Chapter 130
“Maybe this is our last chance before we depart.”
“But… you look so pale.”
The back-and-forth between Knox and me kept dragging on. It felt like we were just repeating the same things again and again.
“I’m the one who endured countless bouts of seasickness without a problem.”
“Being on a ship and flying through the sky are completely different matters. Who was it that was begging to rest just a little while ago?”
“Are you really going to keep this up? You promised ‘later tonight’ before we left.”
The man who was usually so confident was now clinging to me as if he were sulking.
“If you were going to refuse anyway, you should’ve said no from the start. Making me look forward to it all day and then rejecting me now because I look tired—isn’t that a bit cruel?”
“That’s why I said I’d take you back to the grand duke’s residence first so you could rest. You’re the one who insisted on staying with me and volunteered for that exhausting flight, Knox.”
“You’re telling me to give up a precious opportunity to hold you all day long just because I want to rest?”
He shook his head as if the idea were absurd.
“Absolutely not. I’m not backing down, Giana. You made a promise, so you should keep it.”
“But you’ve looked exhausted since earlier…”
“Did you think I’d be too tired to perform at my usual level?”
“…What?”
I asked in shock.
Something felt seriously off.
“Right. Since the passion we usually share is so intense, you were probably worried that if my stamina was even slightly lacking, we wouldn’t be able to spend as heated a time together as usual. If that’s what you were worried about, you should’ve said so sooner.”
His eyes sparkled with triumphant realization, as if he had finally found the answer.
Flustered, I waved my hands and stepped back.
“N-no, that’s not what I meant—!”
He reached me faster than I could retreat and swept me up in his arms.
“The Grand Duke of Lupellen always gives his best. Whether it’s right after clashing blades nonstop with a rival for twenty-four hours, or after crossing the desert for a week without a single drop of water.”
“…!”
“You’ll never be disappointed. This time, I promise you.”
Soon my back sank into a soft bed, and his hot breath consumed my lips.
‘The decisive battle is right around the corner… is this really okay?’
“What are you thinking about? You should be focusing on me, Giana.”
His eyes burned with desire. He cupped my face, kissed me, and then buried his face against me again.
The fatigue that had lingered on his face just moments ago was completely gone. If anything, he was far more intense than usual.
Right. I should focus.
There had once been a time when I doubted Knox’s feelings again and again, so much so that I couldn’t even imagine a moment like this.
But now, those days felt distant, almost unreal.
Every one of his gestures was filled with tenderness, desperate attachment, love, and desire.
In the careful way he touched me as though I might break, in the way he poured all his strength into everything, afraid I might be disappointed.
His affection was impossible to hide.
When we reach Snowood, he’ll give it his all there too. But here, right now, it’s right to give my all to this moment.
“You’re still lost in thought?”
“Not anymore. I’ll focus properly, so you’d better not use ‘I’m tired’ as an excuse and devote yourself entirely to me.”
“My, how scary.”
Smiling, he gently pulled me closer by the waist.
I cast away all stray thoughts and focused completely on Knox.
Tonight didn’t seem like it would be short, either.
The next day, we immediately boarded the Belltin.
Elliot, the Lupellen knight order including the three idiots, and even our companion dragon, Gary.
Karon was chosen as the chef. He had experience working as a chef aboard the Belltin, and after being thoroughly trained under his grandfather Norman, his cooking skills had improved significantly compared to half a year ago.
Of course, there would be no more fooling around like before. After all, two dragons were now terrifyingly guarding the Belltin.
“S-Snowood, you say? I can’t go to a place that cold—I’m terribly sensitive to the cold!”
“Too bad. You don’t have a choice.”
Knox shoved Karon straight into the kitchen, and the three idiots leaned in noisily, adding their own comments.
“You only need to be half as good as old man Norman. Got it?”
“Isn’t your standard too high? No one can match Norman’s skills.”
“You really don’t understand what Erson means. He just wants an excuse to punch Karon.”
“Well, Karon is kind of annoying.”
“And he’s the one who made Lady Giana suffer so much.”
“Yeah, he deserves to get hit.”
“Hey, wait. That’s rich coming from you, who made Lady Giana go through hell yourself.”
At Isaac’s sharp remark, Erson clamped his mouth shut like a clam.
The way he kept sneaking glances at me suggested that he was probably the one who had set the grand duke’s residence on fire.
No wonder he had worked so earnestly to help me during the reconstruction.
I approached Erson and issued what sounded like a suggestion but was actually an order.
“Erson, you’ll assist Karon in the kitchen.”
“L-Lady Giana! The three of us are basically one body! We can’t be separated!”
“Oh really? Then all three of you can go into the kitchen together.”
My mouth was smiling, but my eyes were not.
Only after the three idiots, stiff with fear before the future grand duchess’s command, followed Karon into the kitchen did peace finally return to the deck.
“I hate how noisy they are, Creator.”
Gary, who had been plugging his ears in a corner, grumbled as he flew over to me.
“Just endure it for a few days. We’ll end this war quickly and come back.”
I hugged Gary and stroked his head to soothe him.
“I’ll have them make special snacks for you every day too. You can fly around over the sea, and when you get hungry, come down to the kitchen and hurry them up. Okay?”
“Will they bake cookies every day too?”
“Hmm… they won’t be as good as Chef Norman’s, but probably close enough?”
“Tch. Fine then. This generous dragon will endure it.”
He puffed out his chest with his tiny wings, then soared powerfully into the sky.
He acted tough on the outside, but Gary was probably quite nervous too.
They said Gary was something like a byproduct created during the formation of this world.
Those were the words Director Jang had spoken right before he died.
In a way, Gary was heading toward a battle against his own original self. Of course he’d be trembling.
We’ll leave the Astria Empire to the arriving tower masters.
I would thoroughly scour Snowood, the enemy’s base.
After all elite knights of the Lupellen duchy had boarded, the Belltin sounded its horn loudly once and set sail toward Snowood.
As I poured dragon power into the engine like a madwoman, the Belltin advanced toward Snowood at an unimaginable speed.
But the closer we got to the north, the slower our progress became.
Massive chunks of ice were breaking off from Snowood and drifting across the sea, obstructing navigation.
“We can’t go any further!”
From the top of the watchtower, a sailor peering through a giant telescope shouted out the warning.
“The ice is too massive and too dense. We can’t even approach! What should we do?”
“What do we do? We clear it.”
I walked to the bow and gauged the distance to Snowood.
The continent was faintly visible in the distance. Which meant I could easily carve a path from here to there.
As I slowly extended my hand, the massive blocks of ice split apart to either side, like a scene straight out of a film.
In an instant, a wide sea path formed—wide enough for three Belltins to pass through comfortably.
Knox gazed at the sight in admiration.
“Giana, you’re even cool on top of everything else. That’s dangerous. If others see and fall for you, it’ll be a problem.”
“As if anyone would dare covet the woman of Knox Lupellen, Grand Duke. Even with ten lives, they’d be sliced up in an instant.”
Of course, I’d take about five of those lives myself.
As the path opened, the Belltin slowly adjusted course toward Snowood.
I poured even more dragon power into the engine. The massive hull sliced through the waves, cold sea wind like sheets of ice blowing across the deck.
Then—
Boom.
With a heavy sound, the Belltin docked against the continent of Snowood.
The decisive battle was finally right before us.
