The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 42
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Chapter 42: Knight Cedric
Almost simultaneously with the news that Melfina was safe arriving from Melto Village, I leaped onto my horse.
“Cedric!”
“Marie, come by carriage! I’ll go ahead!”
Not sparing a moment to shout this to Marie, who had rushed out of the mansion looking exhausted, I kicked the horse’s side, and my companion from the capital began to gallop immediately.
The sun was already starting to set. Riding a horse at night was tantamount to suicide. Even if I could reach Melto Village before nightfall, it was clear it would place a significant burden on the horse.
I felt sorry for the horse running as instructed. Even so, the horse trusted its master and ran.
This horse had been bestowed upon me along with a sword and heavy armor by the Oldrand family when I was knighted.
I was anxious. My vision narrowed terribly, driven by an irresistible desire to reach Melto Village—to reach my master—as quickly as possible, even if only by a minute, by a second.
—Before I knew it, my master had become that person.
The dry wind stung my eyes.
Even though I knew this feeling was akin to betrayal against the Oldrand family who had taken me in, I couldn’t stop it.
Although born to an earl’s family, Cedric, as the third son with both older brothers already recognized as distinguished knights, had almost no chance of inheriting the family.
The Carlisle family, a lineage of palace counts and military leaders, implicitly expected the head of the family and his successor to become the captain of the knights at the royal castle. Upon reaching adulthood, Cedric too was to join the royal castle’s knights.
As I focused solely on urging the horse onward, the fatigue and anxiety gradually receded, and for some reason, I began recalling my childhood.
Recognized for his swordsmanship talent from an early age, Cedric eagerly honed his skills. His brothers, too, doted on the younger brother wielding a wooden sword too large for his body and often sparred with him fondly.
Born into a wealthy count’s family, Cedric enjoyed a happy childhood, cherished by his parents and two brothers, without being sent away as a page. It was expected that he would eventually be knighted by the king and join the royal castle’s knights after honing his skills at home.
Cedric couldn’t quite remember when things began to change.
Perhaps it was when he initially lost all ten bouts against his brothers, ending up covered in mud, but then started winning once in ten, then once in five.
Or maybe it was when their instructor, who had been overseeing the swordsmanship of the three brothers, said there was nothing more to teach Cedric.
It could have been when Cedric won the local swordsmanship tournament, surpassing his two brothers before reaching adulthood.
Or perhaps it was when he received the blessing from the church, designated as the “Sword Saint”, a title said to be given to one person in several generations.
While “talent” isn’t considered all that important for a noble, it was clear that Cedric, as the mere third son, possessed talent far beyond what was typical, even for a family deeply tied to the knightly orders.
Feeling increasingly superfluous within his family and growing distant from his brothers, the fervor in his heart to wield his sword with honor as a Carlisle man faded, and his sword arm grew heavier.
When he reached adulthood and felt unmistakably resented by his brothers, Cedric began to give up on securing a position at the royal castle.
A third son who outshone the head of the family and the heir was only seen as a nuisance. At times, he even considered living among commoners, but Cedric couldn’t imagine a life apart from his sword.
Moreover, he was already well past the age to become a page, and his prominence made him too conspicuous to be welcomed as a squire in another family.
In hindsight, he should have held back to some degree. If he had maintained an attitude of being no match for his brothers, and pretended to be a decent but not extraordinary knight, despite his rare talent, things might have been different.
But such actions were utterly incompatible with Cedric’s innate character.
A knight’s duty is to hone his skills diligently and serve his master and country. To Cedric, holding back in training or competition felt like trampling on his pride from a great height, and he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Shortly after Cedric came of age, his uncle, who belonged to the Oldrand ducal knight order, invited him to serve the ducal house.
When Cedric requested permission from his father, he received an immediate and favorable response. At sixteen, he arrived in the north and has since served as a knight in the Oldrand domain.
The Oldrand duchy, a region known for its martial values as a border territory, held a strong respect for military prowess. The strength of the lord, Alexis, was overwhelming, and the morale of the knight order was high.
Although Cedric was welcomed as a knight through family connections without starting at the bottom, no one resented him for it. The better he performed, the better his treatment became, and it didn’t take long for him to rise to the First Knight Order led by the lord.
It was about four years after being assigned to the First Knight Order that Cedric heard of Alexis’s engagement.
Simultaneously, he was appointed as the escort knight for Melfina von Crawford, who was to become the duchess.
An escort knight for someone of noble blood is a prestigious position, ranking high even among the royal guards when the subject is royalty. Being appointed as the escort knight to the wife or daughter of the lord signifies the highest level of trust and honor from one’s master.
However, Cedric felt slightly disappointed by the appointment. He had hoped to further hone his skills in the field, battling monsters and fulfilling his role as a knight in a more tangible way.
The woman he was to guard, Melfina, was an eccentric noblewoman who, the day after her wedding, fled the ducal residence and moved to a remote northern settlement. Her subsequent behavior was far from what one would expect of a sheltered noble lady.
She seized control of a serf village and set the serfs to work on land reclamation. She wandered about under the sun in a cotton dress, indifferent to the proximity of the serfs.
Cedric was chilled to the bone when she allowed even children to touch her, prompting him to respond as any proper escort knight would. In response, Melfina flew into a rage, declaring that if he wouldn’t obey her, he should return to the duchy.
It was clear that Melfina was the one deviating from noble conventions. She didn’t seem concerned with maintaining noble decorum, even stating that she didn’t mind being described as a tantrum-throwing lady who was out of control.
Cedric had indeed considered returning to the duchy. What held him back was the presence of Marie, the illegitimate sister of the former duke and Alexis’s father, who stayed by Melfina’s side.
Though Marie was not officially recognized as a lady of the Oldrand family, Cedric understood that he was ordered as her escort knight to protect her as well. Alexis might have been more concerned about Marie, who, despite being of age, couldn’t be openly assigned a knight for her protection.
Marie, however, readily quit her role as a maid employed by the Oldrand family and became a personal secretary employed directly by Melfina.
Given this development, Cedric couldn’t make any reckless moves. It was foreseeable that if he left his post, Melfina would refuse to accept another knight dispatched by the Oldrand family.
Yet, as Cedric continued his duty as an escort knight while observing Melfina, the sights he witnessed over the next six months were nothing short of miraculous.
The new fields weren’t for growing wheat or potatoes, but for corn, initially cultivated as livestock feed. By the time it was harvested, the potato fields in Enkar Village had withered one after another.
The blight spread not only in Enkar Village but swiftly across the entire continent.
If wheat was taxed, potatoes were the staple for commoners. The famine caused by the potato blight spread rapidly throughout the country.
In the midst of this, an extensive cornfield stretched before them, filling the horizon.
The flatbread made from corn, devised by Melfina, was palatable enough for meals, and no one in the Enkar region went hungry. By selling the surplus corn at the same price as wheat to the ducal house, Melfina amassed a substantial fortune as a lord.
With that wealth, she elevated serfs to commoners, established new villages, brought in craftsmen, and directed the construction of new buildings and tools one after another.
At the beginning of spring, the residents of Enkar Village and the nearby serf settlements had dark expressions, and the entire Enkar region was enveloped in a weary atmosphere.
On the northern edge of the country, forest clearing progressed slowly, and the yields weren’t abundant. Though the settlers were given tax advantages, it was evident that the harsh living conditions outweighed the benefits.
But look at it now. Adults and children alike have bright expressions and live vibrantly. Their faces reflect a belief that today will be better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be even better.
Auguste, a relative and colleague as Alexis’s aide, once remarked with admiration that such scenes could only be witnessed in the Enkar region, his face reflecting a sense of longing.
At that moment, Cedric felt a sense of pride towards the person he served.
Melfina remained as unconventional as ever, not acting like a noble. There was a part of him that wished she would stay indoors, quietly doing embroidery or having tea, to ensure she wouldn’t get hurt.
However, if she weren’t the kind of master who called people by their names regardless of status, acted amicably, and brought happiness to Enkar Village, Cedric wouldn’t have felt this overwhelming admiration.
Had he just followed behind her, burdened by thoughts of when she would return to the capital or fulfill her duties as the duchess, he would have harbored resentment.
She was a person who brought happiness to others. Even if no one understood her, a golden path lay behind her, wherever she walked.
Cedric was convinced that this path radiated light, leading the world to a brighter future.
She was someone who must never be lost.
The sound of the wind rushing past snapped Cedric back to reality.
It seemed he had lost track of time. Although it usually took about forty minutes on horseback, Melto Village was already coming into view in the distance.
Storyteller Amarylais's Words
Hi guys! I've been enjoying this novel lately and noticed it wasn't receiving updates so I decided to pick it up~ Let's start with a mass release of chapters <3 Challenge: Reach 30 votes on Novel Updates! Progress: 30/30 We did it! Bonus chapter released! (07/22/2024)
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