Chapter 97
Contrary to what she had expected, Sharon’s eyes were dry.
“Why aren’t you crying?”
When Barbari asked, Sharon glared at him with a look of disbelief.
“Whether I cry or not is none of your business. More importantly, why are you wandering around alone in a place like this?”
Not knowing that it’s dangerous when you can’t even fight back.
Barbari scolded her.
“And where is His Highness? Where is Kur? Why are you alone?”
“I’m not alone.”
Barbari turned around, and a few expressionless guards appeared, suddenly emerging from behind trees.
“Then you must stay with His Highness. It would be the safest with him, especially now that you don’t have a husband to protect you.”
Of course, whether the husband would have protected her even if he was there was uncertain.
Sharon pouted as she added. Her husband’s frightening face, urging her to quickly go to Londar, came to her mind.
“If you want, I can leave Medo to rot in prison for the rest of his life.”
Not in a temporary warehouse like now, but in a real cold and dark dungeon.
At Barbari’s suggestion, Sharon sighed deeply.
“It doesn’t sound like a joke, Your Majesty. It’s scary.”
Sharon sat down with her legs dangling over the cliff. Barbari sat down beside her, mirroring her position.
Sharon clasped her hands over her legs, but feeling uneasy, she couldn’t leave them still.
Her lips flapped for a while, and then she finally called Barbari’s name.
“Your Majesty.”
“Why?”
She seemed to have something difficult to say, as she hesitated and kept fluttering her lips.
“Why…?”
Barbari urged her impatiently, and finally, Sharon spoke up.
“Can you forgive Medo?”
Sharon couldn’t bring herself to look Barbari in the eye.
“I can’t just let it go.”
“I know.”
“The problem isn’t that he missed the training, but that he dared try to ruin my revenge.”
Sharon nodded with a troubled look. She knew that too.
Barbari always prioritized revenge above all else. Since Medo tried to interfere with that, he wouldn’t be spared.
“Please spare his life.”
Sharon swallowed and spoke. Tears seemed like they were about to spill, but she held them back.
“He is the third in command of the Blue Order. Please forgive him.”
Barbari snorted dismissively. It seemed serious for a moment, but then, as if nothing had happened, he expressed concern about Medo’s well-being.
The saying, “A fight between husband and wife is like cutting water with a knife,” came to her mind.
“If that’s not enough, please forgive the biological father of the heir.”
“Before that, let me ask you something.”
Barbari crossed his arms and tapped his thumb against his toe.
“Do you think that once I finish my revenge, I’ll leave Barbarania and run away?”
“Should I be honest?”
Sharon asked with a serious tone, and Barbari suddenly felt tense. It felt like Sharon was evaluating him as a king.
When Barbari slowly nodded, Sharon answered without hesitation.
“I don’t know.”
Was Barbari the type of person who could be predicted?
Sharon had realized long ago that it was impossible to predict and prepare for his thoughts and actions.
“Your Majesty, you’re really simple, but when you try to understand, you’re complicated.”
To Barbari’s ears, this sounded like “weird” when said in a mild way, or “twisted” when said in a bad way.
“Why do you serve such a king?”
Not happy with the answer, Barbari grumbled. Sharon then lightly laughed.
“Still, I know one thing.”
“What is it? That I’m mean?”
“No. Even if I run away, I know you will come back and protect me if I ask.”
Barbari’s eyes widened in surprise. He blinked several times, contemplating what Sharon had said.
She had such trust in him, and he couldn’t believe it. He even suspected she was saying it casually, without meaning it.
But somehow, it didn’t feel bad.
“You would return just to protect me?”
“Yes.”
Sharon’s face, which had been on the verge of tears, now wore a look of conviction. As a result, the color returned to her pale face, which had been drained from thinking about her husband.
“Because I am someone you see as a daughter.”
When a daughter is in danger, the parent would obviously come to help. It’s instinct.
If something were to happen to Margaret, he would rush to her immediately. Sharon said this confidently.
“Even if you do come back, you might do nothing. Just lie down and say it’s too much trouble.”
“That’s what you do even now.”
Sharon pointed out casually.
“Well, that’s true,” Barbari admitted.
“Wouldn’t a king who does nothing be irrelevant?”
“Actually, just having you here makes me feel secure. Who would dare to defeat you?”
Just knowing that there is a king to protect her in case of trouble was enough. Because of that, she could feel at ease baking pies and growing Margaret and pansies.
It was a world apart from her thoughts when she believed that when Londar became normal, she would die.
“Isn’t that reason enough to serve you?”
Reflecting on her time since becoming his subject, Sharon came to a conclusion.
“You’re not a good king.”
“What?”
She bluntly said he wasn’t a good king. Had she picked up something from playing with Kur?
If she became more like him, it would be troublesome, so Barbari thought to stop her from playing with him.
Before he could speak, Sharon smiled.
“But you’re the one who allowed me to have a normal life. You’re my benefactor.”
It was fortunate for her to serve him. She looked him in the eye and genuinely thanked him, leaving Barbari speechless for a moment.
She called him a bad king, yet thanked him with a smile as if it meant everything. It made him feel strangely embarrassed.
“That life doesn’t seem as easy as you make it sound.”
Barbari recalled the noblewomen who had commented on Sharon, wondering if they were right.
Although he didn’t believe all their words, it seemed Sharon had struggled as the head maid. Medo had said something similar before.
“Did I give you too much work?”
“Yes, I thought it was overwhelming at first.”
Having never worked in a castle before, Sharon had no idea what she was doing, so mistakes were inevitable. There were also subordinates who didn’t respect her.
At times, she would tear up, resenting Barbari for placing her in such a position.
“I didn’t know you were struggling that much.”
“Well, I hid it.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to show you that I could handle it. Elegantly.”
Sharon laughed, but suddenly her husband’s face flashed in her mind.
Whenever she tried to act fine and forced a smile, he could always tell. So, he would hold her hand and wait silently until she was ready to talk.
He sometimes made her angry and hurt her feelings, but Medo was a dependable husband.
“Was I a wife who couldn’t support Medo?”
Sharon asked with a dark expression.
What had she done? He had never told her his worries until he drunkenly confessed before making a mistake.
Sharon felt guilty that she hadn’t noticed.
Had she been such an unreliable wife?
“Medo probably wants to look good in front of you too. Couples are just alike.”
Barbari casually remarked.
Sharon lifted her head and stared ahead, feeling like she had heard the right answer.
“Sometimes, Your Majesty, you can be wise.”
Barbari blinked, considering her words.
What did she mean by “sometimes”? What was he like the rest of the time?
“And surprisingly merciful and kind.”
“Surprisingly?”
Barbari squinted and pointed out. Sharon laughed loudly, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Your Majesty, what punishment will you give Medo?”
Sharon asked with a glimmer in her eyes, as if she were looking forward to his punishment.
“I think it would be fine to change his name to something like ‘Dung Beetle.'”
“Do you want to divorce Medo?”
Barbari shot back, and Sharon laughed even louder. There was no trace of worry or anxiety on her face.
She had finally cried, but there was no sadness in her tears.
“No! I’ll live with him for the rest of my life.”
Barbari thought it was a relief, but still felt a little worried.
To have the commander of the Dragon Knights named “Dung Beetle” was too uncool.
“Then you’ll be ‘Dung Beetle’s wife.’ Do you want to be called that?”
The children would probably run around Londar Street singing songs about “Dung Beetle and his wife.”
Did Sharon really want such a future?
“Dung Beetle is out of the question. Then give me another punishment.”
After thinking it over, Sharon canceled that idea. But her demand for punishment remained unchanged.
It seemed like their argument was going to end with a compromise.
“And when Lancaster’s army reaches the canyon, I hope you release him before I leave.”
She wanted to see his face and reconcile before leaving. Sharon hinted, and Barbari leaned back on his hands, laughing awkwardly.
She was making demands now too. It seemed like she was starting to resemble Kur.
“Are you really not my daughter but Kur’s?”
After Sharon’s laughter, the sound of footsteps reached Barbari’s ears. When he turned around, there was a soldier holding a branch.
“What is it?”
It appeared to be a Barbarania soldier. But he stood still, staring at them, so Barbari asked.
The soldier, with a blank look, walked toward them but was soon stopped by the guards who had been hiding in the trees.
He looked between Barbari’s face and the guards’ emotionless eyes, then awkwardly smiled.
“Sorry. My eyes aren’t good, so I didn’t recognize you, Your Majesty.”
Barbari quickly lost interest in the explanation.
“I think you’re collecting firewood, so go do that somewhere else. We’re in the middle of an important conversation.”
Waving him off, the soldier bowed his head and stepped back.
Barbari continued his conversation with Sharon.
“Sharon, if you want me to do all these things for you, I have conditions too.”
“Should I bake you a pie?”
“That’s nice, but I really want tteokbokki.”
As the sunset turned red, Barbari suddenly craved tteokbokki soup, and he swallowed the saliva that had accumulated in his mouth.
Sharon tilted her head, wanting to make what Barbari craved.
So, she searched for “tteokbokki” but found that no one knew what it was.
“What kind of food is that?”
Barbari, still salivating, explained.
“It’s a red dish with rice cakes and fish cakes. It has broth, and you crush boiled eggs into it.”
Yuchelin always said one serving was enough, but Barbari couldn’t be satisfied with just one. He needed two.
He liked it when the broth was a little generous. Yuchelin called that “broth tteokbokki.”
As he was explaining, Sharon wasn’t listening and turned around.
“You asked about it, so you should listen.”
Barbari grumbled and turned to see what she was looking at. The soldier he had sent away earlier was back.
“What now?”
Barbari asked, and the soldier asked seriously.
“Did you just mention tteokbokki?”
