Spoiler Under the oak tree

Avery Very · Sep 3, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

The author also said that she always compared Riftan to a hunting dog and Maxi to fire, because it should reflect their personalities. And it describes maxi really well, because when she is mad, she gets really aggressive.
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Lol who would've thought she would have an agressive side? She's always so meek and quiet. And yes we always end up getting close with people we are comfortable to speak with. Plus, she punched Riftan? The guts of the little woman. Lololol she's the only who would dare

Missy2894 said: ↑

Yes yes, Ruth is like a personal trainer in a gym you want to kill when he ask you to do hundreds sit up excercise, but you realize how much you appreciate him after you see the result in your body shape and health
To be honest, we all need Ruth in our life guys!
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You comparing ruth to a personal trainer is so on point lol
And yes,we ALL need a Ruth in our lives who would smack some senses into us sometimes

Missy2894 · Aug 28, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

The next part I will write spoiler about bit by bit is Riftan POV, but because there are too many chapters, I will summary most of them and only translate some part that I think are really interesting to know more about. But if there are scenes of Riftans POV you all really want to read yourself after knowing the summary, just mention them, maybe I will translate them, too, when I find the time.
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Oh yeah, i am anticipating rush of sugar in my blood
I predict Riftan POV will have some roller coaster emotion effect
Can't wait!

Missy2894 · Aug 28, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

in part 2 her real personality comes out and she has a fierce temper and talks back rudely to Ruth, too.
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Now our lady become the opponent of Ruth arguments, hell yeah, three years of training really do some good to her character development
I love to see their arguments

ainosz said: ↑

I laughed in many scenes where her aggressive side came out. she even punched Riftan, I think three times, and one time was with pinecones and another time was with a book. but that was only in the times where she was really, really mad.
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It is just in my imagination, i can see her really mad at Riftan and his hubby just stay silent at the certain point. After the emotion cool down, Riftan, his beloved hubby will go to her, and at the end of the day he will hug her, give her a kiss and embrace her, put an end to their fight
Awww, i am getting ahead of myself and start imagining things that might not happen

Missy2894 · Aug 28, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

Sadly no, the side stories are not full of sugar, but they will melt and break your heart at the same time, because they are full of his longing for maxi. Also, they play at the time before they married till the time where he made his way to the dragon.
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Well, at least the roller coaster part was true, i was anticipating it, i know it will be up and down, shaking and tearing my heart again
I kind of hope some sweetness though, well, maybe just keep it for another time
By the way is there any update from the author, or the novel is still hiatus?

Missy2894 · Aug 28, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

Nope, when they fight, they both scream at each other, just like the part I once posted, where Riftan asked her why she is so close to the head of the divine knights. But their fights in Part 2 are really emotional and because of the complicated situation they are in and how hurt Riftan is, they can't make up and when they have a little time to talk it out, it's a really sad, but also cute scene
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Oh, this sneak peek already break my heart for hubby Riftan. But i can endure it, i really like to see what is actually going on in his head. Just like how heartbreak i am for Maxi in the first part

ainosz said: ↑

But in Part 1 there was once a really cute fight scene that happened just like you described it, with Maxi being mad and Riftan begging her for forgiveness. It was the part where Maxi practiced magic without telling him.
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Haha, actually i get the idea from previous spoiler where Riftan is all about letting Maxi win and pampering her
I really hope the author continue the work immediately, so we can see their reconciliation after being apart for three years

IceQueenRinne1234 · Aug 29, 2020

This is so cute and sad!!!!!!!!!

IceQueenRinne1234 · Aug 29, 2020

the manhua will cause a HUGE RIOT LADIES AND GENTS!!!!!!!!!!

Nanaloca · Aug 29, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

So, here the summary of the first six chapters of Riftan's POV. Just like I said, it takes place at the time before Riftan took Maxi to Anatol and before Riftan beat the dragon. Also, Riftans POV are the side stories of Part 1 and are numbered as chapter 1 to chapter 44. Be prepared for the emotional rollercoaster and get you tissues ready.

- Riftan is 12 years old in this chapters and working as an apprentice for the blacksmith of Duke Croix. He lives with his mother and stepfather in a run down house and his stepfather payed the fee for his education with his last saved money for Riftan to learn something, so that in the future he could have a perspective and a better job than his stepfather
- the head of the blacksmith shop is a cruel and rude person, that doesn't let Riftan learn much and just let's him do useless hard work, like a servant, so he doesn't like the job there
- when it's time to go home, Riftan is always exhausted from work and washes his face, hands and clothes in the stream and sometimes he finds sparkling pebbles there, that he gifts to Maxi, who is 6 years old at that time. Also, just to take some confusion away, the physical abuse the duke did to maxi started when she was 8 years old

When it was finally time to go home from the day's work, there was no energy left to vent out curse words. He scrubbed his charcoal-black hands and face in the stream and washed his stained clothes. Then he wore his wet clothes roughly again and turned to go home. Then suddenly, he found something shiny in the drizzling water.

He bent over and picked it up. A white pebble the size of a thumb was shining in the light. Riftan, who was fiddling with a particularly white, smooth stone, pushed it into his clothes and strode away. He was exhausted, but he suddenly felt a surge of enegy.

He roamed though the dense forest and moved toward the patronage of the castle. After walking a long time through the dense oak forest, a magnificent structure emerged through the trees.

He rolled his eyes, pretending to get firewood from the firewood storehouse next to him. After a while, he could find a little girl crouching down at the corner of the detached garden, picking up something. When he saw her, what had been lumped in his heart melted like a lie.

Riftan slowly walked in front of her, pretending to carry an armful of firewood. There were many servants besides him who came for firewood, so she didn't seem to think anything strange about his approach.

However, the black hound, who was always chasing her, immediately showed caution and pricked up his ears. Riftan carefully laid down the white pebble, taking care not to get closer than necessary.

Then, he moved away quickly, as if he had other business to do. A moment later, as he turned his head over his shoulder, he could see her picking up the pebble and tucking it into a colorful cloth pocket.

He walked toward the gate, holding back a laugh. He couldn't help thinking that he was an idiot. What makes him so happy? Riftan, who was running out of the castle with light steps as if flying, suddenly smiled bitterly.

He couldn't understand himself. To see that girl once, every day he goes around the huge castle and then goes home...is he out of his mind?

She wasn't even a kid he could play with. She was the daughter of the lord, someone he was not even allowed to talk to first.

If anyone notices that he's feeling close to her on his own, he'll be ridiculed at for being "shameless." He suddenly sighed hard and kicked the floor roughly.

It's clear that she didn't even notice his presence anyway. She doesn't know that he sometimes throws strange colored feathers or small pebbles in the garden, or wonders if she found it properly or what kind of crown she made with it, every time he lay down in bed. (side note: When Maxi got back to her father estate after the first war, she met her nanny again, who also mentioned to her, that when maxi was younger, she always collected stones and other things to make crowns)

He came back to reality, looking down at the old cabin that sat at the bottom of the hill. She was not the girl who lived in his neighbor's house. She was the duke's daughter, who ruled this great land, and he was the most humble member of his land.

He trudged toward his mother, who didn't even look at him, his stepfather, who silently drinks every day, and his cabin, where a smashing loneliness awaits.

***

It was not long after he began to do chores in the stables of the castle that he cared about her. He saw her crouching in the backyard of the detached house while he was carrying a cart full of straw to the barn.

He immediately noticed that the little girl was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Croix and quickly tried to pass by. But somehow he couldn't move his legs.

The little girl, as small as a doll, held the black hound tightly in her short arms and buried her face in his fluffy fur. When he saw her clinging to a dog that was bigger than her size, his body hardened and his heart ached for no reason.

He noticed that she wanted to be held by someone. He could feel her loneliness as vividly as his. He also would bury his face in the neck of a foal and soothe his loneliness in that way.

Why is that girl, with hundreds of servants, looking for warmth from a mere hound? Is she as lonely as he is? When he thought of it, he had the presumptuous urge to comfort her.

Even a passing dog would laugh at that. Who comforts whom? He was a servant in the stables cleaning horse shit, and she was the daughter of a duke.

Perhaps that girl's life is full of noble things he can't even imagine. A glittering marble palace and a banquet hall decorated with golden chandeliers, she has soft fabrics and sweet, greasy foods that he will never touch....

She must sleep in a cloud-like bed full of feathers and be able to eat and drink as much as she wants. She will not experience the pain of working until the skin of her palm is peeling off until the day she dies.

He shook off his strange sense of homogeneity and took a step toward the barn. But since that day, he couldn't stop chasing her with his eyes every time he passed by the detached house.

When he saw her drooping shoulders and the sullen back of her head, he felt sorry for her, and when he saw her smiling, he felt better. When she was not seen, he was worried that she might be sick. Before he knew it, she had become a soothing creature to him for the day's loneliness.

Riftan laughed at himself and put the bag of charcoal he got yesterday evening, in the kiln. On the one hand, he knew that he was only creating a comfort zone to escape from the harsh reality.

He's just projecting himself on his own, and in fact the girl may not be lonely. It's all just his delusions and she must be having fun and happy days. The idea that his sloppy gifts are pleasing her is also a vain wish.

She could get as much real jewelry as she wanted. When she grow a little more, she will forget the fact that she has collected pebbles.

- after that, Riftan tried to erase her from his head, but every time he thinks of her, he feels like he is not alone
- he knows that he will live this hard and unfulfilling life till the end of his days, but because he is born with a strong body, he would live longer than other people. Still, because he is a mixed-blood illegitimate child with an unknown father and a southern mother, there will be no people who would ever buy something from him, because people there are really racist at that time
- some days later, Riftan is at work again and the cruel blacksmith tells him to go and get lime again, because they run out of it

He spat on the floor, rattled and dragged the cart along a shortcut. After he walk through the thick forest for a while, he heard a dog barking from somewhere.

Riftan stopped walking. He looked back and forth, but he couldn't see the dog anywhere. He frowned, left the cart alone, and turned his steps in the direction of the sound.

As he jumped over the thick bushes and passed three or four beautiful trees, he saw a black dog lowering its body to the fullest and barking violently at something.

If he didn't see wrong, then that dog was the faithful guard of the duke's daughter. What the hell is it doing in a place like this without the owner? Riftan, who was frowning, opened his eyes wide the next moment.

Where the dog was barking wildly, a large lizard, which was about the size of a head, was sticking out its tongue.

Riftan instinctively leaned down flat and observed the creature's appearance. It was the first time in his life that he saw something like that. The whole body was wrapped in thorn-like scales, and two needle-like pointed teeth stood out in the large mouth that opened menacingly.

Perhaps a monster has gone into hiding. As he was stuck in thoughts, the dog rushed at the lizard. Then the lizard used its long tail to hit the hound's body, and then snapped the dog's neck.

While he stiffened and blankly stared at the scene, something popped out from the bushes. He held his breath. The young lady from the duke's family grabbed a long branch and began to hit the lizard's body.

He swears that he has never seen a more frightening scene than this. He was so shocked that he couldn't move a muscle.

The lizard swung its head, threw the dog away, and then rushed straight at her. Seeing this, Riftan picked up a stone from the floor and ran like a lightning bolt.

When the long neck of the monster was shot down with a pointed stone, the body thicker than his forearm jumped up convulsively. The lizard spewed venom at him with a roar.

He dodged by quickly receding back and threw the stone as hard as he could. Then a big stone stuck in its throat. The monster struggled and wriggled its long tail vigorously.

He quickly picked up a branch that fell on the floor and poked it into his empty stomach. After a while, the bizarre creature's body soon drooped. He kicked it away and breathed hard.

His heart thumped quickly like horseshoes, and cold sweat flowed down his back like a waterfall. If he could, he wanted to put the girl who did this fearless thing on his lap and hit her buttocks violently.

Riftan glared at her with a fierce look. However, when he saw her sitting on the floor and wrestling in pain, his anger disappeared as if it had washed away and his fear surged in.

He scuttled down in front of her and examined her thoroughly. Blood was flowing from her forearm. She was bitten by that damn bastard. Without thinking, he loosened his belt and tied it tightly on the upper part of the wound.

Then the little girl tilted her head back as if she was about to burst into tears.

He desperately looked at the thin arm, thats less than a handful, from top to bottom. She cried and moved her hands and feet.

"Ah... it hurts!"

"We need to get the poison out. Stay still!"

Later, he might lose his neck for disrespect, but for now, there was nothing else he sees. He made her calm by shouting, then put his mouth on the wound, sucked blood and spat it out on the floor.

After repeated it several times, he held her doll-like little body in his arms and hurried toward nature. Then she burst into tears.

"My... puppy....”

He turned his head over his shoulder. The dog was limp and motionless. As he bit his lip and moved again, the crying girl pulled his hair.

"My... my puppy, too, I have to take him.”

"I'll take him with me later."

He made a promise that he couldn't keep and moved his legs in a hurry. She wrapped her small, thin arms around his neck and sniffled.

"Y, you must."

It felt like his heart was breaking. Hugging her small back tightly, he ran frantically through the woods. He doesn't know how many times he almost tripped over a tree root in a hurry. The body, which was getting colder and colder, was rubbed anxiously with the palm of his hand and after running for a long time, the castle finally came into view. He shouted so loud that his throat almost tore.

"H, help me! The lady has been bitten by a monster!"

The maid, carrying a laundry basket, turned her head and screamed. She dashed to them, tossing her basket.

"Lady!"

Hearing her shrill voice, the servants rushed over, wondering what was going on. He breathed heavily and shouted over and over again.

"It was a monster that looked like a lizard! He bit her arm. You need to get it treated quickly!"

"Get her over here right now!"

The chubby maid snatched her from his arms and ran toward the castle. He gasped and gazed at the figure with hazy eyes.

Her limp figure in the maid's arms soon vanished into the magnificent building. Riftan, who was unconsciously trying to chase after her, was grabbed by the shoulder by a guard.

"Where are you going?"

"I just want to see for a moment, if she's okay."

- after that, the guard didn't let Riftan see her and even doubted Riftan and called for a knight, so Riftan needed to show the knight where the monster is
- while on their way there, Riftan was really worried about Maxi even thought he knew that she would be treated by a priest
- after the knight saw the dead lizard, he was surprised by Riftan killing the monster alone
- Riftan, who was still worried about Maxi, asked the knight if she will be alright, which he affirmed but to cover up the incident, the knight gave Riftan four silver coins so that Riftan shuts up about it
- Riftan is mad because of this, but knows that he has no veto right so he just accepts the coins and told the knight, that he will burry the dog
- he puts the dead dog on the cart and buried him in a secluded place and is sad, because he thinks that this dead dog was maybe the only friend she had to soothe her loneliness
- after that he got back to the blacksmith, where he was yelled at and hit for being too late, and then continued to do his work
- but his body was getting colder and colder after some time and he realized that the poison he sucked out of her wound affected him, too
- after working the rest of the day in that state, he got home, where no one was there and lied down powerless in bed
- the thought of dying like that in vain filled his heart with loneliness and he asked himself what the hell he was thinking, when it's clear that unlike him, maxi will receive the best treatment and thinks that he has done something useless
- but when he remembers her crying face and small body lying in his arms, his twisted emotions vanished like a lie and he thinks that it doesn't matter if he dies.
- he thinks that even if no one will ever know that, he would die a heroic dead by dying after he saved a precious young lady, and then he falls asleep
- he wakes up to a cold touch on his forehead and realized that his mother, who always avoided his eyes, looked at him anxiously and gives him some herbs to drink (side note: his mother couldn't look into his eyes, because Riftan looks just like his biological father. He only got the skin and hair color from his mother)
- his mother cares for him and even wipes his mouth with a careful touch, which surprises Riftan
- after two days of rest, Riftan gets better and goes to work again and because there is much work to do, the blacksmith finally let Riftan learn how to make a horsehoe and while he needed to go out to the stable, he quickly wanted to check, how maxi is doing

He had been hammering for a long time, and when the basket was full of horseshoes, he took it over his shoulder and stepped toward the stable. As he was walking fast across the forest, he suddenly saw the building separated from the castle. Riftan lingered for a moment. Then he couldn't overcome his urge and moved his steps there.

He felt like a fool but couldn't shake off his desire to see her safe.

As he reached the detached house, he slowed down and looked over the garden. She was squatting in front of the flower bed scratching the floor with a branch.

For a moment, he felt relieved by seeing her looking healthy, but his heart sank heavy as she was gloomy looking down at the ground with her pale gray eyes.

Maybe she's waiting for him to bring her dog. Watching her big eyes glancing around and repeatedly falling back to the floor, Riftan quickly passed by as if running away.

'Now stop caring. You're just going to see something terrible again.'

He ran toward the stable, shaking her look of loneliness out of his head. However, even after seeing the foals look so pretty after a long time, the depressing feeling did not improve.

Riftan helped mechanically to replace the horseshoe, then returned to the blacksmith's shop and hammered them. It wasn't until dusk that the blacksmiths arranged their tools that they worked with so frantic.

"You just clean up and go back."

One of the blacksmiths shouted curtly. Riftan swept away the ash powder and dust piled up all over the place and scrubbed the scorched marks until they all vanished.

After roughly cleaning up, he turned around to go home, but something caught on his feet. He lowered his gaze. A crushed horseshoe was rolling around the floor. It seemed to be a defective product that was abandoned because it was not properly melted.

At the thought that suddenly came to his mind, Riftan bent over to get it and looked back at the anvil. He hesitated for a moment, fiddling with the horseshoe.

The whole cleaning had been done. As soon as he woke up from his bed, he couldn't rest properly and was about to collapse. It was a hundred times more beneficial to quit the useless thought and go home and sleep even a little more.

Even though he thought so, he walked to the fireplace and set the charcoal on fire again. After stepping on the bellows to raise the temperature to the fullest, he heated up the horseshoe and tapped it with a hammer. His shoulders and forearms ached.

While frowning, Riftan flattened the slanted horseshoe, then took the tools and made it clumsily into a crown. However, it took a long time to complete the work, which was pitifully poor.

Riftan stared at the unsmooth, wrinkled iron ring, sighed, and stuffed it into his clothes. What kind of crown is that crown? You did something useless. He laughed at himself and left the castle straight away.

- When he comes back home, his mother is there, who looks at him really surprised and in this unfamiliar reaction, he thinks that, maybe she was worried about him, because he was late
- she gives him something to eat and Riftan ask her where his father is and she hesitantly answers that he hasn't come yet (side note: Riftan asked about his stepfather, but I think Riftans mother meant his real father at this moment)
- after he eat he lied on the bed and his mother asked him if he feels better, which he affirms and thinks that it feels unfamiliar for him, that she is showing interest in him
- before he sleeps, she carefully put the blanket over him and that almost brings him to tears and he thinks that being sick is not bad
- the next day he was at work, he met maxi again

The next day was another busy day. He bustled around the blacksmith's workshop from dawn, which was like a steamer. The blacksmiths were all on edge because they had to complete the weapons repair for the knights before they left the castle.

Trying not to offend them as much as possible, he was handling chores at his best, and suddenly curly red hair came into sight.

Riftan, who was carrying firewood, blinked his eyes stupidly. The duke's daughter was hiding behind the door and peeping only her head out to spy on the inside of the blacksmith's workshop.

'What the hell are you doing here?'

He glared at her with narrowed eyes and looked out the door. No other person was seen. Riftan hardened his face. The blacksmith's workshop was a good distance away from the annex.

You came all the way here by yourself? He threw the firewood beside the furnace and walked toward the door. He couldn't believe they let her walk around alone after something like that happened just a few days ago. Are they all out of their mind? Shouldn't a guardian always be watching her?

A blacksmith snatched him roughly at his arm as he strode toward her with the thought of giving her a strong warning.

"Pretend you don't know. Don't you know workers shouldn't talk to her first?”

"It's dangerous for a child to be alone in a place like this!"

"That's what her servants are responsible for."

The blacksmith gave him a blunt answer and pushed him back roughly.

"All we have to do is do our job! Don't just step up and make useless trouble."

Riftan glared at him with angry eyes. However, other blacksmiths have been giving him irritating glances as if they were all thinking the same thing. Everyone seems to have noticed her existence and pretended not to know it. As he stood motionless, the blacksmith shook his fist menacingly.

"Didn't you hear me telling you to stop paying attention and do your job?!"

Riftan turned around reluctantly. But while hammering, he couldn't prevent his gaze from turning towards the door. She was looking around inside the forge with big curious eyes.

'What are you looking for?'

There were too many dangerous objects in the forge for children. Weapons were piled up like mountains everywhere, sparks were coming from all over the place, and the air was cloudy because of the smoke. He was watching with nervous feelings, that she might get harmed, but by chance, he met her big gray eyes.

She hurriedly hid her face behind the door in surprise.

He laughed vainly as he looked at the hem of her skirt and her curly red hair sticking out beside the door.

Is that what you call hiding? He shook his head, and she poked her head out again and looked at him. And then, when their eyes meet, she hide behind the door again, and then she sticks out her head again and stares at him....

Riftan raised his brows. Did she come to see him? She may have come to ask why he didn't bring her dog. At that thought he turned his head sharply.

He didn't had the confidence to tell her that he had buried the dog. He hammered loudly, pretending to be busy.

After he did that for a while, he turned his eyes back toward the door again, but she was nowhere to be seen. She seemed to have given up and went back. He bit his lips. Still, he can't let her walk around alone.

Riftan pretended to be going out to collect the scarce materials and went out of the smithy with some empty sacks. Then he grabbed the handcart he had set up next to the forge, but something unfamiliar caught his eyes.

He blinked his eyes vaguely. A corolla made of colorful summer flowers lay by the window. He picked it up, stared down at it, looked up and looked around. She hid behind a tree and watched him closely.

‘…Did you put it here on purpose?

He hesitated and put it back in place and pretended to drag the cart away. Then she jumped up and stomped her feet, visibly restless. Riftan swallowed a smile and picked up the corolla again.

Turning his eyes to her again, he could see her glassy eyes twinkling with anticipation.

'...are you here to deliver this?'

He carefully touched the flowers on the corolla. Then, a shout came from outside the door.

"What are you doing in there when we're so busy!"

Surprised by the angry voice, the girl, who had been hesitating for a while, swung around and ran out into the woods. Riftan glared disapprovingly at the forges interior.

"...I'm just trying to make up for it because we are out of charcoal.”

"Then don't procrastinate and go!"

With a sigh, Riftan pushed the cart into the forest where she ran and followed her. It seems that he would only be relieved when he saw her safely returning to the detached house.

He looked anxiously at her running through the thick trees, then looked down again at the corolla on the handle. Did she make it for him? He kept laughing at the thought of her wriggling with her tiny hands to do a corolla.

He forgot his fatigue and pushed the cart vigorously with light steps. When he returned to the blacksmith's workshop after confirming that she has safely entered the detached building, he saw the blacksmiths busily hammering. One of them glared ferociously, as if to tell him that he was not helping quickly enough. Riftan swallowed a sigh.

If he could, he wanted to go home right away and keep the corolla safe so that it wouldn't go bad, but he still had a lot of time left to finish work.

Riftan hid the flower crown in the warehouse, then walked back to the furnace and began using the bellows. When it was finally time to finish all the day's work and return home, his whole body was soaked with sweat.

He washed his face roughly with the water in the bucket and took the corolla out of the warehouse. The flowers had withered a little after half a day. He looked at it with regret, and carefully held the petals in one hand to prevent them from falling as much as possible, and escaped the blacksmith's hand.

Passing through a forest that was reddish with sunset, and circling in front of the detached house, a garden full of summer flowers unfolded before him. But she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was scolded for sneaking around alone.

Riftan stared still at the spot where she often sat, then he put his hand in his clothes and pulled out a horseshoe-shaped crown.

He thought he should leave this behind here, but it was still very poor. Riftan, who had been touching the dull iron ring with his fingertips, put it back in his arms.

If he buys some small beads from the village and put them on it, then it might be worth seeing a little bit. He hurried past the detached house and escaped though the gate. Even though he had a busier and harder day than usual, he felt like flying.

He went down the hill carefully, so that no petals would fall in the gentle breeze.

- after he got home, he realized that there was a strange stinging scent in the hut and opened the window and lit a light
- then he saw his mother dangling from the ceiling with a rope on her neck
- he couldn't understand what was going on and was afraid and shocked to the bone and just run out of the hut to where his stepfather is and dragged his stepfather to the hut, without managing to say a word
- as his stepfather saw his strange figure, he followed him and Riftan waited outside the house, hoping that his stepfather would tell him, that it is only a nightmare or that nothing is wrong and he shouldn't make a fuss. But his stepfather drags him in and tells him to hurriedly close the windows
- he grabs him by the shoulder and tells him, that the church never forgives suicide and that he needs to help him now, if he doesn't want his mother to become a ghoul
- after hearing that, Riftan throws up in shock and with Riftan's help, his stepfather gets the body of his mother down and puts a blanket around the body
- his stepfather tells him, that when it gets dark, they will take her body into the woods and disguise it as a dead from an animal attack, so that she could get purified
- after waiting in the hellish silence for the sun to go down, they finally take her body into the woods while his stepfather carried the body on his back, but after a while, he looses all strength to carry on and Riftan needs to take over
- Riftan is afraid and shocked by her dead body on his back. And when they finally found a perfect place, his stepfather takes out the sickle and tells him to go a little away. Riftan hides scared behind a tree with his head wrapped in his hands
- the next day his mothers body was found and brought back to his stepfather
- his stepfather payed the church with his remaining silver coins to let her get buried in the temple and the funereal was held immediately
- Riftan knows that he and his stepfather will suffer from nightmares for the rest of their life because of that, but he couldn't shed tears at the funeral
- apart from him and his stepfather, there are four other people at the funeral, two maid's of Croix castle, who his mother was close to, an old lady from the neighborhood and a strange man who looked like he was in his mid-thirties
- the man was a handsome man who had dark brown hair and a sturdy body and good clothes. Riftan knew at once that he is a nobleman and asks himself why he is here
- the man comes up to him and said, that he looks more like him than he thought and takes out a dagger that has some decorations on it
- He told him, that it's his biological fathers keepsake and that normally it would go down to a relative, but because he doesn't have any blood ties left, it's given to Riftan and he forces the dagger into Riftan's hand, because Riftan didn't want to take it, and turns away as if he has done his duty
- Riftan hurries after him and ask him what he means by that and the man ask surprised if his mother didn't tell him anything and tells him that his father was killed on the battlefield and that that dagger was dear to him. He told him that Riftan was the only one to deliver his belonging to because his father had no fiancee, nor has he started a family,
- after that he only gives Riftan his formal consolation by telling him that he is sorry and goes away
- after Riftan realized why his mother did that, he feels betrayed and angry (side note: the reason why his mother was strange and surprised by seeing Riftan the day before, was because she heard about the dead of his biological father and it's even sadder when you realize how happy Riftan was, for thinking that she was surprised because she was worried for him to come home late and then realized that it wasn't because of that )
- after the funeral, Riftan needs to go to work again, but is happy about that, because he isn't alone with his thoughts and worked till his muscle hurt
- when it was time to go home, he made his way to the hut, but hesitated, because he was still scared
- when he opened the door, it looked normal, because they cleaned the floor yesterday, but the stinging scent from last night was still there, so he started to clean the floor again

After he cleaned for a while, flabby petals touched his red-hot fingertips. He stared down at it and slowly turned his eyes. The crushed corolla was drying up in the corner.

Riftan picked it up. The petals hanging from the flower crown fluttered down to the floor. A drop of water suddenly fell on the back of his hand as he bent over and picked them up one by one.

He blinked his eyes blankly, then realized it was his own tears, and rubbed his cheek roughly with his fist. He didn't even know what he was crying about. It was a shame that he shed tears.

He put the withered flower crown in a small basket and lay down on bed without even thinking of changing his dirty clothes.

The woman's face hanging from the ceiling was like a ghost before his eyes. The black shadow still seemed to hang dangling over his head. But he had nowhere to run. Riftan covered himself with a blanket over his head and curled himself up like a small bug.

That night, his stepfather came home drunk. When he opened his eyes to the rattling sound, he saw a black figure stagger and walk to the opposite bed.

His stepfather flopped down on a pile of straw and looked down at the floor for a long time. After the heavy silence continued for a long time, a husky voice rang out.

"Don't make yourself so miserable."

Riftan blinked slowly in the dark. There was a mingling of sobbing in the voice of his stepfather.

"If you were born to be a dumpster, you have to live by looking at the ground. If you look up, you'll be unhappy." (side note: Just like the words that she is useless will haunt Maxi her whole life, these are the words that will haunt Riftan his whole life )

“.….”

"Who the hell recognizes you? If a bug died on the ground...who would take a look at it. They will just pass by and walk away. Nobody cares. No one will care. But you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't go away after living such a foolish life.”

Riftan stared at his shoulders, which were trembling, and turned his eyes toward the black ceiling. His mother's sad face floated before his eyes.

A foolish woman who at dawn combed her long hair neatly, climbed up the hill and waited for someone who would not return. A woman who cruelly left following a man who never came to her. And a stepfather who can't even blame a woman like that....

He won't cry any more. There is no more tears to shed for her. He won't forgive her for doing this until he dies. He murmured this inwardly and gently closed his eyes.

***

Since that day, Riftan repeatedly was only going to the blacksmith's shop mechanically every day and then returned home. He was so tired that he didn't know when he would fall down because he couldn't eat or rest properly, but it was better that way. He couldn't even close his eyes without putting his body to the point where he had no energy left to think.

One day, the blacksmith bluntly said, that he seemed to be in danger for driving himself like that.

"Don't come out tomorrow. I'm very busy that I don't want you to fall down and bother me, just take a day off tomorrow and come again."

It's ridiculous that the man who had been bullying him to that extent would say that. With a bitter smile, Riftan laid down his tools. But he didn't feel like going back home.

He wandered aimlessly through the woods, wiped his hands and feet stained with charcoal in the spring, and sat on a stump of wood for a while. The sound of birds singing over his head resonated peacefully.

As he looked up through the leaves with distant eyes, Riftan suddenly rose from his seat and began to trudge along. He couldn't even tell where he was going. After he walked quietly for a while, as if he had been led by something, he only came to a halt in front of the detached house.

She was sitting in a corner of a beautiful garden with flowers in full bloom. Riftan held his breath quietly. Despite the heat of midsummer, she curled her shoulders as if she were feeling cold. The sight overlapped with him lying huddled under the blanket. It looked so cold and lonely that he wanted to sit next to her and share his body temperature.

Riftan suddenly felt a strange fear and crept back. Despite standing under the scorching sun, cold sweat flowed down his back. He walked as if running away. While leaving the castle, the unknown anxiety did not disappear.

He walked down the green hill in one breath and stopped in front of the rushing stream. In the strong sunlight, the water shone like silver. In the clear water, the white and blue pebbles he had been looking for with his eyes shone.

Riftan looked down at it and rummaged through his clothes to take out the humble crown. A crown made by pounding a horseshoe.

'Are you sure you were going to hand this stuff over to the duke's daughter?'

He threw it away. The iron ring flew into the air like a boomerang and sank into the water. Riftan left the place right away, as if he had no lingering regret. But he didn't know where to go.

He couldn't rest any more in the cabin. Every time he entered there he saw the vision of his mother hanging from the ceiling. The days of daily nightmares, the face of his helpless stepfather and endless labor, poverty that can never be escaped and solitude that can never be relieved....

He rubbed his face with his rough palms. You can't live in this emptiness all your life. He didn't even want to burn himself in vain hope. He didn't want to comfort someone who he shouldn't get close to. He wanted to run away. He want to run away far away.

'Far away...'
(side note: remember the part where maxi decided to go to the world tower to change herself? Riftan was once at such a point, too...)

- after that, Riftan run to the hut with a determined face and packed his things and some food, but when he remembered his stepfathers face, he put four silver coins on the table and because that isn't enough, he also scratched the decorations from the dagger and put them down beside the coins.
- then he hurried out, before he changed his mind, and hurries to the market where he buy herbs
- he wants to buy a horse, too, but he doesn't have enough money and stealing it would be too risky
- so he headed to the largerest inn in town and saw some mercenaries putting things into wagons
- he hide and watched the scene from an alley and when they were done and gave the signal to start moving, he jumped on the wagon and hid there
- he ask himself what kind of face his stepfather would make, when he realized that he is gone
- would he be releved to lose a burden or would he feel betrayed by his son
- he also ask himself if maxi would realize that he is gone and sees her in front of his eyes, sitting alone in the garden, and ask himself, what will sooth her loneliness now
- but he shakes this thought away by thinking that she soon will get a new dog or foal in no time and after her little sister grows up, she wouldn't be alone anymore
- he thinks that she will soon forget the skinny boy who worked in the blacksmith workshop and saved her life and for whom she made a flower crown once
- he put his hand in the bag and takes out the dried flower crown that maxi made for him and remembers the words his stepfather told him, to never look up
- he decides to really never look up, so that he wouldn't become unhappy

(a little cute fact: at the beginning of the story the author planned for maxi to leave a note with the flower crown for Riftan. Riftan would have taken the note with him and cherished it all the years till the day he learned how to read and understand what Maxi wrote there. On the note Maxi would have written: "Thank you for saving me. - Maxi -". And that would be the reason why he would call her with the nickname Maxi. But at the end, the author decided to change this part )

Click to expand...

Thank youuuu @ainosz could you tells us about their encounter after some timee please

Qiqi29 · Aug 29, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

So, here the summary of the first six chapters of Riftan's POV. Just like I said, it takes place at the time before Riftan took Maxi to Anatol and before Riftan beat the dragon. Also, Riftans POV are the side stories of Part 1 and are numbered as chapter 1 to chapter 44. Be prepared for the emotional rollercoaster and get you tissues ready.

- Riftan is 12 years old in this chapters and working as an apprentice for the blacksmith of Duke Croix. He lives with his mother and stepfather in a run down house and his stepfather payed the fee for his education with his last saved money for Riftan to learn something, so that in the future he could have a perspective and a better job than his stepfather
- the head of the blacksmith shop is a cruel and rude person, that doesn't let Riftan learn much and just let's him do useless hard work, like a servant, so he doesn't like the job there
- when it's time to go home, Riftan is always exhausted from work and washes his face, hands and clothes in the stream and sometimes he finds sparkling pebbles there, that he gifts to Maxi, who is 6 years old at that time. Also, just to take some confusion away, the physical abuse the duke did to maxi started when she was 8 years old

When it was finally time to go home from the day's work, there was no energy left to vent out curse words. He scrubbed his charcoal-black hands and face in the stream and washed his stained clothes. Then he wore his wet clothes roughly again and turned to go home. Then suddenly, he found something shiny in the drizzling water.

He bent over and picked it up. A white pebble the size of a thumb was shining in the light. Riftan, who was fiddling with a particularly white, smooth stone, pushed it into his clothes and strode away. He was exhausted, but he suddenly felt a surge of enegy.

He roamed though the dense forest and moved toward the patronage of the castle. After walking a long time through the dense oak forest, a magnificent structure emerged through the trees.

He rolled his eyes, pretending to get firewood from the firewood storehouse next to him. After a while, he could find a little girl crouching down at the corner of the detached garden, picking up something. When he saw her, what had been lumped in his heart melted like a lie.

Riftan slowly walked in front of her, pretending to carry an armful of firewood. There were many servants besides him who came for firewood, so she didn't seem to think anything strange about his approach.

However, the black hound, who was always chasing her, immediately showed caution and pricked up his ears. Riftan carefully laid down the white pebble, taking care not to get closer than necessary.

Then, he moved away quickly, as if he had other business to do. A moment later, as he turned his head over his shoulder, he could see her picking up the pebble and tucking it into a colorful cloth pocket.

He walked toward the gate, holding back a laugh. He couldn't help thinking that he was an idiot. What makes him so happy? Riftan, who was running out of the castle with light steps as if flying, suddenly smiled bitterly.

He couldn't understand himself. To see that girl once, every day he goes around the huge castle and then goes home...is he out of his mind?

She wasn't even a kid he could play with. She was the daughter of the lord, someone he was not even allowed to talk to first.

If anyone notices that he's feeling close to her on his own, he'll be ridiculed at for being "shameless." He suddenly sighed hard and kicked the floor roughly.

It's clear that she didn't even notice his presence anyway. She doesn't know that he sometimes throws strange colored feathers or small pebbles in the garden, or wonders if she found it properly or what kind of crown she made with it, every time he lay down in bed. (side note: When Maxi got back to her father estate after the first war, she met her nanny again, who also mentioned to her, that when maxi was younger, she always collected stones and other things to make crowns)

He came back to reality, looking down at the old cabin that sat at the bottom of the hill. She was not the girl who lived in his neighbor's house. She was the duke's daughter, who ruled this great land, and he was the most humble member of his land.

He trudged toward his mother, who didn't even look at him, his stepfather, who silently drinks every day, and his cabin, where a smashing loneliness awaits.

***

It was not long after he began to do chores in the stables of the castle that he cared about her. He saw her crouching in the backyard of the detached house while he was carrying a cart full of straw to the barn.

He immediately noticed that the little girl was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Croix and quickly tried to pass by. But somehow he couldn't move his legs.

The little girl, as small as a doll, held the black hound tightly in her short arms and buried her face in his fluffy fur. When he saw her clinging to a dog that was bigger than her size, his body hardened and his heart ached for no reason.

He noticed that she wanted to be held by someone. He could feel her loneliness as vividly as his. He also would bury his face in the neck of a foal and soothe his loneliness in that way.

Why is that girl, with hundreds of servants, looking for warmth from a mere hound? Is she as lonely as he is? When he thought of it, he had the presumptuous urge to comfort her.

Even a passing dog would laugh at that. Who comforts whom? He was a servant in the stables cleaning horse shit, and she was the daughter of a duke.

Perhaps that girl's life is full of noble things he can't even imagine. A glittering marble palace and a banquet hall decorated with golden chandeliers, she has soft fabrics and sweet, greasy foods that he will never touch....

She must sleep in a cloud-like bed full of feathers and be able to eat and drink as much as she wants. She will not experience the pain of working until the skin of her palm is peeling off until the day she dies.

He shook off his strange sense of homogeneity and took a step toward the barn. But since that day, he couldn't stop chasing her with his eyes every time he passed by the detached house.

When he saw her drooping shoulders and the sullen back of her head, he felt sorry for her, and when he saw her smiling, he felt better. When she was not seen, he was worried that she might be sick. Before he knew it, she had become a soothing creature to him for the day's loneliness.

Riftan laughed at himself and put the bag of charcoal he got yesterday evening, in the kiln. On the one hand, he knew that he was only creating a comfort zone to escape from the harsh reality.

He's just projecting himself on his own, and in fact the girl may not be lonely. It's all just his delusions and she must be having fun and happy days. The idea that his sloppy gifts are pleasing her is also a vain wish.

She could get as much real jewelry as she wanted. When she grow a little more, she will forget the fact that she has collected pebbles.

- after that, Riftan tried to erase her from his head, but every time he thinks of her, he feels like he is not alone
- he knows that he will live this hard and unfulfilling life till the end of his days, but because he is born with a strong body, he would live longer than other people. Still, because he is a mixed-blood illegitimate child with an unknown father and a southern mother, there will be no people who would ever buy something from him, because people there are really racist at that time
- some days later, Riftan is at work again and the cruel blacksmith tells him to go and get lime again, because they run out of it

He spat on the floor, rattled and dragged the cart along a shortcut. After he walk through the thick forest for a while, he heard a dog barking from somewhere.

Riftan stopped walking. He looked back and forth, but he couldn't see the dog anywhere. He frowned, left the cart alone, and turned his steps in the direction of the sound.

As he jumped over the thick bushes and passed three or four beautiful trees, he saw a black dog lowering its body to the fullest and barking violently at something.

If he didn't see wrong, then that dog was the faithful guard of the duke's daughter. What the hell is it doing in a place like this without the owner? Riftan, who was frowning, opened his eyes wide the next moment.

Where the dog was barking wildly, a large lizard, which was about the size of a head, was sticking out its tongue.

Riftan instinctively leaned down flat and observed the creature's appearance. It was the first time in his life that he saw something like that. The whole body was wrapped in thorn-like scales, and two needle-like pointed teeth stood out in the large mouth that opened menacingly.

Perhaps a monster has gone into hiding. As he was stuck in thoughts, the dog rushed at the lizard. Then the lizard used its long tail to hit the hound's body, and then snapped the dog's neck.

While he stiffened and blankly stared at the scene, something popped out from the bushes. He held his breath. The young lady from the duke's family grabbed a long branch and began to hit the lizard's body.

He swears that he has never seen a more frightening scene than this. He was so shocked that he couldn't move a muscle.

The lizard swung its head, threw the dog away, and then rushed straight at her. Seeing this, Riftan picked up a stone from the floor and ran like a lightning bolt.

When the long neck of the monster was shot down with a pointed stone, the body thicker than his forearm jumped up convulsively. The lizard spewed venom at him with a roar.

He dodged by quickly receding back and threw the stone as hard as he could. Then a big stone stuck in its throat. The monster struggled and wriggled its long tail vigorously.

He quickly picked up a branch that fell on the floor and poked it into his empty stomach. After a while, the bizarre creature's body soon drooped. He kicked it away and breathed hard.

His heart thumped quickly like horseshoes, and cold sweat flowed down his back like a waterfall. If he could, he wanted to put the girl who did this fearless thing on his lap and hit her buttocks violently.

Riftan glared at her with a fierce look. However, when he saw her sitting on the floor and wrestling in pain, his anger disappeared as if it had washed away and his fear surged in.

He scuttled down in front of her and examined her thoroughly. Blood was flowing from her forearm. She was bitten by that damn bastard. Without thinking, he loosened his belt and tied it tightly on the upper part of the wound.

Then the little girl tilted her head back as if she was about to burst into tears.

He desperately looked at the thin arm, thats less than a handful, from top to bottom. She cried and moved her hands and feet.

"Ah... it hurts!"

"We need to get the poison out. Stay still!"

Later, he might lose his neck for disrespect, but for now, there was nothing else he sees. He made her calm by shouting, then put his mouth on the wound, sucked blood and spat it out on the floor.

After repeated it several times, he held her doll-like little body in his arms and hurried toward nature. Then she burst into tears.

"My... puppy....”

He turned his head over his shoulder. The dog was limp and motionless. As he bit his lip and moved again, the crying girl pulled his hair.

"My... my puppy, too, I have to take him.”

"I'll take him with me later."

He made a promise that he couldn't keep and moved his legs in a hurry. She wrapped her small, thin arms around his neck and sniffled.

"Y, you must."

It felt like his heart was breaking. Hugging her small back tightly, he ran frantically through the woods. He doesn't know how many times he almost tripped over a tree root in a hurry. The body, which was getting colder and colder, was rubbed anxiously with the palm of his hand and after running for a long time, the castle finally came into view. He shouted so loud that his throat almost tore.

"H, help me! The lady has been bitten by a monster!"

The maid, carrying a laundry basket, turned her head and screamed. She dashed to them, tossing her basket.

"Lady!"

Hearing her shrill voice, the servants rushed over, wondering what was going on. He breathed heavily and shouted over and over again.

"It was a monster that looked like a lizard! He bit her arm. You need to get it treated quickly!"

"Get her over here right now!"

The chubby maid snatched her from his arms and ran toward the castle. He gasped and gazed at the figure with hazy eyes.

Her limp figure in the maid's arms soon vanished into the magnificent building. Riftan, who was unconsciously trying to chase after her, was grabbed by the shoulder by a guard.

"Where are you going?"

"I just want to see for a moment, if she's okay."

- after that, the guard didn't let Riftan see her and even doubted Riftan and called for a knight, so Riftan needed to show the knight where the monster is
- while on their way there, Riftan was really worried about Maxi even thought he knew that she would be treated by a priest
- after the knight saw the dead lizard, he was surprised by Riftan killing the monster alone
- Riftan, who was still worried about Maxi, asked the knight if she will be alright, which he affirmed but to cover up the incident, the knight gave Riftan four silver coins so that Riftan shuts up about it
- Riftan is mad because of this, but knows that he has no veto right so he just accepts the coins and told the knight, that he will burry the dog
- he puts the dead dog on the cart and buried him in a secluded place and is sad, because he thinks that this dead dog was maybe the only friend she had to soothe her loneliness
- after that he got back to the blacksmith, where he was yelled at and hit for being too late, and then continued to do his work
- but his body was getting colder and colder after some time and he realized that the poison he sucked out of her wound affected him, too
- after working the rest of the day in that state, he got home, where no one was there and lied down powerless in bed
- the thought of dying like that in vain filled his heart with loneliness and he asked himself what the hell he was thinking, when it's clear that unlike him, maxi will receive the best treatment and thinks that he has done something useless
- but when he remembers her crying face and small body lying in his arms, his twisted emotions vanished like a lie and he thinks that it doesn't matter if he dies.
- he thinks that even if no one will ever know that, he would die a heroic dead by dying after he saved a precious young lady, and then he falls asleep
- he wakes up to a cold touch on his forehead and realized that his mother, who always avoided his eyes, looked at him anxiously and gives him some herbs to drink (side note: his mother couldn't look into his eyes, because Riftan looks just like his biological father. He only got the skin and hair color from his mother)
- his mother cares for him and even wipes his mouth with a careful touch, which surprises Riftan
- after two days of rest, Riftan gets better and goes to work again and because there is much work to do, the blacksmith finally let Riftan learn how to make a horsehoe and while he needed to go out to the stable, he quickly wanted to check, how maxi is doing

He had been hammering for a long time, and when the basket was full of horseshoes, he took it over his shoulder and stepped toward the stable. As he was walking fast across the forest, he suddenly saw the building separated from the castle. Riftan lingered for a moment. Then he couldn't overcome his urge and moved his steps there.

He felt like a fool but couldn't shake off his desire to see her safe.

As he reached the detached house, he slowed down and looked over the garden. She was squatting in front of the flower bed scratching the floor with a branch.

For a moment, he felt relieved by seeing her looking healthy, but his heart sank heavy as she was gloomy looking down at the ground with her pale gray eyes.

Maybe she's waiting for him to bring her dog. Watching her big eyes glancing around and repeatedly falling back to the floor, Riftan quickly passed by as if running away.

'Now stop caring. You're just going to see something terrible again.'

He ran toward the stable, shaking her look of loneliness out of his head. However, even after seeing the foals look so pretty after a long time, the depressing feeling did not improve.

Riftan helped mechanically to replace the horseshoe, then returned to the blacksmith's shop and hammered them. It wasn't until dusk that the blacksmiths arranged their tools that they worked with so frantic.

"You just clean up and go back."

One of the blacksmiths shouted curtly. Riftan swept away the ash powder and dust piled up all over the place and scrubbed the scorched marks until they all vanished.

After roughly cleaning up, he turned around to go home, but something caught on his feet. He lowered his gaze. A crushed horseshoe was rolling around the floor. It seemed to be a defective product that was abandoned because it was not properly melted.

At the thought that suddenly came to his mind, Riftan bent over to get it and looked back at the anvil. He hesitated for a moment, fiddling with the horseshoe.

The whole cleaning had been done. As soon as he woke up from his bed, he couldn't rest properly and was about to collapse. It was a hundred times more beneficial to quit the useless thought and go home and sleep even a little more.

Even though he thought so, he walked to the fireplace and set the charcoal on fire again. After stepping on the bellows to raise the temperature to the fullest, he heated up the horseshoe and tapped it with a hammer. His shoulders and forearms ached.

While frowning, Riftan flattened the slanted horseshoe, then took the tools and made it clumsily into a crown. However, it took a long time to complete the work, which was pitifully poor.

Riftan stared at the unsmooth, wrinkled iron ring, sighed, and stuffed it into his clothes. What kind of crown is that crown? You did something useless. He laughed at himself and left the castle straight away.

- When he comes back home, his mother is there, who looks at him really surprised and in this unfamiliar reaction, he thinks that, maybe she was worried about him, because he was late
- she gives him something to eat and Riftan ask her where his father is and she hesitantly answers that he hasn't come yet (side note: Riftan asked about his stepfather, but I think Riftans mother meant his real father at this moment)
- after he eat he lied on the bed and his mother asked him if he feels better, which he affirms and thinks that it feels unfamiliar for him, that she is showing interest in him
- before he sleeps, she carefully put the blanket over him and that almost brings him to tears and he thinks that being sick is not bad
- the next day he was at work, he met maxi again

The next day was another busy day. He bustled around the blacksmith's workshop from dawn, which was like a steamer. The blacksmiths were all on edge because they had to complete the weapons repair for the knights before they left the castle.

Trying not to offend them as much as possible, he was handling chores at his best, and suddenly curly red hair came into sight.

Riftan, who was carrying firewood, blinked his eyes stupidly. The duke's daughter was hiding behind the door and peeping only her head out to spy on the inside of the blacksmith's workshop.

'What the hell are you doing here?'

He glared at her with narrowed eyes and looked out the door. No other person was seen. Riftan hardened his face. The blacksmith's workshop was a good distance away from the annex.

You came all the way here by yourself? He threw the firewood beside the furnace and walked toward the door. He couldn't believe they let her walk around alone after something like that happened just a few days ago. Are they all out of their mind? Shouldn't a guardian always be watching her?

A blacksmith snatched him roughly at his arm as he strode toward her with the thought of giving her a strong warning.

"Pretend you don't know. Don't you know workers shouldn't talk to her first?”

"It's dangerous for a child to be alone in a place like this!"

"That's what her servants are responsible for."

The blacksmith gave him a blunt answer and pushed him back roughly.

"All we have to do is do our job! Don't just step up and make useless trouble."

Riftan glared at him with angry eyes. However, other blacksmiths have been giving him irritating glances as if they were all thinking the same thing. Everyone seems to have noticed her existence and pretended not to know it. As he stood motionless, the blacksmith shook his fist menacingly.

"Didn't you hear me telling you to stop paying attention and do your job?!"

Riftan turned around reluctantly. But while hammering, he couldn't prevent his gaze from turning towards the door. She was looking around inside the forge with big curious eyes.

'What are you looking for?'

There were too many dangerous objects in the forge for children. Weapons were piled up like mountains everywhere, sparks were coming from all over the place, and the air was cloudy because of the smoke. He was watching with nervous feelings, that she might get harmed, but by chance, he met her big gray eyes.

She hurriedly hid her face behind the door in surprise.

He laughed vainly as he looked at the hem of her skirt and her curly red hair sticking out beside the door.

Is that what you call hiding? He shook his head, and she poked her head out again and looked at him. And then, when their eyes meet, she hide behind the door again, and then she sticks out her head again and stares at him....

Riftan raised his brows. Did she come to see him? She may have come to ask why he didn't bring her dog. At that thought he turned his head sharply.

He didn't had the confidence to tell her that he had buried the dog. He hammered loudly, pretending to be busy.

After he did that for a while, he turned his eyes back toward the door again, but she was nowhere to be seen. She seemed to have given up and went back. He bit his lips. Still, he can't let her walk around alone.

Riftan pretended to be going out to collect the scarce materials and went out of the smithy with some empty sacks. Then he grabbed the handcart he had set up next to the forge, but something unfamiliar caught his eyes.

He blinked his eyes vaguely. A corolla made of colorful summer flowers lay by the window. He picked it up, stared down at it, looked up and looked around. She hid behind a tree and watched him closely.

‘…Did you put it here on purpose?

He hesitated and put it back in place and pretended to drag the cart away. Then she jumped up and stomped her feet, visibly restless. Riftan swallowed a smile and picked up the corolla again.

Turning his eyes to her again, he could see her glassy eyes twinkling with anticipation.

'...are you here to deliver this?'

He carefully touched the flowers on the corolla. Then, a shout came from outside the door.

"What are you doing in there when we're so busy!"

Surprised by the angry voice, the girl, who had been hesitating for a while, swung around and ran out into the woods. Riftan glared disapprovingly at the forges interior.

"...I'm just trying to make up for it because we are out of charcoal.”

"Then don't procrastinate and go!"

With a sigh, Riftan pushed the cart into the forest where she ran and followed her. It seems that he would only be relieved when he saw her safely returning to the detached house.

He looked anxiously at her running through the thick trees, then looked down again at the corolla on the handle. Did she make it for him? He kept laughing at the thought of her wriggling with her tiny hands to do a corolla.

He forgot his fatigue and pushed the cart vigorously with light steps. When he returned to the blacksmith's workshop after confirming that she has safely entered the detached building, he saw the blacksmiths busily hammering. One of them glared ferociously, as if to tell him that he was not helping quickly enough. Riftan swallowed a sigh.

If he could, he wanted to go home right away and keep the corolla safe so that it wouldn't go bad, but he still had a lot of time left to finish work.

Riftan hid the flower crown in the warehouse, then walked back to the furnace and began using the bellows. When it was finally time to finish all the day's work and return home, his whole body was soaked with sweat.

He washed his face roughly with the water in the bucket and took the corolla out of the warehouse. The flowers had withered a little after half a day. He looked at it with regret, and carefully held the petals in one hand to prevent them from falling as much as possible, and escaped the blacksmith's hand.

Passing through a forest that was reddish with sunset, and circling in front of the detached house, a garden full of summer flowers unfolded before him. But she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was scolded for sneaking around alone.

Riftan stared still at the spot where she often sat, then he put his hand in his clothes and pulled out a horseshoe-shaped crown.

He thought he should leave this behind here, but it was still very poor. Riftan, who had been touching the dull iron ring with his fingertips, put it back in his arms.

If he buys some small beads from the village and put them on it, then it might be worth seeing a little bit. He hurried past the detached house and escaped though the gate. Even though he had a busier and harder day than usual, he felt like flying.

He went down the hill carefully, so that no petals would fall in the gentle breeze.

- after he got home, he realized that there was a strange stinging scent in the hut and opened the window and lit a light
- then he saw his mother dangling from the ceiling with a rope on her neck
- he couldn't understand what was going on and was afraid and shocked to the bone and just run out of the hut to where his stepfather is and dragged his stepfather to the hut, without managing to say a word
- as his stepfather saw his strange figure, he followed him and Riftan waited outside the house, hoping that his stepfather would tell him, that it is only a nightmare or that nothing is wrong and he shouldn't make a fuss. But his stepfather drags him in and tells him to hurriedly close the windows
- he grabs him by the shoulder and tells him, that the church never forgives suicide and that he needs to help him now, if he doesn't want his mother to become a ghoul
- after hearing that, Riftan throws up in shock and with Riftan's help, his stepfather gets the body of his mother down and puts a blanket around the body
- his stepfather tells him, that when it gets dark, they will take her body into the woods and disguise it as a dead from an animal attack, so that she could get purified
- after waiting in the hellish silence for the sun to go down, they finally take her body into the woods while his stepfather carried the body on his back, but after a while, he looses all strength to carry on and Riftan needs to take over
- Riftan is afraid and shocked by her dead body on his back. And when they finally found a perfect place, his stepfather takes out the sickle and tells him to go a little away. Riftan hides scared behind a tree with his head wrapped in his hands
- the next day his mothers body was found and brought back to his stepfather
- his stepfather payed the church with his remaining silver coins to let her get buried in the temple and the funereal was held immediately
- Riftan knows that he and his stepfather will suffer from nightmares for the rest of their life because of that, but he couldn't shed tears at the funeral
- apart from him and his stepfather, there are four other people at the funeral, two maid's of Croix castle, who his mother was close to, an old lady from the neighborhood and a strange man who looked like he was in his mid-thirties
- the man was a handsome man who had dark brown hair and a sturdy body and good clothes. Riftan knew at once that he is a nobleman and asks himself why he is here
- the man comes up to him and said, that he looks more like him than he thought and takes out a dagger that has some decorations on it
- He told him, that it's his biological fathers keepsake and that normally it would go down to a relative, but because he doesn't have any blood ties left, it's given to Riftan and he forces the dagger into Riftan's hand, because Riftan didn't want to take it, and turns away as if he has done his duty
- Riftan hurries after him and ask him what he means by that and the man ask surprised if his mother didn't tell him anything and tells him that his father was killed on the battlefield and that that dagger was dear to him. He told him that Riftan was the only one to deliver his belonging to because his father had no fiancee, nor has he started a family,
- after that he only gives Riftan his formal consolation by telling him that he is sorry and goes away
- after Riftan realized why his mother did that, he feels betrayed and angry (side note: the reason why his mother was strange and surprised by seeing Riftan the day before, was because she heard about the dead of his biological father and it's even sadder when you realize how happy Riftan was, for thinking that she was surprised because she was worried for him to come home late and then realized that it wasn't because of that )
- after the funeral, Riftan needs to go to work again, but is happy about that, because he isn't alone with his thoughts and worked till his muscle hurt
- when it was time to go home, he made his way to the hut, but hesitated, because he was still scared
- when he opened the door, it looked normal, because they cleaned the floor yesterday, but the stinging scent from last night was still there, so he started to clean the floor again

After he cleaned for a while, flabby petals touched his red-hot fingertips. He stared down at it and slowly turned his eyes. The crushed corolla was drying up in the corner.

Riftan picked it up. The petals hanging from the flower crown fluttered down to the floor. A drop of water suddenly fell on the back of his hand as he bent over and picked them up one by one.

He blinked his eyes blankly, then realized it was his own tears, and rubbed his cheek roughly with his fist. He didn't even know what he was crying about. It was a shame that he shed tears.

He put the withered flower crown in a small basket and lay down on bed without even thinking of changing his dirty clothes.

The woman's face hanging from the ceiling was like a ghost before his eyes. The black shadow still seemed to hang dangling over his head. But he had nowhere to run. Riftan covered himself with a blanket over his head and curled himself up like a small bug.

That night, his stepfather came home drunk. When he opened his eyes to the rattling sound, he saw a black figure stagger and walk to the opposite bed.

His stepfather flopped down on a pile of straw and looked down at the floor for a long time. After the heavy silence continued for a long time, a husky voice rang out.

"Don't make yourself so miserable."

Riftan blinked slowly in the dark. There was a mingling of sobbing in the voice of his stepfather.

"If you were born to be a dumpster, you have to live by looking at the ground. If you look up, you'll be unhappy." (side note: Just like the words that she is useless will haunt Maxi her whole life, these are the words that will haunt Riftan his whole life )

“.….”

"Who the hell recognizes you? If a bug died on the ground...who would take a look at it. They will just pass by and walk away. Nobody cares. No one will care. But you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't go away after living such a foolish life.”

Riftan stared at his shoulders, which were trembling, and turned his eyes toward the black ceiling. His mother's sad face floated before his eyes.

A foolish woman who at dawn combed her long hair neatly, climbed up the hill and waited for someone who would not return. A woman who cruelly left following a man who never came to her. And a stepfather who can't even blame a woman like that....

He won't cry any more. There is no more tears to shed for her. He won't forgive her for doing this until he dies. He murmured this inwardly and gently closed his eyes.

***

Since that day, Riftan repeatedly was only going to the blacksmith's shop mechanically every day and then returned home. He was so tired that he didn't know when he would fall down because he couldn't eat or rest properly, but it was better that way. He couldn't even close his eyes without putting his body to the point where he had no energy left to think.

One day, the blacksmith bluntly said, that he seemed to be in danger for driving himself like that.

"Don't come out tomorrow. I'm very busy that I don't want you to fall down and bother me, just take a day off tomorrow and come again."

It's ridiculous that the man who had been bullying him to that extent would say that. With a bitter smile, Riftan laid down his tools. But he didn't feel like going back home.

He wandered aimlessly through the woods, wiped his hands and feet stained with charcoal in the spring, and sat on a stump of wood for a while. The sound of birds singing over his head resonated peacefully.

As he looked up through the leaves with distant eyes, Riftan suddenly rose from his seat and began to trudge along. He couldn't even tell where he was going. After he walked quietly for a while, as if he had been led by something, he only came to a halt in front of the detached house.

She was sitting in a corner of a beautiful garden with flowers in full bloom. Riftan held his breath quietly. Despite the heat of midsummer, she curled her shoulders as if she were feeling cold. The sight overlapped with him lying huddled under the blanket. It looked so cold and lonely that he wanted to sit next to her and share his body temperature.

Riftan suddenly felt a strange fear and crept back. Despite standing under the scorching sun, cold sweat flowed down his back. He walked as if running away. While leaving the castle, the unknown anxiety did not disappear.

He walked down the green hill in one breath and stopped in front of the rushing stream. In the strong sunlight, the water shone like silver. In the clear water, the white and blue pebbles he had been looking for with his eyes shone.

Riftan looked down at it and rummaged through his clothes to take out the humble crown. A crown made by pounding a horseshoe.

'Are you sure you were going to hand this stuff over to the duke's daughter?'

He threw it away. The iron ring flew into the air like a boomerang and sank into the water. Riftan left the place right away, as if he had no lingering regret. But he didn't know where to go.

He couldn't rest any more in the cabin. Every time he entered there he saw the vision of his mother hanging from the ceiling. The days of daily nightmares, the face of his helpless stepfather and endless labor, poverty that can never be escaped and solitude that can never be relieved....

He rubbed his face with his rough palms. You can't live in this emptiness all your life. He didn't even want to burn himself in vain hope. He didn't want to comfort someone who he shouldn't get close to. He wanted to run away. He want to run away far away.

'Far away...'
(side note: remember the part where maxi decided to go to the world tower to change herself? Riftan was once at such a point, too...)

- after that, Riftan run to the hut with a determined face and packed his things and some food, but when he remembered his stepfathers face, he put four silver coins on the table and because that isn't enough, he also scratched the decorations from the dagger and put them down beside the coins.
- then he hurried out, before he changed his mind, and hurries to the market where he buy herbs
- he wants to buy a horse, too, but he doesn't have enough money and stealing it would be too risky
- so he headed to the largerest inn in town and saw some mercenaries putting things into wagons
- he hide and watched the scene from an alley and when they were done and gave the signal to start moving, he jumped on the wagon and hid there
- he ask himself what kind of face his stepfather would make, when he realized that he is gone
- would he be releved to lose a burden or would he feel betrayed by his son
- he also ask himself if maxi would realize that he is gone and sees her in front of his eyes, sitting alone in the garden, and ask himself, what will sooth her loneliness now
- but he shakes this thought away by thinking that she soon will get a new dog or foal in no time and after her little sister grows up, she wouldn't be alone anymore
- he thinks that she will soon forget the skinny boy who worked in the blacksmith workshop and saved her life and for whom she made a flower crown once
- he put his hand in the bag and takes out the dried flower crown that maxi made for him and remembers the words his stepfather told him, to never look up
- he decides to really never look up, so that he wouldn't become unhappy

(a little cute fact: at the beginning of the story the author planned for maxi to leave a note with the flower crown for Riftan. Riftan would have taken the note with him and cherished it all the years till the day he learned how to read and understand what Maxi wrote there. On the note Maxi would have written: "Thank you for saving me. - Maxi -". And that would be the reason why he would call her with the nickname Maxi. But at the end, the author decided to change this part )

Click to expand...

Thank you for the spoiler @ainosz. I'm curious what happened to the stepfather after Riftan left? He seems to be a good person.

thejobbernowl · Aug 30, 2020

OMG thank you for this! POOR MAX AND HER DOG I'm devastated. POOR RIFTAN AND HIS EVERYTHING ugh!!!! He must have been so young when he ran away too?!

Does Riftan ever tell Max all of this? About knowing her from so long ago? He's definitely hinted at it from early on.

Ang20 · Aug 30, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

So, here the summary of the first six chapters of Riftan's POV. Just like I said, it takes place at the time before Riftan took Maxi to Anatol and before Riftan beat the dragon. Also, Riftans POV are the side stories of Part 1 and are numbered as chapter 1 to chapter 44. Be prepared for the emotional rollercoaster and get you tissues ready.

- Riftan is 12 years old in this chapters and working as an apprentice for the blacksmith of Duke Croix. He lives with his mother and stepfather in a run down house and his stepfather payed the fee for his education with his last saved money for Riftan to learn something, so that in the future he could have a perspective and a better job than his stepfather
- the head of the blacksmith shop is a cruel and rude person, that doesn't let Riftan learn much and just let's him do useless hard work, like a servant, so he doesn't like the job there
- when it's time to go home, Riftan is always exhausted from work and washes his face, hands and clothes in the stream and sometimes he finds sparkling pebbles there, that he gifts to Maxi, who is 6 years old at that time. Also, just to take some confusion away, the physical abuse the duke did to maxi started when she was 8 years old

When it was finally time to go home from the day's work, there was no energy left to vent out curse words. He scrubbed his charcoal-black hands and face in the stream and washed his stained clothes. Then he wore his wet clothes roughly again and turned to go home. Then suddenly, he found something shiny in the drizzling water.

He bent over and picked it up. A white pebble the size of a thumb was shining in the light. Riftan, who was fiddling with a particularly white, smooth stone, pushed it into his clothes and strode away. He was exhausted, but he suddenly felt a surge of enegy.

He roamed though the dense forest and moved toward the patronage of the castle. After walking a long time through the dense oak forest, a magnificent structure emerged through the trees.

He rolled his eyes, pretending to get firewood from the firewood storehouse next to him. After a while, he could find a little girl crouching down at the corner of the detached garden, picking up something. When he saw her, what had been lumped in his heart melted like a lie.

Riftan slowly walked in front of her, pretending to carry an armful of firewood. There were many servants besides him who came for firewood, so she didn't seem to think anything strange about his approach.

However, the black hound, who was always chasing her, immediately showed caution and pricked up his ears. Riftan carefully laid down the white pebble, taking care not to get closer than necessary.

Then, he moved away quickly, as if he had other business to do. A moment later, as he turned his head over his shoulder, he could see her picking up the pebble and tucking it into a colorful cloth pocket.

He walked toward the gate, holding back a laugh. He couldn't help thinking that he was an idiot. What makes him so happy? Riftan, who was running out of the castle with light steps as if flying, suddenly smiled bitterly.

He couldn't understand himself. To see that girl once, every day he goes around the huge castle and then goes home...is he out of his mind?

She wasn't even a kid he could play with. She was the daughter of the lord, someone he was not even allowed to talk to first.

If anyone notices that he's feeling close to her on his own, he'll be ridiculed at for being "shameless." He suddenly sighed hard and kicked the floor roughly.

It's clear that she didn't even notice his presence anyway. She doesn't know that he sometimes throws strange colored feathers or small pebbles in the garden, or wonders if she found it properly or what kind of crown she made with it, every time he lay down in bed. (side note: When Maxi got back to her father estate after the first war, she met her nanny again, who also mentioned to her, that when maxi was younger, she always collected stones and other things to make crowns)

He came back to reality, looking down at the old cabin that sat at the bottom of the hill. She was not the girl who lived in his neighbor's house. She was the duke's daughter, who ruled this great land, and he was the most humble member of his land.

He trudged toward his mother, who didn't even look at him, his stepfather, who silently drinks every day, and his cabin, where a smashing loneliness awaits.

***

It was not long after he began to do chores in the stables of the castle that he cared about her. He saw her crouching in the backyard of the detached house while he was carrying a cart full of straw to the barn.

He immediately noticed that the little girl was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Croix and quickly tried to pass by. But somehow he couldn't move his legs.

The little girl, as small as a doll, held the black hound tightly in her short arms and buried her face in his fluffy fur. When he saw her clinging to a dog that was bigger than her size, his body hardened and his heart ached for no reason.

He noticed that she wanted to be held by someone. He could feel her loneliness as vividly as his. He also would bury his face in the neck of a foal and soothe his loneliness in that way.

Why is that girl, with hundreds of servants, looking for warmth from a mere hound? Is she as lonely as he is? When he thought of it, he had the presumptuous urge to comfort her.

Even a passing dog would laugh at that. Who comforts whom? He was a servant in the stables cleaning horse shit, and she was the daughter of a duke.

Perhaps that girl's life is full of noble things he can't even imagine. A glittering marble palace and a banquet hall decorated with golden chandeliers, she has soft fabrics and sweet, greasy foods that he will never touch....

She must sleep in a cloud-like bed full of feathers and be able to eat and drink as much as she wants. She will not experience the pain of working until the skin of her palm is peeling off until the day she dies.

He shook off his strange sense of homogeneity and took a step toward the barn. But since that day, he couldn't stop chasing her with his eyes every time he passed by the detached house.

When he saw her drooping shoulders and the sullen back of her head, he felt sorry for her, and when he saw her smiling, he felt better. When she was not seen, he was worried that she might be sick. Before he knew it, she had become a soothing creature to him for the day's loneliness.

Riftan laughed at himself and put the bag of charcoal he got yesterday evening, in the kiln. On the one hand, he knew that he was only creating a comfort zone to escape from the harsh reality.

He's just projecting himself on his own, and in fact the girl may not be lonely. It's all just his delusions and she must be having fun and happy days. The idea that his sloppy gifts are pleasing her is also a vain wish.

She could get as much real jewelry as she wanted. When she grow a little more, she will forget the fact that she has collected pebbles.

- after that, Riftan tried to erase her from his head, but every time he thinks of her, he feels like he is not alone
- he knows that he will live this hard and unfulfilling life till the end of his days, but because he is born with a strong body, he would live longer than other people. Still, because he is a mixed-blood illegitimate child with an unknown father and a southern mother, there will be no people who would ever buy something from him, because people there are really racist at that time
- some days later, Riftan is at work again and the cruel blacksmith tells him to go and get lime again, because they run out of it

He spat on the floor, rattled and dragged the cart along a shortcut. After he walk through the thick forest for a while, he heard a dog barking from somewhere.

Riftan stopped walking. He looked back and forth, but he couldn't see the dog anywhere. He frowned, left the cart alone, and turned his steps in the direction of the sound.

As he jumped over the thick bushes and passed three or four beautiful trees, he saw a black dog lowering its body to the fullest and barking violently at something.

If he didn't see wrong, then that dog was the faithful guard of the duke's daughter. What the hell is it doing in a place like this without the owner? Riftan, who was frowning, opened his eyes wide the next moment.

Where the dog was barking wildly, a large lizard, which was about the size of a head, was sticking out its tongue.

Riftan instinctively leaned down flat and observed the creature's appearance. It was the first time in his life that he saw something like that. The whole body was wrapped in thorn-like scales, and two needle-like pointed teeth stood out in the large mouth that opened menacingly.

Perhaps a monster has gone into hiding. As he was stuck in thoughts, the dog rushed at the lizard. Then the lizard used its long tail to hit the hound's body, and then snapped the dog's neck.

While he stiffened and blankly stared at the scene, something popped out from the bushes. He held his breath. The young lady from the duke's family grabbed a long branch and began to hit the lizard's body.

He swears that he has never seen a more frightening scene than this. He was so shocked that he couldn't move a muscle.

The lizard swung its head, threw the dog away, and then rushed straight at her. Seeing this, Riftan picked up a stone from the floor and ran like a lightning bolt.

When the long neck of the monster was shot down with a pointed stone, the body thicker than his forearm jumped up convulsively. The lizard spewed venom at him with a roar.

He dodged by quickly receding back and threw the stone as hard as he could. Then a big stone stuck in its throat. The monster struggled and wriggled its long tail vigorously.

He quickly picked up a branch that fell on the floor and poked it into his empty stomach. After a while, the bizarre creature's body soon drooped. He kicked it away and breathed hard.

His heart thumped quickly like horseshoes, and cold sweat flowed down his back like a waterfall. If he could, he wanted to put the girl who did this fearless thing on his lap and hit her buttocks violently.

Riftan glared at her with a fierce look. However, when he saw her sitting on the floor and wrestling in pain, his anger disappeared as if it had washed away and his fear surged in.

He scuttled down in front of her and examined her thoroughly. Blood was flowing from her forearm. She was bitten by that damn bastard. Without thinking, he loosened his belt and tied it tightly on the upper part of the wound.

Then the little girl tilted her head back as if she was about to burst into tears.

He desperately looked at the thin arm, thats less than a handful, from top to bottom. She cried and moved her hands and feet.

"Ah... it hurts!"

"We need to get the poison out. Stay still!"

Later, he might lose his neck for disrespect, but for now, there was nothing else he sees. He made her calm by shouting, then put his mouth on the wound, sucked blood and spat it out on the floor.

After repeated it several times, he held her doll-like little body in his arms and hurried toward nature. Then she burst into tears.

"My... puppy....”

He turned his head over his shoulder. The dog was limp and motionless. As he bit his lip and moved again, the crying girl pulled his hair.

"My... my puppy, too, I have to take him.”

"I'll take him with me later."

He made a promise that he couldn't keep and moved his legs in a hurry. She wrapped her small, thin arms around his neck and sniffled.

"Y, you must."

It felt like his heart was breaking. Hugging her small back tightly, he ran frantically through the woods. He doesn't know how many times he almost tripped over a tree root in a hurry. The body, which was getting colder and colder, was rubbed anxiously with the palm of his hand and after running for a long time, the castle finally came into view. He shouted so loud that his throat almost tore.

"H, help me! The lady has been bitten by a monster!"

The maid, carrying a laundry basket, turned her head and screamed. She dashed to them, tossing her basket.

"Lady!"

Hearing her shrill voice, the servants rushed over, wondering what was going on. He breathed heavily and shouted over and over again.

"It was a monster that looked like a lizard! He bit her arm. You need to get it treated quickly!"

"Get her over here right now!"

The chubby maid snatched her from his arms and ran toward the castle. He gasped and gazed at the figure with hazy eyes.

Her limp figure in the maid's arms soon vanished into the magnificent building. Riftan, who was unconsciously trying to chase after her, was grabbed by the shoulder by a guard.

"Where are you going?"

"I just want to see for a moment, if she's okay."

- after that, the guard didn't let Riftan see her and even doubted Riftan and called for a knight, so Riftan needed to show the knight where the monster is
- while on their way there, Riftan was really worried about Maxi even thought he knew that she would be treated by a priest
- after the knight saw the dead lizard, he was surprised by Riftan killing the monster alone
- Riftan, who was still worried about Maxi, asked the knight if she will be alright, which he affirmed but to cover up the incident, the knight gave Riftan four silver coins so that Riftan shuts up about it
- Riftan is mad because of this, but knows that he has no veto right so he just accepts the coins and told the knight, that he will burry the dog
- he puts the dead dog on the cart and buried him in a secluded place and is sad, because he thinks that this dead dog was maybe the only friend she had to soothe her loneliness
- after that he got back to the blacksmith, where he was yelled at and hit for being too late, and then continued to do his work
- but his body was getting colder and colder after some time and he realized that the poison he sucked out of her wound affected him, too
- after working the rest of the day in that state, he got home, where no one was there and lied down powerless in bed
- the thought of dying like that in vain filled his heart with loneliness and he asked himself what the hell he was thinking, when it's clear that unlike him, maxi will receive the best treatment and thinks that he has done something useless
- but when he remembers her crying face and small body lying in his arms, his twisted emotions vanished like a lie and he thinks that it doesn't matter if he dies.
- he thinks that even if no one will ever know that, he would die a heroic dead by dying after he saved a precious young lady, and then he falls asleep
- he wakes up to a cold touch on his forehead and realized that his mother, who always avoided his eyes, looked at him anxiously and gives him some herbs to drink (side note: his mother couldn't look into his eyes, because Riftan looks just like his biological father. He only got the skin and hair color from his mother)
- his mother cares for him and even wipes his mouth with a careful touch, which surprises Riftan
- after two days of rest, Riftan gets better and goes to work again and because there is much work to do, the blacksmith finally let Riftan learn how to make a horsehoe and while he needed to go out to the stable, he quickly wanted to check, how maxi is doing

He had been hammering for a long time, and when the basket was full of horseshoes, he took it over his shoulder and stepped toward the stable. As he was walking fast across the forest, he suddenly saw the building separated from the castle. Riftan lingered for a moment. Then he couldn't overcome his urge and moved his steps there.

He felt like a fool but couldn't shake off his desire to see her safe.

As he reached the detached house, he slowed down and looked over the garden. She was squatting in front of the flower bed scratching the floor with a branch.

For a moment, he felt relieved by seeing her looking healthy, but his heart sank heavy as she was gloomy looking down at the ground with her pale gray eyes.

Maybe she's waiting for him to bring her dog. Watching her big eyes glancing around and repeatedly falling back to the floor, Riftan quickly passed by as if running away.

'Now stop caring. You're just going to see something terrible again.'

He ran toward the stable, shaking her look of loneliness out of his head. However, even after seeing the foals look so pretty after a long time, the depressing feeling did not improve.

Riftan helped mechanically to replace the horseshoe, then returned to the blacksmith's shop and hammered them. It wasn't until dusk that the blacksmiths arranged their tools that they worked with so frantic.

"You just clean up and go back."

One of the blacksmiths shouted curtly. Riftan swept away the ash powder and dust piled up all over the place and scrubbed the scorched marks until they all vanished.

After roughly cleaning up, he turned around to go home, but something caught on his feet. He lowered his gaze. A crushed horseshoe was rolling around the floor. It seemed to be a defective product that was abandoned because it was not properly melted.

At the thought that suddenly came to his mind, Riftan bent over to get it and looked back at the anvil. He hesitated for a moment, fiddling with the horseshoe.

The whole cleaning had been done. As soon as he woke up from his bed, he couldn't rest properly and was about to collapse. It was a hundred times more beneficial to quit the useless thought and go home and sleep even a little more.

Even though he thought so, he walked to the fireplace and set the charcoal on fire again. After stepping on the bellows to raise the temperature to the fullest, he heated up the horseshoe and tapped it with a hammer. His shoulders and forearms ached.

While frowning, Riftan flattened the slanted horseshoe, then took the tools and made it clumsily into a crown. However, it took a long time to complete the work, which was pitifully poor.

Riftan stared at the unsmooth, wrinkled iron ring, sighed, and stuffed it into his clothes. What kind of crown is that crown? You did something useless. He laughed at himself and left the castle straight away.

- When he comes back home, his mother is there, who looks at him really surprised and in this unfamiliar reaction, he thinks that, maybe she was worried about him, because he was late
- she gives him something to eat and Riftan ask her where his father is and she hesitantly answers that he hasn't come yet (side note: Riftan asked about his stepfather, but I think Riftans mother meant his real father at this moment)
- after he eat he lied on the bed and his mother asked him if he feels better, which he affirms and thinks that it feels unfamiliar for him, that she is showing interest in him
- before he sleeps, she carefully put the blanket over him and that almost brings him to tears and he thinks that being sick is not bad
- the next day he was at work, he met maxi again

The next day was another busy day. He bustled around the blacksmith's workshop from dawn, which was like a steamer. The blacksmiths were all on edge because they had to complete the weapons repair for the knights before they left the castle.

Trying not to offend them as much as possible, he was handling chores at his best, and suddenly curly red hair came into sight.

Riftan, who was carrying firewood, blinked his eyes stupidly. The duke's daughter was hiding behind the door and peeping only her head out to spy on the inside of the blacksmith's workshop.

'What the hell are you doing here?'

He glared at her with narrowed eyes and looked out the door. No other person was seen. Riftan hardened his face. The blacksmith's workshop was a good distance away from the annex.

You came all the way here by yourself? He threw the firewood beside the furnace and walked toward the door. He couldn't believe they let her walk around alone after something like that happened just a few days ago. Are they all out of their mind? Shouldn't a guardian always be watching her?

A blacksmith snatched him roughly at his arm as he strode toward her with the thought of giving her a strong warning.

"Pretend you don't know. Don't you know workers shouldn't talk to her first?”

"It's dangerous for a child to be alone in a place like this!"

"That's what her servants are responsible for."

The blacksmith gave him a blunt answer and pushed him back roughly.

"All we have to do is do our job! Don't just step up and make useless trouble."

Riftan glared at him with angry eyes. However, other blacksmiths have been giving him irritating glances as if they were all thinking the same thing. Everyone seems to have noticed her existence and pretended not to know it. As he stood motionless, the blacksmith shook his fist menacingly.

"Didn't you hear me telling you to stop paying attention and do your job?!"

Riftan turned around reluctantly. But while hammering, he couldn't prevent his gaze from turning towards the door. She was looking around inside the forge with big curious eyes.

'What are you looking for?'

There were too many dangerous objects in the forge for children. Weapons were piled up like mountains everywhere, sparks were coming from all over the place, and the air was cloudy because of the smoke. He was watching with nervous feelings, that she might get harmed, but by chance, he met her big gray eyes.

She hurriedly hid her face behind the door in surprise.

He laughed vainly as he looked at the hem of her skirt and her curly red hair sticking out beside the door.

Is that what you call hiding? He shook his head, and she poked her head out again and looked at him. And then, when their eyes meet, she hide behind the door again, and then she sticks out her head again and stares at him....

Riftan raised his brows. Did she come to see him? She may have come to ask why he didn't bring her dog. At that thought he turned his head sharply.

He didn't had the confidence to tell her that he had buried the dog. He hammered loudly, pretending to be busy.

After he did that for a while, he turned his eyes back toward the door again, but she was nowhere to be seen. She seemed to have given up and went back. He bit his lips. Still, he can't let her walk around alone.

Riftan pretended to be going out to collect the scarce materials and went out of the smithy with some empty sacks. Then he grabbed the handcart he had set up next to the forge, but something unfamiliar caught his eyes.

He blinked his eyes vaguely. A corolla made of colorful summer flowers lay by the window. He picked it up, stared down at it, looked up and looked around. She hid behind a tree and watched him closely.

‘…Did you put it here on purpose?

He hesitated and put it back in place and pretended to drag the cart away. Then she jumped up and stomped her feet, visibly restless. Riftan swallowed a smile and picked up the corolla again.

Turning his eyes to her again, he could see her glassy eyes twinkling with anticipation.

'...are you here to deliver this?'

He carefully touched the flowers on the corolla. Then, a shout came from outside the door.

"What are you doing in there when we're so busy!"

Surprised by the angry voice, the girl, who had been hesitating for a while, swung around and ran out into the woods. Riftan glared disapprovingly at the forges interior.

"...I'm just trying to make up for it because we are out of charcoal.”

"Then don't procrastinate and go!"

With a sigh, Riftan pushed the cart into the forest where she ran and followed her. It seems that he would only be relieved when he saw her safely returning to the detached house.

He looked anxiously at her running through the thick trees, then looked down again at the corolla on the handle. Did she make it for him? He kept laughing at the thought of her wriggling with her tiny hands to do a corolla.

He forgot his fatigue and pushed the cart vigorously with light steps. When he returned to the blacksmith's workshop after confirming that she has safely entered the detached building, he saw the blacksmiths busily hammering. One of them glared ferociously, as if to tell him that he was not helping quickly enough. Riftan swallowed a sigh.

If he could, he wanted to go home right away and keep the corolla safe so that it wouldn't go bad, but he still had a lot of time left to finish work.

Riftan hid the flower crown in the warehouse, then walked back to the furnace and began using the bellows. When it was finally time to finish all the day's work and return home, his whole body was soaked with sweat.

He washed his face roughly with the water in the bucket and took the corolla out of the warehouse. The flowers had withered a little after half a day. He looked at it with regret, and carefully held the petals in one hand to prevent them from falling as much as possible, and escaped the blacksmith's hand.

Passing through a forest that was reddish with sunset, and circling in front of the detached house, a garden full of summer flowers unfolded before him. But she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was scolded for sneaking around alone.

Riftan stared still at the spot where she often sat, then he put his hand in his clothes and pulled out a horseshoe-shaped crown.

He thought he should leave this behind here, but it was still very poor. Riftan, who had been touching the dull iron ring with his fingertips, put it back in his arms.

If he buys some small beads from the village and put them on it, then it might be worth seeing a little bit. He hurried past the detached house and escaped though the gate. Even though he had a busier and harder day than usual, he felt like flying.

He went down the hill carefully, so that no petals would fall in the gentle breeze.

- after he got home, he realized that there was a strange stinging scent in the hut and opened the window and lit a light
- then he saw his mother dangling from the ceiling with a rope on her neck
- he couldn't understand what was going on and was afraid and shocked to the bone and just run out of the hut to where his stepfather is and dragged his stepfather to the hut, without managing to say a word
- as his stepfather saw his strange figure, he followed him and Riftan waited outside the house, hoping that his stepfather would tell him, that it is only a nightmare or that nothing is wrong and he shouldn't make a fuss. But his stepfather drags him in and tells him to hurriedly close the windows
- he grabs him by the shoulder and tells him, that the church never forgives suicide and that he needs to help him now, if he doesn't want his mother to become a ghoul
- after hearing that, Riftan throws up in shock and with Riftan's help, his stepfather gets the body of his mother down and puts a blanket around the body
- his stepfather tells him, that when it gets dark, they will take her body into the woods and disguise it as a dead from an animal attack, so that she could get purified
- after waiting in the hellish silence for the sun to go down, they finally take her body into the woods while his stepfather carried the body on his back, but after a while, he looses all strength to carry on and Riftan needs to take over
- Riftan is afraid and shocked by her dead body on his back. And when they finally found a perfect place, his stepfather takes out the sickle and tells him to go a little away. Riftan hides scared behind a tree with his head wrapped in his hands
- the next day his mothers body was found and brought back to his stepfather
- his stepfather payed the church with his remaining silver coins to let her get buried in the temple and the funereal was held immediately
- Riftan knows that he and his stepfather will suffer from nightmares for the rest of their life because of that, but he couldn't shed tears at the funeral
- apart from him and his stepfather, there are four other people at the funeral, two maid's of Croix castle, who his mother was close to, an old lady from the neighborhood and a strange man who looked like he was in his mid-thirties
- the man was a handsome man who had dark brown hair and a sturdy body and good clothes. Riftan knew at once that he is a nobleman and asks himself why he is here
- the man comes up to him and said, that he looks more like him than he thought and takes out a dagger that has some decorations on it
- He told him, that it's his biological fathers keepsake and that normally it would go down to a relative, but because he doesn't have any blood ties left, it's given to Riftan and he forces the dagger into Riftan's hand, because Riftan didn't want to take it, and turns away as if he has done his duty
- Riftan hurries after him and ask him what he means by that and the man ask surprised if his mother didn't tell him anything and tells him that his father was killed on the battlefield and that that dagger was dear to him. He told him that Riftan was the only one to deliver his belonging to because his father had no fiancee, nor has he started a family,
- after that he only gives Riftan his formal consolation by telling him that he is sorry and goes away
- after Riftan realized why his mother did that, he feels betrayed and angry (side note: the reason why his mother was strange and surprised by seeing Riftan the day before, was because she heard about the dead of his biological father and it's even sadder when you realize how happy Riftan was, for thinking that she was surprised because she was worried for him to come home late and then realized that it wasn't because of that )
- after the funeral, Riftan needs to go to work again, but is happy about that, because he isn't alone with his thoughts and worked till his muscle hurt
- when it was time to go home, he made his way to the hut, but hesitated, because he was still scared
- when he opened the door, it looked normal, because they cleaned the floor yesterday, but the stinging scent from last night was still there, so he started to clean the floor again

After he cleaned for a while, flabby petals touched his red-hot fingertips. He stared down at it and slowly turned his eyes. The crushed corolla was drying up in the corner.

Riftan picked it up. The petals hanging from the flower crown fluttered down to the floor. A drop of water suddenly fell on the back of his hand as he bent over and picked them up one by one.

He blinked his eyes blankly, then realized it was his own tears, and rubbed his cheek roughly with his fist. He didn't even know what he was crying about. It was a shame that he shed tears.

He put the withered flower crown in a small basket and lay down on bed without even thinking of changing his dirty clothes.

The woman's face hanging from the ceiling was like a ghost before his eyes. The black shadow still seemed to hang dangling over his head. But he had nowhere to run. Riftan covered himself with a blanket over his head and curled himself up like a small bug.

That night, his stepfather came home drunk. When he opened his eyes to the rattling sound, he saw a black figure stagger and walk to the opposite bed.

His stepfather flopped down on a pile of straw and looked down at the floor for a long time. After the heavy silence continued for a long time, a husky voice rang out.

"Don't make yourself so miserable."

Riftan blinked slowly in the dark. There was a mingling of sobbing in the voice of his stepfather.

"If you were born to be a dumpster, you have to live by looking at the ground. If you look up, you'll be unhappy." (side note: Just like the words that she is useless will haunt Maxi her whole life, these are the words that will haunt Riftan his whole life )

“.….”

"Who the hell recognizes you? If a bug died on the ground...who would take a look at it. They will just pass by and walk away. Nobody cares. No one will care. But you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't go away after living such a foolish life.”

Riftan stared at his shoulders, which were trembling, and turned his eyes toward the black ceiling. His mother's sad face floated before his eyes.

A foolish woman who at dawn combed her long hair neatly, climbed up the hill and waited for someone who would not return. A woman who cruelly left following a man who never came to her. And a stepfather who can't even blame a woman like that....

He won't cry any more. There is no more tears to shed for her. He won't forgive her for doing this until he dies. He murmured this inwardly and gently closed his eyes.

***

Since that day, Riftan repeatedly was only going to the blacksmith's shop mechanically every day and then returned home. He was so tired that he didn't know when he would fall down because he couldn't eat or rest properly, but it was better that way. He couldn't even close his eyes without putting his body to the point where he had no energy left to think.

One day, the blacksmith bluntly said, that he seemed to be in danger for driving himself like that.

"Don't come out tomorrow. I'm very busy that I don't want you to fall down and bother me, just take a day off tomorrow and come again."

It's ridiculous that the man who had been bullying him to that extent would say that. With a bitter smile, Riftan laid down his tools. But he didn't feel like going back home.

He wandered aimlessly through the woods, wiped his hands and feet stained with charcoal in the spring, and sat on a stump of wood for a while. The sound of birds singing over his head resonated peacefully.

As he looked up through the leaves with distant eyes, Riftan suddenly rose from his seat and began to trudge along. He couldn't even tell where he was going. After he walked quietly for a while, as if he had been led by something, he only came to a halt in front of the detached house.

She was sitting in a corner of a beautiful garden with flowers in full bloom. Riftan held his breath quietly. Despite the heat of midsummer, she curled her shoulders as if she were feeling cold. The sight overlapped with him lying huddled under the blanket. It looked so cold and lonely that he wanted to sit next to her and share his body temperature.

Riftan suddenly felt a strange fear and crept back. Despite standing under the scorching sun, cold sweat flowed down his back. He walked as if running away. While leaving the castle, the unknown anxiety did not disappear.

He walked down the green hill in one breath and stopped in front of the rushing stream. In the strong sunlight, the water shone like silver. In the clear water, the white and blue pebbles he had been looking for with his eyes shone.

Riftan looked down at it and rummaged through his clothes to take out the humble crown. A crown made by pounding a horseshoe.

'Are you sure you were going to hand this stuff over to the duke's daughter?'

He threw it away. The iron ring flew into the air like a boomerang and sank into the water. Riftan left the place right away, as if he had no lingering regret. But he didn't know where to go.

He couldn't rest any more in the cabin. Every time he entered there he saw the vision of his mother hanging from the ceiling. The days of daily nightmares, the face of his helpless stepfather and endless labor, poverty that can never be escaped and solitude that can never be relieved....

He rubbed his face with his rough palms. You can't live in this emptiness all your life. He didn't even want to burn himself in vain hope. He didn't want to comfort someone who he shouldn't get close to. He wanted to run away. He want to run away far away.

'Far away...'
(side note: remember the part where maxi decided to go to the world tower to change herself? Riftan was once at such a point, too...)

- after that, Riftan run to the hut with a determined face and packed his things and some food, but when he remembered his stepfathers face, he put four silver coins on the table and because that isn't enough, he also scratched the decorations from the dagger and put them down beside the coins.
- then he hurried out, before he changed his mind, and hurries to the market where he buy herbs
- he wants to buy a horse, too, but he doesn't have enough money and stealing it would be too risky
- so he headed to the largerest inn in town and saw some mercenaries putting things into wagons
- he hide and watched the scene from an alley and when they were done and gave the signal to start moving, he jumped on the wagon and hid there
- he ask himself what kind of face his stepfather would make, when he realized that he is gone
- would he be releved to lose a burden or would he feel betrayed by his son
- he also ask himself if maxi would realize that he is gone and sees her in front of his eyes, sitting alone in the garden, and ask himself, what will sooth her loneliness now
- but he shakes this thought away by thinking that she soon will get a new dog or foal in no time and after her little sister grows up, she wouldn't be alone anymore
- he thinks that she will soon forget the skinny boy who worked in the blacksmith workshop and saved her life and for whom she made a flower crown once
- he put his hand in the bag and takes out the dried flower crown that maxi made for him and remembers the words his stepfather told him, to never look up
- he decides to really never look up, so that he wouldn't become unhappy

(a little cute fact: at the beginning of the story the author planned for maxi to leave a note with the flower crown for Riftan. Riftan would have taken the note with him and cherished it all the years till the day he learned how to read and understand what Maxi wrote there. On the note Maxi would have written: "Thank you for saving me. - Maxi -". And that would be the reason why he would call her with the nickname Maxi. But at the end, the author decided to change this part )

Click to expand...

I'm crying, Riftan deserves all, and Maxi, wow, I think being together was his gift after so much pain.
I wonder if Maxi remembers that Riftan saved her.
Thank you, @ainosz

Avery Very · Aug 30, 2020

Awwww. My heaaaart~

ainosz said: ↑

Every time he entered there he saw the vision of his mother hanging from the ceiling. The days of daily nightmares, the face of his helpless stepfather and endless labor, poverty that can never be escaped and solitude that can never be relieved....
Click to expand...

Heartbreaking! The trauma and all of the things he had to endure at such a young age. Poor bb
He deserves all the happiness in the world. So nice to read his thought process even tho it's sad. Cute baby Max.
Thank you so much for the spoiler @ainosz

Blind-Bandit · Aug 30, 2020

@ainosz aw thanks so much for posting Riftans POV and oml Riftan is cute but I just wanna hug him and tell him everything will be ok

citrusyuzu · Aug 30, 2020

apologies if this had already been answered but has Maxi told Anyone about her abuse yet?

Missy2894 · Aug 30, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

So, here the summary of the first six chapters of Riftan's POV. Just like I said, it takes place at the time before Riftan took Maxi to Anatol and before Riftan beat the dragon. Also, Riftans POV are the side stories of Part 1 and are numbered as chapter 1 to chapter 44. Be prepared for the emotional rollercoaster and get you tissues ready.

- Riftan is 12 years old in this chapters and working as an apprentice for the blacksmith of Duke Croix. He lives with his mother and stepfather in a run down house and his stepfather payed the fee for his education with his last saved money for Riftan to learn something, so that in the future he could have a perspective and a better job than his stepfather
- the head of the blacksmith shop is a cruel and rude person, that doesn't let Riftan learn much and just let's him do useless hard work, like a servant, so he doesn't like the job there
- when it's time to go home, Riftan is always exhausted from work and washes his face, hands and clothes in the stream and sometimes he finds sparkling pebbles there, that he gifts to Maxi, who is 6 years old at that time. Also, just to take some confusion away, the physical abuse the duke did to maxi started when she was 8 years old

When it was finally time to go home from the day's work, there was no energy left to vent out curse words. He scrubbed his charcoal-black hands and face in the stream and washed his stained clothes. Then he wore his wet clothes roughly again and turned to go home. Then suddenly, he found something shiny in the drizzling water.

He bent over and picked it up. A white pebble the size of a thumb was shining in the light. Riftan, who was fiddling with a particularly white, smooth stone, pushed it into his clothes and strode away. He was exhausted, but he suddenly felt a surge of enegy.

He roamed though the dense forest and moved toward the patronage of the castle. After walking a long time through the dense oak forest, a magnificent structure emerged through the trees.

He rolled his eyes, pretending to get firewood from the firewood storehouse next to him. After a while, he could find a little girl crouching down at the corner of the detached garden, picking up something. When he saw her, what had been lumped in his heart melted like a lie.

Riftan slowly walked in front of her, pretending to carry an armful of firewood. There were many servants besides him who came for firewood, so she didn't seem to think anything strange about his approach.

However, the black hound, who was always chasing her, immediately showed caution and pricked up his ears. Riftan carefully laid down the white pebble, taking care not to get closer than necessary.

Then, he moved away quickly, as if he had other business to do. A moment later, as he turned his head over his shoulder, he could see her picking up the pebble and tucking it into a colorful cloth pocket.

He walked toward the gate, holding back a laugh. He couldn't help thinking that he was an idiot. What makes him so happy? Riftan, who was running out of the castle with light steps as if flying, suddenly smiled bitterly.

He couldn't understand himself. To see that girl once, every day he goes around the huge castle and then goes home...is he out of his mind?

She wasn't even a kid he could play with. She was the daughter of the lord, someone he was not even allowed to talk to first.

If anyone notices that he's feeling close to her on his own, he'll be ridiculed at for being "shameless." He suddenly sighed hard and kicked the floor roughly.

It's clear that she didn't even notice his presence anyway. She doesn't know that he sometimes throws strange colored feathers or small pebbles in the garden, or wonders if she found it properly or what kind of crown she made with it, every time he lay down in bed. (side note: When Maxi got back to her father estate after the first war, she met her nanny again, who also mentioned to her, that when maxi was younger, she always collected stones and other things to make crowns)

He came back to reality, looking down at the old cabin that sat at the bottom of the hill. She was not the girl who lived in his neighbor's house. She was the duke's daughter, who ruled this great land, and he was the most humble member of his land.

He trudged toward his mother, who didn't even look at him, his stepfather, who silently drinks every day, and his cabin, where a smashing loneliness awaits.

***

It was not long after he began to do chores in the stables of the castle that he cared about her. He saw her crouching in the backyard of the detached house while he was carrying a cart full of straw to the barn.

He immediately noticed that the little girl was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Croix and quickly tried to pass by. But somehow he couldn't move his legs.

The little girl, as small as a doll, held the black hound tightly in her short arms and buried her face in his fluffy fur. When he saw her clinging to a dog that was bigger than her size, his body hardened and his heart ached for no reason.

He noticed that she wanted to be held by someone. He could feel her loneliness as vividly as his. He also would bury his face in the neck of a foal and soothe his loneliness in that way.

Why is that girl, with hundreds of servants, looking for warmth from a mere hound? Is she as lonely as he is? When he thought of it, he had the presumptuous urge to comfort her.

Even a passing dog would laugh at that. Who comforts whom? He was a servant in the stables cleaning horse shit, and she was the daughter of a duke.

Perhaps that girl's life is full of noble things he can't even imagine. A glittering marble palace and a banquet hall decorated with golden chandeliers, she has soft fabrics and sweet, greasy foods that he will never touch....

She must sleep in a cloud-like bed full of feathers and be able to eat and drink as much as she wants. She will not experience the pain of working until the skin of her palm is peeling off until the day she dies.

He shook off his strange sense of homogeneity and took a step toward the barn. But since that day, he couldn't stop chasing her with his eyes every time he passed by the detached house.

When he saw her drooping shoulders and the sullen back of her head, he felt sorry for her, and when he saw her smiling, he felt better. When she was not seen, he was worried that she might be sick. Before he knew it, she had become a soothing creature to him for the day's loneliness.

Riftan laughed at himself and put the bag of charcoal he got yesterday evening, in the kiln. On the one hand, he knew that he was only creating a comfort zone to escape from the harsh reality.

He's just projecting himself on his own, and in fact the girl may not be lonely. It's all just his delusions and she must be having fun and happy days. The idea that his sloppy gifts are pleasing her is also a vain wish.

She could get as much real jewelry as she wanted. When she grow a little more, she will forget the fact that she has collected pebbles.

- after that, Riftan tried to erase her from his head, but every time he thinks of her, he feels like he is not alone
- he knows that he will live this hard and unfulfilling life till the end of his days, but because he is born with a strong body, he would live longer than other people. Still, because he is a mixed-blood illegitimate child with an unknown father and a southern mother, there will be no people who would ever buy something from him, because people there are really racist at that time
- some days later, Riftan is at work again and the cruel blacksmith tells him to go and get lime again, because they run out of it

He spat on the floor, rattled and dragged the cart along a shortcut. After he walk through the thick forest for a while, he heard a dog barking from somewhere.

Riftan stopped walking. He looked back and forth, but he couldn't see the dog anywhere. He frowned, left the cart alone, and turned his steps in the direction of the sound.

As he jumped over the thick bushes and passed three or four beautiful trees, he saw a black dog lowering its body to the fullest and barking violently at something.

If he didn't see wrong, then that dog was the faithful guard of the duke's daughter. What the hell is it doing in a place like this without the owner? Riftan, who was frowning, opened his eyes wide the next moment.

Where the dog was barking wildly, a large lizard, which was about the size of a head, was sticking out its tongue.

Riftan instinctively leaned down flat and observed the creature's appearance. It was the first time in his life that he saw something like that. The whole body was wrapped in thorn-like scales, and two needle-like pointed teeth stood out in the large mouth that opened menacingly.

Perhaps a monster has gone into hiding. As he was stuck in thoughts, the dog rushed at the lizard. Then the lizard used its long tail to hit the hound's body, and then snapped the dog's neck.

While he stiffened and blankly stared at the scene, something popped out from the bushes. He held his breath. The young lady from the duke's family grabbed a long branch and began to hit the lizard's body.

He swears that he has never seen a more frightening scene than this. He was so shocked that he couldn't move a muscle.

The lizard swung its head, threw the dog away, and then rushed straight at her. Seeing this, Riftan picked up a stone from the floor and ran like a lightning bolt.

When the long neck of the monster was shot down with a pointed stone, the body thicker than his forearm jumped up convulsively. The lizard spewed venom at him with a roar.

He dodged by quickly receding back and threw the stone as hard as he could. Then a big stone stuck in its throat. The monster struggled and wriggled its long tail vigorously.

He quickly picked up a branch that fell on the floor and poked it into his empty stomach. After a while, the bizarre creature's body soon drooped. He kicked it away and breathed hard.

His heart thumped quickly like horseshoes, and cold sweat flowed down his back like a waterfall. If he could, he wanted to put the girl who did this fearless thing on his lap and hit her buttocks violently.

Riftan glared at her with a fierce look. However, when he saw her sitting on the floor and wrestling in pain, his anger disappeared as if it had washed away and his fear surged in.

He scuttled down in front of her and examined her thoroughly. Blood was flowing from her forearm. She was bitten by that damn bastard. Without thinking, he loosened his belt and tied it tightly on the upper part of the wound.

Then the little girl tilted her head back as if she was about to burst into tears.

He desperately looked at the thin arm, thats less than a handful, from top to bottom. She cried and moved her hands and feet.

"Ah... it hurts!"

"We need to get the poison out. Stay still!"

Later, he might lose his neck for disrespect, but for now, there was nothing else he sees. He made her calm by shouting, then put his mouth on the wound, sucked blood and spat it out on the floor.

After repeated it several times, he held her doll-like little body in his arms and hurried toward nature. Then she burst into tears.

"My... puppy....”

He turned his head over his shoulder. The dog was limp and motionless. As he bit his lip and moved again, the crying girl pulled his hair.

"My... my puppy, too, I have to take him.”

"I'll take him with me later."

He made a promise that he couldn't keep and moved his legs in a hurry. She wrapped her small, thin arms around his neck and sniffled.

"Y, you must."

It felt like his heart was breaking. Hugging her small back tightly, he ran frantically through the woods. He doesn't know how many times he almost tripped over a tree root in a hurry. The body, which was getting colder and colder, was rubbed anxiously with the palm of his hand and after running for a long time, the castle finally came into view. He shouted so loud that his throat almost tore.

"H, help me! The lady has been bitten by a monster!"

The maid, carrying a laundry basket, turned her head and screamed. She dashed to them, tossing her basket.

"Lady!"

Hearing her shrill voice, the servants rushed over, wondering what was going on. He breathed heavily and shouted over and over again.

"It was a monster that looked like a lizard! He bit her arm. You need to get it treated quickly!"

"Get her over here right now!"

The chubby maid snatched her from his arms and ran toward the castle. He gasped and gazed at the figure with hazy eyes.

Her limp figure in the maid's arms soon vanished into the magnificent building. Riftan, who was unconsciously trying to chase after her, was grabbed by the shoulder by a guard.

"Where are you going?"

"I just want to see for a moment, if she's okay."

- after that, the guard didn't let Riftan see her and even doubted Riftan and called for a knight, so Riftan needed to show the knight where the monster is
- while on their way there, Riftan was really worried about Maxi even thought he knew that she would be treated by a priest
- after the knight saw the dead lizard, he was surprised by Riftan killing the monster alone
- Riftan, who was still worried about Maxi, asked the knight if she will be alright, which he affirmed but to cover up the incident, the knight gave Riftan four silver coins so that Riftan shuts up about it
- Riftan is mad because of this, but knows that he has no veto right so he just accepts the coins and told the knight, that he will burry the dog
- he puts the dead dog on the cart and buried him in a secluded place and is sad, because he thinks that this dead dog was maybe the only friend she had to soothe her loneliness
- after that he got back to the blacksmith, where he was yelled at and hit for being too late, and then continued to do his work
- but his body was getting colder and colder after some time and he realized that the poison he sucked out of her wound affected him, too
- after working the rest of the day in that state, he got home, where no one was there and lied down powerless in bed
- the thought of dying like that in vain filled his heart with loneliness and he asked himself what the hell he was thinking, when it's clear that unlike him, maxi will receive the best treatment and thinks that he has done something useless
- but when he remembers her crying face and small body lying in his arms, his twisted emotions vanished like a lie and he thinks that it doesn't matter if he dies.
- he thinks that even if no one will ever know that, he would die a heroic dead by dying after he saved a precious young lady, and then he falls asleep
- he wakes up to a cold touch on his forehead and realized that his mother, who always avoided his eyes, looked at him anxiously and gives him some herbs to drink (side note: his mother couldn't look into his eyes, because Riftan looks just like his biological father. He only got the skin and hair color from his mother)
- his mother cares for him and even wipes his mouth with a careful touch, which surprises Riftan
- after two days of rest, Riftan gets better and goes to work again and because there is much work to do, the blacksmith finally let Riftan learn how to make a horsehoe and while he needed to go out to the stable, he quickly wanted to check, how maxi is doing

He had been hammering for a long time, and when the basket was full of horseshoes, he took it over his shoulder and stepped toward the stable. As he was walking fast across the forest, he suddenly saw the building separated from the castle. Riftan lingered for a moment. Then he couldn't overcome his urge and moved his steps there.

He felt like a fool but couldn't shake off his desire to see her safe.

As he reached the detached house, he slowed down and looked over the garden. She was squatting in front of the flower bed scratching the floor with a branch.

For a moment, he felt relieved by seeing her looking healthy, but his heart sank heavy as she was gloomy looking down at the ground with her pale gray eyes.

Maybe she's waiting for him to bring her dog. Watching her big eyes glancing around and repeatedly falling back to the floor, Riftan quickly passed by as if running away.

'Now stop caring. You're just going to see something terrible again.'

He ran toward the stable, shaking her look of loneliness out of his head. However, even after seeing the foals look so pretty after a long time, the depressing feeling did not improve.

Riftan helped mechanically to replace the horseshoe, then returned to the blacksmith's shop and hammered them. It wasn't until dusk that the blacksmiths arranged their tools that they worked with so frantic.

"You just clean up and go back."

One of the blacksmiths shouted curtly. Riftan swept away the ash powder and dust piled up all over the place and scrubbed the scorched marks until they all vanished.

After roughly cleaning up, he turned around to go home, but something caught on his feet. He lowered his gaze. A crushed horseshoe was rolling around the floor. It seemed to be a defective product that was abandoned because it was not properly melted.

At the thought that suddenly came to his mind, Riftan bent over to get it and looked back at the anvil. He hesitated for a moment, fiddling with the horseshoe.

The whole cleaning had been done. As soon as he woke up from his bed, he couldn't rest properly and was about to collapse. It was a hundred times more beneficial to quit the useless thought and go home and sleep even a little more.

Even though he thought so, he walked to the fireplace and set the charcoal on fire again. After stepping on the bellows to raise the temperature to the fullest, he heated up the horseshoe and tapped it with a hammer. His shoulders and forearms ached.

While frowning, Riftan flattened the slanted horseshoe, then took the tools and made it clumsily into a crown. However, it took a long time to complete the work, which was pitifully poor.

Riftan stared at the unsmooth, wrinkled iron ring, sighed, and stuffed it into his clothes. What kind of crown is that crown? You did something useless. He laughed at himself and left the castle straight away.

- When he comes back home, his mother is there, who looks at him really surprised and in this unfamiliar reaction, he thinks that, maybe she was worried about him, because he was late
- she gives him something to eat and Riftan ask her where his father is and she hesitantly answers that he hasn't come yet (side note: Riftan asked about his stepfather, but I think Riftans mother meant his real father at this moment)
- after he eat he lied on the bed and his mother asked him if he feels better, which he affirms and thinks that it feels unfamiliar for him, that she is showing interest in him
- before he sleeps, she carefully put the blanket over him and that almost brings him to tears and he thinks that being sick is not bad
- the next day he was at work, he met maxi again

The next day was another busy day. He bustled around the blacksmith's workshop from dawn, which was like a steamer. The blacksmiths were all on edge because they had to complete the weapons repair for the knights before they left the castle.

Trying not to offend them as much as possible, he was handling chores at his best, and suddenly curly red hair came into sight.

Riftan, who was carrying firewood, blinked his eyes stupidly. The duke's daughter was hiding behind the door and peeping only her head out to spy on the inside of the blacksmith's workshop.

'What the hell are you doing here?'

He glared at her with narrowed eyes and looked out the door. No other person was seen. Riftan hardened his face. The blacksmith's workshop was a good distance away from the annex.

You came all the way here by yourself? He threw the firewood beside the furnace and walked toward the door. He couldn't believe they let her walk around alone after something like that happened just a few days ago. Are they all out of their mind? Shouldn't a guardian always be watching her?

A blacksmith snatched him roughly at his arm as he strode toward her with the thought of giving her a strong warning.

"Pretend you don't know. Don't you know workers shouldn't talk to her first?”

"It's dangerous for a child to be alone in a place like this!"

"That's what her servants are responsible for."

The blacksmith gave him a blunt answer and pushed him back roughly.

"All we have to do is do our job! Don't just step up and make useless trouble."

Riftan glared at him with angry eyes. However, other blacksmiths have been giving him irritating glances as if they were all thinking the same thing. Everyone seems to have noticed her existence and pretended not to know it. As he stood motionless, the blacksmith shook his fist menacingly.

"Didn't you hear me telling you to stop paying attention and do your job?!"

Riftan turned around reluctantly. But while hammering, he couldn't prevent his gaze from turning towards the door. She was looking around inside the forge with big curious eyes.

'What are you looking for?'

There were too many dangerous objects in the forge for children. Weapons were piled up like mountains everywhere, sparks were coming from all over the place, and the air was cloudy because of the smoke. He was watching with nervous feelings, that she might get harmed, but by chance, he met her big gray eyes.

She hurriedly hid her face behind the door in surprise.

He laughed vainly as he looked at the hem of her skirt and her curly red hair sticking out beside the door.

Is that what you call hiding? He shook his head, and she poked her head out again and looked at him. And then, when their eyes meet, she hide behind the door again, and then she sticks out her head again and stares at him....

Riftan raised his brows. Did she come to see him? She may have come to ask why he didn't bring her dog. At that thought he turned his head sharply.

He didn't had the confidence to tell her that he had buried the dog. He hammered loudly, pretending to be busy.

After he did that for a while, he turned his eyes back toward the door again, but she was nowhere to be seen. She seemed to have given up and went back. He bit his lips. Still, he can't let her walk around alone.

Riftan pretended to be going out to collect the scarce materials and went out of the smithy with some empty sacks. Then he grabbed the handcart he had set up next to the forge, but something unfamiliar caught his eyes.

He blinked his eyes vaguely. A corolla made of colorful summer flowers lay by the window. He picked it up, stared down at it, looked up and looked around. She hid behind a tree and watched him closely.

‘…Did you put it here on purpose?

He hesitated and put it back in place and pretended to drag the cart away. Then she jumped up and stomped her feet, visibly restless. Riftan swallowed a smile and picked up the corolla again.

Turning his eyes to her again, he could see her glassy eyes twinkling with anticipation.

'...are you here to deliver this?'

He carefully touched the flowers on the corolla. Then, a shout came from outside the door.

"What are you doing in there when we're so busy!"

Surprised by the angry voice, the girl, who had been hesitating for a while, swung around and ran out into the woods. Riftan glared disapprovingly at the forges interior.

"...I'm just trying to make up for it because we are out of charcoal.”

"Then don't procrastinate and go!"

With a sigh, Riftan pushed the cart into the forest where she ran and followed her. It seems that he would only be relieved when he saw her safely returning to the detached house.

He looked anxiously at her running through the thick trees, then looked down again at the corolla on the handle. Did she make it for him? He kept laughing at the thought of her wriggling with her tiny hands to do a corolla.

He forgot his fatigue and pushed the cart vigorously with light steps. When he returned to the blacksmith's workshop after confirming that she has safely entered the detached building, he saw the blacksmiths busily hammering. One of them glared ferociously, as if to tell him that he was not helping quickly enough. Riftan swallowed a sigh.

If he could, he wanted to go home right away and keep the corolla safe so that it wouldn't go bad, but he still had a lot of time left to finish work.

Riftan hid the flower crown in the warehouse, then walked back to the furnace and began using the bellows. When it was finally time to finish all the day's work and return home, his whole body was soaked with sweat.

He washed his face roughly with the water in the bucket and took the corolla out of the warehouse. The flowers had withered a little after half a day. He looked at it with regret, and carefully held the petals in one hand to prevent them from falling as much as possible, and escaped the blacksmith's hand.

Passing through a forest that was reddish with sunset, and circling in front of the detached house, a garden full of summer flowers unfolded before him. But she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was scolded for sneaking around alone.

Riftan stared still at the spot where she often sat, then he put his hand in his clothes and pulled out a horseshoe-shaped crown.

He thought he should leave this behind here, but it was still very poor. Riftan, who had been touching the dull iron ring with his fingertips, put it back in his arms.

If he buys some small beads from the village and put them on it, then it might be worth seeing a little bit. He hurried past the detached house and escaped though the gate. Even though he had a busier and harder day than usual, he felt like flying.

He went down the hill carefully, so that no petals would fall in the gentle breeze.

- after he got home, he realized that there was a strange stinging scent in the hut and opened the window and lit a light
- then he saw his mother dangling from the ceiling with a rope on her neck
- he couldn't understand what was going on and was afraid and shocked to the bone and just run out of the hut to where his stepfather is and dragged his stepfather to the hut, without managing to say a word
- as his stepfather saw his strange figure, he followed him and Riftan waited outside the house, hoping that his stepfather would tell him, that it is only a nightmare or that nothing is wrong and he shouldn't make a fuss. But his stepfather drags him in and tells him to hurriedly close the windows
- he grabs him by the shoulder and tells him, that the church never forgives suicide and that he needs to help him now, if he doesn't want his mother to become a ghoul
- after hearing that, Riftan throws up in shock and with Riftan's help, his stepfather gets the body of his mother down and puts a blanket around the body
- his stepfather tells him, that when it gets dark, they will take her body into the woods and disguise it as a dead from an animal attack, so that she could get purified
- after waiting in the hellish silence for the sun to go down, they finally take her body into the woods while his stepfather carried the body on his back, but after a while, he looses all strength to carry on and Riftan needs to take over
- Riftan is afraid and shocked by her dead body on his back. And when they finally found a perfect place, his stepfather takes out the sickle and tells him to go a little away. Riftan hides scared behind a tree with his head wrapped in his hands
- the next day his mothers body was found and brought back to his stepfather
- his stepfather payed the church with his remaining silver coins to let her get buried in the temple and the funereal was held immediately
- Riftan knows that he and his stepfather will suffer from nightmares for the rest of their life because of that, but he couldn't shed tears at the funeral
- apart from him and his stepfather, there are four other people at the funeral, two maid's of Croix castle, who his mother was close to, an old lady from the neighborhood and a strange man who looked like he was in his mid-thirties
- the man was a handsome man who had dark brown hair and a sturdy body and good clothes. Riftan knew at once that he is a nobleman and asks himself why he is here
- the man comes up to him and said, that he looks more like him than he thought and takes out a dagger that has some decorations on it
- He told him, that it's his biological fathers keepsake and that normally it would go down to a relative, but because he doesn't have any blood ties left, it's given to Riftan and he forces the dagger into Riftan's hand, because Riftan didn't want to take it, and turns away as if he has done his duty
- Riftan hurries after him and ask him what he means by that and the man ask surprised if his mother didn't tell him anything and tells him that his father was killed on the battlefield and that that dagger was dear to him. He told him that Riftan was the only one to deliver his belonging to because his father had no fiancee, nor has he started a family,
- after that he only gives Riftan his formal consolation by telling him that he is sorry and goes away
- after Riftan realized why his mother did that, he feels betrayed and angry (side note: the reason why his mother was strange and surprised by seeing Riftan the day before, was because she heard about the dead of his biological father and it's even sadder when you realize how happy Riftan was, for thinking that she was surprised because she was worried for him to come home late and then realized that it wasn't because of that )
- after the funeral, Riftan needs to go to work again, but is happy about that, because he isn't alone with his thoughts and worked till his muscle hurt
- when it was time to go home, he made his way to the hut, but hesitated, because he was still scared
- when he opened the door, it looked normal, because they cleaned the floor yesterday, but the stinging scent from last night was still there, so he started to clean the floor again

After he cleaned for a while, flabby petals touched his red-hot fingertips. He stared down at it and slowly turned his eyes. The crushed corolla was drying up in the corner.

Riftan picked it up. The petals hanging from the flower crown fluttered down to the floor. A drop of water suddenly fell on the back of his hand as he bent over and picked them up one by one.

He blinked his eyes blankly, then realized it was his own tears, and rubbed his cheek roughly with his fist. He didn't even know what he was crying about. It was a shame that he shed tears.

He put the withered flower crown in a small basket and lay down on bed without even thinking of changing his dirty clothes.

The woman's face hanging from the ceiling was like a ghost before his eyes. The black shadow still seemed to hang dangling over his head. But he had nowhere to run. Riftan covered himself with a blanket over his head and curled himself up like a small bug.

That night, his stepfather came home drunk. When he opened his eyes to the rattling sound, he saw a black figure stagger and walk to the opposite bed.

His stepfather flopped down on a pile of straw and looked down at the floor for a long time. After the heavy silence continued for a long time, a husky voice rang out.

"Don't make yourself so miserable."

Riftan blinked slowly in the dark. There was a mingling of sobbing in the voice of his stepfather.

"If you were born to be a dumpster, you have to live by looking at the ground. If you look up, you'll be unhappy." (side note: Just like the words that she is useless will haunt Maxi her whole life, these are the words that will haunt Riftan his whole life )

“.….”

"Who the hell recognizes you? If a bug died on the ground...who would take a look at it. They will just pass by and walk away. Nobody cares. No one will care. But you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't go away after living such a foolish life.”

Riftan stared at his shoulders, which were trembling, and turned his eyes toward the black ceiling. His mother's sad face floated before his eyes.

A foolish woman who at dawn combed her long hair neatly, climbed up the hill and waited for someone who would not return. A woman who cruelly left following a man who never came to her. And a stepfather who can't even blame a woman like that....

He won't cry any more. There is no more tears to shed for her. He won't forgive her for doing this until he dies. He murmured this inwardly and gently closed his eyes.

***

Since that day, Riftan repeatedly was only going to the blacksmith's shop mechanically every day and then returned home. He was so tired that he didn't know when he would fall down because he couldn't eat or rest properly, but it was better that way. He couldn't even close his eyes without putting his body to the point where he had no energy left to think.

One day, the blacksmith bluntly said, that he seemed to be in danger for driving himself like that.

"Don't come out tomorrow. I'm very busy that I don't want you to fall down and bother me, just take a day off tomorrow and come again."

It's ridiculous that the man who had been bullying him to that extent would say that. With a bitter smile, Riftan laid down his tools. But he didn't feel like going back home.

He wandered aimlessly through the woods, wiped his hands and feet stained with charcoal in the spring, and sat on a stump of wood for a while. The sound of birds singing over his head resonated peacefully.

As he looked up through the leaves with distant eyes, Riftan suddenly rose from his seat and began to trudge along. He couldn't even tell where he was going. After he walked quietly for a while, as if he had been led by something, he only came to a halt in front of the detached house.

She was sitting in a corner of a beautiful garden with flowers in full bloom. Riftan held his breath quietly. Despite the heat of midsummer, she curled her shoulders as if she were feeling cold. The sight overlapped with him lying huddled under the blanket. It looked so cold and lonely that he wanted to sit next to her and share his body temperature.

Riftan suddenly felt a strange fear and crept back. Despite standing under the scorching sun, cold sweat flowed down his back. He walked as if running away. While leaving the castle, the unknown anxiety did not disappear.

He walked down the green hill in one breath and stopped in front of the rushing stream. In the strong sunlight, the water shone like silver. In the clear water, the white and blue pebbles he had been looking for with his eyes shone.

Riftan looked down at it and rummaged through his clothes to take out the humble crown. A crown made by pounding a horseshoe.

'Are you sure you were going to hand this stuff over to the duke's daughter?'

He threw it away. The iron ring flew into the air like a boomerang and sank into the water. Riftan left the place right away, as if he had no lingering regret. But he didn't know where to go.

He couldn't rest any more in the cabin. Every time he entered there he saw the vision of his mother hanging from the ceiling. The days of daily nightmares, the face of his helpless stepfather and endless labor, poverty that can never be escaped and solitude that can never be relieved....

He rubbed his face with his rough palms. You can't live in this emptiness all your life. He didn't even want to burn himself in vain hope. He didn't want to comfort someone who he shouldn't get close to. He wanted to run away. He want to run away far away.

'Far away...'
(side note: remember the part where maxi decided to go to the world tower to change herself? Riftan was once at such a point, too...)

- after that, Riftan run to the hut with a determined face and packed his things and some food, but when he remembered his stepfathers face, he put four silver coins on the table and because that isn't enough, he also scratched the decorations from the dagger and put them down beside the coins.
- then he hurried out, before he changed his mind, and hurries to the market where he buy herbs
- he wants to buy a horse, too, but he doesn't have enough money and stealing it would be too risky
- so he headed to the largerest inn in town and saw some mercenaries putting things into wagons
- he hide and watched the scene from an alley and when they were done and gave the signal to start moving, he jumped on the wagon and hid there
- he ask himself what kind of face his stepfather would make, when he realized that he is gone
- would he be releved to lose a burden or would he feel betrayed by his son
- he also ask himself if maxi would realize that he is gone and sees her in front of his eyes, sitting alone in the garden, and ask himself, what will sooth her loneliness now
- but he shakes this thought away by thinking that she soon will get a new dog or foal in no time and after her little sister grows up, she wouldn't be alone anymore
- he thinks that she will soon forget the skinny boy who worked in the blacksmith workshop and saved her life and for whom she made a flower crown once
- he put his hand in the bag and takes out the dried flower crown that maxi made for him and remembers the words his stepfather told him, to never look up
- he decides to really never look up, so that he wouldn't become unhappy

(a little cute fact: at the beginning of the story the author planned for maxi to leave a note with the flower crown for Riftan. Riftan would have taken the note with him and cherished it all the years till the day he learned how to read and understand what Maxi wrote there. On the note Maxi would have written: "Thank you for saving me. - Maxi -". And that would be the reason why he would call her with the nickname Maxi. But at the end, the author decided to change this part )

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When i read this there are so many mixed feelings, i smile when seeing a little boy fall for a girl for the first time, it was such a warm feeling, a sweet memory from his harsh childhood
But the more i read his journey as a boy, my heart stings, my eyes become watery, and at the end i just want to hug and comfort him
It is obvious why Maxi become his only light. His life was full of misery and Maxi presence was the only sweetness he ever taste on those harsh days
Reading this i kind of curious who Riftan father is.
Thankyou so much @ainosz sama for your dedication translating and sharing this with us
For me to read this, is like a torture that break my heart, i don't know what kind of emotion you feel when preparing this spoiler
Well, i am a bit melancholy type, lol

citrusyuzu · Aug 30, 2020

@ainosz I don't know if it's glitching on mobile for me but I was able to find it this morning after finally sleeping awhile. was sleep deprived last night as I was searching for the answer

Nanaloca · Aug 30, 2020

ainosz said: ↑

You're welcome. Which encounter do you mean?

You're welcome and about the stepfather, what happened to him will be mentioned again in the other side stories of Riftan's POV. I will put the summary to them up bit by bit.

You're welcome He hinted at that for the readers, but even thought Maxi knows that he loved her since long ago, she doesn't know that it was since then. She just knows that he loved her maybe from the first moment they met when she was 16 years old, but doesn't know that they met before that.

You're welcome In fact, I think yes, she remembers, because she even remembered the dog she always played with, when Riftan showed her the little kittens, and losing the dog must be a quite shocking experience so she should remember this day and with this she should remember Riftan, too. And I remember reading in one part, that she said she once sneaked into the blacksmith's workshop in the past, but I can't remember anymore in which chapter that was

You're welcome It's really heartbreaking, because he is really traumatized by the dead of his mother, just like Maxi, who is traumatized by the death of her mother and rosettas mother. Because the biggest fear of Maxi was that Riftan would abandon her like her father did abandoned her mother and stepmother after they loosed many children and seemed useless and died slowly and painful after time. And Riftans biggest fear is to lose maxi and die like his mother while waiting in vain

You're welcome me, too, he really needs a little love But this is just the beginning of the emotional rollercoaster, when we get to the point where he meets Maxi again, you will cry buckets again, because its really cute and sad how much he longs for Maxi

please just look at the other pages, you will find the answer really quickly
Click to expand...

When riftan was 16 and fell in love with maxi

GolgoGolgo · Aug 30, 2020

Yay! Webtoon
https://mangadex.org/title/53753/under-the-oak-tree

Jan Mendez · Aug 30, 2020

Anyone knows if the author of the novel has return from the hiatus of the novel?

chax412 · Aug 30, 2020

already 3 chapters updated!! https://mangadex.org/title/53753/under-the-oak-tree

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