Epilogue

Beneath the shade of the Old Oak Tree.

"Your Highness Mingyu, I have an unreasonable request. Might you be willing to hear it?"

After clinking several cups of wine from his wooden cup against Xian's Rainbow Cup, Karen could no longer wait to speak.

"Please, go ahead."

Seeing the brilliant smile on the other man's face, warm as spring sunlight, and sensing his goodwill, Xian added the word "please."

He had originally considered maintaining a cold and aloof bearing, but as the saying went, one did not strike a smiling face.

Viscount Hughes was clearly a fierce man. The man had been so friendly, smiling and giving gifts; if Xian still acted aloof and somehow enraged him enough to get beaten to death, that would be bad.

"Your Highness, your presence in my territory is my greatest honor. Therefore, I beg you to allow me to fulfill my duties as host."

Karen glanced at the crude thatched-and-wooden houses and dirt paths in the village before speaking again.

"Though this village in my territory remains peaceful, it is far too shabby. How could it possibly suit someone of your noble status, Your Highness?"

"The ancestral castle of the Hughes Family is fairly spacious and can barely serve as a place for Your Highness to stay. Please honor us by moving there."

"I swear upon my honor as a knight that you shall be the most esteemed guest this castle has seen since its construction. I will order the servants to attend to you with ten times the respect they show me."

Karen rose from his chair, placed his right hand over his left shoulder, and bowed slightly to Xian. His voice was low and gentle, carrying an unmistakable openness and sincerity.

Tap, tap.

Xian's fingers unconsciously drummed against the armrest.

Looking at Viscount Hughes bowing before him, he fell into thought.

Should he go, or not?

Going naturally carried certain risks. A medieval castle was not merely a residence; more importantly, it served as a small military fortress.

If his identity was exposed there, he truly would have no way to escape. He could only sit and wait for death.

But Xian's gaze gradually hardened.

If he wanted to survive in this completely unfamiliar world, what mattered most right now was not strength, but knowledge.

He had to understand this world's past, present, and its vague, intangible future.

Just as everyone on Blue Star knew that the two strongest nations in the world were the Eagle and the Dragon, that one could not call black people "blackies" to their faces, and that one could not do business with Indians.

He needed to understand the deeply ingrained common sense of this world's people—or rather, its nobles.

For that, even risking his life would be worthwhile!

If he went to the castle, he could quickly acquire that common sense. But if he refused and remained in the tiny Fruit Basket Village, throwing his weight around before villagers who had never left their village their entire lives, then his ignorance of this world would eventually bring catastrophe down upon him.

So, was the answer not obvious? "Viscount Hughes," Xian said slowly.

Karen raised his head at those words.

"I look forward to your hospitality," Xian said calmly. In that instant, unprecedented ecstasy appeared on the sharply defined face of this powerful knight, who had escaped death time and again in the brutal Dragon-Lion War, a war comparable to a meat grinder.

"The honor is mine."

At dusk, after packing his belongings, Xian brought Anlìyà and Berg beneath the Old Oak Tree to bid farewell to the people of Fruit Basket Village.

"Your Highness, I will forever remember all that you have done for Fruit Basket Village. May the radiance of the God of Sun and Justice shine upon you forever."

Tears glimmered in Robert's eyes, and his weathered face was filled with gratitude as he bowed deeply.

The remaining villagers all dropped to one knee.

Looking at the middle-aged man before him, still not old but already worried into a head of white hair, Xian sighed softly.

When he had first met this middle-aged man in a sheepskin robe, he had thought Robert must be some sort of petty villain because he was too fawning and dressed better than the surrounding villagers.

Only now did he realize how foolish that thought had been.

This was a noble man, an elder worthy of respect.

"I merely did what was within my duty, and so did you."

Xian gently held Robert's arms and helped him up, speaking quietly into his ear.

"May the gods bless you." Xian followed local custom as well.

The elder was so moved that tears streamed down his face.

Next came Robert's private words to Berg and Anlìyà.

"Berg, you are a good lad. Thanks to you saving His Highness from the wolves, Fruit Basket Village was saved as well. Thank you!"

Robert patted Berg's shoulder and offered his sincere thanks.

"Village Chief, you don't need to thank me. The person you should thank most is yourself."

The boy shook his head calmly.

"If you had not insisted on taking me in despite everyone else's objections back then, I would have starved or frozen to death long ago. Then His Highness would only have become a corpse in the wolves' jaws—"

Robert silently raised his fist, and Berg's tone instantly changed.

"My lord is blessed by the gods. Even without me, he certainly would have escaped danger."

Only then did Robert lower his fist in satisfaction. Looking at the bruises covering the young face before him, he let out a long sigh and instructed, "Berg, remember this: no matter when, no matter where, no matter who asks—even if it is your son, even if it is me—the answer is not that you saved His Highness. It is that His Highness saved you from the wolves."

"Remember, His Highness is a good person. Perhaps he may regard you as a friend, but he can never be your friend. He can only be your lord. You must carve that into your soul."

"Remember to obey every command from His Highness. Even if the command is completely wrong, the same applies. You may make mistakes, but you must never refuse to act."

After giving who knew how many instructions, Robert looked at the resolute boy before him and suddenly smiled.

"Have a safe journey. May you forever walk the road of chasing your dreams. May the gods bless you, my... child."

The boy silently gave Robert a hug, then turned and left.

He did not like farewells, because farewells carried the risk of loss. And he would definitely see his family again.

Next was Anlìyà.

"My daughter, remember this: though His Highness likes you very much right now, a man's love is like a beautiful dream. It vanishes in an instant, and once one wakes, it is forgotten. His Highness may be a good man, but he is still a man."

Robert earnestly instructed the girl before him.

"A noble and handsome prince like His Highness is a potent poison to all women. Many, many girls will fall in love with him. Some of them will surely be as beautiful as you, or even more beautiful. So you must never rely on your looks to grow spoiled and arrogant, much less entertain the utterly foolish thought of demanding that His Highness love only you."

"With His Highness, you must be obedient, obedient, and obedient."

"His Highness may not love you, but you absolutely cannot fail to love His Highness."

"If possible, become pregnant with His Highness's child as soon as you can. A mother's status comes from her child."

While giving these instructions, Robert seemed to think of something and suddenly froze.

Slap! He fiercely struck himself across the face, then dropped to his knees before Anlìyà.

"If... if only you were not my daughter."

Robert's voice was filled with grief, and so was the expression on his face, as though he had committed some unforgivable sin.

Yes, as a father, not being able to grant his daughter the right to be born happy—was that not a sin in itself?

"Father."

The girl gently wiped the tears from the corners of the man's eyes, then, just as she had when she was little, softly kissed his weathered, wrinkled face.

"Perhaps it is not an honor to be the Daughter of a Serf, but becoming your daughter is the greatest honor of my life."

She smiled. An unprecedentedly radiant smile bloomed on her lovely face, along with a glimmer of tears.

(The village arc comes to a perfect end!)

This is the final chapter of the first part, so I polished it over and over but still wasn't satisfied, wasting a lot of time. I'll probably revise it again when I look back later. Alright, please give me monthly votes, everyone~~ Please, thanks (ω)