Count Lacia of the Marshlands, Aitchison Lasia, and his eldest son sat in the study, travel-worn. They wore plain, simple yet sturdy and practical hunting clothes, and had not even had time to unwrap the bindings around their legs.
"When Your Highness's letter arrived, we were hunting outside the city. The road was long, and we couldn't make it back home to change into formal attire before presenting ourselves," Count Aitchison said with a cough. "It was truly unforgivably rude of us."
The count's eldest son nodded lightly.
The Second Prince behind the desk waved his hand.
"The Rasia Family follows the Qiulanz branch of the Sunset Temple. Simplicity, hard work, purity, and asceticism—I know all that. How could I blame you?"
Tales did not look up. He was engrossedly flipping through a thick book, A Chronicle of the Great Lords of Southbank, which had stopped at a family genealogy depicting a Four-winged Lizard.
"I was also rather hasty with my invitation and pressed you too urgently... Ah, I hadn't noticed before. The Rasia Family's history is glorious indeed, with outstanding achievements. It can even be traced all the way back to the founding of the Star Kingdom?"
Father and son exchanged a glance.
Tales eagerly turned to the next page and unfolded the history of the Rasia Family:
Six hundred years ago, the Ending Sea had only recently formed. The marshlands and forests south of Emerald City were remote, with complicated terrain. The various Marshland tribes, who worshiped lizards as their totems, stubbornly resisted. Thus, the king's influence spread poorly, and government orders were difficult to enforce.
At that time, the martial and battle-hardened John the First, "Black Eye," was leading an army north to attack Exeter. Upon receiving news that the Marshlands refused to submit, he rejected his