Chapter 42

The entire castle was abuzz with talk of the dragon.

And for a moment, because of this, even the members of the Penal Unit enjoyed a certain level of popularity.

The curious maids and the soldiers who’d seen the dragon’s corpse at every chance would find a boy soldier who witnessed the subjugation scene and pester him for stories.

‘Look, I’m telling you I saw it with my own eyes…! That bastard Kylo flew through the sky…!’

‘Oh my, oh my…!’

The maids, in particular, were quite captivated by this tale.

I hadn’t expected it, but the story of having slain a dragon was spreading more intensely among the women than among the men.

‘Perhaps it’s things like this that make knights yearn for honor,’ I thought.

The boy soldiers, whose lust had already been surging, tried to use that story to get closer to the maids, and a few of them even succeeded in their goals.

Some of those who had enjoyed a good time with the maids would approach me and thank me.

“Kylo, if you ever need anything...! I swear I’ll help you!”

“...”

I could guess what they’d done before coming to say this, so I always found them a bit repulsive and kept pushing them away.

Still, people’s views of me had changed quite a bit as well.

This too was a main change triggered among the maids.

If before, many unfamiliar maids would wrinkle their brows at me upon sight...

Recently, quite a few would greet me first, or even smile coyly.

The sense of distance had lessened as well; fewer maids would scurry away when I approached, and some even matched their pace to mine as we walked.

Just yesterday, one about my age waved her hand, then blushed and ran off.

I can’t say I disliked the feeling of hostility turning into goodwill.

Of course, that didn’t mean I was getting close to the maids.

Not that I had any intention to do so, but there was another issue: Vivian’s attitude before.

‘...Who told you to look after Kylo Allen?’

Everyone remembered how furious Vivian had been when Rona, who’d been somewhat friendly to me, offered to change my bandages.

Considering that Vivian normally didn’t get that angry, the maids must have been doubly shocked.

Rona, who was big, hardly ladylike, and had just tried to help, ended up crying back at the quarters later on—so, well…

…That crazy bitch.

I thought of Vivian.

Was changing my bandages really such a crime?

I’d even saved her from the dragon; was that too much to ask?

Was holding her against the cold such a terrible wrong? To the point, I have to do my own bandages?

If I’d returned from such hardship, shouldn’t common decency demand some repayment?

In any noble house, bringing down a dragon would naturally earn you a generous reward.

Yet I got nothing—no, worse than nothing. I had to tend my own wounds.

No matter if I’m a hostage here, this seemed excessive.

The fact that Vivian led this stance only made it more infuriating.

Yet what frustrated me even more was that despite being so irritated, I just couldn’t bring myself to truly hate her.

Why can’t I hate this crazy bitch?

Thinking back to when we caught the dragon: it’s not as if I acted bravely. I moved because I feared Vivian would die if I didn’t.

It was always like that. I never moved out of courage; I moved because if I didn’t, she would die.

I’m always annoyed, but I’m always moving, too.

…At this point, I seriously suspected I might be cursed.

That suspicion gnawed at me.

Vivian had been busy lately.

I didn’t know what she was discussing with Robert Rondor, but she spent a lot of time with him.

Sometimes I grew too curious to bear and lingered near the meeting room where they stayed, but of course, as the eldest son of the Allen family, I wasn’t allowed to listen to their talks.

If it were just Vivian’s usual attendants blocking my way, I might have forced my way through somehow.

But Robert’s retainers were tougher and more stubborn, so I always had to back down.

It was now the tenth day since the expedition ended.

At that time, I hadn’t exchanged a single word with Vivian.

At most, we sat together at mealtimes.

Even then, Robert would express his displeasure, though he seemed to calm down somewhat after Vivian spoke to him.

‘Kylo Allen is checking the food for poison on my behalf. It’s a fitting task for the Allen family’s eldest son, no?’

Of course, I knew Vivian was just saying that.

At some point, she’d told me not to bother checking her meals anymore.

But hearing something like that without any easing of the hostile atmosphere between us still made me momentarily annoyed.

Sometimes, Vivian would glance at me as if gauging my mood, but that didn’t ease my frustration.

I was strolling around the Rondor castle.

With the expedition over, the Penal Unit was rewarded with a break under the name of “honor,” and thus there was no training. I enjoyed a calm routine.

Vivian’s attendants seemed busier thanks to Robert, and thus didn’t bother me either.

It was peaceful, so long as I didn’t think of Vivian.

“Ky, Kylo-nim!”

At that moment, someone called out to me from ahead.

It was that maid who’d been waving at me lately, the one around my age.

Brown hair. A face full of freckles. A youthful look. Slightly shorter than me.

Behind her stood a few older-looking maids, whispering something to her over and over.

Taking a big breath, with a resolved expression, the maid approached me.

But once she stood before me, she couldn’t meet my eyes again.

Her face flushed red as she spoke.

“Th…this…”

She extended her hands to offer me something.

Two cookies were cupped awkwardly in her palms.

“I, I made them myself… f-for when you’re a bit hungry…”

“...”

I’d heard stories like this from Willas.

Yanes had said something similar as well.

I knew the maids sometimes approached the boy soldiers this way.

I also remembered the excited faces of my comrades as they shared their experiences.

...But strangely, I felt nothing in particular about this maid’s approach.

I was only impressed by her courage.

Had she not heard about Vivian and Rona?

If Vivian caught sight of this, it wouldn’t bode well for her.

I looked at the cookies and said:

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Ah…! Ah!”

As if realizing her mistake, she hurriedly tucked her brown hair behind her ear and shyly replied:

“M-my name is Serena… I’m, I’m 16 years old.”

I felt no urge to try anything with Serena.

Still, I didn’t want to cruelly reject this first clear sign of goodwill I’d encountered in Rondor Castle.

So I gave a perfunctory smile and accepted the cookies.

“Thanks. I’ll eat them during training.”

“Ah, yes!!”

At my smile, Serena’s face brightened, her lips twitching upward happily.

She turned to leave at once, but at the distant urging gestures of the other maids, she looked back as though remembering something.

“Ah, right… um…”

“...?”

Serena still couldn’t look me in the eye. Her face reddened too much.

Covering her eyes gently with her hand, she trembled slightly as she asked:

“U-um, if… you have time tonight… c-could you come to the s-stables—”

“—What do you plan to do in the stables?”

Just then, a familiar voice cut in between us.

I turned toward the source of the voice.

Red hair.

Breath-taking beauty.

A recently grown height. Recently lengthened legs.

…and recently, a bosom that was beginning to bud, the lady of Rondor.

Vivian Rondor approached, looking straight at me from afar.

Her eyes gleamed with a frosty chill.

I had no idea what could have made her so angry.

No, I did know.

She was my enemy and hated to see me living comfortably. Still, did she need to be this openly hostile?

The older maids who had been coaching Serena fled the moment Vivian appeared.

Serena too, realizing the trouble she was in, stiffened, her face going blank.

Vivian calmly walked up and stopped right in front of me, looking up at me.

Those red eyes looked as if they were ablaze.

“…What?”

I asked, seeing her stand there in silence. Vivian averted her gaze.

And then, looking at Serena, she asked:

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“S-Se...Serena, my Lady...”

Though Serena addressed Vivian humbly as “my Lady,” it didn’t spare her from Vivian’s fury.

“...Didn’t I gather all of you once and warn you not to look after Kylo Allen?”

…Had she really gone that far? I was astonished.

Vivian’s voice grew harsher.

“...The son of the man who killed my father and brother... You’re going to tend to him without my permission?”

“L-Lady Vivian...!”

“Should I consider you a traitor to House Rondor? Does a fool still exist who doesn’t understand my hatred toward House Allen?”

“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please, just give me one more chance...!”

Vivian, looking for somewhere else to vent her anger, noticed my hand.

–Tak!

She snatched away the cookies I was holding and flung them right out the window.

Serena’s cookies soared through the air in an instant.

The sight of those cookies flying so pathetically would have been slightly humorous under different circumstances.

I let out a hollow laugh and asked:

“...What are you doing?”

At my question, it seemed Vivian finally came back to her senses.

She looked out the window, regaining her composure, then spoke to Serena:

“Go. Don’t ever do something like this again. And tell the other maids. I’ve turned a blind eye so far, but if you all keep sullying the atmosphere of Rondor Castle... I won’t forgive it any longer.”

“Y-Yes, my Lady!”

With Vivian’s permission, Serena fled in a hurry.

Vivian looked up at me.

She spoke, as if in warning:

“You keep forgetting... these maids are Rondor’s maids, not yours.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then why...!”

“Do I look like I gave them orders? They approached me on their own.”

“...”

I asked her in return:

“Why are you acting like this, over and over?”

Vivian instantly clammed up.

“Was holding you that big of a crime? Our bodies have touched a few times already.”

“W-What?”

“I saved you from a dragon, yet you can’t even allow something so small, and instead you’re throwing a fit? Then you shouldn’t have complained about the cold. Shouldn’t have shivered. You acted like you wanted help, and now you blame me for everything?”

“...That’s not it.”

She denied my words, averting her gaze.

“What do you mean it’s not? You’ve been acting strange ever since then.”

“I said it’s not...! I just...”

Vivian looked at me. Her expression didn’t seem to be hiding anything. Rather, it was clear confusion written all over her face.

She spoke.

“...I just... whenever I see you smiling, I get angry. I don’t want to see you happy.”

“...”

Vivian shook her head slightly, then looked up at me as if accepting a fact.

“I told you not to think of being happy in this land, didn’t I? Already forgotten? How many times do I have to say you need to be miserable?”

She then blushed and pressed on:

“And, did you really think you’d get to have s-s-sexual experiences? D-Disgusting. Are all men like that? You’re not even an adult yet, but you’re already letting your lust toss you around like a monkey?”

“...Who said I wanted that?”

“A-Anyway. It’s dirty. Vulgar. Barbaric. Disgusting.”

“...”

She showed such open hostility that I had nothing to say.

It wasn’t a secret that there was enmity between us. Maybe this was the natural reaction.

Perhaps it was my own fault for thinking we’d gotten closer.

But what am I supposed to say about her getting angry just from seeing me smile?

“...”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

I tried to get angry but hesitated - tried to be annoyed, but stopped.

I had nothing to say.

I stared hard at Vivian.

…That crazy bitch.

Even now, I still couldn’t hate her.

This was driving me insane.

I wasn’t sure if I was the crazy one or if it was Vivian.

To top it all off, I unbelievably found myself thinking how silky Vivian’s hair looked today.

With nothing left to say, I turned and left.

“...Where are you going...!”

Vivian called irritably from behind, but I ignored her.

***

That evening, I faced Vivian again.

An awkward atmosphere from the afternoon still lingered between us.

Robert Rondor wasn’t dining with us tonight.

Today, he would dine with his own retainers, or so I heard.

It turns out Vivian had been asking Robert for financial assistance.

As the lord of a port city, Robert seemed to have some wealth.

In return, Robert requested to be granted a regency-like position. Vivian, however, was currently refusing that proposal.

It was a suspicious request.

Was he really trying to help House Rondor out of concern, or was there another motive?

From my point of view, it was obviously the latter.

But Vivian never discussed such political matters with me.

The information I had just now was squeezed out of Nestor, the intelligence officer.

Vivian seemed to truly want to rebuild the family; she wasn’t confiding in me like before.

“...”

“...”

I continued my meal, thoroughly ignoring Vivian.

Vivian also ate in silence, thoroughly ignoring me.

Though we were both ignoring each other, in truth, we were more conscious of each other than ever.

Each move registered at the corner of my eye.

Eventually, Vivian broke the silence.

“...In a few months, some guests will be visiting.”

“...Again?”

As if there weren’t already enough people bustling around because of Robert.

Vivian nodded.

“...The young ladies of the Dubos family are coming as guests.”

The Dubos family.

One of the subordinate houses loyal to Rondor.

Maybe they were laying the groundwork for social activities.

“So? Why are you telling me about these guests?”

“I heard they’re both beauties. An older sister and a younger sister.”

I had no idea why Vivian was telling me this.

She looked up at me. Our eyes met.

“...If by any chance you get all, h-heated, like you did today... and d-dampen my meetings with them...”

“...Are you nuts? Did I invite a maid to the stables or something? Stop spewing nonsense.”

–Thud.

I put my spoon down as a warning, and Vivian immediately shut her mouth.

It felt like she was slowly learning more about how this castle’s social fabric worked, and her imagination was running wild. She kept seeing me in a strange light.

...Sure, it’s a well-known fact that boy soldiers and maids often have those kinds of relationships, but lumping me in with them rubbed me the wrong way.

Maybe she was shaken because Serena had tried to call me to the stables earlier.

Could that explain her extreme reaction to the hug as well?

It was hard to believe that someone so seemingly innocent could entertain such wild thoughts.

Whatever the case, after my sharp rebuke, Vivian continued eating as though she didn’t know what I was talking about.

I wiped my mouth and stood up.

Annoyed once again, I intended to leave her behind.

“...Kylo.”

But Vivian called out to me.

She wasn’t even looking at me.

Vivian took something out of her pocket.

Unexpectedly, she pulled out two cookies.

“...”

“...”

Without a word, she handed them to me, then wiped her mouth and rose from her seat.

She left the hall before me.

Left behind, I quietly looked at the peace offering she’d given me.

***

Three months passed.

I’d finally caught up to Martin in height.

It had been almost two years since I arrived in this land.

I turned sixteen, and Vivian turned fifteen.

We were both slowly growing into adults.

And as Vivian steadily matured into adulthood, the ladies of the Dubos family arrived.

– – The End of The Chapter – –

 

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