To The Battlefield (3)

The two mercenaries quickly exchanged glances. Shorty looked at me once, then at Raul, before speaking.

“Our side suspects it is because the Mort Knights were away from the territory for so long. The knights, who normally would have steadily subjugated monsters, spent years on the battlefield instead.”

“……I heard that before the war, the knights’ main duty was monster subjugation. Naturally, problems would arise if a force of that size remained absent for so long.”

Raul agreed as well.

But I could not shake my doubts.

Was that really all?

Monsters were living creatures too, and they had ecosystems of their own. Since their numbers were affected by the weather and natural predators, there was a limit to how much they could increase. It was far too strange for their numbers to multiply this much or even for their habitats to change simply because they had been left alone for a few years.

There had to be something else. I did not know what it was, but if I could go and see it for myself…….

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded from behind me.

“Marion.”

I drew a short breath.

Familiar footsteps and the musky scent I loved slowly approached. Soon, a large hand wrapped around my shoulder.

“I heard you had visitors.”

The low voice spoke.

I slowly turned my head and called his name.

“……Victor.”

The Grand Duke gave me a silken smile. I secretly swallowed.

It had been a very long time since I had encountered Victor during the day. He looked strangely tired. His body beneath the black shirt was as firm as ever, but shadows he could not hide lay beneath his eyes.

Yet his characteristic elegance remained unchanged. He naturally sat down beside me.

“I hope I have not interrupted your conversation.”

“Not at all, Your Highness.”

Lanky replied uncomfortably. Unlike before, they clearly found Victor difficult to deal with. Then again, both the circumstances and the atmosphere were entirely different now.

He gestured for the mercenaries, who were trying to rise and offer a proper greeting, to remain seated. At the same time, his golden eyes swiftly scanned the map.

“You were discussing the monsters’ movements?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“As expected, mercenary maps are more accurate. Does your company also believe that the increase in monsters was caused by Mort’s inadequate defenses?”

The mercenaries looked surprised. Their expressions showed that they had not expected the lord to admit his own failure so readily. But they skillfully concealed their agitation.

Lanky answered.

“We cannot be certain, but yes. There is no other convincing explanation. It is already well known that Mort failed to carry out proper monster subjugations over the past few years while the knights were away.”

“The reports I received said the same. What is the situation outside Mort?”

“It is similar everywhere. The monsters’ habitats have changed, and monsters rarely seen in the north, such as fire wolves and sunflower dracas, have occasionally appeared as well.”

Victor studied the map for a long while. Then he said,

“I plan to dispatch subjugation forces throughout Mort soon. If the subjugations are completed before the wheat farming begins, it should ease the mercenaries’ concerns as well.”

“But would that not be dangerous?”

Unable to hold back any longer, I interrupted.

I was troubled by the thought of sending such weak knights into places swarming with monsters. There were so many of them. Would the knights truly be all right on their own?

Victor quietly explained to me.

“The most dangerous monster in this region is an urg, Marion. The knights have slain them dozens of times. Even if their habitats have changed, the subjugation should not be difficult.”

“But.”

“As I told you before, my knights are not that weak.”

I forced myself to swallow the words that were about to emerge.

Yes, something felt ominous, but that was merely my intuition. If most of the enemies were wolves or dracas, even the knights should be capable of killing them, and if it was something they did every year, there should be nothing difficult about it. Even if they encountered an urg, they could somehow handle it if there were enough of them.

In the end, I nodded. Victor smiled with only the corners of his lips and looked at the mercenaries once more.

“……It seems we are mostly finished. May we take our leave now?”

The mercenaries, who had been carefully watching us, nodded.

When Victor rose, I stood as well. Etiquette dictated that one should rise when one’s spouse did. In truth, I wanted to speak with them a little longer, but by this point, I had heard everything there was to hear.

Victor offered one final courtesy.

“Thank you for coming all this way. Thanks to you, I will not need to send a separate scouting party. Please inform your company of the subjugation plans as well.”

“……Understood, Your Highness.”

“Come again when things are more peaceful. You will be welcomed as my wife’s guests.”

He elegantly tipped his chin and headed toward the drawing room door.

I instinctively started to follow Victor, then suddenly turned my head.

The mercenaries were staring intently at me. Their subdued, unreadable gazes moved between me and Victor’s retreating back.

Suddenly, Lanky blurted out,

“I will not ask why you are in a place like this. Since it is you, I am sure you have your reasons.”

“…….”

“Call for us whenever you need us.”

After speaking, she bent deeply at the waist. It was different from their exaggerated greeting earlier—a stiff and solemn mercenary’s salute. I watched the sight with surprise and nostalgia.

It was a rare sight. One I had only seen upon the snowfields of my homeland.

I nodded in return, then left the drawing room.

Victor and I walked silently down the corridor.

I was still turning over the questions I had felt earlier.

How had the mercenaries known me? I was certain that the Troll’s Right Calf was a mercenary company I had never hired.

The monsters’ condition, which was even stranger than I had expected, also bothered me. I did not know much about Mort’s defense system, but if things were that severe, there must already have been considerable damage.

Would the knights truly be enough?

At that moment, a low voice sounded beside me.

“It has been a long time since we walked together like this.”

I stopped and turned toward Victor. Eyes like molten gold quietly watched me. Up close, the exhaustion I had only glimpsed before was unmistakable. A question escaped me before I realized it.

“Have you not been sleeping properly?”

Victor’s expression became strange. He shook his head.

“No, that is not it.”

“That is a relief.”

“You…….”

He bit his lip as though he had been about to say something. A flash of pain crossed his beautiful face. Avoiding my gaze, he changed the subject.

“The next time you meet guests, tell me in advance. I am still worried about you meeting outsiders.”

“They were people you had met before as well.”

“Were they……. In any case, please do so. I am afraid you might be hurt.”

I quietly looked up at him. Tenderness dripped from his gaze. They were eyes that made me want to forget every doubt and confusion.

I closed my eyes tightly, then opened them and asked the question I had wanted to ask for several days.

“Have you been eating properly?”

“…….”

Victor said nothing. It was a question to which we both knew the answer.

I quietly urged him,

“Please eat properly. Do not keep skipping meals just because you are not eating with me.”

In truth, I wanted to say something else. I wanted to tell him that we should eat dinner together and talk about what had happened that day, that we should simply return to the days at the capital residence when we had been happy every day.

But I still had not reached a conclusion. I did not know how to face the unfamiliar and cruel man I had never known.

As though he understood even that, Victor gave a small nod.

“……If that is what you wish, I will.”

“…….”

“I will see you tonight.”

Victor drew my hand toward him, kissed the back of it, then left.

I remained standing still, watching his broad back. My chest felt so tight it seemed ready to burst.

The late-summer night came slowly. After finishing dinner alone, I went upstairs to the mistress’s chamber and bathed. The maids quickly brought cooling ointment and massaged it into my neck.

Mort was relatively cool, but even so, as a northerner, I found the Empire’s summer difficult to endure. That was why the servants found ways to drive away the heat for me every day.

“That feels cool. Thank you.”

At my words, Mary bowed her head with a flushed face.

“Not at all, my lady. We merely wanted to help, even a little…….”

Ah. I thought I understood what she meant. I gave a bitter smile.

Their mistress had remained dispirited for the past several weeks, so they must have been deeply worried. Guilt washed over me for causing such young girls concern.

After changing into a thin shirt, I patted the maids’ heads and headed toward the bedroom.

Before long, Victor appeared. I put aside the book I had been reading and looked at him. The body visible through his thin robe was still captivating, but instead of blushing and fastening his clothes for him, I merely turned my gaze away.

He lay down beside me, and the lights went out. For a while, only faint breathing filled the room.

“……Marion.”

“Yes.”

I turned my head. Moonlight filtering through the curtains faintly illuminated Victor’s profile. It was still an unbearably beautiful sight.

“Sweet dreams.”

I quietly nodded.

“You too, Victor.”

No reply came. Only the sound of insects filled the silence. Curled up beside him, I stared toward the other side of the room.