WBWB | Chapter 8

This wasn’t the case in the territory ruled by Baldr.93cb74446df994b2

He scanned the 9dc3e2d077 woman with a c7cddc56c7 cold gaze and a092485668 told the escort, e2096844b08672bf

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“I’ll take care of the exile now. You may return.”78d47b7a5cb16ab3

‘She won’t last long, then. I thought they’d finally sent someone useful from Franc.’2aafe86e39a8ee3e

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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.5f3fad12aa93591a

A few days later, eb350a444d the exile awoke. She was still 50a1d10b28 frail and sickly, 899156d1b4 as if a 93534e673e gust of wind 8f74848cad could blow her 388775d71f away. And she had 8e56de37ba mistaken fog for c1feb67799 smoke and ran 76c7645b15 out as soon 728c7184dc as she woke d41b04406c up, behaving unreliably. However, he was 456ffef80f pleased to find 4566965b98 her surprisingly knowledgeable d2ed84d80a during their dinner f29cbe19c1 conversation.c06bdb459b961ccd

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‘Yes, finally!’64c34a2286829a04

She had given the 791f0bdf3e most satisfactory answers among 7b35d6aa88 all the tutors he 63350a91e1 had interviewed so far. Just as he was 67fc54a091 starting to be impressed, 9d21650998 she suddenly vomited right ec5fa886d0 in the middle of 2a96ae71f2 his request for her fd324373aa to educate his child.4a7f67a840be1f4b

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‘Will she be alright?’f2578a403fe58703

Baldr felt uneasy.e3a92a6903161362

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‘What if she dies when I return?’98865b9c98cf05b8

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?52f3ce227db3700f

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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.2770194db6a17757

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? b1c6f3c86b4996dc

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Even the nobles in bfa9fee7da the capital, who boasted 9207c6fdf4 of their ancient lineage, 9691c88d4f would have been ignorant 3f9d36363d farmers if you traced 79151b48cc their ancestry back far 64e2e96212 enough. Besides, he was db470e18aa now a shield 59785acf8c protecting the kingdom 74d1ed50cf from pirate attacks.5c9841ed55e12b60

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.33513b50acbac5c4

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Sometimes, the pirates a869b738b6 raided in small 655625af6f groups with two ca46809e52 or three ships. Other times, they c33a47365c would form large 52fef532c4 pirate fleets of 7f8208972f several thousand people c47696130c and invade. When a large pirate cd825da213 fleet landed on the 5916414a5e coast, nothing remained. They not only plundered 527f9999e3 food but also set 775d149ce6 fire to villages, killed 563fb08861 everyone, and fled. By the time 62a9e5279e the soldiers arrived a5552b5d3d after receiving the 40be700d91 news, it was 796c2a7782 too late, and 88247f11ef all that remained 2487793904 were devastated villages.366f1217dee6f5a4

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.e59add547a62b817

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Baldr then had stakes 31db68e249 driven into the coastline dc24d057d7 and impaled the corpses ead3fa26ab of the pirates who 140a0c302b had become targets for 9e20cde875 arrows, leaving them for 2083fe7190 the seabirds to devour. If the ae9844827b pirates were a4bd508b86 to land 2898af7c83 on the 14bc3b94f4 coast, they 4123fb5e7b would see f3acb883e5 the bodies, db142276b6 perhaps of 08cdf1e726 their comrades c70939216d or neighboring bdfe83e6cf villagers, and ab3a191eac understand that 99242ef10e they, too, 9ac62dd7d2 could meet 6ad5ed17c1 the same 08f020eb31 fate. 9e561c89ab71402e

Then, Baldr took the offensive, attacking the pirates’ base. His goal wasn’t plunder or spoils of war, but death. 71f45915d275d9d1

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It was easy to 1ff4d28325 attack the villages where 58351d550c only women, the elderly, 5f0526928e and children remained, waiting 9f4ea270d9 for their husbands to e5414c4d24 return from their raids f3994130af across the sea. He set fire 7568e68257 to their villages, 8855d488ba just as they dc394d172c had done, wiping f2469c44a9 out their descendants. Thanks to c9cac6b81f this, large-scale fb95a18fdf pirate invasions 0d5af182b8 drastically decreased. They feared returning 9756ff8a40 with their loot ea9d5ca8d5 only to find f3b248dc4e their families dead.b1ce6b7e2ee017df

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.0ac7e4732454bea7

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That summer, too, Baldr 80108d3c66 spent his time eliminating a30a306d1d the remaining pirates. He and his 1d0c758d59 soldiers roamed the 3c85684776 coastline, killing enemies f896f1f9e2 like diligent farmers 3af4054054 weeding their fields. And before autumn 6f0ddef75b came, he returned 31b7fcc551 to the mansion.d4a0cdb255b442ae

Covered in blood c8924da644 and fatigue, Baldr 37f9ee0dfe returned to the bb38b96b5d mansion on horseback. He saw 63d6b6b07f two women 8e4e7829db sitting on 15ecd94ee5 the lawn 795cf646b9 in the d7e94ef9c9 garden, wearing f89b371516 flower crowns 048a5197ea and chatting. One was his adopted 8174ef387d daughter, and the other 3720820770 was an unfamiliar woman. The woman 0df2b37012 with the 8e6e53f02c flower crown f6d36fcf74 had her a2a35192dd brown hair a435dc7f95 braided thick 606d981e92 and draped d850241769 over one 83bc0cfd91 shoulder, flowers 690ec5b0a8 woven into bbbb9f0d40 the braid.b2ecf296890cda9c

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‘Who is that?’9c936ffabd9ad81e

Seeing him frown, 1c8094b06c the woman looked 6d77bed8c4 startled, like a 68ffb5cdea rabbit encountering a 9a7a9fd10d hunting dog. Looking at e5ca65792e the woman’s 212f82e256 large eyes, a26e7057fa which appeared 45e91827ae green or 09f631a97e brown depending 104280ed6c on the 83152aa3da angle, he 8238b17a88 thought,17d3d3c0391a385d

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‘Was there such a woman in the mansion?’e5a34b3678d3e68b

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 disbelief60afe31951363684

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‘She’s repeating the mistakes of the previous tutors.’df8de9414c31461d

Instead of ccb86493f5 teaching, she af711b6157 was busy d9c0767df2 flattering his 3dcf781f9c daughter. He had dc36d83a62 hired a 5b39b07046 tutor, not 46e15e134e a nanny. Baldr de 54bb0f191a Skadi decided a815234840 to dismiss 188d23eb71 the tutor 07df6f377e as soon 6b09693e03 as he acdde0002b returned to 7c7eb5bed8 the mansion.ea583937e3336729

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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.3b612c0cd6b66f27

“What did you do while I was eradicating the pirates?”338efd519027f891

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Baldr asked, sitting in e549f64254 his office chair, his 0f03955752 gaze cold.ffd50db299111089

“You didn’t spend the whole summer making flower crowns like a village girl, did you?”a5acaef79d3e0fc3

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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.875f9c6cc0da4da4

“I… I learned to read and write from Teacher. And… I also learned history.”afbeef103699c81b

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“History? You can read and write now?”085eb00a5e4c320c

If it were that 46d2dd0c80 easy, would the previous 15e66b4990 tutors have called his 25ac0ac783 adopted daughter a fool?b2e4a87b231e3dce

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He thought 071f1a37e7 Ana was a51d0fbf39 lying. To expose 6505d54937 her lie, f22f7c34e7 he pointed c3cd16c89f at a ea9521cd98 servant and e7c691b93b ordered writing c781dd5116 tools, a 704d184187 desk, and f6ef55ba9c a chair 2d0ac2a28a to be 7aa5f029e7 brought.8c259a231539297b

“Then write down what I say from now on.”424d168bfcb682c6

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And Baldr f29cbf8cfd de Skadi 624894d35f soon realized 23f06807b0 that Ana 0694acdaab was telling 31c5705566 the truth.787d601f8cc75972

Ana wrote down 8f04244dfe the sentences he e55b4b769c dictated, albeit clumsily. She occasionally 16c49942eb misspelled difficult cc18a8e824 words. Furthermore, Ana answered 36c3d339e5 almost all of f4ccaf92f6 his questions about 4f388a073c major historical events. Although there were ea94cc80ca some details that 765bff2646 she was confused 73274b0d82 about, the events f9e1ae378d that had happened 8fb0834957 in this country’s 2e588cb4b6 past, why they a327022c92 happened, and the 970b816fab consequences they brought 01ea612ed1 afterward were all 76ca221ced in her mind c06ce6cdc9 as if they e63303f1cb were part of 418b068a8f a story.c888aab38125d4f5

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‘How?’b6fec2bc04935861

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?c9a3fbf187bef144

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‘What did that woman do?’9244d7e5a6526ec5

“You may leave.”26534664cbfcf81b

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After dismissing his adopted 38212d8d95 daughter, Baldr summoned the dc6e9ecf38 tutor. Soon, the tutor 352d930091 came in, looking 08b73ed92c like a cow 925beb2c85 being dragged to ac4ed25c7a the slaughterhouse.fc7f240fb5cadc12

‘Was her name Jeanne? What was her last name? Toulouse? Toulouze?’54c404d7dff7f30f

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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.d24b7d70f5ac0d60

“Your Grace, how… have you been?”7458349ecddb9346

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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.f39d526c5adbf1de

“Is the food here not to her liking? Or is she protesting, claiming she prefers the food from the capital?’9716b07d65e89518

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