***
The season changed from spring to summer. The snow that had been hidden in the shade and hadn't melted even in spring finally melted away, and heat haze shimmered in the fields. The temperature rose to the point that one couldn't endure without fanning themselves while the sun was up.
However, despite the heat of the day, the night was no different from winter. It just didn't carry snow, but a fierce wind blew and swept away all the heat of the earth. This too must be the influence of the Ice Peninsula. It was a truly strange place.
The wooden window rattled as it shook. In Freize, the central city of Dithmarschen, the Lord’s manor had its windows firmly locked to block the night wind, but the wind blew as if it would break the bolt.
At that time, Priest Roberta was performing dawn prayers in the bedroom prepared on one side of the Lord’s manor. She placed the symbol of the goddess Ganimea on the table and knelt before it, folding both hands.
This was the day she welcomed summer for the second time since being assigned as the presiding priest. It was also a day several months after finishing the journey to the Ice Peninsula in spring.
“……”
Roberta, who had retraced the journey along with her dawn prayer, stood up after a long time. Holding an oil lamp in her right hand, she left the bedroom and walked down the hallway.
Even though she wore a coat over her priest’s robe, she felt the night chill that made her body shiver, and while listening to the sound of the fierce wind striking the wooden window, she stood in front of a certain room in the hallway.
And after hesitating for a moment, she knocked on the door, *knock, knock*.
“Come in.”
The response returned as if waiting.
“Excuse me.”
Opening the door, the office was revealed. A fireplace, one wooden window, two bookshelves, and one desk placed beside them. It was a simple, no, desolate room without a single decoration.
Ulrih, the Lord of Dithmarschen, had been sitting at his office desk since dawn. Without directing his gaze toward her, he was writing something with a quill pen, relying on the faint light emitted by a candle.
“Lord?”
Roberta entered and closed the door.
“It is rare for you to seek me out at this hour. Is it not the first time?”
Ulrih stopped his hand and raised his face. He was wearing glasses. As far as she knew, his eyesight shouldn't be bad, but he often wore glasses when reading or writing books. That appearance made him look quite intellectual, while on the other hand, it made him look a few years older.
“Did I come too suddenly and cause a nuisance?”
“No, you know the fact that I have no sleep at night. Rather, it’s good to have a conversation partner visit. Although you probably didn't visit to share light stories.”
With a smile, Ulrih gestured for her to sit on the chair in front of the desk.
She trembled as soon as she sat down. Even though it was the Lord’s office, it was as cold as the hallway. Wondering why, she looked at the fireplace and saw no sign of a fire being lit. That strange Lord was staying up all night in light clothes just as he had in the Ice Peninsula.
He took off his glasses and placed them on the desk, rose from his seat, and lit a fire in the fireplace. Only then did the room brighten slightly and began to drive out the cold air.
“It seems the Lord does not feel the cold.”
“Of course I do. I feel it very well.”
“Yet you don't show it at all.”
“Because it’s bearable. It’s an adaptation created by the years.”
Roberta vaguely recalled his estimated age. How long would one have to live to reach the point where their expression wouldn't change even in the intense cold of the Ice Peninsula?
“But that story is too long and would be troublesome to hear until the end. Also, it probably won't be the answer you want. Is that not so?”
“...Yes.”
“So, what is it you want to ask me? At such an early hour, even before Bernhard has woken up.”
As always, there were many things she wanted to ask. Especially since the journey in the Ice Peninsula had many, many doubts, to the point she worried about what to resolve first.
Banares, the Great King of Cabonihar; Uar, the giant who does not serve his creator; Narbakayani, the dragon who wishes to understand humans; and even Oscar, Ulrih’s past name.
However, the reason she sought him out at an awkward time was not among them. The previous doubts didn't have to be asked right away. Her time was sufficient, and she could resolve them little by little.
“Are you going to leave, Lord?”
But what if Ulrih leaves?
That was a doubt that arose in the Ice Peninsula.
Duke Bailen, the giant Uar, and the dragon Narbakayani testified that the human using the name Ulrih had lived a life twice as long as his life as the Lord of Dithmarschen. Also, they said he had changed his name very often in his long life.
Narbakayani had also said that Ulrih was using this name quite long and that it would be about time he got tired of it. From that, Roberta suddenly thought. Like the dragon that left humans, would Ulrih also leave soon?
“I intend to do so.”
Ulrih answered without hesitation.
“May I... ask the reason.”
“It’s just because I felt the time has come.”
The time has come?
“What does that mean?”
Roberta said just one word, “Pardon?” in a tone of it being out of the blue.
“You must know the circumstances of how I became the Lord of Dithmarschen.”
How could she not know? It was a story she had heard often. Ulrih was Hilde’s son-in-law, and it was said he inherited the title when she died.
“Hilde asked me. To remain even after she died, and to protect her people in the snow-wind of the Little Ice Age. I promised to do so.”
While muttering to himself that there were other inner thoughts too, he continued speaking.
“To me, the title of Count... no, Duke of Dithmarschen is only that. it began with a promise between Hilde and me, and that was fulfilled long ago. Furthermore, the winter is getting shorter now. The temperature is rising every year.”
He called this the end of the Little Ice Age.
“The people here will survive even without me. It took a long time because there were more problems than expected, but the promise goes only that far; that was Hilde’s request. And once the promise ends, there is no reason for me to remain here.”
“......I don't really understand.”
Roberta did not know the weight of the promise between the two, Ulrih and Hilde. She merely speculated that he considered it important enough to devote 300 years of his life.
Yet, what does that have to do with stepping down from the title?
“Was stepping down from the title also in the promise?”
“No, there was no such promise.”
“In that case, why...”
Why leave just because the promise was fulfilled?
“Don't you think 300 years as the Lord of Dithmarschen is enough? It is a truly long time for unfulfilled lingering attachments to remain.”
She looked at him with an expression of not being able to understand.
From what she remembered, there were few people in history who had done such an act. Even if there were, it was to retire to spend their final years peacefully because they were old and frail, not because they had no lingering attachment to power.
If another person had said the same thing, she would have snorted inwardly. There were many people who spat out lies or exaggerations naturally. She knew well that there were no words that revealed greed more than saying ‘I have no greed.’
However, a person who had refused the throne of a certain country, a person who had saved the Great King of a certain country four times and yet refused rewards, said that to her.
“It seems you still do not understand.”
“To be honest... yes, it is hard to accept.”
“I think I told you before, not to think too complicatedly.”
There is a limit, she thought, swallowing a hollow laugh. How many people would react with “Ah, I see” after hearing words that didn't even border on common sense?
“If you have stayed this long, wouldn't you have grown attached?”
“Attachment, of course I have.”
“You could remain for such a reason even if it’s not for the title.”
She asked.
What he would do with people like the butler Bernhard or the tribal chief Kureut, and if he would refuse and leave even if they asked him to remain as the Lord.
“Well. Shall I give you an example?”
Ulrih closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them, continuing to speak.
“Suppose you are raising a dog named Iba. And add the assumption that Iba’s descendants continue for a long time.”
“……”
“You would have raised Iba’s children and occasionally entrusted a few to trustworthy people, but Iba’s descendants flourished and continued for about twenty generations.”
She read the underlying meaning and narrowed her eyes.
“It’s an analogy. Not that I consider people as pets. It’s a metaphor for the feeling of raising someone’s descendants over generations while living a longer life than others.”
“……”
“Now, think about it. A descendant twenty generations later will have no trace of Iba. At most, the species or the fur color is similar. They are practically strangers to Iba. Yet, if you are still raising Iba’s descendant, why would that be?”
“By that time, you wouldn't be raising them while looking at Iba.”
“Yes, that’s right. At first, you gave affection because they were the offspring Iba gave birth to, but gradually you come to give affection while looking at that child’s own nature. People are bound to grow attached when they are in contact.”
But until when would that continue?
He continued speaking.
“You will continue to give affection to Iba’s descendant, but can you assert that it will be forever? Won't you at some point think, ‘Ah, I should only look after up to this fellow’? Then you would entrust the offspring that fellow gave birth to to someone else who can love them, and only look after that fellow until they die of old age?”
And he asked if she understood this analogy.
“……”
An answer did not come out.
She faced him in silence. He gave a faint smile, and her pupils trembled. The man before her eyes, young but claiming to have lived a longer life than anyone else, was not a dragon.
The dragon that had embraced a human left as soon as there was nothing more to be gained, and there were no emotions there. However, the man named Ulrih was human, had kept a promise for several hundred years, and prepared for a farewell once his intent was achieved.
Unlike the dragon, he had emotions. Roberta read the complex emotions contained in Ulrih’s voice. It would be something only a human who had reached the end of a long promise could possess.
Suddenly, she recalled the old priest’s words.
The old priest she met while heading to Dithmarschen had subsequently said, ‘Perhaps he has lived longer than the records show, and the years have made even his greed dull.’
“May I ask one more thing.”
Ulrih nodded.
“If the Lord leaves, who will succeed you?”
“Bernhard, that child will succeed. Because I raised him that way.”
“...It is a rude thing to say, but perhaps, the reason is—”
“Are you asking if I am passing it on because he is my descendant?”
Lowering his gaze, he touched the ring on his right index finger. The gold ring was engraved with the coat of arms of the Dithmarschen family, and it was something only the master of the family possessed. If he had been wearing it since immediately after inheriting the title, he would have been wearing it for 300 years, yet it was clean without a bit of dirt.
“There were no children between us.”
Us refers to Hilde and Ulrih.
“Hilde’s body was severely damaged. Because of that, she could not have children. The blood flowing in the Hilderson clan today is the blood of Hilde’s kin and the adopted children she raised.”
“Adopted children?”
“I have never had a biological child here.”
It was as the giant Uar said. Uar had said that Ulrih had not taken a new wife and only took in adopted children. Roberta had thought he might have had several biological children during Hilde’s lifetime, but even that was not the case.
“I always say this, but I am Ulrih of Dithmarschen. As long as I use that name, I must fulfill my responsibility. Because that is the way not to disgrace Hilde. Am I wrong?”
“Ah, no.”
She avoided his gaze as if her thoughts had been read.
“Bernhard’s main family is the Count Meyer family. That family has the blood of Hohenlohe, who was the eldest among Hilde’s adopted children. And they take deep pride in that and send their children to me. They hope I will recall Hohenlohe while looking at them.”
He said it was a futile act.
“I do not recall Hohenlohe from them. It’s not like the generation is close like Bailen, and how much of an ancestor’s appearance would remain after several generations have passed? The reason Bernhard is succeeding me is because he possesses the necessary ability. There is no other reason.”
After the words ended, Roberta did not ask further. She could not continue her words at his unvarnished answer.
And just then, there was a sound of a cautious knock on the door.
“The time has become like this.”
The blue light of dawn was seeping through the gaps of the closed window. Ulrih said “Come in” beyond the door, just as he had to Roberta. Then, the butler Bernhard Meyer entered the office and greeted him.
“Good morning, Lord.”
Bernhard’s expression was frozen. Because he was the possessor of a soft personality despite his fierce appearance, he always wore a shallow smile, but now he was frozen stiff enough for her to notice. He must have eavesdropped on the conversation between Roberta and Ulrih.
‘I was careless.’
She reproached herself inwardly.
Since she hadn't even known the sun was rising because she was preoccupied with the conversation, it was natural that she hadn't heard the approaching footsteps. Bernhard must have clearly heard the words that his master harbored the intent to leave.
However, he struggled to smooth his frozen expression and gave a smile. Acting like a person who hadn't heard anything as a butler, he approached his master as always.
“You are not alone today.”
“And you are not alone today either.”
Beside Bernhard was a boy.
It was a boy approaching sixteen by the name of Fritz Meyer. As seen from the surname, he was from the same family, but he was not his son. He was the fourth son of his younger brother, and was in the position of receiving training to assist the Lord following Bernhard.
“Yes. I intend to have this child accompany me from now on.”
“Training him already? Is it not too early.”
“It is not ‘already.’ It is too late.”
Bernhard laughed, telling him to consider his own age.
“I suppose so.”
“Do not worry. Even if I leave, this child will remain.”
Roberta, who was watching the conversation between the two, suddenly read the meaning contained in Bernhard’s actions.
Think about it. Ulrih is not a person who deceives others. Nor is he a person who hides things. Would Bernhard, who had served him for a longer period than she, not know such a change in his master?
Bernhard grabbed young Fritz’s shoulder with his wrinkled hand and pulled him forward. So that Ulrih could reach out and stroke the boy’s head.
She thought that appearance was like a mother dog biting her puppy and showing it to the master, as if trying to engrave in the master that this child is her offspring. Also, it would be telling him to watch over at least this child. Bernhard’s ancestors must have done the same.
But that cannot be eternal. As Ulrih said, he will at some point decide on a farewell. She did not know when that time would be, but Roberta felt it was not that far away.