I was able to hear a different answer only after facing Ayla, who had a look on her face as if she were pondering whether or not to choke me, for about an hour.
“Anyway, there’s still a bit of time before the Baron leaves.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then let’s have a little sparring session. I want to clear my mind.”
“Understood.”
I thought as I watched Ayla, who walked out ahead of me.
It’s going to be tough, the sparring session.
And it went exactly as I expected.
Ayla charged at me with a small sword, knocking me down seven times.
At first, she made a few attacks with the sword, then she just rushed at me, tripped me with her legs, and knocked me down with her hands.
In the end, when I blushed slightly, Ayla looked down at me with a disgusted expression.
Thud.
No matter how it was, after knocking me down seven times, Ayla seemed to be a bit drained, and she collapsed onto the spot.
Her posture was similar to how Ayla looked after a fierce fight with me.
I also knocked Ayla down several times. Just like she did to me, I had knocked her down with my martial arts a number of times.
It would be a lie to say I had no ill intentions. If Ayla, who was serious about swordsmanship, had read my mind, she would have punched me hard in the stomach.
“Do you think the Empress would come all the way here?”
I couldn’t answer.
What would the Empress do if she found out I was here?
The Empress isn’t a fool. She knows very well the impact of her actions.
For a king of one country to visit another nation is an enormous political move. It’s not just a simple friendly visit.
Since the Empire is relatively centralized, it wouldn’t be such a big issue for the Empress to visit another territory, but the kingdom is different.
The royal family holds significant power, and the military strength is immense, but there are still many large and strong territories in the kingdom.
Depending on which territory the Empress visits and how long she stays at the lord’s residence, the kingdom’s perception would change.
If the Empress comes to meet ‘me’ and stays here for a long time, the situation will become seriously complicated.
Not only the kingdom’s politics but also the Empire’s.
The Empress wouldn’t come all the way here just to ‘meet’ me.
“Alright. Let’s think differently.”
Ayla said as she ran her hand through her hair.
“What if she’s trying to send a message to you?”
“Are you saying she’s revealing that I’m here?”
“Maybe not that, but perhaps she’s trying to reveal that you… hmm, ‘exist.’”
Ayla, not knowing who I am, may have come up with this plausible assumption.
“You mentioned you hunted a dragon.”
“I helped with the hunt.”
“Should I ask more details? Maybe with some orders mixed in?”
Seeing that I couldn’t respond, Ayla gave an expression that seemed like she was getting tired of this. I felt hurt again.
Whether I showed any sign of it or not, Ayla continued the conversation.
“Anyway, you wouldn’t deny that you made an achievement. If you were a man and didn’t hold great power, the Empress would have been so moved that she would have tried to make you her husband, right?”
“You can’t deny it.”
“Sorry.”
“Why apologize?”
Ayla said.
“It’s just that your past was unbelievably complicated. Right? You only tell me a small part of it.”
Ayla’s complaints were so justified that I couldn’t say anything in response.
“Let’s just observe the situation for now.”
Ayla said that and lay down on the spot.
Dragon Slayer.
Across the Empire, the Kingdom, and many Eastern countries, stories about ‘dragon hunting groups’ are quite common, even if they are not mythical or fairy-tale creatures.
Dragons and disasters have one thing in common: wherever they pass, only ruins remain. And the longer it lasts, the more the entire country becomes devastated.
The difference is that dragons, unlike disasters, have will. While they can’t communicate, dragons always have desires, and they can be as greedy as any human.
Sometimes, dragons will side with humans, or some may simply leave to live in isolation, not caring about others, but there are times when dragons insist on imposing their will on humans.
If two greedy beings conflict over something limited, the end result is that one of them dies.
In history, dragons have burned down small kingdoms, or, on the other hand, have been killed by powerful knight orders or hunting groups.
Such stories appear once or twice every hundred years in a kingdom’s history book. And globally, there are many more cases.
However, if an ‘individual’ slays a dragon, the story is different.
There are no real-life examples. Maybe in mythology or fairy tales, but in reality, dragons are beings that make it impossible to face them alone.
If I had received the help of the forest witch, and even if my whole body burned and melted, I wouldn’t die as long as I didn’t die instantly, and if I had received the assistance of numerous magical tools, and borrowed the sword passed down as a national treasure of the Empire, the story would be different.
But unfortunately, not many people in the world can receive all that support at once.
Naturally, after I killed the dragon, the Empress tried to keep me.
She didn’t directly mention marriage. She only tried to bestow me a title. So, maybe after some time, she might have considered making me her lifelong close aide.
Politics is complicated in many ways, and there are often nobles who hold titles from multiple countries at once, but I had no desire to do that. From the beginning, I didn’t go to gain merit; I truly needed the dragon’s head.
The “magic that changes fate” that I requested made the witch, who laughed at me, recite the “necessary materials,” which included the dragon’s head and heart.
What would Ayla say if I told her I killed the dragon myself?
Would she be moved? I don’t know. She might look at me as if she were getting tired of it.
…
Like Ayla, I became confused and just lay down on the floor.
We remained like that for a while, feeling drained and blank.
After lying down for a while, I got up and saw Luna standing there with a perfectly normal expression.
Seeing her calm expression made Ayla feel a little frustrated. After all, she was the one who dragged all the events into the political vortex and pushed Ayla right in the middle of it.
But despite feeling angry, Ayla was surprisingly not filled with disgust.
Ayla, who would normally despise being in such a situation.
“Let’s go back to the room. I don’t know when the Baron will leave, and I can’t greet him in this sweaty state.”
After barely regaining composure, Ayla said, and Luna respectfully bowed and followed her.
“…Do you think you can solve it?” Ayla said.
“I’ll make sure to solve it.”
“Really?”
Ayla felt a firm determination in Luna’s voice and didn’t feel the need to say more.
“Then, do your best.”
“Yes. I’ll put my life on the line.”
“You throw your life around too carelessly.” Ayla snorted.
Then, she realized the source of the “strange feeling.”
It was relief.
Relief from the fact that there was someone nearby willing to risk their life to help Ayla.
Still, Ayla didn’t know why. No matter how she looked at it, Luna’s actions didn’t make sense. Even when he was with Ayla, he—
Was that it?
The last thing he said was “I will protect you.”
Did he not realize that leaving with Ayla would be a sacrifice of his life? Or was he just testing her?
Ayla wanted to believe that it was sincere, and that was what she did. She told herself that it was only because she rejected him that he left.
Ayla was now comparing him with Luna. She continued to doubt Luna’s intentions and couldn’t fully trust him, yet kept repeating it to herself.
“Next time you go into the bathroom, make sure to take off your outer clothes.”
After Ayla’s words, Luna went into the bathroom with her clothes on. Was she thinking that Ayla had forgotten to point it out?
“When you leave, there will be water left on the floor. Luna, you seem to try your best to wipe it, but it’s not perfect.”
It might not be something to worry about.
“Isn’t your goal to become a perfect maid?”
“Sorry, Ayla.”
Ayla couldn’t understand why Luna suddenly complained.
It was just that, for some reason, she wanted to.
When she was with Luna, her words often became lighter. It felt like it was okay to do so. She wanted to act spoiled and childish because Luna accepted everything.
Even though she thought that she might be betrayed someday, she still felt that it might be okay, and she didn’t overthink it.
So, this was all Luna’s fault.
Ayla decided to think of it that way.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.