Like A Dry Branch In The Wind (Like Wind on a Dry Branch) - Chapter 1

Translator: Wawaa

Editor: WilsonWilson

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Rietta Tristi was a beautiful woman. Be it tied or released, her wavy blonde hair was dazzling, her nose and mouth were beautifully curved, and her deep, fine eyes have always caught people’s attention. Her white skin, which did not easily get sunburnt, was rare among commoners.

The most special thing was her pupils. Whenever the light shone into them, her eyes shone back with the color of the bright blue sky, sometimes with a blue glass color, making her beauty even more mysterious. Even the flowers and stars would lose their light when Rietta smiled like a fresh spring with her pretty eyes.

Everyone who first heard she was married and even had a three-year-old daughter lamented and envied her husband, saying that he probably had saved a country during his past life. Their family was happy. But that was the story of four months ago before her husband passed away.

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After Rietta’s husband suddenly died of a mysterious illness, she lost her smile. For a powerless commoner woman, her beauty was more of a curse than a blessing. Even before the scattered flowers at her husband’s funeral had begun to wither, Casarius, the lord of Sevitas where they lived, started to force Rietta to be his concubine.

Rietta had foreseen the lord’s tyranny and harassment. And in that difficult situation where she was only left with her daughter, she refused at first. Putting aside the fact that Casarius was old enough to be her father, it had been less than a month since her husband’s death. As Rietta turned a deaf ear to his request, Casarius got into a fuss and took her daughter away.

Her daughter was barely three years old. She was a young daughter who was yet to understand the concept of death, and who kept on asking Rietta for the whereabouts of her father.

Rumors have begun to emerge that Casarius sold Rietta’s daughter to a slave dealer. Poor Rietta was almost out of her mind and accepted that she would become his concubine on the condition that her daughter was returned safely to her.

However, Casarius, who suffered from the plague that had struck the Empire, died without getting Rietta or finding her daughter. But he left behind a nasty will that requested Rietta to be buried alive with him.

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It was a harsh season. The plague and demons were back and the Empire was full of groans and grief. Wails of weeping and the flames of burning bodies were endless everywhere. Some lands even offered living sacrifices to appease the plague demon.

So in this situation, it was no odd sight for a commoner woman to be buried alive at a noble’s funeral.

The day had been decided for the funeral of Casarius Sevitas. It was the day of her death.

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“At that young age… What should we do with that pitiful woman?”

“Tsk tsk… It’s useless for a commoner to be beautiful. Her fate will only go wrong.”

“I know, right? It’s too bad. Even the heavens have given up on her.”

In front of the Sevitas Residence, where the funeral of Count Casarius is being held, on a temporary altar, Rietta sat kneeling on an expensive carpet, waiting for her turn.

“Not really. What’s the point of being cast with a blessing? Look at Casarius who ended up with the plague. This is actually divine punishment!”

“She has obtained divine favor not only from God but also from the God of the plague.”

In order to be buried alive without pain, Rietta drank sedatives from dawn. Although it was difficult for Rietta to move by herself, there were handmaidens on her side and guards surrounding her to keep her from running away.

The crowd was saddened to see the woman facing her unfortunate fate.

“How dare he make a pass at a young lady younger than his son. Even when he’s dead, he’s still… He’s really terrible.”

“Hush. Lower your voice. They can hear you.”

After the priest’s eulogy ended, the count’s handmaidens helped Rietta up from her side. Rietta, who was intoxicated by the sedative, staggered into the hands of the handmaidens with a blank stare.

Dry snowflakes began to fall from the gray sky. It snowed late in April. Looking at the snowflakes that were about to stop, she thought of her little daughter’s last whine.

Snowman.

Rietta stared blankly at the falling snow. All winter, her daughter kept whining about snowmen while waiting for her dad who had already left as soon as winter came, her dad, who would never come again. She lied to her daughter that her dad would come back if she slept for only twenty more nights. At the same time, she was worried about the day when her daughter could actually count until twenty.

Snowman… She should have made the snowman together with her daughter.

The procession of the quiet funeral began. The bereaved families of Casarius began to take their feet off after the beautiful human sacrifices who followed the coffin with the help of the handmaidens.

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When the graveyard was only a little ahead, a small turmoil broke through the slow procession. A servant was rushing toward their procession in a hurry.

Casarius’ eldest son, Frederick, wanted to finish the funeral as quietly as possible. But although he had kept a calm face on the outside, he felt irritated on the inside. He was hoping for the tactless servant to not come to him, but the servant managed to push his way through the crowd to go to Frederick with a rough breath and bowed down.

“My Lord! We have an important guest!”

Frederick frowned and snapped at the servant.

“This is a funeral. Don’t behave rashly. Don’t you even know how to guide a mourner?”

The servant flustered and stammered.

“H-he’s not a mourner. A-archduke of Axias is here!”

Hearing the servant’s announcement of the visit of Archduke of Axias, the bereaved families turned pale. A quiet disturbance spread out. Frederick, who had forgotten what to say for a while, bit his lips.

“…Archduke of Axias?”

The late Casarius was deeply in debt to the Archduke of Axias. It had long exceeded the repayment deadline. They were already in poor circumstances, but they had to hire priests and pay a large sum of money to the temple to recover from the plague. In addition to that,  Casarius’ sudden death and funeral had almost destroyed the county’s financial condition. They had no way of paying back the debt they owed to Archduke of Axias right now. They even covered up Casarius’ death from the outside to avoid giving him an excuse to visit.

“How did he know that father passed away?”

“I just came here to ask for my debt from my friend whom I hadn’t heard for a long time”

Interrupted a cold voice, followed by the heavy sound of a horse’s hoofs.

Everyone’s eyes were on the voice’s owner. Mounted on top of a huge black horse was a black-haired man with a daunting atmosphere. He tilted his head and smirked.

“I didn’t expect to crash into his ongoing funeral.”

No one could blame his disrespect for breaking into the funeral procession while riding a horse. He slowly navigated his horse and approached the funeral. Although he looked relaxed, the escort knights instinctively swallowed their saliva and strained their shoulders when they saw that he was totally prepared to hold his ground should a sword fight immediately break out.

Killian Axias.

He was the most influential savage man in the Empire.

He was the firstborn son of the Emperor but became a dethroned Imperial Prince about a decade ago for beheading his brothers and throwing them under the feet of the Emperor and the Queen. According to Imperial law, the death penalty was inevitable due to the murder and defamation of the Imperial family. However, the Emperor felt it would be a waste of his talent, and could not bear to punish him. So, instead, he stripped all his titles and rights as an Imperial Prince and drove him away to Axias, the wasteland in the far north.

But the young dethroned prince, who had lost everything, reclaimed the ancient Axias from the demonic beasts. Turning the land that had been uninhabitable for hundreds of years into a place where humans could live. He even discovered the most precious mineral on the continent—Adamantite—in the huge snowy mountain in the area.

Axias accumulated enormous wealth and grew at an explosive rate with mercenaries and merchants flocking for Adamantite and to hunt for demonic beasts. A city was built at a rapid pace on the former wasteland. And within a few years, Killian took control of the vast territory of Axias and reigned as ruler of the north.

The house of peers changed its attitude and got agitated to grant him a peerage so that he would need to fulfill his duty of paying taxes. Eventually, the Imperial Family officially granted him the title of Archduke of Axias and recognized his control over the land. Although he was not a prince, the Imperial family acknowledged his title and rights as an Archduke from the Imperial family. Killian accepted it without much feeling. Until here, it was a story known by all citizens of Lilfaeum Dimpel.

Thirteen years after he had lost his name as part of the Imperial family and was driven to the far north, Killian Axias had never appeared in society, but his name had been constantly mentioned by the nobles. To the commoners, all sorts of false rumors were added and exaggerated, making him cruel and violent to the point where he was viewed as almost like a monster, not a human.

The story that he went out of his mind was basic, the story that he was possessed by a demon, the story that he was cursed were really ordinary types. It was even said that he collected corpses and ate human flesh. Everyone knew of all the eerie, bloody rumors he was carrying around.

Those who were on his way stepped back with pale faces and the road opened by itself. Everyone bowed their heads for fear of eye contact with him. By the time Archduke Axias stopped in front of Frederick, the funeral processions had already stopped.

“…It’s been a while, Your Grace.”

“Yeah, Frederick. Or is it the Count of Sevitas now? Why didn’t you tell me? If you had done so, I wouldn’t have done this kind of disrespectful act of asking for debt repayment in the middle of a funeral.”

Killian smiled coldly and gracefully. He still had not even gotten off his horse. Frederick replied with a smile.

“What do you mean by disrespect? Certainly not. Since he died of the plague, we wanted to send him quietly without accepting mourners. It’s actually my fault.”

“Really?” Killian laughed. “I thought you hid the news because you didn’t want me to come.”

The nobles who stood as the bereaved families were frozen. They were shocked by the sheer frankness of a man with no relationship with society who did not know how to beat around the bush. Frederick, who thought that denying him would be more pathetic decided to just bow his head.

“…My apologies.”

As a result, his decision was not wrong. Killian grinned and turned his head indifferently. He looked at the coffin of Casarius and muttered.

“Easy to give, not so easy to give back. Isn’t that right? He always made excuses. Now that he’s already in the coffin, I can’t even pull him out.”

Killian gave a sharp comment and jumped off his horse.

“Nonetheless, as I’m already at the funeral, I should show my respect. My condolences on the passing of your father.”

Archduke of Axias took off his hat, put it on the head of his black horse, and handed the horse reins to the knight who belatedly followed him. He naturally joined the funeral procession.

Contrasting from the rumors saying that he was a lunatic, after listening to his normal remarks, the people opened their eyes wide and stared at Grand Duke Axias. Some of them exchanged glances and whispers.

“Is that true? Is he THE Archduke of Axias?”

“He doesn’t look like someone who would eat human meat…?”

One thing that had never been conveyed through rumors was his beauty. The crowd gawked at the Archduke, forgetting their fears, and even forgetting their obligation to bow.

Although he called Casarius Sevitas his friend, Killian Axias, who was about the same age as Casarius’ eldest son, Frederick, was a cold guy with a cool and relaxed atmosphere. His blood-colored eyes and cold gazes created a sharp atmosphere, but his eyes did not seem to be obsessed with madness. At least judging from what he’s doing now, he did not seem like a madman, let alone a murder maniac.

Even the nobles who roughly filtered out the false rumors among the commoners and roughly knew the truth were surprised upon seeing the appearance of the Archduke Axias for the first time.

As he had traveled for a long period of time with his horse, the appearance of him wearing a dusty gray robe was different among the people in black mourning clothes, no one thought of him as rude with his beautiful appearance.

His black hair spreading over his refined and classy face was splendid and dignified, more so than any other ceremonial dress. It made it hard to believe that he was a man who had beheaded his brothers, mercilessly slaughtered terrifying demonic beasts in the far north, and had developed a vast territory. His jet-black hair was a perfect match for his black horse.

He naturally blended in as if he had been walking in memory of the deceased from the beginning and bowed in silence to Frederick’s wife and brothers.

The Sevitas family carefully exchanged silent greetings with him and resumed the funeral.

Rietta, who had stopped for a long time at an unexpectedly delayed funeral, stumbled and fell. The flustered handmaidens in mourning dresses helped her up. Slightly frowning, Killian looked at the woman wearing a veil who followed the coffin ahead of the chief mourner.

“Who is she?”

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