SWSBG CH7

Among them was the Duke's most loyal servant, Lord Béla(1). Laslo cried for days after his death.

- Two princes died one after the other in an epidemic.

Starting in the south, a terrible epidemic(2) shook the whole country.

Szátmar, which had little contact with the outside, had a relatively small death toll. It was not the same for the capital city though, which had a large floating population(3), suffered devastating consequences. 

Agnes casually thought back to the situation when a black flag had hung from the palace to announce the death of the prince.

Both Sebastian and the queen were still young, so it wasn't a serious problem because there was a good chance of seeing a future generation born.

At that time she'd never imagined it would be the beginning of everything.

"Mistress."

"Huh?"

Her hand, which was writing about what was going to happen in the future, stopped, and she turned her head. A familiar maid who she had seen in the morning was now standing next to her.

"I am here to ask what Mistress is going to eat."

“Is it lunch already?”

The sun had already reached its highest point while she had immersed herself in writing after talking to Niall.

"Yes."

"There's nothing I want, so you don't need to prepare it." Agnes replied roughly and faced the piece of paper again.

She couldn't remember what followed after that.

She was upset at herself for being so pathetic. She wouldn't be able to help him at this rate. The terrible future would only repeat itself three years from now.

"Understood."

The maid bowed politely and stepped back.

'I wish I'd been smarter, or maybe if I were wiser and had a lot of knowledge like elder Buschke......'

At that very moment, she jumped out of her chair, toppling it on her way up.

"Wait a minute!"

Then, she called up a maid who was in the midst of retreating.

Buschke, who also was called the Sage, may have a solution.

"Mistress called?"

"Bu-, no. Who is the adviser of the castle?"

She hadn't been introduced to Buschke yet. Realising that, she asked for her title instead of calling her name.

"It is Buschke Hershko."

Agnes' abrupt question seemed to have left the made a little perplexed, but soon enough she calmly responded to her request.

"Call her here."

The maid, who had been lowering her eyes submissively, hesitated to answer for the first time.

"Did you not hear me?"

"Yes I did. mistress. However, Hershko is a person who often travels all over the territory, so she doesn't stay here often.”

She bowed her head even deeper while wearing an unsure face.

"Hmm."

Thinking about it, she had heard that Hershko frequently traversed the territory.

"Are you sure she's not in the castle?”

"It is hard to know for sure."

“Then lead me to where she is staying.”

"Milady!"

Ney, who had been listening on the side, burst out asking how the mistress of the castle can be the one to go meet her subordinate.

Of course, this was not normal. However for Agnes, it was more important to gain knowledge than to establish her status as the mistress.

"How can the mistress..."

Although Ney was objecting loudly, Agnes simply reassured her.

The maid looked at the princess for a short while, and then took the lead.

The landscape along the way felt very familiar to her as she followed the maid across the castle.

Even the dull stones and the dry grass felt familiar.

It was at about halfway there. She saw two men giggling in the distance. Looking at the clothes they were wearing, they weren't commoners.

They further confirmed that as Agnes walked closer towards them, but the two men showed no sincerity to stop and greet her. Rather, they continued chatting among themselves and walked passed them casually, the way they would a stone pillar.

"Hold it!"

Ney who witnessed it, raised her eyes fiercely.

"Don't waste your energy on pointless things.”

Agnes knew both of their their faces, titles and names and why they didn't like her.

"Haah, but mistress."

Agnes smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"This is it."

They had arrived in front of the West Watchtower. The dizzyingly amount of stairs felt endless.

"I will go up and check if Advisor Buschke is in."

"Alright."

The maid walked off with quick steps.

It was a shady place, and therefore chilly even in the summer. Agnes shivered lightly.

“Shall I bring something more to wear?”

Ney wore a concerned face.

"No, it's just a little cold..."

"Who's there?"

A familiar voice was heard beside the stone pillar.

"Ah."

Agnes let out a startled sound when she recognised the owner of the voice.

"Oh my, what may you have for business at this shabby place?"

Zoltan, who realised it was the princess, approached them with a frivolous smile.

They had only greeted each other on the first day of when she first arrived in Sz´tmar, so they were just getting acquainted. 

His way of walking and talking seemed off. In addition, his whole body was reeking of alcohol.

Ney was the first to notice and frowned.

Agnes felt strange when she saw Zoltan. She knew how he'd meet his end. The sight of him leaning against a tree, bleeding with a sword through him and a wound so big that his intestines were visible still appeared when she closed her eyes.

- Don't die.

Agnes bit her lips discreetly.

She had even ran away without looking back twice at the dying man. At that moment, she had felt like a terrible coward. The emotions of that day welled up and clawed at her heart.

She owed him a lot.

"What, am I not worth a reply?" Zoltan said, frowning.

Agnes only then realised that he was staring at her blankly.

"No. I'm sorry Sir Zoltan. I was just caught up in my thoughts for a moment. What did you ask?”

“I asked why you are at the West Watchtower. It's not really a place that the princess might be interested in.”

“I had heard that the advisor of the castle resided here and there was something I wanted to ask.”

“Buschke? Hmm. She is not here right now. That old woman likes to roam around. So, she is probably holed up somewhere in the territory.”

She was surprised by how his attitude was much more gentle and polite than expected.

The Zoltan she had last remembered, was someone who was rude and spoke informally towards Agnes. She remembered that they were always fighting because of that.

'Wasn't our relationship bad from the beginning?'

Somehow, her memory of him was hazy.

She couldn't think of a specific reason why her relationship with Zoltan had deteriorated. At some point- for some unknown reason, whenever Zoltan saw her, he would always treat her as his enemy.

"I can't help it if she's not here.”

But now, the man in front of her looked at her with very favourable eyes.

The princess unknowingly had small smile on her lips.

"Thank you for letting me know, Sir Zoltan. We avoided wasting our time in vain thanks to you."

Unfortunately, today wasn't the day. Moreover, there would be an opportunity to meet the retainers this evening, so she could make an appointment to meet her then.

"Whatever."

He looked somewhat perplexed and said nothing about whether he found the gratitude Agnes showed, awkward or surprising.

“Mistress, Advisor Buschke is not here.”

Right at that moment, the maid came down and gave her a definite answer. She had a troubled expression on her face.

“Yes, I heard it from Sir Zoltan. There's no helping it.”

She accepted it without a hitch and started heading away from the watchtower.

"Princess!"

She had only taken a few steps when she heard Zoltan's voice behind her.

He scratched his head and quickly walked up to Agnes' side.

"That... uhm, are you busy now?"

"Now?"

How unexpected.

From the beginning to the end, Zoltan was never very friendly or someone kind towards Agnes.

"I have nothing planned."

"Then, ehem. Can I mayhap take you somewhere for a moment?”

“Where do you mean?”

"Just for a moment. I want to talk to you."

Zoltan Alphard(4) is often frowned at and misunderstood but it's not unjustified. The smell of alcohol surrounding his body never goes away, and because of his temper, he'd also often get into bloody fights.

“Yes, of course.”

However, most of the time he was angry was because he couldn't stand to see injustice. He had a big heart, so he always helped those in need by giving what he had.

They walked in silence.

The place where Zoltan led her to was the only managed garden in the castle. It had been a very dear and cherished place when the former duchess was still alive, and so money from the non-existent garden budget kept it from being ruined. (5) 

“Here…”

Ney looked around the garden and groaned.

"Please sit here princess."

The tables Zoltan governed(6) had partly rusted.

Ney noticed it and didn't move as if shocked.

This would have been unthinkable in the royal palace.

"How can... this kind of place..."

Ney trembled as if she had been drenched in cold water.

It seemed as if Zoltan had deliberately guided the princess to such a place.

Ney probably did not know the circumstances of the castle. She herself had been the same.

"Ney."

"Yes, milady(7)."

"Go get me a cup of tea."

“Yes.” answered Ney after a long pause.

She glared quite fiercely at Zoltan before leaving. Zoltan's mouth twitched as noticed it.

"Are all the maids from the palace so cocky?” Zoltan asked when Ney had disappeared from their sight.

"We grew up together as milk siblings(8)."

"Hm, oh well."

Only then did Zoltan nod, convinced.

A princess's milk sister are often daughters of low-ranking aristocrats. Therefore, she was the highest-ranking among the court maids.

"Um......."

Zoltan struggled with speaking while trying to read Agnes mood.

 

"So, how is the princess settling down here?"

Lila's notes:

Ney is a girl, not a boy. Sorry for the confusion. I have changed the pronouns in ch6 as well. Although I may have missed some. 1. (^) His name might be Don Beller, because I wasn't sure what 던(deon) in the raw was. It's either his name or a verb ending ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also I previously referred to him as Sir Beller, but I changed my mind, it's Lord Beller now.

2. (^) *le gasp* Corona? jk stay safe guys!

3. (^) floating population: a group of people who frequently move from place to place

4. (^) Zoltan and Laslo are real brothers confirmed!

5. (^) Wth does '없는 예산 쪼개고 쪼개서 겨우 황폐해지는 것을 막고 있다' mean. I'm basically guessing here.

6. (^) '졸탄이 권한 테이블의...' Zoltan authority table?

7. (^) I've been translating this (마님) as mistress so far, but I'll use milady, madam etc. as well depending on what I see best fit.

8. Agnes' nursing mother is the biological mother of Ney

PREV TOC NEXT