Chapter: 14
Kaiden’s face twisted into a deep frown the moment he stepped down from the carriage.
He had been uneasy ever since he heard she had been staying in a tent, but he never imagined it would be this bad.
There wasn’t a single thing that looked properly put together.
The tents looked as though they would collapse if a slightly stronger wind blew through.
Kaiden quietly approached Emilia and asked,
“You really lived in a place like this? For how many days?”
“Umm… About three days?”
Another crease formed between his brows.
“Which tent is yours?”
“That one.”
Emilia pointed toward a tent tucked away in a corner.
Without another word, Kaiden immediately started walking toward it.
His long strides carried him effortlessly between the rows of tents, drawing everyone’s attention at once.
“Oh my, who is that?”
“Is he some nobleman?”
Just as Emilia had expected.
He was the kind of man who stood out no matter where he went. No one could help but stare.
Embarrassed by the whispers surrounding them, Emilia covered part of her face with one hand and hurried after him.
“What’s wrong? Are you embarrassed by me?”
Instead, Kaiden looked puzzled by her behavior.
“Well… Most people don’t like attracting so much attention.”
She whispered softly before letting out a sigh.
You’ve spent your whole life being the center of attention, so of course you wouldn’t understand.
At least asking him to park the carriage some distance away had been the right decision.
“It’s fine. Let’s just hurry.”
“Sir Ivan, would you like one?”
A maid approached Ivan while holding out a plate.
It was filled with colorful cookies shaped into adorable designs.
Thinking Ivan might not understand her words, she even placed a hand near her mouth and mimed eating.
But Ivan simply shook his head, indicating he was fine.
Looking somewhat dejected, he headed back up to his room.
Ever since recently, Ivan had been living in the mansion of Duke Valen.
It was nice not having to live in constant fear as he had before.
But just because his body was safe didn’t mean his heart was at ease.
Duke Valen was someone difficult to approach, and everyone else still felt like complete strangers.
Ivan closed the door behind him and entered his room.
He began scribbling letters on a sheet of paper before pausing at the sound of noise coming from outside.
What’s that?
He pricked up his ears and listened carefully.
Neigh!
Hearing a horse whinny, Ivan stood on tiptoe and looked out the window.
The duke’s carriage was entering the estate.
It looked no different from usual, and Ivan was about to step back down.
Then, at that very moment, a familiar woman stepped out of the carriage.
Ivan’s eyes widened.
“Emilia!”
The carriage carrying Emilia headed toward the most expensive district in the capital’s new city.
The atmosphere was completely different from the neighborhood where she had been living.
Not long afterward, the carriage passed through the front gates of the ducal estate.
The mansion was so enormous that it rivaled a castle, leaving her mouth hanging open.
The gardens were so vast that the carriage continued rolling for quite some time even after entering the gates.
A little later, after stepping out of the carriage, Emilia stared blankly up at the massive mansion.
Come to think of it… Isn’t this whole situation happening way too suddenly? Is this really okay?
But she had no time to dwell on it.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Huh? O-Okay…”
At Kaiden’s urging, she stepped into the mansion.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from above.
What was that?
Looking up, she saw a child rushing down the staircase.
“Ivan?”
The moment their eyes met, Ivan’s face lit up.
It’s really Emilia!
He had rushed over, wondering if he had mistaken someone else for her, but it really was her.
Ivan immediately ran over and threw his arms around her.
“Emilia!”
“[Have you been doing well?]”
“[Yeah!]”
Ivan nodded enthusiastically.
He’s so cute.
It felt as though all the exhaustion weighing on her body and mind had vanished in an instant.
But Emilia gently pulled him away.
Unlike herself, who had become dusty and dirty from living outdoors, Ivan was spotless.
Ivan blinked in confusion before looking up at her.
“[Emilia! How did you get here? What have you been doing? Why did you come here?]”
He fired off question after question in his excitement.
Ah!
Ivan quickly realized he had gotten carried away.
Last time, Emilia had asked him to speak slowly and use simple words!
He was about to try again when Emilia smiled and answered.
“[I came here… by carriage. And while I was away, I worked at a shop for a little while.]”
Worried that her pronunciation might not have been clear enough, she pointed toward the carriage with her hand.
Ivan’s eyes grew round.
“[Emilia, you’re really good at speaking!]”
Her Hifrian had become much more fluent than before.
“[Really?]”
Emilia secretly felt pleased by his reaction.
Smiling at the boy who was eagerly waiting to hear more, she continued,
“[Actually, I came to be your teacher, Ivan.]”
“[Teacher?]”
“[Mm-hmm.] So… [I’ll be staying by your side. And I’ll teach you the Imperial language.]”
Ivan’s eyes widened even further.
He immediately turned around to look at Kaiden standing behind them.
“[Really?]”
“Yes.”
Kaiden answered with a casual nod.
“[So, I’ll be counting on you from now on, Ivan.]”
“[Yeah!]”
Ivan replied excitedly.
Watching the two of them, Kaiden let out an amused laugh.
“You’ve only met her once, and you don’t have any sense of caution.”
At Kaiden’s quiet mutter, Herald lowered his head and looked at the bag his superior was carrying.
Seeing his commanding officer holding a dainty little bag was certainly an unusual sight.
“…You’re right.”
Herald agreed with an awkward expression.
Truthfully, the only reason Kaiden had recognized Emilia immediately was entirely because of him.
Repetitive learning through questions and answers.
Simply put, his superior had repeatedly made him recall information about her.
After regaining consciousness that day, Kaiden had looked strangely shaken.
Then he bombarded Herald with endless questions, as though there was something he simply couldn’t understand.
As a result, Herald had suffered greatly.
He had ended up explaining an event that had lasted less than thirty minutes for several hours.
Remembering that ordeal, Herald shook his head.
“…She really left?”
“Yes. She went back without any hesitation.”
“And she refused the reward of her own accord?”
“What, do you think I threatened her or something?”
“Did your face look suspicious to her?”
“With all due respect, Your Grace, the one who looked suspicious was the man covered in stab wounds.”
As Herald recalled those exhausting days, a question suddenly occurred to him.
No, wait.
If he remembered her face that well, why had he even asked in the first place?
“You said you couldn’t remember her face?”
“…Yes.”
“Right… Well, she had brown hair, green eyes, kind of a puppy-like face—”
“They weren’t green. Weren’t they light green?”
“…Huh? Ah… Yes, I suppose they were.”
There really hadn’t been any need to cross-check every little detail.
He had even jumped out of the carriage after spotting someone who looked no bigger than a bean in the distance.
Looking back, Herald couldn’t help feeling that all the time he had spent answering those questions so earnestly had been completely wasted.
