#14.
“How are you going to do that when you can’t even use magic?”
What, was he planning to slit a throat with a page-turning spell?
Baveri looked at him suspiciously.
“There are ways even without magic.”
Kur raised his hand, showing her his palm.
“In this form, my strength is reduced, sure, but I’m still far stronger than a human.”
To prove it, he grabbed the edge of the table and snapped it off as if it were nothing more than a brittle chocolate bar.
“The only reason I don’t immediately kill Gloq and instead let you torture him first is because you asked for it.”
Kur set the broken corner of the table on top, so Baveri could see it clearly.
I’m letting you off easy, so don’t push it.
That silent pressure wiped the smile from Baveri’s face.
Half a day ago, he had been groaning like a dying man. Just how many magic stones had he eaten?
Baveri began to suspect that maybe he had already consumed more than enough.
“If you doubt me, I’ll just snap the neck of that mercenary captain who laughed at you.”
Kur muttered. He didn’t know the man’s face, but killing all the mercenaries should take care of that.
“Forget it.”
Baveri shook her head, saying there was no need. Kur frowned, puzzled.
“Won’t leaving someone who mocked you hurt your dignity as a king?”
“I promised to spare him in exchange for pie.”
Baveri glanced at the kitchen where Sharon had gone.
Strictly speaking, the deal was to protect the man, but a promise was a promise.
Kur’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“For a single pie? Your loyalty sure comes cheap.”
“Not just one. She promised to bake me one every day.”
Baveri replied with utter seriousness.
Kur opened his mouth in disbelief, then gave up trying to argue.
“Do whatever you want.”
He didn’t really care who Baveri made her vassals. Still, there were boundaries.
“Just one warning: don’t you dare treat me on the same level as that woman.”
His face made it clear he would rather die than accept that.
“So you mean, as long as your rank is higher than Sharon’s, it’s fine?”
“Not just her. Anyone. If my position isn’t recognized as superior…”
“And if it isn’t?”
“I’ll devour them. They’ll cease to exist.”
A tense silence fell between them.
Baveri cursed inwardly. She had finally gotten herself a vassal, only for the lunatic lizard to threaten to eat anyone she recruited. That, at least, she had to prevent.
“Fine. In my country, the order of rank goes by who I recognized first. That means you, Kur, are highest.”
“So, satisfied?”
Kur’s face was unreadable—was he pleased or not?
“So in your country, the pie-baking woman is second in rank?”
“No, that’s you.”
His eyebrow twitched. The killing aura rising from him was dangerous.
Quickly, Baveri pointed her thumb at herself.
“Number one is the king. Me.”
Meaning, among her vassals, Kur was number one. His murderous aura faded, though he looked at her with disdain.
“That’s how rank is decided? What a mess of a kingdom.”
Still, he didn’t argue further.
He’ll settle for second place after all.
Baveri thought he was just pretending to be difficult.
The next day, Sharon served apple pie for breakfast.
“Starting today, please protect Medo well.”
Baveri ate the pie, pretending to think. Sharon, annoyed by her lukewarm reaction, raised her voice.
“You’re not thinking of breaking your promise, are you?”
She tried to snatch the plate back, but Baveri held it tight.
“Listen to me first.”
“…Fine, I’ll listen.”
Sharon’s eyes were full of distrust. Baveri lifted another forkful of pie as she explained.
“To guard him properly, I need to grow stronger first, don’t I?”
In her current state, she wouldn’t be much help. She wasn’t refusing out of laziness—she wanted to do it right.
The excuse was reasonable enough that Sharon reluctantly nodded.
Thanks to that, Baveri could eat Sharon’s pie every day while training at her shop-home.
Even worn down, her natural physical abilities were undeniable.
“Much more stamina and muscle growth than Yu Chaeyoung’s body ever had.”
After a month, regular push-ups felt too easy.
“Get on my back.”
She called out to Kur, who was lazily dozing in the yard.
“You think you can carry me? Don’t be reckless.”
Kur shook his head, but Baveri pressed him to do it.
“Do as I say. Don’t argue with your king. Be obedient like Sharon.”
His eyes sharpened. Recently, Baveri had taken to comparing him to Sharon often.
He made his dislike obvious, but she never stopped—if anything, she did it more.
“Look at you glaring. Is that how you look at your king?”
“If Your Majesty insists…”
Kur climbed onto her back.
Baveri froze. She had thought carrying him would be easy.
Why’s he so heavy?
Her teeth ground together. When she had wielded him like a weapon before, he hadn’t weighed this much.
“You look strained.”
Kur sounded concerned, but the smirk at his lips betrayed him.
The truth was, he was secretly using magic to make himself heavier.
“I’m fine. Not hard at all.”
Admitting otherwise would be humiliating, so she kept pushing through.
“Then why aren’t you going down yet?”
“Wait. I’m just making sure you don’t fall off.”
Kur chuckled and increased the weight further.
“Your Majesty.”
Don’t talk to me now, she wanted to say, but forced out a shaky, “What?”
“When are you going to get me more magic stones?”
“Didn’t you eat everything the mercenaries stole? Were there any left?”
Kur shook his head.
“How am I supposed to find more when you dried up the Ronda ore seeds?”
“The seeds were already gone before we arrived.”
He regretted not objecting when she suggested coming to Ronda. The shortage had existed even under the late lord.
Originally, Ronda had imported stones from Martu. But then—trouble.
“You think I knew that bastard would sell them off to pay gambling debts and get us thrown out?”
Baveri grunted under his weight. It felt like he was getting heavier by the second.
Because of Rob, they raised taxes suddenly to replenish the lost stones!
That was Sharon’s angry claim.
No one really knew what the dead lord had been thinking.
“My point is—”
Kur began, but Baveri collapsed under the burden.
“Bit too much, wasn’t it?”
Kur mocked her calmly.
“If you’d listened to me, you wouldn’t look so ridiculous.”
“Shut up and get off.”
He didn’t move, still seated on her back, continuing the conversation.
“I’m saying we should abandon Ronda and move to another city.”
Baveri blinked, thinking.
“No. I promised Sharon I’d protect that man.”
Kur shot her a doubtful glance, as if questioning whether she meant it.
“You? Keeping promises like that?”
He shook his head slowly.
“Our Majesty isn’t that sort.”
Sharp little lizard.
Baveri clicked her tongue inwardly. It wasn’t only about the promise.
Her body was slowly returning to its former strength, but far from her peak.
Kur, meanwhile, was recovering his magic quickly. The idea of being weaker than him? Unacceptable.
“Don’t doubt your king. I’m generous to my vassals.”
She put on a shameless face, but Kur loosened the front of his shirt.
“Generous? You left a hole in my chest.”
She averted her eyes.
“That was before you became my vassal.”
“And later, you nearly punched a hole through my foot.”
She had no comeback. If he pressed the issue, she would only look worse.
“You’re heavy. Get off.”
She jabbed him with her elbow.
“Why are you so heavy now?”
She thought she knew the answer.
Kur had never said it aloud, but he liked Sharon’s pies.
Baveri enjoyed them too, but she got sick of eating only pie. She ate bread and other things as well.
But Kur? He had eaten pie for an entire month straight.
“Keep eating like that, you’ll turn into a pig, not a lizard.”
“Don’t blame me for your lack of strength.”
Just then, Baveri noticed Sharon walking by.
“Sharon! Stop giving him pie from now on!”
“As if skipping pie would make me lighter.”
Kur, flustered, quickly dropped the magic weight spell.
“Wait—why’d you suddenly get lighter?”
“….”
“You little—were you using magic?”
No wonder he kept feeling heavier.
Baveri grabbed his collar, furious.
“You’ve already fully recovered your magic, haven’t you?”
“I haven’t.”
Kur denied it, but his voice was too weak and uncertain.
“Tell me the truth before I lose my temper.”
He thought she already seemed angry enough but stayed stubbornly silent, turning his gaze away.
“Um…”
Sharon, who had been watching, carefully interrupted. She stared at Kur, confused.
“How are you even alive?”
She was looking straight at the gaping hole in his chest.
