Captain! Where is the Battlefield?

CWITB | Chapter 5: That’s right. The male protagonist of this novel was a Lunatic.

“Your Grace, will it take long?”

At Dolan’s urging, Rosalie opened the door and went out.

“By the way, there are… two guests. One is…”

“I know.”

Rosalie headed straight to the reception room. 

When Dolan opened the door to the reception room and Rosalie entered, there was Sonia Amins, the female protagonist of the novel, and Derivis Vlodik, the male protagonist, sitting side by side on the long sofa.

“Rosalie! Devi’s here today too.”

Sonia called Derivis’ nickname casually, her vivid green eyes filled with delight.

“It’s been a while. I greet His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince.”

Derivis waved his hand as Rosalie bent down to a simple bow, not at all surprised. Rosalie straightened her bent knees and took a seat on the couch across from them.

As Rosalie took a moment to study their faces, she realized that the fictional portrayal of the fair maiden was certainly not exaggerated: with her light brown hair and green eyes, Sonia was a dainty beauty who was absolutely stunning.

‘Sonia is just as I imagined her… but Derivis seems to have a colder impression than I imagined.’

Derivis, with his dark black hair and blue eyes, was a stunningly handsome man like a sculpture. However, his sharp gaze created an atmosphere that was not easy to approach.

‘I wish I could take a picture of him and show it to Chaerin. I think she’d like it.’

Rosalie almost laughed as she remembered Chaerin’s insistence that the main characters in her novels should be handsome and beautiful.

“Rosalie? Something seems to have changed.”

Sonia’s green eyes quickly filled with concern.

Rosalie smiled awkwardly, then remembered how the original Rosalie had envied Sonia’s clear, vivid green eyes and hated her own khaki eyes.

‘They both look pretty to me.’

Rosalie sipped the tea that Dolan had prepared while glancing at Derivis. Perhaps because of his cold expression, he didn’t seem too happy to be here.

“Rosalie, are you doing okay these days?”

Rosalie barely held back from immediately asking Sonia why she was asking such a random question. 

In the original work, Rosalie constantly complained to Sonia, and so she always asked how Rosalie was doing.

“Yes, I’m doing fine.”

“Really? Well, that’s good then.”

Sonia sipped her tea. Her friend’s face looked a little unfamiliar today.

‘Is it because it’s been so long since we last met?’

Feeling the awkward air, Sonia took another sip of her tea. Dolan, who was next to them, noticed and spoke up.

“Um… Your Grace, would you like me to bring out some sweet treats?”

“Yes, that would be nice.”

“Something has definitely changed.”

At Derivis’ unexpected words, all eyes in the reception room turned to him. 

Rosalie looked at him warily. Although they had met a few times through Sonia, they were not particularly close.

In the novel, the timid Rosalie disliked Derivis, and Derivis didn’t like her much either.

“I’m not really sure, but if the two of you say that something has changed, then something must have changed.”

Rosalie replied nonchalantly, not avoiding Derivis’ gaze. A small spark of interest flickered in Derivis’ eyes.

“You’re not avoiding my gaze like you usually do.”

“That’s because I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Interesting. So, does that mean that you’ve been doing something wrong all this time?”

Now even his tone was tinged with interest. Rosalie looked at Derivis, who smiled in amusement.

‘That’s right. The male protagonist of this novel was a lunatic.’

When Rosalie refused to avert her grave eyes from Derivis’, Sonia, who was next to him, tried to change the atmosphere by pretending to be lively.

“Rosalie! There’s a cafe that’s popular in the capital these days, and since you like tea… “

Sonia kept talking. Rosalie, who was half-listening, tried to sneak a peek at the clock in the corner, but her eyes met Derivis’ again.

Derivis tilted his head slightly and glanced at the clock that Rosalie had been looking at before interrupting Sonia.

“Sonia, I’m a bit tired. How about we continue our conversation tonight?”

At that moment, Rosalie gestured to Dolan, who was standing behind her.

“Dolan, please guide the guests. I’m sorry, but I have work to do… I’ll see you in the evening.”

Rosalie finished her farewell calmly and left the reception room. Sonia tried to grab her, but she was moving too fast.

“She’s really changed.”

Sonia muttered worriedly, noticing Rosalie’s slightly chilly demeanor.

“Yeah.”

Beside her, Derivis stared at the door Rosalie had exited through with interest.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

The place Rosalie headed to after leaving the reception room was the training ground. The knights who were training started whistling at the sight of her in a dress.

“Beautiful, Duchess!”

In response to the explosive cheers, Rosalie quickly hardened her expression into a stern one, lowering her voice to a growl.

“Looks like you’re up for training today. Wait for me as I change my clothes.”

The knights’ complexions began to pale. As Rosalie left the training grounds to change, the knights began to curse at the knight who made the comment.

“Someone’s awakened the Devil!”

Rosalie secretly laughed as she heard the knights’ screams from behind her. 

She was satisfied with the sight of the knights who had only been training for a few days but had already gained enough stamina to play pranks during training.

As she entered her room, Emma, who was tidying up the bedding, looked up.

“Oh, you’re already back?”

“I’m going to change into my training clothes and go out.”

Watching Rosalie change quickly, Emma couldn’t help but think of the knights’ pale faces.

After Rosalie changed her clothes, she found an unfamiliar figure in the hallway of the mansion heading to the training ground.

Following her habit from her military days, Rosalie cautiously approached the figure with a hand on her weapon and a wary posture.

“What are you doing here?”

As she approached, Rosalie quickly removed her hand from the hilt of her dagger. Derivis, who had seen her do this, casually replied.

“Just touring the mansion.”

“I hope you enjoy the tour, then.”

As Rosalie began to walk past him, Derivis started following her.

“If you’re just here to tour the mansion, why are you following me?” 

Rosalie stopped walking and turned to Derivis.

“I was originally going to tour it, but I changed my mind. I think it would be more fun to watch the Duchess with a dagger on her thigh.”

“You’ll find it boring to watch. I’ll call the butler, so how about taking a tour of the mansion?”

Derivis immediately shook his head at the suggestion.

“It will be more fun to watch you. It’s unusual for people to touch their blades first when they see a stranger. If I had done something wrong, your dagger could have taken my head off.”

Rosalie glanced up and down at Derivis, who was smirking. In the novel, Derivis was described as a sword master. He certainly looked strong.

“It was a mistake.”

Rosalie said naturally. Her brazenness caused Derivis to burst out laughing, and Rosalie looked at him and muttered to herself.

‘What a crazy guy.’

Even if she had tried to kill him, it would have been a crime of treason, but looking at him smiling happily, she was beyond bewildered.

‘I wouldn’t have been able to draw a drop of blood from him even if I tried to kill him anyways.’

Even if Rosalie had made up her mind to fight, it would have been difficult for her current body to put a single wound on his body.

She took her eyes off him and started walking again, and Derivis sneakily followed behind her.

“That hat suits you well. This is my first time seeing such a hat, did you make it?”

“Yes.”

Rosalie replied quickly, not looking back. Derivis stared at the small back of Rosalie’s head.

‘I don’t know why her attitude has changed, but it’s amusing.’

Although Derivis came to the Duchy’s mansion reluctantly at the request of his childhood friend Sonia, he didn’t regret it.

The change in her demeanor, looking him straight in the eye and treating him like he was some kind of rock, piqued Derivis’ interest quite a bit.

“The training grounds?”

Derivis followed Rosalie to the training grounds and gave her a puzzled look. He looked around the training grounds and saw the knights, all of them stiff and rigid for some reason.

“You look a little less tired today.”

“No, we’re not!”

The knights replied in unison, their voices filled with vigor and spirit. 

Derivis’ eyes widened at the sight.

“Assemble in three seconds.”

At Rosalie’s command, the knights quickly lined up in perfect columns and rows.

“Start by running ten light laps around the training ground. Commence.”

“Commence!”

The knights lined up and began to run in formation, leaving Derivis still wide-eyed at the sight.

“Duchess, who is he?”

“His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince.”

At Rosalie’s brief introduction, Aaron hastily dropped to one knee in front of him.

“I am honored to meet His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince.”

Upon seeing Aaron’s greeting, Rosalie suddenly remembered something and spoke up.

“Come to think of it, I should have had the knights greet you. I apologize.”

Rosalie started to gather the knights, but Derivis stopped her with a wave of his hand, his surprised expression now replaced with one of amusement.

“Are you the one training these knights? That’s impressive.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Rosalie replied calmly. During her military days, she had many experiences training a large number of people much more intensively than the Knights of the Duke of Judeheart.

“Ah, you can stand up now.”

Derivis said to Aaron, who was still kneeling, and Aaron slowly stood up.

‘I hope Aaron’s not falling for him already.’

Realizing the need to separate Aaron and Derivis, Rosalie opened her mouth and spoke to him.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. I need to proceed with the training, so why don’t you go back now?”

At Rosalie’s request, Derivis made a troubled face. It would be a shame not to be able to witness such an interesting and entertaining spectacle.

“Do I really have to go back?”

Rosalie nodded her head briefly in response.

“It’s difficult for the knights to concentrate.”

“Hmm…”