The Northern Grand Duke’s Crazy Son-in-Law

5. Maid

‘So this is the Northern Wall.’

Galahad simply admired the white wall that stretched out endlessly, as if dividing the world.

“My friend told me that if I ever go to the North, I must see the Northern Wall. It’s truly magnificent.”

“······Why are you talking about the Northern Wall as if it were some famous landmark?”

“That’s how magnificent it is.”

“It is the last line of defense for humanity against the demons.”

Gilbert’s eyes narrowed. Galahad chuckled at his blunt response.

“Is that why the catapults are pointed this way?”

“Just in case.”

Gilbert let out a deep laugh.

“Yes, just in case.”

Just then, the hairy man took out a giant horn. The hairy man, who had been wiping his mouth noisily, blew into the horn.

Boooooooo!

The sound of the horn resonated with a force that seemed to shake the world.

Silvery figures appeared on the castle wall. They were too far away to see clearly, but the silver suggested that they were soldiers. To think that they were all clad in iron—Galahad stuck out his tongue in surprise.

One by one, the soldiers climbed up and filled the castle wall.

Booooooooo!

As the horn sounded again, the center of the white wall split open with a heavy thud.

Thickly piled snow fell away, revealing a giant portcullis. Clang! The portcullis slowly rose, sending snow flying violently.

Like an avalanche, huge snowballs fell.

Galahad watched intently, his eyes narrowed.

Thump! A drumbeat echoed from afar. The soldiers simultaneously raised their spears. It was a spear dance, not a sword dance. The sharp spears glinted in the sunlight. The raised spears slammed into the ground, sending out a heavy sound like an earthquake. Snow swirled violently.

Clang—The portcullis finally reached its peak. Thump! Another drumbeat and a downward thrust of the spears—

‘It’s like a well-rehearsed musical.’

Galahad was genuinely impressed. It was a magnificent spectacle, but to be honest, he couldn’t see it properly because of the snowstorm.

Booooooooo! The sound of the horn and drums echoed again. In time with the music, the spears thrust down—

“Did you practice this for my sake?”

“·······It just happened to be the right time.”

Gilbert’s forced cough seemed to confirm it.

“This is rather touching.”

“···It’s what I do.”

Thud!!!

At that moment, the city gates swung fully open. The scenery within was similar to other cities at first glance, but it was also entirely different.

People wore thick fur clothing that made them appear like animals from afar, each carrying something akin to a harpoon or a slingshot on their backs.

Moreover, the supplies they carried around were all items that seemed like they could be used in war.

‘They’re preparing for war.’

Just then, a furry man pointed at Galahad with a horn bugle and shouted.

“The empire’s sorcerer has arrived!!”

Galahad clicked his tongue at the sharp gazes and jeers that were raining down on him.

He waved his hand in response to the boisterous introduction, but there were no cheers. Instead, the jeers grew harsher.

The gazes that were filled with hostility were the complete opposite of the looks of admiration he received when he was called a sorcerer in the capital.

The furry man smiled as if satisfied. It was a childish act of sabotage.

‘I heard the northerners were handsome, but I guess that’s not always the case.’

Galahad called out to the furry man with a small click of his tongue. The furry man snickered.

“Introduce me as a competent sorcerer from now on. Just calling me a sorcerer is a bit lacking, don’t you think?”

The furry man’s laughter stopped. His gaze seemed to say, ‘What kind of guy is this?’

“Or perhaps an outstanding sorcerer would do. I may be saying this myself, but I have quite the track record.”

The furry man shouted something unintelligible and disappeared with a loud thud.

“What did that man just say?”

“That accursed spawn of a demon dares to yap? He looks like he tastes terrible-. Why are you provoking him?”

“I was just telling the truth, why is that provoking him? But did he really say I look like I taste terrible?”

Gilbert turned his head slightly. He didn’t. Galahad screwed up his face in petty jealousy.

‘We’re finally here.’

Galahad muttered as he looked at the inner fortress in the distance.

We crossed the continent by carriage.

Doesn’t that sound romantic?

Of course, there’s a nasty political fight going on underneath it all-.

‘Now I’ll finally get to see my famous wife.’

***

I couldn’t see her.

The place Galahad arrived at after passing through the city gates was a huge annex. Galahad was put in the largest room of the annex.

Gilbert warned him several times not to leave the room until he was contacted, and then he disappeared.

And the door was guarded by fierce-looking men. They didn’t speak the imperial language, so communication was impossible.

They simply blocked the door and prevented Gilbert from leaving. When he tried to sneak out, they even shoved a gleaming axe in his face.

‘I’ve been locked up,’

After traveling half the continent, I’ve been locked up in an annex as soon as I arrive-. It was absurd, but it was one of the possibilities that Galahad had considered. It was the worst-case scenario.

‘Are they planning to kill me without a fight?’

The room was large and desolate. It only had the bare necessities, such as a bed. But there was one peculiar thing-.

‘Why is there a chandelier? Are they planning to hold a banquet?’

Looking at the gorgeous chandelier on the ceiling that didn’t match the desolate room at all, I wondered. This must have been decorated by a really annoying person.

Galahad sat on a chair and organized his thoughts.

Will I get a call? Galahad shook his head slightly.

Galahad’s family was influential in the center, but not enough to spread to the north.

Even Galahad was the third child, not the eldest son. He was a completely useless status in the north.

He had the title of a genius wizard, but in the north, which rejected magic, it was rather a minus.

In other words, Galahad had no advantages to the Grand Duke.

On the other hand, the Grand Duke’s eldest daughter, Adrianna, was a hero of the north. As the youngest Sword Master, she was constantly making achievements on the battlefield.

The Grand Duke could contain Adrianna, but the possibility was significantly low. The Grand Duke’s love for Adrianna was famous.

Galahad assumed he was the Grand Duke and figured out the situation.

I don’t know what the fuss was about, but the Grand Duke couldn’t refuse the marriage with the third son of the Count.

‘Of course, I wouldn’t like it.’

The proof of this was that he sent a one-eyed guy as an escort, guide, and coachman. If it was a pleasant marriage, he wouldn’t have sent only one person.

The north was declining, and the enemy, the demons, were alive and well. In this situation, if they broke away from the empire, the barren north would be over. So for now, they brought Galahad into the castle.

‘But they don’t really intend to marry me.’

They will keep me locked up in the room and postpone the marriage with various excuses. If they can drag out the time and find a way to break the marriage···.

‘They’ll throw me away.’

Galahad swallowed his saliva.

That would be enough. In the first place, there was no benefit for the empire to marry Galahad to the Grand Duke’s eldest daughter.

They would want to save face.

Then who will be at a loss-.

‘It’s me.’

I didn’t even know why I was chosen in the first place. Galahad swallowed his saliva.

Knock, knock. Someone knocked on the door. When I opened the door, a black-haired beauty in a maid’s uniform looked up at me with a frightened face.

“Ga… Galahad-nim, I’m Gwen, who will serve you!”

The woman who introduced herself as Gwen muttered in a crawling voice. The woman with big eyes looked like a puppy in the rain.

She was clearly a beauty, but she had a gloomy atmosphere as if she was about to cry at any moment.

Galahad frowned at Gwen’s timid attitude.

“I don’t need any service.”

“That… That’s because I have to empty the chamber pot and serve you food…”

“Aha, so you’re telling me not to go out.”

At Galahad’s words, the woman flinched and shrank.

Armed men appeared behind Gwen. They were all armed with weapons.

They’re doing their job diligently. I waved to say hello, but the response was indifferent.

‘Don’t these guys wave back?’

The door was slammed shut.

Gwen screamed and fell over. How on earth can you fall forward like that? Galahad felt curious and helped Gwen up.

“Th… Thank you.”

Galahad grabbed Gwen and checked her by putting mana in her. It was a kind of occupational disease.

‘She has a lot of mana.’

Of course, even non-magicians possessed mana to some extent. However, Gwen’s mana was far too abundant to pass off as ordinary.

“Are you a magician?”

Galahad’s eyes narrowed. Placing a magician as his maid, Galahad’s intentions were clear-.

Gwen instantly burst into tears. It was a reaction as if she had been scolded by her parents.

“······No. I’m not a magician.”

Gwen retorted in a tearful voice.

“You’re not a magician?”

“······I’m not like a magician··· I’m definitely not one of those cursed demon tribe magicians. I don’t know anything! Really! Please believe me!”

Unexpectedly clinging to his legs and sobbing, Galahad, the ‘cursed demon tribe magician’, scratched his chin.

He had heard that the perception of magicians in the North was not good, but was it to this extent? This was almost like the reaction to witches in the past.

Galahad, who had enthusiastically advertised for a magician at the gate, scratched his head. It was getting tiring. He could have even been subjected to a hate crime. This was why being a magician was tiring.

Anyway, with a reaction like that, she was likely not a magician. In that case, did that mean her mana pool was purely due to talent?

Just then, Gwen, perhaps misunderstanding Galahad’s gaze fixed on her mana pool, tried to remove her clothes. Galahad hurriedly stopped her. He couldn’t become the kind of person who stripped his maid on the first day.

“I understand. You’re not a magician.”

Gwen burst into tears again, thanking him for believing her. She was a woman with quite a lot of tears.

‘So, did her mana pool form because of her mana concentration?’

In any case, Gwen was not important right now.

‘He really intends to keep me locked up.’

He had even provided a maid. It was as good as telling him not to come out.

Hmm. Galahad sat back in his chair and let out a sigh. There was nothing Galahad could do at the moment.

Getting angry or frustrated in this situation would not help.

It was a given that he would have to stay in this room for several days. He had to find something to do.

‘The mana concentration is dense.’

The first thing that came to mind was the mana concentration he had just felt.

Perhaps because it was connected to the Demon Tribe, the mana concentration here was much denser than in the Central Region.

He slowly circulated his mana. It felt heavy.

There were no magicians who recorded the exact numerical value of mana.

The standard for mana varied from person to person, and the mana concentration in the atmosphere also changed constantly, making it impossible to record accurately. Therefore, most people used magic circles and magic stones to prevent waste.

Because of that, being a magician here felt like being a manual laborer. Since the treatment was better over there, there was no reason to jump into the mud.

As a result, while there were more magicians than before, true magicians were actually becoming rare.

Galahad’s solution to the problem of mana concentration was simple.

Korean-style rote memorization, just cram and memorize.

It was the method he had hated and despised the most when he was in high school, but nothing was as practical.

He repeated the most basic magic, mana arrows, countless times. He trained his senses to the point where he could cast them without thinking.

He defined the amount of mana based on the mana arrow. Thanks to this, Galahad could calculate the concentration anywhere by casting a single mana arrow and using it as a reference.

That was when he was six years old.

‘About double.’

Galahad muttered as he looked at the mana arrow floating in his hand.

A mana concentration was twice as high as the Central Region-. It was a ridiculous figure.

The high mana concentration was both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Originally, magic works by binding mana in the atmosphere with the mana you have, but if the concentration in the atmosphere is high, mana can rather leak out when you use magic.

To do that, you have to maintain a higher concentration of mana, and that process was compression. Mana is also sensitive, so if the compression is too strong, it becomes solid instead.

Even without that, the complicated magic process would become several times more difficult.

In short, it was an absurd amount of hard work.

Instead, thanks to the high concentration, its power would increase greatly.

‘Good.’

Galahad genuinely laughed.

It really was an ignorant method, but at the same time, it was effective training.

If he could maintain this high concentration of mana, he would be able to raise his own mana concentration even higher. Furthermore, his mana sensitivity would also greatly increase.

‘It’s been a while since I trained.’

Galahad deliberately maintained the mana concentration at a precarious level. If he made even a slight mistake, his mana circuit could be greatly damaged.

Thanks to that, the tension became razor sharp.

Galahad’s mind gradually subsided.

When he used magic, all other thoughts disappeared.

Galahad was a true magician.

***

‘···You’re laughing in this situation?’

Gwen opened her eyes wide at the beaming Galahad.

Galahad was in a state no different from being imprisoned.

He was imprisoned in a foreign land, not the Empire, unable to see the one who would become his wife, and yet he was laughing.

Galahad had a faint smile on his face. The emotion in that expression was a kind of ecstasy close to madness.

It was the first time Gwen had seen such a bright face. What on earth could he be doing to enjoy it so much?

Her gaze naturally went to Galahad’s hand. A firelight flickered around Galahad’s hand.

It was definitely magic. Gwen couldn’t take her eyes off its splendor.

Magic is the dirty and cursed filth of the demons. – It was a phrase that Gwen, who was of the bloodline of a magician, had heard so many times that her ears were numb.

It was common for her to be despised as the child of a dirty magician, and she had faced numerous death threats.

Gwen was able to be a maid like this thanks to Adrianna.

That’s why Gwen hated magic more than anyone.

It must have been that way, and it had to be that way.

‘Beautiful.’

The crystals that formed in Galahad’s hand were so beautiful.

Her eyes were stinging and tears were coming out.

She couldn’t take her eyes off it. Its elegance and beauty dared to be comparable to Adrianna’s beauty.

She wondered why that man was making such an expression.

Gwen moved her fingers without realizing it.

A small light lingered on Gwen’s fingertips before disappearing. It was very poor even to her, but it was a thrilling and liberating feeling that Gwen had never experienced in her life.

Gwen laughed out loud for the first time in a very long time. No, maybe it was the first time.

At that moment, the broom Gwen was holding fell over with a loud noise.

Gwen came to her senses and felt extreme self-loathing.

It was magic that had pushed her into pain all her life. She had used magic, which had tormented Gwen with her dirty bloodline, with her own hands.

Gwen dug her fingernails into her forearm hard enough to draw blood. Her briefly regained consciousness was drawn to magic once more. Gwen desperately closed her eyes and rubbed them.

Crash.

As expected, the bowl shattered.

***

Galahad wondered if what he had just seen was real.

She had cast magic just by looking at it-?

“······She really is a genius.”

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Galahad was filled with pure admiration.

Was her name Gwen? He thought it was-.

“I want her.”

As Galahad licked his lips while looking at her, Gwen shut her eyes tightly.