The Kingdom of Hydern.
It was one of the seven kingdoms on the Western Continent.
Though the smallest in power among the kingdoms, the Ardan Ducal House was still renowned as the greatest swordsmanship family in the entire nation.
Even when humanity was on the brink of extinction due to the dragonkin invasion, they never stooped so low as to live in a shabby log cabin like this.
But now what?
“We’ve been living here for over ten years?”
Elena quietly nodded.
“Wow… seriously.”
It was beyond shocking—it sent chills down his spine.
Even when he had faced that damned Dragon Lord bastard, it hadn’t been this unsettling.
“Why? Fifteen years ago, our family suffered massive losses fighting those dragon bastards, right? Shouldn’t the king have at least compensated us for that?”
They had risked their lives for the sake of the kingdom.
It was only natural to be rewarded in return.
And yet, while the descendants of the ducal house lived like this, one had to wonder what the hell the kingdom had been doing all this time.
If the king had truly abandoned House Ardan without giving them anything, Ethan would have no qualms about snapping the king’s neck himself.
Just imagining such a fool sitting on the throne made his blood boil.
At that, Elena shook her head.
“No, Ethan. We were compensated for our sacrifice.”
“Compensated? Then what the hell did we get that left us living like this?”
“Immunity rights.”
“Immunity rights?”
“His Majesty Sigmund, the 17th king, declared that our house would be treated as the Kingdom’s Protector.”
“Wait… Sigmund?”
“Yeah.”
It was a name Ethan had never heard before.
‘Even the king has changed?’
Well, considering they had signed a non-aggression pact with those damned dragon heads, a new king wasn’t all that surprising.
“So?”
“To the heir who would inherit the family in the future—that is, you—he granted immunity rights. As long as it wasn’t treason, any kind of wrongdoing would be forgiven.”
“Just me?”
“Yes. Just you. From what I know, the right extends to you and your next two successors.”
Ethan’s eyes lit up.
Sigmund didn’t seem as completely useless as he first thought.
The right to be forgiven for any wrongdoing—so long as it wasn’t treason—was an incredible privilege.
It meant he could beat any arrogant noble half to death and still walk away free.
No—actually, even killing them would be fine.
Of course, going around cutting down every person who annoyed him might draw some attention.
But still, this was a power that could prove extremely useful when it really counted.
However…
It was hard for Ethan to forgive someone like Sigmund for just this.
“Wait a second. That’s it?”
“He also gave us a lot of gold and treasures.”
“Hold on… a lot?”
“Yes, a lot.”
“Then where the hell did all that gold and treasure go?”
“…The family is holding onto it.”
“Isn’t this our family?”
“No. After you collapsed, our whole family was kicked out.”
‘So we weren’t living in this hunting lodge because the house went completely bankrupt?’
His shock was brief.
What followed was a volcanic surge of rage erupting in Ethan’s head.
“Who the hell had the authority to kick us out of our own house?”
“…The collateral branches of the family. After you collapsed ten years ago, they began revealing their true colors.”
“The collateral branches?”
What Elena told him next was almost beyond belief.
After their grandfather and father—direct heirs of the family—died in the war against the dragonkin, the former king Sigmund ordered the establishment of a Senate for the Ardan house.
The Senate was made up of ten selected members from the collateral lines and held the authority to act on behalf of the family head.
The reason was simple.
At the time, the remaining direct heirs were too young to lead the house.
And since Ethan, who held the immunity rights, might abuse that power at a young age, the house needed a regency until he came of age—at least, that was the excuse.
It was all just a mess of flimsy justifications.
‘That damn bastard. He really left a pile of shit behind at the end.’
Ethan clicked his tongue in disgust.
Any positive impression of Sigmund immediately plummeted.
Power is not something that should ever be entrusted to others.
Just look at what happened—those collateral brats, as soon as they got a taste of power, started pulling all kinds of schemes against the family.
“So what about the position of family head? What was decided?”
“They said the family head would be chosen when you turned twenty.”
“So it’s not guaranteed to be me?”
“It was supposed to be… but a lot has changed over the past ten years.”
“I see.”
Ten years.
He’d been unconscious for ten whole years.
And before that, he had worked tirelessly for the sake of the family—so much so that he had collapsed while trying to restore a long-lost secret technique of the house.
‘And now I even have immunity rights on top of that.’
Of course the collateral branches wouldn’t want someone like him to return and take the reins.
Because if he did… there would almost certainly be a bloody purge.
So over the past ten years, it was obvious they must’ve been backing the third or fourth son hard.
‘I’ve got about eight months left until I turn twenty, huh.’
Ethan was lost in thought when—
“If I had just handled things a little better, maybe it wouldn’t have turned out like this… I’m sorry.”
Elena’s eyes brimmed with tears.
After their grandfather and father died, the family’s secret arts vanished overnight.
On top of that, the collateral branches began to infiltrate the family in earnest.
Even amidst all that, the one who fought to hold everything together was his sister, standing right before him.
The only reason the family managed to maintain some semblance of balance after the collaterals took over was because of her.
But ten years ago—
As Ethan collapsed from mana overload while learning various techniques to restore the family’s lost legacy, the balance began to unravel beyond repair.
As mere descendants without any real authority, Elena and her younger siblings had no way to stop the collateral branches from taking control.
And this—this was the result.
“Don’t cry, sis. None of this is your fault.”
“I should’ve… somehow held the family together…”
Ethan shook his head.
Ten years ago, she had only been ten years old.
Even if noble children received early education, that was still far too young to be leading a ducal household.
Without any real power at such a young age, how could she have possibly stopped the greedy ambitions of the collateral branches?
He quietly reached out and held her hand.
Suddenly, he felt the rough texture of her skin.
He looked down at her hand—rough, worn, and calloused.
That wasn’t the kind of hand a noblewoman was supposed to have.
His heart ached as if it were burning.
He didn’t need to see it firsthand to know what she had been through all these years.
She must’ve endured all kinds of hardship to feed and raise her siblings, including himself while he was unconscious.
Even just looking at this wretched log cabin made that much clear.
“Sis.”
“Yeah?”
“Sorry about what I said earlier… about dresses and donations and all that.”
Telling her to donate instead of buying dresses—
Just looking at the tattered clothes she wore now, it was clear she didn’t even have enough to dress herself properly, let alone afford luxury.
After being kicked out of the family, she had probably poured every last bit of effort into raising her siblings.
His words must’ve felt like a slap in the face.
Ethan bowed his head deeply.
“Ethan, look up.”
He did.
Elena was smiling brightly.
“As long as you’re healthy, that’s all that matters to me, Ethan. Really.”
Suddenly, Ethan thought of their mother.
Elena’s smile right now looked so much like hers.
“Dinner was great, sis. You’re a better cook than I expected.”
“Now that you’ve eaten, you should get some rest. You only just woke up, remember? Okay?”
“Okay. You rest well too.”
“I will. Good night, Ethan.”
Elena left the room carrying the empty dishes.
Maybe it was because he was using his body for the first time in ten years, but even that brief conversation had left him completely drained. Ethan quickly fell into a deep sleep.
***
The morning sun rose as Elena descended the stairs to the first floor.
In the living room, the butler Hans and a few servants were chatting idly.
Elena sighed inwardly.
These were the spies sent by the collateral branches to keep watch.
They never did any actual work—just sat around eating and wasting space like parasites.
She’d been seeing the same scene for ten years now.
She couldn’t even remember how many times she had told them to just leave if they weren’t going to help.
But even if someone left, it wouldn’t be long before they were replaced by someone else.
The same cycle, over and over.
When Ethan asked why there were no servants, it was because people like these weren’t worth mentioning.
Their absence would’ve been better.
Elena gave a bitter smile.
‘I just hope Ethan doesn’t get too disillusioned when he sees all this.’
It had only been a day since her little brother woke up—after ten whole years.
He was already emaciated, and now he’d have to face this harsh reality too.
Could he handle it?
She walked up to the butler.
“Hans.”
“Yes, Lady Elena?”
“I’d appreciate it if you could give us some privacy today.”
Hans responded with a greasy smile.
“That would be a bit difficult. Staying here is our job, after all.”
“…Please, I’m asking you.”
“I’m under Baron Kargas’s orders. The baron instructed me to remain stationed in this annex.”
“…Sigh.”
“My apologies.”
“Fine.”
Elena passed by his scrutinizing gaze and headed toward the kitchen.
‘I’ll just make Ethan some food he likes.’
Once she finished cooking, she went to wake him and led him to the dining room.
The dining room was quite a distance from the main living area on the first floor.
And the moment the two of them stepped inside—
“Sis.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you say there were no servants?”
“Well, technically there are some…”
“There are?”
“They’re not servants we hired.”
“Then who hired them?”
“They were sent by other noble families to ‘support’ us…”
“Support? They’re just sitting around gossiping like lazy freeloaders. And this food—you made it yourself, didn’t you?”
“That’s…”
“If they’re going to be that useless, wouldn’t it be better to just kick them out?”
“Even if we do, others will just show up to replace them. And it’s not like they’d actually listen even if we told them to leave…”
“Go ahead and start eating.”
“What about you?”
“I’m just going to have a quick word with that guy from earlier. I’ll be right back.”
Before Elena could stop him, Ethan had already started walking toward the living room.
Hans, the head servant, slumped lazily onto the sofa.
‘So that’s why she begged so desperately… it was because the young duke had finally woken up?’
Just thinking of Elena pleading so earnestly made Hans chuckle to himself with scorn.
Who would look at that woman and think she was a noble descendant of a prestigious ducal house?
She looked more like a common maid—if that.
‘Seriously, I really landed the perfect job. Heh.’
The hunting annex.
Those who knew the situation called it what it truly was—a place of exile.
When the Kargas Barony first sent him here, Hans had grumbled nonstop.
Working in an exile zone was never something he had wanted.
But over time, he came to realize that this place was far better than he had expected.
After the Senate of Elders was formed to act on behalf of the Ducal House, ten collateral families began rising to prominence.
And since he had been dispatched here by one of them, not even the duke’s daughter could order him around freely.
Thanks to that, Hans had no real duties. His daily routine consisted mostly of chatting with other servants and lounging around.
Yet his paycheck arrived like clockwork.
And when he occasionally passed on useful information, the bonuses were incredibly generous.
Recently, he had even been promoted to a quasi-noble title and managed to buy himself a nice house within baronial territory.
There’s no job sweeter than this in the entire world.
‘The young duke who’s been in a coma has finally woken up after ten years, huh?’
Now that was a juicy bit of information, definitely worth a hefty reward.
“Heh heh… Hey, get a letter ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
As Hans turned to one of the attendants and gave a smug smile—
“Hey.”
A voice rang out from behind.
Hans frowned and turned around.
And in that exact moment—
Smack!
With a sharp, resounding crack, Hans’s body flew through the air and crashed violently into the wall.
The impact was so forceful that even the log-built wall shuddered.
“Guhhh!”
The searing pain blurred his vision.
“Wh-What the hell!”
Step.
Step.
The young duke was approaching.
Tears welled in Hans’s eyes from the pain, and his body trembled uncontrollably.