Chapter : 7
When he opened his hand, he saw a small, soft object resting in his palm.
“What is this? A piece of tree resin?”
“《— —.》”
The northern attendant exclaimed something and promptly stuffed the lump into Jack’s mouth.
“Ah—your fingernail hit my teeth.”
Jack frowned, about to complain, when an unfamiliar sensation spread across his tongue—a taste he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
It was sweetness.
“Whoa… What’s this? It’s even sweeter than sugar beet. I think this is the first really sweet thing I’ve eaten since coming here.”
“《—!》”
Seeing Jack happily chewing, his would-be lover excitedly wiggled his fingers.
The knight realized he had reacted far too enthusiastically and briefly pouted before replying in awkwardly pronounced Northern speech.
“《Thank you.》”
“《—……!》”
Ugli’s already long, snake-like eyes narrowed even further into delighted crescents.
Jack felt uncomfortable around him.
Of course, it was only natural to feel uneasy when a foreigner suddenly stole your first kiss for no apparent reason, declared himself something like your lover, and started following you everywhere.
But that wasn’t even the biggest problem.
Jack had gone out of his way to avoid interacting with the barbarians of the castle as much as possible. He had been trying to hide how well he understood their language.
But Ugli, who seemed to have nothing better to do than trail after him whenever he had free time, had probably realized by now.
That Jack’s Northern language skills were no better than a toddler’s.
Did he tell the lord…?
Since Jack still couldn’t bring himself to trust the inscrutable lord of the castle, the thought filled him with anxiety.
But he was too afraid to tell Aspa.
Jack was the sort of employee who would put off reporting bad news to his superior until the very last moment—only to get chewed out like a dog once everything had already exploded.
Besides… by now, hasn’t he figured out that I wasn’t confessing to him back then in the first place?
He swallowed the last of the sweet treat in his mouth and spoke.
“Hey.”
The sticky sweetness still lingered on his tongue.
“《Why… do you like me? You… like me?》”
Jack pieced together the broken Northern words with great effort.
At some point, Ugli had sat beside him, leaning against the railing. Tilting his head, he looked at Jack curiously.
“I mean… sure, I’m an incredibly handsome guy, but you don’t even know me… Well, okay, I am good-looking. But honestly… am I really that handsome? Maybe?”
Embarrassed, Jack mumbled in the Southern language, fully expecting Ugli not to understand a word.
“Rather than handsome, you’re more on the cute side.”
“That’s not true. I’m a fearsome knight. A man, and—”
…
Huh?
“Hey… You… You just spoke Southern, didn’t you? You can speak Southern?”
Jack sprang up from where he had been leaning against the balcony railing.
He stumbled from standing up too quickly.
By the time he regained his balance, Ugli had already flashed him a cheerful smile and disappeared into the distance.
“W-Wait…! Hold on!”
A large room with a table pulled close to the blazing fireplace.
There, Aspa studied financial reports and copies of maps with a troubled expression.
“Sigh…”
“This really is hopeless…”
He desperately wanted to establish his position here by producing some sort of political or economic achievement.
Unfortunately, his strengths lay almost entirely in social etiquette and paperwork.
Neither skill was particularly useful in this remote backwater masquerading as a capital city.
No local specialties. Poor geography. Every neighboring tribe is already allied with us, so there isn’t even anyone left to raid. And we don’t have the money or troops to expand south…
He was beginning to understand why the central kingdoms simply ignored the northern barbarians.
The weather was brutal, the journey was long, and once you arrived there was nothing worth taking anyway.
It was like trying to strip the meat from a chicken’s rib.
The villages are ridiculously far apart too. What kind of population distribution is this?
Aspa examined the map.
This explained why Gerse looked less like a king and more like the chief of several tribes, despite having united them into one nation.
The north’s population density was astonishingly low.
The capital, where the palace stood, was the largest settlement, yet the second-nearest village lay nearly thirty ri away.
“I wish I knew exactly what’s in all this empty space.”
He tapped the blank areas between the villages on the map.
“I’d need Jack to ask around… Where has that little brat wandered off to?”
Standing, he looked down from the balcony.
Just moments ago, Jack had been lying on the ground below, lazily scribbling away at a letter.
Now he had vanished.
Probably off chasing rabbits again, that reckless fool.
Aspa decided to visit the treasury office to see whether they had a more detailed map.
He rose from his chair and reached for the doorknob.
The moment he threw the door open, his nose collided squarely with a broad, muscular chest.
“Oof!”
Clutching his nose, Aspa looked up to see what he had run into.
Standing before him was none other than his enormous husband.
What’s this giant doing standing in front of someone else’s room like a palace minister? It’s not as though he understands Southern. Was he trying to eavesdrop?
“What brings you here? Jack isn’t around to interpret at the moment.”
Emphasizing “Jack” as clearly as possible, he crossed his index fingers to indicate that the boy wasn’t present.
“《— — —?》”
The lord muttered something in a flustered tone.
No idea what he was saying.
“Ah, Lord.”
“《—, —…….》”
“If you have enough free time to visit your wife’s chambers at this hour, then perhaps you’re not too busy. In that case, let me ask you something.”
“《—?》”
“I want to learn more about this place. This…”
He tapped the map.
“《Map.》”
“I need a more detailed one.”
“《— —?》”
Using the few Northern words he knew, Aspa pointed at the map as he spoke.
The barbarian king frowned deeply, looking down at the map, then back at Aspa’s face.
He repeated the motion several times.
Whether he was hesitating or simply trying to understand the question, his expression remained impossible to read.
Then he abruptly turned and strode down the opposite end of the hallway.
What was that?
After taking several steps, the king stopped halfway down the corridor and looked back.
Seeing Aspa still standing there blankly, he beckoned with one hand.
“You’re telling me to follow you?”
After a moment’s thought, Aspa hurried after the lord.
“If you’re escorting a lady, you should at least offer her your hand.”
3
Gerse led him to the stables.
Removing the cloak draped over his own shoulders, he wrapped it around his wife before effortlessly lifting Aspa by the waist and placing him onto the saddle.
Remembering the time he had ridden with Jack, Aspa instinctively scooted toward the rear of the saddle.
He assumed the lord, being the one who knew how to ride properly, would find it easier to control the reins if he sat in front.
Instead, Gerse seated his wife in front and pressed Aspa’s back firmly against his own chest.
Ah… Is this actually the proper way to ride?
“《—… — —.》”
The man tapped the map still clutched in Aspa’s hands as he spoke slowly in Northern.
Aspa still couldn’t understand the words.
But he could tell the man was deliberately speaking as slowly and clearly as possible.
“You mean… we’re going there ourselves?”
“《— — —…….》”
“You really do have plenty of free time, don’t you? I won’t refuse.”
Aspa nodded and leaned back, resting the back of his head against the broad chest holding the reins.
So that’s why he looked so displeased every time Jack and I rode together.
Recalling Gerse’s icy stare—the kind that looked ready to strike someone down with sheer force of will—Aspa smiled inwardly.
It must have bothered him that much because we’d been sitting incorrectly.
As expected of a king who spent his life on the battlefield.
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
The horse charged across the snowy plains.
The wind, heavy with icy moisture, stung his face.
But the rest of his body was shielded by the man’s powerful arms and broad torso, so despite the horse’s speed, he wasn’t particularly cold.
The horse gradually began to accelerate.
Then Gerse gently pulled on the reins, calming it.
The chestnut-colored horse settled into a steady pace.
Compared to the spirited ride with Jack, this one was much slower.
We could go a little faster. Doesn’t the king of a nation value his time?
There was no way to communicate the thought.
So Aspa simply closed his eyes and enjoyed the rhythmic motion of the horse beneath him brushing against his thighs.
I wonder if that bastard knows.
He thought as they rode.
That thanks to him, I’ve been able to see such a vast world and actually enjoy it.
If he knew, he’d probably be furious.
The great shaggy horse continued galloping across the endless snowfields.
To someone born on a small island nation, the northern wilderness stretched farther than imagination could grasp.
Good grief. If someone dumped a corpse out here, no one would ever find it. It’s wonderful for riding, though. Still… at this rate, I doubt our destination is anything remarkable.
Aspa leaned his head back and lifted his chin toward the sky.
He saw Gerse’s face, reddened by the freezing wind.
Beyond him stretched an endless expanse of pure white sky.
“I never realized the world could be this vast.”
Thoughts of home drifted into his mind.
His tiny childhood room.
His mother’s suffocatingly narrow world.
Memories of family that made his chest tighten.
And the strange absence of homesickness.
Closing his eyes once more, he listened to the steady heartbeat resonating through the broad back supporting him.
The horse continued running across the snow for a long, long time.
