To The Battlefield (4)

How much time had passed after that?

Sensing movement, I looked down at the place beside me. As expected, Victor had awakened and was staring at the ceiling. But he did not rise from the bed. His hazy eyes, reflected in the flickering candlelight, soon disappeared beneath his eyelids. After a brief silence, his breathing became even once more.

I silently watched the scene.

Victor had always been like this lately. He still woke at dawn, but he neither got up nor swung his sword. He merely opened his eyes for a moment before falling asleep again. It was proof that his illness was almost completely cured.

Even though my feelings toward Victor were tangled, this alone genuinely made me happy. I was glad that he was finally being released from those tiresome nightmares, that he was being freed from the illness that made him worry he might hurt others every night. It felt as though Victor could finally become truly happy, and only peace would come to the castle from now on.

I put down my sword and approached him.

Up close, his face looked nothing but gentle. It was a face I could never have imagined when we first met. The dark pressure and savage bloodlust that had formed my first impression of him had long since transformed into tender warmth.

A sudden hope occurred to me. Could we not truly live happily from now on? Before Victor’s cruelty had a chance to reveal itself again, could we not slowly learn about each other’s pasts and become an ideal married couple?

It was true that there were sides of him I had never known, but even so, he was so gentle.

Looking down at him, I made up my mind.

Tomorrow, I would tell Victor everything. That his illness was nearly cured. That once his busy work was finished, we might even travel together. That despite everything, I still wanted to know him better.

I resolved to make that confession.

But the next day, that hope shattered before I could even voice it.

It was dawn before sunrise. I suddenly opened my eyes at the faint sound of commotion.

It was not a sound I normally heard. Carriages, agitated horses, and people shouting. Though it was far away, I could hear it clearly.

‘What is happening?’

I was about to rush outside at once, but then I turned toward Victor, who was sleeping deeply.

Once he fell asleep, even considerable noise usually did not wake him, but……. Just in case, I closed the window through which the noise was entering, picked up my sword, and left the room.

There was not even a flying insect in the corridor. But the farther I descended the stairs, the louder the commotion became. When I finally reached the first floor, my eyes widened in shock.

“Bring hot water immediately! Medicinal herbs too!”

“There are many injured people! Move them one at a time on stretchers!”

“Are the rooms ready? What about ointment and styptic powder?”

“What in the world…….”

My mouth opened and closed like a fish.

The castle lobby was in complete chaos. The front doors stood wide open, and wounded, bleeding people were constantly being carried inside. The servants rushed about frantically, tending to the injured.

And among them, I spotted a familiar face and nearly fainted from shock.

“Katarina?”

The heir of the great southern noble House of Cattaleang. The owner of the wealthiest merchant company in the Empire. My friend Katarina lay on a worn stretcher, writhing in pain.

“Katarina!”

I ran toward her in a single bound. The attendants looked startled, but that was not important right now.

“What in the world happened…….”

“Amarion……?”

Recognizing me, she tried to say something, but grimaced and clutched her abdomen. My eyes widened at the claw wounds visible between her clothes. They were vicious wounds that an ordinary person might never see in a lifetime. Blood gushed from her abdomen as though several sharp blades had slashed her at once.

Healers rushed over and poured alcohol and blood-staunching powder over the wounds. Katarina let out a pained groan.

“My lady.”

When I finally tore my gaze away, Dideric hurried toward me. Before I could ask anything, the old butler explained.

“They are members of the Cattaleang merchant company. They said they were attacked by a horde of monsters while traveling to Mort.”

“Where?”

“In the border region not far from here. They said sand-colored monsters resembling bats flew in swarms and breathed fire…….”

“Gargoyles. But they do not usually form groups, so why…….”

I bit my lip.

Gargoyles were monsters that lived in caves in cold regions, distinguished by fire-breathing heads and claws as sharp as blades.

They usually appeared alone, so the merchant company’s escorts should have been enough to handle them. Why had this happened?

I had questions, but dealing with the situation came first. I hurriedly looked around. There were a great many injured people, but fortunately, under Dideric’s direction, the attendants were tending to them quickly.

Just as I had in Amari, I moved around and selected those with especially severe injuries, showing them to the healers. Every time I called, healers and servants rushed over at once.

“We will stop the bleeding, so clean this area first!”

At the healer’s words, the servants crowded around and began wiping away the blood. I quickly stepped back so as not to interfere.

I was deeply confused. After ordering the maids to bring out more ointment, I returned to Katarina for the moment.

“Are you all right, Katarina?”

Having finished receiving treatment, Katarina looked better than before. She nodded with difficulty.

“Yes. Thank you for taking care of my people, Amarion.”

“The attendants did everything. Do not force yourself to speak and rest for now. You must be in terrible pain…….”

I looked down at her with my brows tilted in concern. Since I only remembered Katarina smiling in dazzling banquet halls, seeing her like this was shocking in itself. But Katarina shook her head.

“No, I still wanted to thank you. If the people of Mort Castle had not helped us, we would all have died.”

“That cannot be……. What exactly happened?”

She sighed, her face covered in cold sweat.

“We were unlucky. We had finished trading with the Eastern Kingdom and were heading north along the border toward Mort when a horde of monsters unlike anything I had ever seen suddenly descended upon us. It was truly terrifying.”

After saying that, she bit her lip.

“Those enormous creatures breathed fire and tore apart the freight wagons……. Thanks to the Mort knights assigned as our escorts fighting desperately, no one died, but we had to abandon everything we owned and flee.”

Katarina coughed painfully. I quickly handed her a bowl of water. After moistening her throat, she looked directly at me.

“I never spare money when hiring escorts, Amarion. I always hire only the best. But to think they were enemies even Mort’s senior knights could not withstand—this is the first time I have ever experienced anything like it.”

Countless thoughts raced through my mind. I tightly gripped the sword in my hand.

It felt as though the ominous feeling I had experienced yesterday had suddenly become reality. It had not appeared on the map the mercenaries showed us, but when monsters’ behavior changed, their level of danger naturally changed as well. Gargoyles normally did not even leave their caves, but when they happened to encounter their own kind, they lived together. By forming a group like this, they had become far more threatening than usual.

But why had the gargoyles left their caves in the first place? Because they had not been hunted for a few years? That could not be it.

There was definitely something happening. Something extremely strange and dangerous.

I did not know what it was, but if the knights could not even properly contend with a group of gargoyles, there was no doubt they would be unable to endure it.

I did not know why Katarina thought so highly of Mort’s knights, but…… honestly, to my eyes, they were far too weak. If they set out on a subjugation expedition blindly, someone might be hurt. The thought made my insides burn with anxiety. Katarina had even ended up like this while coming to see me.

Guilt washed over me. I lowered my head deeply.

“I am truly sorry, Katarina. This happened because I invited you here…….”

“Why would that be your fault, Amarion?”

Katarina smiled. Even in this situation, she spoke in her usual confident tone.

“I merely wanted to taste Mort’s famous honey wine. You do have some, of course?”

“Yes. Once you recover, I will be sure to serve it to you. So until then, please rest well.”

I forced a smile.

Katarina nodded. Though she smiled back, her face was still haggard.

After giving her hand one final squeeze, I released it and rose.

Victor did not wake until all the injured had been taken care of. That was because I had repeatedly insisted that no one wake him. Even if his illness was nearly cured, I did not want to disturb his sleep.

Once awake, Victor quickly grasped the situation after receiving Dideric’s report. When he heard that the injured had been moved into empty guest rooms, their belongings unloaded, and their horses cared for, Victor sighed.

“You should have awakened me. You both must have been very busy.”

“No. More importantly, I have a request.”

“What is it?”

“Please include me in the monster subjugation force.”

At my words, Victor’s expression instantly hardened. He looked as though he had heard something he absolutely must never have heard.

After remaining silent for a moment, the Grand Duke asked,

“……Why?”

“Because I am worried.”

I answered simply, then explained in detail what Katarina had told me.

Even though the Cattaleang merchant company had been escorted by Mort knights, they had ended up like this, so the same thing might happen to the subjugation force. The situation could be more serious than it appeared on the map. In that case, it would help if I went along.

But Victor remained silent throughout. At last, he spoke.

“There is no need for you to involve yourself.”

“But.”

“I understand that you are worried, but my knights are not so weak. The forces we have planned will be sufficient.”

His tone was stubborn.