Chapter 42
A three-day leave.
It was the first time since Shanelica had come to the Cartel estate that Derwin had taken such a long leave.
The day after he confessed, Shanelica had waited for him endlessly, heart fluttering with excitement. But by the morning of the second day, her mind had settled.
“When Her Highness the Princess leaves for a long journey, she sometimes doesn’t send word back either.”
That’s what the butler, Cuddles, had told her before heading out for work. Shanelica nodded. Of course a knight on duty couldn’t exactly send updates home. After all, a bodyguard’s role was to devote their life to protecting someone important.
He must be frustrated, too.
Knowing Derwin’s personality, he was probably dying to explain why he couldn’t return. He was the kind of man who sent a message even when he was just running late for dinner because of work at the palace.
Still, this wasn’t a planned trip.
It had already been three days, and Derwin still hadn’t returned. Shanelica, half-heartedly flipping through a copy of Encyclopedia of Dragons, found her thoughts drifting to Lydia.
After checking at work, she’d found out that Lydia had gone to the royal villa on the southern coast of the Campton Kingdom. She visited once a quarter to rest and recover mentally and physically, or so people said.
Shanelica had a pretty good guess why Lydia had suddenly gone to the villa this time—without notice, no less. It must have been after Derwin returned the dagger she’d gifted him… and told her they were engaged. She was probably distressed. Wanting to run off to the villa made perfect sense.
Still… shouldn’t she have left the person involved behind?
For a brief moment, Shanelica wondered if Lydia had taken Derwin along out of spite, but quickly shook her head. That wasn’t Lydia’s style. More likely, she simply couldn’t leave behind her personal knight for such a long trip.
And even if it was out of spite—so what? It wasn’t like Derwin would fall for her just because of that.
Shanelica felt a bit melancholic, but she decided to give it time. He would come back. In the meantime, she burned through every book about dragons in the estate’s library.
But not in her own room—no, in Ferdin’s.
“Ugh, why are you in my room again?!”
Ferdin shouted the moment he walked in.
During the three days Derwin was gone, Shanelica had worked hard to get closer to Ferdin after work. Well, “get closer” was putting it nicely. In truth, it was more about pestering him out of boredom.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
“You keep quizzing me with wrong facts about dragons. I got curious about where you were getting that nonsense from.”
“That’s an invasion of privacy!”
“You didn’t return the book, so I had to come find it myself. Why keep it hidden and hog it all to yourself?”
She gave him a smug smile as she closed the cover of Encyclopedia of Dragons.
Ferdin was a mercenary. That meant he didn’t have a fixed schedule. In fact, most of the knights who’d left the Kaisel Order along with Derwin were now mercenaries, their titles stripped.
Mercenary work ranged from short-term contracts from nobles to long overseas missions. They were in demand for being ex-knights, and unlike the average mercenary who took any job for money, these men were more selective.
Ferdin hadn’t taken on anything recently and was resting. Most of his time was spent training at the Cartel estate.
Shanelica wasn’t about to miss that opportunity.
Three days ago, she’d discovered Ferdin had an interest in dragons. Since then, she had made a point of chatting him up whenever they crossed paths. He was constantly annoyed, until she finally said:
“Then why don’t you quiz me on dragons? If I get them wrong, I’ll leave you alone.”
In an effort to shake her off, Ferdin had thrown out the most obscure and incorrect trivia imaginable. But each time, Shanelica wouldn’t back down. Instead of retreating, she’d argue and correct him.
The quizzes were all nonsense. Naturally, Shanelica became curious about what exactly was written in the book Ferdin kept referencing. But he refused to let her see it.
So today, with him out of the house, she had snuck into his room to read it for herself.
“Well, this book does have some accurate parts. It’s just that you pick out all the wrong bits for your quizzes.”
“Anyone would think you were a dragon expert. Now get out!”
“But dragons can’t possibly look like this. They made them way too terrifying. Like monsters, really.”
At that moment—
“Were you talking about dragons? Please, allow me to join the conversation.”
A voice came from the doorway. Both Shanelica and Ferdin turned their heads in unison.
Standing there was Derwin, clad in dark armor with streaks of black. His hair, usually neat, was disheveled. He looked… utterly worn out.
“Your Grace?!”
Shanelica cried out in surprise. Even in his messy state, he looked stunning.
“I’m back, my lady.”
“A…”
Just like the night he confessed to her, her heart began to race wildly.
“I thought you’d be in your room, but you weren’t. I searched the estate for quite some time.”
“Oh, I was just in an unexpected place. I was bored, so I came to play with your brother!”
“Don’t say weird things.”
Derwin glanced at Ferdin, his eyes quietly intense. So clear, they revealed everything he felt. Ferdin instinctively lowered his head, like a pup bowing before a lion.
“…Do you like dragons too?”
Ferdin asked timidly.
“Since the lady’s interested, I thought I’d take some interest as well.”
“Alright, little brother, I’ll be going now. Let’s go, Your Grace.”
Leaving the two men behind, Shanelica beamed at Derwin and pressed down her fluttering heart.
“I must apologize.”
That was the first thing Derwin said after changing into more comfortable clothes and coming to see Shanelica in her room.
He didn’t need to say what for. She already knew—he was sorry for leaving for three days without any word.
“No need. You were working.”
It did bother her a bit that he was with Lydia, but she could handle it. After all, she once waited 199 years for a mate who disappeared without a word. Three days? That was nothing.
“Did things go well with Her Highness the Princess?”
She had to ask.
Since maids were still setting the tea table, Shanelica paused for a moment. Once the preparations were done and the maids left, she resumed.
“I assumed she went to the villa because of that.”
Derwin sipped his tea and answered calmly.
“Her Highness decided to go to the villa before I spoke to her.”
“Oh.”
“Whether it was because of us, I don’t know. But… she already knew.”
“…Knew what?”
“That we’re engaged.”
Shanelica nearly dropped her teacup.
She knew… and still acted that way? She openly showed her feelings for him while knowing he had a fiancée?
Reading Shanelica’s shock, Derwin continued in a steady tone.
“I’m told she found out the evening before her departure. She had dinner with His Majesty before I returned from work. That’s likely when she learned of it.”
“Oh…”
Shanelica remembered her last conversation with Lydia. Lydia had said she would ask Eleusis not to make Derwin the vice-captain of the Kaisel Order. That must’ve been what she brought up at dinner.
That explained Lydia’s recent behavior. Shanelica had never seen Lydia again after she found out about the engagement.
So yes, she had probably gone to the villa in shock.
“When did you find out she knew?”
“The day after she left. I told her when I offered to return her dagger.”
Shanelica looked at his face. As composed and handsome as ever.
“How did His Majesty learn about our engagement?”
Only the staff at the Cartel estate and some of Derwin’s former knights knew. And Derwin had explicitly asked that it remain a secret.
“If His Majesty truly wished to know, there’s nothing he couldn’t discover. He likely already knew you were staying at the estate. A bit of investigation would easily reveal you came here as my betrothed.”
What concerned Derwin was whether Eleusis had learned of the engagement by investigating him—or by investigating Shanelica. The former was routine. The latter would complicate things.
Was I too naïve to think announcing the engagement would settle things?
Derwin was conflicted.
“Your Grace. His Majesty knew I was engaged when we first met outside the palace. I told him myself.”
“…Did you.”
So he knew… from the start.
Then what was all that “companionship” nonsense? Those looks he gave her, knowing she was engaged?
Derwin’s expression darkened.
It was more likely Eleusis had discovered the engagement through Shanelica.
A personal interest, perhaps.
If so, even making the engagement public might not be enough to push Eleusis back.
That possibility irritated Derwin.
“Lady Shanelica.”
His voice came out heavier than usual.
“Contrary to what I believed, going public might complicate things for you—at least regarding rumors.”
He wasn’t exactly saying no, but Shanelica could tell he was hesitant.
Still, she had no intention of backing down. Placing her teacup down, she calmly voiced her opinion.
“Like I said before, I still want to make our engagement public.”
“But…”
“I don’t care about rumors. You said you didn’t want me dragged into gossip—but I don’t mind. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“Are you truly alright with that?”
“Yes. In fact, I’d prefer it. From now on, I plan to stay close to you. I want everyone to know you’re not the Princess’s man like the rumors say—you’re mine.”
Her cheeks flushed as she spoke.
That shy blush lit a fire in Derwin’s chest.
