“Come on, let’s go.”
Riftan said, finally slipping tall leather boots onto her feet. She nodded, her face flushing red. As they stepped out of the room, wooden stairs appeared. She held Riftan’s hand and went down. The cluttered tavern below was packed tightly with tables and chairs, filled with knights in armor occupying every seat.
“Commander, we thought you’d stay up all night. Are we departing now?”
One of them grumbled discontentedly, arms crossed over his chest. But Riftan ignored them completely, holding her hand and heading outside. Then, a knight standing by the door chased after them, voicing his complaints.
“Commander, are you going to keep this up? We’re not going to eat her, so stop being so overprotective…”
“Shut up! I told you not to say anything.”
Maxi looked up at the pursuing knight with a bewildered expression. A young man with a large build and curly hair glared at her with displeased eyes. Shrinking under the sharp gaze devoid of any goodwill, she hid behind Riftan. A blonde man standing behind that knight snorted loudly.
“It’s ridiculous. Just because of Duke Croixo’s daughter…”
“I said shut up.”
Riftan growled menacingly. At his fierce aura, the men clamped their mouths shut. He turned back and pushed her into the carriage.
“Don’t mind what those guys say.”
Riftan, who followed and boarded the carriage, said as he roughly closed the door.
“They’re just not favorable towards your father. But you’re not Croixo, you’re Lady Calypse. My wife. I’ll warn them not to be rude to you again.”
She couldn’t find words to reply and stared intently at the back of her hand placed on her knee. ‘Because of Duke Croixo’s daughter,’ those words reminded her of how their relationship had come about.
“Are you upset because of my subordinates?”
As she sat quietly, he asked in an anxious voice. She looked up in surprise. Had anyone ever cared about her feelings? A smile escaped her unwittingly at the sight of him cautiously checking her expression. What a strange man. Who was minding whose feelings here?
“…Do you know?”
“Y-yes?”
“That you smiled at me… This is the first time.”
Riftan, staring at her with an inscrutable expression, slowly reached out and stroked her cheek. Maxi held her breath, captivated by his intense gaze. The man, as if about to say something, moved his lips, then withdrew his hand. Then, as if it had been a meaningless action, he shouted outside.
“What are you dawdling for! Who was the one urging us to hurry and depart!”
Grumbling sounds came from outside, and soon the carriage began to roll. In the awkward silence, she stole glances at his face. Riftan leaned his head against the carriage window, eyes closed as if tired. Feeling a bit of tension ease at his attitude that seemed to have forgotten her presence, she also leaned her head against the wall.
Perhaps due to exhaustion from days of tension, the harsh jolting of the carriage felt like the rhythm of a cradle. She gradually fell asleep.
*** *** *** *** ***
Leaving the village where they had stayed the first night, they traveled all day through the vast grain fields. Because they were riding the carriage on poorly maintained dirt roads, it was only when the surroundings had completely darkened that they finally arrived at a small village near the Yudical Forest.
Maxi, who was riding in the carriage for the first time over such a long distance, was exhausted and limp. Riftan, who had gone out first to verify their identities, returned to the carriage and picked up a sleeping bag and lamp from the luggage compartment.
“We’ll stay here tonight. The weather is chilly, so bundle up your clothes tightly and come out.”
Following his words, she pulled her hood deeply over her head and fastened the cloak strings tightly before getting out of the carriage. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and strode toward where the knights were gathered. One of the knights, who had been talking with the sentry for a while, turned to look at him approaching and asked with a troubled face.
“Commander, the lodgings aren’t suitable. What should we do?”
Riftan raised the lantern and quickly scanned the surroundings. At the end of the winding dirt path, four or five dimly lit, dark huts were clustered together. The knight quickly added an explanation.
“There are five huts in total, but they’re all full with serfs who came down for the harvest. There’s one empty grain storage shed, so it seems we could borrow that for the day…”
The knight glanced at Maxi’s face and trailed off. Riftan furrowed his brow and turned to the sentry.
“Isn’t there a separate lodging where my wife can stay?”
“They’re just shabby huts built to house the serfs during the harvest season. If you command it, we can empty one or two right now… But it won’t be fitting or decent for a noble lady to stay in.”
“Still, it would be better than a warehouse. If you empty just one hut for her, I’ll reward you generously…”
“N-no, it’s f-fine.”
Maxi startled and grabbed his arm. She felt burdened by the thought of the serfs, who had endured hard labor all day, being driven out because of her alone, and she didn’t want to spend the night isolated in such a creepy place. Looking around the dark surroundings with frightened eyes, Maxi clutched Riftan’s sleeve.
“I d-don’t want to be a-alone…”
“……”
As a strange silence flowed, Maxi realized how her words might have sounded and hurriedly let go of his hem. Heat rose to the back of her neck. Was he stunned by her impudent words? He said nothing. Unable to look straight up at Riftan, she clutched her skirt hem, and the knights, who had been awkwardly exchanging glances, continued their conversation nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.
“If it’s decided, let’s rest now. I’m starving to death.”
“I want to let the horses rest first. Hey, where do we fetch water?”
“Over there… There’s a stream next to the mill. This way.”
As the men scattered busily, Riftan, who had been standing silently until then, finally took her hand and pulled her along.
“Let’s go too.”
“Y-yes!”
To keep up with Riftan, who was striding ahead with his long legs, she hurriedly moved her steps. The uneven ground nearly made her stumble several times, but Riftan supported her by grabbing her arm. After walking along the narrow ditch for a while, a fairly large wooden building appeared in the dim darkness.
The men who entered first hung lamps in various places, illuminating the dark interior. Maxi followed Riftan inside and looked around. It wouldn’t be strange if an evil spirit appeared right then. Wherever the light reached, spiderwebs glistened like the white tangled hair of a ghost, and the floor, covered in pale dust, made irritating creaking sounds.
She walked carefully, watching to make sure no rats or insects were crawling on the floor. The men, with indifferent faces, each found spots, laid out sleeping bags, and began removing their cumbersome armor one by one. Riftan also spread thick straw in a corner and laid out the sleeping bag widely on top.
“Come here.”
Even though she was on the verge of fainting from exhaustion, Maxi couldn’t bring herself to lie down on what seemed like a bed crawling with lice and fleas, so she sat awkwardly perched. Even though it was a fairly spacious area, with eighteen grown men filling it, it felt suffocatingly cramped.
“For the next few days, the bedding will be uncomfortable. Just endure until we arrive in Anatol.”
He removed his breastplate and greaves and pushed them aside, then cracked his neck joints with a series of pops. She sat hugging her knees and nodded obediently. Having never stayed in the same space with so many men before, she couldn’t relax at all. But the knights, as if her presence didn’t bother them in the slightest, were busily moving about, lighting the brazier and preparing the meal.
“Commander! There’s not enough fodder for the horses. What should we do?”
One of the knights who had gone to lead the horses and follow the sentry poked his head into the warehouse and shouted. Riftan unbuckled his leather belt and replied nonchalantly.
“Ask the sentry if we can buy some grain.”
“We already negotiated. But the stored food is all the property of Duke Croixo, so they say they can’t touch it without permission.”
At the sudden mention of her father’s name, she unconsciously shrank her shoulders. Riftan roughly ran a hand through his hair and clicked his tongue.
“They’re saying to pay more, then.”
“What should we do?”
“Give them whatever they want.”
“If we scare them a bit, we might not have to pay that much…”
The knight, who had casually uttered such fierce words, suddenly trailed off and glanced at her.
“Well, it wouldn’t be good to give the Duke a reason to complain. Understood. I’ll handle the negotiation, so don’t scold me later if your pouch lightens.”
With that, he went back out of the warehouse. Maxi felt intimidated, sensing that the knights’ hostility toward her father was stronger than she had expected. It seemed they were ignoring her because of their resentment toward him.
Would it have been different if she had an attractive appearance like Rosetta? Maxi fell into her habitual self-deprecation, thinking of her half-sibling who regularly received all sorts of gifts and love letters from the vassal knights who visited Croixo Castle. At that moment, Riftan, who had been poking at the fire in front of the brazier for a while, returned with a large bowl. Maxi peered into the bowl. It was filled with potatoes that had been roasted in the campfire, blackened and charred in places.
“It’s hot, so eat carefully.”
Saying that, he himself grabbed one carelessly with his callused hand and took a big bite out of the steaming potato. Maxi followed suit and picked up a potato. She carefully wrapped the charcoal-hot thing in her sleeve, peeled off the blackened skin, and revealed the fluffy interior.
She blew on the potato, from which steam billowed out, and took a cautious bite. The hunger she hadn’t realized she had surged fiercely. Ignoring the burning sensation on the roof of her mouth, she blew on the roasted potato and swallowed it down greedily. The slightly undercooked parts crunched between her teeth, and the potato had never tasted so good. She quickly devoured the fist-sized one.
Then, Riftan, who had been watching her from the side, held out another potato whose skin he had already peeled.
She waved her hands in panic.
“R-Riftan, you e-eat it. I-I’m f-fine…”
“No more words. Take it.”
He forced the potato into her hand and picked up another from the bowl. He half-heartedly peeled it and took a large bite. She stared down at her own cleanly peeled potato, then blew on it and ate it deliciously.
Once her stomach was somewhat full, drowsiness came creeping in. Forgetting her worry about possible lice or fleas, she laid her head on the sleeping bag. Red light from the brazier placed in the center of the warehouse softly illuminated the surroundings. The knights who had finished eating also began laying out sleeping bags one by one to prepare for sleep.
Even though she had said it was fine, sleeping among all these grown men still felt awkward and uncomfortable, so she pulled the blanket up to her chin. Then, Riftan, who had been sitting by her head sharpening his sword, lay down beside her and pulled her tightly into his arm. Maxi pushed at his arm in embarrassment.
“R-Riftan… Th-there are p-people here…”
“No one cares, so stay still. It’s cold.”
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