Chapter 2 | When Everyone Knows, Talk is Meaningless
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Following Olivia’s gaze, the eyes of those gathered also fell on the knight.
Vibrant silver hair that reflected all light, like the moon on the darkest of nights and narrowed red eyes. Everything about him exuded this sense of pressure, like his sharp chin and straight nose—even his mouth that was closed in a straight line.
[Crowd] “Uh……”
Everyone was following her eyes…..but they noticed something very quickly about her gaze. She wasn’t just casting him a casual glance. She was staring at him.
Princess Olivia was a lovely little thing. She was elegant, but not loud, and considered one of the most beautiful women on the continent. But surrounding her, there was not even the whisper of a man.
If such a princess were to fall in love with a knight at first sight……the landscape of the entire continent would change in a second.
Everyone swallowed hard.
The official moderator of the meeting raised his hand awkwardly, speaking first. And with his awkward voice, the start of the meeting was also extremely awkward.
[—] “……..So the agenda……”
No matter what anyone said, it was obvious that all of Olivia’s nerves were focused on Cryer.
And she didn’t even try to hide it. She knew Cryer would definitely be able to feel her gaze even if she tried to watch him secretly. If that were to be the case, then she’d rather make it as obvious as possible.
Obvious that she was very interested in this man, that is.
There wasn’t a single soul that didn’t pay attention to Princess Olivia of the Empire. If the Princess of the entire Empire were to give all her attention to a mere knight of a small kingdom, then that very knight, Cryer, wouldn’t be able to move around easily.
Cryer would not be able to kill everyone he needed to start the war.
There was still time before the Continental War’s beginning, so the rumors she was trying to start with her actions would be the shield necessary to protect Olivia before trying to speak with Cryer.
Well, there’s still the chance he could turn mad and kill everyone here, casting us all into a sea of blood. I haven’t been able to avoid that before…..
Olivia clenched her fists. Her smooth, well-kept nails pierced her palm, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, the small amount of pain helped her ignore the mounting fear she felt towards Cryer, if only a little.
Taking a deep breath, Olivia raised her hand. All without taking her eyes off Cryer.
The voices of the gathered people were rising as their discussion became more heated, but they were silenced with a single gesture from her.
[Olivia] “You’re all becoming too heated. Let’s take a break and resume in a moment.”
Before she finished speaking, Olivia stood up from her seat, striding towards a certain someone.
Towards Cryer.
Olivia could not see the people around her, helplessly gasping or covering their mouths with both hands in shock and awe.
At the end of her eyes, there was only Cryer, looking down with narrowed eyes and a bored expression—as if there was nothing in this world that he cared for. Step by harrowed step, she walked.
And the closer she got, the faster she started walking, earning the attention of everyone in the meeting hall.
The moment she reached him, she did not hesitate to speak.
[Olivia] “Look at me.”
Casting aside all manners and etiquette, not even bothering to introduce herself properly, Olivia went straight to the point. Everyone gasped, but still, Olivia was focused only on Cryer.
She’d been through the Continental War several times now through multiple regressions, and that time was not spent entirely in vain.
She didn’t know exactly who Cryer was, where he came from, or even exactly how strong he was. However, she was able to learn a little bit about his more trivial tastes. More specifically, she heard him say once that he disliked people who spoke for too long.
After everything she’d been through, being concise was easy for her.
There was no time to worry about anything else, much less coming off informal.
Olivia had already been killed by him four times. With every regression, without fail, she met her end at his hands. If she wished to keep her head now, superhuman effort was required.
Now that she was finally barely standing before him, taking heavy steps as she did, it felt like immeasurable weights were being hung from her limbs.
But by the time she reached him, someone other than Cryer stood in front of her, blocking the way.
[???] “Your Highness.”
[Olivia] “Oh……King Lendin.”
After receiving the Nordian King’s greeting automatically, Olivia still did not take her eyes off of Cryer. She couldn’t afford to do that. The moment she did, even if it was only for a second, it felt like he would take her head here and now.
The King of Nordian looked between Cryer, who was silently bowing his head with an awkward expression, and Olivia, who looked like she was about to scorch him with the fire in her eyes.
[King Nordian] “Is there a problem with my knight?”
[Olivia] “Yes. There is a problem.”
[King Nordian] “Excuse me?”
[Olivia] “I have a problem with him. Please excuse us.”
The King of Nordian was clearly confused, but when faced with Olivia’s toughness, he had no choice but to nod and bow his head. Acting like this, she seemed very different from the image one might imagine from an Imperial Princess.
His situation was a little strange, considering he’d traveled this distance between the Empire and his kingdom with only a single knight amongst his party. But still, he could not refuse.
[Olivia] “Cry…….Ah. My lord. Follow me for a moment.”
Olivia was in such a rush, she nearly called him by his name without realizing it. Coughing awkwardly, she gestured towards Cryer, but he remained silent.
Again, how much time truly passed in this moment that felt like a second?
There was a chill running down her back as a tremble began to spread throughout her, starting with her fingertips. As her lips tensed, the King of Nordian fortunately spoke out first.
[King Nordian] “What are you doing? Her Highness is calling you.”
[Cryer] “My apologies.”
The second she heard his voice, the hairs on the back of Olivia’s neck stood up. Her entire neck was stiff, but she couldn’t back down now.
[Olivia] “T, This…..way.”
Olivia walked forward, not even being escorted by him.
And amidst that, only Cryer noticed the slight tremble of her round shoulders.
After walking for a bit, Olivia arrived at the secret room she had prepared in advance, swallowing harshly. Many people saw her come here with him, so there was no way he would get away with killing her now.
Yes….that’s right. I’m going to believe that.
Struggling to convince herself, Olivia entered the room first, followed by Cryer just behind her.
Click.
Again her shoulders trembled at the sound of the door being closed. She was shaking so terribly that her bones were louder than thunder itself.
But finally, they were alone.
Her heart was beating so rapidly, it honestly seemed like it was going to leap out of her mouth.
Though far from excitement, this irregular heartbeat was nothing more than a condition. Rather than fear, how nice would it be if she’d actually fallen in love with Cryer at first sight, calling him out simply because she couldn’t take it any more…..just like the people gathered in the meeting hall thought.
[Cryer] “I’m sorry if you favor me, Your Highness, but I can’t be with anyone right now.”
As she tried to organize her thoughts, Cryer did as he was told, speaking respectfully, but he seemed strangely annoyed.
Just as she thought, he was following rules of conduct, but it was extremely shallow. Speaking respectfully for the sake of coming off respectful—regardless of whether or not he meant it.
[Olivia] “I didn’t bring you here because I fell in love with you. I have something I need to do.”
Olivia rubbed her cheek to get rid of the goosebumps as she coldly denied his words with a single phrase. She waved her hand toward Cryer.
[Olivia] “There’s no need to be respectful if it doesn’t suit you. Speak formally or informally—whichever you see fit.”
It was the first time Olivia had ever felt so off put by someone showing her respect, that much was true. How many other times would she have to experience this? Olivia was born as the Imperial Princess. Not a soul would dare speak informally to her besides the Emperor himself.
But from the moment Olivia met Cryer for the very first time, he always spoke to her without any hesitation.
Though, he hardly spoke……Just a few words before he took my head in a single stroke.
[Olivia] “Something like that wouldn’t be difficult for you.”
Already Cryer was called aside by the Imperial Princess and was standing in a room with her alone, and now he was hearing even more strange things from her, causing him to faintly furrow his brows.
Olivia didn’t wait for his answer, instead endlessly pouring out her words.
She was nervous, anxious, and downright terrified, so not even a moment of silence was something she could endure.
[Olivia] “I called you here for one reason alone. Care to guess why?”
Olivia was getting desperate. There was no way Cryer didn’t understand what she was getting at.
And yet he still didn’t bare his teeth.
[Cryer] “It’s a bit hard to follow.”
[Olivia] “What? No, but I have to do something!”
Olivia tried to take a step closer to Cryer with a determined expression on her face, but her courage failed her at the last second, so she only took half a step.
[Olivia] “For you!”
The distance between them was less than two steps, but to Olivia, it was like those two steps were the only thing between her and the edge of a cliff—leading to a bottomless pit.
[Olivia] “What can I do for you?”
[Cryer] “Your Highness. I’m just a knight from the Kingdom of Nordian. There’s nothing an Imperial Princess like you needs to do for me.”
But Cryer didn’t get it.
Olivia clenched both her fists, shouting more resolutely this time.
[Olivia] “I have to do something to stop you from starting a war!”
And following Olivia’s most desperate cry was an oppressive silence, deep and heavy as it hung in the air. Seconds passed like hours underneath that silence that could kill anyone’s breath.
[Cryer] “First, you should take a breath.”
[Olivia] “Hah, hoo, hah.”
At Cryer’s words, Olivia let out a huge breath of air she didn’t realize she was holding and then quickly breathed in again. As the air filled with empty lungs, Olivia stared up at Cryer, her blue eyes shaking with tears.
[Olivia] “Y, you just spoke informally!”
[Cryer] “You said I could.”
Shedding the formality he wore like a mask, Cryer looked at Olivia with total ease. Like a predator eyeing his prey.
Olivia shied away, like she’d become a mere frog in the presence of a snake.
Don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me. Not now.
Perhaps it was the effect of her quietly repeating those words in her head, but Cryer didn’t seem all that interested in twisting Olivia’s neck. At least not right away.
Fortunately for her, he only had interest in her words.
[Cryer] “What do you mean, war?”
[Olivia] “Everyone already knows, so what’s the point in explaining it?”
She tried to speak as calmly as possible, but there was an unmistakable tremble in her voice.
[Cryer] “Everyone? So that must include you, Your Highness. What do you know?”
[Olivia] “Everything.”
Olivia answered straight away, without even taking the chance to breathe. In all honesty, she didn’t know if she was breathing properly anymore.
At her answer, Cryer cocked his head.
[Olivia] “I know everything! You will start a war that will bring blood across the winds, throughout the continent! The entire land will fall into your hands and blood will flow like a river! The people will die in agony and—!”
But as she spat out her words, Olivia’s throat suddenly choked up.
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