WTPB - Chapter 74




But seeing Arkan’s attitude, he thought it was a sense of duty. Pelarhar almost asked, ‘How can the two of you be so similar?’

The words were right at the back of his lips, but he barely swallowed them.

“It seems that while I was away...”

Erdene stared blankly at Pelarhar. He pretended to avoid Erdene’s gaze and said.

“It seems there’s a new trend in Vetor. Throwing away your sense of humor...” 

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s nothing.” 

Pelarhar smiled exaggeratedly, turning his head as if he was drinking tea. Fortunately, Erdene wasn’t the type to delve deeply into that kind of conversation, so Pelerhar’s intention that ‘Arkan or you don’t need a sense of humor’ didn’t get through. 

Erdene said. 

“By the way, the military strategy books of the Kingdom of Etonhorn and the Duchy of Stradhog that the Duke gave me last time are very useful. Although they are mainly about classical tactics, there are many things to learn from the tactics with recorded history. It was good that they were explained in a way that was easy to teach to the soldiers.” 

“I am honored that I could be of help to Your Majesty.” 

“Would you be able to get me other ones?” 

“I will ask around.” 

Erdene smiled contentedly. At that moment, Sophia returned with Commander Wiziard. 

“Your Majesty! Did you find them?” 

After their two duels, Belen Wiziard acted as if he had become Erdene’s confidant. He would make a fuss about her safety just as much as Thelma, and whenever she showed off her sword or spear in front of the soldiers, he would grab the heads of the soldiers who were watching intently and say, [Do you think you can see it whenever you want! Open your eyes and watch what Your Majesty the Queen is doing!] ... to the point of saying things like that. 

“Come in, Commander Wiziard.” 

“Please call me Belen. Just speak, Your Majesty. What should I do?” 

He seemed ready to go for Tenek’s head right now. Erdene glanced at Sophia. Her eyes seemed to say, ‘Did you explain this to him properly?’ 

Sophia noticed Erdene’s expression and said, 

“Sir Wizied, I forgot to tell you. Your Majesty asked if Sir Wiziard knew the location of the Maple family’s old mansion.” 

Belen looked back at Sophia with a bewildered expression, then back at Erdene. 

“If you say the Maple family.” 

“The daughter of that family, Sabnake Maple, is currently working as a maid in my palace. She is said to be a distant relative of the Marquis of Fiddlers. Do you know her by any chance? She is said to be a noble, even if her mouth is covered in spiderwebs.” 

At that moment, Sophia spoke up again to help Belen. 

“The child’s father is here now. He lives in the capital, Lesprot.” 

Belen blinked for a moment and then said. 

“To answer your question, Your Majesty, I don’t know anything about the Maple family’s mansion. However, if the head of the family owns the mansion, I will send someone to ask about it.” 

“Good. Neither you nor Sophia need to talk for long. I will allow it, so you and Sophia go find that Maple and talk to him. Then, find out who is still in the mansion... If there are any inappropriate people, send your powerful men to chase them away.” 

Erdene blinked without looking at Belen and added with a grin. 

“You know that you have to be thorough when chasing away mice, right, Commander Wiziard? If it comes back and causes more trouble, it will be a problem.” 

The smiling face was certainly bright and beautiful, but Belen felt his spine tingle without him knowing. The three words, ‘inappropriate people’, ‘mice’, and ‘clearly chase them away’, settled into his head. 

“...I understand what you mean, Your Majesty.” 

“If you understand, then go.” 

Belen immediately got up, greeted her politely, and left with Sophia without asking a second time. Pelarhar, who was watching this situation, couldn’t help but laugh even though he had no idea what was going on. 

“What’s wrong, Duke?”

Pelarhar shook his head as if nothing was wrong, then cleared his throat and looked at her. 

“The knights and officers are loyal to Your Majesty, regardless of nationality.” 

Erdene laughed. 

“I had a similar conversation with Your Majesty last week, but I wonder what the Duke would think."

“Last week? Last week...” 

Pelarhar, who had been lost in thought for a moment, playfully furrowed one eyebrow.

“Are you talking about when Arkan got so angry that he skipped two meals a day, and Plat pretended to hang himself?”

“That’s right. He said that after seeing me teaching Captain Wiziard how to divide and train his soldiers...”

[How on earth did you subdue Wiziard?]

[Subdue?]

[I’ve never seen him listen to me so obediently, so I’m asking because I’m curious. Your adjutants were the same. They follow what you say without even asking.]


[That’s usually the case with officers. They unconditionally obey those stronger than them.]

[What are you talking about? If someone stronger than the Queen appeared, would you unconditionally obey them?]


[I’ve never met anyone stronger than me, so I don’t know.]

In response to Erdene’s indifferent response, Arkan grabbed the back of his neck again and pretended to fall. However, it wasn’t because of that conversation that he was angry. The next thing Erdene added was the problem.

[Your Majesty, if you were a military officer, it would have been easier for me. If you hit them a few times when they don’t listen, they’ll be more docile.]

Then Arkan retorted that there was no effect of violence-based education other than creating fear, and Erdene countered that the most effective way to correct them quickly was through violent education, and then she even made the assumption that if a child was born and they didn’t listen, they would hang them upside down...

In the end, they had another heated argument that made it so hard to remember what they had originally been talking about.

Arkan was so upset after that that he skipped breakfast and lunch the next day.

On top of that, he had a lot of work to do that day, and Plat couldn’t stand seeing his expression getting worse by the minute, so he ran to the Queen’s palace and begged her to please bend down first.

Pelarhar, who had been listening intently to Erdene’s story, suddenly spoke up.

“Your Majesty said earlier that His Majesty was trying to approach you out of a sense of duty.”

Erdene looked at him as if he was saying something out of the blue.

“Yes. Why is that?”

“You think that Arkan feels a sense of duty in marrying you and is acting out of that duty... Is there a reason for that?”

“There is a reason.”

Erdene filled the cup with more tea. She had wrapped the teapot to keep it warm, but it was still lukewarm, and it wasn’t steaming like it had the first time.

Erdene, who had been absentmindedly tilting the teapot without knowing how much there was, put the teapot down when it was about to overflow.

“It’s not a marriage that requires love. Either way.”

“So you thought that?”

“We’re not in a relationship where we can expect anything personal, so we have to have a sense of duty. Only then will it be possible to hold on to the situation without ruining it until it is needed?”

Pelarhar, who had been quivering his lips, fell silent.

Arkan’s interest in Erdene had long since shifted from businesslike, novel, or out of favor to maintain duty.

Everyone in Vetor considered Arkan to be a self-restrained and generous person, but it was clear that he could not do so in front of Erdene.

His feelings for her were not like that. In Pelarhar’s view, it was...

‘Love. It’s not a passionate love, but he is completely immersed and loses his mind. I think Her Majesty is the same. When the two of you get to know each other better, you will naturally realize that...’

Or, he could resolve the misunderstanding right now, right then and there.

If he did that, Arkan and Erdene’s relationship would get closer faster, and he could silence the many nobles who still dislike Erdene.

But even though he knew it was right, Pelarhar ultimately said nothing.

He thought that no one was better suited to mediate the situation and correct the misunderstanding between the two than he was... But somehow he didn’t want to tell Erdene the truth.

‘Arkan doesn’t treat you out of a sense of duty. He’s crazy about you. He thinks about you all day long. He wants to approach you, but he’s an idiot who doesn’t know how or even how to do it...’

But I’m not like that.

The thought was so intense that Pelarhar mistakenly thought that someone had actually whispered those words in his head.

And he was greatly surprised that he had unconsciously thought of such a thought.

When Pelarhar suddenly stood up, Erdene looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you doing that all of a sudden?”

“Oh, umm...”

Pelarhar hesitated and smiled.

“I just remembered something urgent. I’m sorry, but I’ll get up now, Your Majesty.”


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