“Don’t ever show it. If you hurt her with your words, I’ll return that pain tenfold, a hundredfold. Remember that.”
“Ha!”
Martin laughed incredulously and then raised his voice towards Yulken.
“Brother, did I do something so wrong? Is being cautious such a grave sin?”
“Don’t twist my words. Who said not to be cautious? I meant be careful with your words in front of Her Highness!”
“Enough, both of you. I’m too old to break up your fights anymore. If you’re going to fight, do it in front of His Majesty. He’ll be arriving soon.”
“His Majesty is already on her side! What’s the point of arguing in front of him!”
“Her? Did you just refer to Her Highness as ‘her’ again?”
“Yes, I did!”
“Do you really have a death wish?”
“Hey! I told you to stop fighting!”
The last one was Yulken.
He ground his teeth and rummaged through his belongings.
Soon, a barely used badge of the Knight Captain emerged.
“You seem to have forgotten, but I’m your Captain. In His Majesty’s absence, my orders are the priority, understand?”
He forcibly separated the two and ordered,
“Martin! Go over there. Banessa, come with me.”
“Brother! We haven’t finished talking!”
“Stop whining and follow me! Now!”
Yulken dragged the fuming Banessa to a corner.
“Why do you keep charging in like a mad dog!”
“I did what!”
“Martin’s words were harsh, but his position is understandable!”
“Understandable? How!”
“Just calm down and think for once! Can you reverse years of believed truth in just one day?”
“I can! That’s why I’m making all this fuss!”
“You’re being ridiculous. Let’s be frank here. You’re no better than Martin, if not worse.”
“Ha!”
“Did you question why Her Highness’s past was kept a secret?”
Yulken spoke fiercely.
“It was because of you. I feared you would charge at Her Highness, so I asked His Majesty for time!”
Banessa flinched.
“Then why the sudden change? Why are you so consumed with worry for her now? Just last night, you were still singing how much you disliked the saint’s daughter!”
“…Back then, I didn’t know!”
“Exactly! So, what did you find out to be behaving like this? Tell me straight!”
Banessa closed his eyes tightly and then spat out.
“…I heard it, so I have to believe.”
“Heard what?”
“I heard everything, all of it.”
It sounded as if he was describing hearing Leticia being abused.
Yulken was incredulous.
“Are you crazy?”
“I heard it! With my own ears, clear as day! Why can’t you understand when I say I heard it?”
“So what did you hear!”
“About the saint framing Her Highness for killing a maid! And the saint giving orders to Ahin or Ahen, some person, to guard the door well!”
“How could you have heard that!”
Banessa laughed bitterly, as if in disbelief. He ran his hand through his hair irritably.
“Yeah, right. It’s something only I can hear, isn’t it?”
Banessa glared at nothing in particular and then spoke bitterly.
“I don’t know exactly what they want, but they better keep their promise. I’ll do whatever they ask, but they need to give me real power.”
Yulken, astounded, said.
“Did you just refer to me as ‘they’?”
“Not talking to you, brother!”
“Who else is here besides you and me!”
“If you can’t hear it, then fine!”
“Are you crazy, having dreams or something?”
Yulken, who had been furiously cursing, suddenly paused. He then spoke seriously.
“You! Roll up your pants right now.”
“What? No!”
“I need to check your wound, so do it!”
“You already know it’s a mess! Why bother checking?”
“Because it seems like the wound has festered and you’ve lost your mind!”
“This is ridiculous!”
“You… really!”
Grabbing the back of his neck in an effort to calm himself, Yulken exploded.
“You promised Her Highness you’d behave and get treated!”
“That was a promise to Her Highness, not to you!”
“You lunatic! Will you strip or do I have to tie you down and do it myself!”
“Tie me down and do what… strip my pants? Have you gone mad?”
“Yes! I’ve gone mad!”
“Both of you, be quiet!”
Suddenly, a loud shout came from not too far away.
It was Enoch.
The youngest of the delegation glared at his two older companions as if they were the most pathetic beings in the world and scolded them.
“Have you forgotten Her Highness is resting? Be quiet!”
Then he stomped back towards the tent.
The two men, who had been on the verge of grabbing each other by the collar, flinched. They lowered their voices and started whispering furiously.
“Take them off. I said strip, damn it!”
“I will not take them off! Stop dreaming and get lost!”
“Get lost to your brother? Do you want to disappear from this world forever?”
“His Majesty!”
“No matter how much you call for His Majesty…”
“His Majesty is here!”
“What?”
Banessa quickly pushed Yulken aside and ran off. A group of men, illuminated by flickering torches, was entering the camp.
* * *
It had been half an hour since Dietrian discovered the well ruined by Kikelos’s poison.
Seeing the well, which should have been clear, now stained with black poison and red blood, was utterly disbelieving.
“Kikelos’s poison? At this time of year?”
Kikelos, a desert creature, is active from spring to summer and typically hibernates early in winter.
Why would the corpse of a creature that should be hibernating be floating in the well?
‘It must be the work of the Wings.’
Only those with transcendent power, like the goddess’s Wings, could awaken a hibernating creature, kill it, and throw it into the well.
“Tampering with wells in the desert. They’re out of their minds.”
Water is crucial not just for the Principality’s delegation but also for the empire’s knights.
While they had prepared in advance, it was unlikely that the empire had done the same.
It was baffling why anyone would ruin a perfectly good well.
Feeling a mix of absurdity and annoyance while looking at the ruined well, Dietrian suddenly remembered the sandstorm that had almost engulfed Leticia.
“…Were they targeting her?”
The news of a destroyed well would be a huge shock for her, unfamiliar with the desert.
Not knowing that the Principality’s delegation was prepared for water issues, she must have been terribly alarmed.
There was no better way to mentally pressure and break her down.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Dietrian felt an urge to drop everything and return to her side.
But he couldn’t do that.
Dietrian knew he had to act immediately to solve the water issue.
Suppressing his anxiety, he hurriedly headed to the Saphiro storage. Carefully hidden from view, he dug up the earth and pulled out a bag from inside.
The black bag was filled with red fruits. Thanks to the blessing of the dragon, the Saphiros were as fresh as if they had just been picked.
Dietrian selected the best ones for Leticia and set aside her share, then raised a red flame to signal the delegation.
Those few seconds waiting for a response from the delegation seemed endlessly long.
He had instructed Yulken to take special care of Leticia’s well-being. If something had happened, they would surely respond with a signal.
Leticia was the most important person, so they had agreed to send up a white flame, similar to the signal for a contaminated well, if she faced any trouble.
Soon, a flame rose from the direction of the delegation.
It was red.
That meant they were safe too. Dietrian finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Move as quickly as possible.”
“Understood.”
The delegation hastened under the deep darkness of the night sky. As he hurried towards the flickering lights, a thought crossed his mind.
‘Did she see the flame?’
The red flame that announced his return. She must have realized that he would be coming back soon.
‘Will she be waiting for me?’
Since the incident seven years ago, what tormented Dietrian the most was a profound loneliness.
Even harder was the fact that he couldn’t share this loneliness with anyone.
He was a king.
Everyone depended on him.
He couldn’t even admit to being lonely. Amidst this solitary struggle, Leticia became his wife.
It felt like the first ray of warm sunlight piercing through a blizzard-ravaged icy world.
Even if it was still faint, just its existence filled his heart with warmth.
‘Don’t expect too much.’
He hadn’t yet won her heart, so she might not be eagerly waiting for him.
Despite his reservations, Dietrian couldn’t help but harbor a glimmer of hope.
Before he left for reconnaissance, the memory of her smiling gently as she wished him well lingered in his mind.
‘Will I see that smile again?’
Just the thought of her greeting him with a bright smile made his heart race. The anxiety and irritation he felt upon seeing the contaminated well melted away like a lie.
It was the same when they shared the stew earlier. It felt as if they were truly a married couple.
‘Maybe one day, we could genuinely be husband and wife.’
He hoped that small yet special moments like today would accumulate.
Maybe one day, instead of being a temporary husband for half a year, he could stand by her side as a lifelong partner.
For that sweet dream to become a reality, there was something he absolutely had to do: confess everything that happened in the empire to her.
‘I should come clean as soon as I arrive.’
Until just a few hours ago, he had thought of delaying his confession for a few days. However, his mind changed during today’s reconnaissance.
‘Are you afraid that everyone will hate you?’
It was because of the tears she shed upon hearing those words.
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