Chapter 89
With the Grand Duke’s declaration of his cause, we became a rebel faction, which meant there was no longer any need to drag troops all the way to Ferment. Just as he had predicted, the Emperor’s side mobilized their soldiers first. It was the very next day after the final council was convened.
What invaded Rus was an army of a thousand men led by Commander Kunta. They must have thought that number was sufficient to break through a small town. In short, they were underestimating us.
As the army advanced, Raymond ordered the archers to hold the fortress. Then he began preparing to take the field himself. Watching him put on his armor in the room, my heart gradually filled with anxiety.
My favorite sight of Raymond is him commanding on the battlefield… but when it came time to actually send him to war, none of that mattered. Worry flooded my chest—what if he was put in danger, what if he was injured—until it felt like wet paper, ready to tear at any moment.
When Raymond finished preparing, he stood facing me.
“Raymond.”
“Don’t worry, Aileen. It’s just a small skirmish.”
“Still, it’s war.”
“I’ll win and come back quickly.”
He gently stroked my hair to reassure me. But even with his calm touch, my churning heart wouldn’t settle.
“I’ll help right by your side.”
“No. It’s dangerous. You stay here, Aileen. If things turn bad, I’ll retreat immediately, so don’t worry.”
I tried to insist on going with him, but he rejected me outright. Then he gave instructions to Koa, who was standing beside me.
“Koa. Protect Aileen well.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“I’ll be back.”
He waved as he left me behind in the room.
Is this what it feels like to send your idol off to the army?
After sending my favorite person to the battlefield, tears streamed endlessly from my eyes and my heart.
But as Raymond said, there was no way I was going to just wait obediently.
Why did I transmigrate into this novel in the first place? To protect the Grand Duke, of course!
I even went through a fake kidnapping to join him—what was the point if I just stayed cooped up in a room?
‘I’m worried. I have to go out.’
And so, while Koa stepped away briefly to take care of something, I made my escape from the room.
Once I slipped past Koa and came out, the corridor was empty and silent. With the war in full swing, no one was wandering around the mansion.
After confirming there was no one around, I dashed down the corridor. Because it was wartime, I was wearing practical clothes instead of a long, cumbersome dress, so moving was no problem at all.
I left the mansion and ran straight for the ramparts. The mansion I was staying in was surrounded by the outermost wall; it was close enough to reach in about five minutes of running.
When I reached a high vantage point and swept my gaze over the battlefield, the fight was already nearing its end. At a glance, it seemed our side had the upper hand. Reassured by that, I scanned the finer details of the battlefield to find Raymond.
“Gasp.”
The Raymond I spotted was standing at the very front line of the battle.
What kind of rebel leader fights on the front lines?
I let out a sigh at his unstoppable zeal. Having found such a significant target, the enemies were surrounding him in layers and pouring on their attacks. No matter how skilled with a sword or how strong he was, it looked unreasonable to take on dozens at once.
I watched with my heart in my throat, and sure enough, danger struck. As he deflected five consecutive swords, he ended up exposing his side to a blade coming from the left.
“Ugh.”
“Ah! What do we do?!”
Raymond staggered for a moment, but quickly turned and dealt with the ambushing sword. There was only one wound, but given where it was, I worried about heavy bleeding. In an imperial era with underdeveloped medicine, a blood transfusion would be out of the question.
‘This won’t do. I have to go before it gets worse.’
Enemies were falling, but the battle was still ongoing. Raymond showed no sign of retreating despite being injured, so I decided to heal him.
Even if our side was winning, this was still a battlefield. I asked a nearby guard to accompany me, and he nodded readily.
Opening a small side gate, we carefully moved outside the fortress and approached Raymond. After finishing off the group that had attacked him, he moved along the line, helping allied soldiers who were still fighting.
‘Over there.’
There were less than thirty steps left before I could reach him. Perhaps it was the relief of being so close. That must have been what led to my carelessness. I ended up acting like a child who spots their mother across the street and runs out without noticing an oncoming car.
I had also grown too accustomed to Koa’s top-tier protection. Contrary to my expectations, the guard’s skills were nowhere near hers.
“Raymon—!”
I ran while calling his name, when suddenly a sharp blade flashed out from the side. One of the fallen enemies had spotted me and launched a final, desperate attack. Judging by my clothes and the way my hair was hidden under a hat, he didn’t seem to know who I was.
“Ahh!”
I screamed and curled up, using the self-defense moves I’d learned to minimize injury. But I didn’t feel the sensation of sharp metal grazing my skin. When I lifted my head, instead of the enemy, I saw Raymond.
“Why on earth did you come here? I told you it was dangerous.”
Raymond drove the final blow into the enemy’s chest. In that split-second situation, he had swiftly knocked away the opponent’s sword.
After being attacked, my startled body began to tremble like an aspen. Raymond shouted at me in anger, but none of it registered.
“Hurry—use this to treat yourself.”
Shocked or not, I still had to accomplish the purpose I’d come for. Clutching my wildly pounding heart, I pulled a bottle from my clothes and held it out to him.
Raymond looked at the bottle with a dumbfounded expression, but he accepted it without protest. When he opened it and poured it over his side, the wound visibly healed in real time. Only then did I relax, my legs giving out as I sank to the ground.
“Aileen. You’re injured.”
“What?”
I must have misjudged earlier, thinking I’d avoided the attack. A thin line had been torn across my thigh.
“It’s fine. This much will heal quickly if I just put some saliva on it.”
I said it casually on purpose, afraid I’d get scolded even more. But it didn’t work on Raymond at all. He leaned toward me, slid one arm under my shoulders and the other under my knees, and lifted me effortlessly. My eyes went wide.
“Ah—Raymond. You don’t have to do that.”
“Stay still. If you don’t, I’ll send you straight back to the duchy.”
“What—!”
How underhanded, threatening me like that.
But the truth was my legs were too weak to stand, so I obediently did as he said. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck so I wouldn’t fall.
“Finish off the remnants and then everyone retreat.”
“Yes!”
When the Grand Duke shouted the command, a resounding response rang out around us. Perhaps because of that, our embrace drew even more attention, making me feel even more embarrassed.
Raymond carried me back to the room, his expression blank the entire time.
He summoned the maids and gave orders—change her clothes, bring warm water, bring towels—then turned his back in a corner of the room and waited for them to finish.
“It’s done.”
“Good. You may all leave.”
After dismissing the maids, he strode over to me, where I sat at the edge of the bed. He bent one knee to kneel, then carefully lifted the hem of the light, flowing skirt I’d changed into, all the way up to my thigh.
“Ra—Raymond.”
“Stay still.”
I tried to stop him, but the anger still in his voice made me obey. He rolled up his sleeves and began washing my wound himself with the water from the basin.
“Ow.”
When I let out a small cry at the stinging sensation, his touch grew even gentler. As the soft contact brushed along my thigh, an odd feeling even stirred.
After washing the wound once, he opened the medicine bottle I’d made and poured it onto my thigh. Just like Raymond’s side, my wound gradually faded and healed back to normal. Once the sharp pain disappeared, I felt much more comfortable.
But even after the treatment was finished, Raymond didn’t stand up right away. He dabbed my leg dry with a towel, then even applied scented oil to his hands and rubbed it into my leg.
“Don’t. I can do it myself.”
“Just stay still.”
“It… it tickles.”
As his large hand moved from my calf and knee up to my thigh, a sharp, electric sensation shot through me. Heat rose to my face, my cheeks burning.
“If only I had healing powers like you, Aileen.”
Raymond murmured that, then brought his lips to my knee. At the soft, moist sensation, my body shuddered.
After kissing my knee, he lifted his head and stared straight at my face. The blue waves in his eyes burned hot once more. But it was a little different from last time. Back then, it had been pure desire; now, concern weighed more heavily. Seeing the deep affection within it made my chest tingle.
Receiving his warm gaze truly made me happy.
I wished time would stop forever like this. If there is a god, please grant my wish.
This moment and space, his breath, the perfect temperature enveloping the room, even the faint scent of the oil spreading to my nose—everything was perfect love. Something no one could dare to interrupt or tear apart.
Feeling each other’s heartbeats resonating through the air, we were sharing love in this very moment.
Even if only our fingertips actually touched, all our senses were caressing one another.
Haah.
The breath I let out dampened the air, mingling with the warm water in the basin, still sending up steam.
