TYBMB 15

Chapter 15 – How to Steal the Emperor’s Woman
2024.01.15

Rain poured without exception even in the territory of Count Harknestein, where Martin was staying.

Listening to the raindrops pounding noisily on the barracks roof, Martin quietly murmured the name of the person who had occupied his thoughts.

“…Yulia.”

Yulia had always been Ernant’s person.

Her actions last time only reaffirmed that fact herself.

So even if Yulia recklessly departed on her own, it wasn’t something Martin should concern himself with.

At least, it should have been that way.

But—

“Tsk…”

He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Yulia von Schnestern… A sharp, protruding nail of a person, clearly belonging to Ernant, yet someone he was forced to keep around.

If he could just pull out that nail, that would be best. But he couldn’t.

Regardless of being the Emperor’s person or not, Yulia was a rare high-rank awakened and a knight of exceptional skill.

If she went alone and died, it would mean the loss of a valuable asset.

So Martin accepted Karl’s request to accompany her.

Because he couldn’t afford to lose such important personnel.

Because he didn’t want to lose her.

Thinking this far, Martin brushed his annoyingly fallen hair aside and muttered without meaning to:

“I don’t know how to treat her.”

“Who? That woman?”

Simon, who had entered at some point, responded to Martin’s muttering.

Lost in thought, Martin didn’t answer. Silence fell between them.

Then, as if struck by a sudden idea, Simon snapped his fingers.

“If she’s giving you such a headache, why not just win her over?”

“…What?”

“Yulia von Schnestern, the vice-captain. The reason she’s so loyal to the Emperor isn’t just because she’s a knight—it’s because she’s deeply in love with him, right?”

Not seeing the look of disbelief spreading across Martin’s face, Simon continued proudly with his “brilliant” idea.

“So break that love. You, Captain.”

“…What are you even saying?”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be so dense.”

Simon lowered his voice and whispered like he was sharing a juicy secret:

“Make it so she can’t love the Emperor anymore. You should capture her heart—as a man.”

“……”

“If you do that, she’ll stop reporting your activities to the Emperor. She’ll be head over heels for you, and become someone who only belongs to you.”

Martin stared at Simon, unable to come up with a response for a moment.

His eyes were filled with conflicting emotions as he looked at Simon and let out a long sigh.

“Simon.”

“Yes?”

“You’ve earned yourself a punishment. Run from here to the river and back—30 times.”

“What?! But I just finished working—”

“Now. That’s an order.”

“……”

Simon looked at him with the saddest, most pitiful eyes.

But Martin glared at him sharply, and Simon eventually slumped out the door, dragging his feet.

Now alone in the quiet barracks, Martin let out another deep sigh.

Win Yulia over? As a man?

What kind of nonsense was that?

Yulia had given her heart to the Emperor for a long time. That love must be unshakable.

Unshakable—beyond anything Martin could hope to break.

“……”

He lowered his head in silence for a while.

He was disgusted with himself—for even considering Simon’s idiocy, even for a second.

On the other side of the rift where Karl and I entered, a vast desert spread out.

An endless, sweeping desert.

It looked just the same as it had before my regression—which gave me a strange sense of reassurance.

Though the wide, rolling dunes looked dangerous, the monsters here weren’t particularly strong.

It was a rift I could easily clear on my own.

Karl insisted on tagging along, hoping I’d rely on him more, so I let him come.

I had planned to finish quickly and leave, when Karl spoke up:

“Should we use a magic detection item to locate the Queen?”

“No need. I know where she is. See that oasis over there? She’s there. More precisely—under the water.”

I recalled this from the last time I cleared this rift before regression. Karl widened his eyes in surprise.

“You sensed her mana directly again, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I’m sure the Captain told you, but lately, I’ve become hypersensitive to mana. It’s like I can sense monsters’ traits and positions instantly.”

I fed him the same lie as always.

And like everyone else, Karl believed it without suspicion.

“That’s incredible. Finding monsters this fast—you probably don’t even need mana detection tools anymore.”

“Right. No need for those. I’ll let you know the monsters’ positions from now on. Anyway, let’s hurry. The sun’s getting hot.”

“Yeah! Luckily I brought an umbrella. It won’t block everything, but…”

Karl held the umbrella he brought earlier over my head like a parasol.

The blazing heat on my scalp became a little more bearable.

We trudged through the golden sands toward the oasis.

I wanted to conserve energy, but unfortunately, Karl was as talkative as Elma.

Even as we walked, he didn’t stop chatting beside me.

“Walking like this reminds me of the past. The first time we entered a rift together.”

“Oh, the swamp one? Where we couldn’t find the Queen’s location right away and wandered forever?”

“Yeah. We walked and walked together that time too…”

Karl and I first teamed up for a rift raid about a year ago—shortly after I joined the knights.

I smiled lightly, remembering.

“You didn’t say a word to me back then. You were really wary of me.”

“Well, that’s because I respected Captain Martin. You were brought in under the Emperor’s influence, so I thought you might be a threat to the Captain.”

“Do you still think that?”

At my question, Karl burst out laughing as if he’d heard a joke.

“Of course not! If you hadn’t saved me in that swamp rift, I wouldn’t even be here now.”

I remembered that moment vividly.

Karl had nearly died from a monster attack, and I had saved him.

Karl murmured in a wistful voice:

“After that day, I totally fell for you.”

“…Why?”

“Because you were amazing. You froze the ground instantly with your ability and trapped the monsters. Then you just cut them down—it looked like a dance. I was completely mesmerized.”

His eyes glazed over as if dreaming.

Was he picturing me back then?

Hearing all this praise made my cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“Is that so? But don’t go saying things like ‘fell for’ a woman. It can be misunderstood.”

“…Misunderstood, huh…”

Maybe it was the dry desert wind, but his voice sounded unusually subdued.

Almost… sad.

But only for a moment—he quickly perked back up.

“Anyway, I’ll never make the mistake of distrusting you again. I respect you as much as I respect the Captain. I always rely on you, but… you don’t rely on me. That’s the problem.”

“…I’ll try. I’m still afraid of losing all of you, but if leaning on you means a better future, I’ll try.”

Even outside the rift—and now inside it—Karl kept telling me to rely on him.

He offered his shoulder to lean on, when I had always borne everything alone out of fear of endangering others.

So it was only natural that my hardened heart began to soften.

And that softened heart left a small gap in my defenses.

Rustle. Rustle.

“…!!”

When had it started?

The mysterious rustling sound had crept up alarmingly close.

If I’d been walking with my usual alertness, I would’ve noticed it instantly—but chatting with Karl had dulled my senses.

Only when the sound was nearly upon us did I finally sense it.

“Karl. Don’t panic. Just stand still.”