Chapter 31……….
A Guest in the Dead of Night
Millie and Ralph stood together, but William turned away, pretending not to see.
Before he could walk far, Millie came running breathlessly after him.
Her chest rose and fell with hurried breaths, but as though it were the most important task in the world, she pressed a blue scarf firmly into William’s hand.
“You said that a perfect knight like you doesn’t need something like this… but still, it’s better than having nothing.”
William tried hard to suppress the tingling in his chest and the urge to smile rising to his lips. But—
“Please don’t get hurt anywhere, and come back safely.”
Her bright smile instantly shattered his composure. Overwhelmed, William impulsively pulled her into his arms.
“Sir… William?”
Her startled voice snapped him out of it, and William quickly pushed her away, as if shocked by his own actions.
“You too—stay well.”
His ears, face, and even the back of his neck flushed red. He hurried back to his place and mounted Vivi’s back.
The trumpet announcing departure rang out, and the knights all raised their spears high. Scarves of every color tied at the tips fluttered like banners of victory.
Heart swelling to the point of bursting, William gazed proudly at the blue scarf tied to his spear.
But when his eyes shifted to the spears of Ralph and Freddy, his lips pressed into a tight line.
Both of theirs bore white scarves.
No way… did Millie give them scarves too?
The excitement that had filled his chest like an inflated balloon deflated all at once, leaving his heart plummeting to the ground.
Still, he quickly straightened his spear.
It doesn’t matter. Even if she’s weighing me against them, all I need to do is make the scales tip toward me!
Resolve hardened in his eyes, gleaming with a ferocity almost equal to bloodlust.
The other knights, not knowing the reason, felt an unshakable sense of reassurance at their commander’s overwhelming intensity.
With His Highness Miklok and Commander William with us, we will surely return victorious again this time!
William’s burning determination spread quickly through the knights, igniting all their hearts.
“Charge!”
Bloodstorm, carrying Miklok, charged forward, with William and a hundred knights racing behind.
In moments, the plaza before the fortress of Fritan was emptied.
“Your Majesty the Queen, your cheeks are so red from the cold! You’ll get frostbite at this rate.”
From the top of Fritan Castle’s central tower, where I had been standing for some time, Millie looked at me worriedly.
As soon as Mik and the knights left the plaza, I had run up here, eager to keep their figures in my sight for as long as possible.
It was the same place I had waited during their last campaign, when I was able to see Mik and the knights return in triumph.
But unlike then, tonight was late and dark.
The moon was hidden behind clouds, and by the time we reached the tower’s peak, Mik and the knights had already been swallowed by the night.
I held my breath, straining to hear the sound of hooves, but the darkness devoured even that. A strange unease made me tremble.
“Isn’t it odd? I wasn’t this anxious last time. Why does this departure make me so uneasy?”
“It must be because your hearts have grown closer. That’s why, I think.”
Startled, I looked at Millie. She had pointed out a truth even I hadn’t realized.
In fact, last time, what I mostly felt was relief—that he had left after we spent our wedding night, so at least rumors wouldn’t spread that I had been cast aside by the Marquisate of Uzcal.
But now…
“His Highness Miklok will surely return safely again. Let’s believe in that.”
“Yes… you’re right.”
Even as I agreed, my eyes stayed fixed on the darkness where nothing could be seen.
“Oh? Your Majesty, someone’s coming to Fritan Castle!”
At this hour? Surprised, I looked down. Indeed, a carriage was approaching the castle gates.
I curiously watched as it passed through the gate and came before the main palace.
Nearer, I noticed the emblem on the carriage roof—a golden eagle with its wings spread wide.
That’s the crest of the Haren Imperial Family…
The carriage door opened, and two people stepped out. A sudden gust of wind blew off the hat of the man behind, revealing soft golden hair.
“Robbie…?”
“Oh my, it really is Young Master Robbie! He said he’d come, and he’s just arrived!”
Millie, excited, stomped her feet in delight.
“Millie, go down first and escort Robbie to the Queen’s Audience Room. I’ll follow shortly.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“I’ll come soon. Oh—tell Steward Collin to make sure the room is heated well. Robbie just came from Haren, and Fritan’s cold will be harsh on him.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
Smiling brightly, Millie hurried down the tower.
Left alone, I looked up at the sky again. The full moon had just slipped out from the clouds.
Please, let that moon shine brightly on Mik and his knights, who are riding tonight with their lives on the line. May they all return unharmed, without even a hair out of place, until the day they come home under the goddess Vestea’s blessing.
Though I had never prayed to a god before, I now did so desperately, again and again.
“Millie, are you sure you told Lea I was here?”
In the Queen’s audience room, Robbie could wait no longer. He sprang up impatiently.
“Of course. Her Majesty herself ordered me to bring you here and to make sure the room was warmed.”
“Then why isn’t she coming?”
Pacing nervously between sofa and door, Robbie was studied carefully by Millie.
It had been months since she last saw him, but his face was still just her type. His fitted clothes made his lean, toned figure look as graceful as a swallow in flight. Compared to the rough, broad-shouldered men of Fritan, he seemed delicate.
But strangely, his usually warm honey-colored eyes now felt colder.
And his petulant complaints over Lea’s delay only made him seem like a pampered young master who had grown up sheltered, fragile like a greenhouse flower.
Millie felt uneasy beside this new, sharper version of him.
“I’ll go fetch Her Majesty. Please wait just a little longer.”
As she turned to leave, the door opened.
“Robbie, it really is you?”
Lea entered, no longer in the formal gown she wore to send Mik off but now dressed in simple everyday clothes.
At the sight of Robbie, her face lit up, and she rushed to him with arms outstretched, tears brimming in her eyes. Robbie caught her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
“Lea…”
Overcome with emotion, he couldn’t speak further.
“Your letter shocked me. What made you come all the way to Fritan? Nothing bad happened, did it?”
Robbie bowed his head for a moment, as if troubled, then looked up with a smile.
“Don’t you remember the last time we met? You shoved me mercilessly out your second-story window. I came to hold you accountable.”
“Oh, that’s right! Did you get hurt? Are you really okay?”
Her conscience pricked, Lea anxiously looked him over from head to toe.
“You’re only asking now? If it had been anyone but me, who’d climbed in and out of your window thousands of times, they’d have broken their neck!”
“As if! If your neck was fragile enough to break from that, it would’ve broken long ago.”
Her cheeky tone made Robbie laugh, and Lea too burst into giggles.
“You haven’t changed. Thank goodness.”
As they bickered playfully, it felt like they had gone back to childhood.
After being swept to the Marquis of Uzcal’s house by Miklok, Lea had all but forgotten Robbie. That made his journey here all the more touching.
“Tired?”
“A little.”
“It’s late. Rest tonight, and we’ll talk tomorrow. Millie, tell the steward to prepare the West Palace’s guest quarters for Robbie.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Millie hurried out, leaving Lea and Robbie alone. Lea, eyes sparkling with mischief, asked:
“And how’s Count Stone?”
“He’s well. He considered retiring to his estate, but now he’s cozying back up to His Majesty again.”
“Typical Count Stone. Ever ambitious.”
Lea chuckled, recalling how the Count had tried to matchmake Robbie with Hailey. In truth, Robbie had always been a bit afraid of her.
Thinking of that, Lea smiled, then cautiously asked the question she had both dreaded and longed to know—the news of her former family.
“And the Marquisate of Uzcal? Nothing’s happened?”
“…Actually, Hailey became empress in your place.”
“What??”
Lea’s eyes widened in shock.
Hailey, who had flaunted countless affairs with young noblemen, marrying the old, irascible Emperor? Could she really endure life in the Imperial Palace?
Though Hailey had gloated when Lea was wed off to the so-called Vampire of Fritan, Lea felt no schadenfreude at her sister’s fate.
“The Marchioness must have been devastated.”
Robbie nodded. Then, studying Lea carefully, he asked:
“And you? Does the King of Fritan treat you well?”
“Huh? O-of course.”
Her eyes dropped, and Robbie gently lifted her chin, staring intently before leaning close to whisper:
“You don’t have to lie to me, Lea. A war-obsessed man who ran off to the battlefield right after the wedding—how well could he possibly treat you?”
Lea flushed, embarrassed. She hadn’t meant to imply neglect, but Robbie had clearly misunderstood.
“Robbie. Love isn’t proportional to time.”
Having never had a real romance, her childhood friend wouldn’t understand the spark between a man and a woman. Smiling awkwardly, Lea changed the subject.
“If you’d come just a bit earlier, you could’ve met Mik. What a pity.”
“What do you mean? I heard he went monster-hunting.”
Robbie’s reaction was sharper than expected.
“The hunt ended earlier than planned, and he returned a few days ago. But something came up at the border, so he departed again just now.”
“I see… What a pity.”
His words said regret, but his eyes betrayed relief that Miklok was absent. Lea watched curiously, then nodded in understanding.
Well, their first meeting wasn’t exactly pleasant. Mik did glare at him like he wanted to kill him, after all. Really, Mik needs to control that temper of his.
But remembering that Robbie had come to whisk her away that night, she admitted Miklok had every right to be furious.
Strangely, even Miklok’s temper now felt dear to her. A sigh slipped out before she shook her head to clear it.
Until he comes back, I need to stay cheerful and strong.
For now, Lea simply felt grateful that Robbie had come all this way to see her.
