153. Spoils of War (1)
A night of snowstorms.
The little girl who was looking out the window began to take her steps.
Step by step slowly.
I went down the stairs to the cluttered floor below.
“Stop the bleeding! Stop the bleeding!”
“Here is someone who can use healing magic!”
“Wrong. The inside has been ripped apart and the whole intestine is bleeding…”
“Call the councilor! Hurry up!”
A fishy smell.
I didn’t know at the time, but now I know.
The clear smell of blood was vibrating throughout the hallway.
The skimpy little girl’s shoe made the pool of her blood pulsate.
Her shoes were painted red and her socks were getting wet, but that was no longer on her mind.
A place where knights gather in front of you.
Although she couldn’t see anything inside, she instinctively felt it even at that young age.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
“What?! Your Highness! It’s dangerous here! You should evacuate quickly-“
“Hands off!”
As the knight came running and tried to hug her, the girl’s booming voice rang out.
“You should avoid it though-“
“Keep out of the way or I will rule you with impiety.”
“Your Highness…”
No one could resist the girl’s bluff.
As the girl walked along, her knights noticed her one by one, then moved out of her way.
Tears began to form in the corners of the girl’s eyes as she finally made her way through the crowd to the inside of her.
“Father!”
“Ah…”
My father was lying there, clutching at his bloodied belly.
My father, whose face was as pale as that of a corpse, heard the voice and smiled faintly.
The girl burst into her cry and rushed in, clutching her father’s hand.
It was cold.
It didn’t seem like it was my father’s hand that was always warm.
“Father! Who is this! Who the hell…”
“My dear. Come closer, my dear.”
“Father…!”
The girl who was screaming with excitement stopped her crying.
My father’s eyes didn’t look this way at all, and his arms were floundering in the air.
Realizing that she couldn’t see her eyes, the girl couldn’t scream any more, she just nodded and swallowed her cries.
Ignoring the blood on her hands, the girl lay down in front of her father and held her ear close to her mouth.
“Time seems running out.”
“Don’t say that, Father.”
“Listen carefully.”
“Keep it up································”
“Trust no one. No one but yourself…”
“Dad?”
Her voice cut off.
The wrist she was holding slipped from the girl’s slender hand and fell with a thump.
Touching her father’s cold cheek, the girl who was dazedly stunned-
“What are you doing! Don’t let Her Highness escape!”
“But His Highness told me not to touch…”
“The pitiful things! Get out of the way!”
“Huh huh?”
I was suddenly lifted up by someone.
The girl who fell away from her father suddenly had to look over her broad shoulders to watch her father slip away.
“Let go! This is an order! I told you to let go!”
“I can’t do that, Your Highness.”
“I will rule you with blasphemy! I will punish you severely! Let go of your burdens now!”
“Sorry, Your Highness.”
She cried and cried, hanging on her shoulder.
The girl who cried until her throat was hoarse…
“Heo Eok!”
She finally woke up from her dream.
A cold sweat was forming on his forehead.
She lifted the covers and pulled herself up.
“Huh…”
Gulp.
I took the cup next to the bed and drank water.
It was a dream I had for a long time.
The day my father passed away absurdly due to an invasion by a single crow.
I still remember the events of that day vividly.
Her hand holding her cup trembled and a trickle of water leaked out and ran down her chin.
“Your Highness Hwangtaeson. Are you okay… Kyaaak!”
Then, when the door burst open, Hwang Tae-son’s body reflexively reacted.
He quickly picked up the dagger he had placed under his pillow and threw it at the door.
As the tip of his sword stopped right in front of his nose, the attendant screamed in surprise and fell backwards.
The man who stopped the sword, the guard, held the blade in his hand and looked down at the attendant with an expressionless expression.
“For you to open the door to Your Highness’s bedroom recklessly. You are fired. Pack your things and leave the palace in the middle of the night.”
“Eh, yes?”
“You have to say it twice to understand.”
“Oh no…”
At the escort’s cold eyes, the attendant ran away and disappeared.
The guard poked his head through the open door, roughly bandaging his cut palm.
There was Hwang Tae-son, who was covered in sweat and breathing heavily.
“Your Highness. Are you okay?”
“It’s okay… It’s okay, so go away.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The escort lowered his head and closed the door.
Once again alone, Hwang Tae-son sat on the bed and hugged his knees.
“Trust no one······. No one······.”
While repeating the prince’s will, the prince chewed his lips.
Why did his father leave such a last word?
Maybe the enemy is much closer than you think.
Her eyes widened as she pondered.
***
A letter came from the South.
As soon as I opened it and saw the font, I could immediately tell who sent it.
It was a handwritten letter from none other than Fellain.
-How are you, Mr. Schluss? I am writing a letter to report on my current situation. The South is currently very stable…
Well, it was a messy story, but to sum it up, it was like this.
From noble mtl dot com.
First of all, the position of Duke of the Southern Colony was taken by Kane von Sturmgart.
The day after I turned down the duke’s position, Kane was dismissed from the position of commander of the Imperial Knights and appointed to the duke’s position, but they said he had no choice.
There are so many things I’ve done, so it’s going to be a bit difficult for a while…
Still, I decided to think that Kane would pay off the karma he had accumulated.
Also, as the number of applications for joining the Holy Knights increased, they asked me for approval of the plan to increase the Order.
There was no reason to refuse.
If you just give them a stamp of approval, Fellain will select them with good character, buy equipment in a good facility, and train them rigorously.
All I had to do was invest some money or money needed for the process.
Oh. But something was strange.
Obviously, the investment in the Holy Knights was to make money, but why does it seem like the money is only going out…?
‘A startup usually suffers from a loss.’
I decided to do this as well.
If the size of the Holy Knights grows inexhaustible later, the dividend will drop tremendously just by holding on to the stock.
His prestige has grown a lot even now, but it was nothing now compared to his heyday.
“And…”
Finally, they say they can send me what I asked for.
When I read that passage, a smile spread across my lips.
It was a pity to leave, but it was a good thing.
“What’s so funny about it? So happy to get Mr. Fellain’s letter?”
“·······.”
Cook-Cook.
The pointed fingertip pressed against my cheek.
Emilia was leaning on my shoulder from the back of the sofa.
“Yes. I heard a lot of good news.”
“Huh… By the way, has Mr. Fellain changed a lot?”
“What?”
“In the past, I only wrote short stories and the writing style was very rigid. Now there is a story about a cat that crawled into the military camp, and the writing style is very soft.”
“Is that so?”
I’m not sure about the story that the style has changed.
But there was definitely a lot of content.
Previously, I didn’t even fill half of the letter paper, but this time I was filling up the other side as well.
But maybe it’s just because there’s a lot to report.
“How did Mr. Feline change like this? Huh, brother?”
“Well, it must have had a change of heart.”
“Huh…”
It seems that the arm that is wrapped around your neck suddenly gains strength.
Hey. I will choke
Since yesterday, whenever I heard about Fellain, I was overreacting.
I wonder if it’s too faithful even if it’s faithful to the concept…
Characteristics that I hadn’t even imagined when I was writing the original story kept coming out of Emilia.
Is it okay if I accept him as a person capable of acting in such a variety of ways?
Ding-dong······
“Ah. It must have been delivered.”
“Delivery? Brother is sitting. I’ll pick it up.”
“No. You won’t get it.”
“Hmm…?”
It seems that what I asked for has finally arrived.
I untied Emilia’s arms, got up and headed for her front door.
Ah. I can already smell it.
Hiding my anticipation, I slammed open the door and went out to the front door.
“Are you sure Schluss Heinkel?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“This is from the Imperial Knights. Take it.”
The courier… No, the jockey handed me the leather reins.
The reins were long and connected to the black horse.
I looked up and our eyes met.
With the black horse that rode me in the South.
“Wow… What is this?”
“My favorite horse. I met him in the South.”
“You seem to hate your brother for being a Rottweiler?”
“·······.”
This bastard.
He was chewing on my hand while I was selling my eyes.
But it wasn’t that I really hated not biting too hard, it was like I was joking.
“Sir, you’re not going to ask me to raise you, are you?”
“Hmm… The garden is rather large, isn’t it? If you build a stable over there and take care of it-“
“No! No! Then I’ll quit!”
Emilia screamed at her guts and declared her strike.
Anyone can see that this is not acting, but sincerity.
You look like you’re overworked managing this large mansion by yourself, but if you’re going to take care of the horses…
It’s not that the salary is low, it’s physically impossible.
“I’m kidding.”
“Your heart was broken… Please don’t make jokes like that.”
“It’s surprising. I can’t make you do such hard work.”
“I don’t think the person who worked for me while paying 3000 Tyrion per month didn’t say anything.”
“·······.”
Her mouth fell shut.
Anyway, it seemed that the resentment accumulated in me was quite large.
“I’ll have to find a stable somewhere and leave it there.”
To be honest, this wasn’t necessary right away.
It’s not like I enjoy horseback riding.
Still, I wondered if there should be at least one privately owned horse, even though it is a knight in name.
As long as I leave the stable to manage it, he might forget me, so I thought I should take some time to get to know him from time to time.
“By the way, brother…”
“Huh? Why?”
“You know Triae. Maybe… Oh, no.”
“What is it?”
“No, that’s fine.”
“What is it really?”
Emilia hesitated and then suddenly turned around.
Since we finished talking, it wasn’t usually something that bothered me.
I’m dying of curiosity.