CH 81

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‘She is fine now, but should I leave her alone even if time passes?’

How about the emperor who killed all of her family? She tried to suppress her mixed feelings as much as possible, but her body began to tremble in anxiety. She knew that the duke thought of Luana differently, but how well could he protect her? The end of the kingdom seemed to flicker before her eyes.

She wanted to be strong, but in the end, she couldn’t. She couldn’t protect her only younger sister; there was no way she could be strong. Ingrid held back her anger, stared at the bulletin board, and turned around.

There was nothing she could do now. She wanted to run to the emperor and shout to give her Luana if she could. But, that would only go the way the emperor wished to. The only person around was Cain, who was injured.

‘So you’re going to abandon your sister?’

Questions rose from the depths of her mind. No, she wasn’t throwing her away. Things just didn’t work out. Even if she desperately denied it, the question that remained deep in her heart did not disappear.

‘Are you going to throw her away?’

Her steps become heavier.

When she returned to the unowned bard, where she had stayed for a while, Cain welcomed Ingrid.

“Are you back?”

“Yes.”

Cain, looking at Ingrid’s complexion for a while, asked.

“Is there any bad news? You look pale.”

“What?”

Ingrid swept her own cheeks. She had exposed the conflict deep inside her heart.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but can I hear it?”

Cain politely asked. Even if he finds out, nothing will change. Even though she knew it, the question sounded so caring that Ingrid desperately held back her tears. And she explained what she saw in the village as calmly as possible.

“Miss Ingrid wants to save Miss Luana.”

And Cain, who concluded the whole story, said that.

“I want to save her, but-!”

Ingrid pursed her lips.

‘I am incompetent. I tried to be so strong, but this is how it ends. It wasn’t easy to achieve it even though I knew I shouldn’t give up.’

She sat down with her hands wrapped around her head. As soon as her mind was disturbed for a moment, Cain said.

“If you want to save her, go save her.”

“What?”

At first, Ingrid thought she had misheard. She thought Cain, who had always been cool-headed, would oppose the idea. However, he encouraged her to do what she had been hesitating about.

“Miss Ingrid, What exactly do you want ‘Ingrid’ to be?”

“What do I want to be?”

She wanted to be a queen. She wanted to revive the kingdom by becoming a queen rather than a queen who stood by Cain and supported him. The idea that had been hidden so far popped out.

“Queen, I want to be queen.”

“Then be the queen.”

“What? Is Cain okay with that?”

“Why would I not be okay?”

Cain was somewhat aware of Ingrid’s wish. But he didn’t mean to push her because he had looked down on her. She was stronger, and she wanted to save her kingdom. But look at her now. It was none other than Ingrid who saved Cain, who had nearly died at the hands of the duke. She plucked up her courage and stood firm to save his life. Then why doesn’t he give this life to her?

In Ingri’s absence, Cain concluded after deep consideration. He knelt on the floor of the old barn and said,

“I’m Cain and I will be your knight.”

“Are you serious?”

“I mean it.”

Cain gave Ingrid his sword. It wasn’t that he wasn’t ambitious. But now he knows there is something more important than that.

‘This person suits a higher position.’

She has fallen for a while now, but she will soon rise again and lead those who have lost their kingdom. So, Cain decided to gamble.

“You won’t regret it, will you?”

“I hope you don’t do something that made me regret.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Ingrid held her breath for a moment. She stood up straight and raised the sword. She drew the sword and put it on his right shoulder, then once on his left shoulder. The heavy weight of the sword seemed to indicate the importance of what she was doing.

“Sir Cain, I accept you as my knight.”

“I will follow Miss Ingrid until the end of my life.”

Ingrid appointed Cain as her knight, as she had seen before by her father, the king. Although it was an overly summary with no one watching, it was an absolute knight ceremony. Now he was none other than Ingrid’s knight.

The overwhelming joy brought Ingrid back to her feet.

“Then let’s think about how to save Luna.”

“Yes, Master.”

She only has one knight, but Ingrid, who was about to save Luana, seemed to have everything in the world.

***

A small hut.

The hut was patched up and repaired, but it was an inappropriate space to confine people. However, there was no other room to lock him up right now, so they put Legion there and put a restraining tool. And speaking about Legion…

Tap

The jerky that fell from Legion’s hand was on the plate.

“It tastes awful.”

“S, should I bring something else?”

“No need.”

For the first time in his life, he complained about the food in front of others. Now, Legion, a popular knight, and soldier in many ways were locked up as a criminal. Besides, wasn’t he the only duke in the empire?

Even if he was at odds with the emperor, he was still the emperor’s man. Knowing that he locked him up but couldn’t treat him carelessly. How do you know if you’ll get your revenge later? So he tried to serve him as well as possible, but this man, a slayer on the battlefield, was strangely complaining about the food. He heard he ate anything well on the battlefield. Was it because he noticed his questioning stare? Legion explained with a gentle smile.

“This isn’t a battlefield.”

He couldn’t fight his taste buds on the battlefield, so he endured and was forced to eat it over, but now it’s not. He didn’t want to force himself to eat something bad as he was locked up as a criminal. After kindly adding an explanation, the knight took the jerky and bread back with an ambiguous expression on his face. Although he went out like that, he can’t starve, so he’ll probably be looking for other foods.

“Haa…”

Legion sighed a little. It’s been less than a day since he parted with Luana, but he already misses her. They barely met, but now they’re separating again. He thought this was some kind of heaven’s prank. He then looked at his wrist and tried to measure his weight. He knew he had to eat more so she won’t be worried, but he didn’t want to.

‘But there’s something else I want to eat.’

Luana.

Her warm hands, her slightly higher body higher than normal people, and her somewhat chubby cheeks.

Legion, who had been thinking about Luana up to that point, became sullen.

‘Luana said you’d come to save me, when will you come? Would it be better if I come to pick you up? You might be in danger coming to save me.’

His hands looked thinner than other knights, but when he gave all his strength, the metal restrain began to crack. It seemed to have been made with great material and high craftmanship, but it didn’t have much effect on Legion. However, for a while, he lost strength in his hand again due to the sudden thought.

It was because Luana came to save him herself and remembered the reaction he would see when she saw him exhausted. She was sweet and kind, so if she saw Legion exhausted, there would be no doubt she would be rushing to take care of him. Luana’s safety was important, but it was also difficult to give up. The restrain was losing its function because it was already cracked and pulled out, but Legion was immersed in worries without regard to it.

***

Sarah was blinking and looking at Luana.

“No, did you just say that she has to go save the knight she love?”

Gerald, who frowned at the remark, sighed and replied.

“That’s right.”

“But why is she doing that?”

Sarah’s eyes filled with questions turned her gaze to the kitchen. There, Luana was working hard to cook this and that.

“She said she was sure he is not eating well and starving, so she is packing his meal box.”

“A meal box?”

Sarah couldn’t hold back her laughter. It was all the more so because she knew the knight Luana was fond of. She never thought Luana would be going to save the Battlefield Slayer, and now she was packing a meal for the said slayer. She felt mixed feelings.

“By the way, Miss Sarah, will you be okay?”

Gerald spoke to Sarah, who laughed at Luana, who still makes something with a snap.

“What?”

“It’s the duke’s family.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Are you willing to help her save him knowing that?”

Sarah smiled at Gallard’s words.

“Yes.”

“Why? Don’t you remember what the family has done?”

Knowing that, when they first visited Sarah, Luana also spoke carefully. But Sarah nodded cheerfully and promised help even though she was against the duke.

“Gerald.”

Sarah continued with a gentle expression.

“I remember everything. To the moment of sorrow, the moment of horror, and the moment of curse. But it’s already a long time ago.”

“But, to the witches-“

“Yes, that’s right. But from a human point of view, it was a long time ago. So I thought, maybe now, it will be possible to live with humans again like in the past.”

Sarah was looking a little further.