“What on earth happened to you?”
Barony of Bernard.
At an inn.
There, Chloe, who had lit the stove, looked at Chris’s wound with a bewildered expression.
“Healing magic isn’t working at all. Despite learning from Sena, my healing magic is several times stronger than others.”
“It’s the Granz’s sword. It wouldn’t be ordinary.”
“No matter how special it is, I poured my magical power for three days and nights. I even coerced a passing priest to perform holy magic, yet why is the recovery so slow?”
When he thought he had passed the critical point, he was slightly relieved.
But he soon realized that it wasn’t time to relax.
Chris, who had reached the peak with the sword, was a superhuman in his own right.
His recovery ability also far surpassed ordinary people’s understanding; he was a master.
“If you fight the same Master like this, you will really die. I, who was by your side, would be hated by Sena until my death. Healing the wound takes precedence over chasing Isabella.”
“No, dealing with Isabella is the priority.”
However, Chris’s determination was firm.
“It’s certain that Isabella passed through this area. Although I don’t know what she is aiming for, there are two possibilities in this direction. The Duchy of Kairos or the Marquisate of Birkender.”
“…”
“There’s no need to explain the danger.”
Either one was a threat.
Chris leaned towards the idea that Isabella was heading to the Duchy of Kairos.
Sena was also a precious existence to Isabella. He didn’t think she would do anything strange in the territory where Sena’s family, who saved her life, lived.
The problem was if she headed to the Duchy of Kairos.
Isabella, who slashed at the Empress and fled.
And the suspicious Granz.
If Granz rebelled—
He had to avoid their contact at all costs.
It would be a meeting of the first and second rank.
No matter how strong Astria was, she couldn’t handle both of them attacking together.
“We need to get ahead and cut Isabella’s head off first.”
“I know that but…! I’m saying it’s impossible right now!”
Chloe put her hand on her waist. Then, with a shy expression, she gave a kind smile.
“Sometimes you have to take a step back when you’re in a hurry. There are few things in this world that can be achieved by being impatient.”
She was imitating Sena’s way of speaking. Chris, watching Chloe blink excessively with a kind face, spoke briefly.
“Are you sick…?”
“Just die here.”
Chris was relieved to see Chloe return to her usual self.
It didn’t seem like she was in pain. He got up.
“I’ll take a bath first.”
“Sir Knight, to which dog did you give the concept of ‘Ladies First’?”
“Where is the lady here?”
“Indeed, there is no knight here.”
Both were convinced.
“Phew.”
While immersing his painful wound in the bath, Chris let out a deep breath.
‘I wish this journey would end soon.’
Chris suddenly thought.
When this is over, he wanted to return to the Imperial Palace quickly.
To an ordinary life that flows without incident.
Astria strolling through the garden. Sena charming people here and there. Sylvia sitting under a tree. Watching over all that.
No.
‘I hope Chloe will be there too.’
Chris smiled faintly.
It wouldn’t be too difficult.
Astria loved talent.
And Chloe was an excellent magician.
Drip.
As he heard the sound of water dripping from his wet hair, Chris slowly opened his eyes, speaking leisurely.
“I don’t want to bathe with another man, even if he is my best friend.”
“You let your guard down.”
Through the open window of the bathroom, men in black masks flowed in like water.
Despite falling from a fairly high window sill, they were skilled assassins, making no sound at all.
“Hunting dog of the Empress. Didn’t you know that dragging a wounded body around would get you bitten by hyenas?”
“Just because I’m a little hurt, doesn’t mean I would lose to mere hyenas.”
Chris yawned lazily, tilting his head even in front of the enemy.
“Who sent you? Granz? Or Isabella?”
“Well, it could be a Holy Knight.”
“It’s not entirely implausible, so I’m worried.”
The assassins laughed, scratching their necks lowly.
“Bragging. What can a knight without his sword do?”
“Are you interested in me? So much concern. If you’re here to kill me, do it quickly.”
Snap-.
The laughter stopped.
As if the joke was over, the black-clad assassins surrounded Chris.
“Chris—!”
Chloe, who had been lying in bed daydreaming about Sena, jumped up when she heard the sounds of a fight.
‘It’s dangerous. If I move too aggressively here, the wound I’ve barely stitched up will reopen.’
Without time to think, Chloe grabbed her staff and rushed to the bathhouse.
Her hair was getting wet and her blood was pumping quickly. Please, be safe. As she opened the bathroom door without hesitation, she saw it.
“Ugh…!”
Chris was lifting an assassin by the neck.
Around him lay the bodies of assassins, twisted and dead, their eyes rolled back.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Chris smiled slightly and let the already dead assassin fall from his hand. Chloe pointed at Chris with trembling hands.
“You, you, you…!”
Chris, thinking it was more nagging, swept his hair back.
“If you’re done with your bath, hurry up and get dressed, you idiot!”
“?”
“I had decided my first time seeing a man’s naked body would be Sena’s, and now… Ah, my eyes. Water, water. I need to wash them out… I need to wash them out…”
Chloe sat down, covering her eyes with both hands, and shouted.
“How are you going to take responsibility for this! You must absolutely keep this a secret from Sena.”
“…”
Chris was deeply hurt.
**
“It’s impressive how much he can sleep.”
Sena was sleeping soundly in Astria’s arms, completely unaware of the world around her.
To the extent that, despite Sylvia’s clumsy driving almost overturning the carriage on stones several times, she didn’t even flinch.
“That’s strange. He’s not normally such a deep sleeper.”
“He performed a miracle. It’s no wonder his body is exhausted.”
“I’m sorry. If I had done my job properly… Senior wouldn’t have had to exert himself.”
Sylvia, sitting in the coachman’s seat, looked particularly dejected.
Astria nodded seriously with a stern face.
“You’re right. Your guarding was almost as useless as trash. You must strive harder.”
Sylvia flinched her shoulders.
She dared to look at the Empress with cool eyes and spoke.
“It’s fortunate that Your Majesty was born an Empress.”
“What?”
“…Nothing.”
Astria pondered what punishment to give this increasingly insolent knight as she looked down.
Seeing Sena’s perfect face from any angle soothed her anger.
She spoke softly.
“What territory lies ahead?”
“According to Senior’s map, it’s some barony.”
“Speaking of which, it’s during wartime.”
“Ah, not that side. Before we left, Senior adjusted the route. It’s a precarious neutral zone, so to speak… Anyway, unless we’re extremely unlucky, we shouldn’t pass through a war zone.”
“That can’t be.”
Astria spoke indifferently.
“If two Earls are fighting, there’s no way a nearby barony isn’t involved in the war.”
“Really…?”
“War is a spreading flame. Unless it’s a family as solid as Lihaton, the barony we’re heading to—one so insignificant I can’t even remember its name—would already be engulfed. Your head is as full of flowers as ever. So, what’s the exact name of this barony?”
Sylvia, who had almost crashed into another tree, broke out in a cold sweat and said,
“Well, I can’t quite remember.”
“Even for a knight, your memory is terrible.”
Sylvia was afraid of Astria. She had that kind of image.
But fear is something one can get used to. Growing tired of Astria’s constant nagging, Sylvia’s patience was wearing thin. With trembling lips, she spoke,
“When Senior was diligently explaining before we left, where and what were you doing, Your Majesty?”
In short, she was saying that she wasn’t the only one who didn’t remember, so why keep nitpicking.
Astria replied confidently,
“I was admiring a flower I had never seen before.”
Who’s the one with the head full of flowers now!
Sylvia wanted to retort but didn’t have the courage yet.
“…It’s the Barony of Bernard.”
At that moment, Sena, seeming to come to his senses, rubbed his messy hair and spoke.
“I thought it was odd too, but since it came from Count Lihaton, I believed it wasn’t wrong. Honestly, it’s not so much that we chose a non-war zone but that the Barony of Bernard was the shortest distance, so we took this route. Ugh, my head.”
Sena grabbed a water bottle and gulped it down quickly, so quickly that the water dribbled down his chin. Astria watched intently.
“Your Majesty, you must promise me. You can’t cause any trouble here. You’re not the Empress of the Laperci Empire here; you’re just a simple country girl named Ria.”
“Um, Senior… I’ve thought this for a while, but isn’t that setup problematic? Honestly, who would see Her Majesty as a country girl? She exudes grace just sitting still.”
“R-really…?”
Sena was reluctantly convinced. However, there was a reason she insisted on the country girl concept.
-What are you looking at? Lower your eyes before I gouge them out.
They had to go with the naive persona to at least partially mask Astria’s rough language.
“Sylvia, do you remember your role?”
“I just do what I always do, right? I’m a count’s daughter who thought being a priest was cool and naively started training as an apprentice priest.”
“Right. That suits you perfectly, Sylvia.”
‘Sylvia’s a genuine tsundere count’s daughter, after all.’
Sena laughed, thinking of something she couldn’t say to Sylvia.
“Well, I am actually a count’s daughter. Wait, does that mean my status is higher than Her Majesty’s?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess so?”
Sylvia thought about it nonchalantly and then suddenly realized.
“N-no, I think I’d rather play a different role! How can I, a Teutonic Knight, pretend to have a higher status than Her Majesty?”
‘Now that I think about it, it might be too much pressure for Sylvia.’
Sena squinted her eyes in thought for a moment.
“Hmmm. Or how about this? You could play the role of a noble lady from another family and use the most refined speech you can. You know proper etiquette, right?”
“I think that might be best too… but will Her Majesty cooperate?”
“Will you cooperate, Your Majesty?”
“Yes.”
“You’re too close.”
Sena awkwardly laughed and tried to push Astria away, who had come close enough to almost touch him.
Of course, Astria didn’t budge.
“It’s time to collect on your promise.”
“A p-promise…?”
“I told you I would claim you as I usually do.”
“Still, isn’t this the wrong place? We’re inside the carriage.”
Sena tried her best to calm down the aroused Astria.
“Ho, did you hear our conversation just now…?”
It was no use.
This golden being, her eyes were completely out of focus.
Sena swallowed hard.
“Obey quietly, as usual.”
Eventually, Astria pounced, and Sena struggled underneath her, desperately trying to protect his lips.
Snap—.
Biting down hard, Sylvia spoke with eyes blazing with determination.
“We’ve arrived. Country girl Ria.”
