“Leave it there. I’ll deliver it for you.”
“I’ll do it myself.”
“No.”
“……”
“You’re really dragging out something that’s not allowed, Sir Knight.”
There was no need to correct the fact that he didn’t qualify to be called a knight. Whether mercenary, knight, or even something more, to that elegant lady, it wouldn’t mean anything more or less than one thing.
The worst existence who dared not approach her daughter.
And as expected, she faithfully met his expectations. From the small gesture of lifting the letter with her thumb and index finger, one could feel that she knew well how to insult the other person. It was the first time he realized, after rolling at the bottom for over twenty years, that such elegant insults could exist in the world.
It was an experience more vicious than curses, more stinging than shouts, more bitter than wounds, one he never wanted to go through again. Among the memories that made his neck stiffen with chills just thinking about them, there was a particularly worst one he wanted to erase even more.
“In the world… To really come again.”
He knew. How stupid he was.
He was so disgusted with himself that he thought it would be better to die in this battle, but he ended up standing in front of that splendid gate again. Unable to do anything about his contempt for himself, Kainel’s lips still managed to utter her name.
“To deliver a reply to Lady Tatiana,”
“How unpleasant.”
“That child doesn’t like people calling her name carelessly. Of course, the letter she burned as soon as she saw it was probably the same.”
It seemed the other side had thought they wouldn’t see him again either. The woman who had looked perplexed as soon as she got out of the carriage gave him an even deeper smile than before.
“How unfortunate. For an excellent knight like you to not distinguish between mere sympathy.”
Only then did he realize for sure.
No matter if he died in this war or lived longer without dying, there wouldn’t be a greater insult in his life than this.
Hiiing!
As the stone mansion emerged in the darkness, the warhorse’s gallop quickened even more. Kainel’s face, gripping the reins, became even more impassive. Having already experienced the peak of insult, there was no particular reason to hesitate.
It had been the same three years ago. After the last words from that woman’s mother, everything that happened afterward was completely erased from his mind. Whether that woman mocked him for something or what rumors spread in Lebron about an overstepping mere mercenary, he could let it all pass calmly.
Experiencing the worst in advance was convenient in this way.
He was just curious about what that woman was thinking by coming to his house. Now, he probably had the qualification to ask at least that much.
“Master. I didn’t expect you to come in person.”
“…Who came?”
Kainel, handing his helmet to the butler, shook off the water droplets clinging to the tips of his hair. If he had misheard, that would be good in its own way.
“…Lady Cartien has arrived.”
“Which Cartien?”
“Ah… It’s Tatiana, the youngest daughter of Viscount Cartien’s family.”
“……”
But if his life were to go so smoothly, he wouldn’t have survived until now in this state. The moment her name came out of the butler’s mouth, Kainel tightly closed and opened his eyes.
The back of his neck, pressed with one hand, became stiff. However, his steps naturally heading toward the drawing room only quickened. It was really an unnecessarily large house.
“It was raining, so I thought I’d serve warm tea first, but she said it’s rude to visit a house without the owner without an appointment.”
“That sounds like her.”
No, more like the daughter of such a woman.
Cutting off the butler’s words with a bitter smile, he finally reached the drawing room. He stopped the butler who was about to say more with one hand. No matter what more was said or heard here, it wouldn’t enter his ears.
“……”
What he wanted to know was something else.
He had thought about it the whole way here. Why he made that choice that day, why he had no choice but to go back to that house even knowing he would receive vicious insults. If he faced that arrogant woman again, he would get the answer.
“Ah…”
That’s why he came.
“…Oh, you’ve come. I apologize for the rudeness of entering a place without the owner.”
“Enough.”
To confirm what exactly was so great about her.
“I don’t think you’re the kind of person who would come to a place like this on your own two feet.”
“…Sir.”
What made this woman, who was as dignified as a queen even in a room without its owner, so superior.
Kainel’s two eyes, redder than ever, stared straight at Tatiana in front of the lifeless fireplace.
“It seems the noble lady has a misunderstanding, but I am not someone who deserves to be called that. I’ve never received a title in the first place.”
“Kainel.”
“……”
And he got his answer. The water dripping steadily from the hem of her clothes, her body and face soaked through. The moment that woman called his name with her red lips, the fact that the answer was so instinctive and worldly sent a flicker of cruel satisfaction through his crimson eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
△▲△▲△
Kainel strode to the fireplace and picked up the brandy on the mantel. He wasn’t one to enjoy alcohol, but he suddenly wanted to fill the emptiness inside him that felt as hollow as an empty bottle. After all, there was no way this woman expected a gentleman from him, something abundant in the world. Responding to Tatiana’s cautious voice, which suggested she had a request for him, Kainel replied with a bitter smile.
“I don’t know what good news you expected by coming here at this hour, but it seems I have nothing else to offer you.”
“What you’re holding.”
“……”
“If it’s alright, may I have a glass too?”
However, she too seemed to need alcohol for some reason. Kainel stared blankly at her eyes, straight and unwavering between her wet platinum blonde hair, then furrowed his brows. The amusement was evident.
“Do you even know what this is? I thought you weren’t the type to be so naive as to drink whatever a man gives you.”
“I was naive. Until now.”
Tatiana took the glass he was holding awkwardly. With an extremely natural motion, as if receiving something he had intended to give her anyway, Kainel could only watch.
“Listen, Lady Cartien.”
“I discarded it, that title.”
Even at the unbelievable statement from her own mouth that she had discarded her title, and even after downing the alcohol without a moment’s hesitation, Kainel, who had already obtained the answer to the question he wanted to know, showed no sign of agitation.
“Do you need more?”
“…Sir. No, Lord Kainel.”
“It must be something you couldn’t say sober.”
Tell me. Just.
With his gaze still looking down at her, he brought the bottle to his own lips. He didn’t need to get drunk. After all, alcohol like this was merely a means to shake off the cold from being soaked in the rain.
But the chill dripping from that woman’s clothes seemed like something a single glass of this couldn’t dispel.
“Hoo.”
Disliking that thought, the corners of Kainel’s mouth grew even colder. What did it matter? No matter why this woman had come here and was acting like this, it had nothing to do with him…
“Let’s get married.”
“…You right now.”
“I’m not crazy.”
He didn’t know how to take it when a woman who seemed crazy claimed she wasn’t. But the moment he heard those words, he felt like he was the one going mad.
“…Do nobles call that a joke?”
Kainel set down the bottle and quietly ground his teeth. The leisure he had barely found upon getting his answer evaporated in an instant.
“Am I amusing?”
“Kainel.”
“Yes. It’s true that I was interested in you once. Thanks to your esteemed mother, it’s something everyone knows.”
He had no intention of denying it. Nor could he. Anyone living in Lebron knew it, so the person involved, this woman, couldn’t possibly not know. From the beginning, it was probably this woman’s beautiful hand that had burned his letter.
“…Kainel. About what happened back then.”
“Don’t misunderstand. What I wanted back then wasn’t you, but your body.”
“That’s good then. At least you wanted something I have.”
“…Haa.”
How far did he have to listen to this vicious joke?
As if he couldn’t endure it anymore, he swept back his hair. As his fully soaked silver hair revealed his red eyes completely, even Tatiana hesitated. The realization that she was truly facing him again, someone she never thought she’d see in her lifetime, finally hit her properly.
‘It wasn’t a dream.’
Whether three years ago or now, there couldn’t be another red color in the world that boiled so transparently. Her ears suddenly rang, and Tatiana opened her mouth with difficulty.
“Our marriage should bring at least one good thing to you too. I was worried because I don’t have much left to me right now, but that doesn’t seem bad either.”
“…I thought you were at least someone who could discern things properly, unlike your mother.”
“That’s why I’m here. I discarded everything—my esteemed mother, my home.”
Still, there was just one thing she didn’t want to hear. This man didn’t know what feelings had brought her here. She had waited until now to explain exactly that part, but it wasn’t easy to start.
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