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◈ Prince of Rage ◈

Chapter 5

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Spring seemed to be a remarkably fickle season. Just when the weather began to warm, a day would suddenly turn as cold as midwinter.

The adults said winter was jealous of the spring flowers. If so, winter was not as cool-natured as it looked.

Even after it had passed, it still held regrets and grew jealous.

It was an overcast day. Dark clouds covered the vast sky. Would it rain? Or snow?

Valerie stood beneath the dark early morning sky, looking up at the clouds. White breath escaped his mouth whenever he exhaled.

“Wid.”

At the call, Valerie looked away from the sky and turned his head. Harald had just stepped out of the castle into the courtyard. He wore a fur coat belted at the waist, with a sword at his hip.

Though Blackcon was within the Count's domain, they would still be leaving the directly governed lands, so Harald had dressed accordingly.

He was also carrying what looked like clothing.

“Put this on.”

It was a dark blue gambeson. Sturdily and carefully quilted, it was soft enough to suggest it had been stuffed with high-quality wool.

Valerie considered refusing, but since Harald had brought it out, refusing again would only make things more troublesome. So he accepted the gambeson and put it on.

As expected of something worn by a count's son, the lining was soft. It was on an entirely different level from the gambesons ordinary commoners wore.

Valerie had nearly finished fastening the leather ties at the front when he felt someone watching him.

Following that feeling, he looked up and met the Countess's eyes. She stood at an upper window of the castle. It was early morning, so her silhouette was faint, but he could still recognize her.

The Countess immediately left the window. A realization flashed through Valerie's mind.

Ah. She made this.

For noblewomen, spinning thread with a spinning wheel and weaving cloth on a loom were important accomplishments and duties. They also used that cloth to make banners for the domain, along with surcoats and clothing for their husbands, sons, knights, and squires.

In other words, the gambeson Valerie wore was one of those garments. From spinning the thread and weaving the cloth to cutting it, stuffing it with wool, and stitching it with care, every part had passed through the Countess's hands.

And all that care must have held her tender affection for her son, Harald.

Having met the Countess's eyes made Valerie deeply uncomfortable. He awkwardly fingered the hem of the gambeson, wondering if he should take it off even now.

“Are you not ready yet?”

Harald, already mounted, spoke to him. It was his personal horse. He had mounted because they were going to Blackcon, and Valerie was meant to ride behind him.

A week had passed since Count Aethelred's order. They had spent that time keeping the horses in good condition, and today they would sell them.

Gidwin and Tommy rode Roden and Kael, the horses they were selling. Both also wore swords at their waists, like Harald.

For some reason, Hakon was riding behind Gidwin. Harald had agreed to bring him because he wanted to come. They were already waiting near the castle gate.

Valerie stepped onto the stirrup and climbed on behind Harald.

“Let's go.”

Harald pressed his heels into the horse's sides. As he passed through the castle gate, Gidwin and Tommy followed behind.

Though it was morning, the sky was so full of dark clouds that it seemed like evening.

Valerie and the others left the castle early in the morning. After riding and resting several times, they reached Blackcon around noon.

The dark clouds had still not cleared, leaving the world gray. Even so, the horse market was easy to spot from afar.

Outside the city, long rows of temporary stables had been set up. Owners led or ran their horses by the reins, displaying their value as merchandise.

There was not much dust, but a hazy cloud still hung in the air. From far away, they could faintly hear the dull sounds of thud, thud.

The area around the horse market was crowded with more than just people selling horses. There were vendors selling snacks and other goods, as well as people who had simply come to watch.

Whether bees gathered around flowers or flies around piles of dung, people always gathered where money was.

“Let's go.”

Harald led the way toward the horse market.

Once they arrived, everyone except Harald dismounted. Nearby people looked over the newcomers.

Anyone who did not dismount where they naturally should had to be a noble. And around here, a noble could practically only mean the Count, his wife, or his son.

The quickest way to identify someone's status was by their clothes. Then there were their confident eyes and bearing, which seemed slightly haughty.

People quickly sensed that Harald was the Count's son.

Even aside from that, though, there were people who already knew Harald.

“Is that not the young master?”

A person wearing a long conical cloth hat, its tip hanging almost to their shoulder, approached them in greeting. They were one of the merchants who lived in the city.

Harald merely nodded from horseback. It was Gidwin who answered.

“We came to sell horses. Not the one the young master is riding, but this stallion and mare.”

“Is that so? The horse traders are over there. If you don't plan to sell them today, you may leave the horses at the manor house. Keeping them in the temporary stables costs money, and someone would have to watch them.”

“Understood.”

Gidwin answered curtly as he took hold of the reins of Harald's horse and began walking.

Tommy led Roden and Kael, the horses they meant to sell. Then he met the stares of people watching him from within the crowd.

The Lecton gang. Those thugs Tommy had told them about on Valerie's birthday, when he bragged about beating someone up in the city and taking their sword.

“They look like Lecton's lot.”

Harald, sitting high on horseback, had spotted them as well.

“Stay beside me, Tommy. They wouldn't dare touch you then.”

Harald spoke as if trying to reassure him. But Tommy did not seem pleased. Whether he was nervous or confident was hard to tell.

“No, young master. I can beat them all down by myself. Give me a moment, and I'll deal with them.”

“Hey, shut up before I kill you instead of those fucking Lecton bastards.”

Gidwin turned and growled at Tommy. His highest priority was protecting Harald, and he seemed tense from having too many things to watch at once.

Surely city thugs would not dare harm the Count's only son. But nobles sometimes died after being gored by wild boars while hunting, and assassinations did happen. They could not simply relax.

“I'll handle the bargaining. Give me the reins. Hakon, stay beside me. Tommy, you stand over there.”

Valerie had Tommy stand on the opposite side of Harald's horse, where the horse would block at least some of the stares.

He took the reins from Tommy and kept Hakon, who was busy looking at everything around him, close at his side. These measures were meant to lessen the things Gidwin had to worry about.

“Thanks.”

Perhaps understanding that, Gidwin spoke quietly.

Valerie had not done it to seek praise, so he merely nodded.

When they reached the horse traders, they saw people dealing in packhorses and the like. Horses of particularly fine breeding were traded in a separate area, so Valerie headed there.

A large fence enclosed a ring where several horses were circling. A skilled rider controlled their pace by striking a whip against the ground. Crack! Crack!

Outside the fence sat a figure who looked like the leader of a band of horse thieves. Despite the cold, the figure wore their coat open and showed off a thick chest of hair.

Even after noticing Harald's obviously noble appearance, the horse trader simply kept crunching on an apple as if to say, So what?

“We came to sell these two horses.”

Valerie stepped forward to speak. His manner of speaking was mature, though it did not quite suit his still youthful appearance.

The horse trader did not show any sign of looking down on him. The horse trader silently looked over Valerie and the others, then spoke.

“The stallion is too old to be a stud, and the mare has poor breeding for foaling. One gold coin for both.”

It was an accurate assessment, but a low price. Valerie did not look flustered or intimidated.

“Trying to lowball us, then spending a little more at the end of market day as if you're being generous, won't work. As you can see, these horses were fed and trained by a count's household. They're worth their price even as packhorses, and they're good for riding practice. We need four gold coins.”

“...Looks like you've picked up a few things, but buyers decide how they'll use a horse. An old stallion that cannot be a stud, and a young mare with poor breeding. Two gold coins.”

Valerie approached Harald and whispered quietly.

“I don't like it, but it isn't such an outrageous price. If we stay here for a few days, once you consider lodging, food, and horse-keeping costs, it isn't bad.”

“Really? But we don't pay for lodging, do we? We can stay at the manor house. And there is no horse-keeping fee either.”

As the lord's heir, Harald could stay at the city's manor house for free.

Valerie nodded, then returned to the horse trader.

“Two gold coins and five silver coins.”

“Now, don't be so cold-hearted when making a deal. You need to consider that we have to buy the horses and resell them. Doesn't feed cost money? Who knows when they'll sell?”

Valerie was about to ask why they should care about the trader's circumstances when a powerful neigh suddenly rang out.

Neigh!

Everyone reflexively turned toward the sound. A large black horse was rearing wildly.

“What the hell is it doing now!”

“Don't let go! Hold tight!”

“Bring more ropes!”

People shouted. It was not far away, and when Valerie approached, he saw a black horse with a fine frame but a somewhat lean body thrashing around.

Several people had looped ropes around its neck, forelegs, and hind legs, trying to restrain it, but it was too fierce for them to control easily.

“Damn it! It's acting up again!”

The horse trader snapped irritably.

“Is that horse for sale?”

Valerie asked. The trader gave a dismissive snort.

“It's a man-eating horse. They say it eats people. We have to tame it before we can sell it, or do anything with it.”

“A man-eating horse?”

Hakon stepped forward, clearly intrigued.

“It doesn't actually eat them. It bites faces and limbs apart. It has crippled quite a few people.”

“Eek...”

The black horse had grown a little thin from being restrained, but judging by its height, length, and muscles, it did not fall short of any warhorse. No, a horse this remarkable was the sort one might see only once in a lifetime.

Yet a warhorse needed more than a naturally strong build. It also needed courage, restraint, and loyalty. It had to fight on battlefields full of spears, blades, corpses, and blood.

That was why warhorse bloodlines were so strictly managed. The horse might have boldness, but it was difficult to expect loyalty or restraint from it. What use was it if its rider was injured before it could even fight the enemy?

It seemed to be a wild horse. Sadly, if it could not be tamed, it was useless.

Then Valerie climbed over the fence and approached the black horse.

“Wid!”

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“That's dangerous!”

Harald cried out in alarm, and the people nearby shouted as well. But Valerie walked toward the horse as though he could not hear them.

As Valerie neared, the black horse bared its teeth and thrust forward its large mouth as if to bite him. Valerie was not afraid. He kept approaching, little by little.

The people holding the lasso ropes strained with all their strength, while the black horse continued struggling as if it would never tire.

Valerie raised a hand to stroke the horse. Each time, it tried to bite his hand. Valerie avoided its bites while remaining calm.

That calm shone from his unshaken eyes. It seemed to reach the horse little by little, and the animal began to settle as it looked only at Valerie's eyes.

Valerie carefully covered the black horse's eyes and whispered into its ear.

“You are not rebellious because you are wild. You are rebellious because you are sensitive. Isn't that right?”

He removed his hand from its eyes and met its gaze again.

The whole scene was so unbelievable and dreamlike that the others, along with everyone at the market, could only stare in speechless silence.

Then snow began to fall. From the dark-clouded sky that had hung overhead all day, snow finally started falling without a sound. The boy, the horse, and the snow. It was like a painting.

Then it happened.

“Argh!”

A sharp scream rang out. When Valerie turned, Tommy was staggering while clutching his side.

“Kill him! Fuck!”

Everything happened in an instant. The Lecton gang rushed at Tommy.

“You bastards!”

Harald shouted as fiercely as he could, but he had no authority in his voice. It was more important to worry whether he would fall from his startled horse.

Valerie quickly ran toward the others. The black horse began to rear wildly again.

Neigh!

Gidwin rushed the Lecton gang with his large body like a bull. The situation was too chaotic for him to draw it cleanly, but he pulled his sword anyway and shouted.

“You fuckers have really lost your minds!”

The gang scattered back in alarm, and Gidwin hurriedly turned to check Tommy's condition.

In the middle of it all, Hakon was trembling as he covered Tommy's body to protect him, putting his own helmet on Tommy's head.

Then they heard horses racing toward them in haste. Clop, clop.

The whole thing had happened so quickly that no one understood what was going on. Then another sharp scream came from Harald's direction.

“Argh!”

Valerie and Gidwin turned their heads in horror, but Harald was gone from his horse. Its back was empty.

At the sound of something scraping along the ground, they looked over. Harald's arms and body were bound in a lasso rope as he was dragged over the dirt. Someone had raced in on horseback and snared him with a rope in an instant.

A word too terrible to even think about flashed through Valerie's mind.

Kidnapping.

Gidwin froze as the impossible, something that could never be allowed to happen, unfolded before his eyes. More precisely, it was not his body that stopped working. His mind had gone blank.

The kidnappers were already far away, and they kept getting farther.

After gaining some distance, they stopped their horses briefly, got down, covered Harald with a sack, and loaded him onto a horse.

Harald had not completely lost consciousness, but the shock of falling from his horse seemed to have left him too dazed to resist even once.

Neigh!

The powerful neigh rang out once more. It was almost a roar. The black horse finally tore free of the ropes binding it and bolted away in a flash.

Without even consciously deciding to, Valerie stepped onto the fence, leaped up, and mounted the black horse. There was no saddle, no stirrups, and no reins.

He gripped its mane with his hands, held himself on with the strength of his legs, and shouted urgently as they raced away.

“Gidwin! Your sword!”

Gidwin snapped out of it at last and threw his sword. Valerie caught it perfectly while speeding forward like an arrow.

Harald, bound and covered with a sack, was being carried on one of the three kidnappers' horses. It was clear that they meant to capture him alive, not kill him.

The kidnappers split in three directions. Valerie rode straight after the one carrying Harald.

The black horse surged forward as if releasing all the resentment it had held down. The flying snow stung Valerie's face.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The black horse was so fast that it nearly caught the kidnapper in an instant, despite the distance between them.

Its speed was enough. He only needed the right timing. But he lacked a little strength.

So Valerie chose to trust the black horse. With no saddle, stirrups, or reins, he straightened his back, found his balance, and gripped the sword with both hands. It was dangerous. If the horse shifted direction even slightly or he lost his balance, he could fall straight to the ground.

The kidnapper hurriedly looked back at the rapidly approaching hoofbeats, but it was already too late.

All the kidnapper saw was a flash of sword light. Valerie swung at the exact moment and cut off the kidnapper's head.

Thwack! Clang!

The severed head spun through the air. Blood sprayed in a circle after it. The headless body spouted blood from its severed neck like a fountain.

His timing for the strike had been exact, but not his timing for cutting through. Gidwin's sword broke.

But that was not important now. Valerie quickly shoved aside the headless kidnapper's swaying body and seized the reins of Harald's horse.

“It's all right now, Harald!”

“W-Wid...?”

He had recovered Harald. All that remained was to return, but the other two kidnappers finally realized their companion had been killed and charged at Valerie in shock.

They came from both sides. One was far away, and the other was close.

With his sword broken, he would be helpless against them. But Valerie threw aside the broken sword and, thinking quickly, drew Harald's sword from his waist in a reverse grip.

Just then, the nearer kidnapper arrived. Valerie leaned sideways and swung the reverse-gripped sword hard.

The kidnapper swung a sword as well, but their skill was poor. Perhaps they had only learned how to use lasso ropes. They swung a weapon in their haste, but their timing and direction were both wrong.

The two swords crossed in passing.

Valerie's sword struck the enemy's mouth. The sharp blade cut through lips and teeth, splitting half the kidnapper's face all the way to the back of their head.

The kidnapper's head hung sideways like a lid that had come open. The kidnapper's horse rushed past Valerie and kept running at full speed.

Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop!

Valerie quickly held his sword properly and turned to the last enemy.

His gaze was so fierce and intense that the final kidnapper's heart dropped the moment their eyes met.

For an instant, a fear greater than death seemed to overwhelm the kidnapper, and their body would not obey them. Thankfully, their horse turned on its own and fled.

The fading sound of hoofbeats. The falling snow. Valerie did not chase him, because taking care of Harald came first. Holding the reins of Harald's horse while riding the black horse, he returned to the horse market.

The enormous crowd stood with their mouths open, staring blankly at Valerie. Then an icy command fell upon them.

“Everyone kneel and put your hands on your heads! Don't move! Anyone who disobeys will die where they stand!”

Valerie sat on horseback with blood spattered across his face, glaring and pointing his sword. He looked like a demon.

He was trying to take complete control of the area because he did not know what other sudden danger might arise.

No sooner had he spoken than everyone hurriedly knelt and put their hands on their heads. The sight spread outward like ripples, as though they were submitting to a king.

“Gidwin, take care of Harald first.”

Gidwin, who had been kneeling with his hands on his head like everyone else, suddenly came to his senses.

What was I doing?

In his confusion, he hurriedly lifted Harald from the horse and gently laid him on the ground. He removed the sack and cut the ropes binding him with a dagger.

Somehow, Harald had not completely lost consciousness. Outwardly, he only looked drowsy, with unfocused eyes.

After walking around and firmly subduing the people through sheer authority, Valerie returned to Harald, dismounted, and checked his condition.

Harald looked up at Valerie with the dazed eyes of someone in a dream.

Behind Valerie, large snowflakes fell thickly from the gray sky at this unseasonable time. To Harald, white clouds seemed to spread around Valerie.

Harald spoke.

“...Snow. Snow would be good.”

“What?”

“That black horse. Snow would be a good name. It's a gift. I never cared about Father's order in the first place.”

The fact that he could say such things meant he probably was not seriously hurt.

Perhaps because he was relieved, or perhaps to reassure Harald, Valerie smiled without realizing it as he stroked Harald's head.

“All right.”

For a moment, Harald thought Valerie truly looked like an angel descended from the sky.

Valerie usually wore an indifferent or cold expression, so when he smiled, he was dazzlingly beautiful. Even the blood spattered across his face looked like makeup applied on purpose.

It was the first time Harald had ever seen Valerie smile. Perhaps that was why he felt as though he had received the gift instead. A gift too precious, too precious to be grateful enough for.

Winter occasionally came in spring for more than simple jealousy. Longing held other things as well. Like snow falling in spring.

Chapter 1: Winter's Lingering Attachment. End.

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