Chapter: 10
“A-Ahem! H-Hey! Come on, let’s get going!”
“Y-Yes, sir. Right away.”
The men froze awkwardly the moment their eyes met Emilia’s. Looking flustered, they hurried past the door.
Emilia kept up her act of bickering with her “lover” until the sound of their footsteps had completely disappeared.
Only then did she stop acting.
She squeezed her eyes shut and thought to herself,
I’m so embarrassed I could die…
Still, pretending nothing had happened, she whispered,
“I-I think they’ve gone now.”
But no reply came from Kaiden.
What’s going on?
Just as Emilia frowned in confusion and was about to call his name again, Kaiden’s body suddenly lurched toward her.
“Ah!”
Unable to support his weight, Emilia fell backward with him on top of her.
“E-Excuse me?”
Startled, she called out to him.
But Kaiden didn’t move an inch.
With considerable effort, Emilia managed to crawl out from beneath him.
He’ll be okay… right?
He wasn’t responding at all and looked almost dead. It seemed he had lost consciousness again.
Emilia wiped the cold sweat from her forehead before straightening her clothes.
Well… I guess it’s actually better that he passed out. How could I possibly face that man after what just happened?
She stayed beside Kaiden, checking on him.
After some time, the screech of train wheels echoed through the carriage.
It was the signal that the train was about to stop.
The train would remain at the station for about fifteen minutes.
I have to hurry.
Emilia quietly stood up.
Although they had escaped immediate danger, they still weren’t truly safe.
She first looked through the small window in the compartment door to check the hallway.
Only after confirming there wasn’t a single person nearby did she carefully open the door.
The aide said he had green hair, right?
She turned toward the train window.
The scenery of the platform rushed past her eyes.
Green hair… green hair…
Then she spotted a group of people gathered around a man with green hair.
That’s him!
The instant the train came to a stop, she rushed out and hurried over to him.
Several well-built men stood behind him.
Those must be Kaiden’s knights.
“Excuse me!”
“…Who are you?”
Emilia called out between heavy breaths.
Meanwhile, Harold, Kaiden’s aide, looked at the unfamiliar young woman with wary eyes.
Under normal circumstances, he would have been delighted that such a cute young lady had approached him and would have greeted her with his usual friendliness.
Unfortunately, this was hardly the time for that.
Then the woman unexpectedly spoke.
“You’re Aide Harold, aren’t you?”
“How do you know who I am?”
Though slightly surprised, he remained on guard.
In response, Emilia quickly held out Kaiden’s pocket watch.
“One of your companions has been injured and can’t move. I’ll take you to him!”
At her urgent words, Harold’s eyes widened.
After taking the pocket watch and confirming it was genuine, Harold’s expression immediately changed.
First, he dispatched several knights to the location Emilia had described.
He then ordered the remaining knights to ambush the men disguised as station employees.
Fortunately, thanks to Emilia’s detailed description of their appearances, they found them almost immediately.
Just before the train departed for the next station…
By the narrowest of margins, they safely rescued the unconscious Kaiden and Ivan, who was drenched in sweat inside the suitcase.
And now…
Emilia had stepped outside the station with them for a short while.
“We owe a great debt to your kindness. On His Grace’s behalf, I sincerely thank you.”
After thanking her over and over again, Harold briefly explained the situation.
For example…
The man she had saved was Duke Valen of the Empire.
And Ivan was a child from the duke’s collateral family, whose life had been threatened by cruel relatives.
“How could something like that happen…?”
She appreciated the explanation, but honestly, Emilia felt rather awkward.
After all, she had to pretend to be shocked upon learning Kaiden’s true identity.
Fortunately, Harold seemed to interpret her discomfort as surprise at what he’d just told her.
“By the way… Were those injuries on your face caused while saving His Grace?”
After studying her face, Harold asked cautiously.
“Huh?”
Caught off guard, Emilia blinked in confusion.
Injuries?
Thinking perhaps Kaiden’s blood had gotten on her face, she touched it.
Instead, her fingers brushed against her split lip.
Oh… He’s talking about the injury Cedric gave me.
I’d already used it to my advantage earlier and completely forgot about it.
Emilia waved her hand dismissively.
“I already had this.”
“You already had it?”
Harold’s expression became even more serious.
…Now that I think about it, that sounded a little strange.
Realizing she’d misspoken, Emilia let out an awkward laugh and hurriedly corrected herself.
“No, I mean… Anyway, this has nothing to do with what happened today, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
Just as she tried to change the subject, she felt someone tugging on the hem of her clothes.
“Hm?”
Ivan, who had been standing among the knights, had somehow walked over and was looking up at her.
“[Name! Name!]”
“Oh, you want to know my name?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Ivan nodded eagerly.
Come to think of it, she’d only asked for the child’s name without ever telling him hers.
There simply wasn’t time.
Lowering herself to his eye level, Emilia slowly spoke.
“I’m Emilia. My name is Emilia.”
“Emilia…”
Ivan softly repeated her name, as though committing it to memory.
Then he suddenly looked up and tightly wrapped his arms around her neck.
“[Thank you!] Emilia!”
Emilia’s eyes widened at the child’s sudden embrace.
A moment later, she gently hugged him back.
After a while, she released him and brushed aside the sweat-soaked hair sticking to his forehead.
Ordinarily, it should have felt sticky and unpleasant.
But instead…
To Emilia, it was proof that this child had survived instead of meeting the fate he had in the original story.
That alone made her happy.
“[No.] If anything… I’m the one who’s [grateful.]”
Ivan’s eyes grew round with surprise.
“[You’re… grateful to me?]”
“Yes. I really am.”
Emilia smiled softly before standing up.
Seeing this, Harold quickly spoke again.
He wanted to repeat the offer he had made earlier.
“Are you really just going to leave? Why not travel with us to the capital? There shouldn’t be any more danger now. And of course, we’ll reward you generously.”
“No, it’s alright.”
Emilia shook her head and politely declined.
When she’d told Ivan she was grateful, she hadn’t been lying.
Things had become difficult because the original story had changed.
But…
Because of those changes, this child now had a future.
Just knowing that was enough to comfort her.
She didn’t need any reward.
“Take care, Ivan.”
Giving him one last warm farewell, Emilia turned and walked away without a trace of hesitation.
Watching her departing figure, Harold muttered to himself,
“No way… She heard who His Grace really is, and she’s still leaving?”
Even the most prominent ladies in high society did everything they could to become connected to his master.
To them, even brushing shoulders with Kaiden was enough to boast about for the rest of their lives.
And this young woman had even saved his life.
She could have demanded practically any reward she wanted.
If it had been me, Harold thought, I’d have spent days figuring out how to bankrupt His Grace.
Watching Emilia leave so lightly, without looking back even once, Harold could only shrug in genuine amazement.
