Chapter 2: It became a northern anti -aircraft

As if it had become a habit, as soon as I woke up, I rang the bell to summon the head butler.

Strangely enough, as if he had been waiting, as soon as the bell rang, an elderly man in a neatly tailored tailcoat entered, with a knock from beyond the door and the words, “Excuse me.”

“…Enter.”

I, who had been staring at him in a daze, soon collected myself and sat on the edge of the bed.

The old man, without a sound, approached Douglas with steps that exuded elegance in every movement, placed a hand over his chest in a bow, then bowed his head.

“Your Grace, was your night’s rest comfortable?”

“It wasn’t bad.”

At least today, I didn’t fall asleep buried under a pile of documents.

After roughly sweeping back my jet-black hair, which resembled obsidian, and smiling faintly, the old man also smiled.

“That’s a relief. I was so worried.”

“…Even though I’m an adult, your overprotectiveness hasn’t changed. Isn’t that what my father always used to say? That you worry too much, old man.”

“Haha, even if I receive nagging, this old man will always presumptuously worry about his master, Lord Douglas.”

Touching his beard, I shook my head, looking at the head butler, Cy Colmansky, who had answered so confidently.

“As I always say, I don’t like overly polite talk. More importantly, I permitted you to call me Douglas informally when we are alone.”

“As a retainer, it is only natural to show respect to my master.”

“You’re so unyielding about such things.”

At times like this, he was a truly humorless man.

While it’s good to clearly distinguish between private relationships and official duties, this rigid side of him was truly inconvenient.

I sighed and clicked my tongue, looking at the old man who was smiling slyly.

He was a man who could almost be called another parent, having lived with me for over 20 years, and a loyal subject who had supported the Rostain family since my father’s time, but despite his usual serious and calm demeanor, he was a sly and playful old man.

How much I had suffered at his hands in the past.

As expected of the head butler of a Grand Ducal family called “Iron-Blooded,” his spirit was truly extraordinary.

‘…Is that why Father gave Cy a position as his close aide?’

His personality, frank yet good at hiding his true thoughts, was impressive even to me.

Well, I don’t feel it’s that impressive right now.

I glanced at Cy and waved my hand.

“I’ll have a simple breakfast in my room.”

“Understood.”

With that, I ordered him to bring breakfast, and Cy bowed his head with an acknowledgment, then opened the door and left.

Soon, he would come to my room with breakfast.

After confirming Cy had left, I got out of bed and opened the window.

Gentle sunlight seeped onto my eyelids, and looking at the river flowing around the mansion—which was essentially a castle, despite being called a mansion—starting the morning elegantly was complete nonsense.

In contrast to the sunlight, a cold blizzard raged, and all the rivers flowing nearby were frozen solid in the cold.

The ground wasn’t so barren that crops couldn’t grow, but as if in compensation, the extreme cold prevented agricultural plants from thriving.

Moreover, there was nothing to see in this cold land, so not only were there no tourists, but even residents were scarce.

Ah, now that I think about it, there were ‘guests.’

Though the meaning of ‘guest’ for me was likely different from what others understood.

Foreign tribes and barbarians, they were truly infuriating bastards.

I trembled slightly and once again took in the view.

Vast in size, barren land.

On this desolate land, which anyone would consider abandoned, I rested my chin on my hand and sighed for what felt like the hundredth time today.

Although I had already lived for 20 years since being born in this world, I realized once again.

‘…I miss South Korea.’

In the country where ‘Lee Se-yoon,’ who was different from my current self, lived, I had never seen such a sight.

While I used to enjoy watching the snow pile up at my old home, now I’ve reached the point of praying to a god I don’t even believe in for the blizzard to stop.

I looked at the full-length mirror in a corner of the room.

Jet-black hair and crimson eyes, red as if melted blood, a tall stature, a well-built body, and a prominent nose bridge were beautiful enough for anyone to call him a beauty.

And most notably were the straight, black wolf ears proclaiming their presence atop his head and the wagging tail.

Beastman.

A hybrid of animal and human, according to my father, the wife of our family’s second patriarch was a beastman, and so occasionally, the marks of a beastman appear in their descendants, or so he said.

I don’t know why it had to be me, but when I was born, my parents were reportedly quite surprised to see my tail and ears.

Of course. My parents liked my tail and ears, saying they were ‘eye-healing,’ but because they felt like a character designed entirely to someone’s taste, I always disliked these ears and tail.

They were inconvenient too.

“Haa.”

The man reflected in the mirror was named Douglas Rostain.

Turning 21 this year, the eldest son and current head of the Rostain Grand Ducal family.

Furthermore, embarrassingly enough, the one known as the Monster Grand Duke, the Aloof Wolf, the Warmonger, the Iron-Blooded Grand Duke, the Sword Demon, and others—the ruler of the North, the 10th head of the Rostain Grand Ducal family who held a firm grip on the northern part of the Illiard Empire—was none other than me.

And now, I had been living for over 20 years in a world from a novel I didn’t know, a world I had once thought was fictional.

After transmigrating into the notoriously famous Northern Grand Duke.

****

If there was anyone who thought there was nothing to do in such a cold land, I wanted to pull out their tongue right then and there.

There was so much to do; I wondered if they would still say such a thing after seeing what I did every day.

Every day, shivering in this cold, in a land where one could freeze to death, not only did I handle paperwork, but I also dealt with foreign tribes coveting the Empire’s land and barbarians, who were exceptionally fierce due to their mixed demon blood—how could such a life be happy?

It was nothing short of hell.

As I sat at my desk, eating a simple breakfast of black tea and toast while organizing documents, my eyes fell upon a particular document.

“These bastards are at it again.”

It was a knight’s report stating that in the small northern city called ‘Manhattan,’ a bandit group comprised of barbarians had attacked, killing most of the men and abducting women, children, and elders, and that the situation had been resolved.

I frowned as I read the document and muttered a small curse.

As luck would have it, it was because they were the remnants of the bandit group I had wiped out last year.

At the time, it was troublesome, and I thought that even if they escaped, I had instilled enough fear in them that they wouldn’t dare do such a thing again, but I had been too complacent.

I should have completely eradicated them; then such repercussions wouldn’t have remained.

‘…And here I thought I’d get to shed some criminal blood for the first time in a while.’

After briefly smacking my lips while looking at the document that stated it was already resolved, I turned to other documents, then closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair.

While fighting foreign tribes and barbarians every day ensured my body wouldn’t grow dull, sometimes I just wanted to comfortably deal with petty thieves like them.

As if knowing or not knowing my discomfort, Cy, who had been quietly waiting beside me, suddenly asked.

“What will you do with the barbarians captured as prisoners this time?”

“Kill them, and then display their heads by hanging them in front of the castle gates.”

Even if we tried to negotiate anyway, the barbarians would just remain silent and abandon their comrades.

They were the kind of people who believed the strong were supreme and weakness was a sin, so even if their comrades were captured, they would pretend not to know, asking what it had to do with them that those comrades were weak and got caught.

I didn’t even know if they had the intelligence to think that way in the first place.

I shook my head, recalling the barbarians I always encountered on the battlefield.

Because among all the barbarians I had met, not a single one was normal.

For me, who constantly engaged in battles where I trampled those who dared to challenge and risked being trampled myself, keeping them alive yielded no benefit whatsoever.

It was simply easier and more convenient to kill them. It also served as a provocation. At least they were the type who always fell for provocations, which was a relief.

If they had been intelligent, it would have been a real headache.

As I pondered, thinking that if I could capture the barbarian chieftain as soon as possible, at least one of my worries would decrease, a maid standing outside knocked on the door.

–Knock, knock.

“…Um, Master.”

“What is it?”

The maid, who had been hesitating at my question, soon gently opened the door and entered, then bowed her head.

“Your business?”

“Th-that is—”

Frustrated by the maid’s uncharacteristic hesitation, I unknowingly glared at her, and Cy, who was beside me, also frowned at the maid’s behavior.

“You are in His Grace’s presence. Observe proper etiquette.”

“I-I apologize…! Th-that is, it was an unexpected matter even for me… I’m truly, truly sorry for showing such an unseemly display.”

The maid, trembling and apologizing at the suddenly chilling atmosphere, remained silent for a few seconds, then finally opened her heavy mouth.

“Lady Helena Celestia, the eldest daughter of the Ducal House of Celestia, wishes to meet Your Grace.”

Upon hearing those words, I involuntarily made an absurd expression, the first time I had done so in front of a maid, and Cy’s expression was not much different from mine.

‘…That woman, infamous in society for her bad reputation, famous enough to be heard of even in this North—the one called the villainess of the social circles?’

‘Me?’