardly hope to touch in their lifetime, so they had gladly accepted. The Rong tribe army had been an elite force that fought at the forefront when Alexei I waged war against the Yeon tribe or other duchies.

Therefore, no one knew the Rong tribe better than he did.

“I know them well. Just trust me.”

At Aslaf’s words, Iwan smiled faintly.

“If you say that, I feel relieved.”

The next morning, Aslaf and Iwan packed their belongings to depart. There was a knock at the door.

“Young master, it’s Juan.”

“Come in.”

Juan came in carrying Aslaf and Iwan’s leather boots. He had shaken off the mud and polished them with oil until they gleamed.

Juan could not even meet Aslaf’s eyes and kept turning aside to glance at him. It was completely different from how he had once tapped him and bothered him. He was trembling because he was afraid Aslaf might hold a grudge over how he had framed him as a thief.

Now Aslaf had become a noble, and Juan was a servant. If Aslaf locked him in a barn just because Juan had offended him, Juan was in no position to say a word, so of course he had to be nervous.

“Young master. I-I, uh, I am sorry for before.”

Juan spoke in a voice that nearly crawled into the floor.

“I did not recognize you, young master, and committed a mortal sin. Please forgive me.”

Aslaf put on his boots and silently stamped his feet against the floor.

When Aslaf said nothing, Juan thought he was firmly angry. Growing desperate, he knelt and clung to him.

“I am truly sorry. Please forgive me. If you give me orders, I will work hard at anything.”

“Really?”

Aslaf wondered for a moment if there was a way to make use of him.

“In that case, once every fifteen days, send me a letter telling me the situation here.”

“I don’t know how to write, sir.”

Juan could read a few letters, but he did not know how to write at all.

“You don’t need to write words. If nothing has happened, send a circle. If Beden Castle is attacked, send an X. If something happens to the family, send a triangle. Send the letter addressed to me at Arms Dealer Jacques in Pordis, and he will deliver it to me.”

It took a long time for news from a borderland like Beden Castle to be delivered. Even then, it would be difficult for Aslaf, who would be living among the Rong tribe, to hear news of the Empire. So planting at least one informant in Beden Castle was not a bad idea.

“But if Young Master Tyron finds out....”

“Would he even imagine that you, who do not know letters, would write a letter?”

“Ah, understood, sir.”

Juan nodded. Tyron would be displeased if he found out, but he would never expect that Juan, who did not know how to write, would contact Aslaf.

When Aslaf and Iwan led their horses out of the stable, all the people of Beden Castle had come out to see them.

“Go safely, my son. I will pray that you return to good health.”

The baron gave him a shield engraved with the crest of House Lenke. It was shaped like the head of an antlered stag, the symbol of Beden Castle.

To Aslaf, whose status had risen overnight to the baron’s son, the castle residents also bowed their heads in greeting.

“Please go safely, Young Master Aslaf.”

“Please take care of yourself, young master.”

Tyron and Anne did not even come out of their rooms. However, when Aslaf looked up at the window, they were secretly watching him through the curtains with cold expressions.

He had not expected them to thank him for going in Tyron’s place, but not even seeing him off like this was no different from hinting to the people that they should ignore Aslaf.

Yet seeing them deliberately peeking from behind the window to observe how people reacted, they seemed inwardly anxious that Aslaf had been formally acknowledged as Baron Lenke’s son.

Aslaf raised his head, looked at the window of Tyron’s room, lightly lifted his hat, and greeted them.

Then everyone followed Aslaf’s gaze and looked up at Tyron’s room to see whom he was greeting.

“Young Master Tyron?”

“Madam Anne?”

“They were watching from there?”

Tyron, caught secretly peeking, was flustered and yanked the curtains of his room shut. But everyone had already seen him.

“He’s going in his place, but they don’t even come out to thank him, yet they still watch?”

“Exactly.”

“Ah, they must be burning up inside.”

The people whispered and laughed at them.

Tyron’s pathetic appearance, too proud to come out and see him off because it would seem like admitting that Aslaf was taking on a difficult task, yet still curious enough to secretly peek, contrasted sharply with Aslaf’s dignified attitude as he went to carry out diplomatic duty on behalf of the duchy.

Aslaf greeted the people of Beden Castle and mounted his horse.

“I’ll be back.”

Aslaf and Iwan drove their horses out through the castle gate and set out on the road.

“Please return safely, young master.”

The people of Beden Castle remained where they were, waving until the figures of the two, who had come and vanished like the wind, grew small and disappeared into dots.

After riding for three days, they arrived in the Duchy of Galleon. From there, they were to go to the Rong tribe’s territory together with the duchy’s delegation.

When they arrived at an inn in a border village of the Duchy of Galleon and said they wished to meet the delegation, an attendant guided them to the room where the delegation was staying.

When they opened the door and entered, the envoy of the Duchy of Galleon was waiting for him.

“I am Aslaf Lenke, second son of Baron Oleg Lenke.”

The envoy blinked and asked back,

“Baron Lenke had a second son? I thought Young Master Tyron Lenke was coming.”

“My elder brother must defend Beden Castle in preparation for a Yeon tribe raid, so I had no choice but to come instead.”

Aslaf handed him a letter of introduction bearing Baron Lenke’s seal. The envoy grumbled as he accepted the letter.

“This is the first I’ve heard of a second son.”

After reading the letter asking him to take good care of the baron’s son, the envoy carefully examined Aslaf.

“Now that I look, you do resemble your father greatly. It is like seeing Baron Lenke in his youth.”

The envoy, who had been half-doubtful, finally nodded.

Then, seeing Aslaf’s purple eyes, he narrowed his eyes and muttered,

“You do not resemble the baroness. Could you be an illegitimate son?”

Aslaf paid no mind to his words and spoke with courtesy and confidence.

“I am a member of House Lenke. Please refrain from words that insult my family. And please remember that I am going as an exchange hostage representing the Empire, so unnecessary remarks about me may also affect the Empire’s diplomacy.”

The envoy, who had carelessly spoken down to him because he was young and then received a sharp rebuke, lowered his eyes in embarrassment without realizing it.

Intimidated by Aslaf’s calm, noble-like attitude and cultured way of speaking, he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“Ahem, ahem. Since you are listed in Baron Lenke’s family and have brought a letter of introduction bearing his seal, of course you must be the baron’s legitimate son. Who would dare object?”

For him, it was enough to hand over a person recognized as the baron’s son to the Rong tribe as ordered.

The delegation crossed the border and departed for the place where they had agreed to meet the Rong tribe. They rode into the forest and climbed the mountain for a long while.

‘The plateau should appear soon.’

Because he had thoroughly grasped the roads for the war against the Rong tribe, he still faintly remembered them.

Just as Aslaf expected, a broad plateau unfolded before them. The sight of the mountains layered like waves with mist hanging over them was magnificent.

His heart raced at the familiar scenery. It had been decades since he had come this way, so his memory was hazy, but the vast natural landscape remained the same.

“The Rong tribe is over there.”

The guide pointed far into the distance with his hand. The envoy placed his palm above his eyebrows as a shade and narrowed his eyes.

“Where? I cannot see them.”

They were visible to the sharp-eyed Rong guide, but to the envoy’s eyes, there were only bushes and trees.

When they advanced farther, large Rong warriors suddenly appeared from behind the trees on every side, their bare bodies draped in the furs of beasts such as deer and foxes.

“Goodness, you startled me. When did they get here?”

The envoy flinched in surprise at the Rong tribe warriors, who had appeared smoothly like ghosts.