CH 22

Fortunately, the fateful encounter with Saskia did not happen until Iona reached the Knights Building.

Iona, who had safely entered the stable building - Martha, let out a sigh of relief as she locked the bolt on the entrance. She thought it had given her a moment to catch her breath.

However, Iona's thoughts soon turned out to be an illusion.

Inside, passengers were already waiting.

“Deme Iona?”

Even though she didn't turn around, the identity of the other person could be recognized just by their voice.

'Sir Erich Ritzer.'

As the second son of the Ritzer family, she had known him for a long time and was a colleague.

He even belonged to the same 1st Division king department as Iona and guarded the Emperor's retreat together on the day she died.

Seeing the face of a comrade in an unexpected place gave her a strange feeling. Even though the other person and she wasn't very affectionate.

{

“You Look good. Dame Iona. This is the price of such extraordinary loyalty. We lose our use and end up being in a situation like this.”

}

As soon as he heard the emperor's message to keep the retreat, the eyes staring at Iona became intense.

Even if he hadn't died, it would have been a memorable incident.

''Could Sir Erich have survived?''

The odds of that were very low. His escape would have been difficult, especially if he was in the middle of the battlefield as she was.

It was time for Iona to be silent for a moment while estimating Erich's final location.

The opponent who confirmed Iona's face raised his eyebrows and stood up.

“Where else did you get beaten up?”

He quickly noticed traces of assault even if one is quite far away. He had a great eye as expected of a talented military man.

“Who else is this time? Except for Nils, who did one a while ago. Lady Florence, who entered the palace today?”

"Oh wow…”

Iona unknowingly exclaimed in admiration. Because his knack for guessing her culprit was ghostly.

Erich openly frowned at Iona's stupid reaction.

“Even the other knights will be cursed because of you, who greeted her warmly to prove loyalty to the crown prince. After all, the prince's aide offered herself as a punching bag to vent other anger.”

Saying that Erich slowly approached Iona.

He continued his words, looking down at Iona with icy eyes.

“Well, it shouldn’t have hurt your pride that much. A word from the prince is important to the point where you decide to marry a man you have never seen before.

“… …”

“That's great, you. Seriously. I can’t be that strict servile.”

At the familiar sarcasm, Iona almost burst into laughter without even realizing it.

She managed to hold the corner of her mouth, but the other person seemed to feel the strangely twisted expression.

Erich stiffened his face and fired low.

“You are not even a knight. Just a dog that barks at whatever the owner wants.”

After proving that she was not the prince's dog, she was called a dog again.

Accustomed to all sorts of insults, Iona felt the need to refute only this stigma.

So she answered confidently.

"I'm not."

“… …What?"

“I'm not a prince dog.”

“… …”

“And Sir Erich, I absolutely care about it.”

Iona, who pointed that out, patted Erich on the shoulder and passed by. Even though it must have been quite painful, Erich just stood in his place and stared blankly at Iona.

The opponent always ignored his accusations as if they weren't worth listening to, but today was the first time he heard a proper rebuttal.

Then, the voices of Saskya and Theobald resonated in the distance.

"What? That Iona kicked Florence out of the palace? Are there any fun things like this! Let's go right now!”

“Captain! Mouth, please! Watch your mouth!”

Next came the sound of footsteps running down the hallway.

Iona held her breath, waiting for them to get far enough away.

Apparently, Saskia had finally heard the news from Miss Lizzie.

It was rewarding to arrive at the Knights Building quickly.

It was when Iona, now more relaxed, was leisurely putting stirrups on her horse. Sir Erich, who was standing at a distance from her, muttered with his embarrassed face.

“What is that…”

He rubbed his mouth with his hand before suddenly raising his head.

He hurried toward the entrance and shouted, sticking his face out of Martha.

"Captain! for a moment…”

Iona instinctively jumped out and covered his mouth.

Although she succeeded in pulling Erich, she couldn't ignore the opponent's physical strength, so she eventually fell backward with him.

The struggle continued even as they fell to the floor.

Iona wrapped her arms around Erich's neck and managed to subdue him as he struggled to remove her hand.

Iona whispered in his ear.

"I'll let you go if you keep quiet."

She could see that Erich's ears were burning bright red as if he had received quite a bit of heat.

Eventually, Erich slowly nodded.

Iona looked down at him suspiciously and removed her hand from his mouth.

He behaved more calmly than she thought, probably because she hadn't loosened the arm that was strangling his neck yet.

Iona asked in a slightly irritated voice.

“Why did you try to call the captain?”

“… … I want to check the facts.”

“You can ask me.”

A long silence ensued.

Iona wondered why the other person suddenly closed his mouth, but she couldn't check his expression because her view was obstructed.

Just as Iona was about to rush for an answer, Erich asked in a disbelieving voice.

“Did you really kick out Lady Florence?”

"That's right."

“For what reason?”

“Because assaulting an imperial knight on duty is a felony.”

“Ha, you knew that obvious fact.”

Erich lowered his head while muttering. Not ready for further mayhem, Iona let him go completely.

Even so, Erich continued to sit on the floor as if he had lost the will to distance himself.

The distracted, bulky man somehow looked like a child now.

With her eyes fixed on his broad back, Iona pondered for a moment what to say.

It wasn't to blame his hasty misunderstanding. It wasn't even a day or two that the junior in front of her showed an arrogant attitude toward her.

She thought he had bad feelings for her because she was so fierce, but no, in reality, that was true to only some extent...

'But he was worried in the end.'

{ “Don’t just run away in vain in a place like this.” }

…She could see those words as a kind of worry.

After all, he didn't hate Iona so much that he wanted her dead.

It was quite a contrast that the lord who cared for her eventually decided to let go.

After hearing the news that she had to remain behind it was also Erich who rebelled on behalf of the hardened Iona.

{

“Are you kidding me? With so many enemies, don't retreat. How is it different from being told to watch over and get killed?”

“ugh. Eh, Sir Erich. Clam down... … Treason!”

}

Iona then stopped Erich from trying to grab the messenger by the collar. Because she thought that his master's command was worth more than her own life.

But was that the right thing to do? She didn't know about herself, but was it really the right decision to leave even the men who followed her in the limbs?

'If I had disobeyed that order, many people would have been able to live.'

Iona didn't regret her death. Because she had clear convictions when she died.

However, if many people were sacrificed because of that choice, the superior himself was obviously responsible.

That's why she wasn't particularly angry when she saw Erich blaming her blind loyalty.

She really didn't like herself very much.

Iona said in a softened voice.

“Erich Ritzter, thank you for your concern. I would have been angry too if my juniors had been slapped outside.”

At Iona's words, Erich looked back at Iona with a quick glance and shouted with a red face.

“Who was worried about you, ha! Don't say anything funny like that. And you might be angry, but you won't protest anyway.”

Because what he said was true to some extent, Iona only shrugged her shoulders.

Now, she was full of intentions to protest for her subordinates, but with retirement imminent, she was embarrassed to even make such an excuse.

Erich's eyes became triangular again as Iona stood up without saying a word.

"Where are you going?"