chapter 24
3. Ashera Glaad, her memories.
***
The day he first arrived in Glead.
That day was still very vivid in his memory.
Winter in the North. It was a time when the northern winter cold, which was said to be the hardest to endure even in the Chaldean Empire, was in full swing.
12 Years old. A few days before his own birthday, the day he looked at the snowy sky outside the window while watching the family members in full swing with various preparations.
He was then slowly approaching from afar.
The sight of him following his grandfather’s footsteps made it seem as though he was struggling to keep up with his grandfather’s pace.
Still, the image of the boy who quickly followed without complaining caught my eye.
Behind Grandpa, who casually walks back to the Glead family’s mansion, is a blond-haired child with an effortless expression on his face.
Asera Glade.
For her, that’s Ed. It was his first appearance.
*
At first, I was more curious than anything else when I saw my grandfather suddenly adopting a child named Ed and accepting him into the family.
For what reason did he fall into his grandfather’s eyes?
Because he was the only one he accepted as a disciple even among the direct descendants who were given the surname of Glead. Of course, I had a vague idea that he must have a talent for nothingness.
And that kind of thought disappeared within a few days.
“… Is this really all?”
At Ashera’s blankly asked question, Ed nodded slightly and lowered her head.
As if feeling shame.
At that appearance, Ashera did not ask any further.
She had been holding the sword for several days, so she wondered how great her talent was, so she looked around and wondered why. Nothing caught her own eyes.
What did grandfather see and decide to accept into the family? I kept questioning.
If a 9-year-old really started handling a sword, wouldn’t it be like this? Her learning was infinitely slower than her own expectations.
A cute kid with blonde hair.
She soon stopped thinking that way about her child named Ed.
An uncharacteristically calm and prudent personality.
If I had to pick a singularity, that was it.
So she herself eventually stopped paying attention to her child named Ed.
-A Goa with a talent for swords.
-Buldian who captivates those around him with his lively personality.
-Azelan, the clever youngest.
Because she was nothing compared to her own other siblings.
And even her brothers, each with their own distinct strengths, did not appeal to her grandfather.
People who are infinitely lacking compared to themselves.
That’s why she didn’t look at them as brothers even when she was young.
*
A year has passed since her child named Ed was adopted by the Gleard family. The bitter northern winter came again, and the servants of the family began to wear thick clothes with their cheeks blushing from the cold.
Then she caught my eye quite by accident.
At first, she wondered if she was mistaken.
But as she kept an eye on the child for a few days, she realized that she was not mistaken.
It was a kind of bullying.
The servants were treating the child badly.
ㅡ Whew…. What if you can’t do this either?
ㅡYou know you have to do these things by yourself from now on, right?
ㅡ I really need to know a little bit… You have to take care of everything.
Isn’t it harsh for a 10-year-old child to hear now, but even the observer himself felt that way.
He frequently said harsh words to the child that he hadn’t heard in his place.
The sight of Edra being mean to her child.
The child named Ed, whom he observed for several days afterward, was completely isolated from the Glead family.
Despite the fact that he was a child accepted into the family by his grandfather and no one else, even the insignificant servants of the family had no hesitation in treating him carelessly where no one else could see him.
It is strangely cold.
Asera couldn’t help but think about it.
And it wasn’t long before I found out why.
“I’m afraid Glaade’s name will be ruined if a bastard with no talent like you is a knight….”
Gora, speaking calmly with cold eyes, shoved him away and left. Some of the vassals following Gora send cold eyes as if they were laughing at the fallen Ed.
And his eldest son, Gora, behaves like that. The actions of Bledian and Azelan, who were looking at it, naturally began to ignore the child named Ed.
Since they, the direct descendants of Glaad, acted like that, naturally, the vassals who followed them began to ignore the child named Ed.
And it soon spread to even the servants.
It’s like an ember that changes enormously. It felt like encountering something new.
Asera She felt like she learned something new.
However, in the eyes of Ashera, who looked at her indifferently, Edra did not feel any special emotion even when she saw the attitude her child was receiving.
Even if a person without talent was treated like that, even that was taken for granted.
However, the northern cold of that year would not have been even worse for her child named Ed.
How did she feel? Asera felt that way.
*
Two years have passed since then, and a great scandal has arisen in the Glaad family.
The child named Ed became her grandfather’s disciple.
She accepted the child as a disciple, wondering what her grandfather had in mind, since she had never accepted anyone but herself as a disciple.
Soon, various objections arose within the Glaad family.
That was natural.
Because the boy named Ed had no talent.
She wasn’t as talented as anyone could say she was.
She said that it had already been three years since the child entered the Gleard family.
Even so, she was still in the lower class.
Waking up at dawn every day and knowing that her child named Ed was practicing her sword, she was herself, so the bizarrely undeveloped appearance attracted her own interest.
And at the thought of her third-year junior, Ai, suddenly becoming her grandfather’s apprentice, even she was embarrassed.
Is there such a thing as pride in being the only disciple of my grandfather? Encouraged by family opposition, he himself initially opposed his grandfather’s will.
However, no one in the family could stop his grandfather’s will.
So Ed became his grandfather’s apprentice.
A time similar to the time you take care of yourself. Grandpa taught the sword to a boy named Ed.
At the age of 15, he felt for the first time what jealousy was. He felt like his grandfather was being taken away by a guy with no talent.
However, Asherah didn’t do anything special about Ed.
There was no special reason for that. It was simply because she felt it was a waste of her time to be bothered by someone who had no talent for her.
It was right after that that the eldest son, Gora, changed.
His personality became savage, and he had no hesitation in dealing with the servants.
*
It has already been five years since a child named Ed settled down in Glead.
Now, as is his custom, he wakes up at dawn, and naturally his gaze is directed to one place.
My own room, the gymnasium seen through the window.
It is a dangerous time for the dew to form at dawn.
In the place where the morning sun finally began to shine on Glead’s mansion, a child named Ed was wielding a sword.
Every day for 5 years.
He was the baron he watched. He was more diligent than anyone else.
How can that be possible, looking at the daily life that is like a kind of abuse that people in the family receive every day?
Asera found it strange.
Now Intermediate.
A knight who is a disciple of the same grandfather, but is now an intermediate level.
Considering that even the ceremonial appointment as a knight took place only recently, nothing was quick to see.
Then Ed suddenly put down his sword and made a strange move. Ashera, who had never seen him put down his sword every day, caught his gaze strangely.
Did you bring it? He picked up a barrel and headed for a corner.
Cheer!
Squeak squeak!
The chirping of all kinds of birds resounded as if welcoming the morning of a quiet mansion. At the same time, a flock of cute little birds flocked to Ed.
It seemed that what was in the barrel was bird food, such as seeds or grains.
“… Ah.”
Ashera was dazed, and she exclaimed in admiration at the sight.
Asera did not express admiration for the cute birds.
The image of Ed smiling brightly at the sight of birds approaching, letting go of his guard on his shoulder and hand.
I only see him always maintaining a nonchalant expression in spite of his age. I couldn’t get used to smiling like that.
The sight reflected in Ashera’s eyes seemed to be something foreign to her.
She didn’t understand how she could laugh.
The family’s continued contempt, abuse under the guise of sparring, he must have known that the time of suffering would continue to come today.
‘How….’
How can you smile like that?
Until her attendant came to her room, Asherah stared blankly at her Ed.