Angel the Boy

Yamei Province, Gelu Town.

When the Month of Frozen Soil first arrived, this remote little town far from the heart of the Golden Sparrow Empire suddenly received a procession of silver-armored knights flying banners bearing a Lineage crest.

The moment old Parsha, Gelu Town's resident scholar, saw the pattern on the banner, his eyes widened round as saucers, and cold sweat drenched him.

—A fierce tiger stepping on a python, the python coiling around the Full Moon.

Parsha's neighbor was Dim, the town's only blacksmith. Seeing his old neighbor's expression, Dim puffed on his water pipe and asked in puzzlement, "Eh, old friend, what sort of face is that...? Don't tell me you know where these knights came from?"

Parsha drew a deep breath and said quietly to Dim, "If I'm not mistaken, the pattern on that banner appears to be the crest of the Mone Family."

The Mone Family?! Hearing this, Dim turned back to stare blankly at old Parsha.

"Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?"

Before Parsha could answer, Dim seemed to think of something. His whole body shuddered, and he slipped straight into his narrow, cramped smithy, bolted the door, and trembled like a leaf.

Through the smithy window, Parsha saw Dim's cowardly state and could not help shaking his head. Under normal circumstances, the two old friends would surely have mocked each other for a while. But today, with the Mone Family arriving at Gelu Town for no apparent reason, once he considered the Mone Family's role within the Empire, Dim's cowardice became understandable.

Parsha recalled rumors he had once heard at a hunters' tavern in the city.

The Mone Family was known as the backbone of the Golden Sparrow Empire. Over several centuries, it had produced at least six great military generals and repeatedly won illustrious achievements while resisting invasions from enemy states. Moreover, in every war, members of the Mone Family did not hide in safe shelters and point fingers. Every member of this Lineage was a warrior in the vanguard at the very front, fearless in battle, both brave and resourceful. Such a Lineage, one that led from the front and possessed an illustrious background, naturally held the Empire's military lifeline in its hands.

.

Recently, the Golden Sparrow Empire and neighboring Hailan had been at daggers drawn. The border of the Hailan Dynasty was not far from Gelu Town. For knights of the Mone Family to arrive at such a time... perhaps it was precisely because of this.

Parsha guessed there were two possible purposes: conscription or defensive deployment. Perhaps both.

No matter which purpose it was, it would be fatal to Dim the blacksmith. The Golden Sparrow Empire's conscription laws clearly stipulated that during wartime, every household in towns included within conscription zones had to provide one able-bodied young adult, or pay one hundred gold coins to obtain an exemption token. Dim was the only male in his household, and he happened to fall within the conscription age range. If he were drafted, the future lives of his wife and daughters would have absolutely no security. As for paying gold coins? In all of Gelu Town, perhaps only the Pat Family had savings of one hundred gold coins. One gold coin alone was enough to cover his family's living expenses for half a year.

After his initial shock, Parsha quickly returned to normal. He was an old bachelor already nearing the twilight of his life, well outside the range of conscription, so he had no cause for worry. He even had the leisure to observe the Mone Family's movements.

Eh, they had not gone looking for Gelu Town's mayor. Could it be they were not here to conscript soldiers?

Parsha continued watching. Instead, the troop of iron-hoofed riders headed toward another place.

—That residence of Viscount Pat, which remained lush with fragrant blossoms even during the Month of Frozen Soil!

Pat Manor.

Two maids wearing beige linen headscarves worked while whispering among themselves.

The subject of their gossip was the Pat Family's two young masters.

"Master and Madam have been dead for two years. According to Imperial law, once the Month of Frostfall comes after this year's Month of Frozen Soil, it will be time for the eldest young master to inherit the title." The young maid with an apple-shaped face spoke with slight concern. "I wonder whether the second young master's circumstances will change after the eldest young master inherits the title."

"Aoli, it is better for servants like us not to discuss the affairs of our betters. Still, I do not think there is any need for you to fret over this. You work in the second young master's tea garden, but it is so far from the main residence that perhaps you do not know—the eldest and second young masters have an excellent relationship! Do not worry either. Those quarrels among great houses from opera scripts will not happen at our manor." The freckle-faced middle-aged maid said with a smile.

Just then, the clatter of hoofbeats rang out from the path beyond the tea garden.

Before long, a knight clad head to toe in armor gleaming with a bronze luster appeared before them.

The horse neighed and reared. The knight stopped at the entrance to the tea garden and removed his helmet.

He was a brown-haired young man brimming with masculine vigor. The backlight carved his facial contours even deeper, adding an extraordinary air to his already handsome features.

The young man's gray-green eyes swept over the two maids. He passed over Aoli directly and fixed his gaze on the middle-aged maid.

"Head Maid Mana, good afternoon."

Mana set down the bamboo basket in her hands and curtsied to the young knight. "Good afternoon, Young Master Rio."

Rio glanced at the freshly picked tea leaves in Mana's basket, and a trace of helplessness flashed through his eyes. "My brother went to see that old man again?"

Mana lowered her head and answered respectfully, "Young Master Angel is studying with Mister Jon."

Rio curled his lip and muttered, "Studying? Who knows what madness has possessed that old man? Every day he spouts absurd theories. My brother goes to study under him and even has to offer him tea leaves every day. I think he's simply a lunatic."

I have no idea what spell has come over my brother, insisting on studying with him.

Irritably, Rio tugged at the reins. "All right, I understand. Get back to work. I'll go find him now."

With that, Rio clamped his legs around the horse's sides and galloped away on swift hooves.

Some time later, Rio arrived at the southeastern edge of the manor. On a small hill near the woods stood a rather exquisite wooden stilt house. Its architectural style was highly unusual, with upturned eaves and two stories standing side by side. Apart from one side resting on solid ground and connecting to the main house, the other three sides hung in the air, supported entirely by pillars.

This stilt house was utterly unlike the architecture of the Golden Sparrow Empire in both construction and style. Even in the other countries Rio had visited, he had never seen anything similar.

"What an amazing building! Hanging over empty space on three sides, yet standing firm as a mountain." Though Rio resented old Jon for stealing his brother's attention, he deeply admired Jon's astonishing skill in construction. He simply never showed it on his face. Besides the stilt house before him, Rio had nothing else to admire about Jon. Perhaps the method for building such a house was commonplace in Jon's "country"? Even though Jon had lived at Pat Manor for nearly twenty years, Rio had never learned where Jon's country was.

Pushing open the fence, he saw vegetables and fruit planted in the stilt house's yard. The nearby trellis was covered with withered vines. During the Harvest Moon, those vines bore many hanging clusters, which Jon called grapes. Leon had eaten them before, and they tasted rather sweet, but the season for grapes had already passed.

The instant he opened the stilt house's bamboo door, he saw a delicate-featured boy bent over a parchment scroll in the small room. Dipping a quill into the ink beside him, the boy rapidly recorded something.

Leon walked closer. Though he had deliberately softened his footsteps, his bronze boot armor still struck the wooden floor with resounding thuds.

"Eh, you're here?" The boy drew a period on the parchment, raised his head toward the visitor, and spoke in a clear, open voice brimming with affection.

"My dear brother, Angel. From the sound of it, did you know I would come today?" Leon asked with a smile.

Angel shrugged, the corners of his lips quirking upward. "Not really. It is simply that answering that way makes it seem as if I have a little more initiative."

"Did that old man teach you that?"

Angel shook his head. "Does that need teaching? Didn't Father like speaking that way when he was alive?"

"But what if someone misunderstands and thinks you know why they came, so they enter and say nothing? How would you begin the conversation then?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"I would remain unfazed too and wait for him to speak first."

"What if he never speaks?"

Angel curled his lip. "Then it would be awkward. If it were me, I would turn around and leave, so the atmosphere would not become even more awkward. If the other person called me back, there would naturally be more to follow."

Leon smiled and nodded, offering no comment. Instead, he looked around the room.

"Where is old Jon?"

At the mention of Jon, Angel's brows lightly furrowed, and a trace of worry appeared in his eyes. "You know as well that Mentor's health has been worsening. Every part of his body has gradually been wasting away. Just the day before yesterday, Mentor's legs became completely unable to move. He only just applied medicine, and now he is resting upstairs."