Morning at the estate began earlier than Richard would have liked.
He woke before dawn, when the world beyond the windows was still steeped in thick pre-morning darkness.
For several seconds, Richard lay motionless, staring at the high, shadowed ceiling and trying to remember where he was.
Sleep had not yet fully released him, and his mind clung to the last fragments of the life he had once known.
Then he heard the wind.
Somewhere nearby, an old window creaked softly.
A cold draft passed through the room, and the air still carried the scent of wood and the dying embers of the fireplace.
Those simple, almost imperceptible details quickly brought him back to reality.
Ravenhart.
An old body.
Another man’s life.
Theo.
The letter.
Richard slowly sat up and remained there for several seconds, his feet resting on the cold floor.
The room was unusually quiet.
Only the wind occasionally brushed against the window frames, making the old wood creak softly.
On the table near the window lay the envelope with the black seal.
Richard did not pick it up.
He had already read the letter enough times to remember every word.
If you have truly returned, then the killer has not yet finished what he started.
Richard ran a hand over his face and sighed heavily.
A killer.
He did not like that word.
It was too simple.
Too convenient.
It seemed to offer an answer without explaining a single detail.
If the former Richard had truly been murdered, why had everyone spoken of an illness?
Why had Sebastian told him nothing about it?
Why had Claudia remained silent until the very end?
And most importantly—who had sent the letter?
Richard rose from the bed and took the cane standing beside it.
Leaning on it, he slowly approached the mirror.
The familiar old face stared back at him.
The face of a man he had seen before.
A man whose life he was now forced to continue.
Richard stared at his reflection in silence for several seconds.
“Who were you, really?” Naturally, the mirror did not answer.
But somewhere deep inside him, a strange feeling arose.
It was not fear, nor even unease.
Rather, irritation.
As though the question had been addressed to the wrong person.
Richard frowned, then turned away from the mirror.
He could not get answers about the past yet.
That meant he should deal with what lay before him.
The House.
The people.
Everything the former master had left behind.
The inner courtyard was considerably colder.
Fresh snow had fallen overnight, covering the ground in a thick layer and almost completely concealing the tracks left by yesterday’s return.
A white blanket covered the stone paths, the roofs of the outbuildings, and the old wooden fences.
Several servants were already working despite the early hour.
One was clearing snow from a path, while two others carried firewood toward the outbuildings.
From the stables came the muffled neighing of horses and the heavy thud of hooves.
Richard noticed Sebastian almost immediately.
The butler was standing beside an old building that Richard had mistaken for a storage shed the previous day.
Looking more closely now, he realized that the place had once been used as a training ground.
Or rather, it had once been a proper training ground.
Now only a few wooden dummies, leaning weapon racks, and an almost collapsed shelter remained.
Deep sword marks scarred the thick wooden posts, and some of the boards were so worn that they looked ready to crumble from a single hard blow.
“You’re up early, my lord,” Sebastian remarked when he saw Richard.
“So are you.” “I’m accustomed to it.” Richard looked around the courtyard.
“I want to see the knights.” Sebastian’s expression changed almost imperceptibly.
The movement was so brief that another person might not have noticed it.
But Richard had already begun to understand how much the butler was accustomed to hiding behind his calm expression.
“Of course, my lord.” “What?” “Nothing.” “Sebastian.” The butler was silent for a moment before quietly sighing.
“I’m simply not certain you’ll like what you see.” Richard looked at the training ground again.
“Judging by this place, I already don’t.” They walked inside.
Around a dozen men were training there.
Most looked very young.
Some practiced strikes with wooden swords, others performed endurance exercises, while several were sparring.
Richard watched them for only a few seconds before recognizing the main problem.
There were too few of them.
Far too few for a House of this size.
“How many knights do we have now?” he asked.
“Officially?” “Actually.” Sebastian did not answer immediately.
“Twenty.” Richard slowly turned his head.
“Only twenty?” “Yes.” “And before?” Sebastian looked at the old training ground, as though for a moment he could see its former glory.
“When you were younger, one hundred and forty-three knights served here.” Richard was silent for several seconds.
“One hundred and forty-three?” “House knights alone.
Not counting the city guard or the garrisons.” Richard looked at the young men before him again.
Now the training ground seemed even smaller.
“And where did the others go?” Sebastian answered briefly: “The war.” One word was enough.
Richard said nothing, and the butler continued.
“Some died.
Some left.
Some suffered injuries so severe that they could never return to service.
Others simply no longer wanted to serve a House that had ceased to protect them.” The last sentence was spoken calmly.
But Richard caught the faint reproach hidden within it.
He did not respond.
“And the rest?” “They stayed.” Richard looked at the men continuing their training.
“Even after everything?” Sebastian turned his gaze toward them.
“That is precisely why they are here.” At that moment, a sharp metallic clang came from the other side of the training ground.
Richard turned his head.
A young man wielding a wooden sword staggered backward and fell straight into the snow.
Several people instinctively looked in his direction, but no one intervened.
“Get up.” The voice was calm.
There was no irritation or anger in it, yet it was so firm that the young man almost immediately got back to his feet.
Richard recognized the voice.
And the man himself.
A tall, broad-shouldered man with gray hair stood facing the young knight.
Old scars marked his face, and a black patch covered his left eye.
His right hand gripped a sword.
His left arm was gone.
The sleeve of his uniform was empty and neatly fastened at the shoulder.
Richard had seen Lloyd before.
He knew his name, knew what position he held within the House, and knew that the man had survived the war.
But hearing about it was one thing.
Seeing him continue to command training despite losing an arm and an eye was another.
Lloyd moved slowly, with a slight heaviness to his steps.
Yet the young knight before him still could not land a single blow.
“Again.” The young man tightened his grip on the sword.
“Captain…” “Again.” The young man attacked.
Lloyd stepped aside, and the wooden sword swept past him.
Almost simultaneously, the captain struck his opponent’s wrist with the hilt of his weapon.
The sword fell into the snow.
“Again.” “Captain, I…” Lloyd looked at him with his one remaining eye.
“If your enemy gives you time to complain, it means he has already decided not to kill you.” The young man silently picked up his sword.
Richard watched them for a while, then said quietly, “That’s Lloyd.” “Yes,” Sebastian confirmed.
“Captain of the knights.” Richard nodded.
“Has he always been like this?” Sebastian looked at Lloyd, and the faintest smile appeared on his face.
“No.” “What was he like?” The butler was silent for a moment.
“Worse.” Richard couldn’t help smiling.
“Worse?” “Once, he could silence half the training yard with a single look.” Richard looked at the captain.
“And now?” Sebastian gave the slightest shake of his head.
“Now he only needs one eye.” Richard turned his attention back to Lloyd.
At that moment, the captain noticed them.
He said something briefly to the young knight, who stepped aside.
Lloyd then slowly approached Richard.
When he came closer, he stopped.
For several seconds, he simply looked at his lord.
Not at his clothes.
Not at the cane.
At his face.
“My lord.” Richard gave a slight nod.
“Captain Lloyd.” “Do you remember me?” There was no particular hope in his voice.
He simply wanted to hear the answer.
Richard did not lie.
“Of course.
I’ve seen you before.” Lloyd gave a slight nod.
“I meant… do you remember me as I was?” Richard thought for a moment.
“Not everything.” Lloyd did not look surprised.
“I see.” “You served me for many years,” Richard continued.
“But much of what happened before feels as though it lies behind a fog now.” Lloyd silently accepted the answer.
Richard studied him more closely and asked, “What was I like?” Lloyd remained silent for a long time.
“Different.” “I’ve heard that already.” “Then I’ll put it differently.” He looked Richard directly in the eyes.
“You were a man people wanted to follow.” Richard frowned.
He had expected to hear many things.
But not that.
“Why?” Lloyd glanced at his empty sleeve.
“Because you never asked anyone to do something you wouldn’t have done yourself.” Richard said nothing.
For some reason, those words affected him more deeply than he expected.
“The war changed many people,” Lloyd continued.
“It changed you too.” “And you?” Lloyd gave the faintest smile.
“It simply left me alive.” Richard lowered his gaze.
For several moments, silence settled between them.
Wind swept snow along the edge of the training ground, while somewhere behind them came the dull clash of wooden swords.
“Sebastian said the House once had more than a hundred knights.” “We did.” “Now there are twenty.” “Yes.” “And you’re still here.” Lloyd shrugged.
“Where else would I go?” The answer was too simple.
And yet Richard sensed that there was much more behind those words than appeared on the surface.
He had already heard something similar from Claudia.
From people who had grown accustomed to remaining where everyone else had left.
“You could have left after the war.” “I could have.” “Why didn’t you?” Lloyd looked toward the main estate.
At the tall towers, the old walls, and the crest above the gates.
A raven and a wolf.
He was silent for several seconds, as though choosing an answer that required no unnecessary words.
“Because this is my home.” He said it simply.
Without grandeur.
Without trying to turn an ordinary answer into a beautiful speech.
And that was precisely why the words carried so much weight.
Richard looked at him.
“Even now?” Lloyd turned his gaze back to him.
“Especially now.” They remained silent for a while.
Then Richard asked the question that interested him most.
“Are you still capable of commanding?” Lloyd raised an eyebrow slightly.
“That depends on what you mean by commanding.” “People.” “Yes.” “Fighting?” Lloyd glanced at his empty sleeve.
“If you want to know whether I could defeat a peak Elite Knight, as I once was…” He paused.
“No.” The answer came calmly.
There was no attempt to hide his weakness or embellish the truth.
Richard nodded.
“What about an ordinary Elite?” Lloyd thought for a moment.
“Depends on the opponent.” “A Master?” This time, a hint of amusement appeared in Lloyd’s eye.
“If he’s stupid.” Richard smiled for the first time during their conversation.
Lloyd gave a faint smirk as well.
“But I’m no longer the man I was,” he added.
Richard looked at him.
“Perhaps.” Lloyd frowned slightly.
“My lord?” Richard turned his gaze toward the training ground.
The young knights had formed several lines again.
Some adjusted their gloves, while others picked up wooden swords from the ground.
They were waiting for the next order.
“I don’t know who you were yet.” Richard slowly lowered his cane onto the snow.
“But I can see who you are now.” Lloyd listened silently.
“You continue training these men even though you no longer have your former strength or your former body.” Richard looked at the young knights.
“Why?” Lloyd did not answer immediately.
“Because someone has to teach them.” Richard nodded.
Now he understood.
Lloyd was not clinging to the past.
He was holding on to the future.
And for the first time since awakening, Richard felt something resembling deep respect for a man he had known for a long time but was now seeing in an entirely different light.
“Continue.” Lloyd looked at him.
“My lord?” “Train them.” Richard turned and slowly walked away.
After taking several steps, he stopped and looked back over his shoulder.
“And, Lloyd.” “Yes?” Richard smiled slightly.
“Don’t call yourself the man you used to be.” Lloyd frowned.
“Why?” Richard held his gaze for a moment.
“Because I’m not that man anymore either.” Then he continued on his way.
Behind him, Lloyd watched him for a long time.
A thoughtful look flickered in his one uncovered eye.
Then the captain turned toward the young knights standing before him.
He raised his wooden sword.
“Again.” The knights drew closer into formation.
This time, no one complained or tried to object.
Lloyd stepped forward and resumed the training.
And a few moments later, for the first time in many months, he allowed himself to think that perhaps the House truly was not dead yet.