***
‘Poor guy.’
Sir Carlz sighed inwardly and offered consolation.
“The Duchess will be fine. As I said, you’re the only one worried about her getting hurt by monsters.”
“She told you about that?”
The knight froze.
“How…?”
Victor responded without paying attention to his hesitation.
“Who else would ridicule me in this way if not you?”
“Are you going to punish me?”
“It’s fine. She’s gone anyway.”
His golden eyes sank. Carlz frowned. He was rather anxious about his cruel master’s calm appearance.
However, Victor simply examined the documents that had been given to him. He also eyed the books in Carlz’s hands, as if he remembered something.
“By the way, why didn’t you tell me that you were close to the successor of Cataleon?”
“What? We’re not close at all. Not close!”
Seeing the knight waving his hand, Victor finally smiled.
“I know you visit her hospital room every day. There’s already a pretty interesting rumor going around.”
“Don’t say weird things! Is there anything to stop us from being alone? I just want her to go back to the Capital as soon as possible.”
“Is she the ‘Mean Girl Who Likes Money’ that you talked about a lot when you were young?”
Carlz rolled his eyes.
This was the biggest drawback of having a childhood friend as your boss.
It was hard to lie.
The knight finally spat out.
“…Don’t say that in front of Catalina.”
The Grand Duke snorted and flipped the page of his report.
Outside the large window, white rocky mountains rose picturesquely under the black night sky. And he had no choice but to think of a certain woman. Her moon-like eyes… that looked at him with disappointment and anger.
‘Are you still mad at me?’
Victor closed his tired eyes.
The time it took to wait for Amarion to return was close to eternity.
＊ ＊ ＊
The next day Amarion woke up earlier than anyone else. It had rained all night, so it was damp and dark outside. She put on leather armour instead of a light housecoat and tied her hair up roughly. From now on, she decided to live like a knight, so she didn’t want to worry about anything else.
‘What’s the use of these beautiful clothes? Victor isn’t here.’
She suppressed those shameful thoughts and rang the bell.
“Ask the chef to prepare a light breakfast. We’ll leave as soon as the meal is over, so please inform the Viscount.”
The servants moved quickly with surprised expressions.
The castle woke up and quickly became busy. Perhaps Sir Leonard had given them word in advance, but the knights had gotten up early and were preparing to leave. They gathered in the dining hall and had a quick meal.
All the while, the Viscount couple followed her around in a panic.
“Would you like to stay a little longer, your highness?”
“I know you must have planned activities already, but please stay until lunchtime. There are many things I have prepared for you…”
Amarion smiled politely and shook her head.
“No, it was enough that you welcomed us last night.”
“But my Lady…”
“I’ll see you again in a more relaxed atmosphere. The Grand Duke said it was okay to hold a grand banquet, so please look forward to that.”
The Viscountess’ face brightened at her words.
She mentioned it in passing, but in reality, she didn’t know anything about banquets. By saying this, she could avoid a troublesome situation, and social circles would be excited for a while. Wasn’t that good?
She avoided their eyes and mounted her horse.
She looked over the knights that Leonard had gathered.
“As planned, here is where the Western and the Eastern Army divide. You know which group you belong to.”
“Yes!”
A roaring answer came in return.
She belonged to the Eastern Army, because the situation in the East was much worse.
She heard that there were many monsters along the roads, and the situation was particularly serious in Fidelburg, their final destination. So Amarion, Leonard, and Sir Raoul were all in the Eastern Army.
Experienced knights were put on the Western side to balance things out.
She had fought under the command of Carlz and Victor, but these were knights who had great achievements, so she trusted their judgment.
She stepped aside and watched as the Western Army departed. After they left, Leonard raised his hand and said goodbye.
“We will go too. Thank you for the hospitality, Viscount Norvant.”
“Oh, good luck. Sir, Madame.”
The Viscount wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled. Amarion bowed her head slightly, and steered her horse out the front gate.
It was the beginning of the fully-fledged subjugation.
＊ ＊ ＊
They rode their horses north of Norvant. As they left the castle, the atmosphere quickly turned dark. Everyone pulled up the hood of their cloaks to keep their hair from getting wet in the mist.
This was familiar to the knights on the expedition, but not to Mary. Amarion glanced back to check on her.
But to her surprise, Mary was casually chatting with Raoul. Raoul chuckled.
“…So, in my opinion, she hates social gatherings.”
“But Madame really likes hanging out with us!”
“Ah… This is a very famous story in the Capital. Welch’s tea party!”
Amarion stared at Raoul in disbelief.
‘Are you really telling Mary stories about me… in front of me?’
Despite their early departure, Mary was in good spirits.
“Really? So she hasn’t been to a social gathering since then?”
“That’s right. If his highness wants to be liked by his wife, he should hold a sword contest, not a tea party… I feel sorry that he has to hold a banquet now…”
“You’re just excited because his highness isn’t here.”
Leonard scolded him, but Raoul shrugged his shoulders.
“What’s wrong with that? Up until now, I couldn’t even tell stories about her because of him! It’s a good thing he’s gone.”
“I’m ashamed too…”
“Hey, I’m going to tell Miss Mary, so please listen well.”
Raoul wrinkled his eyes in a humorous way. The man’s grim and scarred gaze could be quite terrifying at times. Amarion shook her head.
Still, she was glad that Raoul was here and was making Mary less nervous. It was a bit embarrassing to hear the story of how she defeated such a weak knight, but…
She scratched her cheek and turned away. But suddenly, a strange noise was heard from deep in the fog.
She immediately raised a hand to stop the knights and listened.
Footsteps and low growls, raspy breathing…
It came closer in an instant.
“Raoul, Mary, back off!”
Chaeng!
She drew her sword with a sharp sound. As she jumped off her horse, a group of monsters screamed and rushed at her. Leonard shouted.
“Drakada!”
Drakadas were a very common monster in Morte. They had small bodies like goblins, and heads resembling a crocodile. Although they couldn’t use weapons due to their low intelligence, they had sharp teeth and were a great threat to defenseless travelers.
She had never seen them in Amari, but…
She guarded the horses and instinctively swung her sword. She expected some resistance due to their hard-looking outer scales, but they quickly fell one by one.
In the few seconds of down time she had, she checked on Mary. She was being guarded thoroughly by Raoul.
“Move away!”
Amarion stepped forward. As she drew attention to herself by flashing her sword, the Drakadas rushed in all at once. She cut down all the charging monsters, then jumped forward and killed the rest. Due to their warm habitat, Drakada’s skin were thinner than the monsters in Amari, so she cut them down easily.
After swinging her sword like that a few times, the screams subsided. As she removed her blood stained cloak, she asked.
“Is anyone injured?”
“We’re all right, Madame.”
Leonard curtly replied. Amarion walked back to her horse with a sigh of relief.
Most of the knights were staring at her. Some of them couldn’t keep their mouths shut in surprise.
“What…?”
“I told you. She’s that strong.”
A knight who had traveled with her before responded in a soft voice.
‘Why are you so surprised?’
Amarion tilted her head.
“How do you dispose of the bodies? Do you take the skin or teeth?”
“Usually we leave them and let the nearby village collect them. But this is a deserted place, so we should let them rot.”
“I see…”
It was just money.
Amarion took out a cloth and wiped down her sword, suppressing the impoverished thoughts that came to mind instinctively. She didn’t know how many more fights there would be, so she had to manage her sword properly.
Mary, who seemed very excited, tried to talk to Amarion, but Raoul gently stopped her. She smiled a little at them and sheathed her sword.
After a while, everyone got back on their horses. Leonard beckoned after counting the knights.
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“Come on, let’s go.”
She gripped the reins lightly.
***
Kofi shop updated till chapter 65.