“Oh God! Your Majesty, please take away half of that overflowing passion that you swing around without warning!”
“Is that kid crazy, seriously?”
Linel strode up to Commander Macrom and slapped him on the back without mercy.
"Ah!"
“The Empress gets blessings, why do I get shit like that?”
Commander Macrom said bravely, pointing to his eyes with two fingers.
“Yes, someday you will regain your sight and be able to watch over me. Both you and I need to get rid of the curse quickly...”
Linel cleverly rounded off the captain's words and patted the back of his hand.
“Your Majesty, please let go of my hand. I think I’m going to get frostbite.”
Even the commander Macrom did not back down and brought up his curse. Then he threw away the commander's hand as if he was throwing it away and gave him a request.
“Please clean up after yourself. And the fact that we met here... Keep it a secret from the other knights and the chamberlain. Understood?”
“I’ll pretend not to know just today!”
Commander Macrom answered him and glanced around where I was. It was a look of warning to the knight of the Empress's escort who was fooling around with the Emperor. Linel looked at Commander Macrom, who was grumbling as if he couldn't understand and twirled his index finger near his ear. When I motioned for him to come out quickly, he nodded and came out of the warehouse door, holding my hand and heading to the entrance of the training hall.
The conversation between the two men, which had started with a misunderstanding, ended safely as a misunderstanding without much suspicion. Why are things turning out so strangely?
***
After meeting Prince Tesla, Grand Duke Martins waited for someone in his bedroom. When he heard a noise outside the terrace, the Grand Duke lifted the curtain to check something, then quickly opened the door.
“Welcome. I am sorry to serve you in this way.”
Grand Duke Martins bowed his head and apologized to someone.
“It’s okay.”
The one who came in through the terrace door was Prince Norton.
“It’s better for me to move than for someone who has no martial arts skills.”
Prince Norton lowered the mask that half-hidden his face and patted the Grand Duke on the shoulder.
“Who... did you hear that from?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m saying that I have no talent for martial arts.”
Grand Duke Martins asked with narrowed eyes.
“You say you don’t have talent? Does that mean you’ve learned it?”
"Yes?"
“I only heard that you never learned it?”
The Grand Duke was greatly taken aback by Prince Norton's muttering.
“Ah... That’s, that’s..."
“Oh, dear. So you said indirectly that you couldn’t do it because you were concerned about the Grand Duke's reputation.”
The Prince spoke quietly, chuckling.
“So who are you talking about? Was it Prince Tesla or Princess Resilia who was talking about me?”
Grand Duke Martins asked, suppressing his indignation.
“What does it matter? As long as I arrive safely at the Grand Duke’s room, that’s all that matters.”
Prince Norton responded to him as if he was trying to appease him. In fact, he heard the story about Grand Duke Martins from Empress Zelda. Last night, while walking along the cypress forest path with the Empress after leaving the training ground, Prince Norton brought up the topic of the Continental Hunting Competition and asked if Grand Duke Martins would participate.
'The Grand Duke is too cautious to participate in a hunting competition.'
The Empress made an unexpected remark. When Prince Norton asked why, the Empress said that Grand Duke Martins had not learned martial arts. How could that be? The Prince thought she was joking. Because it was normal for men from noble families to enter a knight academy for a certain time and complete their training.
'It wouldn't be any different just because it's the Northern Continent, right?'
He kept wondering, but since the Empress said so, he just let it go. But then he found out that Grand Duke Martins had never learned martial arts, but simply had no talent for it. Prince Norton, who was recalling his conversation with the Empress last night, changed the subject when he met eyes with Grand Duke Martins, who looked somewhat discouraged. Although it was a trap the topic was pitiful to Prince Norton himself.
“It is as you said. Princess Resilia came to see me earlier.”
He said, pulling out a chair from the table and sitting down.
“I expected it, but I didn’t expect her to move this quickly. What did the Princess say?”
Grand Duke Martins also returned with a serious expression and sat down in front of him.
“He asked about Rams.”
“Hmm, so that’s what you said?”
Prince Norton nodded slowly.
“I just said it was not far from the palace. I think she’ll ask me to tell her the location soon.”
“It’s a good thing we were able to move to a safer place.”
“Thank you for letting me know in advance.”
Prince Norton expressed his sincere gratitude to the Grand Duke.
"You're welcome."
“And I will never forget the favor you gave me for saving Rams and me. I will definitely repay you.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Grand Duke Martins bowed briefly to the Prince and opened his mouth again.
“But your face looks tired?”
“I guess so.”
Prince Norton frowned and washed his face with one hand.
“How do you feel about meeting the Princess again?”
Grand Duke Martin asked tentatively.
“It’s still the same. The problem is... I don’t know whether the Princess knows about what happened that day or not...”
“If the Princess had not known about what happened that day, what would have changed? As I told you in my letter, Princess Resilia is the one who is to become the new Empress of the Lapion Empire.”
“Did Prince Tesla say that? And the Princess thinks the same?”
Grand Duke Martins' thoughts became complicated by Prince Norton's question.
'Is it possible that he still has feelings for Princess Resilia?'
“Of course.”
The Grand Duke put strength into his voice as if it were natural. Prince Norton was silent. The Prince, who had been staring into space for a moment, looked at Grand Duke Martins’ face again. He noticed a scratch on the right side of his face and changed his words.
“But... Grand Duke, what’s that scar on your face? Did you get it when you went to see Prince Tesla?”
“Welcome from the Prince.”
Grand Duke Martins laughed casually, but there was a bitter aftertaste to his laughter.
“Hmm, what did you talk about with the Prince? Of course, you talked about me, right?”
“Yes. Rather than being surprised to find the mercenary he thought was dead alive, he was more shocked to find out that the mercenary was the Prince of the Southern Continent’s Parsha Empire.”
“No mention of what happened that day?”
“That day? Ah, the day the Princess betrayed and followed the royal knights?”
Grand Duke Martins asked pointedly as if he was deliberately emphasizing it. What if Prince Norton really began to waver when he saw Princess Resilia? If so, he had to re-set the table. Unless Princess Resilia had personally pushed Prince Norton off the cliff, he could not trust Prince Norton’s desire for revenge 100%. When Princess Resilia had been mentioned earlier, he had seen Prince Norton’s eyes filled with love and hate.
“Did you ask the Princess?”
“That’s right.”
Prince Norton had been in his bedroom earlier, asking her openly about the events of the day.
'Oh my, something so horrible happened?! I'll tell my brother right now and have him throw those knights off the cliff like that! Thank you for living through that, Norton. And for protecting our son... I love you.'
Princess Resilia shed tears of regret. Prince Norton, who received the apology, collapsed on the bed with her. The Princess's face, which he looked down at from the bed after a long time, was still beautiful. The Prince thought of Princess Resilia who had hugged him and would not let him go, and answered the Grand Duke.
“The Princess didn’t know.”
“Do you believe it?”
"Well."
“You don’t just want to believe that?”
Grand Duke Martins rephrased the question.
“...”
Prince Norton remained silent instead of denying it. When Grand Duke Martins poured the Prince some wine, he lifted his glass and spoke again.
“I don’t think I’ve heard yet why you turned your back on Prince Tesla?”
'Do you think you're the only one who doesn't trust me? I'm just as suspicious.'
Prince Norton looked at the smiling face of Grand Duke Martins and thought to himself.
“I am a businessman in the trade business, so I am quick to change my stance. However, I value trust more than that.”
“Does that mean the Prince broke the trust first?”
“Sometimes, the loss is greater than the gain. Well, once or twice is okay. When you do business, losses are bound to happen at some point. However, if trust is broken, it becomes difficult to do business anymore. Even if it brings me profit right away, it will eventually turn into trouble.”
Although his words were soft, Grand Duke Martin's eyes were cold.
“That’s right.”
Prince Norton agreed with the Grand Duke's opinion while drinking wine.
“In this imperial palace, there are... the eyes and ears of the Prince that I didn’t know about.”
Grand Duke Martins lowered his voice as he spoke.
“Ah, that’s it. The reason why your trust in Prince Tesla was broken.”
“It was a trust that was so shallow that it was cracked a long time ago.”
Grand Duke Martins touched the bruise on his face caused by Prince Tesla with his hand.
“So. Did you find out who the hunting dog the Prince was hiding is?”
Prince Norton leaned forward and asked.
"Yes."
“Who? That spy...”
***
As we came out of the training grounds with Linel, the attendant had the horse we rode on waiting.
“Stian, you bring the horse the Empress rode on. The Empress will go with me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Are you okay?”
He held out his hand to me and asked, “Why are you asking for my opinion so late when you have already given orders to the chief of staff?” I smiled and took his hand.
“Yes, of course.”
He helped me get on the horse first, and then he settled behind me with a very light movement. I felt secure in his hands holding the reins and his strong arms. Actually, I like to let go of the reins and shoot arrows or a pistol while riding a running horse, but I was in a playful mood and pretended to lose my balance and shook my body.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch out. You weren’t swaying because the wind just blew, were you?”
Surely, you don't really think that's what you're asking, do you? I agreed, laughing out loud at his absurd idea.
“Why not?”
“I should have just made you sit across from me.”
He spoke as if reproaching himself.
“Isn’t that more dangerous?”
“It’ll be less scary if you just close your eyes in my arms.”
This man thinks I'm some kind of glass person. I boldly turned my head and kissed him on the lips. It was something a woman who was afraid of words would never do.
“Zelda, don’t do this. It’s dangerous...”
Despite his warning, I turned my head and continued to thrust my lips, and he lowered his head and met my lips with a worried look in his eyes. The sound of horse hooves and the sound of our kissing strangely matched the rhythm of the cypress forest path. The problem was that the speed of our kiss was getting faster than the sound of horse hooves. If I didn’t grab the reins of reason at this point, his galloping instinct would soon show itself.
“Stian, you bring the horse the Empress rode on. The Empress will go with me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Are you okay?”
He held out his hand to me and asked, “Why are you asking for my opinion so late when you have already given orders to the chief of staff?” I smiled and took his hand.
“Yes, of course.”
He helped me get on the horse first, and then he settled behind me with a very light movement. I felt secure in his hands holding the reins and his strong arms. Actually, I like to let go of the reins and shoot arrows or a pistol while riding a running horse, but I was in a playful mood and pretended to lose my balance and shook my body.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch out. You weren’t swaying because the wind just blew, were you?”
Surely, you don't really think that's what you're asking, do you? I agreed, laughing out loud at his absurd idea.
“Why not?”
“I should have just made you sit across from me.”
He spoke as if reproaching himself.
“Isn’t that more dangerous?”
“It’ll be less scary if you just close your eyes in my arms.”
This man thinks I'm some kind of glass person. I boldly turned my head and kissed him on the lips. It was something a woman who was afraid of words would never do.
“Zelda, don’t do this. It’s dangerous...”
Despite his warning, I turned my head and continued to thrust my lips, and he lowered his head and met my lips with a worried look in his eyes. The sound of horse hooves and the sound of our kissing strangely matched the rhythm of the cypress forest path. The problem was that the speed of our kiss was getting faster than the sound of horse hooves. If I didn’t grab the reins of reason at this point, his galloping instinct would soon show itself.
It was a time when self-control was needed. I had to stop here. As I made that promise and turned my head to look straight ahead, his hand that had been holding the reins slowly passed over my waist and gradually rose higher.
“Just hold the reins. Nothing else.”
I took his hand and said as we held the reins together.
"...huh."
Linel's voice was incredibly gloomy.
“Just hold the reins. Nothing else.”
I took his hand and said as we held the reins together.
"...huh."
Linel's voice was incredibly gloomy.
***
“Never, ever go outside. If someone sees you, they’re like, squeak! You know?”
"Rosie said to the baby wyvern, holding the bread knife to my neck and making a cutting motion.
“Why? Because I’m not human?”
“That’s right, that’s right! And I told you that all the time when you were in the egg. Remember? Until recently, the North Continent and the South Continent...”
“It wasn’t because of me, it was because of our race that they fought.”
“That’s right! The Continental Hunting Tournament is already underway, and the dignitaries from the Southern Continent will be visiting. What do you think, a wyvern suddenly appears in the palace? What do you think?”
“I think you will be treated with respect!”
The baby wyvern blinked its ruby eyes and cried out brightly.
“Hmm... You’re precious, but you could start a war here, you little wyvern!”
“Yeah, I get it, you little shit.”
The baby wyvern snatched the knife from her hand, picked up a small cream puff, and put it in his mouth, munching on it.
“Hey, I’m not a kid. I’m an adult. And you know my name! Call me Rosie.”
“I’ll sing whatever feels right to me.”
Rosie hurled a torrent of curses at the baby wyvern's rebellion.
“It’s the size of a fist, but its personality is really bad.”
“That’s because I learned that personality from you when I was an egg. You understand.”
“...”
Rosie, speechless, took a deep breath and swallowed her anger.
“But I wish I had a name. Oh, I should ask the master to give me one!”
“Tch, I hope Her Majesty the Empress doesn’t faint when she sees you. Oh my, how am I supposed to explain you to her..."
Rosie looked at the baby wyvern with a worried expression and sighed deeply. The baby wyvern asked her with a very serious expression, who was frowning at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Am I, am I...ugly like you?”
"...What?"
“So is it hard for you to introduce me to the master? Is that so?!”
The baby wyvern, who had been sitting on the ground with a pout, flew to the mirror and looked at himself. However, no matter how he looked at it, his appearance looked much better than Rosie's.
“That’s really... After being locked in an egg for 300 years, your aesthetic sense is really trash?”
Rosie shouted, clenching his fists.
“Oh my, I’m ugly? And what I mean is, how can you say that you hatched from an egg after 300 years since Her Majesty the Empress visited? And you’re a wyvern!”
“Oh, so that’s what you meant. I was so surprised I almost crawled back inside. Well then, I guess I won’t be a wyvern for a while.”
The baby wyvern, who was looking at himself in the mirror, muttered again, proud of his appearance.
“What? What do you mean?”
Although Rosie asked with a dubious face, the baby wyvern simply smiled. That was the doppelganger ability. She didn’t know if all wyverns had the same ability as him, but the baby wyvern that had been in the egg for 300 years could turn into a human, an animal, or even an insect if it wanted to. It was an ability that it acquired naturally without anyone telling it.
“Don’t cause any trouble while I’m taking a bath, and stay quietly under the bed.”
Rosie urged as she headed to the bathroom.
“Yeah. The great wyvern doesn’t listen to even the little human beings.”
The baby wyvern flew over to Rosie's bed and sat cross-legged.
“I told you to get under the bed? I don’t know, but at least you don’t get noticed by the other servants.”
“Hey, why are you worrying so much?”
At Rosie's nagging, he covered himself with the blanket and lay down quietly. As she went into the bathroom, the baby wyvern sat up again.
“Ah... I feel like my pride is being hurt just listening to that ugly person!”
So the baby wyvern attempted to escape.
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