While Erdene and Sophia were pounding Belen on the chopping board in the empty parade ground, Arkan was busy tapping his tongue in the room where Pelarhar was staying. Perhaps the aftereffects had come late, Pelarhar, who was lying down on the sheet-like an incurable slacker, threw a cushion and said,
“Please get out.”
However, Arkan dodged the cushion in an annoyingly natural manner, looked at the shelf filled with all kinds of crazy stuff with a displeased look, and clicked his tongue again.
“Oh, please!”
He knew the time when he was half asleep so well that whenever Arkan clicked his tongue, Pelarhar would almost turn pale.
Arkan showed Pelarhar, whose eyes had become puffy, a decoration on the shelf. It was a rock of unknown origin.
“What on earth do you pick up every time you come back? How could you have made this in less than an hour after you cleaned everything up?”
As Arkan had said, Pelarhar’s room looked like it had jumped from one room of the Vetor Palace to another place, another world.
The tapestries hanging here and there—perhaps they had been buried under people’s buttocks for a hundred years—and the clothes strewn about were the only relief.
Every shelf was lined with odds and ends that could not be determined whether they had been found or bought, and there were several swings hanging from the ceiling, some made of stone, some of crystal, and some of tinted glass with shiny edges.
There was also a splattered doll with a grotesque expression hanging there.
The stains looked like dried blood.
Pelarhar, burying his face in his pillow, complained.
“Oh, who told you to clean it up? I told you not to touch my room.”
“Then you want me to leave it like this all year long? Even ghosts can’t live in a place like this.”
“Oh, please! Get some sleep! Don’t you have anything to do today? Why don’t you go and read a porn novel?”
Then a fluffy ball of cotton, once a sheep doll, flew toward Pelarhar.
Pelarhar would not have been easy on himself under normal circumstances, but right now he was just so... sleepy. Whether the cotton ball hit his head or not, he just wanted Arkan to get out of there.
Arkan said,
“Who reads porn novels?”
“His Majesty Arkan, the sly and sly.”
Arkan turned his head back.
“Plat, drag him out and throw him in jail.”
Plat bowed his head deeply and replied.
“There is no charge, Your Majesty.”
“He is lying about me reading pornography.”
“Your Majesty, with all due respect, The Cold Lover falls into the category of pornography.”
Pelarhar held his stomach and giggled at Plat’s squeaky retort. Arkan imagined them both being kicked out the window.
In fact, there was a reason why Arkan visited Pelarhar’s tired room and harassed him.
After meeting Erdene, Pelarhar went to Arkan’s office on purpose and said this.
[What a wonderful woman. She must have been well-loved by the Emperor of Hirschsten. If I had been here when the marriage proposal was going on, I might have offered to step in for you.]
He swore Pelarhar didn’t mean to nag Arkan.
Rather, he wanted to tell Arkan, ‘It would be nice to bring a wonderful woman as a Queen,’ but for some reason, Arkan’s feelings were twisted by Pelarhar’s words.
While Arkan was looking at the strange decorations on the shelf, Pelarhar buried his face in his pillow and fell asleep in an instant.
Arkan, who was listening to the deep breathing, thought about getting angry again, but stopped and picked up a small dragon-shaped toy.
It felt smooth and firm in his hand, and somehow soft.
Arkan’s eyes, which had unconsciously gripped the toy, widened. The dragon’s eyes and tongue bulged out as if they were going to burst.
“This is disgusting.”
Arkan, who was dissatisfied, gripped the dragon again.
The poor rubber dragon was on the verge of losing either an eye or a tongue to Arkan’s merciless evil power.
“It’s disgusting, isn’t it? Plat, isn’t it?”
“It’s disgusting, so why are you still holding it?”
Arkan squeezed the dragon gently again, and this time only the eye popped out. It was still disgusting, but...
“I think the Queen would like this.”
Upon hearing that, Plat made a strange expression as if he would listen to any strange things. It seemed like it wouldn’t be awkward to sneak in between Pelarhar’s bizarre decorations.
Arkan was still muttering that it was disgusting and squeezing the rubber dragon.
Plat, who was staring blankly at the poor dragon with swollen eyes, said,
“Your Majesty.”
“Why?”
“If I were really going to give it to Her Majesty, its eyes would burst before you could even give it to her.”
Arkan, who squeezed the dragon hard as if it were the last time, let go and threw the dragon toy to Plat.
“Go and tell the servants to wrap it up nicely. Look at her expression when she opens it.”
Plat had a lot to say, but he decided to hold back.
It was when the two of them left Pelarhar’s room. There was a commotion on the other side of the hallway, and then he saw some of the servants running wildly as if they were having a race.
It was Plat, rather than Arkan, who got angry at their rude behavior first.
“You guys! Running around recklessly, don’t stop!”
One of the servants who was running behind was unfortunately caught by Plat.
His face turned pale as soon as he saw Arkan, but even then, he kept glancing around the place his comrades had run off to as if he was more concerned about it.
Plat said,
“What the hell? If there wasn’t a fire, what were they doing?”
“Uh, that...”
At that moment, a group of servants appeared. This time, there were also maids.
They ran quickly, muttering without even looking at Plat and Arkan.
Arkan looked down at the servants and asked,
“What’s going on? Did something happen?”
“Oh, no. There wasn’t an accident, but over there... uh, at the parade ground.”
“Parade ground?”
At that moment, goosebumps ran down Arkan’s spine. Out of nowhere, the parade ground? What happened there?
And why did Erdene’s face come to mind instinctively?
Plat urged in an angry voice.
“Your Majesty’s safety. Don’t you dare speak properly! Is someone injured in the parade grounds? Or...”
“T-That’s not it. That’s not it... uh, Commander Wiziard is sparring with Her Majesty at the parade grounds. Everyone is going to see it.”
Plat’s mouth fell open like a nutcracker. Arkan frowned and groaned, then clutched his forehead.
“Damn it, I forgot to write it in our wedding vows. I should have added a clause that said, ‘You must not kill the knight commander I have chosen with great effort.’”
Because Arkan had completely forgotten the clause in their wedding vows, Belen Wiziard was practically pushed to the edge of a cliff. He had never thought that the saying, ‘There is no room to take a single step’ would be exactly what was meant by this situation.
He didn’t even notice that the crowd of people who had gathered slowly was forming a cloud as if they were watching a duck race on a festival day.
He didn’t have time to look at such a place.
“They’re moving slowly! I can see where they’re going to move!”
Erdene’s joyful shout rang in his ears.
While she was saying “They’re moving slowly,” the wooden sword flew at Belen five times.
Erdene lightly struck him three times, releasing all the strength from her wrists and arms, and then quickly dodged to the side and struck his side and lower back in succession.
“Ah! Your Majesty! Wait a minute! Get in position...!”
“Please get out.”
However, Arkan dodged the cushion in an annoyingly natural manner, looked at the shelf filled with all kinds of crazy stuff with a displeased look, and clicked his tongue again.
“Oh, please!”
He knew the time when he was half asleep so well that whenever Arkan clicked his tongue, Pelarhar would almost turn pale.
Arkan showed Pelarhar, whose eyes had become puffy, a decoration on the shelf. It was a rock of unknown origin.
“What on earth do you pick up every time you come back? How could you have made this in less than an hour after you cleaned everything up?”
As Arkan had said, Pelarhar’s room looked like it had jumped from one room of the Vetor Palace to another place, another world.
The tapestries hanging here and there—perhaps they had been buried under people’s buttocks for a hundred years—and the clothes strewn about were the only relief.
Every shelf was lined with odds and ends that could not be determined whether they had been found or bought, and there were several swings hanging from the ceiling, some made of stone, some of crystal, and some of tinted glass with shiny edges.
There was also a splattered doll with a grotesque expression hanging there.
The stains looked like dried blood.
Pelarhar, burying his face in his pillow, complained.
“Oh, who told you to clean it up? I told you not to touch my room.”
“Then you want me to leave it like this all year long? Even ghosts can’t live in a place like this.”
“Oh, please! Get some sleep! Don’t you have anything to do today? Why don’t you go and read a porn novel?”
Then a fluffy ball of cotton, once a sheep doll, flew toward Pelarhar.
Pelarhar would not have been easy on himself under normal circumstances, but right now he was just so... sleepy. Whether the cotton ball hit his head or not, he just wanted Arkan to get out of there.
Arkan said,
“Who reads porn novels?”
“His Majesty Arkan, the sly and sly.”
Arkan turned his head back.
“Plat, drag him out and throw him in jail.”
Plat bowed his head deeply and replied.
“There is no charge, Your Majesty.”
“He is lying about me reading pornography.”
“Your Majesty, with all due respect, The Cold Lover falls into the category of pornography.”
Pelarhar held his stomach and giggled at Plat’s squeaky retort. Arkan imagined them both being kicked out the window.
In fact, there was a reason why Arkan visited Pelarhar’s tired room and harassed him.
After meeting Erdene, Pelarhar went to Arkan’s office on purpose and said this.
[What a wonderful woman. She must have been well-loved by the Emperor of Hirschsten. If I had been here when the marriage proposal was going on, I might have offered to step in for you.]
He swore Pelarhar didn’t mean to nag Arkan.
Rather, he wanted to tell Arkan, ‘It would be nice to bring a wonderful woman as a Queen,’ but for some reason, Arkan’s feelings were twisted by Pelarhar’s words.
While Arkan was looking at the strange decorations on the shelf, Pelarhar buried his face in his pillow and fell asleep in an instant.
Arkan, who was listening to the deep breathing, thought about getting angry again, but stopped and picked up a small dragon-shaped toy.
It felt smooth and firm in his hand, and somehow soft.
Arkan’s eyes, which had unconsciously gripped the toy, widened. The dragon’s eyes and tongue bulged out as if they were going to burst.
“This is disgusting.”
Arkan, who was dissatisfied, gripped the dragon again.
The poor rubber dragon was on the verge of losing either an eye or a tongue to Arkan’s merciless evil power.
“It’s disgusting, isn’t it? Plat, isn’t it?”
“It’s disgusting, so why are you still holding it?”
Arkan squeezed the dragon gently again, and this time only the eye popped out. It was still disgusting, but...
“I think the Queen would like this.”
Upon hearing that, Plat made a strange expression as if he would listen to any strange things. It seemed like it wouldn’t be awkward to sneak in between Pelarhar’s bizarre decorations.
Arkan was still muttering that it was disgusting and squeezing the rubber dragon.
Plat, who was staring blankly at the poor dragon with swollen eyes, said,
“Your Majesty.”
“Why?”
“If I were really going to give it to Her Majesty, its eyes would burst before you could even give it to her.”
Arkan, who squeezed the dragon hard as if it were the last time, let go and threw the dragon toy to Plat.
“Go and tell the servants to wrap it up nicely. Look at her expression when she opens it.”
Plat had a lot to say, but he decided to hold back.
It was when the two of them left Pelarhar’s room. There was a commotion on the other side of the hallway, and then he saw some of the servants running wildly as if they were having a race.
It was Plat, rather than Arkan, who got angry at their rude behavior first.
“You guys! Running around recklessly, don’t stop!”
One of the servants who was running behind was unfortunately caught by Plat.
His face turned pale as soon as he saw Arkan, but even then, he kept glancing around the place his comrades had run off to as if he was more concerned about it.
Plat said,
“What the hell? If there wasn’t a fire, what were they doing?”
“Uh, that...”
At that moment, a group of servants appeared. This time, there were also maids.
They ran quickly, muttering without even looking at Plat and Arkan.
Arkan looked down at the servants and asked,
“What’s going on? Did something happen?”
“Oh, no. There wasn’t an accident, but over there... uh, at the parade ground.”
“Parade ground?”
At that moment, goosebumps ran down Arkan’s spine. Out of nowhere, the parade ground? What happened there?
And why did Erdene’s face come to mind instinctively?
Plat urged in an angry voice.
“Your Majesty’s safety. Don’t you dare speak properly! Is someone injured in the parade grounds? Or...”
“T-That’s not it. That’s not it... uh, Commander Wiziard is sparring with Her Majesty at the parade grounds. Everyone is going to see it.”
Plat’s mouth fell open like a nutcracker. Arkan frowned and groaned, then clutched his forehead.
“Damn it, I forgot to write it in our wedding vows. I should have added a clause that said, ‘You must not kill the knight commander I have chosen with great effort.’”
***
Because Arkan had completely forgotten the clause in their wedding vows, Belen Wiziard was practically pushed to the edge of a cliff. He had never thought that the saying, ‘There is no room to take a single step’ would be exactly what was meant by this situation.
He didn’t even notice that the crowd of people who had gathered slowly was forming a cloud as if they were watching a duck race on a festival day.
He didn’t have time to look at such a place.
“They’re moving slowly! I can see where they’re going to move!”
Erdene’s joyful shout rang in his ears.
While she was saying “They’re moving slowly,” the wooden sword flew at Belen five times.
Erdene lightly struck him three times, releasing all the strength from her wrists and arms, and then quickly dodged to the side and struck his side and lower back in succession.
“Ah! Your Majesty! Wait a minute! Get in position...!”
“Would you say that on the battlefield? Wait for me to get in position? It’s only in fairy tales that enemies foolishly wait!”
Belen was hit hard on the shoulder, arm, and thigh.
Erdene gave Belen a moment, but Belen didn’t come to his senses.
His skills were not bad at all.
The rumor that no one in the inland could keep up with Belen Wizied was not empty.
At first, Belen's momentum was fast and great. Even in Erdene's eyes, who had seen countless imperial officers who were called Nanda and Ginda, he seemed useful.
If he had been an imperial officer, she would have trained him to death until he vomited out everything in his stomach, and then entrusted several soldiers to him.
Revealing his skills like that was a huge cause for Belen.
Belen, who had been considered a child in the inland who had just practiced swinging his sword with joy and style, unexpectedly charged forward, and Erdene suddenly felt her blood boil.
It was fun... It was so much fun that I couldn't stand it!
How long had it been since she had had this kind of fun? If she included the sluggish war in Binotin, it had been almost a year ago.
At first, Erdene was moving around leisurely, trying to loosen up her stiff body, but her gaze changed when Belen’s wooden sword passed by her nape.
Even if it had been a real fight, it was a distance that would not have left a scratch, but in the first place, there weren’t many skilled warriors in Hirschsten who would have been able to come in aiming for her neck.
‘Look at this guy? Isn’t he amazing?’
A smile appeared on Erdene’s lips.
She quietly changed the hand holding the wooden sword, and after that, truly... a series of merciless attacks followed.
At first, Belen didn’t even know if he was being beaten or not.
It was as if rain called pain was suddenly pouring down from the sky.
“Your Majesty, wait! Ugh!”
Sophia, who had been watching this scene, muttered while crossing her arms and shaking her head.
“I like whole potatoes better than mashed potatoes.”
Belen was hit hard on the shoulder, arm, and thigh.
Erdene gave Belen a moment, but Belen didn’t come to his senses.
His skills were not bad at all.
The rumor that no one in the inland could keep up with Belen Wizied was not empty.
At first, Belen's momentum was fast and great. Even in Erdene's eyes, who had seen countless imperial officers who were called Nanda and Ginda, he seemed useful.
If he had been an imperial officer, she would have trained him to death until he vomited out everything in his stomach, and then entrusted several soldiers to him.
Revealing his skills like that was a huge cause for Belen.
Belen, who had been considered a child in the inland who had just practiced swinging his sword with joy and style, unexpectedly charged forward, and Erdene suddenly felt her blood boil.
It was fun... It was so much fun that I couldn't stand it!
How long had it been since she had had this kind of fun? If she included the sluggish war in Binotin, it had been almost a year ago.
At first, Erdene was moving around leisurely, trying to loosen up her stiff body, but her gaze changed when Belen’s wooden sword passed by her nape.
Even if it had been a real fight, it was a distance that would not have left a scratch, but in the first place, there weren’t many skilled warriors in Hirschsten who would have been able to come in aiming for her neck.
‘Look at this guy? Isn’t he amazing?’
A smile appeared on Erdene’s lips.
She quietly changed the hand holding the wooden sword, and after that, truly... a series of merciless attacks followed.
At first, Belen didn’t even know if he was being beaten or not.
It was as if rain called pain was suddenly pouring down from the sky.
“Your Majesty, wait! Ugh!”
Sophia, who had been watching this scene, muttered while crossing her arms and shaking her head.
“I like whole potatoes better than mashed potatoes.”
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