The northern lands were cold and desolate. From the Inner Keep of Castle Black—standing in the shadow of the Great Wall that split the North in two—the muffled sounds of hundreds of garrison soldiers training echoed faintly into the Grand Commander's office.
Ludwig let out a deep breath and rubbed his temple with two fingers. After a brief pause, he spoke again, his voice strained but steady.
"Anyway… we must prepare for the Duke's arrival. Let's get to work. We don't have much time."
Bane's face twisted slightly, though he quickly composed himself. As the officer responsible for the training and discipline of Castle Black's soldiers, the thought of properly welcoming the Castus Duke—the rightful ruler of the Empire's northern territories—was already forming into a headache. There would be no room for error.
Bane turned toward the door, ready to leave. But just as his hand reached the handle, he stopped.
"Are you ever going to tell me," he said quietly,"what the Grand Commander truly encountered beyond the Wall that day?"
Ludwig's eyes widened as if a horrific memory had clawed its way back to the surface. His palms began to sweat. He needed a few seconds to steady himself before answering.
"I already told you," he said at last."As unbelievable as it may sound… the one who did it was a barbarian."
Bane stood with his back to Ludwig, his expression unreadable.
He did not turn around. He drew a slow breath.
"Come on, Ludwig. I know you," he said."You're clearly not telling me everything."
As Ludwig tried to recall that night, a deep, suffocating dread welled up inside him. He forced it down and replied sharply,
"Don't push this any further. Please, Bane."
Suddenly, Bane spun around. His face was contorted with anger.
"A barbarian?" he snapped."For the love of the gods, I saw the wounds on his body! Those weren't sword marks—they were claw marks!"
At that moment, Ludwig finally broke.
The fear and fury he had been suppressing surged to the surface, and his voice rose uncontrollably.
"What do you want me to say?!""What exactly do you want to hear?! That I stood frozen in terror while an abomination tore our comrades apart right in front of my eyes and devoured them like an evening meal?! That while the Commander charged that demon without hesitation, I stayed behind—like a coward—gathering the mangled remains of our brothers?! Damn it… damn that demon! Damn it, Bane!"
Bane stood motionless near the exit, horror and disbelief etched across his face.
"A demon…?" he said slowly."Are you certain?"
Ludwig nodded, exhaustion heavy in his movements. He exhaled shakily, still struggling to regain control.
Without another word, Bane decided not to linger. He gave Ludwig the space he clearly needed and left the office.
As Bane walked through the cold, endless corridors of Castle Black, a single thought echoed in his mind.
So that's why the Duke is coming in person.
Lucius POV
The journey was proceeding faster—and far more smoothly—than I had expected.The roads of the North were usually desolate due to the harsh climate, and with the banners hanging from our carriages, no bandit or petty threat would dare approach us.
The caravan heading toward the Wall was not particularly large.After all, my father was present.
Was there any place in the northern territories safer than one where he stood?I doubted it.
Every time we stopped to rest, I found myself going to my father's carriage, almost begging him for more information about what awaited us. Each time, the old man skillfully brushed me off. His evasive attitude only deepened my curiosity.Why was he acting this way?
Normally, I rarely grew bored when Alexander was by my side. That was precisely why I had insisted beforehand that we ride in the same carriage. Along the way, we passed several villages. They were sparse, quiet—yet well-maintained.
In the Castus Duchy, settlements became fewer the closer one traveled toward the Wall. The reason was simple: barbarians who failed to pass through the Wall often used hidden tunnels within the Armstrong Mountains to cross over. To survive, they frequently raided nearby villages.
Despite this, the villagers seemed accustomed to it. Some settlements even traded with smaller barbarian groups. The barbarians brought rare metals extracted from the Armstrong Mountains, while the villagers exchanged surplus food and clothing.
This was precisely why the Castus Duchy remained prosperous despite its barren and unforgiving land. The rare metals of the Armstrong Mountains—and the duchy's prized Blackwood trees—were its lifeblood.
I had seen many of those trees along the road. Blackwood was one of the few plants capable of enduring the North's brutal climate. It earned its name from its nearly pitch-black trunk. Its crimson leaves gave it an aura that was both mystical and imposing.
A symbol of the North itself, the Blackwood tree was also etched into my family's crest.
After drifting through my thoughts for a while, I decided to speak to Alexander. Unlike me, he was not the type to dwell on things. Though he had seemed tense yesterday, I could no longer sense even a trace of that unease within him.
I shrugged and spoke casually.
"You seem a lot more relaxed than yesterday. Mind telling me why?"
Alexander hadn't once turned his head away from the window throughout the journey. He answered without changing that habit.
"Nothing special. Just my usual self."
He let out a sigh, clearly bored.
Concluding that he wasn't in the mood to talk, I turned forward again. But the moment I did, he pulled his gaze away from the window.
"What about you, Luci?" he asked.There was a teasing smile on his face.
I returned it in kind."Like I said yesterday. I haven't felt tense from the start."
At that, Alexander raised a hand to cover his mouth, trying—and failing—to suppress his laughter. I adjusted my gloves, preparing an even more sarcastic reply, when a mounted guard approached our carriage.
Upon seeing me, he bowed his head respectfully.
"Young Master Lucius. Young Master Alexander. We are only a few hours away from Castle Black. If all goes well, we should arrive before nightfall."
I nodded in acknowledgment. The guard bowed once more and rode off. After watching him leave, I turned back to Alexander.
"Looks like we'll finally be seeing Castle Black again."
Alexander shifted slightly in his seat.
"Oh, what a joy," he said dryly."You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to that."
His words were mocking, but I sensed a fleeting wave of sadness beneath them—gone almost as soon as it appeared.
I let out a quiet sigh and turned my gaze back toward the window.
I couldn't blame him.
The last time we had been there…nothing good had happened.