WTPB - Chapter 52

Rolls' head, which had been bowed down out of fear, was about to stiffen again.

However, before he could fully raise his head, Arkan continued to scold him.

“Does Vetor serve the Hirschsten Empire?”

A look of embarrassment appeared clearly on Rolls' face.

When he turned his head back to Erdene, she snorted loudly as if to tell him to listen.

"You, you've been acting funny all this time. Why are you looking at me? Can't you hear His Majesty asking?"

Arkan glanced towards Erdene.

He didn't know what her intentions were, but in any case, she seemed determined to take his side over this hesitating imperial subject.

Arkan, who almost smiled in satisfaction without realizing it, pretended to rub his mouth with his hand and intentionally glared at him.

“Even though Hirschsten declared himself Emperor, not all of the allies in the interior submitted as vassals. We should keep in mind that we are only allies, not masters and servants. Or should I consider your current attitude as the will of Emperor Hirschsten? Is it the will of the Empire that we bow our head to the Empire and all of the allies in the interior as vassals?”

“No, no... That is not the case. Absolutely not...”

“Plat.”

Plat, who had been waiting from afar, glaring at the imperial envoy as if he was going to devour him, approached with brisk strides.

He could sense that Arkan’s order was to immediately throw that impudent man in prison.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Take the imperial envoy. They must have had a hard time on their journey, so make sure they get some rest tonight, and have the guards keep a close watch so that no one causes any inconvenience.”

Rolls’ eyes grew wide.

If you just listen to the words, it was the utmost consideration, but in reality, it was no different from keeping him under surveillance so that he couldn’t wander around.

“I understand. What are the soldiers doing? Not taking the imperial envoy.”

When things didn’t go as planned, Rolls panicked and was surrounded by guards and attendants, leaving as if he was being dragged away.

Even after the door closed, Arkan maintained a cold, expressionless expression for a while.

Then, all of a sudden, he hit his forehead with his palm and stretched out.

“I’m sorry,”

Erdene said. Arkan took his hands off his forehead and eyes and turned around to look at her.

“Why are you apologizing?”

Erdene rolled her eyes as if to say, “Yes, that’s right,” and replied coldly.

“For the sin of leaving my arrogant and greedy brother with his neck attached.”

At that moment, Arkan smiled bitterly.

Plat tried to back away from Erdene’s blunt expression once again, but unfortunately, neither of them paid any attention to him.

Arkan said,

“As I said before, you are now my Queen. Since you are not the Princess of the empire, you are not responsible for any rudeness or actions that you commit in the empire.”

Erdene’s gaze fixed on Arkan’s face.

It was the first time she had looked at him so quietly, without boiling hostility, childish arguments, or irritation.

As she thought about that, an indescribable emotion suddenly surged up inside her throat, making her throat tingle.

Then Arkan said,

“Apologize for hitting my side. Don’t apologize for useless things.”

Her throat that had been tickling her was completely healed. Erdene squinted her eyes as if she would listen to even the most ridiculous words.

“That’s because you were being stuffy.”

Arkan was about to refute her, his lips distorted exaggeratedly.

The closed-door creaked open, and one of the guards who had taken Rolls out came sprinting into the audience room.

“How dare you do this in front of His Majesty!”

Plat, who was already seething, shouted. The soldier shook his head in panic.

“Your Majesty, right now, right now, the soldiers from the empire are causing a ruckus.”

This time, Erdene had no choice but to stand up.

***

“Oh, where is our Princess? Why is no one answering when people ask? Is this how you treat guests in Vetor?”

In front of the palace courtyard, the eyes of Knight Commander Wiziard, who was glaring at the armed imperial soldiers, were very fierce.

However, the other commanders, excluding him, kept glancing at Thelma, who was acting like a thug, and pretending to step forward and then step back repeatedly.

“Thelma, just wait a minute.”

The commander of the knights, Merton, who was relatively decent, stepped forward to stop Thelma.

However, Thelma was already disgusted by the feeble appearance of the Vetor soldiers who were already cowering before her.

The fact that they didn’t tell her where Erdene was was irritating her, and it was annoying that they were causing a commotion right in front of the royal castle, and not a single one of them even pretended to draw their swords.

“Stand back.”

Only Belen warned Thelma several times.

Vetor’s soldiers were trained to focus on defense rather than offense.

However, with so many of Hirschsten’s soldiers gathered here, and three of them wearing the Knight Commander’s flag...

‘It’s best to put out the fire before the fight spreads.’

Belen was making a rather cool calculation.

Thelma also had no intention of causing a serious conflict, only continuing to quarrel endlessly.

However, the atmosphere between the soldiers of the two countries facing each other was becoming increasingly tense.

“Oh, how many times do I have to tell you to stand back? I want to see Her Highness, the Princess? Huh? Our Princess Highness is such a person that if she keeps playing house in such a cute place, she might just turn around...”

Thelma, who had been sauntering around like a thug, suddenly stopped whining as she tapped Belen on the shoulder.

At the same time that she raised her head, Belen Wiziard also looked back with a puzzled expression.

What the two of them saw was a dress flying at an unbelievable speed... No, it was a person wearing a dress.

It seemed as if she had come into view, but when he blinked, she was already right in front of him.

Still, Belen, who had been a military officer for a long time, got goosebumps on his back.

At that moment, there was a “Crash!” sound. It was a loud sound like a log breaking whole.

“Crash... !”

Thelma, who had been picking a fight with Belen just a moment ago, was blown backward.

Erdene, who had hit her abdomen, which was covered with a wide belt of hard leather under her breastplate, with all her might, grumbled, showing her teeth.

“Is this kid crazy?”

The mouths of the soldiers, who were all children of noble families despite being members of the Knights, dropped open at Erdene’s harsh words.

However, Erdene paid no attention to their shock.

“Can’t you just get up?”

Then, Thelma, who had been lying down as if she had fainted, flew over and got up at lightning speed.

It was the moment when Erdene was about to swing her fist again.

“Wait!”

Thelma, who had been scrunching her face in preparation for the punch that would follow, opened one eye slightly.

Then, she quickly looked at the man who had stopped Erdene with a surprised expression.

‘Is that the King of Vetor?’

At that moment, Thelma’s neck snapped downward with a loud sound that tore through the air.

“Ah! Princess... Aah! Tongue, I bit my tongue! Hey, it’s bleeding!”

It wasn’t a lie.

As Thelma, who had blocked the blood flowing out of her lips with her hand, raised her head with a resentful expression, Erdene slowly rolled her glaring eyes.

“His Majesty the King of Vetor. I pay my respects at once.”

The quick-witted Merton bowed his head first.

Then, the imperial soldiers, who had not let down their fierce armed stance, finally bowed to Arkan.

Having witnessed all of this—including Thelma getting hit in the head and biting her tongue—Arkan was somewhat fed up with the violent master-servant relationship he had never seen before. The only reason he could keep his emotions a secret was because of Erdene.

Erdene stepped on Thelma’s foot with all her might as she lowered her head and grumbled, then looked back at Arkan and smiled.

‘She’s pretty, but it gives me goosebumps.’

Those were Arkan’s honest thoughts.

Erdene said,

“Your Majesty, these rascals are causing a commotion in the castle of Vetor. What should we do?”

At her words, Thelma, Knight Commander Merton, and Potato Head Ayman ​​all turned pale as if they had seen a ghost.

Has Erdene ever spoken so politely to anyone other than the Emperor and Empress?

“Are there any?”

“No.”

"If she had, I'd gouge out my own eyes."

The three of them exchanged glances along the lines of that.

Arkan looked at the three commanders in turn, who had embarrassed expressions, and smiled brightly as if he would not lose to Erdene.

“He’s handsome but annoying.”

That was Erdene’s honest thought.

Arkan coughed lightly and looked down at the imperial soldiers with narrowed eyes.

“Well, Queen. I acknowledge your efforts in safely protecting the envoy, but I cannot say that this is not an outrageous act. Would you like to handle it yourself, Your Majesty?”

“If that is all right with you, I will do so.”

The color drained from Thelma, Merton, and Ayman’s stern faces.

Arkan said,

“Captain Wiziard.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Provide the Empire’s soldiers with empty barracks to sleep in. The kitchen is preparing meals, so you are to keep order.”

“Very well, Your Majesty.”

Belen Wiziard braced his shoulders and began to move the soldiers.

Arkan and Erdene’s eyes met for a moment beyond the soldiers moving like the ebb tide, making a clanking sound.

“I will leave the rest to the Queen.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Erdene, who had been smiling brightly until the end, turned her head with a fierce glare as soon as Arkan disappeared.

“Follow me.”

　

Previous                Next

Support Novellate!