Before Queen Lilith, the Daolin Family in the Eastern Border was merely a small, obscure family managing the Oregon region, not much different from the Ror family, whose only remaining descendant was Lind.
Of course, the Daolin Family was doing much better than the Ror Family back then; at least they were not suffering from the ravages of border wars.
Although they were descendants of the Old Empire, the Daolin Family was exceptionally low-key. Koen was especially cautious throughout his life, particularly after his youngest daughter became queen, at which point the Daolin Family almost ceased all activities.
Many people didn’t even know that the current Queen Lilith had two biological brothers in the Eastern Border who, in order not to trouble their sister, even declined their planned weddings and remained single to this day.
“Father, the black rain over the Roler region has lessened considerably, but it seems that the rain has not stopped.”
At this moment, Barnard, Queen Lilith’s biological elder brother, was fully clad in steel armor, reporting to Old Koen.
“Furthermore, we have lost all contact with the Roler region… Not only Roler, but anywhere that the rain reaches has no information coming out, and no knight would dare to rashly enter those areas.”
Old Koen noticed his eldest son’s unwillingness and shook his head, saying, “Barnard, do not blame those knights. This black rain is too strange; a wise knight would not recklessly walk into a trap without knowing the situation.”
Then, Old Koen sighed, “Moreover, even if a knight were brave enough to check those areas, they wouldn’t be able to come back…”
Beneath the rain’s isolation, town after town had lost contact with the outside world, and monsters that had been corrupted kept emerging from the rains.
Even the bravest knight would feel an inexplicable fear upon seeing those monsters, which emitted a foul stench and emitted eerie moans.
Of course, that was not the worst part. The most terrifying thing was that although the rain over the Roler region was gradually diminishing, the black fog was gradually spreading around Roler, including the Oregon territory controlled by the Daolin Family.
Although the black fog would not instantly transform people into those rotten monsters like the rain, it would gradually erode the human body. Sometimes, watching oneself slowly turn into a monster was even more terrifying than the transformation itself.
Old Koen had instructed everyone to wear a scarf inside their helmets to cover their mouths and noses. He didn’t know if it had any effect, but even if it was just psychological comfort, at least the scarf could give the knights some courage to fight.
The Oregon area had already been surrounded by monsters; their numbers were truly overwhelming and increasingly fierce. At first, ordinary people might escape from the monsters, but now they were completely unable to resist them, not even able to flee, as the monsters seemed tireless, eroding all living things.
Old Koen quickly opened the gates of the Daolin Castle to let the subjects in. Now, however, the towering walls seemed to have turned into a cage trapping the people.
Ordinary subjects had already begun to transform into monsters. Under the constant pleas of the subjects, the knights had no choice but to personally kill those whom they had sworn to protect.
Even though Old Koen employed all kinds of methods, he could not stop the spread of despair within the castle.
The black fog seemed to sense the emotions of humans. The more despair there was, the thicker the black fog became, and the despairing people seemed to transform into monsters even more quickly.
Not only that, but the long-standing gates of Daolin Castle had long since succumbed to the monsters’ corrosion. The knights were already exhausted just trying to defend the gates.
Let alone the subjects, even the knights were on the verge of breaking down.
“Barnard, is the black fog still spreading?”
Old Koen seemed to have made up his mind and looked at his eldest son.
“Yes, Father… and it’s continuously expanding toward the central region, toward the Royal Capital…”
“We must report this information back to your sister… inform Her Majesty at once.”
Old Koen took out two letters from his pocket, handing one to Barnard, while looking at his youngest son Harold with the other.
Harold, Lilith’s second brother, was startled by his father’s gaze and stepped back repeatedly.
“Harold, take this letter and go to the Northern Border to deliver this information to the governor there, understood?”
Old Koen had personal motives; Oregon was closer to the Northern Border, and he also planned to break through toward the Northern Border. No matter what, it would be more likely to head in that direction.
Barnard had no objections, only silently accepting the letter. The journey to the Royal Capital would mostly require moving through the black fog, the dangers were self-evident.
After hesitating, Harold took the letter and asked, “What about you, Father?”
Old Koen did not respond to his youngest son’s question but asked a knight beside him, “How many professional soldiers, how many soldiers, how many subjects do we still have?”
The knight replied, “Sir, there are sixteen professional soldiers, two hundred soldiers, and over a thousand subjects.”
This armed force was not too shabby for a noble of Old Koen’s level, especially since before the rise of Graythorn Territory, nobles had only relied on the militia. In the territories, aside from professionals, there were hardly any professional soldiers; they just gathered however many able-bodied young men there were.
This was already a special favor from Lilith for her family. The original armed forces were even greater, including firearms, but Koen had refused those.
But he had no regrets. Old Koen understood that the more demands the Daolin Family made, the harder it would be for his youngest daughter in the Royal Capital.
“Distribute all the weapons in the castle to the subjects. It is time for us to serve Her Majesty.”
Barnard had never seen such an expression on his father’s face. Since his marriage had been deferred, Barnard had always had a grievance against his father. However, at that moment, his father’s demeanor was resolute, as if he were not the same man who had been bullied by neighboring nobles, constantly forced to smile awkwardly.
Soon, Old Koen’s orders were carried out, and weapons were distributed to the subjects taking refuge in the castle.
Initially, no one paid attention to the distant black rain and the heavy fog. While Old Koen was keeping watch for monsters, he had arranged for the subjects to take refuge in the castle, which was already considered responsible.
But now, Old Koen needed to figure out how to relay information from here, and he didn’t think that even if he didn’t pass on the news, someone would. He knew well the kind of guys those nobles were.
However, when the heavily damaged gates were opened, the scene outside was still despairing. All that could be seen were rotten monsters, and Old Koen could barely tell whether the black puddle on the ground was made up of monsters or was just a black mire formed by the accumulation of fog.
Even the knights and professionals in front recoiled in fear; it was better to suffer a swift death than a prolonged agony, but certainly no one wanted to die at that moment.
When his youngest daughter became the prospective queen, Old Koen had started to tread carefully. After his youngest daughter became queen, he barely dared to breathe, never mentioning his difficulties when dealing with the people from the Royal Capital to Lilith.
But now, Old Koen sighed deeply, and almost began to feel a surge of confidence, drawing his sword and shouting, “Oregon has no cowards! Tell my daughter that her father is no coward!”
Old Koen’s tone seemed to unleash the frustrations of these past years and was also for his daughter far away in the Royal Capital ahead of him. He charged out first, just as Old Koen thought, some things had to be done by someone; you couldn’t expect others to act when you remained idle. To put it bluntly, those nobles would only choose the most conservative escape route in such circumstances and would not remain loyal to the queen.
Even Old Koen might not be loyal himself, but sitting in that position was his daughter; he had to relay the information from here, not out of duty as a subject, but out of responsibility as a father.
The subjects did not know what Old Koen was feeling at that moment, but the Daolin Family had been quite benevolent towards the subjects among the nobles in the Eastern Border.
Watching Old Koen charge out, for a moment, the trust of those subjects in their old lord overcame their fear, as they waved their weapons, rushing out after Old Koen.
Initially timid knights and professionals gritted their teeth, pulling their reins, and shouted, “Oregon has no cowards!”
