Chapter 8
“What…?”
Angelica’s fork suddenly stopped midway to her slice of steak.
At first, she thought she had misheard, as she hadn’t expected such repulsion, despite knowing they feared him.
But…
“Even I, when I saw him for the first time, nearly fainted from the shock! That aura… for a moment, I thought I was the enemy.”
“Um, well, he was born and raised in the North.”
“Haha, exactly! It’s impossible for anyone to tolerate being near him.”
Soon, conversations about Hugo flooded the table, with no one trying to stop the first speaker—in fact, they were adding to it.
“Oh, I spent two years under his command, and still, I can’t look him directly in the eyes! His eyes suggest he’s about to kill someone.”
“If it were just his gaze! His fencing style is admirable, but… ah, I can’t wait until he’s transferred to another unit.”
“He’s a respectable person, but not someone you want to stay close to.”
Everyone agreed unanimously, forcing Angelica to suppress a sarcastic laugh that nearly escaped her.
The young man sitting in front of her, from what she heard, was a new recruit who graduated from the military academy with high grades and was directly assigned to the Empire’s First Unit.
He clapped enthusiastically whenever someone spoke, laughing loudly, which quickly revealed his personality—a person who found pleasure in disparaging those above him.
But the worst wasn’t him; it was the rest of the knights.
“You’ve spent more than a year with him, right? And yet, you engage in this talk? And laugh?”
The words they threw about his respect and fencing skills were just a flimsy cover.
In essence, they feared him and wanted to stay away.
“All this just because he’s reserved and has a scary appearance?”
*Clang!*
Angelica slammed her fork on the table without hesitation, creating a sharp scraping sound that suddenly cut through the room’s noise.
She scanned the table with her gaze, and though she couldn’t see clearly, they undoubtedly saw their ugly reflections in her eyes.
A dry smile formed on her lips as she spoke:
“Do you know? The scar on his hand—he got it at nineteen, on the battlefield.”
“What… ? Suddenly, what is this talk—”
“A comrade next to him lost his arm and sword. Suddenly, the enemy attacked with his sword. He had no time to block with a weapon, so he instinctively raised his hand to take the blow for his comrade. The result? His comrade survived.”
But he nearly lost the use of his hand forever, and even now, he can’t fully feel his pinky.
“As for the scar running from his neck to his chin, he got it at twenty-one, while trying to save another comrade—not just any comrade, but a field medic. Think about it: if that medic died, none of his soldiers would receive treatment. So he decided to sacrifice himself instead.”
And when someone asked what he would have done if he died then, he simply replied:
“When we go to war, we’re prepared to die, so we don’t regret it.”
“As for the prominent scar from his forehead to under his eye, it’s from the monsters he faced while protecting the Empire’s northern borders. At that time, the imperial knights’ reinforcements were delayed, so he had to face the enemy alone.”
Back then, his doctor told him there was a high chance of losing vision in his right eye, but he miraculously survived, and his sight remained intact.
Angelica continued recounting the stories she knew about him, in a calm, steady voice, though anger and bitterness choked her inside.
“I learned all this in just one day. But among all of you, who spent years by his side, does any of you know these stories? No, has even one of you thought to ask?”
There are always people like that—when they can’t believe someone’s achievements, they simply deny them and try to tear them down.
“While Hugo was sacrificing his body to protect the Empire and its people, what were you doing?”
Suddenly, silence fell, then the knights waved their hands in panic:
“No, Miss Angelica, that wasn’t our intention at all…”
“We never tried to belittle him, never!”
But there was one person who hadn’t grasped the situation yet.
“Oh, I think your eyes are blind, Miss. If you actually saw him, you’d think just like us.”
“Hans! Shut up!”
“What?! What’s wrong with my words?”
The new recruit from the military academy raised his voice defiantly, as if his words were indisputable logic.
Then, Angelica couldn’t help but scoff.
“It seems the fencing department at the academy doesn’t teach ethics, huh?”
“Huh? What? Even if you’re a noble, this talk is unacceptable—”
“Ah, so it’s acceptable to mock others, but you can’t handle someone doing the same to you? What a hypocrite!”
“What… ? Hypocrite… what?”
“I mean your morals aren’t worth an ant’s whisker!”
She slammed both hands on the table and stood up in anger.
“And what then? If I could see, I’d think like you? Ha! That won’t happen, so mind your behavior.”
She forcefully pushed the annoying chair obstructing her foot, without realizing it, causing it to fall with a resounding crash. The new recruit in the unit only made muffled sounds and didn’t dare respond.
“…Angelica, let’s go.”
The first to move was Isabel Cotton, who had been silent among the knights the whole time.
Angelica was about to refuse her hand, but in the end, she quietly leaned on it and left the dining room.
As soon as they were a little away, she felt her anger rising again. Though she had vented it, the feeling of rage intensified instead of subsiding.
Isabel tried to take her out for fresh air and slowly led her to her room.
Then, moments later, the door opened, and the refreshing mint scent filled the air, alleviating the salty sea smell.
Angelica took a deep breath of this scent, then bowed toward Isabel.
“…I’m sorry. Because of my actions, you couldn’t have dinner properly.”
“No, there’s no need to apologize. I wanted to leave too.”
Her words didn’t seem like flattery.
Since Angelica couldn’t see, her other senses had sharpened, and she strongly sensed Isabel’s feelings through her voice. Isabel hated the knights inside.
“Thank you.”
This thanks had a great effect in calming her anger.
Isabel shook her head embarrassedly and led Angelica to the bed.
“Good night, Angelica.”
“You too, Isabel.”
The simple dinner farewell ended, and the room fell into silence.
“Ah…”
Angelica took a deep breath and threw herself onto the bed.
She felt like she needed a bath, but her body was exhausted. This was the first time she had unleashed her anger like this on a group of people, so it was harder than expected.
“Funny thing. Do they think I’d change my mind if I saw Hugo?”
The anger still dominated her feelings more than worry about the future. She kept thinking about Hans’s words, clenching her fists tightly.
“If they heard about my taste, they wouldn’t be able to stand.”
Who was her favorite person? Of course, “Hugo Bernstein.”
“My favorite, nicknamed ‘The Battlefield Ghost Who Must Drink Blood to Live.'”
And not just that.
Hugo Bernstein had scars on his body, and even a few on his face.
“It’s not strange for him to have so many scars on his body, since he’s a character full of challenges.”
Although the protagonist in the novel <Empire’s Rose>, Kain Avindel, said he didn’t see him as ugly.
<Hugo Bernstein, you have so many scars.>
<I can’t understand what you’re getting at.>
<I mean they’re not bad, in fact.>
And these words added to the beauty of Hugo Bernstein’s character.
“I’ve preferred him over the Northern Duke for a long time, and I can assure you Hugo would have the same scars, just like my favorite character Hugo.”
It was certain that the scars would make him look imposing like the Northern Duke.
“People say things like that…”
She suddenly remembered the words Hugo Bernstein had heard at the academy, similar to what the knights said about Hugo, as if it were a silly joke.
“Ah, this annoys me.”
Although the mint scent had somewhat eased her anger, the hot feelings resurfaced.
And Angelica started walking out.
After groping the walls, she grabbed the railing and headed for the fresh air.
The cold winds brushed her hair, and the sound of waves grew louder in her ears.
“This is better.”
She took a deep breath of the cold air and smiled slightly. Then, without realizing, she muttered:
“I miss him.”
“Who?”
“Ah!”
These quiet words reached her ear as if whispered inside her.
She shuddered slightly, and when she tried to respond, strong arms enveloped her from behind.
“Hugo!”
“Yes.”
She was so delighted to hear his voice that she smiled automatically.
She wanted to ask when he arrived and why he was late, but she chose another question.
“So, who is it?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“The person you were missing.”
She thought her whisper was too small, but he seemed to have heard it.
Did he have sharp hearing? She thought about this for a moment. Then, she decided to stay silent.
“Who was it?”
“Who? The person who… that was… my first love.”
Her throat suddenly went dry. Although she wanted to say “I missed you,” she felt those words would be too silly.
So she tried to justify her words:
“Maybe because I won’t see him again. So, just for a moment, I got into these thoughts…”
But the more she spoke, the more her words tangled. She wished she hadn’t added anything else.
Hugo stopped to stare at her intently, and despite her hesitant feelings, her lips parted to say:
“Who is he?”
“Yes? His name…?”
