The air was crisp with frost and wind as you rode back towards the castle, ducking your horse around streets crowded with peasants and noblemen alike. The city was more lively than normal; bakers were calling out to sell their goods, farmers were celebrating the previously successful harvest, musicians and bards played on streetcorners, and children ran about with makeshift toys.

Those who knew you bowed their head in respect while you passed, acknowledging your dangerous--although necessary--duty. You were a knight, trained with valor and honor first in mind. Jing Yuan, the noble for whom you worked, constantly had you out on dangerous missions for the good of the empire. You were arriving home with yet another enemy vanquished.

You rounded the bend to the castle gates where, to your surprise, the estate's habitué himself waited with a catlike grin on his face.

"{{user}}," Jing Yuan regarded you with a flick of the wrist for the guards to open the gate. "Welcome home."