Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

She wasn’t innately malicious.

Elaine Serzila wasn’t a paragon of virtue, but she had been an excellent ruler. Even when she had been the Grand Duke’s heir, it was the same. Aside from her laziness, Elaine had been an ideal successor.

That Elaine had deliberately come to provoke me was simply out of curiosity.

—I just couldn’t help myself. It was the first time Father had captured a mage alive.

 —Then why did you provoke me?

 —I had to be a role model for the North. How could someone like me ask a mage to show me their core? I had to use force, of course.

 —…

 —Besides, I was young then. Who in the North likes mages anyway?

It was a result born of curiosity, prejudice against mages, and a disdain for the Otherworld.

‘She was still young.’

Just as I had been fragile at twenty, Elaine had also been young at twenty.

Her vessel was broad, but much of it was still empty.

‘Strange.’

It was unexpected. 

The uneducated North hated being called ignorant. But Elaine hadn’t drawn her sword. Her expression hardened, but that was it.

She turned away and left the annex. Even though that insult had pierced through Serzila.

‘She wasn’t someone to swallow her pride like that.’

Since childhood, Elaine had never endured slander about the North.

Even if someone insulted a beggar from the North, she would swing her fist.

If insulted personally, she would always draw her sword.

That was the Elaine I had once followed.

‘Whether man or woman.’

Gender was a minor detail. Her personality remained unchanged.

What mattered was that Elaine would die in the future.

I had no intention of letting that happen.

I wouldn’t allow the North to fall to the Otherworld’s invasion, nor the Empire or Church to collapse.

I would not leave the same regrets behind…

—This time, let me fall for you again.

 —…

 —And while we're at it, maybe you could fall for me too.

As I recalled the past Elaine, her final voice came back to me.

Could that really happen? I let out a hollow chuckle. Making someone fall for me was one thing, but could I even hold the same feelings again?

Whether man or woman, Elaine was Elaine.

My superior, my liege, and my dearest friend.

‘Will it be the same in this life too?’

If it were, would the Grand Duke’s heart remain unchanged?

I couldn’t be sure.

Would the Grand Duke still dream of a future that had disappeared?

***

“What are you doing, not coming?”

When I stopped walking for a moment, Gullen turned back and asked.

It was early morning. The sun was still weak, and the North was buried in a snowstorm. Even at such an early hour, the Grand Duke had summoned me.

“Seems Her Grace is very interested in me.”

 “…She can hear you.”

Gullen spoke softly.

Almost in a whisper.

“She can hear me?”

Gullen didn’t answer. He just pointed ahead with his chin.

 A massive mansion—where the Grand Duke resided.

The doors were open. And through them, a chill colder than the North itself surged in like a tidal wave. Even though the sun—the Origin—was active, the cold cut through to the bone.

Though I had returned in time, my rank had dropped, but my sense remained intact.

 Just as I had sensed the magical beasts that attacked the village, I could sense the Grand Duke’s aura permeating the fortress.

“She’s indeed watching and listening.”

Though seated inside the mansion, the Grand Duke could observe everything within the Inner Fortress. It was because her aura dominated the entire place.

‘Her hearing range is narrower than her sight.’

When I stepped back slightly, the clinging aura weakened.

 It seemed her hearing range was limited to the mansion’s immediate surroundings.

“She can’t hear us from here.”

 “…”

Even though I told him, Gullen didn’t budge. Instead, he stared at me intensely. I ignored him and headed toward the mansion. Gullen didn’t follow. It seemed his role ended here.

“Don’t cause any trouble.”

His voice trailed behind me.

 It meant, in his own way, that he acknowledged me.

I waved a hand and stepped inside the mansion.

 A white carpet stretched out before me, and atop it, red curves like blood embroidered the surface. A familiar sight—I could walk this place blindfolded.

‘Five cooks in total.’

Only a minimum number of personnel were stationed in the Grand Duke’s mansion.

Even the servants here possessed an aura.

 They were strong enough to reinforce and maintain their bodies with aura.

‘Equivalent to a 3rd-rank mage.’

A man cleaning the windows had that level of power.

 A knight serving as a mere servant.

To protect the Grand Duke? I scoffed at the thought.

‘What could be a better defense than the Grand Duke herself?’

Even if she restrained her aura, no ordinary person could withstand the residue.

 That was why only knight-level servants could serve the Grand Duke.

Only those with aura could function in this mansion.

 A creature more monstrous than magical beasts—that was the Grand Duke of the North.

‘6th-rank… wouldn’t be surprising.’

A 5th-rank mage was often compared to a Swordmaster.

 The pressure emanating from her surpassed that.

‘Such brutal aura.’

Just standing still made my back instinctively bend.

 Even though the Grand Duke had no intention of doing so.

In my past life, I had collapsed flat on the floor like a frog.

—Pathetic.

The Grand Duke had personally come down from her office, looked down at me, and clicked her tongue.

I wouldn’t be doing that this time.

The suppressed sun within me burst into flames. Though it was laughably weak compared to her aura, it allowed me to stand. To move.

If I hadn’t returned in time, it would’ve been impossible. Without the knowledge of how to control the Origin and talent I was born with, I never could have done this.

Though diminished in power, the same flame from my past guided me to the Grand Duke’s office.

 The doors opened automatically, and once I stepped in, they shut behind me.

 The room was vast—just as I remembered.

The floor was covered with what looked like the skin of a magical beast, freshly torn from its body.

 The ceiling was studded with its bones, arranged like constellations.

 The smallest bone was longer than my height.

If that had been all, I could’ve dismissed it as a hunting hobby, but the walls were the problem.
Aside from the bookcases, windows, doors, and lanterns, the rest of the walls were filled—packed with human heads, drained of blood and preserved.

I had seen this scene before, but it was chilling nonetheless.

 All of them were mage scalps.

 Mages of the Otherworld, hunted personally by the Grand Duke.

She sat at the center of those victims.

 Basking in the gaze of the taxidermied heads.

‘So you were more blessed with children than I thought.’

Unlike Elaine, the Grand Duke had a massive frame. Her face was terrifying. Compared to the woman I saw before returning, she looked like a demon.

“Mages who had idle thoughts in front of me all died.”

The wall of the North rose to its feet. A human, yet she didn’t seem so. It wasn’t just her size.

The one before me was that kind of existence.

A ruler of the North whom even the Emperor could only punish with a sabbatical despite countless blasphemies.

If not for her daughter, Elaine Serzila, she would’ve been known as the greatest Grand Duke in history.

From a mage’s perspective…Even compared to a 6th-rank mage, she lacked nothing. A true Swordmaster.

Such a transcendent being…

‘Why did she die?’

Even before the war began.

***

Grand Duke Aratus Serzila.

Ten years from now, he would pass on the title of Grand Duke to Elaine.

The retired Grand Duke, freed from long-standing duties, built a small hut beyond the Wall and lived there in joy.

He spent his retirement hunting mages and magical beasts emerging from the Otherworld…

That was all I knew. I hadn’t heard anything about him after that.

 When the foreign powers invaded, I’d assumed he died.

 That had been the extent of my guess.

‘How foolish I was.’

Now that I saw him again, I realized.

 You see only what you know.

 Having experienced a 6th-rank mage myself, I now understood.

The Grand Duke wasn’t someone who would die just because of an invasion.

“You’re thinking useless thoughts again.”

Suddenly, the Grand Duke raised his hand. Despite the distance between us, he was suddenly right in front of me. His hand reached for my crown.

No, almost did.

 The flames suddenly bursting from me devoured the Grand Duke’s hand.

“Indeed. A true fire.”

His blood-red eyes were drawn to the flames. It only lasted a moment.

When he clenched his fist, the fire dissipated like smoke.

“Still undercooked.”

 “I only just began.”

 “You’re entitled to say that. I hear you devoured a magical beast. Despite never formally training in magic.”

Far from honing it, I had spent twenty years hiding it. And yet the Grand Duke knew.

Though Serzila sat at the edge of the continent, its intelligence network was formidable.

“3rd rank. No, a 2nd-rank disguised as 3rd.”

He instantly identified my level. It was accurate.

Even against 3rd-rank mages, I was confident I could hold my own.

 Thanks to the memories and senses I brought from the regression.

‘He understands ranking.’

The Grand Duke knew how the Otherworld measured power.

Naturally so. Serzila bordered the Otherworld.

“Give up your revenge.”

He spoke the name of the mage who had wiped out Iagar.

 It was a conversation we’d had in the past too.

 Back then, I hadn’t even been able to think of a reply.

“You are Serzila’s spoils of war.”

That face—more monstrous than any magical beast—had terrified me.

“I’ll handle that myself.”

But the me who had returned couldn’t simply submit.

Avenging my parents…I hadn’t achieved that even in my previous life.

Let alone revenge, I hadn’t even uncovered the enemy’s identity.

“Oh?”

In the past, the Grand Duke had despised me. Because I had been an incompetent coward who didn’t belong in the North.

But now, the Grand Duke before me showed interest.

 I was no longer that coward.

 I had talent—and the conviction in that talent.

“The North has no use for those who only talk.”

 “You brought me here.”

 “If I hadn’t, the Sun and Moon would’ve crucified you.”

Iagar had been annihilated.

A mage had invaded, and the Church must have arrived to investigate.

 Upon identifying my Origin, they would’ve executed me with glee.

That’s why, in my previous life, I had been grateful to the Grand Duke before me.

 Pressed to the floor, I slammed my head into the ground repeatedly.

Truthfully, fear had played the greater part. Back then, I had only hoped that the meeting would end quickly.

“Thank you.”

Even now, I bowed my head.

“May I leave now?”

The Grand Duke’s brow twitched.

 His fist squirmed like crushing an insect.

I felt like that insect.

 His invisible aura pressed down on me.

“Sounds like you’re asking to die.”

 “I understand it as you desire my magic.”

I wasn’t made a hostage because I was a noble.

 There was no one left in Iagar to demand a ransom.

Yet Serzila had brought me here. Knowing I was a mage—no, because I was a mage.

The North needed me. More precisely, it needed my Origin.

“Did the heir say that? That Serzila needs fire?”

The Grand Duke knew that Elaine had visited me last night.

 Probably due to the aura settled across the Inner Fortress.

‘So that’s why.’

That explained why Elaine hadn’t drawn her sword out of impulse last night.

 Since I hadn’t yet met the Grand Duke, she couldn’t treat me carelessly.

“The heir merely came to pick a fight.”

 “She must’ve made assumptions.”

Once again, the aura pressed against me. My whole body trembled.

 The sun within me screamed under the strain.

But I neither bowed nor knelt.

 The Grand Duke’s eyes curved into an arc.

“That’s right. The North wants fire. But it doesn’t need it. Understand?”

It was necessary, but not essential.

 A veiled threat that I could be killed at any time.

Indeed, in my past life, the Grand Duke had never obsessed over fire.

“You’re useful.”

A better evaluation than before.

 Proof that regression had been worth it.

“Choose. Will you earn your ransom and buy your freedom? Or achieve merit and become a vassal of Serzila?”

I had heard this in my past life too. Back then, I had remained silent and lived as a leech in the Grand Duke’s castle.

Well, a few years later, I had been forced to be useful anyway.

“How much is the ransom?”

 “You decide.”

Frankly, it was closer to a life price. Though called a hostage, it was Serzila that saved me from the Church’s pursuit.

‘How much would it be worth?’

I calculated my value internally. Abstract, but not impossible.

I knew myself well enough.

Fire. A sun-type Origin that was rare beyond belief.

That talent—how the mages of the Otherworld had envied and desired it.

But… that wasn’t all. It wasn’t because of my ability that I had returned to this place.

“I dare not place a price.”

How could one measure such a thing?

Elaine had granted me regression.

 I couldn’t possibly put a value on that.

“I will live as a vassal.”

 “Not needed.”

 “…”

My gaze toward the Grand Duke turned defiant for the first time.

“Those eyes… they’re worth collecting.”

 “What do you want from me, then?”

Since I was already caught, I grew more insolent.

 The Grand Duke’s grin deepened. He liked bold ones—so long as they had ability.

“Talent alone isn’t enough.”

 “That’s just a matter of time.”

 “Talk is cheap. I could take the throne right now if I wanted to.”

So ambition ran in the bloodline.

“Prove your worth.”

His aura issued a dismissal.

 My body was pushed backward, shoved out through the door.

***

I had a firm belief that I wouldn’t die.

—Then why was I taken as a hostage? What’s so pretty about a mage?

 —Before long, the North will become uninhabitable. It’s growing colder and more barren each day. That’s why he brought you here. Though, he did say he gave up on you the moment he saw what a useless idiot you were.

 —What?

 —That’s what my father said, not me. If you don’t like it, go complain to him yourself.

 —…

 —You’re scared, aren’t you, you bastard.

 —You son of a…

I remembered having a conversation like that with Elaine once.

In my previous life, I was a burden.

Something you wanted to throw away, but kept around just in case it might be useful later.

“It’s funny how it all fell apart even before the weather got that bad.”

The North collapsed before it became too cold to live in.

That had been Grand Duke Elaine’s greatest regret.

 The North should’ve endured the cold.

 It should’ve overcome the invasion of the Otherworld.

Now, I had the chance to change that. The power to erase regret—regression was such an opportunity. But the one who received it wasn’t Elaine. It was me.

“Regret, huh.”

I recalled the regrets Elaine had poured out to me as she lay dying.

There hadn’t been just one or two. But in the end, all those regrets led to a single conclusion.

She simply needed to grow stronger.

‘What about Elaine’s regrets?’

If she truly dreamed of a future, it was still possible for her too. But she wouldn’t be able to erase every regret.

Elaine might dream of a lost future, but she couldn’t see every moment.

Magic, while a symbol of the unknown, was not omnipotent. In the end, it was still human power.

‘If she wanted to fix everything, Elaine would have been the one to regress.’

Elaine had given up on more than a few attachments. Was it out of love? I didn’t think the reason mattered all that much. What mattered was that she had chosen me.

‘The North will fall in fifteen years.’

The North was the closest land to the Otherworld. It was the place where mages of the Otherworld most frequently infiltrated, and the first to face their armies. When that enormous wall collapsed, Elaine faced the horde of the Otherworld alone. It was to buy time for the people of this land to flee.

Had I not knocked her unconscious, had the Great Warrior of that time not carved a path, the Grand Duke would have died alone trying to stop them.

—You bastard, repaying grace with betrayal.

Elaine, upon waking, had been furious. Because she loved the North more than her own life.

—Woof.

 —…

 —If you’ve come to your senses, draw your sword. Gullen, who died for you, deserves better.

That hadn’t been my way. I didn’t hate the North, but I wasn’t particularly attached to it either.

 In my past life, I had defended the North only because Elaine had done so. And it was still the same. I hadn’t come to the North out of affection. I came because of Elaine. Because she—no, because he—wanted it.

“I suppose I should respond.”

I walked through the land Elaine had loved. A land dearly cherished, but often neglected.

Just as one might love a garden, but leave its care to the gardener, Elaine had loved the vast North, but never truly managed it. Looking back, that had been the problem.

‘Grand Duke Aratus hated desks.’

Gardener Aratus preferred wielding branches to tending the garden. Then again, the North was a place where that was acceptable. No—it was a place where that was necessary.

‘A land ruled entirely by strength.’

Even a mere beggar could challenge the Grand Duke with a sword.

 Serzila welcomed such valor.

Not just Grand Duke Aratus—all the Serzilas had ruled the North with strength. And the North revered that strength.

Thus, the North had known peace, and Serzila stood as an unyielding wall.

‘All while unaware that the North was rotting inside.’

Though the invasion from the Otherworld would happen fifteen years later, the North had already begun to be eaten away. Because the Serzilas, who loved this land, were ignorant and complacent.

The snowstorm thickened.

 The sun had set.

Only then did I turn around. Under the pale moonlight, wind colder than blades tore through Serzila like knives, spreading its chill.

But it didn’t reach me.

When it neared me, the wind softened, and the chill turned into warmth.

A drunken man brushed past me and looked back in confusion at that warmth.

Magic disrupts the laws of nature in this way. If exposed to mana for too long, things become altered. Whether environment or object.

There was a famous story about how the area around a desert mage’s tent had turned into a lake. If even inanimate things could change, how strange must a person imbued with mana appear? Thus, distinguishing a mage was theoretically easy.

In theory.

But in practice, no one had succeeded.

‘Magical beasts are smarter, I suppose.’

Magical beasts could sense mana.

 Mages couldn’t distinguish each other unless they directly saw the magic.

Even I, who had reached the 5th rank, was no exception.

But I knew a fair amount.

 Not everything, but I remembered the names and origins of particularly impressive mages.

‘If I’d known, I would’ve memorized their faces too.’

Thanks to regression. Unless I interfered, the world would repeat the same events.

That merchant would be selling the same apples at the same time.

 That woman out shopping would buy the same goods.

 That guy would get punched by the same thug.

……And inside there, a mage would be waiting.

The flower curtain’s inner chamber.

 Standing in front of a shabby building with a signboard, I didn’t hesitate and opened the door.

A small tavern. Five tables, each with four chairs.

‘A tall and narrow bar, with divine cooking and a beautiful owner…’

It was exactly how Elaine had once described it.

“Alone?”

The owner spoke to me.

Borrowing the words of past Elaine—indeed, a beautiful owner.

‘Was Elaine’s taste that plain? I suppose she was lenient with the same sex.’

The owner gestured to a seat.

 I sat at the bar and ordered a simple snack.

“Drink?”

 “Next time. I have work soon.”

 “Work?”

The owner gave me a mysterious smile.

“Where are you from?”

 “Northeast of the Empire. Is it obvious?”

 “Were you hiding it? If you want to hide something, it helps to leave a few scars on your face. Pretty faces are rare in the North. You’re a noble, aren’t you?”

 “Not at all.”

I shrugged.

 Serzila taking in a survivor of Iagar was a top-level secret.

Soon after, the owner brought out a steaming bowl.

“Thanks.”

I smiled, looking up at the owner setting down the vegetable soup.

 Certainly—when smiling, she looked quite lovely.

The scent wafting from the soup was incredibly stimulating. With one spoonful, I was convinced. It was fantastic. Not salty or spicy, yet deeply savory. I ended up ordering alcohol without meaning to.

Before I knew it, I had downed three shots of strong liquor that could catch fire if you let your guard down.

“Amazing.”

The skill was enough to make anyone a regular.

 I finally understood why this rundown tavern was always so full.

And then—“You got money?”

It wasn’t the owner. She was busy pouring my fourth drink.

 The voice came from beside me. Very close.

“Do you have money to pay, Harad?”

I turned and my eyes widened.

It wasn’t just that I hadn’t sensed her presence until she spoke, despite her being right next to me. It wasn’t just that she knew my name—or that I didn’t have money.

‘That could be possible.’

Though my identity was a secret, it wasn’t unknown.

 Those working in the Inner Fortress knew that the hostage named Harad was a mage.

What shocked me was something else.

 The woman’s face glaring at me in displeasure overlapped with someone I knew.

Two faces merged into one.

 I had seen that face only a few days ago.

‘A Swordmaster’s body preserves its prime.’

…Which meant that face would be unchanged even twenty years from now.

“I’m Ellen, of the Serzila Intelligence Bureau. A regular here.”

Ellen. No—Elaine Serzila, disguised as Ellen, extended her hand.