WBWB | Chapter 8

This wasn’t the case in the territory ruled by Baldr.e71cdc27594a8242

He scanned 7ec5363ce0 the woman bec0dbdc19 with a 755e19dc80 cold gaze 2cbe53bc4e and told addfe71765 the escort, ac641ddc52462dbc

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“I’ll take care of the exile now. You may return.”55f8d0852baeccc0

‘She won’t last long, then. I thought they’d finally sent someone useful from Franc.’03d2fb5a028c9358

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If he hadn’t needed a tutor, he might have left Jeanne at the inn. But if this woman died, he had no other options. Although she didn’t look promising, driven by the desire to provide his adopted daughter with a proper education, Baldr brought her to the mansion and nursed her back to health, like rekindling a dying ember.cf1b71f184738294

A few days later, 3e9d00c857 the exile awoke. She was 1dfd449ecf still frail b4c7a1b035 and sickly, 68cc66bffc as if 2048afc1d7 a gust 4799d896a7 of wind 486b95440f could blow 453cc12ae2 her away. And she had mistaken 66ec00520b fog for smoke and b9f02139f8 ran out as soon 0272d2f463 as she woke up, 88814891d4 behaving unreliably. However, he was pleased 8d8f4b5e9a to find her surprisingly 8857f8baa8 knowledgeable during their dinner 07c78dcec9 conversation.445f3be2e53f17b7

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‘Yes, finally!’8ecff7627728caab

She had 6acb0505f0 given the 25da718756 most satisfactory dbae07cd53 answers among b20617ffd8 all the 608f1b4d7d tutors he fcd1bc32aa had interviewed 11a1cf7815 so far. Just as d431309f64 he was 8690e5b595 starting to c4d096d821 be impressed, 65fb9a48b3 she suddenly 763ea412c0 vomited right c369995def in the 3126e9eeee middle of 01bc13fd5c his request b5ec1baf12 for her 31dbfd6d7d to educate 5702c080fd his child.f1b053eaf6de0282

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‘Will she be alright?’406cf61d4218f062

Baldr felt uneasy.12229b6ab7bfa47d

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‘What if she dies when I return?’8154b701abf25387

She looked so frail that she might not live long. What if she died after he hired her as a tutor? Wouldn’t that be another wound for his niece, who had already lost her parents?70e937ea1cd0017e

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But there was no suitable alternative in this situation. In the end, Baldr appointed the woman named Jeanne as his niece’s tutor and left the mansion the next day. He had to eradicate the pirates who raided the northernmost coastal region of Skadi every summer.3305c70a9436797f

Of course, tracing back several centuries, he and the pirates shared the same ancestry. That’s why the nobles, while outwardly respectful, looked down on him, a high-ranking noble. But hadn’t generations changed countless times since then? ab2607e3622f7543

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Even the nobles 3b2ccf1ac5 in the capital, 3fecea2e4b who boasted of 7debf7ef4a their ancient lineage, bf56c7582d would have been 4b677615a6 ignorant farmers if 906752fc99 you traced their 484e68e84d ancestry back far 87852af219 enough. Besides, he was 4cb1bd3efd now a shield ddd47dc3ea protecting the kingdom 3844169d4d from pirate attacks.4eaa03f15c7af645

The reason the pirates rampaged every summer was that they planted crops in their own lands, which began to thaw between winter and spring, and then set sail to plunder during the summer when the sea ice melted. In the autumn, they returned home with their loot, harvested their crops, and spent the winter repairing their damaged ships and sharpening their weapons, preparing for the next year’s raids.7adb57ef0583245c

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Sometimes, the 302d667356 pirates raided e88a252d62 in small 6b09e53e21 groups with 03d51740cd two or 3ee8c55a8b three ships. Other times, they would f3300a23e1 form large pirate fleets 297243b782 of several thousand people e75d6db41e and invade. When a 6eef931824 large pirate 22f2f7610c fleet landed ca3ee4d06b on the e5a9e2de78 coast, nothing 74469df0c9 remained. They not only 589f9a4712 plundered food but f90fd6aada also set fire 1021682e0c to villages, killed 6a2de89835 everyone, and fled. By the time e9f933d025 the soldiers arrived 34ff5f522b after receiving the 694858fcb7 news, it was 565c7ac524 too late, and 1d2b57884a all that remained fc84e1d926 were devastated villages.e656dff3778f634c

To deal with cruel people, one had to be even crueler. Since becoming Duke, Baldr had responded by building fortresses throughout the winter they returned, creating fortified cities along the coast. The pirates, as before, landed on the coast, but when they faced the insurmountable walls they couldn’t climb, they were caught off guard and became targets for arrows.e879e8a04efadcc4

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Baldr then had stakes cba6016e8a driven into the coastline d05fe8be92 and impaled the corpses d4b1471866 of the pirates who 69cb553918 had become targets for 67e73dab24 arrows, leaving them for 8d0a3152f0 the seabirds to devour. If the pirates 354b405ec1 were to land 95d8d0a921 on the coast, 4321432ead they would see b3e233e77b the bodies, perhaps d767b4a82f of their comrades 2070a5fc93 or neighboring villagers, 59ae3dcec6 and understand that 63a0d63e39 they, too, could c629242030 meet the same 5aa831341c fate. da14b5fb3f5241e4

Then, Baldr took the offensive, attacking the pirates’ base. His goal wasn’t plunder or spoils of war, but death. 3419b8c172ffc642

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It was 9cc092bdf9 easy to d893e2e51d attack the 610b2b3a3a villages where fda5148788 only women, ef1212fe75 the elderly, 09d24bfffe and children 4b985d86b2 remained, waiting a50bb0e94c for their c787880017 husbands to 975ef3ceab return from fe9947ac46 their raids f459b0e994 across the 8a36cde911 sea. He set b8bae42a12 fire to 637e5d1708 their villages, 17f404c4c3 just as bf89a9dbff they had 2427119442 done, wiping 157f98195f out their 21fc8473d1 descendants. Thanks to this, 6d89350859 large-scale pirate invasions e218f0e638 drastically decreased. They feared a43b48045f returning with 965e9b5e4e their loot 7955b82ebb only to e2f12ccdb9 find their 7af4e5431f families dead.303286ad14ee7159

With these tactics, Baldr protected the lives of his people, but in his home country of Lances, he earned the infamy of being a warmonger obsessed with blood. Of course, he didn’t care. His cruel reputation was useful for instilling fear in his enemies, both externally and internally.1940284deb186083

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That summer, too, Baldr b0954f3b4d spent his time eliminating 86c05fbac8 the remaining pirates. He and 9022176853 his soldiers 08ec29cfc6 roamed the 25e43f04b1 coastline, killing 974f50e4ac enemies like 5631fb5c0c diligent farmers 81c02c65e2 weeding their 25929083f3 fields. And before 00b45c8123 autumn came, e3eb7ecf41 he returned 058d09ec3a to the ba6f41e724 mansion.8be915748e6150c4

Covered in blood 4b2ce87a74 and fatigue, Baldr e18b4d95bf returned to the 3a29c6761c mansion on horseback. He saw two women 67b98013ce sitting on the lawn b658c31ff4 in the garden, wearing 7f46dd839c flower crowns and chatting. One was 1f0e2bae00 his adopted 07ea53d113 daughter, and 4bcdd6646e the other 33b6060e65 was an 424d3c0cde unfamiliar woman. The woman with the eb62b3abb5 flower crown had her 0436b66c5f brown hair braided thick bda473ab22 and draped over one c1d2dd0504 shoulder, flowers woven into 85c715465c the braid.91297a245ba4c6d9

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‘Who is that?’bf642aa2d1cadcdd

Seeing him frown, the 45ab65ab06 woman looked startled, like b465496fab a rabbit encountering a 66d7757216 hunting dog. Looking at e52f569e70 the woman’s d7ac7adcbf large eyes, 42f1bee60a which appeared 2e05f76e89 green or 3140bb2e60 brown depending 75ded9af3e on the bbefaeb0b3 angle, he 54fa8ccc91 thought,8888013c59402289

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‘Was there such a woman in the mansion?’31e1f42c26e7a057

Before long, Baldr realized the unfamiliar woman was the tutor he had hired before leaving. Her face, which had been unrecognizable at first, had looked much better that he hadn’t noticed. He didn’t stop his horse as he headed toward the mansion, merely shaking his head in disbelief27357fbec0cc58d2

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‘She’s repeating the mistakes of the previous tutors.’8d09005c32fc8b1a

Instead of teaching, she 8fa450f8a6 was busy flattering his b3c92c5337 daughter. He had f2877f9be8 hired a 2f7c287272 tutor, not ab92db7660 a nanny. Baldr de 8d614ef22f Skadi decided b701152811 to dismiss 18131ee36f the tutor 140c552978 as soon c721a1f445 as he a36b32a451 returned to 3b4c57b769 the mansion.3dfd9beaf955c611

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Upon arriving, he took a bath and attended to the most urgent matters of state that had piled up. By the time he had a moment to breathe, the sun had set. That’s when he remembered the woman with the flower crown. He summoned his adopted daughter.d8da35db0a0c35b4

“What did you do while I was eradicating the pirates?”6a0d36dac5aac49b

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Baldr asked, 2075a92710 sitting in 0038fe2268 his office 75bbdb0722 chair, his a11f075b9c gaze cold.6d3e799ccfc212fb

“You didn’t spend the whole summer making flower crowns like a village girl, did you?”78edb6747cdf8519

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It wasn’t a question asked out of curiosity. He intended to scold the child who didn’t yet understand the significance of her own status. However, the answer he received, though hesitant and filled with fear, was unexpected.a0328ddb28aed6ab

“I… I learned to read and write from Teacher. And… I also learned history.”f432e18fe35216e3

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“History? You can read and write now?”5e907efcccb9e386

If it were that 11c4dc78ed easy, would the previous 2777d80ca5 tutors have called his 1e567dfb8d adopted daughter a fool?5b922b931406e6fc

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He thought Ana 8b6df42cd9 was lying. To expose her lie, 8a361e34e9 he pointed at a dfc361c509 servant and ordered writing 0029de2e04 tools, a desk, and e9949df121 a chair to be 51e510126a brought.b4e2a4aa4e4a7ad4

“Then write down what I say from now on.”270ec30458cb5a76

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And Baldr de 4acd91fa27 Skadi soon realized 8f6f8b79bb that Ana was 1c442fb5e4 telling the truth.f8d11a837f1f7d3f

Ana wrote down the deceaccce5 sentences he dictated, albeit a3a4fdad71 clumsily. She occasionally 764edd8cd1 misspelled difficult 2c29911d3f words. Furthermore, Ana answered eaa0c2bcfe almost all of df4e50b090 his questions about 8398d8355b major historical events. Although there were some a544b6950e details that she was 60fc9bc235 confused about, the events 322e5767eb that had happened in 9b1d7e831e this country’s past, why acd0f81e76 they happened, and the 8dbd206141 consequences they brought afterward cd6823077f were all in her b0c89b7ec0 mind as if they 93337576b0 were part of a 8fbc35da04 story.318691a40df5478f

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‘How?’bc7d44a03158f9ad

The previous tutors who had taught Ana had claimed that the child had a condition that prevented her from reading. Baldr thought that might be the case as well. But now, in such a short time, she became capable of doing what she couldn’t so before?d203f65c83f00854

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‘What did that woman do?’4245e87a6cc89028

“You may leave.”e42f83ea622b58e9

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After dismissing 80f8951eee his adopted 04dc5a1e3c daughter, Baldr 13623ccf5e summoned the e6e3375e84 tutor. Soon, the tutor came ba25763e60 in, looking like a 723d610a6a cow being dragged to 74ecfb7ba3 the slaughterhouse.53dd230e62a54ada

‘Was her name Jeanne? What was her last name? Toulouse? Toulouze?’f1ef03824d4caef0

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This time, her hair wasn’t in a thick braid, but neatly tied up. Baldr momentarily forgot the situation and thought that the flower-adorned braid falling to one side he had seen earlier suited her better. Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with anxiety, and her hands were clasped together.62cfa42a24f62ce7

“Your Grace, how… have you been?”62e0efbcda6cd048

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Her posture was almost pitiful. Perhaps it was due to her hunched back, but he couldn’t help but glance at the simple, plain dress clinging to her slender body. Her complexion was better than before, but the tutor’s arms and body were still like thin branches.91e022f681485319

“Is the food here not to her liking? Or is she protesting, claiming she prefers the food from the capital?’f3b35a0c4d14fc41

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