Chapter 08
Did she just suggest we go hunt a dragon now? The kind of dragon whose mere shadow would make you drop to your knees in prayer rather than run away?
Viretta, a man I had never seen before, and Lanken—just the three of us?
Going to hunt a dragon with this group was an utterly absurd idea, but Viretta saying strange things was nothing new.
“I see… haha, Viretta, you really are mischievous,”
Lanken brushed off her words with a hollow laugh. He was basically telling her to say, “Just joking.”
But Viretta always shattered Lanken’s expectations. She placed her hands on her hips with a lively gesture.
“Really! Lanken! I’m not joking! You know better than anyone that I always speak the truth, don’t you?”
Lanken knew she was all bluster and no subtlety. He thought over her nickname, “Windbag Viretta,” and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Have some conscience! Why all of a sudden are you saying you want to hunt a dragon?”
“Miss Viretta wants to hunt a dragon to prove to her father her firm determination in order to marry the one she loves.”
“What?”
Lanken shouted. Not once had he heard a hint that Viretta had a lover.
It was impossible that Viretta had a secret romantic partner he didn’t know about. He had been her guard while she traveled to find a suitable fiancé. The last time they met, Viretta was ready to be engaged to the person her father had introduced.
So this… must be—bluster. Another ridiculous exaggeration. Lanken, having known Viretta for a long time, quickly arrived at the right conclusion.
For confirmation, he glared at her. Viretta gave an awkward smile. Though she didn’t say it outright, it was as good as an answer.
Lanken furrowed his brows.
“Viretta, your engagement ceremony is in three days.”
“That’s why I left in a hurry. After the engagement, there’s no turning back, so I summoned my courage.”
“Stop being courageous! Just let me be! I’ve already got my clothes pressed and bought shoes to go to your engagement!”
“Oh my, how touching.”
“Don’t say that! I’m disappointed! You promised me a raspberry tart! I was looking forward to it—then you run away right before the engagement?”
“Of course I thought of you, Lanken. Don’t worry, I brought the raspberry tart.”
Viretta rummaged through her belongings and pulled out a piece of raspberry tart for him.
Lanken bit into the tart with a half-crying face. The sugar-coated raspberries were sweet and tangy—it was delicious.
“Thanks, but I’m not grateful! I was going to eat this at the engagement!”
Even though she brought his favorite food while fleeing in the dead of night, couldn’t she just calmly go through with the engagement? It was a tearful kindness.
“You’ll have the engagement later anyway, so you get to eat it twice! Isn’t that better than once?”
“Your positive thinking and rapid mental shifts are impressive.”
“Positive thinking isn’t needed! But, by the way, who are you?”
“I should have introduced myself sooner. I am Iola, son of Jin, and Viretta’s fiancé.”
“Fiancé? …Wait, fiancé? Then you’re from that huge mercenary company…?”
Lanken’s tongue twisted at the word “fiancé.”
“Yes.”
The fiancé was supposedly the nephew of a massive mercenary company from a distant country, studying at the royal academy of mathematics. His status and wealth were incomparably higher than Lanken’s. Lanken struggled through formal speech.
“P-pleased to meet you. I am Lanken, a mercenary hired by Lord Medlidge… a humble mercenary compared to your household.”
“I’ve already heard about you from Miss Viretta. She spoke of your loyal dedication and that you’d willingly join her on the dangerous journey to hunt a dragon.”
“That’s not true,” Lanken said. Even before the nephew of a famed foreign mercenary company, he couldn’t help but respond bluntly.
He regretted the cold tone afterward and stared intently at the bright young man.
“Excuse me, but you speak our language well, yes?”
“Of course. I could even write a doctoral thesis in Philian.”
“You know that Viretta is planning to break off the engagement, right?”
“Yes!”
The cheerful answer hit Lanken like a blow. He arrived at a grim conclusion.
This guy… is he out of his mind?
Holding a thread of hope, Lanken began to probe Iola.
“Do you have someone you want to marry?”
“No.”
“Someone you do not want to marry?”
“No.”
Many would want to break off an unwanted engagement. Iola could be one of them.
Then why run away in the dead of night instead of simply arranging a divorce? Does he have some compelling reason?
Lanken tried to keep his questions plausible, hoping Iola was not truly insane.
“So, is there someone you wish to date?”
“No. Not proud of it, but I’ve never been interested in romance because I’m too focused on my studies.”
Iola gave a small, shy smile. Lanken was not in the mood to smile. His eyes sharpened.
“Any family secrets?”
“No.”
“Involved in family power struggles or inheritance battles?”
“No.”
“Do you dislike the Medlidges because they are a merchant family… any sense of discrimination?”
“Of course not. An insulting question, but I understand that it stems from social prejudice.”
“Then why would our little lady want to break off the engagement? She has wealth, a good face, cheerful, positive, adaptable… not flawless, but good enough!”
His voice naturally rose. Lanken was furious that Iola acknowledged Viretta’s desire to break the engagement.
This was separate from simply not wanting to humor Viretta’s ridiculous excuse to break off the engagement.
What’s wrong with Viretta?
She did have flaws—she was a colossal windbag, and her boldness turned her bluster into reality.
Yet she was lively, cheerful, and not naive about the world. At least on first meeting, she wouldn’t be rejected.
Having known her well, Lanken immediately disliked Iola. Viretta blushed and quietly steadied her excited heart, while Iola blinked innocently and traced a line on his lips with his finger.
“Miss Viretta is a remarkable person. She possesses indomitable courage, determination, and decisive judgment.”
“Iola…”
Viretta’s admiration now extended to Iola. But to Lanken, Iola’s words sounded like hollow praise. He sharpened his words.
“So what’s your point?”
“One cannot marry someone they admire enough to risk their life hunting dragons.”
“…Is that all your reasoning?”
Lanken hesitated, then asked again. Iola’s smile remained steady, unshaken.
Even in the dead of night, his declaration carried the energy of broad daylight.
“Yes. What more reason is needed?”
In other words: “No reason,” or “It’s all a lie.”
Lanken nodded, full of conviction.
“Fine, I hear you. Then let’s return and have the engagement ceremony. Viretta, pack your things and turn around!”
“No!”
Viretta grabbed Lanken as he tried to leave and spun him around. She faced him and, in a soft voice, tried to persuade him.
“Lanken, we are not going back today. We are going to hunt a dragon. Understand? We’re going—to—hunt—a—dragon.”
“Why on earth!”
“To marry the person we truly love freely.”
“Then why! Just a few days ago… ugh! Uh!”
Viretta quickly grabbed Lanken’s hand, anticipating his words. She raised her voice so loudly that the merchants sleeping near the city gate could hear her, overpowering his complaints.
“The me of a few days ago is the me of a few days ago! The me of today is the me of today! People can change in a single day! Iola trusts me this much—I can’t let him down!”
What nonsense! Lanken silently protested, his mouth trapped by Viretta’s hand.
Wherever this lie about having a lover came from, it was clear she could not abandon it.
