Episode 10
On that night I could never forget, in that forest, Leonard held me in his arms and whispered to me. It was right after I had barely managed to escape, thanks to Rakein holding back the people chasing us.
“Don’t cry, my Herna.”
How relieved I had felt at his voice, as if he were soothing me.
Forgetting even Rakein’s warning, I had simply poured out endless tears in his embrace. I believed it would be all right now. I believed he would protect me, and I was relieved.
But that had been nothing more than a trap meant to push me over the edge of a cliff.
“Once this moment passes, you will never suffer any pain again.”
As gently and tenderly as if confessing his love, Leonard announced that he would kill me. And I did not understand his words.
The price of my stupidity was death. Without the slightest hesitation or guilt, he drove a dagger into my heart.
As I recalled that memory, the scar left on the left side of my chest throbbed and tingled. As though warning me never to forget the pain I had suffered then.
My hand tightened around the fork of its own accord, and I clenched my teeth.
That bastard…….
If I could have done as I wished, I would have grabbed him by the collar and hurled curses right in his face, but I held myself back.
He had not yet committed any sin against me. So I did not yet have the right to say anything to him.
The one fortunate thing was that my heart felt nothing toward him but anger.
‘At times like this, the contract is useful.’
I sneered inwardly.
The emotion he had demanded as payment was unnecessary for revenge, and at this very moment, it was instead proving its worth.
Of course, perhaps I would regret it someday. What I had paid was something any human ought to possess.
Even so, for now, I was very satisfied.
I lowered my eyes and slowly took a deep breath inwardly. When I thought that I still could not hold him accountable for his crimes, the anger that had surged up began to settle little by little.
Only after calming down did I realize that I had been gripping the fork tightly. I had held it so hard that blue veins stood out sharply on the back of my pale hand.
I quietly released the fork and glanced over, wondering if Rakein had seen.
Fortunately, his gaze was directed toward Leonard.
“Young Lord Osman. It has been a long time.”
Rakein rose and gave Leonard a slight bow of the head. His low voice as he greeted him was so devoid of emotion that it felt not merely chilly, but cold.
Even so, his attitude did not seem strange. Even before I died, the two of them had not been on particularly good terms.
When I remembered that fact, a sudden question raised its head.
‘Huh? But why were they on bad terms?’
It was a question I had never once thought about until now.
Until then, simply living as a Croizen had been overwhelming enough that I had no room to concern myself with others.
‘Hmm, considering their personalities…….’
Just as I was trying to deduce the reason in my own way, Leonard’s voice came again from behind me.
“I never would have imagined that you, Sir, would be having a late lunch in a place like this at this hour. But is it just me, or does your voice sound rather sharp?”
What a sharp-eyed man.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Born the second son, Leonard was exceptionally skilled at reading other people’s moods. On top of that, perhaps because he had an inferiority complex toward his older brother, he could not stand it when someone lower than him acted stiffly.
Thinking about it that way, I felt I could roughly understand why they disliked each other.
Leonard must have found Rakein, who did not bow and scrape before him like others did, irritating.
And there was no way Rakein would like Leonard, who expected such behavior from him.
Just as I was thinking that was probably the reason, Leonard continued.
“It seems you were just about to eat, so I doubt you are displeased because I interrupted your meal. And judging by the fact that your companion is not a lady, it cannot be that I interrupted a date.”
His tone pretended to be refined, but it reeked of sarcasm. Enough to make me want to smack him hard on the back of the head.
At that moment, a sudden question occurred to me.
‘But why is that man here?’
This was not the Osman territory where his family was located, but the Croizen territory.
Of course, there were magic gates that allowed noble houses to come and go between one another, but those could only be used by the head of the family.
In other words, that man was not someone eligible to use one.
As I was wondering what business had brought him here, Leonard’s voice flew into my ears again.
“By the way, your companion is quite ill-mannered.”
The arrow was suddenly shot at me, and the back of my head prickled.
He was probably displeased that I had not stood and shown him proper courtesy.
Since there was nothing suitable with which to pick a quarrel with Rakein, he must have intended to harass him through me.
‘I had no idea he was this petty…….’
Thinking that he was indeed a son of a bitch, I tried to rise from my seat. If that was what he wanted so badly, I intended to show him courtesy with the utmost politeness.
But I could not stand. Rakein’s hand stopped my movement.
Turning his head slightly toward me, he gestured with his eyes as if telling me to stay still. Pressed down by that powerful gaze, I had no choice but to sit back down.
Only after confirming that I had sat again did Rakein look at Leonard.
“She is a child from a place I sponsor, so she has had no opportunity to learn etiquette toward nobles. I will apologize on her behalf instead.”
The sight of Rakein lowering his head toward Leonard seared painfully into my eyes.
My mood rapidly turned foul.
I had just thought that it would be a hundred times better for me to bow to him myself, when Leonard’s satisfied voice reached me.
“If you lower your head that far, Sir, I shall let it pass. Well, a commoner who has never been taught could hardly know something like how to greet someone. Then, enjoy your meal.”
Even without seeing his face, I could picture what expression he was making. Because I remembered the smile he usually wore when looking at those who had nothing.
‘What on earth did I see in a man like that to like him?’
Now, beyond merely sneering at myself, I even wondered whether there had been something wrong with my eyes. Otherwise, there was no way I would have obediently followed a bastard like that as my fiancé.
Listening to Leonard’s footsteps recede, I ground my teeth inwardly. When I took revenge on him, I intended to repay him for Rakein’s share as well, with interest doubled.
Until just a moment ago, my head had been so full of obtaining the guardian stone that I had not thought about revenge against Leonard. But for him to come directly to me like this and set my fighting spirit ablaze—I was almost in a position to thank him for it.
As I was pondering how I could take revenge properly, Rakein sat back down in his chair. I thought I heard a low sigh as well.
Straightening his posture, he hesitated for a moment before quietly opening his mouth.
“Are you all right, my lady?”
“……What do you mean?”
I did not understand. The one who had just been insulted by Leonard was not me, but him. So why was he asking if I was all right?
My confusion only grew when I heard his answer.
“I was worried that he might have upset you, my lady.”
So, why?
My doubts grew even stronger. So I looked straight at him and asked.
“Sir Hakeus, may I ask you one thing?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Facing me as if he was prepared to answer anything, he received the question I had yet to resolve.
“In a situation like just now, it would have ended if I had simply stood up and greeted him. But why did you stop me from standing and apologize yourself, Sir Hakeus? Were you not offended?”
I did not understand, but I was also curious.
I had heard that knights valued honor above all else. Moreover, did Rakein not even possess the epithet of the Sword of Croizen?
I wanted to know why such a man had put that honor aside and lowered his head because of me.
At my question, he closed his mouth.
“…….”
The silence continued for quite some time.
Thinking it might be difficult for him to answer, I was just parting my lips to change the subject when a low voice flowed from his mouth.
“……I disliked the thought of you lowering your head to that man, my lady.”
Thump.
At his answer, my heart gave a great leap.
If I had not misheard, he was saying that because he did not want to see me bow my head to Leonard, he had bowed instead.
As I stared blankly at Rakein, hearing the sound of my heartbeat ringing through my whole body, I suddenly felt something was strange.
Why had he disliked the thought of me lowering my head to Leonard? I was not even acquainted with Leonard yet.
As I thought that, one possibility abruptly came to mind, and my pounding heart began to beat even faster.
It made no sense, but if that was truly the case…. If that was why he was helping me…….
I had to confirm it immediately.
“……Sir Hakeus.”
“Yes, my lady.”
At my call, he answered at once, as if he had been waiting.
After taking deep breaths inwardly again and again, I met his gaze head-on and asked my question while pretending to be as calm as possible.
“Sir Hakeus, why did you…… dislike the thought of me lowering my head to him?”
“…….”
Rakein’s face stiffened, and I saw his usually calm eyes waver, if only for an instant.
His mouth closed firmly once more.
The silence was longer than before. I waited quietly.
This time, even if he did not answer, I had no intention of changing the subject. I had to hear his answer.
As I waited for him to answer, my heart tightened with tension.
Was it truly, truly that? Had you, too, returned to the past, just like me?
As I waited stiffly for his answer, his voice finally reached my ears.
“The reason I did that was.”
At the silence that followed yet again, I even held my breath and waited for Rakein’s next words. The sound of my pounding heartbeat was so loud that I worried he might hear it.
Fortunately, this silence did not last long.
When his lips moved again, I tensed completely. But the answer that flowed from his mouth was not what I had expected.
“I disliked the thought of a lady of Croizen lowering her head to another house.”
Ha…!
A sigh of disappointment I could not hide slipped low from my mouth, and my head dropped on its own.