Payback: Isekai

Wither All Life and Love

There was something gloom surrounding the black castle. The merchants in charge of supplying the logistics and the mail boy were the ones who felt it the most.

The knights and soldiers were in a state of high discipline, and the people passing below the hill could often hear shouts of training and punishment. Keen-eyed people could see the security around the hill was being doubled, and stricter customs had been enacted on all borders. There were more patrols than usual, and even though it was done as discreetly as possible, some could still smell an investigation going on.

The black castle itself was almost felt eerie with silence. And it wasn't something figurative. The backyard, which usually had maid chattering merrily during breaks, was quiet. The maids were still there, but they were speaking in a hushed tone. Not to mention the expression of most servants was gloom and with no energy abound.

"Is someone died or something?" Asked an overly curious merchant, an assistant that was considerably new to Noctum. As an answer, the assistant merchant got a slap on his head and back by their boss, the cook, two housemaids, and a passing footman.

"Shut your mouth or you're the one who's going to die!" The merchant hissed exasperatedly, already calculating what kind of bribery he needed to get for the people who heard his assistant's question earlier so they keep it from the higher up. Obviously, it'd come from the assistant wages. If the castle severed his contract then, well, he didn't really need an assistant, might as well sell them to another continent or something.

That being said, the castle did appear as if they were in the middle of a funeral. Which was quite weird, because the merchant didn't think the castle was in this much depressed mood when the late duchess passed away.

But the mood of a castle was dependent on their lord. And the lord wasn't much in distress when the last duchess passed. In the first place, the late duchess had been ill for quite some time before, so in a way, they had all been prepared for her departure. And the Prince wasn't one to dwell on the dead, not to mention he had a mountain of tasks to tackle right after the funeral.

But this time, they could feel it clearly, how much their lord was in distress. He always had been cold, by he never cruel or lashed out to those who did their job well—which was why Noctumcor had such finesse on their servant. But these days, the lord was in a foul mood. He used to smile, even if it wasn't a kind one. But he never did these days, as if he had no energy or willingness to even fake an expression anymore, like he always did before.

So they could see it clearly, that their lord was anxious. It was like seeing someone walking on an eggshell. In whatever he did, their lord would always steal a glance, or even blatantly stare, at the direction of the eastern tower—the Crow's Nest. And his eyes would grow hard and tense, the grey orbs like a pot of pain, anger, desperation, and fear mixed together.

Especially the fear.

In a hushed conversation, the servants discussed the possibility of the sacred knight leaving the black castle. And it made them wallow in dread. What would happen if their pretty young master did leave? What would happen to the lord? What would happen to them?

So now the whole castle walked on eggshells too. The servants were pretty much determined to treat the sacred knight as best as possible so he wouldn't leave. Determination aside, there was actually no way for them to do that, since they couldn't even see the man.

The Crow's Nest was barred from all visitors. Only Mr. Harkan and Mrs. Maud could come up there. The two maids in charge of cleaning the tower had to do it under the housekeeper's strict watch. Besides those people, the only people who were allowed to come into the tower were the healer, who came every other day to check on the sacred knight.