“This is the land where we’ll be living from today. It’s like a dream come true. I’m so happy I could puke. Right, Mathilda?”
“Exactly as you say, Lord Noein.”
Standing before a forest that stretched endlessly deep, Noein Earlkvist spat out his thoughts.
Agreeing with him was Mathilda, his slave and currently his only servant, a rabbit-woman.
“No use in complaining. Let’s take the first step into this beloved crap territory, Mathilda.”
“Yes. I will serve you always, Lord Noein.”
However, the forest had no paths even for animals, let alone humans.
Thus, the actual first step was not taken by Noein, but by his wood golems—wooden puppets.
Standing over 2 meters tall, these two puppets possessed immense strength. They walked ahead of him, pulling out bushes, breaking obstructive branches, and trampling the grass.
Following them was Noein, then Mathilda, and at the rear, a wooden golem in the shape of a horse pulling a small cart.
…
About three months earlier, in the capital of the Kivileft County, located in the southern part of the Lordberg Kingdom, Noein faced off against Maximilian Kivileft, the current head of the Kivileft family and his biological father.
There was no familiarity or warmth of family; the tense atmosphere could only be described as a confrontation.
“It’s been a while, Noein.”
“Yes, Father… or rather, Count Kivileft.”
“Though born to a servant, you are known as my child. It’s truly bothersome… That’s why I supported you until you turned 15. But it ends here. Today is the last time I see your detestable face.”
Maximilian spoke with a bitter expression. Noein kept smiling.
“Still, you are my son by blood. I will give you a remote territory, once granted to our family by His Majesty, and the associated minor title of Earlkvist. Do as you wish with it.”
Maximilian smirked as he spoke, pretending to be generous.
The “territory and title” sounded grand, but in reality, it was a piece of forest at the kingdom’s edge, along with the curse of being tied to it.
It was land the Kivileft family couldn’t neglect due to royal decree, but neither could they afford the cost and effort to develop it. It was a burden, passed to Noein as a way to sever ties.
Maximilian thought this would dispose of both a troublesome son and unwanted land. Noein understood these twisted intentions.
“I will also give you some severance money… Is that acceptable?”
“Just one more thing… May I take one of the family’s slaves with me?”
…
Noein’s father, Count Kivileft, ruled one of the largest territories in the southern kingdom. His mother, however, was a poor commoner.
She was a maid in the Kivileft household, and her looks were decent. When she was younger and more naïve, Maximilian Kivileft had an affair with her, which resulted in Noein’s birth.
Normally, an illegitimate child born to a servant would be discreetly dealt with, but Noein’s mother was cunning. She spread the news of her pregnancy throughout the household and the county, forcing the Count to acknowledge Noein as his son.
She became a concubine, leading a luxurious life, but showed no love for Noein, who was merely a tool for her ambition. She died of an illness when Noein was nine.
Noein’s life then became exceedingly dull.
His father, though he saw Noein as a nuisance, did not have the courage to kill his own acknowledged child. However, he couldn’t defy the Countess’s demand to keep the child away from her family.
As a result, Noein was confined to a separate house on the estate’s edge, given a small allowance, and lived in isolation for six years, without seeing his father, stepmother, or half-siblings.
During this time, books and golems kept him entertained.
Noein borrowed books from the family’s library through his slave, Mathilda, gaining knowledge that would be useful once he was expelled from the family.
At ten, he received the “Blessing Ceremony” at the church, discovering his talent for “Puppet Magic,” a rather unpopular ability.
He saved his allowance to buy golems and mastered controlling them.
On his fifteenth birthday, his father visited, and they met face-to-face for the first time in six years, leading to the earlier scene.
…
Despite the twisted reasons, Noein was somewhat grateful to his father for supporting him until adulthood.
His father, at least, did more as a parent than his selfish, indulgent mother.
However, he also resented his father for the unjustified contempt and for robbing him of his freedom during his youth.
He also despised his father’s lack of dignity and responsibility as a great noble.
Moreover, his father pretended to be generous while giving him a remote, cursed territory.
Though he owed his life to his father, Noein’s resentment was much greater.
Nonetheless, he was now free from that house. He wouldn’t have to feel his father’s presence ever again.
After about three months of travel, he arrived at his destination—the edge of the Kingdom of Lordberg, in the far northwest, in the Keinitz Viscounty.
The Bezel Great Forest, stretching north to south and forming a natural border between the kingdom and its western neighbor, lay there.
A part of this forest, directly west of the Keinitz Viscounty, was Noein Earlkvist’s new territory.
After greeting the current Viscount Keinitz, who would be his “noble neighbor,” he set out for his forest.
Following the path cleared by the golems, Noein resolved, with a hint of spite, to live a life filled with happiness and love, unlike his detestable father.
