Episode 67: How a Mercenary Deals With a Lion (3)
My first teacher and friend in life, and the one who betrayed my birth mother before anyone else.
Sadly, he had probably belonged to Empress Dowager Elba from the very beginning. Kablen called himself the swordsmanship teacher of the princes, and strangely, after that, the other concubine and her child died.
My birth mother grabbed my hand, dragged me, and crawled into a storage room, and in that shabby, old storage room, she finally died.
Maybe that was the coffin she chose to share with her son. My birth mother, who had never once kindly held my hand while alive, held her son’s hand for the first time—and the place she went into was a coffin.
She had lost the beauty she had cared for all her life, and as she was dying, she looked half out of her mind. Sometimes she blankly scratched the wall with her nails, sometimes she cried, and sometimes she even laughed.
But I wasn’t curious why she acted like that.
“I want to see it once. What do I need to do?”
Kablen smiled just like he did back then. Like when he watched me being dragged into the storage room.
This is not the imperial palace but Duke Julius’s mansion. It will be troublesome, but killing someone and making it look like an accident might be possible. And I would feel a more brilliant thrill than when I strangled Shuvel.
Even knowing that touching him would provoke Empress Dowager Elba more strongly than with Count Renziere, I still wanted to do it.
Valentin’s anger filled his head so fully that he was starting to come up with reckless plans.
“Valentin.”
If a wet hand hadn’t come from behind and held my cheek—
If my own name hadn’t been softly pressed down in a calm but uneven voice—
I would have already strangled Kablen by now.
“…Why are you here.”
“Don’t mind me. I came to do my job.”
Regina saw his small trembling shoulders and unconsciously reached out, then looked down at the blood on her hand. Slowly, she lifted her gaze and faced Kablen, who sat across from them.
“Nice to meet you, Duchess Julius.”
Seeing Kablen smile calmly with a bleeding Valentin in front of him made disgust rise inside her.
“Yes. But it doesn’t look like the right situation for polite greetings.”
Regina grabbed Valentin’s chin and checked his wound. One of them was soaked with rainwater dripping down, and the other was dripping blood. It was quite a sight.
Especially for the observer who felt a humiliation as if his existence had been cleanly ignored.
“…I heard you were very sick, Madam.”
At that voice that sounded as if asking for attention, Regina finally turned her eyes back to the uninvited guest. At a glance she looked calm, but a faint hostility lingered.
“Even if I’m sick, I must run to my beloved husband. He gets very anxious without me.”
“…….”
Kablen, who had placed his hand on the table, moved his arm to the armrest. The slight tremble at his fingertips was the best clue to read his emotional state.
Especially when facing someone so skilled that even mice in the hallway of separate bedrooms wouldn’t dare peek out—he needed to be careful.
“Still, I’m glad we could meet. I thought I might leave without even seeing your face.”
At Kablen’s shamelessness, Regina checked the emperor’s decree on the table and the empty teacup.
“I see. So you’ve finished your business here?”
The intention hanging at the end of her question mark was clear. It was lucky she hid her emotion-stained hand under the table. Her spirit was fierce—strong enough to match a veteran who had survived hundreds of battles.
‘Now I understand why that stupid Shuvel lost.’
Shuvel’s biggest problem was that he tried to overwhelm others without knowing how to do it properly. To Kablen, he was a man full of blustering pride, as useless as a big belly.
‘So this is the mercenary who broke my students.’
“Regina.”
Valentin, stunned by the completely unexpected appearance of his wife, grabbed her wrist. He looked ready to pull her out of the room at any moment, so Regina pushed down hard on his shoulder.
Then she pulled out a white cloth from her clothes and pressed it against his still-bleeding head. It had no cute flower embroidery and was rough, so it was hard to even call it a handkerchief.
And the way she took it out was awkward, as if it was something she never carried and had prepared just for today.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
She pressed hard to stop the bleeding, but he didn’t even let out a small groan, which Regina didn’t like.
“The duke hasn’t felt pain well since childhood. So he should be fine.”
“Would you like to try it yourself? To see if he’s really fine?”
What kind of nonsense was he saying in such a refined tone? Regina, reaching her limit, finally burst into silent anger. She even looked like she would gladly give Kablen a wound just like Valentin’s if that’s what he wanted.
She had a simple, dangerous belief like Shanro: if you only have your body, there is always a way to solve a problem.
“Hahaha… Commoners may not know, but nobles fear me. Especially a lady who once held a sword to Count Renziere’s neck.”
The emotion hidden in Kablen’s steady, flat tone was subtle. Because it was subtle, the anger inside it was even more clearly felt.
“Are you going to use your summary execution rights now?”
Still pressing the wound, Regina asked. Her question created a ripple that shook both Valentin and Kablen.
By the emperor’s order, those who insult royalty could be executed immediately. If the emperor had a reasonable explanation, the killing was justified.
And for the imperial sword, who received the full light of power, claiming justice was easy. It was a perfect tool for fear-based rule.
How could a commoner know all this? Kablen moved his ankle rhythmically and scanned Regina slowly once again.
She didn’t shrink under his gaze but faced it confidently.
‘Negal, Negal…’
The family that produced the most noble imperial knights.
And in the wars he led, the most mercenaries died. This meant General Kablen Negal thought of lowborn mercenaries as nothing more than meat to use as shields.
“I didn’t know those rights were so easily misused.”
Regina’s indifferent gaze now held open hostility, as if to say:
If that’s what you’re relying on, then I’ll show you what I rely on.
After my waist was cut in the civil war and I hovered between life and death, I learned well about the magic placed on my body. Thanks to that, if my life is in danger, Clarte is summoned by force.
But what she trusted the most was her own skill.
No matter how strong the opponent, she had the ability and tenacity to bite down until the end. That was her weapon.
“…That doesn’t mean I’m a murderer. I only came today to deliver a strict order from the imperial palace.”
Kablen, who had no intention of executing anyone, stepped back slightly as if giving way. Empress Dowager Elba’s orders were simple: deliver the decree to Duke Julius and his wife and apply some pressure.
“You’ll understand once you read the decree. Her Majesty Empress Dowager Elba wishes for both of you to attend the Day of Blessing. The duke seems to be recovering, and the duchess is lively enough, so there should be no problem.”
He was a man with a heavy backside. Even though he called himself an old teacher, he didn’t care at all about his student’s injury. A kind lady passing on the street would’ve reacted more humanely.
And Regina was already furious enough about Valentin’s wound.
“Is this Empress Dowager Elba’s command?”
He waved the emperor’s decree and puffed up the Empress Dowager’s name. When Regina pointed out that strange gap, Kablen couldn’t hide the displeasure spreading across his face.
“Is that important right now? It’s the imperial palace’s order.”
“I see. Then we must obey.”
“Regina.”
Valentin, holding her wrist as she pressed his wound, quietly spoke her name.
For any citizen of the Manemo Empire, the emperor’s orders were absolute. So her goal was to kick this uninvited guest out of the castle as quickly as possible.
“You got the answer you wanted, so would you please stand up now?”
Crash—thunder roared loudly, shaking the window.
“Imperial soldiers march even through typhoons, don’t they? With that strength, please understand that we are not in a condition to keep entertaining a guest. There’s a clean, spacious inn in the center of Valmen.”
Regina wanted the unwanted visitor to leave at once, and she would have been even happier if he got struck by lightning on the way. And that “clean, spacious” inn she mentioned was actually small and dirty.
Valentin’s head still hadn’t stopped bleeding. That only fueled her rising anger.
It seemed she had grown more attached to him than she expected. It annoyed her how pitiful he looked, rejecting Kablen so fiercely that his head was struck.
“Well then, I’ll get up.”
Though annoyed, he had completed his mission. Screech—he pushed his chair back with a loud noise and stood up.
Regina didn’t break eye contact, so she had to tilt her head back more and more. His eye level was probably as high as Valentin’s.
Kablen reached his hand toward her.
“Why is he reaching out his hand.”
And Valentin stepped in front of her. Regina deliberately watched the slow movement without reacting. Even if he tried to grab her throat, she had enough confidence to counter.
Kablen’s wrist was caught, and he slowly twisted one corner of his mouth, like a snail crawling.
