WTPB - Chapter 34




When Erdene finished speaking, a gust of wind blew.

It seemed as if something was moving, or making a rustling sound, and it continued until it was getting closer. When Erdene and Sophia turned their heads, a man with a sturdy build approached them with a look of bewilderment on his face.

He knelt down on one knee in front of Erdene first.

When Erdene held out her right hand, he very carefully kissed her ring and then slowly raised his eyes.

“Your Majesty.”

Despite his rough appearance, his voice was calm.

When Erdene nodded, indicating that it was okay for him to stand, he carefully got up so as not to raise dust.

“Are you Knight Commander Wiziard?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Erdene almost burst out laughing at the embarrassment and wariness in his short answer.

Belen stared at Erdene’s face strangely, then turned his head to Sophia.

Since there was no noble in Vetor who didn’t know her, Belen naturally knew who Sophia was.

“What brings the young lady of the Marquis Fiddlers?”

“I brought Her Majesty, Sir Wiziard. Is this the first time since we greeted each other at the last birthday party?”

“Oh, yes. I see.”

He nodded with an embarrassed expression, and the back of his neck was slightly flushed.

Erdene believed that it was because he was shy because of Sophia, but the truth was different.

There was no time for Belen to feel such luxurious emotions as shyness. Because...

'Damn it! My disguise as a groom has been found out. How can I make up for it? If I were to honestly say that I had no choice because His Majesty ordered me to...'

Of course, Arkan would pester him. He would have lectured him for two hours in a low voice, occasionally sighing, until the words "In that case, it would be better to cut off his head" would leak out from his lips.

However, there was no way to smoothly escape this problem without Arkan's excuse.

If he had just gone as the commander of the knights, he could have made an excuse that the kingdom was paying homage to the Princess of the empire, but didn't he even disguise himself as a groom?

This would mean that he had planned ahead in case Erdene tried to run away or use violence.

And that... It didn’t matter if the person didn’t know, but once she found out, it was extremely rude.

“You.”

At Erdene’s voice, cold sweat ran down Belen’s neck.

At least his pride as the best knight commander in the inland and his courage to match that pride kept him from making a fool of himself.

Erdene didn’t say anything after calling him. He just stared at Belen’s face.

If he could, Belen wanted to go and get a helmet that completely covered his face and put it over his head right now.

‘And then I could have just said that it was so tight that I couldn’t take it off.’

While Belen, nervous, was lost in absurd thoughts and was regretting useless things, Erdene turned to Sophia and said.

“He looks like a potato, but what the hell are he not?”

A potato out of nowhere.

Belen’s eyes widened. However, what Sophia said next was even more absurd.

“I never said no, Your Majesty. Just say it’s a smooth potato.”

Erdene looked Belen up and down again—her eyes as if he was checking the freshness of a fish on a stall—and nodded with a mumble.

“Wel... Yes. It’s smooth enough that I could steam it whole and take it out.”

“Even so.”

Belen couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but he felt badly insulted for some reason.

He cleared his throat and bowed his head slightly toward Erdene. 

“Your Majesty, how did you get here?” 

“I walked here?”

“No, that’s not it...” 

Belen was speechless in embarrassment. Erdene began to giggle, perhaps because she found it funny. Sophia answered Belen’s question on her behalf, who was too busy laughing to speak. 

“Her Majesty wished to see the soldiers training, so I guided her, Commander Wizard. However...” 

Sophia looked around the nearly empty parade ground, pouted her lips, and shrugged her shoulders. 

‘There’s not a single one?’

As if she was saying that.

Erdene had stopped laughing and was staring at Belen with eyes demanding an answer.

He seemed flustered, not knowing what to say, and then ruffled his hair.

“That... um, well, today is that...”

Belen glanced at her and coughed again as if he had made up his mind.

“It’s a holiday.”

Erdene’s eyes widened slightly.

Her eyes, which were already sharp and sharp due to the light color of her irises, were glaring at him with such force that it seemed as if he should apologize for his mistake, even though he had done nothing wrong.

“Holiday?”

Her voice burst out with a nervous laugh. And it didn’t stop there.

“Holiday? You said it was a holiday, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Erdene shook her shoulders for a moment as if she was going to burst into laughter at Belen’s answer, but instead snorted.

“It seems that Vetor is taking his time in protecting his country.”

Belen’s shoulders flinched for a moment at Erdene’s mocking remark. Then a stubborn and hard expression appeared on his face.

Belen said.

“When our inland allies were in danger, we sweated in the parade grounds every day, but now I believe the threat has disappeared.”

At that moment, he knew that he had lost his temper and was angry, but he could not stop his mouth from moving.

When he realized that he had made a mistake, the words that meant, ‘Your country will no longer come to take away your land, so why bother taking a break?’ had already reached Erdene’s ears.

Belen’s rude, if impolite, momentary remarks made Sophia feel a pang inside, but surprisingly, Erdene did not get angry at his arrogance.

Rather than anger, emotions like joy or ecstasy filled her eyes, and they seemed to spin around the shiny surface.

Of course, if the adjutants who were accustomed to Erdene’s pattern had seen it, they would have fled with a ready mind to die the next time.

When Erdene made that kind of expression, it was usually because she had an excuse to beat something—or someone—up.

Erdene said,

“Yes, you have a point. Then the soldiers on the border also play one day and guard the gate the other day? What are the holidays like in the border region? Do they leave the gate wide open and eat chicken cooked in a pot?”

Belen’s brow furrowed a little deeper, but this time it wasn’t anger or sudden anger.

Still, he was a very capable officer.

He couldn’t help but sense the atmosphere spreading from Erdene’s body, the atmosphere that he had to swing his sword right now to relieve this nervousness.

“That...”

“Well, I’m not going to ask you about that right now, so don’t worry. More importantly, Sophia?”

Sophia turned her head toward Erdene.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“How is it? Are you going to talk now?”

Belen was bewildered again. He had no idea what they had been talking about all this time.

Sophia glanced at Belen’s bewildered expression, then looked down at her own clothes and said calmly.

“It seems a little early today. I haven’t prepared much. I don’t like my clothes either. Please be lenient, Your Majesty.”

Erdene’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“Does it have something to do with clothes?”

“I think so.”

Belen interrupted at that moment.

Not only was it a conversation he couldn’t understand, but he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that he had been tied up and placed on the chopping block of Erdene and Sophia without realizing it.

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you two are talking about.”

“You don’t know yet, since Sophia isn’t ready. Let’s go.”

Erdene turned around. No, she was about to turn around.

When Sophia gave a small bow to Belen to follow her, Erdene turned around again.

“Sophia.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You’re not ready, but I’m sure it’s okay for me to warm up a little?”

Sophia’s intelligent eyes blinked a couple of times. She stared at Belen—who seemed to be asking why she was looking at him—and said,

“If it doesn’t take too long. And I’ll have nothing to do with today’s results.”

“Very well.”

Erdene crossed her arms and stretched them out in front of her. There was a cracking sound from her fingers, where small scars could be seen.

The moment she didn’t stop there and began to turn her neck this way and that, and her shoulders began to relax, Belen felt a chill run down his spine with foreboding.

“Chief Wizard.”

“Ah, yes. Your Majesty. Go ahead.”

“Go and bring me two swords. Real ones are fine, but I haven’t been able to move for a while. I might lose control, so a wooden sword would be better.”

Her sudden order seemed to take Belen’s breath away.

As Erdene squinted her eyes, he turned around as if possessed and stepped away to get the swords.

When Belen was far away, Sophia asked,

“Are the wooden swords safe, Your Majesty?”

Erdene shrugged.

“At least he won’t get cut off, so don’t worry.”


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