a backdrop of bluish hills stretched endlessly into the distance. this was anomarad.

    the katuna mountains, which outlined the shell peninsula, determined travachess’ climate and therefore also determined her people’s way of life. they had slipped out of katuna’s moist fingers and into the panozareh mountains, which cut across fertile green lands.

    there were many different fiefs scattered at the foot of the panozareh mountains, which boasted of many springs and valleys. each of them had been blessed by the sunny southern climate. there were two particular fiefs that stood out amongst them, the most beautiful of them all. the first was alajong, the birthplace of white wine with a picturesque river and open pastoral fields. and the second, to its east on the other side of the mountains’ sharp ridges, was bellcruz, the land of truffles, a fief that was said to be hiding a thousand secret scenic views.

    it was always problematic when two things completed for the honor of being known as the best. the people of both territories took a lot of pride in their respective fiefs, and bringing up this particular topic usually ended with no discernable winner. as far as visitors were concerned, however, both fiefs were scenic and a delight to enjoy. the people who lived in these lands were satisfied only after they had seen any visitors gaping in awe as they saw the beautiful views.

    in that sense, boris was a complete failure of a visitor. rosenice had been stealing glances at boris ever since the carriage had entered bellcruz, wondering when the boy would finally look astonished. the boy continued to look indifferently out the window, but not even the faintest shade of shock ever colored his face and not even a single word of praise fell from his lips.

    “tch,” rosenice clicked her tongue.

    this was no fun. she might as well have just entertained herself by teasing camia at this rate. she suddenly found herself with a brother now, something that she’d never had before, but he just seemed so… boring.

    “hey. look over here.”

    boris turned to look at rosenice with only his eyes. rosenice was sitting as primly as a woman in her twenties while wearing an ivory dress with pink lace at the shoulders, waist, and hem. only camia noticed that the young miss was bored out of her mind.

    “you said you were twelve, right?” rosenice asked. “well, i’m twelve too. are you going to be my younger brother, or do i have to be your younger sister?”

    she thought that this would be a fun little quarrel to have. surely, the boy would want to be her older brother. then, they would start splitting hairs and bickering over whose birthday came first. if her birthday came later, then she could always pull rank and argue that she was here first and therefore should be the older sister. and then, what if he said that she wasn’t making any sense? in that case, she could simply assert that she was a trueborn daughter of the house while he was just the adopted son!

    contrary to rosenice’s hopes, however, boris curtly replied, “i don’t really care either way. if you want me to address you as my older sister, i can do that.”

    “hey, now…”

    rosenice liked to make a game out of predicting what someone was going to say and refuting every single point they made. unbeknownst to her, the servants and maids usually humored her and tried to answer the way that they knew she wanted them to.

    in any event, boris’ flat answer was no fun at all. rosenice scowled ever so slightly before she resolved herself to push along the conversation in the direction she wished anyway.

    “when’s your birthday? mine’s april 8th.”

    “july 12th.”

    what? rosenice’s carefully laid plans came crumbling down once again. camia took one look at her young miss and began giggling silently to herself. this wasn’t what rosenice had been hoping for, and her disappointment was written plainly across her face.

    rosenice groaned silently. then, unable to help herself, she continued, “well, i guess it doesn’t really matter, right? it’s not like we’re actually siblings or anything. what is important, though…”

    then, boris, who had been looking at the beautiful almond trees outside the carriage window, suddenly turned around and interjected, “okay, i get it. i can be your older brother, and you can be my little sister.”

    the blood drained from rosenice’s face. it was only then that she finally realized what she’d done.

    “well, i…”

    “puhahaha…”

    camia laughed out loud, unable to keep it to herself any longer. naturally, she paid for it immediately as the young miss began pinching her arm.

    count bellnor, who had been riding with his knights, heard the laughter inside the carriage and said to his aide, “it looks like the children are getting along just fine.”

    “indeed.”

    “i’m glad for it.”

    the count and his aide had unfortunately misunderstood the situation. regardless, the carriage continued until it eventually crossed a small stone bridge. there were marguerites, the symbol of house bellnor, planted along the parapet. the brook flowed in parallel to the road after they had crossed the bridge, the trees that surrounded the road were beginning to turn autumn colors, and the water glittered gold beneath the rays of the sun. the sunlight danced not only over the brook but also on top of the smooth and thick magnolia leave and the slender laurel leaves. the scent of the forest wafted into the carriage through the window.

    “go first and announce our arrival!” hugh ordered. two of the knights began galloping toward the castle.

    there were two other coaches, pulled by two horses each, in addition to the four-horse carriage that rosenice was riding. they were filled to the brim with souvenirs and specialties from travachess that the count had bought. they finally caught their first glimpse of the walls of bellnor castle, covered by a tangle of wisteria vines, once the carriage had turned the last corner.

    the castle had ivory walls and four cylindrical towers, one in each cardinal direction. its conical roofs were dark brown. it boasted a hundred twenty-five rooms, three great halls with high ceilings, and two hundred stables for the horses. simply put, the castle was colossal. it was difficult to find a castle as large as bellnor castle without travelling all the way to the capital. it stood as a testament to the wealth of house bellnor, a major producer of truffles, which were also sometimes called black gold.

    dozens of servants were ready and waiting by the castle gates by the time they arrived. the knights had likely announced their arrival. the lady of the castle was there too, accompanied by two maids by her side. the count climbed down from his horse, and the servants opened the carriage door. rosenice ran to her mother as soon as she had climbed down from the carriage.

    boris climbed down after her. before he had the chance to really take in the castle, however, his eyes were pulled to the countess, who was wearing a slender dress and a green shawl, first. she was speaking with her husband.

    “so that’s the boy…?”

    the count responded to her quietly, and then the countess turned around and gazed penetratingly at boris. she stared at him so openly that it flustered him a little. fortunately, however, he was spared from the discomfort of having to formally greet her there and then.

    the countess then scolded her daughter for running while wearing a dress. rosenice obediently lowered her head and apologized. she knew that her mother wouldn’t let her get away with her usual antics.

    thus, the count and his party had finally returned to his castle.

    boris’ initial impression of the countess was spot on—she truly was a difficult person to deal with. not only was she slender, but she also had an exceptionally narrow forehead and thin lips. her voice was stern, and she did not smile very often either. boris could tell that the maids were doing their best to stay on their best behavior in her presence. the only similarity she seemed to share with her recklessly bubbly daughter was their bright, lemon-colored hair.

    one of the servants guided boris into a room, but he was summoned before he had the chance to settle down and rest. he was promptly brought to a spacious and glamorous reception room. the count, the countess, and rosenice were all waiting for him in their loungewear. boris was the only one still wearing outdoor clothes.

    something felt out of place. there wasn’t a single servant or maid present. boris sat down for the time being, but he had no idea what to say. it was awkward. there was tea and cookies on the table, and the tea was starting to cool.

    “my husband sent me word ahead of time, so i’m aware of the gist of why you’re here,” the countess started. “you may make yourself comfortable during your stay here. treat the castle like it’s your own home.”

    despite the contents of her words, however, there was no kindness in the countess’ voice. it didn’t even seem like she was saying it merely as a formality either. there was simply no emotion present in her speech.

    rosenice grinned and did her best to loosen the mood.

    “i’m going to be the younger sister, mother. i’ve always wanted an older brother.”

    “is that so?”

    boris could not feel any overwhelming affection in the countess’ voice even though she was addressing her one and only daughter, unlike her husband, whose voice was always honeyed with it whenever he spoke to rosenice. boris could not help but wonder if the countess had been born into a very prominent house prior to her marriage.

    then, the count said, “be mind to address me as your father, and my wife, isabeau, as your mother, during your stay here. you are the youngest son of cambris elgunden, the fallen lord of gvansk in southern travachess. i adopted you when you were five to solidify a relationship between our houses and have been supporting you all this time, but we’ve never met in person before because you were still living with your biological father. your mother passed away when you were young, and you have very little memory of her. you had to move in with me because your biological father unexpectedly passed away earlier this year.”

    it felt so strange to hear the count inform him about his fake past like he was simply telling the boy a story. there were parts of the fake past that overlapped with boris’ real past. was that simply a coincidence?

    the count continued, “only the following people know about how we actually met: hugh, my secretary, willa, the maid who nursed you back to health, camia, rosenice’s personal maid, and geribo, delemer, and gromiers, the knights who were with me when i rescued you.”

    boris sharpened his focus and committed those names to memory.

    “none of the people i just named know why you’re here or for how long you’ll be staying. the only people who know that are my wife, rosenice, and myself. be sure to stick to the story i just told you if anyone asks you why you’re here.”

    rosenice tilted her head from side to side. it looked like she was wondering whether she actually needed to keep this secret. after all, there were too many people who had a vague idea of the truth in order to keep this secret rigorously. meanwhile, boris realized that the count had only said this to caution him against doing anything that might spark some unwanted rumors.

    “can you remember everything i’ve just told you?”

    “yes,” boris answered quietly.

    then, the countess added, “the boy might forget, so please write it all down for him later.”

    “that was always the plan. hugh will have already prepared it by now.”

    “good.”

    no one touched the cookies or the tea. boris had been expecting it, but he still couldn’t help but rue the fact that he was not actually a part of their family. still, he was fully resolved to play his role faithfully. after all, this was something that he had chosen for himself.

    “please have boris’ chambers prepared for him, dear. let’s keep his room close to rose’s—ah, that one should do. the room on the second floor of the tower of moonshine.”

    the countess looked a little surprised at first, but she quickly regained herself and replied, “very well. i’ll get the suite ready for him.”

    rosenice’s eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared at her parents in turns. on the other hand, boris had no idea what was so special about the suite on the second floor of the tower of moonshine, nor did he particularly care to know.

    the count turned back to boris and said, “i will find you a swordsmanship teacher in a few days. get some rest until then. i’m sure you’re tired from the journey. why don’t you tuck in for the night, and rose can take her older brother on a tour of the castle tomorrow? the castle is quite large, and it’s easy to get lost in.”

    boris flinched when he heard the consideration in the count’s words. it had almost sounded like the count had intended to address his daughter instead. even boris’ real father had never paid him such careful attention. the count had likely only been speaking that way out of habit, but boris was so startled that his heart had skipped a beat.

    suddenly, rosenice chimed in and said, “won’t my brother need an attendant, daddy—i mean, father?”

    evidently, rosenice minded her words a bit more in her mother’s presence. the countess hadn’t scolded her for it however, though perhaps only because boris was there too. the count smiled and nodded back.

    “you’re taking such good care of your brother already, rose. but you needn’t worry. i haven’t forgotten. i’m planning to gather up the servants and introduce them to boris tomorrow. why don’t we let him pick an attendant then?”

    the conversation had more or less wrapped up. the countess rang a bell, and the maid who had been on standby outside the door came in and took away the tea that no one had drank. boris bowed to his new parents one last time before following a servant back to his room.

    the exhaustion hit him all at once after he’d closed the door and was finally alone. his stay in this room was only temporary. he would be moving to the new one tomorrow. yet, even this one was nicer than his chambers back in the jinneman manor.

    did the castle have several rooms like this one that were always kept clean so guests could stay in them at a moment’s notice? the bed was lined with white sheets, a blanket, and an ermine fur duvet for the winter. everything was immaculate, and there was not a wrinkle to be seen anywhere. both the headboard of the bed and the legs of the small bedside table next to it were carved into elegant arcs. the slipcover draped over the chair was decorated with exquisite petit point needlework. three marguerites were embroidered onto it with gold and white thread.

    boris opened the wardrobe to find one set of pajamas and loungewear each inside. he decided to get changed. his outdoor clothes were getting uncomfortable, and he figured that he’d be eating dinner soon anyway. then, he tried to lay down in bed, but he ultimately ended up getting back up and walking circles inside his room because his heart was pounding too hard for him to sit still.

    eventually, the window with storm covers caught his attention. he couldn’t quite explain why, but he was so glad to have spotted it. boris walked up to the window, unlatched it, and swung it wide open. it was only after the breeze rushed in that he realized there was an old, musky smell permeating the room. he pulled the chair up by the window and stared outside it absentmindedly.

    he could see the winding road they had taken on the carriage, the small forest they had passed, and the small brook they had crossed glittering in the distance. the castle gardens were neat and tidy, and the forest beyond them was vividly green. he had crossed the forest by carriage not too long ago, but he already wanted to return. he wanted to take a stroll in the forest sometime if he had the time to spare and he was allowed to wander as he pleased.

    would he be able to find a place that reminded him of the hills he used to wrestle his brother on?

    boris fell into a crestfallen silence.

    of course he wouldn’t. travachess was a place where the overgrown grasses of the fields rippled like waves, but anomarad was not. the natural scenery here in anomarad was much more pastoral, charming, and abundant. but it wasn’t his home. anomarad was beautiful, but it was ultimately unfamiliar to him. it reminded him of rosenice—the pretty little girl who ultimately had nothing to do with him.

    boris saw the castle’s majestic ramparts stretching out to either side when he looked down. he could see the whole height of the wall even from the second floor. the ramparts looked large and sturdy, though it a different way from what they had looked like from afar. boris couldn’t help but wonder if his window was visible from the forest. perhaps the window was too small to be seen and would simply be lost in the rest of the castle like an unnecessary dot in a painting.

    his impression of bellnor castle was exactly the same as what he thought about the life he was about to live here. he was so small, and the world at large, in which he was helpless to do anything, was so large in comparison. he felt like he was being buried by the overwhelming things around him, and he wondered if he would be able to find a small window where he could hide and catch his breath.

    this land was foreign to him.

    rosenice came to visit him the next morning even before the count had summoned him. her cheeks were flushed, as if she was having great fun.

    “how did you like breakfast, dear brother?”

    a maid had brought his breakfast directly to his room. rosenice was smiling bashfully, perhaps because she had never addressed anyone as her dear brother before. it made boris feel a little awkward too, and it took him everything he had to manage to reply, “…yeah.”

    “daddy said that i should take you on a tour of the castle, remember? i’ll show you your new suite first. and there’s a whole lot more that i need to show you after that too! it’s going to knock your socks off.”

    naturally, however, rosenice wouldn’t be rosenice if she was nice all the time.

    “don’t get too distracted and just keep your eyes on me,” she said while jutting out her chin. she was cute even still. “that way, i won’t have to worry about you getting lost.”

    they followed the trail of flower bud-shaped lights on the ceiling as they made their way down the corridor. the sun’s morning rays filtered in through the line of windows on the wall. the tall windows were not simply holes in the wall shielded by storm covers. they were all made of real glass. the shadows from the windowsills crisscrossed over the carpeted floor like a net as the new siblings walked over them.

    the towers on each of the four corners of the castle didn’t actually feel like towers from the inside because they all connected via the corridors. the tower of moonshine was situated in the south. rosenice ran up to the tall double doors to the tower and opened them. the doors open to reveal a sitting room as grand as the reception room that boris had seen yesterday. the only difference was that the sitting room in the tower was only half as big. the walls were made from a light brown wood with visible grains. there were occasional curves carved into the walls, and each curve was filled with a strip of gold. beneath the chandelier and adorned with dozens of crystals were a tea table, a folding desk, embroidered chairs, and bookshelves packed with heavy books. lined on the floor was a round rug displaying two lilies of different colors.

    until now, boris had yet to express any awe after seeing how beautiful bellcruz and bellnor castle were, but he could not help but be moved at the sight of the tower of moonshine. perhaps it was because this was to be his living quarters. he walked inside and looked around before turning back to rosenice. rosenice had been gauging his reaction, and she flashed a grin when she spotted something she liked.

    just then, camia rushed inside the room and bowed deeply in front of rosenice.

    “i’m so sorry, young miss. i had no idea that you’d left so early, and i was just so busy that i…”

    house jinneman had employed servants too, but boris had always regarded them as a part of his family. he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it when he saw the two girls, who were similar in age, so clearly drawing the line of master and servant between them. but he also knew that it wasn’t his place to interfere with their relationship.

    fortunately, rosenice was in a good mood today.

    “whatever. i’m going to be with my brother, so you just follow us from far behind.”

    then, rosenice opened one of the two doors on the other side of the sitting room. the decorations and furniture inside the new room was incomparably better than that of the room that boris had slept in last night. rosenice took the lead and threw the wardrobe doors open, revealing all kinds of high quality clothes inside. she likely wasn’t doing it purely out of goodwill, but she seemed to be having great fun as she held all kinds of outfits out for boris to see.

    “don’t they all look so cool? your servant will be able to tell you when to wear what after you pick one.”

    boris didn’t particular care much for clothes, so he simply nodded back. the bedroom was so large that he could have fit five beds inside it and still have room to spare.

    rosenice tapped her toes—which she probably shouldn’t have been doing in a dress—and said, “this is the second best room in the castle after my parents’. i wanted it for myself, but daddy said that it was too big for me. he said that i could have it when i turn fifteen. you won’t be here anymore by then, so i’m sure he’ll let me have it then. so, make sure you keep it clean, you got that, dear brother?”

    rosenice seemed to have already gotten comfortable at calling boris her dear brother. yet, boris couldn’t help but feel like something was off as he listened. rosenice was treating him like they were close, but she was so matter-of-factly stating that he would be leaving soon.

    they were close siblings for now, but they would return to being total strangers again by next year.

    the two children left the tower and wandered the rest of the castle until their legs began hurting. rosenice’s tour wasn’t very organized. she showed boris her favorite window, opened up a bunch of guest rooms one by one for boris to see, and she even brought him to the gigantic kitchens. the maids who had been cooking very kindly chased them out.

    the dining hall was quite impressive. there were three tables in the dining hall, and each one was long enough to easily seat at least thirty people. there was also a separate round table that was decorated far better than the rest. however, it didn’t seem like the dining hall was used very often. rosenice told boris that she and her parents typically used a smaller and cozier dining room.

    “was that everything?” rosenice asked camia as she tilted her head to the side.

    “you haven’t taken him to the library yet, milady. master will have left to inspect the estate by now, since he’s left it unattended for so long. i believe the library should be empty at this time.”

    rosenice clapped her hands together as she nodded back enthusiastically.

    “oh, right! let’s go and see the library together, dear brother. um, the library is a place with a whole lot of books.”

    boris knew what a library was. he recalled seeing his father sitting in the library back at home. he had not been able to freely enter the library in the manor back in longorde either if his father was currently occupying it. he remembered how his father would summon tulk, the butler, and issue all kinds of instructions that he had been too young to understand…

    it was so strange. boris only remembered his father as being stern and cold, yet he still missed him so dearly. but it was different from how his missed his brother. his father was like a symbol that represented his old life.

    the library was on the third floor. the children opened the doors and walked inside, but something unexpected happened before boris had the chance to appreciate the sea of books within. rosenice suddenly grew angry and stomped up to someone while jabbing her finger at them.

    furiously, she chastised, “lanziee! were you reading my father’s books without permission again?”

    there was a boy standing in front of one of the bookshelves. he was clearly one of the servants, judging by his clothes, but he had been reading through a rather thick book. he looked to be around the same age as boris and rosenice. he had sky blue hair, and the pale lines of his forehead were straight. the boy didn’t look like anything else that boris had seen in anomarad thus far. he felt so fundamentally at odds from this land of overflowing abundance.

    the boy gave off a chilly yet clear air about him.

    moreover, the boy was so handsome that he would probably stand out no matter where he went. he calmly closed the book he had been reading. he wasn’t flustered at all as rosenice raged at him.

    then, he looked over rosenice’s shoulder and at boris. boris was startled when their eyes met. the boy’s eyes were a deep red, unless the sunlight was simply playing tricks on him. boris hadn’t even known that it was possible for people to have red eyes. the boy’s ruby eyes were beautiful.

    “how dare you sneak into my father’s library and read his books?!”

    rosenice snatched away lanziee’s book before he had the chance to put it back and flung it to the floor. camia jumped, startled, and quickly rushed over to pick it up. she nervously began flattening the book out when she saw that one of its covers had folded over. rosenice, however, did not appear to care one whit about the book she had just so unceremoniously thrown and was busy poking her finger against lanziee’s forehead.

    “know your place! do you want me to tell father and have him throw you out?!”

    boris was curious to see what the boy, who exuded elegance despite being a mere servant, had to say for himself.

    contrary to boris’ expectations, however, lanziee simply replied, “my apologies, milady. it was wrong of me.”

    then again, what else could lanziee have said in this situation?

    yet, lanziee’s tone was not as submissive as his words suggested. and rosenice, who had been a young miss all her life, was quick to notice. she still looked as disgruntled as ever as she stepped back, but then she shot a glance at boris and said, “i’ll let you off for today since my dear brother’s here with me. but just you wait. i’ll be sure to tell father if i ever catch you at it again!”

    lanziee didn’t appear curious at all even though he almost certainly knew that rosenice had no brothers, and he sketched rosenice a bow before exiting the room. camia quickly put the book back on its shelf. it was only then that rosenice started to worry about the book.

    “well… i suppose this should be fine.”

    rosenice thought that she knew how to deal with her servants properly and she believed that that she was fairly good at it. however, the servant whom her father had brought back from keltica last year was the only exception. lanziee lowered his head whenever she raised her voice, and he obediently did whatever she told him to do no matter how unreasonable a task it was. yet, she could increasingly tell that, on the inside, lanziee was looking down on her and did not feel as though a little young miss like her deserved his attention. he was obedient to her every word—what other choice did he have?—, but his eyes seemed to say that there was nothing rosenice could do about his heart. rosenice hated it.

    being a servant meant that you had to gauge your master’s mood carefully, seeing if there was anything making her sad or incurring her ire, and doing everything in your power to make things better for her. if you were lucky, your master would take notice and praise you, and if they didn’t, well, there was nothing you could do about it. being a servant meant losing on purpose if your master wanted to win and acting the fool if your master wanted to show off how smart she was.

    …or, at the very least, that was the kind of servant that rosenice wanted. they may be of similar age, but rosenice was the young miss and lanziee was a mere servant. thus, she could only see his attitude as a despicable attempt to pretend that they were, in fact, equals.

    and unfortunately for lanziee, he had a weakness: his little sister.