Princess Shu

“Gasp.”

The knight had a heave and quickly lowered his head. Leo briefly clicked his tongue at the klutz’s appearance. He turned to Valia, already releasing his grip.

“Then, I will take my leave.”

“I hope your journey in Gel was comfortable. Have a safe trip.”

Leo’s gaze stopped at Valia for a moment after listening to her, but it was only for a while. He quickly looked away and followed the knight.

Leo opened his mouth again after making a turn in the hallway three times.

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t act dumb with me. You shouted on purpose.”

“Yes, I did…”

The knight who admitted with a slow voice made an excuse in a hurry.

“I finally managed to find you, but Marchioness Garth was in front of you. Besides, you were holding her hand… Have you fallen in love at first sight with her?”

“She looks pretty though.”

“Viscount!”

“Lower your voice. Can’t I even make a joke?”

“But you aren’t making a joke! Do you think I’ve only been serving you for a day or two?”

“I was just amazed.”

“What do you mean?”

“The fact that she’s that guy’s wife.”

Marchioness Garth. Leo did not know her name yet. It felt like he had heard about it, but he forgot about it because he thought it was not very important. Though, frankly, he was curious because she was his wife. It was for this reason that he asked for a handshake. He did not mean anything else.

“So relax. No matter how badly I learned, I never break my promise.”

“I didn’t mean it that way!”

“I got it so just keep quiet.”

After hearing Leo criticizing him, the knight barely shut his mouth. Leo was right. He was a man who would never break a promise he had once made, even at the risk of his life. The knight who knew him well continued to follow Leo even after he arrived at the Imperial Palace. 

Despite being tired of the pestering, Leo had made a promise to the knight. He promised that he would not cause trouble in the Imperial Palace.

“By the way, Viscount, did anything happen with Marquess Garth earlier?”

“If anything did happen, would the Imperial Palace be this peaceful?”

“I agree.”

The knight nodded. Leo murmured as he trudged along.

“I should have brought you earlier.”

“Pardon? Didn’t you let me go because you said you would be talking about something important?”

“I know, but I do regret it.”

As Leo walked down the hallway, he kept trying to somehow understand Schuden’s attitude. Although Schuden acted excessively wary, Leo guessed that all married men were just that sensitive. 

But despite such efforts, something was caught in his mind—Schuden’s grazing gaze whenever they talked about his wife.

A certain subtle emotion suddenly appeared in those cold, dull red eyes. 

Am I overreacting or is he really…

“…I don’t know.”

Leo muttered a little and looked out the window of the hallway. The raindrops falling from the overcast sky were getting quite thick all of a sudden. 

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

After Leo left first, an attendant approached Schuden.

“Marquess Garth, I will take you to the main palace.”

“I don’t intend to go in right away. Come again later.”

“Oh, I see. Then, I will come see you in a little bit.”

The reason why Schuden did not leave right away was because of Leo. Since his country had declared war, Schuden knew it would not be any good if he went out and bumped into him. As the attendant retreated, Schuden looked at the tea table that he had not touched. The only disturbance that the table had was a single cookie that Leo had touched.

Looking back, Schuden also hardly ate anything sweet after that day.

Yes, it used to be like that.

[Do you…hate sweet foods?] 

But why was I okay with what Valia gave? Why is my heart so complicated and my feelings strange when I think of her?

Schuden was not accustomed to this appearance of his.

Killing one’s emotions was not difficult. Schuden thought that the battlefield where everything became numb was the best fit for him. He did not have to think about anything there. Just stabbing, killing, and murdering was all he had in his daily routine. Taking someone else’s life was too easy for him. It was comfortable there, it was where meaningless work became meaningful.

[Do women mean anything to you?]

Does a woman mean anything to me?

Well, is it meaningful…

Schuden looked away. He looked out of the gazebo, it was raining down. Even when he looked at the garden full of falling raindrops, he thought of her.

[I will pick you up next time.]

Schuden looked at the raining garden with one hand on his chin. The noblewomen’s tea party did not end until late in the afternoon. If he went right now, it would be a little early.

“…It looks like I’m waiting for her.”

It was what a boy in his first love would do. It smelt sweet and fresh. Even though he said so, his eyes were waiting, so it was contradictory. 

This much rain was fine. Schuden was a precious heir, but he was still often rained on in wartime situations. It really did not matter, but if she heard that he was alone in the raining garden…

‘…She will be worried.’

Schuden’s wife was very worried. Neither Paul nor Sarah, not even Shaun were concerned about Schuden’s physical well-being. It was not just them, even the nobles of the Empire, the knights, or anyone who died at Schuden’s hands would not worry about him. He was the best Imperial knight and a legendary soldier. Valia obviously knew about him as much as they did, but she was still worried about him. It was not a worry caused by ignorance.

Yes, if that was not the case…

“I didn’t know it was going to rain all of a sudden.”

In an instant, Schuden’s breathing stopped like a lie. Just like the cold winter wind that had been blowing every hour stopped for a while at some point. 

He slowly looked back a little. 

Long black hair. Silvery-gray eyes. Hands holding an umbrella. 

She was there…

“Schu.”

…smiling brightly.

The silvery-gray eyes smiled at him. A voice that was so affectionate for unknown reasons. The rosy cheeks that were smeared with a smile were glowing.

“I’m here to pick you up.”

Schuden really could not say anything.

The Eastern Kingdoms Union’s delegation left the Empire the very next day. They neglected the seeing-off ceremony which had been grandly planned by Marquess Logan. Seeing the delegation leaving in a hurry, the Emperor as well as many of the nobles of Gel, had questions. 

Why are they leaving in such a hurry?

The Emperor found out about it exactly a week later.

“Those Eastern guys, they have a lot of gall!”

After treating them with dignity, they foretell war? 

Even so, they were conscious of other Kingdoms so they did not advance on without notice. The recommendation of surrender document, which was like a mere form’s sake, was already crumpled like a rag in the hands of the Emperor.

“They have a ridiculously high opinion of themselves just because they got a wild tiger”

The Emperor stated that, had he known this would happen, Leo would have been detained when he visited Gel. He even treated Leo as the ‘Emperor’s guest’ but the Emperor never dreamed that he would stab him in the back like this. The Emperor ground his teeth, saying that the more he thought about it, the more disgusted he was at them.

“What did that Viscount Canute guy say to you?”

Schuden answered the Emperor’s question calmly.

“He said he had heard about my story on the battlefield. He also said that he would like to stab me with a sword the next time we meet.”

“They had already given warning since then. It was foolish of me to expect a gentlemanly  treatment from the Eastern guys.”

Even a single grain of crop used to treat such people was so precious. I’d rather help the needy at that cost! I spent money on useless things. 

The Emperor wheezed for a while and took a deep breath. It had already happened anyway. Even as he was stabbed in the back, he still had to prepare for the fight.

“Marquess Garth.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“I have ordered you to be in charge of treating the delegations. But now, I’m afraid I have to leave the preparations for war to you.”

The Emperor had already decided to entrust Schuden as the commander of war. He was really sorry that he had to order Schuden to go into battle as soon as he had finished preparing for the delegations, but who else could lead an army of this size other than Schuden Garth?

“As your subject, this kind of work comes naturally to me. So don’t worry about it.”

“You’re such an exemplary noble.”

Even though the Emperor was angry at the Eastern Kingdoms Union’s backstabbing, he was not worried. The reason was that Schuden was there. That was how much the Emperor trusted the young Marquess. There was no doubt that Schuden would stop the arrogant ambitions of the East, he was not named the undefeated knight for nothing after all.

“Marquess Garth, when you make a triumphant return from this war…”

The Emperor naturally mentioned ‘triumphant return.’ However, neither the Emperor nor Schuden pointed out that it was strange.

“How about receiving more territories?”

“Are you talking about the East?”

“Yes. Since these guys are getting a little bigger, they’re creeping up into the Gel Empire without fear. I have to take them out piece by piece. Only then will they be unable to unite their forces. I promise to give you the priority to choose the territory.”

“The Garth name already owns a territory worthy of Lord Paramount. Please take back your words.”

From a macro perspective, it was advantageous to acquire the Eastern land, because the East had a lot of rare and unique luxuries that could earn pretty good taxes.

However, dividing the land of an enemy country immediately after the war entailed a considerable degree of risk. Of course, Schuden was not afraid of that risk. However, the fact that he had to go to the East at least once every couple of months was disagreeable. He could not take Valia to that dangerous place.

“Is that really okay?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t need any?”

“Yes.”

“What about getting promoted to Duke?”

“Okay.”

“Okay, then… Wait, what?”

The Emperor, who answered without much thought, asked again without him knowing.

“What did you say now?”

“I said okay.”

“You mean, you’re going to accept the Dukedom?”

“How can I refuse Your Imperial Majesty’s grace?”

“Haha…”

The Emperor lost his face and feigned a smile. He had always proposed a title promotion to Schuden, it was like his customary word. When he asked Schuden to receive Dukedom, he always refused, not even giving a lengthy reason. He just said that he was not interested.

A man who observed etiquette that conformed to the law but was never any more polite than that. He never bowed his head excessively to say he was grateful. 

Schuden was such a noble, he had always turned down the Dukedom. So what was the reason for his acceptance now?