TYBMB 34

Chapter 34 – Hernant’s Spy
Date: 2024.02.03

While I was at a loss for words, dumbfounded, the commander strode away with long strides.
Because of his long legs, he was moving at a much faster pace than I could manage.

Before I knew it, we had exited the guest room and were walking down the corridor.

“W-Wait! Please put me down before someone sees us. If someone sees me being carried like this—”

“It’s fine. No one’s going to see. The sun’s about to rise while you were asleep.”

“……?!”

“All the guests have already left. There’s no one outside right now.”

The commander was telling the truth.

As we passed through the corridor and descended the stairs with me still in his arms, we didn’t see a single person.

Even the attendants seemed to have gone off to bed.

We passed through the empty hall and finally reached the carriage.

“Come to think of it, I came here in a royal carriage. His Majesty personally sent it for me. Since I didn’t bring my family’s carriage, I guess I’ll have to borrow the royal one again on my way back.”

“No need for that.”

“……?”

“I’ll take you to your villa myself.”

I already felt bad enough being carried this far. Wouldn’t borrowing his carriage on top of that be crossing the line?

Shaking my head at the thought, the commander opened his mouth again.

“Thinking of refusing again? Seems like all you know how to do is refuse. You should learn to accept kindness from others now and then.”

“But…”

“I’m going that way anyway. Don’t worry and just ride.”

He said it so firmly that I couldn’t refuse any further.

In the meantime, the commander continued walking and we soon arrived where his carriage was parked.

Unlike Hernant’s, the commander’s carriage was pitch-black in color.

Even the horses were black stallions—it suited him well, I thought.

He gently set me down on the ground and asked,

“Shall I help you up? Your hand?”

“…No, I can manage getting into a carriage on my own.”

I declined his offer to help and climbed into the carriage by myself.

After all, I already felt like I owed him a lot just from being carried here.

As I sat down, he too boarded the carriage.

The door closed, and soon the coachman started the ride.

“Will you tell me your worries when you’re ready someday?”

The commander suddenly asked. I hesitated a moment.

Since I had signed the cursed contract with the forbidden ability, I couldn’t tell him anything for now.

But if I could find a way to escape the curse someday, then I’d be able to tell him everything.

“Yes. When the time comes, I’ll tell you. Please wait just a little longer.”

“Then I’ll wait silently. Until the day you open that precious heart of yours to me.”

It was… truly a comforting thing to hear.

He didn’t push me to confess my troubles.

He didn’t turn away and say he wouldn’t help me.

He just said he would wait—until I was ready.

Knowing there was someone who would wait, patiently, until I was ready to talk, gave me great comfort.

“Thank you. Really. You probably don’t realize it yourself, but you’re a truly good person, Commander.”

“No need to flatter me, just get some sleep. You look tired.”

The moment he said that, my eyes grew heavy.

Perhaps it was the fatigue of all that had happened today.

I didn’t try to resist the weight of my eyelids. I let sleep take me.

I’d only meant to doze off, but ended up falling into a deep sleep.

I had a long dream for the first time in a while.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a nightmare.

It was just a rather bizarre dream.

—“Sister, don’t go. If you leave, you may never return.”

In the dream, Johannes was trying to stop me.

But the me in the dream was stubborn.

—“No, I must go. I need it.”

I didn’t even know what “it” was.

Everything’s always vague in dreams.

I was simply filled with the overwhelming sense that I had to find that unknown “thing.”

Despite Johannes’ plea, I left on a journey to find it.

Along the way, I encountered petty thieves, powerful monsters, and even betrayal from a trusted comrade.

Through countless trials, I finally found “it.”

—“I finally found it…”

What I had been searching for turned out to be a star.

A star that shone pure white in the sky.

Unknowingly, I had been seeking that star all along.

Overwhelmed with emotion, I reached out for it.

—“Finally caught it. My star.”

Suddenly, the commander—who I didn’t even know had been following me—grabbed my wrist and said that.

I tried to shake him off, desperate to grab the star, but he wouldn’t let go.

Flustered, I pleaded with him.

—“I’m not the star. The real star is over there!”

—“No, you are the star.”

He gripped my wrist even tighter and said something strange.

—“I let you go once. I won’t let you go again.”

That bizarre dream ended there.

Sunlight on my face forced me awake.

“……”

I winced briefly, then slowly opened my eyes.

I looked around with blurry vision.

It was the bedroom in my villa.

It seemed the commander had brought me back after I’d fallen asleep in the carriage.

Even my clothes had been changed into loungewear—likely by the maids.

While I sat there, blankly scanning the room, a maid quietly entered the bedroom.

“Oh! You’re awake? I was just going to quietly leave this water jug, thinking you were still asleep…”

“It’s fine. But… how did I get back to the house? Did the Duke of Haviht bring me?”

“Yes. His Grace carried you all the way to your bedroom. Since the Marquis wasn’t here, there was no one else to bring you in.”

“I see… I’m indebted to him again.”

So it was indeed the commander who had carried me back after I fell asleep.

Come to think of it… Johannes didn’t come home by dawn?

He must have stayed out all night with Lady Adelheid.

Aren’t they moving a little too fast? I was thinking that when the maid, as if remembering something, added:

“Oh, and His Grace left you a letter. It’s on the nightstand over there.”

I looked over and saw the envelope she mentioned.

I dismissed the maid and opened the letter left by the commander.

It contained only a single sentence:

“Once you’ve rested enough, come back. I’ll be waiting.”

The Foundation Day celebrations were over.

The night of dancing in a gown was now a memory, and it was time to return to the rift and fight monsters once more.

I let out a deep sigh and got up from bed.

Then I quickly got to work.

I personally picked and paid for the carriage that would take Lady Adelheid home and packed for my return to the order.

As I was busy preparing to leave, Johannes finally returned to the villa.

He seemed a bit disappointed when he saw me getting ready to leave.

“You’re leaving already?”

“I must. Monsters won’t wait just because we’d like more rest.”

There were no holidays for monsters.

They spilled out of the rift and attacked humans whether it was Saturday or Sunday.

That’s why we knights, who fought them, couldn’t afford the luxury of rest either.

I loaded my small luggage onto the horse, then mounted myself.

Before I could leave, Johannes looked at me with concern and said,

“You’re strong, sister… but still, please be careful. They’re as dangerous as natural disasters.”

Still on horseback, I reached out and ruffled Johannes’ hair.

“Don’t worry. I never let my guard down in front of monsters.”

I always gave it my all when fighting monsters.

If there was anything that made me let my guard down… it was humans.

Not monsters, but humans.

Those I trusted poisoning me, stabbing me in the back…

That kind of unexpected betrayal was the real danger.

But there was no need to tell Johannes that.

I simply smiled confidently to reassure him, and rode away from the villa.

Riding a horse alone was much faster than the carriage ride I’d taken to come up to the capital.

Before long, I arrived at the Barony of Nibertal, where the Order was stationed.

The Barony had two active rifts, and the Silver Knights would be stationed there for a while to focus on closing them.

Once I arrived, I reported to the commander, who greeted me in his usual way.

“You came back unnecessarily early. You could’ve taken your time.”

To his greeting, I replied in my own way.

“You left a letter saying you’d be waiting, so I hurried.”

“Hah. That was just a polite phrase. It didn’t mean anything.”

“Really? Well, regardless, since I’m back early, I’ll get back to my duties quickly. But before that, I have one request.”