Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

The night of the banquet. Late at night.
Jurnova Castle crouched at the center of the territorial capital’s night, like a gigantic black mass.

The feast had long since ended. Even the servants who had been cleaning up were already fast asleep. It was the deepest hour of night.
At such a time, the hunting hounds of Jurnova slowly raised their massive bodies.

“Alright, alright, you lot.”

A bald man with an eyepatch over one eye, Igor, the houndskeeper, called to them in a low voice.

“His Grace has given you prey. Here, look.”

What Igor held up was a gentleman’s coat. Silk fabric, lavishly embroidered—a masterpiece of the highest quality. Even if a poor man poured his entire yearly income into it, it likely would not be enough to pay for this coat.
Yet the coat was horribly soiled and torn.

From behind the hounds sniffing at it, a slightly larger hound with beautiful white fur approached.

“Regina, here, smell it. You should be able to tell what the prey is, yeah?”

Regina, the leader of the hounds, sniffed the coat.
Then she wrinkled her nose and let out a low growl.

“You get it, huh. His Grace is letting you take revenge for your friend. That b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲’s hiding somewhere in this castle. Find him and drag him out. Don’t kill him, got it? But, well, if you chew on him a little, His Grace probably won’t get angry. Now, go!”

When Igor threw open the kennel door, the hounds burst out all at once.

.

(Why… why has it come to this?!)

In a corner of the vast gardens of Jurnova Castle, within a cluster of evergreen trees—
Novadine crouched there, hiding himself, trembling with rage and despair. The outfit he had had made at great expense for this day was filthy and torn, and his coat was gone. He could not believe how wretched he looked.

His wife and daughter had been captured. He himself had nearly been arrested as well, and though he had barely managed to escape, there was no way out of Jurnova Castle. At this rate, he would inevitably be found.

He was supposed to marry his daughter Kira to Aleksei and become an in-law of the ducal house. He was supposed to become the duke’s father-in-law, a member of the ducal family, wielding power and influence. And yet here he was, sneaking and hiding outdoors like a criminal. It was wrong.

This was not how it was supposed to be.
Ah, Aleksandr, Lady Aleksandra. Why did you die so soon? If the two of you were still alive, Kira would surely have been safely engaged.

*“A count’s daughter wants to become the Duchess of Jurnova? That’s a funny joke. You didn’t think Mother would allow that, did you?”*

Aleksandr had said that with an amused laugh, and Novadine had laughed along, hiding his bitterness. Still, he had not given up. He had persisted, begging stubbornly, until at last he obtained it.

And not just by begging. For that sake, he had done anything.
He had even run errands like a servant for the outsider Lady Aleksandra brought with her, and he had gone to great lengths to eliminate those who interfered with them.

And in the process, he noticed. Lady Aleksandra, of all people, was readily complying with said outsider’s demands.
No—she was not “complying.” But she moved exactly as the outsider wished. Even though she should never have done such a thing.

And then… he thought again.
—The one man who was a thorn to their side, Duke Sergei. He was a most robust man, yet he suddenly died…

No matter how many times he begged those two, he was only laughed at. So he had made a deal with the outsider instead: in exchange for granting their requests, they would push forward Kira’s engagement.
He knew their goal was money, in the end, so it was enough to tell them where the money was. They were unbelievably greedy, but whenever money moved within the duchy, he informed them, and when he said he would be even more useful once his daughter became duchess, they grinned.
That outsider was the finance minister.

It was shortly after that Aleksandr gave him the letter. When he asked for Lady Aleksandra’s signature as well, it was granted immediately.

It was a letter obtained only after all that effort. That was why, now that the two of them were gone, he had no choice but to gamble on it. He could not give up.
What exactly did that outsider hold over Aleksandr and Lady Aleksandra? He tried to find out, but could not learn anything at all. He even sensed danger to his life and gave up. Should he not have given up then?

But right as Aleksei inherited the title, he suddenly vanished.

At the time, Novadine had felt relieved.
Handing money to outsiders had never felt good. Even though he received a share, it felt like the head branch family of the Jurnova ducal house was merely picking up scraps. Once they were gone and Kira became duchess, that money would be his to use freely. Thinking that, the world had seemed rose-colored. He thought there was nothing left to fear.

But Aleksei himself was a disaster personified.
Where was the former finance minister imprisoned? It had to be in the old dungeons of Jurnova Castle, yet during Aleksei’s absence, while he was staying in the castle, Novadine searched desperately but could not find him. Even after being driven out, he continued searching through his connections, but it was too late.
If only he had gotten his hands on that man… then tonight would not have come to this…

At that moment, a monstrous growl sounded from beyond the bushes.

.

Branches of the evergreens snapped, and beasts with enormous fangs lunged at him.

“Uwaaaah!!”

Novadine screamed. He jumped up and tried to run, but another beast bared its fangs ahead of him, and he screamed again.
He tried to crawl away on all fours, but his body would not move forward.
Instead, he was dragged backward.
Fangs sank into his leg. Without even having time to feel the pain, he was dragged out of the bushes and then across the ground. Dirt and leaves poured into his mouth as he screamed uncontrollably.

—I’m going to be killed!

I’m going to die. Here.
Eaten. Die. No, help me, someone—!

He was swung around and thrown, slammed into the ground. Pain made his vision fade, but when he came to, he was coughing, spitting dirt and leaves from his mouth.

Still sprawled on the ground, Novadine finally saw the beasts that had attacked him.
The hunting hounds of Jurnova.

“Ugh… ah…”

His eyes, accustomed to the dark, caught the sight of a pack of ferocious beasts that could even tear apart magical creatures, staring at him with blazing eyes. A rumbling growl thundered.

(I-I’ll fight…!)

He tried to raise his magic power. But it, rusted from years of comfortable living, did not respond at all to his fear-shaken will.
As if sensing that, the particularly large white-furred hound stepped forward.

“Gyaaaah!”

Novadine sprang up and ran.

.

Where he ran, how he ran, he did not know.
Chased by the hounds, tumbling and stumbling through the castle gardens, he fled in confusion, until he was driven into a small building. He barely managed to shut the door and collapsed to the floor.

At once, the door was forced open with tremendous strength, and Novadine rolled across the floor.

“Pardon me.”

An inappropriately cheerful voice spoke.
A tall young man holding up a prismite lamp entered through the forced door. To eyes accustomed to darkness, the light of the rainbow stone was dazzling. But Novadine recognized him as Aleksei’s servant, the one who had once driven him out of the castle.

Then, another.
A tall figure stepped inside.

“To think you’d run into Zephyrus’ stable.”
“M-my lord…”

At the low voice of Aleksei, Novadine began to tremble.

“You thought he was in the castle?”
“Huh…”
“I know you were sniffing around for the former finance minister. Your agent, Anna the headmaid, has already been dismissed.”

Novadine could only tremble.

“Did you think the former finance minister had said nothing?”

At those words, he held his breath. Then… he had known in advance? About the letter.

“The man you sought is not in the castle. But you will spend what comes next in this castle.”

Aleksei looked toward the wall of the stable. There, a painting of a man and a horse faintly emerged in the lamplight.

“Do you remember Zephyrus? You killed him.”

For once, emotion tinged Aleksei’s voice.

“I should have left you alone then. Even on the brink of death, Zephyrus could have bitten you to death. But because I stepped in to stop it, Zephyrus died protecting me.”

The scene from that time resurfaced in Novadine’s mind, in blurred, drunken fragments.

Aleksei had come running from the mansion, shielding the accursed demon horse with his body. He had always been such an irritatingly calm, clever child, yet that time he had been screaming desperately.
And that was why… Novadine raised his sword, intending only to tease Aleksei a little. Just a joke. He was drunk.
But the beast let out a terrifying roar and leapt between Aleksei and the sword.
It let out such a strong killing intent. That was why Novadine thrust the sword in with all his strength. Again and again. He had to—otherwise the beast would attack…

This was the truth of Zephyrus’ death, which Aleksei had never told Ekaterina, not wanting to make her sad.

“Ha… ha…”

Novadine let out a strained laugh.

“You were… unusually childish then. The only time I ever saw you cry…”

Bang! With an impact, Novadine rolled across the floor again. The servant had kicked him.

“My apologies, my lord. Acting on my own.”
“It’s fine. …In the past, I might have done it myself.”

Aleksei shook his head to the bowing servant. The latter half of his words sounded almost gentle.
But his eyes, turned on Novadine, were only cold.

“You fled from the territorial guard and are missing. Whatever becomes of you, no one will know anything.”

Novadine stiffened. So they had let him escape on purpose?
No—he had been driven into Aleksei’s hands. No one would know. That meant his fate was entirely up to Aleksei.

“Do you know? Beneath this castle are several enormous furnaces, for heating in winter. From the end of autumn to early spring, their fires never go out. That is where you will spend your time.”

Novadine turned pale.
Aleksei smiled faintly.

“You will no longer know day from night… but you may count the days until the first snow.”

.

As Novadine continued screaming, the knights dragged him away, and Aleksei left the stable with Yvan.

“He’ll probably spill everything he knows before the night’s over. You should really just burn a guy like that alive.”

Yvan said cheerfully. But Aleksei shook his head.

“No. He has many connections among the duchy’s upper class. Killing him could leave lasting trouble. We’ll keep him restrained for now. …We can dispose of him at any time. If so, it’s better to use him more effectively.”

After saying this coldly, Aleksei suddenly softened his expression.

“And besides, Ekaterina wouldn’t like that sort of thing. I don’t want her to hate me.”
“If it’s milady, she wouldn’t hate you no matter what you did.”
“Yes. She would understand and forgive. …But precisely because she forgives everything, I think I must not take advantage of that.”

Words befitting him—earnest and sincere. Many people endlessly demand more from those who forgive them.

“There is one thing milady does not forgive: when you stay up late working.”
“That’s true. I should rest early.”

Aleksei laughed at Yvan’s words, and the master and servant quickly returned to the castle.