Young Mare's troubles

There had once been a small kingdom called Eochaid. Unfortunately, it had fallen.

The kingdom was gone, but its people survived. The minor noble House Marais became the executioners of the Erdtree Kingdom-headsmen, in common parlance. Their fief was the Shaded Castle.

The Shaded Castle had a rather interesting location, between the Altus Plateau and Mt. Gelmir, with the volcano to the east and the plateau to the west. It nestled in a valley, sheer cliffs on either side and a bottomless abyss behind it. There was only one way out of the entire castle, and direct sunlight rarely reached it.

The name Shaded Castle was well deserved.

Directly opposite the Shaded Castle stood the Bridge of Iniquity, part of a route connecting Volcano Manor and Leyndell that was used specifically to transport prisoners. Clearly, after Rykard pronounced someone guilty, members of House Marais would be summoned to execute those sentenced to death.

Thus, the Executioner's Sword became a family heirloom. As for the treasured sword of Eochaid, no one knew where it had been lost long ago.

The Executioner's Sword also had an interesting design. Its blade was deliberately broad and thick to enhance its chopping power, with a groove starting partway from the guard to reduce its weight. Since it was only meant for chopping, the sharp point had been replaced with a rounded tip. A flat tip would have worked, too. They had probably done that for appearances.

As an aside, flat-tipped execution swords really had existed in the West, and the swords used for beheading were the executioners' personal property. Apart from its absurd size, House Marais's Executioner's Sword was quite realistic.

People who dealt with death regularly tended to be shunned, giving rise to all manner of strange rumors. Executioners and gravekeepers were like the eyes of storms, forever at the center of gossip.

House Marais was no exception. Its men were all terribly unfortunate, born frail and sickly, plagued by illness. They were practically a source of inspiration for folk tales. The most classic explanation was that the men of House Marais had been cursed by the dead for generations, haunted by the resentment of the prisoners they had beheaded.

That explanation was rather ridiculous. Why not go after Rykard, who had judged the prisoners? Why pick on House Marais? Even as ghosts, they bullied the weak and feared the strong, did they? Besides, that Executioner's Sword had taken plenty of heads. By occult reasoning, it ought to be steeped in baleful energy. What ghost would be foolish enough to haunt House Marais?

Most likely, it was another aristocratic affliction. All that inbreeding to preserve the purity of their bloodline had produced hereditary diseases, passed down from generation to generation without end.

Now, the current head of House Marais was named Mare Mare, and he, too, could not escape the misfortune of chronic illness. Frail and rather girlish, Mare Mare struggled to lift that Executioner's Sword, which looked like a park bench. He looked even more like a girl when dressed in the full attire of the family head.

Mare Mare wore an ancestral mask. Fashioned in the likeness of a white-haired young nobleman, it completely covered his head and face, and was said to have been modeled after the first head of the house. He also wore an ornate robe with a black mantle draped over his shoulders.

As for the beheadings, those were entrusted to Eleonora.

What outsiders did not know was that both men were descendants of the people of Eochaid.

Yet Mare Mare could not master the legendary Ohega's Dancing Blade at all, while Eleonora had become so proficient that he could perform it even with the oversized Executioner's Sword.

He truly was a rare talent.

That left Mare Mare even more dejected. Already withdrawn because of his frail health, he closed himself off further, watching coldly as everyone around him bustled about.

The boy had inherited the position of family head at an early age. Before he had time to mature, a chance encounter brought him into contact with Scarlet Rot.

A sick man worshipping a god of disease-he thought that was a match made in heaven.

Then, one day, he met Malenia, who had wandered there on her travels.

Naturally, Malenia did not introduce herself by her true name. An Empyrean known as the Blade of Miquella and the Valkyrie suddenly leaving her own domain to visit the Shaded Castle, so close to Leyndell, would have been a major event.

The king had not summoned the Demigods to the capital. Why would she be wandering around nearby for no reason?

Malenia's options for travel were rather awkward, too. Once she left the Haligtree and the Mountaintops of the Giants, there were few places she could go. She could not simply enter Leyndell whenever she liked. Mt. Gelmir was Rykard's territory, Caria was Ranni's, and Caelid was Radahn's.

Everyone knew that Radagon and Marika had remarried, but outsiders did not know the two were one person. Even Ranni, Godwyn, and the others did not know.

How could Radagon's children possibly look kindly on Miquella and Malenia?

To avoid making herself unwelcome, she deliberately stayed away from sensitive areas and took remote routes. Traveling was mainly a way to clear her head. There was little for her to do cooped up at home anyway. Miquella was versatile enough to handle just about everything, while Malenia primarily oversaw military affairs. There were no battles to fight in peacetime, and she trusted the generals to manage the army.

So she might as well go out and wander. Otherwise, she would only keep fretting over what to do about Scarlet Rot. Thinking of her brother frowning helplessly over it made Malenia's heart ache.

The vast Lands Between, the Erdtree that blotted out the sky-and yet there was no way to deal with this thing. Fire could burn away Scarlet Rot, admittedly, but they could hardly burn Malenia herself.

While passing through the Shaded Castle and staying at an inn, she happened to run into the idle Mare Mare. In that instant, she caught the scent of Scarlet Rot on him and noticed the thrusting sword at his waist.

The Antspur Rapier was a peculiar thrusting sword fashioned from the spur of a great red ant that lived underground. It contained Scarlet Rot and was a very dangerous weapon.

Mare Mare told others, "This sword is an antique. I paid a fortune for it. It befits my status as the head of House Marais."

There was little anyone else could say to that. He was not exactly lying. The sword might genuinely have been an antique, perhaps dating back to the distant age when the goddess of Scarlet Rot had descended, a weapon made by her followers back then. Certainly, no one made such things now.

And Malenia's appearance struck Mare Mare right in the heart. In common terms, she hit his kink.

Malenia had disguised herself. Rather than her Valkyrie attire, she wore ordinary traveling clothes, her long red hair tied in a ponytail. Her golden prostheses were hidden beneath her clothing, and she had not fitted her signature prosthetic blade, choosing an ordinary straight sword instead.

Only her face remained unaltered. The rot scars sealing her eyes, shaped like butterfly wings, were quite conspicuous, telling everyone around her that she was blind.

Born sickly himself, Mare Mare recognized almost immediately that Malenia was like him: both had come into the world afflicted with illness, unlike other, healthy people.

Having dealt with Scarlet Rot for so long, Mare Mare also caught the scent of rot on Malenia. The word almost burst out of him: "Goddess..."

In Mare Mare's eyes, Malenia

was truly exquisite. Even simple cloth garments had a unique charm on her, unable to conceal the graceful figure she had honed through years of training. Beautiful and heroic in life, she was a true goddess who embodied beauty, strength, and tragedy.

Malenia frowned and wanted only to escape, but Mare Mare stopped her.

Completely blinded by love, Mare Mare eagerly invited Malenia to his residence. "I am the lord here. The tallest tower in the Shaded Castle is my home. I sincerely hope you will honor my humble residence with your presence, my goddess."

Malenia sensed that many people nearby were watching the spectacle. Afraid Mare Mare would blurt out something else ridiculous, she could only steel herself and agree.

The other members of House Marais and its servants had plenty of complaints about this. Anyone with eyes could see Mare Mare's adoration for Malenia, but Malenia always kept him at arm's length.

Someone grumbled, "Where did the head of the house find that ugly, disabled woman? And now he treats her as an honored guest."

"Exactly. He's the head of House Marais and the lord of the Shaded Castle. Fine, he can't lift the Executioner's Sword and has to leave it to someone like Eleonora. But instead of marrying and having children while he's still young and strong, he's wasting his time on an ugly woman like that." Others chimed in as well.

Whenever he heard such gossip, the mild-mannered Mare Mare would fly into a rage and lash out at those wagging their tongues.

"Ah... how can I win my goddess's favor?" Mare Mare sat at the edge of a cliff, gazing up at the clouds drifting overhead. The Shaded Castle lay hidden in the darkness of the valley, while he sat in the sunlight.

He had come here solely because Malenia had said she wanted to walk around, get some sun, and see whether there were any skilled fighters nearby she could spar with. Afraid she would use that as an excuse to leave the Shaded Castle, he had insisted on tagging along.

Malenia had never expected to find an admirer in such a small place, and it was quite a headache. Fortunately, she had used the alias Milia and had just about managed to keep her identity hidden.