Perhaps he considered the news he heard to be just a rumor.
Even while Sejan was my personal escort, I would not have dreamt of him showing up and doing his job on days we didn’t agreed on. This was quite frustrating.
My maid Lily and the knights around us were also blinking their eyes out, trying to figure out if their senses were not deceiving them. They could not believe the situation.
“Have you been at peace, Archduke, your Highness?”
In the meantime, Sejan, who quickly approached us, greeted us naturally.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Well, yes.”
Sejan answered coolly at Kyle’s dry answer.
Kyle was wearing his apathetic mask as usual and Sejan was smiling as if nothing had happened. A cold breeze was blowing around the both of them.
‘If we keep doing this, we’ll all fall into the abyss.’
“Come on, let’s get going. We’ll be late if we keep delaying our departure.” I quickly spoke to Kyle and beckoned him toward the carriage in an effort to somehow revive the cold atmosphere.
However, despite my efforts, Sejan opened his mouth with a fishy smile.
“Your Highness, I will protect you. Oh, of course, I’ll protect you Archduke, if my hands are empty.”
Look at that crazy guy. I screamed silently as I saw Sejan making lunatic remarks.
On the other hand, I felt sorry for him.
‘Because…’
If anything were to happen to Kyle, the first person who would throw themself in front of danger would be Sejan. If it was for Kyle, he would give his life without hesitation.
Whether he knew it or not, Kyle showed arrogance toward Sejan.
“Sejan, you’ve gotten good at talking nonsense while I didn’t see you around. I will protect my wife, and you don’t have to protect me.”
“Well, I don’t know. That’s something we will have to find out.”
“I have told you now. It won’t happen.”
It was a match between two predators. The only good thing was the lack of bloodshed.
‘… So, you’re not leaving?’
I can’t.
At this rate, we will not be able to depart since we were on a schedule. Eventually, I pushed Kyle’s back as a last resort.
“Kyle let’s go. We’re really going to be late. We have to leave early to pass through the south’s forests.”
Was it working? Was the reference to the south’s forests paying off?
Finally, Kyle turned forward in a last attempt to ignore Sejan.
“Let’s go.” Kyle lightly murmured.
Sejan, who also turned around, was also instructing others to prepare for departure.
I thought, lost in my mind, while getting on the carriage, but the combination of Kyle’s and Sejan’s attitude were transitioning too fast to really comprehend the both of them.
‘This trip’s going to be smooth, right?
It was a virtue that I was holding the sigh that wanted to come out at the moment.
***
The carriage was faster than the last trip to the Imperial Palace. It had no choice but to.
The empire’s territory was large, and the temple was located in the most remote part of the south. Even if you were to run nonstop, you would have to go at it for two full days before reaching your destination.
‘It’ll take us about three days.’
It would certainly be boring and tiring to stay in a carriage for three days.
There was a way to make the trip more comfortable.
‘We can do outdoor camping.’
However, it would not be considered while traveling with the Archduchess of the Grand Duchy. Where they would be in a position that they can’t sleep on the floor without a roof over their heads.
‘So, for them, outdoor camping is probably not a good way to go.’
In fact, there were other shortcuts. A road that could shorten the travel time by about a day.
‘The problem is that an uneven road is not a smooth path.’
For instance, the thorny road was one to see monsters coming out at any time. Of course, they will not be planning on using this specific road since I was going with them, but…
I was a little disappointed.
‘Even considering the monsters coming out, the road is the faster way to get there.’
It was not surprising that monsters could be found in the south’s forest considering the magic that surrounded the place.
‘Let’s just take the shortcut, shall we?’
I was looking at Kyle, thinking of which words to use in order to persuade him. Looking his way, we made eye contact at the same time. Perhaps Kyle had something to say to me, I wasn’t really surprised.
I’ve been facing this man this way all this time.
‘It’s time to get used to it now.’
I stared at Kyle, and paused in silence for a moment, giving him a chance to speak first, but he was not muttering a word.
‘Why?’
I tilted my head for a moment, but I decided to wait until Kyle spoke first.
“…”
“…”
However, Kyle remained silent over time to the point that each other’s silence felt unnatural. That reaction didn’t deviate from my expectations.
Nevertheless, as frustrated as I was, I couldn’t stand it anymore.
I asked straightforwardly. “Archduke, do you have something to tell me?”
Still, due to Kyle’s personality, it was impossible to get an answer straight away.
I gave up, half resigned.
“If you don’t have anything to say, I’ll go first…”
“Why did you have Sejan as your personal escort?”
I blinked for a moment. I was wondering what I heard.
Kyle was asking something at the moment, but this was a different kind of question that I expected.
‘By the way, I didn’t anticipate Kyle to be interested in this.’
I was honestly in trouble when asked how it happened. I couldn’t immediately say why Sejan became my personal escort.
‘What should I say?’
I could see Kyle crumpling his forehead while I was taking my time to find the right word to his question.
‘I guess you want the answer now, he’s such an impatient man.’
“It just happened, it happened.”
I deliberately omitted a lot. I knew from my experience that giving less details would be beneficial to me in the end.
‘It would be a great honor to be able to go through the subject and talk about something else.’
Seeing Kyle’s eyebrows wiggle, it seemed impossible.
“… It just happened?”
As expected, we were still on the subject. At this time, Kyle was unexpectedly persistent, so I was forced to recite the words that came to mind with a calm expression.
“Yes. It just happened. I need a personal escort since I’m the Archduchess, and I hear that Sejan is the strongest knight in the Empire.”
“…”
“Besides, there were times when I met him at the training grounds, so I asked him if he was willing to be my personal escort.”
Although I tried to speak in a nonchalant way, Kyle’s eyebrows went up even more.
‘What, why, what’s the problem?’
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ah… That. I was able to notice Kyle’s annoyance in his words.
The owner of the Great Duchy being Kyle seemed to have his pride hurt that I chose Sejan to be my personal escort without asking or letting him know.
‘That’s a little surprising. Unexpected…’
I thought Kyle wouldn’t care about this, but the situation was already over, so I tried to find something to calm him down.
“I’m very sorry I didn’t tell the Archduke beforehand, but this was sudden for me. I was going to report it to you today, I also told Jean in case I…”
“Is there a reason why a knight must escort you?”
Huh? What does this mean?
The flow of my speech was temporarily suspended due to an incomprehensible remark coming from Kyle. He wasn’t referring to Sejan alone, he was referring to the entire knight class.
‘Why on earth?’
Eventually, I opened my eyes and asked him. “If not a knight, who would escort me?”
“…”
Kyle shut up when I asked him about the obvious question.
‘Is it not what Kyle does when he can’t find anything to say?’
He opened his mouth again before he knew what to say.
“… Beside knights, doesn’t the person just have to be skilled?”
“A man of ability?”
Hmm. Skills. I thought a little bit and asked him.
“Do you mean mercenaries or wizards?”
“Yes.”
Nodding deeply as if to accept Kyle’s answer, I continued.
“A mercenary or wizard. That’s a great suggestion. There are many masters of the night among mercenaries. A great wizard is, um, rare enough to count as a good hand, but if you look for it, you’ll find it.”
“…”
“Besides, there’s no law to have only one escort, right?”
I responded louder than usual. Kyle’s suggestion was refreshing, but I was happier because he and I agreed for once.
If my deal with Sejan were to fail, I was already planning on hiring a mercenary.
‘And now…’
If Kyle objected to me having Sejan as an escort, he would bring a mercenary he had in mind.
“Actually, the best escorts are wizards, but there aren’t many who are capable of being a proper escort.”
“You don’t see the wizard in front of you?” Kyle muttered to himself, looking dumbfounded.
‘Huh?’
After interpreting Kyle’s words into my head, I stared at him again with eyes bigger than before.
“I don’t understand, you’re not saying that you’re going to be my escort?”
Kyle’s face hardened when asked with a long hesitation.
“What’s the reaction? Do you hate it so much?”
Oh, my, god. Really?
If I was even a little bit more surprised, my mouth would be all opened from shock. I almost failed to keep my facial expression in check.
Of course, I could admit to Kyle’s incredible skills. It was no exaggeration to say that magicians on par with Kyle were rare, and he was also good at swordsmanship.
He couldn’t be easily defeated by Sejan, comparing their swords’ skills alone.
He also has the power of a dragon.
‘At this point, he’s such a fraudulent character that he can just lead the novel by himself?’
Still, this was this, and that was that.
‘Does it make sense that the Archduke is escorting the Archduchess?’