House Hayeral.
“Miss Colette, welcome!”
“Hello, Teacher Colette.”
At the main gate,
Rezerian, Lilia, and Hulim were all there to greet their visitor today.
Although it wasn’t another noble paying a visit, out of noble courtesy, Rezerian still dressed in proper attire for receiving guests, rather than his usual, easy-to-move-in practice clothes.
“Mr. Rezerian, Madam, you are all being far too polite. It’s just a casual visit; there’s no need to go to such lengths.”
Being treated with such formality, Colette felt a bit embarrassed instead.
“Not so, Miss Colette. You are my daughter’s teacher. How could we possibly be disrespectful when a mentor visits?”
“That’s right, Miss Colette. Please, do come in.”
With a word from both Rezerian and Lilia, Colette found it hard to continue being modest.
“In that case… I shall take you up on your invitation.”
Colette bowed slightly in return.
“Oh~…”
Rezerian’s gaze flickered with surprise for a moment. The other party should not be a noble, yet she seemed to be quite familiar with noble etiquette. It appeared her background was not so simple.
Colette was soon invited into the reception room by Rezerian and Lilia, where Laurenz had already arranged everything in advance.
“Master, Madam, the tea and pastries are here!”
Jessica entered the room, pushing a cart loaded with pastries and tea.
“Please, enjoy!” Jessica placed the tea and pastries before Colette.
“Ah, thank you!”
Colette offered her thanks and picked up her teacup, taking a gentle sip.
“What excellent tea!”
Noting her proper manners, Rezerian smiled.
“It’s just some ordinary tea. Still, thank you for your praise, Miss Colette. By the way, as my daughter mentioned, are you interested in matters concerning our ancestor?”
“That’s right, Father. Teacher Colette seems to be a fan of our ancestor and wanted to see some of the family’s heirlooms. Ah, Jessica, could you add a sugar cube for me? This tea is a bit bitter.”
Jessica, who had just finished placing the pastries in front of Hulim, froze mid-motion.
“Eh? But adding sugar to tea is a little…”
Rezerian stroked his chin and said, “I see, so this is the reason for Miss Colette’s visit?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Colette hurriedly replied, “Ahaha… That’s it. Besides wanting to catch a glimpse of Lord Olubert’s relics, I also hoped to hear more about him from you, Mr. Rezerian, as his descendant. To be honest, most of what I know about Lord Olubert comes from biographies and such.”
“Of course, if the family heirlooms are too private to be shown, there’s no need for me to see them!”
“Teacher Colette, mm… don’t worry, they aren’t that important. Many people have seen them!”
Hulim replied while eating pastries, stirring the sugar cube in her tea with a spoon that still hadn’t dissolved.
Lilia gently scolded her, “Hulim, it’s rude to talk while eating.”
“Mm… Sorry, Teacher Colette.”
Hulim quickly swallowed the pastry and fell silent.
Well, I suppose that’s…
On the other side, after a moment’s thought, Rezerian gave his answer.
“Miss Colette, as my daughter said, the heirlooms passed down from our ancestor aren’t especially valuable. There’s no problem with letting you see them. But as for learning more about our ancestor from us—honestly, I doubt we know much more than what’s already recorded. I just hope you won’t be disappointed.”
Colette shook her head at once. “How could I be! For you to agree to my unreasonable request, Mr. Rezerian, I’m already grateful. How could I feel disappointed?”
“As long as you don’t mind, Miss Colette. In that case… Jessica!”
“Yes, Master? What are your orders?”
Having finished serving everyone pastries and retreating to stand behind Lilia, Jessica answered promptly.
“Go find Laurenz and have him bring the locked box from my study. He knows which one I mean.”
“The locked box? Understood, I’ll go right away!”
Jessica quickly left the room.
“Alright, since it’ll take them a while to fetch the items, why don’t I tell Miss Colette a story about our ancestor, ‘Lone Sword’ Olubert, while we wait…”
Hulim had already heard these stories from her father many times, yet at this moment, she chose to listen earnestly once again, hoping to discover something different within.
Although she had avoided the topic back then, Semiris’s reaction still lingered deeply in Hulim’s mind.
Was their ancestor, ‘Lone Sword’ Olubert Hayeral, really just a guardian knight of the kingdom? If that were the case, why would Semiris, who should have been in the Celestial Realm of Tilamxuin at the time, have any impression of that name? Did the Celestials really love ground-dweller gossip so much that they even knew the little tales sung by wandering bards?
Hulim found it unlikely. For the first time, she was curious about the ancestor she’d long grown accustomed to hearing about—a guardian knight she’d never found particularly remarkable. Just what kind of story lay hidden behind him…
Olubert Hayeral, a man from three hundred years ago in the Passara Empire, was born a commoner, but due to exceptional talent, he quickly stood out after joining the military.
At a young age, he already held a high position, becoming the captain of the Royal City’s Defense Knights, shouldering the grave responsibility of protecting the imperial family.
For his unmatched swordsmanship, undefeated throughout the empire, the busybodies in the capital gave him the title “Lone Sword”—meaning his sword stood at the very peak, unrivaled, and so solitary, thus the Lone Sword.
Ordinarily, as a young man who’d achieved fame and success from humble origins, Olubert should have settled down, started a family, and found a way to fully enter the ranks of nobility—thus achieving a complete and satisfying life. In fact, many great nobles extended olive branches to him.
Yet, change struck suddenly.
Olubert had nothing to do with it at first—or rather, he was initially a completely unrelated person.
At that time, the imperial family of the Passara Empire was at its lowest point in the millennium since its founding. The royal bloodline was dwindling, the emperor was weak-willed and unfit to rule, while powerful nobles dominated the court. Outwardly, the empire seemed stable, but in truth it was rotten to the core, on the verge of collapse.
Everything began with a rebellion. No one knew its true cause; the most common story was that certain great nobles couldn’t bear to see a talented young prince ascend the throne, and so conspired to assassinate him—only for their plot to be used by ambitious men to gather strength and incite a full-blown revolt.
The rebellion broke out from within the royal capital; flames quickly swept through the palace, killing the emperor and most of the royal family in the chaos.
For a time, the empire was left leaderless. The powerful nobles took up arms under the pretext of suppressing the rebellion, but in truth, they were staging their own revolt.
No one expected that the prince those powerful nobles most wanted dead had sensed the danger early and escaped beforehand.
Although a single ember survived, the situation was already beyond the prince’s ability to control.
When the rebel noble army, working with traitors inside, once again surrounded the royal capital, trapping the last loyalist forces trying to save the royal family in dire straits—
Olubert, missing for many days, reappeared.
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