The slow voice gradually subsided.
He examined her slender face, surrounded by the light of the fireplace, with sharp eyes. The woman, who had been muffled for a long time, raised her head again and looked at him.
"Of course, you don't have to listen to it. I just want you to consider it at least once..."
"Please stop beating around the bush and just tell me what you came to see me for."
Her excessively cautious attitude was strangely irritating, so he pressed her in a stiff tone. Her lips stiffened.
Barcas thought that this time, she might reveal her raw emotions. However, no trace of emotion could be found in her dark, indigo-tinged eyes.
The woman, who had been silent for a while, slowly spoke.
"I was told that after Raina's engagement ceremony, you had to leave for the north again. Is that true?"
Barcas, who had been pausing, nodded slowly.
"It's true. As soon as the situation here is sorted out, we must return to the border area."
In an Instant, her complexion darkened noticeably.
Barcas felt his throat burning with an inexplicable thirst and suppressed his parched lips.
"The position of Commander-in-Chief is not one where one can leave the camp vacant for long. You must remain in the conflict zone until the suppression of the rebels is completely finished."
"Then..."
She chose her words carefully.
"Could you take Edric with you when you leave this time?"
At the unexpected request, Barcas narrowed his eyes.
The woman, observing his reaction, cautiously added.
"If it doesn't significantly violate procedure, I would like you to appoint that person as your attendant."
"Why are you concerned about such things, Your Highness?"
"That's right..."
With a speechless expression at the sharp question, she lowered her eyelashes, and the woman soon continued speaking calmly.
"He sometimes spars with soldiers as part of his training, and everyone says his skills are too good to be just my bodyguard."
"..."
"You're the one who kept me under wraps in the first place because you were worried I might cause trouble again. I have no intention of causing any trouble anymore. I just want to live quietly, just like I do now."
As soon as she finished speaking, the firewood in the fireplace burned and cracked with a sound.
As he sat on the edge of the bed and quietly gazed at her face, a dry, bitter laugh spread across the corners of Barcas's lips.
"Did you come all the way here just to ask for such a trivial favor?'
At the sharp tone of his voice, her fingers resting on her knees recoiled. However, her two eyes gazing at him remained as calm as a bottomless lake.
"If it isn't that difficult, I'd like you to reconsider. There's no reason for me, who lives only within the castle walls, to have a high-ranking knight from the Roem Knights as my bodyguard in the first place."
He wiped the sneer from his lips and stared intently at her face.
The woman who had said she could never forgive him, even if it meant death, was facing him with detached eyes, devoid of any trace of emotion. He could not understand why that fact irritated him so much.
Barcas rose from the bed and stepped forward. He saw her stiff fingers clutching the hem of her skirt nervously. A bitter sneer suddenly escaped from between his lips.
"I never realized before that Your Highness was a thoughtful person, considering even the future of a single bodyguard."
At the blatantly sarcastic remark, the knuckles of her fingers stood out white.
She said, avoiding his gaze.
"I don't care about that man's funeral. I just want to get away from unnecessary surveillance."
He scrutinized her eyes persistently, as if trying to determine the truth of her words. There were aspects of her that were difficult to grasp even in the past, but now, he could not guess at all what she was thinking.
He swallowed a sigh and straightened his bent body.
"I didn't hire Edric Rubon for surveillance. That man..."
He was about to say that he wanted to keep someone by her side whom she could feel at least a little close to, but he kept his mouth shut. Barcas didn't want to admit with his own mouth that the man had actually been a source of comfort to her.
He turned toward the shelf and uncorked the wine bottle the servants had brought. Then, picking up the silver goblet lying upside down on the tray, he spat out curtly.
"Understood. I will review it favorably."
As if relieved by his answer, her stiff shoulders gently relaxed.
"...Thank you."
The woman, muttering in a calm voice, slowly stood up from her seat.
Barcas, who had been quietly watching the woman step toward the doorway without a second thought, let out a hollow laugh and poured red wine into a glass.
Just then, a low voice was heard from behind.
“You know...”
As he turned his head again, the figure of her standing awkwardly with the doorknob in one hand caught his eye. She struggled to continue speaking.
"There is one more thing I would like to ask of you."
Barcas, who had been squinting, nodded his chin as if to say, "Go ahead and speak."
The woman, who had been fiddling with the doorknob as if hesitating about something, finally stated her purpose.
"As for Raina... if possible, could you let her stay in Kalmor even after she gets married?"
The hand that was bringing the goblet to its mouth closed in mid-air.
Barcas, casting a sharp gaze with furrowed brows as if gauging her intentions, asked in a low voice.
"Did someone perhaps ask you to try and persuade me?"
"It's not like that. I just said it because I felt a little sorry for her."
Barcas slammed his glass down and strode forward toward her. He felt increasingly anxious about her suspicious behavior.
"It seems you have become the saint of all in just a few months."
She flinched and leaned against the door.
He leaned even closer toward her and continued his questioning as if interrogating her.
"Have you forgotten how rude Raina has been to you all this time?"
"...She's just a kid, after all. The worst thing Raina has done to me is, at most, spreading rumors."
The woman, avoiding his gaze and lowering her eyes to the floor, mumbled in a subdued voice.
"And I know why she does that."
The words that followed were almost a whisper.
"She's a little similar to me, so I don't want to hate her that much."
Barcas looked down only at the crown of her head, speechless.
How long did the silence last? She pulled the doorknob and cautiously stepped out into the hallway.
"I've said everything I wanted to say. I'll be going now, so get some rest."
Barcas, who had inadvertently reached out to stop the woman as she was about to walk out into the dimly lit hallway, soon lowered his hand. He could see the maids waiting on one side of the hallway, quietly following her.
Barcas watched the scene blankly, then closed the door and sat down on a chair.
The deepening night was visible beyond the window. Barcas, having moistened his burning throat with the wine poured in advance, leaned his head against the back of the chair and gently closed his eyes.
He had a strong premonition that he would greet the morning tonight, too, in long and tedious sleeplessness.
***
Even after the engagement ceremony ended, the nobles stayed at Raedgo Castle and continued their interactions, and on the fourth day, they returned to their respective territories.
Meanwhile, Barcas searched the southeastern region for a city suitable for Lucas and proceeded with the process of granting him a fief.
Thanks to the fact that most of the cumbersome formalities were omitted under the pretext of war, the administrative procedures for granting the estate were completed without any trouble.
Not long after Lucas left Kalmor, leading his men, Barcas also began preparing to set out on an expedition.
There was no need to rush back immediately, but having confirmed that Thalia was doing well, he decided there was no reason to stay here.
Just as she had promised, she was leading a quiet and peaceful life, and he did not want to disturb it. It was time for the uninvited guest to disappear.
Barcas summoned his retainers, firmly declared that he would restore all authority to the Grand Duchess, and then led his cavalry straight toward the border. Edric Rubon was also included in the column of ironclads following him.
"Are you sure it’s okay for you to leave without even saying goodbye?"
Edric, wearing the black iron armor symbolizing the House of Sheerkhan flawlessly, approached and spoke.
Barcas answered by spurring his horse. The heavy sound of hooves loudly awakened the sleeping earth.
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