Chapter 21
... "oh well ".
When she nodded without fully understanding him, Karls complexion darkened. He let out a deep sigh.
“I don’t know what will happen to your innocence.”…
Then his light red hair moved and his mouth, which moved as if he was formulating words to say, finally closed.
There was a short silence in the carriage.
“Ma’am, this is my apology for being so ignorant and stupid about accompanying you.”
“It's all right, Sir Carls.”
She waved her hands quickly.
Sir Carls apologized for not noticing the ladies' bullying all weekend, and whenever he had time, he tried to apologise. Although it was really okay.
But now Carls was a little more serious.
“The reason Welsh closed their doors was because of His Highness the Grand Duke.”
"What ?"
I looked at him in surprise.
Two days after the day of the duel, the Welsh family closed their gates.
It is a very serious matter for a noble family to close their gates and stop all socializing and business, but it often happened to knight families when they lost duels.
So she wasn't surprised when she heard that their doors were closed.
But was it really because of Victor?
Carls frowned and continued.
“And… if you hadn’t tried to hide it from him, they wouldn’t have ended up shutting down.”
I looked at him frankly.
Carl's blue eyes were cast to the ground.
“His Highness is more terrifying than the lady thinks. He is not called the ‘Walking Death’ for nothing.”
The sparkling summer sun streamed through the window and reflected off the jewelry on her dress.
She bowed her head and fell into silent contemplation.
***
News did not flow steadily to the northern part of the empire.
The only foreigners she saw there were mercenaries, wandering merchants, and the very rare messenger.
Most of the news Northerners heard came from minstrels or bards, and even then was full of inaccuracies or lies.
In their stories, the Walking Death was a monster who bathed himself in the blood of his enemies and transformed into a dragon every night.
She smiled to herself as she sharpened her blade.
According to their stories, the mercenary king Yazido was a three-headed maid, and the Kyrgyz bandit came down from the Black Mountain range and turned into a human.
Therefore, the Northerners considered the story of the Grand Duke untrue.
And Victor, who she now saw in person, was nothing like the stories.
She looked at Victor's sleeping face.
He held her hand until he fell asleep.
She gently ruffled his hair.
“It's very beautiful.”
Heat mixed with shame filled her chest.
He was a very powerful knight, so he must have killed many, but he was kind to her.
“Maybe Karls wanted to say that Victor was a scary person, but I still think he-”
Suddenly, Victor opened his eyes.
She quickly grabbed her sword and retreated. Victor got out of bed and I watched his usual process of selecting a weapon.
It wasn't hard to get him back to sleep anymore.
Because he slept well every day, his illness improved greatly, and his movements were much slower than before.
She didn't have to hit him anymore. She took his sword and put it back down, and he was asleep again.
She gently grabbed the curved sword that Victor had picked up, and pushed him back onto the bed.
His misty eyes blinked once and then disappeared under his eyelids. I looked at him bitterly.
Victor of the night made her feel pity.
Seeing the weakness of such a strong man made her feel sad for some reason.
Where I grew up, weakness meant death.
She bitterly remembered those who walked through her village, carrying the coffins of dead old people.
The Amari children learned funeral rituals rather than tales of fairies or knights. It makes them sad to see weak things.
She put down her sword and sat next to Victor.
She didn't know how to explain it, but it wasn't scary to her at all.
He was beautiful, noble, and sometimes vulnerable.
The Grand Duke of Death was a man for whom I felt more sympathy than fear.
She gently took his hand and softly sang a lullaby to him.
***
Once the banquets that Omarion wanted to attend were over, the Morte Palace began preparing for the couple's trip.
Morty's estate was a month away, so there were many things to pack.
Their luggage increased due to the need for dry food, warm clothes, weapons, personal belongings, horses, servants and drivers.
Sumona chose dresses appropriate for the weather of Morty's estate, as well as Omarion's favorite accessories and shoes.
The old maid frantically ordered everyone not to pack too much.
“The lady will need something to wear when she returns, so pack sparingly.”
These words made Omarion's heart flutter.
“That's right, I can come back.”
“Maybe next year or so...I can always call this place my home.”
Servants with dried meat passed by busy. She pressed herself against the wall to let them pass.
Contrary to her feelings, she was useless now.
The maids were walking around the palace rooms and cleaning.
In the end, she put on a pair of pants and a simple shirt and headed to the park.
“Oh, ma'am!”
Carls, who had been kicked out of his room, was just like her.
Carls was holding the reins of the horse.
“I have nothing to do, so I'm going to the training field. Do you want to go with me?”
She thought for a moment, then nodded.
Victor said if she could go and stand here it would bother the gardener
As Karls nodded, a servant quickly brought out another horse.
Two horses came out of the Duke's Palace.
***
It's been a while since I've ridden a horse. Horses were expensive, and in the north, they rode mainly reindeer.
It was fortunate that the training ground was not too far away. When I got off the horse, I felt a little sick.
The knights immersed themselves in their training. It seemed like everyone had been kicked out of their rooms and came here out of boredom.
As soon as they saw her and Sir Carls, they rushed over.
“Your Highness! They said you defeated Geoffrey Sutherland?”
“You are great! You are like our master!”
“Why weren't you here before?”
His reaction was more severe than I expected. She was so embarrassed.
The vice-captain, Sir Leonard, stepped forward.
“Hey, be respectful to Her Highness. I’m sorry, ma’am.”
“No, it's okay.”
She answered quickly, sneaking a glance at Sir Leonard.
Sir Leonard seemed more knightly than Sir Carls.
His blonde hair was neatly cut, and his stubbornness could be felt from his tight expression.
He pushed the knights away and asked seriously.
By the way, what brings you here, ma'am? Did you come on a tour before you left? "
“No, it's just... because I don't have much to do.”...
Sir Carls intervened.
“Why did you ask? You too were hoping that the lady would come here. Take this opportunity to learn something from the powerful lady. "
“Sir Carls, you are insolent...!”
“I'm really fine!”
She hurriedly took a step forward and picked up a wooden sword that had been thrown away.
When she looked, the knights were looking at her with big bright eyes. They looked like a group of children.
She looked at them all in turn, then suggested cautiously.
“I have plenty of time. Would you all like to duel me? "
"Yes!"
Let's go.
The knights shouted excitedly and lined up.
After a while, she frowned.
“Hey, be a little more serious… This isn’t practice at all.”
The Fifth Knight, whose sword had exploded in two strikes, stood up with a look of dismay.
The previous knights were similar. Two hits, three hits, and the longest lasted about four hits.
“Is it because I am the lady you are serving that you are intentionally losing her?”
She looked at them with a puzzled expression.
However, if they did it this way, they wouldn't be able to practice and it would just be a waste of time.
I looked at Leonard hoping he would say something, but he was massaging his temples with an equally puzzled expression.
Instead, Karls approached with a smirk.
“Madam, I told you. They are not as good as you...
“But they are the strongest knights on the continent, aren’t they?”
“You're the strongest... Ha! How can you not know this? How could you not-"
Carls was sad and bit his lip.
“I can't explain this… huh, just consider us weak.”
She closed her eyes.
That said, but it seems the Knights of Morty deserve their reputation.
There was no way that the most famous knight on the continent could be weaker than a country knight like her.
She was sure that they could not harm her because she was their master's wife.
It was truly amazing loyalty.
He spoke with a sour expression, like someone taking bitter herbs.
“How about showing your duel against a dummy.”
She nodded.
***
• End of chapter •
To be continued •••
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