A Certain Winter’s Tale Chapter 1.2 - Noah

Was it the tenth year since winter began? No, perhaps it was the twentieth. In any case, it was a certain night when winter had lingered so arduously that even counting time had become meaningless.

On a night in the Flower Domain, a land that once boasted splendid beauty with all its mountains, rivers, plants, trees, and flowers in full bloom year-round, but was now a desolate and barren land that had long since lost its former appearance; a fire erupted.

The Flower Nobles, who had benevolently and warmly cared for the people of their domain for generations. Their small but beautiful castle was engulfed in flames.

The monarch who had gone mad was not satisfied with slaughtering the Flower Noble, Ariel Glory, and all her retainers. He had invaded the Flower Castle to completely exterminate Ariel Glory’s bloodline.

A cruel and terrible winter night. A night when the people of the domain held their breath and trembled, praying for the safety and well-being of their beloved lord.

From a side gate in a corner of the castle wall, hidden by bushes, a small shadow slipped out. The shadow, whose cautious yet urgent steps were cloaked in a black hood that melted its entire body into the night, emerged from the bushes.

He soon gasped for breath and carefully looked around. Fortunately, no other presence was felt. The soldiers sent by the monarch seemed too preoccupied with tearing apart and destroying the inside of the castle to pay much attention to the outside.

“Hah…”

The woman finally managed to let out a sigh of relief. But she could not yet be at ease. The woman lowered her gaze to her bosom, where she was tightly holding something she was preciously cradling.

“Mama.”

“H gasp! Shhh.”

“Maaa-!”

In truth, she was a handmaiden so young she was closer to a girl than a woman. Her arms, which had just lost their baby fat, were so slender that the child she was holding seemed too heavy for them. Yet, commendably, her hands, filled with resolve, gripped the swaddling clothes tightly, as if she would never let the child go.

The child inside the swaddling clothes, oblivious, let out a gurgle of laughter. Unaware of what was happening at the castle in the dark night, the child flashed an innocent, beaming smile and blinked its round eyes.

A very beautiful baby with mysterious eyes that resembled amethysts.

The woman, who had been gazing down at the child’s face as if mesmerized, soon shook her head and collected herself.

“Young master, are you cold? Please endure it for just a little longer.”

Thanks to the child’s bright smile, she could forget the urgent situation for a brief moment. However, she soon returned to the reality she had to overcome and began to cross the forest, darkened by an extra coat of the night’s black paint. Fortunately, the good and pretty baby seemed to have decided to help her, not crying or fussing loudly.

That night, which was especially long and harsh for those who lived in the Flower Domain. A time so short it might have passed unnoticed. A night so dark and silent that one might not know if anyone had passed through. She vanished forever into the darkness.

❄️🐺❄️

The kingdom has a monarch, and there are eleven nobles who serve that monarch. Originally, the kingdom was a place composed of twelve nobles and their domains, but during the decades of winter, the people outside the castle forgot that fact.

Although the idiom ‘spread throughout the twelve domains,’ meaning ‘everyone knows,’ was still in use, people just assumed it was probably an inclusive term for the Winter family who became the monarchs and casually moved past the fact. People no longer knew that there was a time when all thirteen nobles were equal and horizontal.

Following the previous monarch who had become a madman, the second Winter, Elia, ascended to the throne. After that, the hierarchy of the nobles was greatly reorganized.

If you were to ask the people of the world to name the family whose fortunes had declined so sharply in the process that they were now stuck at the bottom of the hierarchy, they would unhesitatingly say the Sun Nobles.

A 100-year winter that seemed as though it would never end. While Elia’s wife was replaced ten times, the Sun Nobles failed to recommend even a single queen. People from the Sun Domain who visited other domains became accustomed to being ignored, and those who could not tolerate such treatment left the domain one by one.

So, those who remained there were either people who did not care at all about being treated that way, or those who had already become accustomed to such treatment.

Thieves, swindlers, and pickpockets; officials who fell from grace after acting as a noble’s henchman. Beggars and alcoholics were a given, and even drug dealers and prostitutes. It was a place where the unseen who exist everywhere in the world gathered and struggled to live.

Noah was walking down that very street with trudging steps.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy. Where in the world am I supposed to go and find a creature that’s so nimble and has such a foul temper?”

Muttering, Noah’s gaze darted around until he reached a red gate and stopped. The gate, having been painted recently, was a distinct crimson and immensely large.

Letting out a deep sigh, Noah entered the place that the people of the street called the ‘Red House’ as naturally as if he were familiar with it.

“Oh? Kid, where are you coming from so early in the morning?”

As soon as he opened the door, a woman who happened to be passing through the garden saw Noah and asked with a tilt of her head.

However, Noah scanned her attire with a sour face. It was because her attire was too scant to be worn for an outing.

No, in fact, it was far too lacking to be called attire. The woman, wearing clothes so thin they were see-through, had the swell of her bosom fully exposed, and she was not even wearing any bottoms. It was more accurate to describe it as lingerie rather than attire.

Noah sighed and locked the red gate, which, much like the aura emanating from the woman, felt almost seductive.

“Ellie. I told you to at least put something on when you come out of your room.”

“Oh my, I’m just going to take it off soon anyway, so why bother? It just adds to the laundry.”

“…You say that as if you do the laundry yourself.”

“It’s to spare our Noah the trouble!”

Letting out a peal of laughter, she readjusted the shoulder strap of her slip that was sliding down and asked Noah again.

“So, where are you coming from, kid?”

“The thing Ms. Trisha asked me to do before, I still haven’t finished it. I went to look one more time.”

“Heeey, you still haven’t found that cat?”

“Hah.”

“Where on earth is that fat cat hiding so perfectly?”

Noah sighed and began to walk deeper into the house. Ellie, her lips a seductive red from makeup that hadn’t been fully removed, curved them into a smile and walked alongside Noah.

“Our Noah sure has it tough. Right?”

“…Yeah. I guess so.”

“How much is the pay for this errand?”

“30,000 sil.”

“Ho ho, can you even make ends meet with that? At this rate, when in the world are you going to get out of this neighborhood?”

“Well, someday?”

“See, I told you to seriously consider what the ladies said, didn’t I? Is it just one or two dicks lined up wanting to sleep with our Noah? Running around frantically from early in the morning just to find that one fat cat will only get you 30,000 sil. If you just shut your eyes and spread your legs, ten times that will be in your pocket.”

“…”

“Noah, since it’s your first time, the ladies will find a small dick with a somewhat decent face for you…”

“No.”

Was it said that money is the best? However, even though Noah was born and raised in a brothel, for some reason, he just did not want to sell his body or his smile.

As Ellie said, selling his body was certainly a good way to make money quickly.

Noah, with hair as jet-black as ebony, and violet eyes that were both mysterious and somehow stimulated a man’s lust. His skin, too, was a pearly white, and for a man, he was not brawny but had a slender body line. There were plenty of men who frequented this Red House, wearing down its doorstep, who would even spend the night with another woman just to see him, even though he did not sell his body.

It was to the extent that there were even central officials from the Sun Domain who came just from hearing rumors about Noah, seeking him to attend to them in bed. The fact that Noah’s beauty was innate was acknowledged by everyone in the neighborhood.

However, to this day, perhaps because of the sister who had sold her body for decades to raise him, Noah somehow did not want to earn money by such means himself. Besides…

‘Since I have a little more time than other people… isn’t it okay to save money a little more slowly?’

Somehow, whether a drop of noble blood was mixed in his veins, Noah barely aged. So, Noah chose to save money step by step, even if it took a long time. Thinking that even a mouse hole will see sunlight someday.

The lowest of the low places. A place that exists but does not exist. Noah was born there and lived there.

Dirty streets, dirty people. A street teeming with cripples and criminals, prostitutes and beggars, but they were people who clung to life more than anyone. Of course, there were also those who did not, but the majority of them respected each other’s way of life to some extent. They were people who did not make a living solely through clean and respectable professions, but they had pride in themselves for enduring and surviving each day.

Thanks to the sister who had cared for him without losing her smile or giving up, from the time Noah, born in this trivial and lowly city, began to walk and talk and earn his own living, his face was not very creased with worry. So, Noah was a single flower in a dirty city that had found the wrong place to bloom.

It has already been 10 years since Ellis drifted into this Red House. She is slowly growing older and has to take clients to earn her living before her current beauty fades with time.

Though it has already been 7 years since she, who was a seventeen-year-old girl, came of age and started taking clients, Noah’s appearance has barely a trace of time, remaining the same as the day she first saw him.

Noah himself was reluctant to take clients, and the women of the brothel respected the wishes of Noah, whom they cherished and loved.

“Alright, kid. If you change your mind later, be sure to tell me, okay?”

“Hmph, I told you my mind won’t change!”

As Noah retorted, a red flush spreading across his white cheeks, a boy who looked to be about ten years old came running out from the inner part of the mansion where the garden ended.

“Noah, Noah!”

The boy, who came running out clamorously while calling Noah’s name, tripped on the threshold and fell with a thud. Noah and Ellie, who were watching, both let out concerned exclamations of “oops” at the same time. However, the boy jumped up with a brave expression and continued running the rest of the way.

“Noah! The madam is calling for you!”

“Haha, Jonny. You fell, doesn’t it hurt?”

Noah bent his knees and sat down, brushing off the clothes of Jonny who had scurried up in front of him. Then he looked at Jonny’s face and asked again.

“Why would the madam be looking for me so early in the morning?”

“Umm-.”

Jonny rolled his eyes back and forth, pausing to try and recall. After making a few more “umm” sounds, Jonny finally broke into a smile and opened his mouth.

“The madam said to bring Noah. A super rich and noble person is going to have Noah make a baby. Noah, you’re so amazing! If you do that night attendance thing, you get a baby, right?”

The words that flowed unfiltered from the child’s mouth were enough to make Noah’s jaw drop. Ellie flashed a sly smile and kept poking the speechless Noah in the side.