Chapter 5: Princess Vero
The door to the reception room was suddenly flung open, and a girl’s voice—angry, panicked, and tinged with tears—burst in from outside: “Father, how could you do this? Father, they are your people; they merely acted irrationally due to false rumors. Can’t you explain to them and persuade them? How could you allow your guards to drive them away? Look at what your guards have done! The square is covered in blood—it’s a disgrace for our region of Calais in a hundred years!”
The girl with shoulder-length silver hair clearly inherited her father’s features—a straight nose, dark, bright eyes like water-soaked honey grapes, moist and gleaming, fair skin like translucent cream soaked in milk, and rosy lips that accentuated her delicate face. With a pitifully anxious expression, her snow-white silk dress trailed on the ground. Below a ribbon around her ivory neck hung a small silver statue of the goddess of harvest, Demeter. Her waist was slender and graceful.
Without caring that there were other guests in the room, the girl rushed to her father, grabbed his hands, and shook them violently, leaving the stern-looking silver-haired old man both annoyed and helpless.
Komer felt as though something heavy had struck him, leaving him breathless. The panic and sorrow in the girl’s purple eyes the moment she rushed in seemed to cause Komer’s long-dormant, almost numb heart to suddenly roar loudly. A fragment of memory suddenly surfaced, leaving Komer momentarily stunned.
“Vero, how rude! Can’t you see I have guests?” The silver-haired old man clearly doted on his daughter. Though his words were strict, the love and concern in his tone were evident.
“Father, please order your guards to stop driving them away right away. If this continues, lives will be lost,” the girl pleaded tearfully, ignoring her father’s warnings.
“Vero, these lawless scum need to be made to wake up through violence and bloodshed, so they understand that everything must follow the law. Don’t worry; nothing serious will happen. These cowardly wretches will scatter as soon as they see the guards arrive.” The silver-haired old man already knew that his deal with Meiyn and Sussor and the other refugees had failed. From the expressions on these representatives’ faces, it was clear they would no longer believe his persuasions. And that guy standing by, pretending nothing was wrong, was surely thinking about how to report him to the kingdom’s internal affairs department. Though he wasn’t afraid, being investigated by them would be troublesome.
Before he could finish speaking, firm and strong footsteps were heard outside. “Duke, the mob has been dispersed, and everything is back to normal,” said a tall, handsome young officer as he strode in. After giving a proper knightly salute, his gaze involuntarily fell on the young girl standing beside the silver-haired old man.
The young knight who entered immediately caught everyone’s attention. The others were drawn to his vigorous and spirited appearance, while Komer was shocked by the aura emanating from his very being. This guy was at least a swordsman with intermediate divine combat energy. If he wasn’t mistaken, he must be a holy swordsman or holy knight trained at the headquarters of the Light Church. Although this knight couldn’t yet be called a holy swordsman or holy knight, given time—and judging by Komer’s keen eye as an analyst—the talented young knight could become a formidable competitor.
It seemed Zelin wasn’t as at odds with the Light Church as rumors suggested. Otherwise, experts of this caliber would likely only be found in the Light Church’s own elite knight orders or perhaps the kingdom’s Fire Shadow Knight Order. Yet here he was, in Zelin’s mansion—something that truly alarmed Komer. Though this guy hid his abilities well, since the nightmares, Komer’s spiritual perception and detection skills had improved dramatically. Coupled with his daily meditation, although his magical skills still weren’t satisfactory, his intuitive foresight had far surpassed normal levels. Especially those who wielded light or divine magic, opposing his own dark magic, caught Komer’s attention even more.
The man before him not only possessed a certain level of magical skill but, more importantly, his fighting spirit made it possible for Komer to gauge his true strength. Perhaps he hadn’t expected an expert to be in the living room, or maybe seeing the silver-haired girl there stirred the young knight’s courage. In any case, the moment the young knight’s gaze fell on her, Komer clearly understood this man’s true ability.
“Sart, you butcher! I saw with my own eyes you hurt a woman. I never want to see you again, you bloodthirsty murderer. Get out!” Before her father could speak, the silver-haired girl angrily rebuked him, tears in her eyes: “You claim to be a knight, yet do knights attack defenseless civilians and women? Do knights raise swords against kind and honest people? Sart, you’re not much better than demons from hell.”
The young knight officer scratched his head awkwardly and hurriedly explained, “Princess Vero, you’ve misunderstood. First, these people aren’t kind and honest civilians at all—they’re lazy scoundrels and vagrants from inside and outside the city. They were sent by those with ulterior motives to tarnish the reputation and image of the Grand Duke and our region of Galle. It’s not as simple as you think. Besides, we only used threats to drive them away; we didn’t go too far.”
“Is that so? Could my own eyes be deceiving me? Are those women with children also scoundrels and vagrants? Are those plainly dressed farmers lazy people? Is the blood splattered by your and your men’s whips fake as well?” The silver-haired girl was filled with grief and anger, her dark eyes showing deep hatred, which made the young knight feel desperate.
Even though the silver-haired old man doted on his daughter, he couldn’t remain silent in such a situation. After all, the young knight was also of noble birth and a favored candidate for special treatment. He knew the young knight had special feelings for his daughter, which was why he had tried to avoid answering Vero’s questions. But with so many outsiders around, especially that country bumpkin watching coldly, the situation couldn’t continue like this.
“Vero, you’re too presumptuous! How dare you be so rude to Knight Sater? Apologize right now! Knight Sater is carrying out my orders. If you’re dissatisfied, blame it on me. I don’t see anything wrong with dispersing those ignorant mobs. Even if they were provoked and deceived by outsiders, they still must pay for their stupidity! Get out!” The silver-haired old man’s expression turned icy cold, and his tone became unbearably strict.
“Father?!” The silver-haired girl had probably never seen her father treat her like this, especially in front of so many outsiders. Her eyes reddened, and tears finally streamed down from her clear, deep-set eyes. She forcefully shook off her father’s hands and rushed out, shouting, “I will never forgive you!”
Seeing the girl dash out, the young knight with a worried expression tried to follow her, but was stopped by the silver-haired old man. “Knight Sater, since you’re here, it’s only right to introduce you to these guests. This is Baron Komer, the lord of the Caucasus region in Homer. These two are Mr. Hozel and Mr. Zip from the city-state of Main. This is Lord Melbourne from the city-state of Susor. These two are Mr. Rese and Mr. Lafayette from the Duchy of Mellen. Please allow me to introduce this as Knight Sater Bonmings—he is one of the bravest knights in our Galle region and also the leader of my guard.”
The Bonmings family was one of the most powerful families in Galle, second only to the Storten family. They were also the strongest supporters of the Storten family, represented by Duke Zelin. They held significant shares in the canal connecting Gutenberg and Odessa. All this information was revealed to Komer by Palermo. As a lord, Komer increasingly realized there was still much he needed to learn and master. Relying solely on his title as a baron and his hidden dark magic to gain a foothold in the kingdom’s elite circles was nothing but delusional. It was essential to understand the important forces and figures in various regions of the kingdom, especially those adjacent to or related to his own territory. And this Knight Sater was undoubtedly a member of the Bonmings family.
After the initial introductions, there was naturally a round of hypocritical and enthusiastic pleasantries. Yet the silver-haired elder quickly interrupted this tedious exchange: “The northern orcs have breached the kingdoms and city-states of Mein, Sussor, and Mellen within our alliance, and they have fallen. You must be aware of this situation, Sat. Baron Komer has come to escort refugees from those three regions to settle in the Caucasus, so as to prevent the people from becoming slaves to the orcs. It’s unfortunate that such an embarrassing incident occurred while passing through our Galle region. Knight Sat, you should first conduct a thorough investigation to find out who is behind this chaos, spreading rumors to incite trouble among the people of my territory, and bring these individuals to justice with severe punishment.”
“Rest assured, Your Grand Duke. Sat will definitely catch those with ulterior motives and restore justice for Your Grand Duke and our Galle region,” replied Knight Sat, following his master’s lead, though his gaze lingered on the guests. “However, Sat cannot understand why you would travel such a long distance to the harsh and unforgiving Caucasus. I wonder if people accustomed to prosperous regions can adapt there. The Caucasus is famously a land of poverty and hardship in our kingdom. Not only is it adjacent to the barbarian territories, but magical beasts also roam that area. Fort Damorensk is even known throughout the continent as a place cursed by demons. I’m sure Baron Komer has heard of it as well—it’s a place that brings misfortune and nightmares.”