Chapter 36
The harshest winter ever had arrived as Riftan persisted in rebuilding Anatol like a man possessed by an evil demon. However, no matter how much the castle was repaired and how many walls he erected, he couldn't build his crumbled self-esteem back.
Riftan stood at the top of the frontal castle walls, his jaw clenched as he gazed over the frozen earth. Whenever he closes his eyes, Duke Croix's scornful eyes flashed in his memories and whenever his head touched the pillow, the girl's frightened face appeared before him. He rubbed his face roughly, feeling terribly regretful for tolerating such insults thrown at him.
Now he really had to escape from his fleeting fantasies. He wasn't even allowed to kneel before her. His useless thoughts had to be put to an end now. Riftan repeated that to himself over and over again. Maximillian Croix was no longer a comfort to his loneliness, whenever he thought of her now, he felt a bitter pain.
If you were born like a waste for the ground, you have to live your life looking only at the ground. Looking up will make you nothing but wretched.
His stepfather's words sank deep into his bones. Her presence made him nothing but more miserable. He would live the rest of his life in a painful void as long as he couldn't elude his longing for her. Solely because of a woman he couldn't have by his side, he had to suffer from excruciating loneliness until the day he died.
Really, it must stop now.
He didn't want to make a fool out of himself any longer, vowing never to set a foot in Croix ever again. He would cease going in and out of the Duke's estate just to chase her with his eyes and catch a glimpse of the woman who looked at him like he was some insect.
Riftan descended from the castle walls and stepped towards his desolate castle, praying that bearing the humiliation he received from the Duke could etch an anger deep enough in his heart to erase her presence from his mind....
Several months passed and as the peak temperatures of winter subsided and rumors began spreading that the dragon in the Lexos Mountains was waking up. As expedition teams were slaughtered in the foggy forests, each kingdom started earnestly establishing troops for the dragon subjugation.
As thousands of soldiers camped near the Lexos Mountain, King Ruben's predictions came to be and a great commotion ensued. The people became terrified, packing up their belongings and migrating north. An endless procession of commoners marched over the frozen grounds, making landlords face a struggle on cracking down serfs who fled.
Out of everyone, it was the Duke of Croix who caught the sniff of the fire most. Riftan's forehead creased as he read the reports brought by informants. When the dispatch order was issued to the Duke of Croix, he gathered his vassals, convening for countermeasures. He wondered how the cunning man would wriggle his way out of this predicament.
Riftan's lips lifted cynically as he threw the parchment into the furnace. The flames in it soared, lighting up the barracks in an instant. He shredded some firewood and piled it on the fire, making sure that the parchment would burn to ashes, and walked out of the tent to gaze at the sky where the breaking dawn had begun to light up. A bluish shadow hovered over the foggy forests.
The lords of the western lands of Whedon were not exempted from the dispatch order. Rather, they were tasked to guard the monsters from crossing the borders. Hundreds of thousands of monsters lurked in the Lexos Mountains and soon, they would attempt to migrate to avoid the most powerful monster. It became the lords' duty to prevent them from invading the lands of Whedon.
"Sir Calypse, a messenger has arrived from Croix Castle."
As he was inspecting the temporarily built barriers, a soldier rushed up to him, shouting. Riftan arched an eyebrow.
