“Still, after reading the article, it seems the youngest daughter of that house isn’t engaged to Duke Atlas.”
“Then what? She’ll marry a ten-year-old Prince?”
Get that out of here.
Owen pushed the newspaper away. His eyes, looking down at the newspaper that fluttered to the floor, were filled only with contempt.
“If it’s that witch, she’ll sell her daughter off for a higher and better price. If not a Duke, then who else is above that? It seems the snot-nosed Prince is more plausible than His Highness the Crown Prince, who’s well over forty.”
“Nah, no way.”
Hmm.
Turin waved his hand dismissively, but he too agreed that Viscountess Cartien was more than capable of doing just that. After thus venting their frustrations from broad daylight, they hurriedly slipped out only when the bell signaling the end of the break time rang.
“…Those guys, where do they get off speaking so freely.”
“……”
“I’ll definitely give them a warning. I’m sorry, Captain.”
Major Gerald, who had been holding the back door of the break room, chattered on toward Kainel. It was a bit noisy, so he couldn’t hear everything in detail, but there was no way the Captain hadn’t heard what reached his own ears. He checked the disheveled surroundings and ground his teeth.
“To think that soldiers, of all people, can’t even clean up properly! I really can’t just leave them be.”
“……”
Crack, Major Gerald gripped his sword and strode toward the open front door. Even as shouts and screams followed, Kainel’s expression remained calm.
As if he hadn’t heard what he heard, as if he hadn’t seen what he saw.
He was a man accustomed to not lingering on regrets. As a mercenary rolling on the ground, that way was far more comfortable. Though the situation had changed in many ways now, the fact that he could die anytime, anywhere, without it being strange remained unchanged.
“……”
Yet his feet did not move easily. Unconsciously lowering his head, Kainel looked down at the newspaper rolling at his feet. The woman’s face, which had been so white that he hesitated even to gaze upon it, was now completely covered in a hazy layer of dirt and dust.
“Is this your first deployment?”
Like that day in the rain, when his staring eyes had stung with cold.
Then or now, he remained unchanged in his calm demeanor. Only his eyes, faintly furrowed as if visible or not, poured down like red rain over her face.
△▲△▲△
Tatiana, who had spent busier days than ever before, stood in front of the mirror out of habit. Her appearance, which had felt so unfamiliar without a single piece of jewelry, had become somewhat familiar over the past few days. Even the slight eye smile she made was no longer awkward.
The past three days had gone even better than she had thought. All the gentlemen who had sent her cards filled with their earnest feelings still harbored those exact same sentiments. Just making eye contact with her, they would clutch their chests or swallow dryly, their lips twitching as they continued their fervent confessions of love as if in competition.
To the point where proposing to her tonight wouldn’t feel out of place at all.
‘Yes. People’s hearts don’t change that easily.’
It was just that the Duke had been the unusual one. That’s all.
Her mind, which had been crumpled up to the point of making rustling sounds for a while, suddenly felt much lighter. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell Anne, but if a tragedy like the previous one happened again, she wouldn’t be able to endure it. As she flipped through the cards on the table from the senders who seemed most likely to propose to her, Tatiana’s gaze became notably calmer.
‘Who will come first?’
It was utterly heartbreaking to rank the order in this way regarding marriage, but given her circumstances, even entertaining such thoughts was a luxury. The victory banquet at the imperial palace was tomorrow evening. Every single minute and second was precious to preempt her mother, who planned to announce her engagement to the Duke at that very event.
‘Marquis Everton? Or Count Fergen? Or perhaps,’
Tatiana recalled one by one the men who had shown her great favor and then clamped her lips shut tightly. She wasn’t of a cynical disposition, but she wasn’t naive enough at this point to believe in notions like love or that love is eternal. Moreover, she wasn’t foolish enough to take their words that their love for her had deepened so rapidly over the past three days at face value.
However, she didn’t forget the ‘gratitude’ for the mere fact that they had extended their hands to her in this situation.
‘Yes. That’s sufficient.’
Tatiana firmly swallowed down a lingering feeling of regret somewhere within her. What more could she possibly hope for? If only considering the sincerity directed toward her, the man who wasn’t present here right now…
Flip.
Her gaze, which had lingered on the last card, suddenly shifted outside the window following the sound of the rain. The sky had been thick with dark clouds yesterday and today, and at last, the rain came pouring down. At the raindrops streaming down the glass window, Tatiana made her way to the window.
‘Come to think of it, it was raining that day too.’
She didn’t clearly remember the exact timing. But the man’s appearance alone was vividly imprinted in her memory. Those terrifying red eyes, said to have deepened with human blood while sweeping through the battlefield, had been simply transparent like rubies on that day.
△▲△▲△
“Tatiana. Do you see that man over there?”
The central grand plaza by the Sarthe River was a gathering to see off the soldiers heading to the battlefield.
A festival for the knights about to depart.
As a courtesy from high society for those who might face their last moments, even married individuals were not allowed entry. Although a formal farewell banquet was held separately at the imperial palace, the tradition of ladies personally tying ribbons they had woven onto the tips of the knights’ swords after formal training was an age-old custom.
Since it was an event that only knights heading to the battlefield and coy ladies could attend, there was no sense of impending war. Young people in their prime exchanged subtle glances, and the atmosphere overflowed with excitement.
To the extent that even the sudden downpour of rain couldn’t drown out the laughter.
“Gloomily, what is that? From his attire, he doesn’t seem to be a knight.”
“The one in the black robe looks like the ‘Black Wolf.’ According to my brother, it’s a mercenary group that’s become quite famous lately.”
“Even so, they’re mercenaries. Why on earth did they invite people who aren’t even nobles?”
“It’s the final formal training before heading to the battlefield, so it’s right to gather everyone participating. It’s not the imperial palace banquet, this much is just showing some goodwill.”
Tatiana, who had detached herself from her friends whispering as if she were the one extending that goodwill, directed her gaze toward the pillar. She hadn’t discovered the man because of her friends’ chatter. In a place where everyone was enjoying themselves, a man who was not just dim but endlessly cold drew the eye inevitably.
‘…Who could he be?’
The shadow stretching behind the grand plaza’s pillar was long. The black robe, the symbol of the mercenary group, was soaked like a raincloud from the sky. There were mercenaries here and there with the same robes pulled over their heads, but he was utterly alone.
As if forcibly enduring, and enduring again.
“Tatiana. Why do you keep staring? What if your mother finds out?”
“….No. It’s just… a bit similar.”
“What is?”
To me.
Doesn’t he seem similar to me?
Thinking something that would make her friends clutch their stomachs in laughter, Tatiana once again took in the sight of the man. Regarding the frustration and tedium of being forced to stand in an unwelcome place, there was likely no one here who knew it better than she did.
However, she had adapted, while he had not.
‘A man like that might never be able to do it forever.’
For some reason, such a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
That cold and icy man would never blend into this place. No, he wouldn’t want to.
She could tell just from that fleeting, passing glance.
At least that man was a mercenary. If he didn’t want to, he could escape at any time. In this Freya Empire that only acknowledged and accepted nobles, that fact might be fortunate, at least.
“By the way, Tatiana. Who are you going to give your ribbon to?”
“Yeah. Come on, tell us. My brother nagged me so much, and the other knights are in an uproar too.”
Her friends’ interest was singular. The thickening raindrops could be blocked by umbrellas, but not the cheeks flushed red.
Everyone was preoccupied with deciding who to give their carefully made ribbons to. Though it was merely a simple ceremony with no engagement or anything of the sort, once one had entered high society, it was uncertain when such free time would come again.
“Tatiana won’t give it to anyone. No, she can’t. She didn’t even bring one from the start.”
“Ahh. That’s right. Well, it would just cause a fight if she prepared one for no reason.”
“Yeah. Fights are plenty in the battlefield!”
“……”
As her friends burst into audible laughter, she too smiled faintly without a sound. Several knights had already extended their swords to request ribbons, but Tatiana had shaken her head, saying she had none. She detested the ensuing clamor. In a world that didn’t accept simple favors as simply as they were, Tatiana found being empty-handed light and comfortable.
Because someday, even if she hated it, there would come a moment when she couldn’t be empty-handed.
“Let’s head back now. The rain is getting heavier.”
“Our carriage seems to have arrived! Tatiana, want to ride? We can drop you off on the way?”
“…No. You go ahead.”
Under the rainy sky, Tatiana shook her head toward Aileen, who was calling her. Soon, the carriage from the Viscountess family sent by her mother would arrive. Amid the downpour, the sound of warhorses’ hooves and footsteps rushing toward carriages rose from all directions. The once boisterous grand plaza emptied in an instant. Before she knew it, with only her holding an umbrella, her ears were filled solely with the sound of rain.
“……”
And the sound of someone’s breathing she could feel.
That breath fogging up whitely behind the pillar stood out even more in the empty plaza. It should have been frightening, but it wasn’t. No matter how ignorant she was of fear or war, if that man wanted to, something terrible would have happened long ago.
Shaking off her instinctive fear, Tatiana moved her feet. Following the fading breath as she drew closer, she took one step, two steps toward the marble pillar. With the carriages and people far in the distance, her ears felt strangely deafened.
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