Lying in his four-poster bed, Lord Cedric gazed up at the dark canopy and stroked his neck.
His fingertips brushed against a small scar.
It was an old mark, more than twenty years old.
"Consider yourself unlucky."
Having luckily seized a lucrative opportunity, Cedric had personally set out on a trade expedition with a caravan of valuable goods, only to meet with disaster.
The seasoned mercenaries he had hired at great expense either died or fled without even putting up a fight against the shadow-cloaked assassins who had suddenly ambushed them.
"Why, why are you doing this? We are just an ordinary merchant caravan!"
"That's the problem. You should have just quietly sold your raw wool, but you had to needlessly expand your trade territory. Tsk!"
With that one sentence from the man who appeared to be the leader of the assassins, Cedric instantly realized who had hired them.
'Dorian Morn!'
Dorian, the guildmaster of the Obsidian Syndicate, one of the famous merchant powers in the Silver Province.
He was a man known for his venomous and cold-hearted nature, who would retaliate by any means necessary if anyone even slightly got on his nerves.
This time, Dorian had decided to crush the budding House Sterling, which was slowly expanding its influence across the Silver Province.
"Gold, if it's gold you want...!"
"Foolish man. Did you think we move for coin alone?"
The assassin swung his dagger briefly, and the merciless blade grazed Cedric's neck.
As warm blood trickled down his skin, Cedric's mind grew deathly cold.
He was twenty years old.
Faced with the terror of death for the first time in his life, Cedric froze like a rabbit before a direwolf.
'There are things in this world that gold cannot solve.'
It was the moment Cedric's belief that wealth could solve everything shattered.
'Power... what I needed was power.'
The price for this belated realization was harsh.
Just as the assassin's blade was about to end Cedric's short life.
Whoosh—!!
With the sharp sound of tearing air, ten glowing aetheric blades pierced through the assassins one by one.
The leader of the assassins, the only one who managed to react, frantically deflected a floating blade and shouted.
"Who goes there!"
"It is I."
A middle-aged man stepped out from the treeline.
He retrieved the floating swords with a flick of his wrist and said.
"How dare you commit murder in my presence. You've got some nerve, haven't you?"
"Aetheric blades... Don't tell me... you're Kaelen Vaelor?"
"That's right."
"Why are you here?"
The middle-aged man, the renowned Kaelen Vaelor, looked at the fallen Cedric and smirked.
"This fellow is my friend."
At his words, the assassin muttered with a deathly pale face.
"I didn't hear anything about that... Dammit...!"
The killer, who had been so fearsome moments ago, bowed his head and apologized.
"I-I'm sorry. I will terminate the contract immediately and retreat. So..."
"Get lost. If I see you again, it won't just be you, but everyone affiliated with your guild who will be giving me their heads."
"I'll keep that in mind."
As soon as the words were out, the assassin vanished into the shadows as if everything that had happened so far had been a nightmare.
Only the terrified merchants and the bodies of the assassins proved it was real.
"Hmph! Scum."
As Kaelen was about to leave without a second thought, Cedric hastily called out.
"Why did you help me?"
At his question, the swordmaster answered casually, without much thought.
"I was just passing by."
With those words, the man vanished as suddenly as he had appeared, and a rumor quickly spread through the Silver Province.
"The young lord of House Sterling, Cedric, is a personal friend of Kaelen Vaelor."
A single rumor spread by the surviving assassin turned the insignificant House Sterling into an untouchable entity.
Furthermore, Dorian, who had ordered the hit, came to the Sterling estate himself and bowed his head, begging for forgiveness just once.
Watching the prideful Dorian bow his head, Cedric realized what the unchanging, immutable truth of the Empire was.
It was absolute strength.
In the cutthroat realm of nobles and mercenaries to which he belonged, martial might alone was justice and the eternal, immutable truth.
Later, Cedric, who had transformed his small business into the Goldcrest Syndicate, the premier merchant house of the Silver Province, began to treat swordmasters and mages with the utmost respect.
"I don't need to be strong! If the friends who surround me are strong, they will become my strength!"
There was no need for House Sterling to raise its own private army.
On the contrary, if a merchant house built up too much military power, it would only attract the hostile scrutiny of the Imperial factions and knightly orders.
So, instead of building up a traditional army, Cedric began to form close relationships with powerful combatants, and soon House Sterling became a lucrative haven for the greatest swordmasters and mages of the Empire.
****
"Hmph!"
Finishing his reminiscence, Cedric opened his eyes.
"If Julian becomes Master Vaelor's apprentice and becomes a great swordmaster himself, it would be for the best..."
That would probably never happen.
But what if, by some miracle, Julian received Kaelen's teachings and became a renowned powerhouse?
In the future, when the intelligent and diligent Lillian leads the family, Julian would become a steadfast pillar of support by her side.
Just like Kaelen Vaelor, who had saved Cedric in the past.
"If only it could be like that, I would have no worries."
If his two children grew up as he wished, Cedric planned to step back from the guild's front lines without any major concerns and enjoy a peaceful retirement with his wife, Lady Eleanor.
As his thoughts reached this point, a surge of anger welled up in Cedric.
"Hoo...! There are countless swordsmen who would give their right arm to receive Master Vaelor's teachings, but that boy Julian... sigh..."
The image of Julian foaming at the mouth and collapsing in front of Kaelen was still unforgettably embarrassing.
Awakened by Cedric's muttering, Eleanor asked.
"My dear, are you thinking about what happened earlier today?"
"That's right."
Looking at Cedric, whose face was full of worry, Eleanor pondered for a moment and then said.
"How about asking Lillian? After all, she's the one who understands Julian the best out of all of us."
"Hmm... you're right! I should see Lillian as soon as the sun rises."
Cedric looked at Eleanor with eyes full of affection.
"As expected, you're the only one for me."
"Hehe."
Eleanor's hand reached out nimbly and caressed Cedric's chest.
"M-My love?"
"How about we have a deep conversation for the first time in a while?"
"Th-That is... I'm a bit tired today..."
As Cedric gave an awkward smile with a flustered face, Eleanor smiled with her eyes and slowly removed her hand.
"My, my... Time is truly heartless. It feels like just yesterday that I was called the premier beauty of the Silver Province... I wonder when I got so old..."
Her eyes were smiling, but a freezing chill could be felt in the voice that slipped from her lips.
'Th-This tone!?'
Cedric recalled the icy gaze and voice she had directed at him when he, having fallen for her at first sight over twenty years ago, had daringly grabbed her wrist.
—Let go.
That voice and gaze, colder than the frost of the Northern Glaciers, still occasionally appeared in Cedric's nightmares, tormenting him.
A chill running down his spine, Cedric hurriedly waved his hands.
"Wh-What are you talking about! You are still as breathtaking as ever, my love!"
"I thought so too, but I guess I was wrong. The man who used to blush just from holding my hand before we were married has now become someone who feels absolutely nothing even when we share a bed."
"Eleanor! L-Listen to me!"
Cedric grabbed his wife's shoulders with a deadly serious voice and gaze.
"I love you, Eleanor. From the moment I first laid eyes on you until now, my devotion has never once diminished. In fact, as the years go by, my love only grows stronger!"
"Then lie down."
As if she had been waiting, Eleanor's fingertips pressed down firmly on his chest, and Cedric stammered.
"I'm not... mentally prepared yet..."
To the hesitating Cedric, Eleanor said shortly.
"Lie down."