Morning came quietly.
The celebration was over.
The streets of Ravenholt were no longer filled with music.
The tables had been cleared.
The lanterns were slowly being taken down.
And the people...
Were finally returning to their usual routines.
The castle was quiet as well.
Almost too quiet.
---
Inside Levi's office...
Levi slowly opened his eyes.
"..."
He stared at the ceiling.
For several seconds...
He didn't move.
Then he slowly lifted his head from the desk.
"...What happened?"
His head hurt.
His hair was a mess.
His clothes were wrinkled from sleeping at his desk.
He looked around.
Papers were everywhere.
A cup sat near his hand.
Another was on the floor.
Levi stared at them.
"...Oh."
He remembered.
The feast.
Seven days.
The final night.
And apparently...
He had lost the battle against exhaustion.
Levi slowly stood.
His chair creaked behind him.
He stretched.
"Ow..."
He looked toward the window.
The morning sun was already shining over Ravenholt.
The city looked different without the celebration.
But somehow...
It looked better.
It looked peaceful.
---
A knock came from the door.
Knock. Knock.
Levi quickly tried to fix his hair.
"Come in."
The door opened.
A maid stepped inside.
She stopped.
Looked at Levi.
Then looked at the desk.
Then back at Levi.
"...Good morning, my lord."
Levi nodded.
"Good morning."
The maid tried not to smile.
"Did you sleep well?"
Levi looked at his desk.
"...Apparently."
The maid quietly laughed.
"Would you like breakfast?"
Levi thought for a moment.
"...Yes."
She nodded.
"I'll have it brought here."
Levi immediately shook his head.
"No."
The maid blinked.
"My lord?"
"I'm eating outside."
He looked through the window.
"I haven't walked around Ravenholt properly since the feast started."
The maid smiled.
"Of course."
She bowed and left.
Levi looked back at his desk.
A mountain of paperwork waited for him.
He stared at it.
The papers stared back.
"...Later."
He walked out.
---
As Levi stepped into the hallway...
He noticed something.
The castle was already returning to normal.
Servants were cleaning.
Guards were changing shifts.
Workers were checking the walls.
The blacksmiths were already back at the smithy.
Everyone had gone back to work.
Levi smiled.
A whole week of celebration...
And they're already back at it.
He walked toward the courtyard.
Then stopped.
He heard shouting.
"Again!"
Levi recognized the voice.
Gaius.
He walked toward the training grounds.
And there they were.
The boys Levi had taken in.
Wooden swords in their hands.
Sweat on their faces.
Gaius stood before them.
"Your feet!"
The boys corrected their stances.
"Better."
Levi leaned against the wall.
Watching.
Elias noticed him.
"My lord!"
The other boys turned.
"Lord Levi!"
Levi smiled.
"Morning."
Gaius looked over.
"You finally woke up."
Levi sighed.
"...Don't remind me."
Gaius laughed.
"How was the desk?"
"Uncomfortable."
"Good."
Levi raised an eyebrow.
"Good?"
"Maybe next time you'll sleep somewhere meant for sleeping."
Levi shook his head.
"Maybe."
---
Elias looked at Levi.
"My lord!"
"Hm?"
"Are you going to train with us?"
Levi looked at Gaius.
Gaius shrugged.
"You heard him."
Levi sighed.
"I just woke up."
The boys laughed.
Elias raised his wooden sword.
"Then we'll wait!"
Levi smiled.
"...Fine."
He stepped into the training area.
Gaius handed him a wooden sword.
"Ready?"
Levi held it.
"Always."
The boys watched eagerly.
Gaius smiled.
"Then let's begin."
The wooden swords were raised.
And as the first strike came...
CLACK!
Ravenholt's new day began.
Levi stood in the training yard, wooden sword resting against his shoulder.
Across from him stood the boys.
Elias was among them.
Gaius watched from the side, arms crossed.
"Alright," Levi said. "Who wants to go first?"
One of the boys raised his hand.
"Me!"
He stepped forward confidently.
Levi smiled.
"Come."
The boy charged.
Levi sidestepped.
THUD!
The boy stumbled past him.
Before he could turn around, Levi tapped the back of his wooden sword against the boy's shoulder.
"Dead."
"W-Wait!"
"Next."
Another boy stepped forward.
Then another.
And another.
One tried rushing him.
Another tried circling around.
One even pretended to swing before suddenly changing direction.
Levi handled all of them.
Quickly.
Too quickly.
One by one, the boys ended up sitting on the ground, staring at him in disbelief.
Finally...
Elias stepped forward.
He tightened his grip.
Levi looked at him.
"You're getting better."
Elias nodded.
"I won't lose."
"Good."
Elias rushed forward.
Their wooden swords collided.
CLACK!
Elias pushed harder.
Levi stepped back.
Elias followed.
Another strike.
Another block.
For a moment, Elias actually managed to keep up.
Then Levi suddenly changed his footing.
Elias's eyes widened.
Levi hooked his wooden sword around Elias's and knocked it aside.
CLACK!
A second tap landed against Elias's chest.
"Dead."
Elias froze.
Then sighed.
"...Again?"
Levi chuckled.
"Not bad."
The boys gathered around him.
Levi looked at all of them.
"You're training because you want to become knights, right?"
They nodded.
"Then remember something."
His expression became more serious.
"In a war, your opponent will not go easy on you."
The boys became quiet.
"They won't fight fairly just because you're young."
Levi lowered his wooden sword.
"They'll use any trick they can."
"Ambushes."
"Deception."
"Attacking when you're tired."
"Anything that gives them an advantage."
The boys listened carefully.
One of them scratched his head.
"I-It's not like we'll experience it anyway..."
A few of the others nodded.
"Yeah."
Elias looked toward the castle walls.
"Yeah..."
Levi didn't answer immediately.
His eyes followed Elias's gaze.
The newly repaired walls stood tall around Ravenholt.
Strong.
Quiet.
Almost peaceful.
Almost.
Levi's expression slowly changed.
"Maybe."
He looked back at the boys.
"I hope you're right."
The wind passed through the training yard.
One of the bells on the distant tower moved slightly.
Clink...
Levi glanced toward it.
Nothing.
Just the wind.
At least...
That's what he thought.
Far beyond Ravenholt's walls, hidden among the trees, a figure stood silently.
Watching.
The figure turned toward the castle.
Toward the towers.
Toward the people who had spent an entire year rebuilding what had once been broken.
A quiet voice escaped from beneath the hood.
"...So this is Ravenholt now."
Then the figure disappeared into the forest.
Back in the training yard, Levi stared toward the horizon.
For some reason...
He couldn't shake the feeling that something was coming.
Something that would test whether Ravenholt's year of rebuilding had truly been enough.
Levi tightened his grip around the wooden sword.
"Again."
The boys groaned.
Elias smiled.
"Yes, Lord Levi."
And the training began again.
Night had settled over Ravenholt.
The castle had finally become quiet after the long celebration.
Levi sat alone in his office.
Papers were still scattered across his desk, though there were far fewer than before.
For once, he wasn't working.
He simply stood by the window.
Looking outside.
The moon illuminated the newly repaired walls of Ravenholt.
The towers stood tall.
The bells hung silently beneath their roofs.
Everything looked peaceful.
Levi sighed.
"...It's strange."
A year ago...
This place had looked completely different.
Broken walls.
Empty streets.
Buildings that barely stood.
Now...
People lived here again.
Children laughed in the streets.
Merchants filled the marketplace.
The castle was being restored.
Levi smiled faintly.
"...We actually did it."
His smile slowly disappeared.
His eyes drifted toward the horizon.
The old war came back to his mind.
The Black Church.
The cathedral.
The screams.
The bloodshed.
The people he had fought.
The people he had killed.
Levi's hand tightened against the window frame.
"..."
He closed his eyes.
Enough.
That was in the past.
He had to keep moving forward.
Then...
Something caught his attention.
Levi opened his eyes.
One of the towers.
A figure stood on top of it.
Levi froze.
"...What?"
A lone man.
Standing completely still.
A dark cloak covered his body.
A hood concealed his face.
Levi stared.
"Guard?"
No response.
The figure didn't move.
Levi leaned closer to the window.
"Why would a guard be standing up there?"
Then the wind blew.
Whoosh...
The figure's cloak moved.
The hood shifted.
Long white hair emerged.
Levi's eyes narrowed.
The hair was strange.
White...
With green at the ends.
Then the wind blew harder.
The hood moved further.
A pale face.
A black cloth covering the eyes.
Levi's breathing stopped for a moment.
Something about him...
Felt familiar.
Too familiar.
Levi stared.
His mind raced.
Where have I seen him...?
The figure slowly turned his head.
Toward the castle.
Toward Levi.
Levi stepped backward.
"..."
For a split second...
He remembered the war.
The people he had fought.
The enemies that had disappeared into the darkness.
The screams.
The faces.
His own hands.
Levi looked away.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
"...No."
He took a slow breath.
"It's nothing."
He opened his eyes again.
The tower was empty.
Levi stared.
Nothing.
No figure.
No cloak.
No white hair.
Only moonlight.
He remained there for several seconds.
"...I must be tired."
Levi rubbed his eyes.
Maybe it was his imagination.
Maybe the memories had simply caught up with him.
He had spent years carrying the weight of what happened during that war.
Sometimes...
The past had a way of appearing where it didn't belong.
Levi slowly returned to his desk.
He sat down.
But his eyes kept drifting toward the window.
"..."
He couldn't shake the feeling.
That he had seen someone.
Someone real.
Meanwhile...
Far below the tower...
A shadow moved across the castle grounds.
Eyeless walked silently through the darkness.
The guards never noticed him.
The spirit floated beside him.
"You saw him."
Eyeless stopped.
"Yes."
"Did he recognize you?"
Eyeless tilted his head.
"No."
A pause.
"Not yet."
The spirit smiled.
"Then why are you waiting?"
Eyeless looked toward the upper floors of the castle.
Toward Levi's office.
"Because I want to know something first."
"What?"
Eyeless's expression hardened.
"Whether the man who survived that war..."
He took another step.
"...is still the same man."
The spirit said nothing.
Eyeless disappeared into the darkness.
And above him...
Levi sat alone in his office.
Still thinking about the figure he believed he had imagined.
Unaware that the past he had spent years trying to leave behind...
Had just walked into his castle.
Eyeless walked slowly between the alleyway, his footsteps almost impossible to hear against the concrete.
His long white hair moved with every step, the emerald-green tips brushing against his cloak.
Beside him floated the strange spirit.
She said nothing.
Neither did Eyeless.
For several minutes, they simply walked.
Then the spirit spoke.
"You're thinking about her again."
Eyeless stopped.
His hand tightened slightly.
"...I always am."
The spirit floated closer.
"You don't have to be afraid of remembering."
Eyeless lowered his head.
"I don't remember her face anymore."
A silence followed.
Even the spirit seemed to hesitate.
Eyeless touched the black cloth covering his eyes.
"I remember her voice."
He paused.
"Her hands."
Another pause.
"But her face..."
His voice became quieter.
"It's gone."
The spirit drifted beside him.
"You were hurt badly."
"I know."
"You lost so much."
"I know."
"And yet you still continue."
Eyeless gave a faint smile.
"Because I have to."
The spirit looked at him.
"Because of me?"
Eyeless turned toward her.
"Because you stayed."
The spirit smiled.
"I'll always stay."
Eyeless continued walking.
For a moment, his expression softened.
He shakes his head.
"no..."
The spirit noticed and asked.
"Is something wrong?"
Eyeless shook his head.
"It's nothing."
Ravenholt's streets were quiet.
Most of the celebration had ended, leaving only a few lanterns glowing along the roads.
Eyeless moved through the shadows.
He avoided the main streets entirely.
Instead, he slipped into the narrow alleys between buildings.
One alley...
Then another.
His footsteps were nearly silent.
The spirit floated beside him.
"You're getting closer."
"I know."
Eyeless continued forward.
The main castle was visible between the buildings.
It stood above the city, its newly repaired towers reaching toward the night sky.
That was where Levi reside.
That was where he needed to go.
Eyeless entered another alley.
Two guards were standing at the end of it.
He stopped.
The guards hadn't noticed him yet.
One looked toward the street.
The other glanced down the alley.
Their eyes passed over Eyeless.
Then stopped.
"...Hey."
Eyeless remained still.
The guard narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?"
The other guard immediately reached for his weapon.
"Stop right there."
Eyeless tilted his head.
"I don't wish to cause trouble."
"Then tell us your name."
Silence.
The guards exchanged a glance.
"Identify yourself."
Eyeless lowered his head.
"...I can't do that."
The guards moved toward him.
Eyeless moved first.
A sudden blur passed through the alley.
CLACK!
One guard's weapon was knocked away.
The second guard tried to react, but Eyeless was already beside him.
A quick strike sent him stumbling backward.
The first guard attempted to call for help.
Eyeless intercepted him before he could raise the alarm.
Both guards were left unconscious.
Eyeless stood silently in the alley.
The spirit floated beside him.
"You could have killed them."
"I didn't need to."
He continued walking.
The castle was closer now.
Much closer.
He crossed another alley.
Then another.
Every turn brought him nearer.
The sounds of the city faded behind him.
The castle walls now towered above the surrounding buildings.
Eyeless stopped beneath the shadow of one of the outer structures.
He looked upward.
The castle.
The place where Lord Ravenholt lived.
The place where the man who had become the center of the Black Church's plans now slept.
The spirit drifted closer.
"Are you nervous?"
Eyeless remained silent.
After a moment, he answered.
"...No."
His hand rested against the hilt at his side.
"I've waited too long to be nervous now."
He stepped out of the alley.
The castle gates stood ahead.
Guards were stationed throughout the courtyard.
Eyeless looked around.
Then toward the upper floors.
Somewhere behind those walls...
Levi was there.
Eyeless smiled faintly.
"Found you."
The spirit remained beside him.
And together...
They disappeared into the darkness surrounding the castle.
Unnoticed.
For now.