CHAPTER 20…………
I Keep Leaning Toward It!
Despite Leah urging him to continue reading the letter she had sent to Micloc, Freddy couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth so easily.
When the impatient Micloc told Joseph to read it instead, Freddy reluctantly resumed reading Leah’s letter.
<On the day you departed, it seems Millie gave a white scarf to one of the knights. Who was the lucky one? But in truth, Millie had prepared another scarf as well. It was a blue silk one, but she never said who she intended to give it to.>
“Oh dear, I guess Millie didn’t mean to give it only to you, Ralph. You’d better stay sharp, eh?”
Micloc teased Ralph playfully, but William, Ralph, and even Freddy all had stiff expressions on their faces.
“What’s with you all? Why those faces?”
Micloc asked, bewildered at the tense atmosphere.
Ralph’s reaction was understandable, but it was strange that William—who had sulked about not getting Millie’s scarf—wasn’t secretly pleased at this turn of events. Instead, his face was set hard.
And Freddy? Why did he look so guilty? His expression was downright apologetic.
“What is it? William, you speak first.”
“It’s nothing, Your Majesty. Even if the Queen’s maid is scattering scarves left and right to this man and that, it has nothing to do with me.”
William’s words contradicted the faintly sour expression on his face.
Oh-ho, so he’s mad that Millie might have been flirting with multiple men.
Micloc’s curiosity about William was settled thanks to that answer.
“And you, Freddy? What’s with your face?”
“Well, um… the thing is…”
Freddy kept glancing nervously at Ralph, unable to get the words out.
“Spit it out. That’s a royal order.”
“Well… when our departure was delayed by three hours, I had quite a long chat with Millie. We talked about the expedition schedule, when we’d return, various things like that…”
“And??”
Micloc still didn’t see what Freddy was getting at, so he pressed him impatiently.
Sigh… I should’ve realized back then… “I think Millie wanted to give me the blue scarf then but couldn’t muster the courage. So instead, she gave a different scarf to Ralph, who looks just like me.”
He said this while sneaking a guilty glance at Ralph. Ralph looked utterly exasperated, while William’s face soured even more.
“I’m ashamed I couldn’t read a woman’s heart… But don’t worry! I’d never be the kind of trash who lets a woman come between me and my one and only brother! I’ll write Millie a letter, telling her to give up on me.”
Thumping his chest with his palm and nodding firmly, Freddy looked completely convinced of himself. But Micloc had little faith in his words.
“Just try writing that damn letter, I dare you!”
Ralph, usually calm and reserved, suddenly shouted in anger.
“What? So you mean you’ll step back, then?”
“Step back? From what?”
“Then what do you expect me to do? Make your position clear!”
The twin knights, the Soron brothers, suddenly began to growl at each other. William, whom Micloc secretly rooted for, just shot them a cold look without saying a word.
Watching them, Micloc sighed. It was like watching a fight between three fools.
“Enough. Next part!”
Micloc stood up, pulled on his jacket, and urged Freddy to keep reading Leah’s letter.
Still flushed and glaring at Ralph, Freddy cleared his throat and continued.
<Do you remember what I said before? I could live with a man with a bad temper, but never with an ugly man. Mic, you know I fell for your handsome face, don’t you? So don’t you dare come back with even a scratch on that perfect face. Return to me exactly as you were the day you left. Yours, Leah.>
After Freddy finished reading the letter, silence lingered in the tent for about three seconds. And then—
“Uuuuwaaaahhhh!!!”
Every knight, Joseph included, screamed, stomped their feet, and rubbed their arms as if covered in goosebumps.
William and Freddy even gagged like they were about to vomit.
“I don’t see what’s wrong. Did you all have bad lunch or something?”
Micloc, fully dressed, snatched the letter from Freddy’s hand and pressed his lips gently to Leah’s signature at the bottom.
“Uuuuwaaahhhhhhh!!!”
The knights couldn’t take it anymore. They bolted out of the tent and gulped down the fresh air, trying to settle their stomachs.
It was hard to believe that the man in there—covered in blood from head to toe, mercilessly mowing down enemies like a demon—was the same person who had just done that.
A moment later, Micloc’s solemn voice rang out from the tent.
“Enough fooling around. Assemble!”
It was no longer the casual, teasing tone from earlier. It was deep, heavy, and full of a king’s dignity and authority.
The knights instantly snapped back into battle mode and hurried inside.
Micloc pointed at the map spread across the floor with the tip of his spear.
“Our plan was to move south from the west, then sweep eastward clearing out the monsters. But…”
He dragged the spearpoint in a straight line from their current position all the way to the easternmost point.
“The plan has changed. Tonight, we march straight to the eastern end.”
William immediately understood, a faint smile crossing his face.
“If we strike from the east first, those complacent monsters will be in for a real scare.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a long march.”
Though sudden, the knights’ eyes gleamed brightly at the revised plan.
“Let’s wipe them out quickly and head home.”
Micloc’s gaze, fixed on the map, glinted with icy resolve.
“Millie, don’t slack off. You still have a hundred more swings.”
In the training yard, Millie had been trying to sneak away from her wooden sword drills, but I caught her.
“Your Majesty, my arms are going to fall off.”
“No, they’ll stay firmly attached. Now pick up your sword.”
Millie pouted as she retrieved the wooden sword she had tossed aside.
Since Master retired two years ago, I hadn’t been able to train much in swordsmanship—too many Marquisate eyes watching me.
Training again after so long, my body felt stiff, and practicing alone was dull. So I decided to teach Millie the basics, hoping to at least build some muscle in her shivering limbs.
But she was far clumsier than I expected.
“Millie, why are you holding the sword upside down? You’re supposed to grip the handle, not the blade.”
“O-oh, really…?”
“A wooden sword isn’t a laundry bat. Your hands are too weak, so grip it with both hands… Wait! I’ve never seen those gloves before.”
“Huh? Oh, these…”
Millie quickly hid her hands behind her back.
“Hands forward!”
When I wagged my finger, Millie reluctantly stretched her hands out.
They were fine leather gloves, with the fingertips cut off.
“Sir Ralph sent them when he heard I was learning swordsmanship from you, Your Majesty.”
Millie fidgeted as she explained.
“He said the wooden sword would be slippery, so I should wear these…”
Ralph… I tried to recall what kind of man he was.
A tall, handsome knight with red hair. Unlike his twin Freddy, he had a colder, intellectual aura, though perhaps with a gentle side too.
“Hm… not blond, not with soft honey-colored eyes, not exactly sweet-looking—but I suppose he’s kind and gentle with you, isn’t he?”
I teased lightly, and Millie’s face turned as red as a ripe tomato.
“Not exactly, but…”
She stammered. Suddenly, Mic’s letter came to mind—the one brimming with longing for Leah. At the end, he had written:
<Leah, I think Millie has a knack for bewitching my knights. William, Ralph, Freddy—because of her, I’ve been walking through hellfire lately. Please, you must do something. If not, the knights once feared as the Fiends of Freetan may become the laughingstock of the world.>
To think the proud Freetan army’s greatest weakness was my Millie! I stifled my laughter and decided to prod Millie’s feelings.
“Be honest. You gave the white scarf to Sir Ralph, didn’t you? So is he your number one?”
“Well, not exactly…”
“Not exactly?”
“He’s kind to me, so sometimes my heart leans toward him… But Sir Freddy is more cheerful and fun, so it’s easier to talk to him…”
Oh my! Was her heart wavering between the twin knights?
“But then again, Sir William gives me rides on his horse and even hands me warming magic stones… He seems considerate too…”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“No, no! Of course not.”
She quickly waved her arms, but her smiling eyes betrayed her.
Goodness, Mic was right! My Millie really did have a talent for enchanting Freetan’s knights.
Late at night in the Daisy Palace of the Haren Empire, the sound of a woman weeping bitterly echoed.
Hailey Uzcarl—or rather, now newly anointed as the Haren Emperor’s twelfth consort—lay face-down on her bed, crying alone.
“Your Highness, please compose yourself. I fear His Majesty’s wrath if he hears this.”
The elderly maid fretted. The emperor was fickle and cruel—if his new bride’s sobs grew too loud, he might punish her.
“Shut up.”
But Hailey, drowning in despair at her situation, had no room to care.
She lifted her tear-streaked face. Red handprints marked her cheeks, her lip was cracked and bloody, and a dark bruise swelled around her eye.
In a fit of rage, she threw whatever she could grab at the maid.
“Get out! All of you, out!!”
When the attendants fled, her face twisted in anguish. The memory of the nightmare just moments earlier made her fragile body tremble.
The emperor had stormed into her bridal chamber like a beast, caring only to sate his own lust. Every touch felt like a thousand centipedes crawling over her skin.
The revulsion was so unbearable that when Hailey instinctively resisted, his fist had come crashing down.
Then he loomed over her coldly.
“I paid dearly for you. And this is how you treat me? Or would you rather go back to your father?”
The mention of Marquis Uzcarl’s cold gaze froze her blood. If she returned home, she feared he might beat her to death.
“Your Majesty…”
With trembling hands, Hailey clutched the emperor’s robes. At that, he smirked cruelly and moved closer.
Hailey squeezed her eyes shut and embraced him.
This man crushing me is Wilhelm’s touch… These groping hands belong to Jillet… The lips pressing against me are Johnson’s…
She survived by recalling the young lords with whom she had once spent passionate nights.
Lying in a daze, staring blankly at the ceiling, Hailey felt that all her suffering stemmed from one person: Leah. The thought nearly drove her mad.
Leah… This place was meant to be yours. I’ll take it back, no matter what!!
