UNDER THE OAK TREE: IN ANOTHER LIFE

01 The Meeting

The Remdragon Knights and the high ranking wizards of the World Tower arrived at the Croix Castle at late noon. The servants rushed to greet them at the stairs. Few servants took the reins from their hand and led the horses to the stables, while the others guided them to their room.

"Welcome to Croix Castle. The Duke is having a meeting with the other lords at the moment. He will greet all of you at the banquet hall later. For now, please have a good rest. We will prepare a water bath and a meal." The butler said softly.

The wizards nodded tiredly and followed the knights. They strode across the great hall, climbed the stairs and entered the room. Riftan visited Croix Castle several times in the span of five years, and every time he set his foot there, he still wasn't familiar with the greyish white walls and cold vibes of the castle. But this time, despite the creepy aura, a strange feeling of exaltation came upon him. Could it be the purpose of his mission this time made him felt that way?

His throat tightened as he nervously ruffled his hair and then pushed the window wide open. The spring sun shone brightly onto the flower bed on the ground that filled with various kind of flowers. A gentle wind of spring swiftly touched his face but the warm temperature continued to rise to his head. Riftan sighed heavily.

Sometimes, he did feel a strange longing when he saw a field of flowers, but that was all. He stopped consoling his loneliness using her memories a long time ago. He had no longer desire to see her after she left. He managed to convince himself that he was no longer an immature boy who clunge onto a mere illusion.

His eyes was fixed on the broad landscape of the flower garden. The neatly trimmed hedges and bushes divided various parts of the garden to create a straight and circular walk path. Each kind of roses, lilies, violets and other flowers were planted inside the hedges. A fountain with the fish statue stood tall in the middle while few wooden benches were scattered around the garden. Two stoned arbours covered by vine flowers stood at the left and right corner of the terrace respectively. Riftan unconsciously compared the spectacular sight in front of him to the barren garden at Calypse Castle. He was too occupied with reviving his estate and subdued the monster around Anatol's mountains, that he didn't have time to pay any attention to any trivial matter.

Now what the hell are you thinking. The Duke is one of the ten powerful nobles in the 7 kingdoms. Why are you comparing your mere castle...

At that moment, he saw a woman covered in a dark brown wool robe from head to toe, walked briskly on the terrace path connected to the castle. Soon that woman passed the right arbour, and headed to the garden. Riftan narrowed his eyes as he tried to catch a peek of the woman's face from afar, but to no avail because he could only see her back. He saw the woman crouched on the ground and plucked a few small white flowers. Then the woman plucked another small blue flowers. As he thought that woman was a maid, he closed the window. Suddenly, a knocking sound was heard.

"My lord, we prepared a water bath."

Riftan opened the door, waited for the maids to fill the tub with warm water, and rushed the maids to get out. He sighed in relief the moment his filthy body completely soaked in the water. A couple of days of an exhausting journey from Anatol to the Croix duchy seemed to fade in an instant. If only he could sleep and do nothing for another few days. But it was impossible as there were an important task that needed to be done and a banquet to attend in the evening. In fact, even now, he was barely suppressing the urge to find her around the castle. The memories from 15 years ago sprang into his mind.

What does she looks like? How tall is she? Will she remember me? There is no way she still remember me.

The rumour that the Duke's eldest daughter had returned from the World Tower had been swirled around since winter. In the span of five years, unbelievably, he never encountered her even once.