***
***
Ellea said to Kenley as she rolled up the long sleeve, determined to see his injury.
“If you don’t mind, can I look at your injury?”
“Why, Princess?”
“Yes. I have one brother who gets hurt a lot, so I can do the basics.”
‘I’m sorry, Bellea, let me off the hook this once.’
Apologizing to Bellea in her mind, Ellea pointed to the chair on the other side. Kenley hesitated, but he could not ignore the words of the Princess and carefully sat down on the chair. He was puzzled when the Princess said she would heal his wounds. In the meantime Ellea began to seriously examine Kenley’s injured right wrist.
“I’ll try moving it around, just let me know if it hurts.”
“Huh? Yes.”
Ellea moved Kenley’s wrist and examined it carefully. It was common for knights to suffer injuries of this magnitude. She had treated them alone without any help.
‘Treating a wound like this is a piece of cake.’
After checking the condition of Kenley’s wrist, she opened a drawer from one side of the wall that contained the necessary items for the treatment, and took out some medicine and bandages.
Kenley was somehow stunned by how natural Ellea was doing this.
“It wasn’t a serious injury, but your muscles were pulled. You didn’t warm up enough because you were lazy, right?”
Ellea looked Kenley straight in the eye and said as if scolding him.
“How did you know that?”
“A quick glance can tell me this much.”
Ellea put some Medea on his wrist first, smiling as if she knew it was true. Then she wrapped the bandage skillfully.
“I’m done.”
Kenley couldn’t hide his surprise when he saw the perfectly healed wrist.
“Wow, that’s really amazing. I thought Wontil had done it.”
“I see. I’ll take that as a compliment. Please be careful next time. Don’t get hurt again.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
As he watched her skillfully clean up the mess, Kenley did not hide his surprise.
“The Princess seems to be quite different from what I thought.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
‘Honestly, it’s something you can ignore, isn’t it?
In fact, even if she was just a noblewoman, he would be surprised this much, but he couldn’t understand why she, a member of the royal family, would go so far.
What’s in it for her, to be so kind to a mere knight like him?
“How could you do that? Hands are most important to a knight who handles a sword.”
“What?”
When Kenley was surprised by Ellea’s words, Ellea asked back the obvious.
“Am I wrong? That’s what I think.”
“No, of course you’re right.”
“You can’t just pretend not to know when your hand is injured. You have to be really careful from now on.”
Kenley was grateful for the Princess’s sincere words.
Soon, he checked the time and stood up right away. Waiting for Wontil took longer than he expected.
“I’m way behind. The others might think I skipped the training on purpose. Thank you very much for your time today.”
“Thank you, too, ……….It was very nice to meet you today.”
Kenley walked out of the room smiling, not noticing the expression that appeared on Ellea’s face in that brief moment when Ellea stopped speaking.
He disappeared and Ellea was relieved by his usual appearance.
She worried that something might have happened to the Knights after her death, but it was only when she saw Kenley’s face that she realized they were much stronger than she thought.
‘I’m really glad.’
Ellea sat down on her chair again. Thinking of Kenley’s voice, full of vitality, made her smile without even knowing it.
There was only one good thing about coming here.
She could see the people she cared about doing well.
****
Kenley, on the other hand, hurried back to the performance hall after parting with Ellea. As soon as he appeared, the knights asked as he expected.
“Kenley, why are you so late?”
“You were having fun again, weren’t you?”
“No. I went to doctor Wontil’s place, but he wasn’t there, so I waited for him and just came back.”
His friends teased him, but were immediately concerned when they heard that he had to come back after waiting for the doctor.
“So you couldn’t get treatment?”
“That’s not it.”
“So you couldn’t get the treatment? You just said you waited and came back?”
Bandel, who approached late, also sounded concerned. Instead of replying to his words, Kenley showed him his perfectly healed hand. Unlike what he had said earlier, Bandel was only suspicious when he saw the bandaged hand.
“I heard doctor Wontil wasn’t there.”
“He wasn’t. However, there was someone who came and waited for him before I did, so I was treated by her instead.”
“Who, exactly?”
When everyone couldn’t really understand the mention of ‘someone’, Kenley proudly said the name.
“Don’t be surprised when you hear it. It’s Princess Ellea Zevenica.”
“The Princess?”
Bandel was most surprised to hear Ellea’s name come out of Kenley’s mouth, and the knights seemed to be wondering as well. Why would the name of the Imperial Princess suddenly appear?
“Is it the Imperial Princess that Bandel went to escort?”
“Yes, she was there earlier in doctor Wontil’s office. I can’t tell you how surprised I was when I heard her name.”
“I can’t believe she did this for you. It looks like it was done by Wontil.”
“Right? I was surprised too. She even checked where and how I got hurt and treated it.”
Even the Knights were in awe of Ellea’s skill. Thus, naturally, they were curious about the imperial Princess.
“What kind of person would you say the Princess is?”
“She’s very nice. Isn’t that right, Bandel? You know her very well, don’t you?”
Bandel was in the middle of listening to Kenley when the knights’ gaze turned to him and he nodded in agreement.
“You’re right. I think she’s a nice person.”
“She even knew that I was injured because I didn’t warm up properly. When she said it, she sounded a lot like El.”
“Kenley.”
When Kenley mentioned El, the other knights abruptly interrupted him, looking at Bandel’s face. Bandel, however, looked unconcerned. As if the situation had now passed.
“How long do you want to keep me from mentioning El’s name? El was a colleague of ours, wasn’t she?”
“But His Majesty…”
When the awkward atmosphere formed because of him, Bandel stepped up. He thought he should make it clear at least once.
“I’m fine. As Kenri said, El was our friend. I don’t know about the others, but let’s not do that between us. Still, I think we should be careful in front of His Majesty. You know what I mean by that, don’t you?”
The knights all nodded in agreement instead of answering. At that time, a person who seemed to be trying to relieve the subsided atmosphere said,
“But the two of you talk like that, and it really bothers me. What kind of person is the Princess?”
“I’m sure you’ll be surprised when you see her. First of all, she is beautiful………….”
“You’re all here?”
As soon as they recognized the owner of the voice, the knights immediately bowed their heads.
“We see the Emperor.”
“Aren’t you in training?”
Terban asked as he looked at the knights who had gathered at training time and were conversing with each other. They looked at each other and Kenley spoke first.
“I was injured during training, so I had to take some time off.”
Then, as if to prove his words, he showed Terban his bandaged hand.
When Kenny said he was hurt, Terban looked like he knew.
“I guess you were playing again. Is that why you got hurt so often?”
“No, my muscles were strained and the Princess told me not to move for the time being.”
“The Princess?”
When the word “Princess” came out of Kenley’s mouth, Terban naturally had to wonder.
“Why does that name keep popping up here?”
Kenley explained the situation like he did earlier.
“I went to visit doctor Wontil, but he was not there, so I was treated by the Princess instead.”
He thought about what Bandel said earlier and didn’t mention El’s name.
“She seems to be quite competent, but did the Princess really do this?”
“Yes. She said that her brother was the reason she was so good at it.”
“It’s thanks to the Crown Prince of Zevenica.”
Still, it was hard for Terban to imagine that Ellea treated Kenley herself. Even here, she was full of surprises.
Carrying a sword, subduing people, even healing.
“That’s why I’m taking the day off from training. Your Majesty.”
Seeing him thinking about taking this opportunity to rest, Terban didn’t let him off easily.
“Kenley, you will run on the training grounds during your training. You’re not taking a day off.”
“Isn’t that too much?”
“Bandel, make sure you finish your training. I’ll be watching to see if you’re good, especially Kenley.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Terban went on, ignoring Kenley’s complaints as he was used to it. But soon stopped and asked him.
“Was she there because she was not feeling well?”
Kenley shook his head, realizing immediately who Terban was asking about, though Terban didn’t mention the subject.
“No, she said there is no medicine in the palace, so she came to get some.”
“I see.”
Having received the desired answer, Terban left the performance hall. As soon as he disappeared, he asked Bandel for help.
“Bandel, let me off the hook today. Hmm? I just got hurt.”
“It’s Your Majesty’s order, please run quickly.”
“You know what’s really shameful, don’t you? You suddenly changed just because you became the Commander.”
After expressing his dissatisfaction to that extent, Kenley moved away and Bandel pondered for a while, but soon continued his training.
***
Ellea, who was left alone in Wontil’s office, felt quieter, probably because Kenley was gone.
“Kenley is still very loud.”
But it only felt good to see a happy face after so long.
How long she had waited, the door opened again, and Ellea, who turned her head to the sound, stood up right away.
The person she had waited for a long time finally appeared.
“Who are you?”
Wontil’s face and voice were the same as before, and Ellea tried not to let her voice tremble as she greeted him.
“I’m …… El, Ellea Zevenica.”
Ellea deliberately said El, then continued again, greeting him by saying her name again.
Wontill, who didn’t notice the brief hesitation, couldn’t hide his surprise at her identity.
“You must be the princess. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Wontil from the palace. By the way, what brings you here?”
“I’m waiting for doctor Wontil.”
“You mean me? Are you here because you’re hurt?”
Wondering at the mention of her visit, Wontill showed concern, thinking that Ellea had come to visit him because she was sick.
Ellea waved her hand meaning she was not sick in response.
“I came here to pick up some medicine for my palace.”
“Oh, I see. I’ll have it ready for you right away.”
“Thank you very much.”
Ellea sat down and followed Wontil’s movements with her eyes. Wontil was the same and still here, keeping El’s secret until the end.
How did he feel when El died? Thinking about it made her heart ached.
She asked him for such a hard favor, she thought she relied on him too much.
“Princess? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
“What?”
“You’re crying right now.”
Wontil said, surprised to find her in tears. Ellea hurriedly wiped her eyes, and there were really tears like he said.