Chapter 10 - The Evenhart Family Castle

Nearly a week had passed as we continued our journey on the road. We stopped occasionally to rest and eat. The little phoenix liked to stay close to me, while Hugo sat at a distance, but I noticed he kept his sword out of its sheath, ready in case the phoenix decided to attack.

The little bird shared food with me, ignoring what my mother offered and refusing to respond when she tried to talk to it. I explained that I had communicated with the phoenix and it would respond with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ by nodding its head, but it wouldn’t respond to anything in front of them. It seemed like it wanted to hide its intelligence from the two of them.

I tried to tell it that it could trust them when we were alone, but it would shake its head ‘no’. I had to share my food with it since it wouldn’t accept what Hugo or my mother served. The solution was for them to increase the portions on my plate and feed the phoenix indirectly.

We found out that it loves to eat meat.

Just like my mother's plants… another scary thing accompanying me.

Fortunately, my mother’s plants could survive by eating just one mouse a month, so we didn’t worry too much. I learned that to keep these plants active, my mother had to pour mana into them as a form of nourishment. She would infuse her mana into the water and then water the plants. I knew she did this, but seeing her explain the process was interesting. It seems she had a small stock of carnivorous plant seeds saved for emergencies; she used them in the past. She might have retired as a soldier, but she still preferred to keep her killer plants active.

Hugo told me that those little plants she had with us were nothing compared to what she could create if she really put in the effort. I looked at those things and shivered, imagining an evil version of them.

I learned that there are also different types of magic. My mother was a ‘summoner’ type and could create those things, besides having the rare element of ‘plant’.

The phoenix and I started sleeping close to each other; it didn’t trust the other two much and relaxed more near me. This was good since it kept me warm.

Our routine was repetitive, but we became more alert. We stopped at some rivers to bathe, and Hugo knew a few spots where he could fish to avoid villages or towns. After what happened to him, we couldn’t risk separating again.

I knew we were deeper into Evenhart territory when I started feeling a bit colder. There were many forests with darker green and lots of pine trees. The Evenhart Duchy is a bit chilly, even having a part near the sea. My mother told me that sometimes it even snows, and that part of the sea was something unknown and no one dared to explore it.

The temperature in Evenhart Duchy is always a bit cold; you can wear clothes and bundle up well without feeling too warm. It’s cold, but bearable. According to my mother, we’ll have to stay there until the heir situation is resolved. She said my aunt wants to avoid an internal war among the nobles of our territory. It wasn’t just my father and uncle who died, but many leaders of the most loyal families, which left a small hole in the balance of power.

The most loyal soldiers lost their lives in the war to repel the invasion of the continent. My mother told me they had to stop the Human Empire and the Theocracy from invading a part of our continent that connects to theirs. If this small frontier fell, it would affect all the countries on our continent since the Human Empire would have free access to us by land. This battle was known as the ‘War of the Red Frontier,’ with ‘Red’ referring to the amount of death in that small area. Somehow, the old humans managed to counterbalance the mages but were defeated, and one of the main emperors of the Human Empire’s union died.

The term they used was 'Evenhart Manor Territory.' The garden of this manor looked like a place that could fit an entire city. It was a vast region with several hectares of land, forests, and mountains. My mother told me that the entire forest I could see was considered our ‘garden.’ The territory housed the Evenhart Manor, and on the other side was the main city called ‘Evenhart.’ My last name gave the place its name. I realized that being an heir to a Duchy was a big deal, just from the fact that the main city bore my surname.

We entered through the back of this ‘small plot.’ This back part had hectares of land and forests, but there was a giant stone wall that covered the entire region. My mother explained that this wall was placed by the founding mages of Evenhart. She couldn’t explain much more since I would have to hear the teachings of our ‘Queen’ in person. That was all she said, and it was enough to make me curious.

What does she mean by Queen? Aren’t we a Duchy?

We were approaching, and I was looking around. There were many people with armor and even staffs walking near the entrance to the other land that covered the manor.

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“STOP! Who allowed you to access this road?” asked a soldier, pointing his spear.

I noticed many armed men approaching the carriage. The little red bird was studying them through the window.

“Who do you think, idiots? The wall guards, you imbeciles!” Hugo said, pulling back his hood.

“Oh! Lord Hugo!” the soldier made a reverent apology.

“I don’t have time for this nonsense, I’m in a hurry and have something for Lady Margaery.”

“Y-yes sir!” they ran to open the entrance to the manor’s grounds. The place was surrounded by a metal grate wall.

My heart started beating very fast as we got closer; I was getting nervous.

“It’s going to be alright, I’m here with you,” my mother said, pulling me closer to her.

She knows me just by looking at me…

“I don’t know how to behave there…” I said, looking down in embarrassment.

My mother let out a small laugh.

“Neither do I,” she replied, laughing.

As we arrived at the ‘manor,’ my eyes widened.

“Manor?”

Where is this a manor? This is a damn castle!

There was a gigantic stone fortress, and we were entering it through another stone wall that surrounded the fortress. The place looked like a massive stone castle mixed with a fortress. I was impressed by the number of armed people going about their tasks, and there even seemed to be a village further in the back, on the other side of the fortress. I saw men training in the courtyard with bows and arrows, women training with swords, and even people practicing target shooting with water and fire magic. There was a real army here going about their activities.

“Welcome to Evenhart Manor,” said Hugo, opening the carriage door for me.

Evenhart Manor is this entire fortress? What the fuck… I thought it was just a noble family.

I was a bit nervous, and my mother took my hand as we walked, following Hugo. The little phoenix was on my shoulder, observing the place.

Now I understood why we were safe in the manor. Who would dare to invade a fortress? This place has layers of defense and a bunch of armed people.

Some people passed by, staring at my mother and me. They started whispering among themselves and then bowed before moving away to leave us in peace.

As we reached the entrance of that castle, the door opened, and I was more nervous than ever.

Soldiers opened the door for us and showed us the way. The entrance was a gigantic luxurious hall with various objects that I was sure were worth the entire village where I grew up. There were some large animals mounted on the walls.

“They're in a meeting, Lady Katherine,” Hugo said to us.

“Great, we arrived at a good time,” my mother said sarcastically.

The soldiers let us walk down the corridor, and I didn’t dare let go of my mother’s hand; I was too nervous about the grandeur of the place. Some maids passed by us and bowed. Hugo just nodded and continued on his way.

We arrived at a large door with two guards standing in front of it.

“Are all the Legacies inside?” Hugo asked one of them.

“Yes, sir! After your letter arrived, Lady Margaery gathered them, and they’ve been having these meetings all week,” one of them replied.

Hugo sighed.

“We just wanted to relax a bit… but there’s no way around it,” he said, and the men opened the door.

“Come on, young master and Lady Katherine,” Hugo said, and we entered the grand hall.

I grew even more nervous at what I saw.

The place was a large room with a giant red carpet leading further inside. At the end, there seemed to be a ‘staircase,’ like three long, large steps covering the final part of the room. At the top was a great stone throne, and on the steps below sat some people.

As soon as we entered and the door behind us closed, everyone fell silent and stared at us.

Gods… I’m nervous.

The little phoenix had gone to sleep inside my coat, warming me, but with how nervous I was, I couldn’t feel any cold even if it wasn’t keeping me warm.

Sitting on that stone throne was a woman.

Hugo went ahead, and we followed him a bit behind. I looked at my mother, and she just stared at the woman on the stone throne while holding my hand.

Hugo knelt on the ground and looked at the woman sitting on the throne.

“Lady Margaery, I brought them as I described in the letter. There weren’t many ‘problems,’ just a small incident with me.”

As we approached, I tried to follow Hugo’s example and kneel.

“Stop!” the woman said, raising her hand to me. “You are family.”

I felt nervous, and everyone looked at me.

“Is this our little Evenhart?” a blonde woman asked, laughing at me.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, Katherine,” a black-haired woman said to my mother.

“Silence!” the woman on the throne said, and everyone fell quiet.

My mother approached with me.

“Margaery,” my mother said, nodding her head.

The woman on the throne looked at her, then at me.

“It’s been five years since I last saw you, and as soon as we meet again, you call me ‘Margaery’? I thought we were friends,” she said, laughing.

“Margie…” my mother corrected herself.

The woman let out a laugh.

“So this is our little prince?” she said, looking at me.

I felt like I was being stared down by a lion. Even though I had been a General in another life, being in that child’s body made me feel embarrassed.

“Everyone, leave! I want to spend some time with my family,” the people in the room got up from the steps, sighing.

“Can we go to our rooms?” one woman asked.

“No. Wait outside and don’t even think about having dinner without us. We have much to discuss afterward,” she commanded.

They agreed and left the hall. Hugo bid us farewell and left as well. Once everyone was out, the door was closed.

The woman on the throne took a deep breath.

“This is exhausting,” she said, stepping down from the stone throne and walking toward us.

As she descended, she stopped in front of us.

“I missed you, Katie,” she said, hugging my mother.

“I missed you too, but you know I didn’t want to come back to this place,” my mother said, returning the hug.

Margaery looked at her.

“I understand. I didn’t want to bring you back either, but if we hadn’t acted… it would have been worse.”

After that, she looked at me and knelt down to my level.

“So you are my nephew. Nathan is your name?”

“Yes…” I responded, unsure how to behave in front of this figure of authority.

“It’s okay to act normally with me. Remember, I’m your aunt. Sometimes I have to be strict or tough with others, but understand that it’s my job.”

When she finished saying this, she gave me a strong hug.