I didn’t feel like it, but… I’m glad I came out.’
She was buried in a book every day, so she stopped practicing horseback riding with Rem for a while. Believing it was a good idea to follow Ruth’s suggestion, she slowly moved towards the location.
Usually, at this time of the day, the chanting of the knight apprentices is heard, but seeing the quietness, all the boys seemed to have participated in the cavalry training. Max stood in a sunny place, relieved that she could participate in the training without worrying about encountering others.
‘Will it be a little different this time?’
She rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a mana stone. The surface seemed to shine transparently under the bright sunlight. Max was rolling the mana stone around with her fingertips and grabbed it tightly with her palm.
There was no change, either way, as they were waiting for the heat to flow on the surface of the mana stone with her eyes closed. Max repeatedly looked up at the sky with a sigh.
‘Maybe I’m not talented….’
Ruth may have been mistaken. She may not have had the qualities of a wizard in the first place. Suddenly, she was so irritated that she kicked the floor violently. It was a waste to study books that were difficult to understand and to do nothing was pathetic. Max tried to throw the mana stone on the floor, but managed to restrain herself and squat down helplessly.
From afar, she could hear blacksmiths knocking on the iron. She could hear firewood being pounded. Max was deeply depressed because She felt like she was the only one who was stuck in a dynamic group. Max buried her face sullenly on her lap. At that moment, a sharp voice came from behind.
“What are you doing here?”
Max looked back in surprise. Three or four steps away, Riftan stood tall in armor as if he had just finished training. ‘How could he come so close in such a costume without a sound? She was blinking her eyes in surprise, and Riftan came in front of her.
“Are you sick or something?”
“Oh, no. Well, just relax….”
Max hurriedly got up from her seat, embarrassed. Then Riftan frowned.
“When I went to the Great Hall, they said you went out without an attendant. Why are you alone out here without a maid?”
“Just, just to get some fresh air….” Max said
“I think I’ll get even angrier if you come out for magic training.” Then, Riftan’s face hardens.
“A castle isn’t absolutely safe. If you’re in a distant place like this and have an accident…!”
Max shrugged her shoulders at the increasingly harsh voice. When he saw it, Riftan immediately stopped talking. At first glance, he looked nervous on his face.
“This is a castle where hundreds of people stay. Some of them might have a bad heart. Don’t you know that Lord’s wife shouldn’t be alone in such a deserted place?”
“I-I’m sorry….”
Max answered back obediently, not being able to say the right words. Then, Riftan’s stiff mouth was loosened a little smoothly. He pulled her arm, sweeping her hair out of the wind with one hand.
“Don’t worry me too much.”
Then he starts to walk one step ahead. Max followed him in a sullen manner, like a dog getting scolded.
Is he angry? He was walking a little faster, one step ahead of her, unlike usual. Max, who glanced at the blunt side of the face, suddenly realized that Riftan was moving in the opposite direction of the road to the entrance of the Great Hall.
“Are you going to the castle or not?”
“I heard you came out to get some fresh air.”
He replied bluntly and moved straight to the stable.
“I said I’d take you to the lake the other day. It’s a sunny day, so let’s go outside to get some fresh air.”
A welcome smile on the words and Max looked worried as he looked over him in his armor.
“Oh, I heard you had a hard training today. W-wouldn’t it be nice to take a break?”
“Hey, you still don’t know how strong I am? I’m a man who can march three days and nights without a break.”
Riftan shook his head as if he were amazing and went into the stable. Max secretly blushed as she recalled his passion until dawn. Clearly, Riftan’s physical strength was phenomenal. Fanning her face, she followed him into the somber stable, and the workers who swept the floor rushed to bow.
“My Lord, you’re here.”
Riftan gestured roughly to the servants, then walked straight to Talon’s compartment and put up the saddle by himself. She walked to the place where Rem was. As she approached, a mare sticking her head out was pleased, stamping her feet. Max made a sorry face and caressed the horse by the neck.
“Well, how are you?”
Rem rumbled and rubbed her nose against her shoulder. She smiled and soothed Rem’s rich mane. Kunel, who was entering the stable with a straw band on his shoulder, quickly ran to see it.
“Good morning, My Lady. I think you two are going out together.”
“W-We’re going to the lake.”
“Do you want me to saddle you up?”
As she nodded, the stableman quickly put a saddle on Rem’s back. Max was handed a rein and led Rem out of the stable. Riftan, who was outside, grabbed her and sat her on the horse.
“The wind is cold, so don’t go too fast today.”
Then he jumped onto Talon and drove ahead towards the rear gate. Max looked as excited as she chased after him. The other day, she remembered riding a horse to the hill with him, and my heart was pounding hard. Max rode the horse cheerfully, feeling his depressed mood clearing up.
“t-the lake, uh, where is it?”
“It’s just a little west along this road.”
Earlier, Riftan, who stepped out of the gate, pointed to a winding forest path. The narrow road, which is lined with bare trees from side to side, seemed difficult to ride a horse.
Max hesitated a little, then carefully drove the Rem onto the bumpy road, where the roots of the trees were intertwined. Whether her riding practice has been fruitful, she was able to stay stable. Riftan smiled at the sight.
“You’ve become much better than before.”
“I- I’ve been practicing.”
“I’m proud you, of course.”
Max blushed at the praise he would give to the little boy. Riftan carefully watched how many times she was following her well and soon became relieved, speeding up a little bit. She clung to his horse’s tail and ran out of the narrow road.
How long would it have gone so far, the road got wider and wider, and soon a huge silver-lit lake appeared. Max looked down the open hill and exclaimed. A reddish-brown peak and a blue sky were clearly reflected on the mirror-like round lake.
Around the water, pines pointed like spears rose densely like fences, and the dense branches were thickly covered with pine needles that looked black. Max smiled happily at the place she hadn’t seen in a long time. Winter birds and wild animals that came to drink water between the trees were seen at first glance.
As Riftan dragged his horse close to the surface, the stag which was poking his head out from behind the bushes, ran away like the wind. Surprised by the sound, birds flapped up and the forest became noisy for a moment.
“I thought the water might have frozen, but it’s fine.”
He kicked Talon’s waist lightly and approached the lake. Max chased and asked in a surprised tone.
“t-this big lake… Oh, it’s freezing?”
“In the north, even a bigger lake freezes in winter. You can walk through it.”
At Riftan’s words, Max opened her eyes wide as if she could not believe it.
All she saw was a thin layer of ice on a bucket of water outside in the cold winter. She couldn’t imagine that a lake this big could freeze and walk on it. She glared suspiciously at him, wondering if he was making fun of her who didn’t know the world.
“Uh, h-how can I walk on a lake? The ice could break and fall into the water.”
“Some people actually fall to death while crossing.”
Riftan replied as if he were telling a trivial fact. Max frowned and shook her head in a ridiculous way.
“Well, then i-if you go up there, oh, you can’t.”
“If you make sure the ice is thick enough to support your weight, it’s no problem if you move. It’s much colder in the north than here, so ice doesn’t break unless there’s a big animal like Hydra underneath it.”
Max opened her eyes wide at the words that seemed to have experience.
“Ri-Riftan, did you walk on the lake?”
“Not a lake, but I’ve crossed something like that. When I was a mercenary, I used to do a magic in Balto, and I walked for three days on a giant frozen glacier to pass through the Tranoia Plateau.”
“What’s rain glacier…?”
“A chunk of ice bigger than that mountain.”
Over and over again, Max had a dim look on her face. ‘How many things has he experienced in his 28 years of life?’ The most ferocious and powerful demon on the whole continent, the Red Dragon, has gone through the ice bigger than the mountains….
It was unimaginable for Max, who had lived her entire life in her father’s castle and moved to Anatol, which was all she had experienced in her life. How colorful and magnificent the world is perceived by Riftan. He felt like a completely different person compared to her, who was struggling with organizing the house of Calypse and learning a healing magic.
“Rif-Riftan, all seven countries… Have you been there?”
“I’ve never been to Arex and Suikan. When I joined the mercenaries, I moved to Rivadon and spent about two years there. I was commissioned to work at random, and I ended up going up to Balto… I made a lot of money there, but I came down to Osiria because I thought it was not a place to live. I stayed in the capital of Osiria for about a month or three to attend a swordsmanship competition hosted by the Central Temple, and I was offered to join the Knights.”
He tilted his head slightly as if he were reminiscing about the past and calmly recited his history calmly.
“After returning home and being formally knighted, I spent most of my time in Anatol and Dristan.”
