*Blizzard howls through the night.*
A young girl peering out the window began to move.
One step at a time, slowly.
She descended the stairs towards the chaotic downstairs.
“Stop the bleeding! Stop the bleeding!”
“Is there anyone here who can use healing magic?!”
“That’s wrong. The inside is all torn up, and I’m bleeding from my entrails…”
“Call a doctor! Hurry!”
The pungent smell.
At that moment, she didn’t realize, but now she could tell.
The vivid stench of blood reverberated through the corridor.
*Splash!* The girl’s little shoes caused ripples in the blood puddle.
Her shoes were stained red, and her socks soaked through, but that was already of no concern to her.
In front of her were the knights huddled together.
The inside was entirely obscured, but instinctively, even at her young age, she sensed it.
“Crown Prince?”
“What?! Your Highness! This is dangerous! You must escape—”
“Get your hands off me!”
As a knight rushed in to lift her, her boisterous voice rang out.
“You still have to escape—”
“Clear the way. Otherwise, I will punish you for your impudence.”
“Your Highness…”
No one could stand against the girl’s threat.
As she trudged forward, the knights looked around and began to step aside.
Finally wading through the crowd, tears began to well up in the girl’s eyes.
“Father!”
“Ahh…”
Her father lay there, clutching his blood-soaked abdomen.
With a face as pale as a corpse, upon hearing her voice, he managed a faint smile.
The girl burst into tears and rushed to hold her father’s hand.
It was cold.
It felt nothing like her father’s usual warm hand.
“Father! Who did this?! Who exactly—”
“Come closer, child.”
“Father…!”
The excited girl stopped shouting.
Her father’s gaze didn’t come her way at all, and his arms were flailing in the air.
Realizing he couldn’t see, she couldn’t scream any longer and could only choke back her tears.
Not caring about the blood on her hands, she leaned over her father and brought her ear close to his mouth.
“It seems time is running out.”
“Don’t say that, Father.”
“Listen well.”
*Sniff…* “Y-yes…”
“Trust no one. No one but yourself…”
“Dad?”
His voice cut off.
The wrist she held suddenly slipped from her feeble grasp with a *thud*.
As she caressed her father’s cold cheek, the girl sat there, blankly staring.
“What are you doing?! Get the Crown Prince to safety!”
“But Your Highness said not to touch her…”
“You fools! Get out of the way!”
“Uh?”
Suddenly, someone lifted her up.
Now separated from her father, the girl was forced to watch him recede behind broad shoulders.
“Put me down! This is an order! I said let go!”
“That’s not possible, Your Highness.”
“I will punish you for your impudence! I will administer severe punishment! Set me down this instant!”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
Clinging onto that shoulder, she wept and wept.
When her voice finally gave out from crying…
*Gasp!*
She finally woke from the nightmare.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
She threw off the blanket and rose from the bed.
*Huff…*
*Gulp gulp.*
She picked up the cup next to her bed and gulped down some water.
It was truly the first dream she’d had in a long time.
The day her father absurdly passed away due to the incursion of a crow.
She could still vividly remember that day.
Her hand holding the cup trembled, causing a drop of water to spill down her chin.
“Crown Prince. Are you alright… *AHHH!*”
At that moment, the door burst open, and the Crown Prince’s body reacted reflexively.
She swiftly grabbed the dagger lying under her pillow and hurled it towards the door.
The blade stopped right in front of a startled attendant, who screamed and fell backward.
The man who halted the blade, the guard, simply held the sword’s edge, looking down at the attendant with an expressionless face.
“How dare you open the Crown Prince’s chamber door carelessly? You’re fired. Pack your things and leave the palace tonight.”
“Y-yes?”
“Do I need to say it twice for you to understand?”
“N-no, I didn’t mean to…”
With the guard’s cold glare, the attendant fled as if his life depended on it.
The guard wrapped a makeshift bandage around his injured palm and peeked into the open door.
Inside was the Crown Prince, drenched in sweat, gasping heavily.
“Your Highness. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine… just get lost.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The guard bowed his head and closed the door.
Now alone again, the Crown Prince sat on the bed and hugged her knees.
“Trust no one… no one…”
Reciting her father’s last words, the Crown Prince bit her lip.
Why did her father leave such words behind?
Could it be that the enemy is much closer than she thought?
As she pondered, her eyes widened.
*
A letter arrived from the South.
Tearing it open and glancing at the handwriting, she immediately recognized who sent it.
It was none other than a personal letter from Pelaine.
“Hello, Schlus Hainkel. I’m writing to update you on my current situation. The South is currently in a very stable condition…”
While it was a cluster of rambling, to summarize, it went like this.
First off, the position of Duke of the Southern Colony was taken by Kane von Sturmgarten.
The day after I declined the Duke’s position, Kane was dismissed from the Holy Knight Commander post and appointed as Duke; it seems there was no real choice in the matter.
With all the mess I’ve caused, it would be pretty tough for a while…
Yet, I figured Kane was just cleaning up the karma he accumulated himself.
Also, due to the increase in applications to join the Holy Knights, they requested my approval for an expansion plan.
I had no reason to refuse.
I would just need to stamp my approval, and Pelaine would select the good people and buy facilities and equipment to train them rigorously.
All I had to do was invest a bit of money in that process.
But wait, wasn’t something off here?
I originally invested in the Holy Knights to make money, but it felt like money was just flowing out…
‘Startups usually run at a loss, you know.’
I decided to let it be.
Later, when the scale of the Holy Knights dramatically increases, just holding onto the stocks would surely yield enormous dividends.
Their influence had grown a lot even now, but compared to what it would be at their peak, it was nothing.
“And finally…”
Lastly, it said that they could now send what I requested.
Upon reading that line, a smile naturally spread across my face.
I was worried they wouldn’t leave it behind, but it all turned out well.
“What’s so funny? Are you that happy to receive a letter from Pelaine?”
“…”
*Chuckles.*
A sharp finger poked my cheek.
Emilia was leaning against my shoulder, peeking out from behind the sofa.
“Yeah. There’s a lot of good news.”
“Ugh… By the way, has Pelaine changed a lot?”
“What do you mean?”
“Before, she used to write short letters with no frills, and her tone was really stiff. Now she’s talking about a cat sneaking into the barracks, and her writing style is so soft.”
“Is that so?”
I wasn’t really certain if her writing style had changed.
But the content had certainly increased.
In the past, she wouldn’t even fill half the letterhead, but this time it was filled to the other side.
But isn’t that because she just had too much to report?
“What could have caused Pelaine to change like this? Huh, big brother?”
“Who knows? Maybe she had a change of heart.”
“Ugh…”
Suddenly, Emilia tightened her grip around my neck.
Hey, she’s choking me!
Ever since yesterday, she got super sensitive whenever Pelaine came up.
Is it too much to be so on point with her character?
Traits I never even imagined while writing the original story were popping out from Emilia.
Should I take it that she’s an exceptionally talented actress?
*Ding-dong…*
“Oh. Delivery’s here.”
“Delivery? You stay put. I’ll get it.”
“Nope. You won’t be able to get it.”
“Huh…?”
It seems the thing I asked for had finally arrived.
I loosened Emilia’s arm and headed for the entrance.
Ooh, I could already smell it.
I tried to hide my expectation and burst open the door.
“Are you Schlus Hainkel?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“This is from the Holy Knights. Please take it.”
The deliveryman… I mean, the courier, handed me leather reins.
The reins were long, connected to a pitch-black horse.
When I looked up, I could meet its eyes.
The black horse that carried me from the South.
“Whoa… What is this?”
“My steed. I met him in the South.”
“Steed? Doesn’t seem like he likes you much.”
“…”
This guy.
Since I was looking away, he was chewing my hand hard.
But he wasn’t biting hard; it seemed he was just fooling around.
“Y-you can’t be serious that you want me to take care of him, right?”
“Well… since the garden is a bit big, how about building a stable over there, and you can manage him—”
“No way! Absolutely not! If that happens, I’ll quit!”
Emilia screeched, declaring a strike.
It was clear to anyone that she was being serious, not just acting.
Already, managing this wide mansion alone was making her exhausted, and if I made her take care of a horse… that would be beyond impossible, not just a problem of her low salary.
“I’m just kidding.”
“You scared me… please don’t joke like that.”
“Why are you surprised? I wouldn’t make you do such heavy labor.”
“That doesn’t sound like something someone who employed me for 3000 Tiryona as salary should say.”
“…”
I found myself at a loss for words.
It seems there was quite a bit of unresolved resentment against me.
“I should probably find a separate stable for this guy.”
Honestly, I didn’t need the horse right away.
I didn’t enjoy horseback riding.
But still, it felt like, as a knight, having at least one personal horse wouldn’t be too much to ask.
If I left the horse under stable management, it might forget about me, so I thought I should make some time for bonding with it occasionally.
“By the way, big brother…”
“Huh? What?”
“About Trie… um, never mind.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just forget it.”
“What’s the matter for real?”
Emilia hesitated, then suddenly turned away.
It was unusual for her to get distracted while talking.
Now I’m dying of curiosity!
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