Chapter 14
“…Even so, we can’t send Her Highness to someone who clearly finds her inconvenient.”
“…It was you who said you would give me time.”
“Which means that opportunity ended yesterday. No one expects anything of Your Excellency beyond fighting well.”
“Now hold on a moment. I’ve been listening, and the way you’re speaking to our lord—mmph!”
“Whoa, Jacob, hush. This is not your place to speak.”
“Mmph! Mmph!!”
The fight escalated so openly and viciously that even others were dragged into it. I simply stared blankly.
‘What exactly is going on here?’
Even the others on our side—though they weren’t openly growling like Ezekiel’s people—looked thoroughly displeased. Marquis Matilda, rarely, seemed genuinely irritated.
She growled,
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but you’re making yourself look ridiculous, Your Excellency.”
“The one making this ridiculous is you. Shouldn’t you go attend to your duties?”
I frowned slightly. Ezekiel insisting on taking me was crazy enough, but Marquis Matilda engaging him like this didn’t make much sense either.
‘There’s no need for this.’
Looks like I have to step in.
Having decided, I slid down smoothly from the chair I had been sitting on. Tap. The sound of my small shoes touching the polished floor drew everyone’s gaze.
Unbothered, I hugged Moromoro under one arm and walked briskly between them toward my destination.
“What are you doing, Marquis? We don’t have time.”
…And naturally, my destination was right beside Marquis Matilda.
“At this rate we’ll be late. We have to go now.”
I didn’t even glance in Ezekiel’s direction, as though he didn’t exist.
“Haah…”
A dazed sigh escaped from Ezekiel’s side, while everyone on ours beamed proudly as if to say, That’s our princess! Marquis Matilda’s lips curved into a perfect arc of satisfaction. She bent her knees and slipped her hands under my arms.
“You’re right, Princess. We don’t have time.”
“Mhm.”
“Will you be carrying Morocostvalto again today?”
“Of course!”
“Excuse me? People of Khaledro?”
“I’m sure Morocostvalto is pleased as well.”
The marquis lifted me lightly. Nestled in the familiar embrace, I settled into the position most comfortable for me.
“Ah, and your other favorite toys and books have already been placed in the carriage.”
“I knew it. Marquis, you always handle things perfectly!”
“Oh my, you flatter me.”
“Excuse me? You can hear me, right?!”
Ezekiel’s side was still making noise, but the marquis and I—now perfectly in sync—had no intention of paying them even the slightest attention.
“Well then, let’s head down.”
Without hesitation, the marquis turned toward the door. Naturally, I wrapped my arms around her neck and rested my chin on her shoulder—and ended up making eye contact with Ezekiel, who had been left behind.
His eyes were still piercingly blue and whatever-else—honestly, I’m tired of describing them.
In any case, he didn’t look hurt, displeased, or disappointed at being rejected again.
‘What exactly was he thinking, saying he’d take me himself?’
Not that I really wanted to know.
‘At best, he probably reasoned logically that as the strongest one here, he should personally handle the most unstable factor—me.’
Hah. As if I’d go along with that.
With the hand not holding Moromoro, I pulled down the skin beneath one eye with my index finger.
And then—
‘Bleh.’
I stuck out my tongue and gave him a mischievous grin.
For the first time, Ezekiel’s brow twitched into a frown. But the louder reaction came from beside him.
“Hey, you—!”
“Jacob, enough. Really, stop talking. It was already a problem that you said this much. If you say more, it’ll only get worse.”
Wait. Jacob?
Now that I thought about it, I remembered. There had always been someone who followed and admired Ezekiel excessively. Jacob. He had despised me back then for “tarnishing” Ezekiel and Ricardt, constantly picking fights.
‘Hmph.’
Then again, it was harder to find someone who didn’t hate me in those days.
Too annoyed to engage further, I deliberately yawned and rested my head against the marquis’s shoulder.
“I’m kinda sleepy…”
“Yes, yes. Of course you are. We’ll put you in the carriage soon. You can sleep there. Just a little longer for now.”
“Mhm.”
Even then, I could feel what must have been Ezekiel’s persistent gaze lingering on me. So I deliberately buried my face deeper and leaned more heavily into the marquis.
Even after leaving the room, it took much longer than expected for the carriage to depart the North.
“I apologize, Your Highness.”
“It’s okay. Ron cries all the time. It’d be weirder if he didn’t cry today.”
“Yes… To be honest, he’s even more tearful than you are, Princess.”
Ron—Marquis Matilda’s husband—was over two meters tall, a knight among knights and the pride of the North. But as honest as he was, he expressed his emotions freely… and among them, tears were the most abundant.
Much of the delay at the inner castle was due to Ron clutching me and bursting into loud sobs while everyone tried to send me off with smiles. It had turned into a sea of tears.
“I didn’t hate it. Of course not. It’s just because they all like me so much.”
My grandfather, the first Grand Duke of Khaledro, had been beloved among the people. But my mother, too, had kept her promise—refusing the chance to live comfortably in the capital and returning to the North instead.
As we left the castle, I once again realized just how immense Mother’s popularity had been among the people of the North.
“…If anything, I should be grateful.”
By the time we exited the city, the streets were packed with countless people—many of them crying. They shouted their blessings and farewells at the top of their lungs, afraid I might not hear them.
“Your Highness, the Little Grand Duke—please return to Khaledro!”
“Just like the former Grand Duke! Please become our Grand Duke again!”
“Please stay healthy!”
I remember the moment when the many voices gradually united into a single word:
“Khaledro!”
‘I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.’
The responsibility weighed heavily on my shoulders—but that weight felt infinitely precious.
“Marquis… I’m definitely coming back here.”
“Of course you are.”
Marquis Matilda’s warm brown eyes reminded me of the trunk of a great, sturdy tree.
“You alone are now the true master of the North.”
“Yeah. I know.”
The scenery passing by was barren. Anyone could see it was harsh land—hardly promising profit from farming or livestock.
‘But it’s mine.’
The land that held Mother’s firm vow to make the North the freest place of all—
Above all, a place free from death.
“Brr.”
That being said… it was still undeniably cold.
