Chapter 32
Until I saw him taking not only the swords and belongings from the dead, but also their armor and helmets.
Apparently, that wasn’t all—he even gathered all the horses the Chase knights had ridden.
It seemed he planned to take the horses down the mountain as well.
“Lujenbik, you’ll get caught doing that.”
“The Jaiphron Company’s stables have hundreds of horses. If I mix these in and don’t parade them in front of people, no one will notice.”
“…”
I could only stare at him, speechless.
Then Lujenbik dug a large pit and tossed the bodies of Chase and his knights inside.
There was nothing reverent about it—no sense of burial rites. But perhaps it was his final gesture of mercy, ensuring that even men unworthy of compassion would not be left as feed for beasts.
“From now on, we’ll have to hurry. It’s unlikely these people’s master will show up here now, but… who knows? If he finds out they came here and never returned, he might find it suspicious. Let’s move quickly, Hestia.”
I began to help him, and together we found a few more dry wyverns.
But Lujenbik seemed dissatisfied with the way I worked. He said it would be more helpful if I searched nearby for where dry wyverns grew instead.
“Is it fine if I’m out of your sight?”
It was a joking remark, but Lujenbik looked right at me.
“Ah… no, that won’t do. Just stay here.”
That probably wasn’t what he meant, but the mood suddenly turned awkward.
“I’ll take this to the carriage.”
“Be careful, Hestia.”
Then he added that maybe it was better if I stayed right by his side.
“A wild beast could leap out at you.”
“I haven’t seen any around here.”
“Then how do you think I caught that rabbit?”
“Ah…”
I realized defeating him in conversation was no easy task, so I quietly went back to digging for dry wyverns.
“I hope this helps Erkan succeed in his magic experiments faster.”
At my words, Lujenbik merely nodded.
Still, even at my throwaway comments, he now at least gave me that small acknowledgment.
“Aren’t you hungry? Should I make stew with the leftover meat?”
Even while working busily, Lujenbik kept checking on me. I said I could handle it, but without any cooking tools, I was at a loss.
Then, with a triumphant expression, he stood up and declared that such things were something only he could do.
I wondered how even he planned to cook stew without a pot, but he returned from somewhere holding a perfectly fine cooking pot.
“What… is that? Where did you get it?”
“I just remembered leaving this pot here the last time I came. Back then, I lost it and searched everywhere but couldn’t find it. Turns out it was here.”
His story was so absurd that believing it outright felt more unnatural.
Still, it wasn’t something I could outright disbelieve either.
“Lujenbik, you’re strange.”
“Other people can say that, but I don’t think you should, Hestia. You’re far stranger than I am.”
He said it with a laugh.
Here, he laughed often.
I wanted to give him more moments like that. Before I knew it, I found myself thinking that this accidental time together might be giving him exactly such moments.
“Lujenbik, it’s nice seeing you smile.”
“Ah…”
He seemed to have forgotten he was smiling until I pointed it out.
Then a shadow passed over his face.
“Lujenbik, could you keep smiling for me? We’ve been laughing together this whole time, and we’ve still managed to get most of our work done. Let’s keep going like this—smiling.”
“…”
He seemed to quietly savor my words.
Our time there passed in a blink.
You could call it long, but also endlessly short.
We brought all the horses down the mountain.
We had to time it perfectly so no one would spot that strange procession. We descended as dusk fell, and only when darkness fully blanketed the surroundings did we leave the mountain completely.
Sitting on the driver’s seat, Lujenbik controlled the carriage with one hand and used the long whip to keep the other horses from straying—a skill that was nothing short of remarkable.
I couldn’t understand why the horses didn’t run off.
When I asked, he told me the truth: there’s always a lead horse, and as long as you control that one well, the rest will follow.
It sounded like nothing, but the thought lingered—if the lead horse hadn’t obeyed Lujenbik, if it had refused to give in, maybe all the others could have been free.
We drove straight back to the Jaiphron Company.
When the carriage stopped, Lujenbik got down first, knocked on the door, and I followed after him.
A crowd of people poured out of the building.
It seemed they had been waiting anxiously ever since we’d left so abruptly.
“Deputy Chief!”
Cassia came hurrying out after hearing the news, his face lighting up with relief when he saw us.
He checked us over carefully to see if we were hurt, then sent the other staff back inside.
It seemed he thought there might be things we didn’t want others to overhear.
“I can’t tell you how worried I was. I kept thinking I shouldn’t have let you go like that. How did you come back? You didn’t prepare anything before leaving.”
But at some point, his eyes drifted past us to the horses beside the carriage.
“What… is all this, Your Highness?”
When Cassia asked with brightened eyes, Lujenbik proudly explained—he’d taken them from bandits he met in the mountains.
It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it wasn’t entirely a lie either.
“My goodness… that was dangerous. You really aren’t hurt, are you?”
Even as he spoke, Cassia couldn’t take his eyes off the horses.
“You should tell us the details. That way we’ll know how to be careful in the future.”
Hearing me say that to Lujenbik, Cassia finally looked at us properly.
“What… do you mean? What happened?”
“That ‘bandit’ was actually Sir Chase, cousin to His Majesty the King.”
I glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then whispered in Cassia’s ear.
“What?”
His eyes went wide as he asked how that was even possible.
“We were digging for dry wyverns when he suddenly appeared. Then he saw my face and came up with a fairly plausible theory. He got some details wrong, though.”
“Tell me everything—don’t leave anything out. In fact, let’s go inside.”
He said this, but his gaze returned to the horses.
“Then… should I put these in the stable for now?”
“Yes. And they need special care. No one must recognize them, so don’t sell them for the time being.”
He nodded firmly, clearly understanding what I meant, and called over a few people to take care of it.
“Oh, and there’s armor and helmets in the carriage too.”
When Lujenbik casually mentioned it, I could see Cassia swallow dryly.
“Your Highness…”
He looked as if he wanted to say more, but for now, he checked the inside of the carriage and called over more men.
“Can we trust them?” I asked quietly.
“Absolutely. I’ve put binding magic on them. I figured things like this might happen again, so I decided we’d better have a few people we can trust without question.”
“Well done.”
“Then, you two should go up first. I’ll sort out the goods and join you later.”
At his words, we went inside. Stepping into the well-lit interior eased some of my unease.
“I finally feel at ease now. It’s nice and bright.”
Lujenbik smiled at that. Probably because the reason I gave for feeling good was so simple.
“First, I’d like to eat. I’m suddenly very hungry.”
As if anticipating that, the company’s chief steward followed us in and told us to head to the dining hall.
“The Young Deputy will join you shortly. After you eat, we’ll prepare a bath for you. Since it’s already late, the Young Deputy suggests you spend the night here.”
We had no reason to refuse—except for the thought that Beatrice was waiting for us, probably unable to rest until we returned.
Lujenbik and I exchanged glances, then shook our heads.
“I think we should go. Beatrice will be worried.”
When I told the steward, he replied that they’d already sent someone to the villa.
Cassia’s thoroughness was impressive enough to leave me speechless.
“They should have arrived by now. Beatrice will likely be on her way here.”
“There’s nothing wrong, is there? His Majesty didn’t vent his anger on her, did he?”
“No. We had people stationed there to respond immediately if anything happened.”
Knowing the Jaiphron Company had the Jaiphron Count’s backing, I couldn’t help but think that them flexing their power could also put the Jaiphron family at risk.
The steward, seeming to read my thoughts, explained further.
“We were prepared to act if anything went wrong—but nothing happened. In the end, everything turned out well.”
“That’s a relief.”
“His Majesty seems quite concerned for you, Deputy Chief.”
The steward said this without bothering to hide the look of disdain on his face.
