Chapter 21

Chapter 21

For the first time since the upheaval that led to the devils’ rampage, Halstead Castle has had seven years of peace.

In that span of time, Leticia grew up safely.

She also had learned a lot.

First of all, she learned elegant manners from Alexa. Although she has not fully taken care of herself, she can act like a duchess when she wants to.

Bastian taught her some skills to keep herself safe in case of an emergency.

Of course, Bastian’s strength could not be imitated even by the tip of her toes. However, even if she’s in a dangerous situation, she will be able to get out of it by using wit.

Most of all, Casaro taught her the knowledge of the rough world.

Even if she needs to deal with vile vagrants of the North, she could easily reconcile with them.

They want Leticia to be filled with their teachings so she can be the best version of herself.

Besides that, everything and everyone in Halstead Castle has been great teachers for Leticia. She has learned everything she could.

Meanwhile, she did not forget to further strengthen the special weapons of God in this world.

It was the knowledge from the other side.

These items were definitely objects from the other side of the world.

What the hell is going on here?

In a long time of peace, Leticia got time to dig into it.

There were many people in the castle who would do whatever Leticia asked.

Leticia then asked them to search for a ridge.

As a result, she was able to find out one fact.

There must be a special place.

Some called it ‘the door’ and others called it ‘the warehouse.’ It was just that and she didn’t know the exact location.

‘I wish I could find out!’

Leticia went on searching with regret.

Meanwhile, it’s not just knowledge of how to be strong.

Among the new knowledge was unexpected information about the castle’s child and Lord.

One day Leticia found it while touring the library of the castle.

There were hidden books hidden from the outside. It was the precious “Elderberry Rabbit Chronicles” series.

“This is…”

Leticia’s eyes grew wide.

“This is my husband’s food-saving book!”

“What?”

The old woman had an absurd look on her face. The next moment, she laughed.

“Did the Lord tell you such a lie?”

“Lies?”

“He must have been ashamed to be caught reading such a cute book. This is the Lord’s favorite. When he was three years old, I saw him for the first time, and he fell for it.”

“You should have seen it yourself! From the drawing room, he ran with these books with both hands and ordered us in a very solemn manner. ‘These rabbits who lost their caves and wandered around, bring them to our castle right now.’ We all held our stomachs and laughed at that time!”

Leticia burst into laughter at the grandmothers’ words.

“Did that really happen?”

“Yes, even after he gets to know the story and the reality later on, sometimes when the papers pile up, you’ll see these books. It’s a story about rabbits who end up happy after many hardships.”

Alexa said so and looked carefully at the book.

“It’s a secret that we’ve seen this.”

Everyone crept out of the library with their heels up.

Usually, those were the memories. It was far away, but strangely enough, I wasn’t worried about Erden.

It’s probably thanks to the knot of origin.

Though clumsy, it seemed to have some mysterious power. Even though he is far away, she felt that a strand of consciousness is connected.

When she closed her eyes at night and when she couldn’t sleep, she could see the clumsy knots she had made hanging from his sword and fluttering in real life.

Erden is not harmed.

And so time went by in the foggy castle.

***

There are, of course, four seasons in the northern wilderness.

The roads leading to the common markets of various provinces have changed seasons.

After the spring came, seeds hidden everywhere bloomed. The carriageways were decorated in different colors.

In summer, thickly grown green vines covered the ruins on both sides of the road. At night, auroras in the northern part of the country would come down to the spectacular market on summer nights.

In autumn, all kinds of wild animals gather in the clear, still lake. They looked at running carts and wondered what kind of animal they were.

Then came the long, long winter. When the glaciers befall, everything in the common market is covered in white. One of the attractions of the area is the sight of the low-ranking officials of the city’s mayor, Belial, who is wearing pointed clown hats.

Spring comes again after the last snow.

And summer, fall, and winter.

Spring, summer, fall, winter… …

The seasons had changed about seven times.

There was a cart appearing on the way to the common market.

“Stop!”

The Devil’s Belial’s guards stopped them.

It was an inspection. There is an elderly woman and some people in the cart wearing a captain’s hat.

The guard’s gaze rested on one of the girls.

Eighteen or nineteen? She had long red hair, which is peculiar in this area, and pale cheeks. She had bright green eyes.

After a year or two, she’ll probably be considered famous for her beauty.

The man who is evaluating other people’s faces even when he was at work asked while thinking about that.

“Where are you from?”

The red-haired lady answered.

“Halstead Castle.”

“Oh, I see.”

The guards passed them.

A colleague approached her with the record.

“Where did they come from?”

“…”

The guard hesitated.

He heard it clearly and passed it, but he suddenly couldn’t remember it.

Then, it occurred to him belatedly.

“Bysen Castle.”

“Ah.”

Another guard recorded.

Then the cart ran away, leaving them behind.

The 19-year-old Leticia leaned out of the window with her arms half out and looked outside.

She looked relaxed and curious.

“I heard it’s a bad day to go! Why is it so crowded?”

Casaro screamed as soon as they arrived at the market. Ahead of Erden’s return, she was all giddy.

“Everyone must be here to see the best chef in the North.”

Leticia jumped off Casaro’s wagon while shaking her hands.

She didn’t know the day would come when she would grow taller than this pirate grandmother.

Time went by so quickly.

In 15 days, she has filled the seven years as he had promised. The Halstead Castle will be having their Lord back.

Castle Halstead is already excited about the warm welcome party.

Everyone in the village prepared their backs. In addition to welcoming Erden, the castle also prepared a grand dinner to make the castle visible from afar. That’s why they came all the way to this market.

“Is this it? Anything better than this?”

Casaro tried to buy everything but she chose the finest of all. The ingredients on the Emperor’s table cannot be more desirable and shiny than that.

Leticia followed her assiduously.

It took her half a day to get her legs together before she could barely catch up.

Then it is when he is about to return to the castle.

“All these things are just one denny! The first person to get here it’s theirs!”

The dealer’s stand stood out. She glanced casually, and one thing caught my eye.

Leticia’s eyes widened.

A long square object. a colorful wrapper and Korean alphabet ‘Energy’ was clearly written on it.

It is an energy bar.

When she was a test-taker in her previous life, it is often treated as a substitute for meals.

Leticia couldn’t take her eyes off the object, which is naturally entangled among the odds and ends of this world. After butane gas, it was the first time she saw another water gun on the other side.

How the hell do these keep popping up?

She is so curious about it.

“Go ahead and load up.”

Leticia sent Casaro and her servants far away. And asked the merchant.

“Where did you get this stuff?”

“Well, I’m not sure it was just mixed up.”

“Lies. It’s very different from other objects, you see?”

“Hmm. Do you happen to know what this is?”

It was when they were talking while looking at each other’s eyes.

A harsh voice came from beyond the noise of the market.

“That’s some kind of dog talk! I haven’t heard from any of those damn Halstead castle bastards in seven years?”

Leticia was awfully surprised.

Unconsciously, she turned her head and looked at it.

There was one creature wearing a hooded cape. She couldn’t tell if it was human or demon.

Anyway, she is looking onto this person and that person is prying into Halstead’s whereabouts. It was a voice full of hatred.

The energy bar is not important now.

Leticia crept behind the standee’s pillars. Someone is aiming for Halstead.

There are only 15 days left before Erden returns. I just need to hang in there a little longer.

A crisis has arrived.