Banessa, having entered through the castle gate, and leaped off his horse with a sniffling sound. Julia quickly approached Banessa.
“Banessa!”
“Ah, sister.”
Banessa grinned at Julia.
“Have you been well all this time?”
Banessa and Julia were cadets who joined the knight order together when they were young.
Among the cadets, the two of them always competed for the top in swordsmanship and joined different knight orders.
Banessa, who wanted to guard Dietrian, joined the First Knight Order, while Julia, wanting to repay Mano’s kindness, joined the Second Knight Order.
Since they had been so close since childhood, they treated each other without hesitation even after Julia became the commander of a knight order.
Banessa particularly took care of Julia’s brother, Enoch, among the juniors, for such reasons. Instead of responding to Banessa’s greeting, Julia anxiously asked back.
“Why do you look so happy?”
“What?”
“Why are you glowing like this? No matter how I look at it, it’s strange. You caused trouble in the empire, didn’t you? It’s that, right?”
“What are you talking about? Why would I cause trouble?”
“Don’t beat around the bush. If you didn’t cause trouble, there’s no reason for you to return smiling like this.”
Julia’s suspicion was justified.
Just two months ago, the person who had been making all sorts of trouble, insisting on going to war rather than accepting a witch as a tribute, was now returning with a bright smile.
Given Banessa’s quick temper and the fact that he had spent the last month with the ‘witch’ in question, it was only natural for her to feel anxious.
Banessa asked incredulously.
“I’m smiling because there’s something to smile about. Should I be wailing instead when I have reason to smile?”
“What? You had something to smile about? Really? Is that true?”
Julia was startled. She urgently spoke to Victor, who was slowly approaching.
“Victor! I was right! This guy had something to smile about in the empire! He must have caused a huge trouble!”
“I didn’t cause any trouble.”
“What exactly did you do? Did you finally confront the saint? No, if that were the case, you wouldn’t have returned alive.”
Julia turned sharply around. She glared at Banessa and said.
“Don’t tell me, you killed a cleric? Is that why you’re so happy? Does His Majesty know? You’re not caught by the empire, are you?”
“Really, I’m telling you no.”
“Then what is it! Hurry up and tell me! I knew this would happen! That’s why I told His Majesty that he should never take you with him……”
Julia fired off without a break. Banessa shook his head, as if to say there’s no helping it, and then asked Victor.
“Victor, why is sister like this?”
“She’s been up for two nights straight. She’s bound to be sensitive.”
“Stayed up all night? Why?”
“Hmm.”
Victor fell into a moment of contemplation. He was wondering how to explain the recent event that had turned Heden upside down.
Then, he came up with a simple yet effective explanation.
“Madam Mano nearly passed away.”
“What, really?”
“She’s in good health now. There’s no need to worry.”
“Ah, I see.”
Mano, who was not in good health, suffered from serious illness periodically.
Knowing Banessa was aware that Julia regarded Mano almost as a parent, Banessa nodded understandingly.
“It makes sense why sister isn’t in her right mind.”
“You, just tell me already? If you’ve caused trouble, we need to fix it as quickly as possible!”
Banessa glanced at Julia. She seemed to have been under a lot of stress about Mano, as dark circles were significantly present under her eyes.
‘It seems communication won’t work for a while.’
Julia tended to be perfectly fine normally, but once she got fixated on something, she wouldn’t listen to anything around her until it was resolved.
Especially concerning Mano’s health or the well-being of Enoch, her only remaining family, she would get particularly agitated.
‘No choice. I have to use a strong remedy.’
Banessa had come to Heden on a very important ‘special mission’.
Before the delegation arrived, it was to inform his fellow knights about Leticia in advance, ensuring that no one would be rude to her.
There was no time to waste like this.
Banessa quickly hardened his expression. Holding Julia’s wrist, which had grabbed his collar, he spoke in a serious voice.
“Sister, actually, Enoch almost died.”
Julia’s movement stopped abruptly.
“What?”
“He got an infection from a wound he got fighting a beast. He vomited blood and lost consciousness. The doctor called to treat him used poison on him. Other doctors refused to treat him, and when the saint sent medicine, she sent Abraxas, of all things.”
“Abraxas?”
“You know what kind of medicine that is, right? Even a cleric came to see. He wanted to see for himself Enoch being given that medicine. So I thought, ah, this is really the end. Enoch, this guy is going to die here.”
Julia’s eyes wavered. Banessa quickly grinned before Julia could be more shocked.
“Don’t worry, he didn’t die. Your brother is very much alive. Last night, he was snoring so loudly I almost died of annoyance.”
Julia exhaled the breath she had been holding and began to shake Banessa’s collar again.
“You really! You should have said that first!”
“Sorry. Actually, there’s something more important left to say.”
Banessa’s smile deepened.
“Do you know who saved your brother?”
—
“Just now, we crossed the border, Leticia.”
Startled by the whisper that reached her ears, Leticia blinked her eyes.
“We’ve finally arrived in the Principality.”
Leticia looked around with a newfound sense of wonder.
The landscape hadn’t changed much. The number of trees had increased a bit, but they were still crossing the desert.
‘It’s stranger than I thought.’
It was a place she had visited before, yet it felt like she was seeing it for the first time.
‘Well, it’s to be expected. I was sick the entire time until we arrived at the castle.’
Except when staying in cities, she was always inside the carriage. She hardly ever looked out at the scenery.
‘But I remember Heden.’
The Principality’s border city, Heden. The first city in the Principality where she had stayed.
There, Leticia met many people.
‘They all hated me a lot.’
It was Julia, Enoch’s sister, who had been the guardian in charge of Heden.
‘This time, it might be okay.’
In this life, Enoch had not died. The reaction of the people of Heden would surely be different from the past.
Leticia’s cheeks reddened slightly.
‘Maybe, like the knights of the delegation, the people there will look at me favorably……’
A pleasant thrill spread through her chest. Leticia smiled broadly, resolving to herself.
‘I’ll work hard from now on. To help everyone……’
Even as she thought this, Leticia found her situation quite astonishing.
She had always thought of giving up first. She believed it was better not to expect anything than to be betrayed by hope.
But now, she was looking forward to the future. It was a change that came after she decided not to give up on Dietrian.
Dreaming of the future. It was something she had never done before, so it was very strange and awkward at first, but she was becoming more accustomed to it thanks to her efforts.
She hadn’t completely shaken off her fear. The fear that she might not overcome the curse and die alone.
Imagining a happy future sometimes made her suddenly afraid.
Thus, she still hadn’t mustered the courage to confess her feelings to him.
The worst situation could happen at any time.
Still, she wasn’t as overwhelmed by fear as in her previous life. Unlike the past, when she was scared, she could seek his embrace.
It didn’t matter whether it was day or night.
‘Will we share the same bedroom in Heden too?’
Leticia had been snuggling into Dietrian’s embrace every night for the past few days.
Her husband was astonishingly heavy sleeper. Thanks to that, she became bolder as days passed.
Last night, she even dared a thief’s kiss. She worried he might wake, but fortunately, he did not.
After succeeding, she giggled delightedly for a while.
‘I want to hug him again… And kiss him.’
It felt like she was becoming addicted to Dietrian.
No matter how much she touched him, it was never enough.
Of course, several times a day, what she wished for happened.
It was natural since Dietrian also looked for moments to be close to her.
Now, when the two were together, the delegation would make themselves scarce.
‘I want to touch him even when we’re alone…’
Now, Leticia had only one concern.
Finding a way to be close to him without the excuse of ‘acting’ for others to see.
‘Maybe I should say we need practice…’
Thinking this, Leticia smiled sheepishly.
‘That seems a bit too obvious. It looks like I’m showing my hand too much.’
Reflecting on this, she decided to curb her desires for a while, unaware that Dietrian was harboring the same concerns.
She also didn’t know how crazed Dietrian looked every time she laughed.
* * *
Mano, lying in bed, suddenly opened her eyes. She sprang up and opened the door.
“I want to go!”
“Madam Mano.”
A knight asked her with a kind smile.
“Do you have a place in mind? I will escort you.”
“I will join as well.”
“Me too.”
Unlike usual, there were three knights in the hallway. Julia, shocked by Mano’s escapades, had tripled the escort personnel.
“Lead the way. We will follow.”
The knights were similar to Julia in condition. They were all smiling, but there was tension in their eyes.
Mano’s escape had been a shock to the knights as well.
‘How did she manage to slip away?’
‘How did she manage to hide in the carriage through all that escort?’
‘How did she stay hidden in the carriage all this time?’
Not knowing that Mano had seen through the knights’ movements with Gilead’s abilities, they couldn’t help but feel anxious.
‘This time, we must not let her slip away.’
‘Of course. If Madam Mano goes missing in Heden, it will be a real disaster.’
‘We will protect Madam Mano at the risk of our lives.’
Mano whined.
“I’m going alone!”
“Ha ha, Madam Mano, please.”
“I’m going alone!”
Mano was in a hurry.
She had come here to meet Leticia and had dreamed of Leticia again. She had seen the Principality’s delegation entering the gates of Heden.
And just like in her dream.
At the same time, Dietrian, who had entered the gates of Heden, was helping Leticia dismount from her horse.
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