ACMAR 06

Chapter: 06

Henrik leaned comfortably back into the sofa once again, wearing a languid expression. The cold, tense atmosphere seemed to loosen in an instant.

“You are misunderstanding one thing. I cannot make such a deal with a woman who is not even of age.”

“Your Highness…”

A sigh of dismay escaped me before I could stop it. I had no intention of being rude, but I could not help myself.

“I am twenty-two years old this year.”

At that moment, I saw the knights standing behind Henrik widen their eyes.

“I heard there are three princesses in this country, but I have hardly heard anything about the youngest.”

I wanted to clear up this serious misunderstanding first.

“The King of this country will tell you. I beg you to advise him accordingly.”

I rose from the sofa and bent my body like a maid.

It was difficult to say that the northern Kingdom of Bwendorfka was immediately superior to the Kingdom of Francia in military power or in any other respect. Given my status, there was no need for me to plead this desperately.

But such an attitude was likely to make the other person lower his guard and feel sympathy.

“Please take me with you, Your Highness. It would be difficult to find a woman as suitable as me. I bear the name of the Kingdom of Francia and the Calgary royal family, and I will never betray you, Your Highness.”

“I will not deny that you possess a useful ability. There must have been a reason why the southern general rose to such prominence.”

“Yes. He made full use of my ability as well.”

That did not mean I needed to maintain such a servile attitude for long. I immediately straightened my body and looked at Henrik with a firm posture. His vivid violet eyes gleamed as he asked,

“And yet you received this treatment. Was it difficult for you to foresee this with your ability?”

His words struck rather deeply. In truth, my regret and resentment stemmed from that very foolishness. Henrik had every reason to be skeptical about the usefulness of my ability.

Rather than confessing my own foolishness, I chose to smoothly turn the conversation toward something else.

“That was my loyalty, Your Highness.”

I stood proudly, imitating the bearing of a knight.

Henrik had experienced the battlefield, and even now he was in a position where he commanded knights he trusted. In front of them, he could hardly criticize my devotion and loyalty.

“Then you mean to say that you carry the blood of this royal family, and that you served so devotedly under the duke. And now you say you will be loyal to me. What will you swear by?”

Perhaps naturally, there was not even the slightest trace of sympathy or lowered vigilance in Henrik’s voice.

That cold attitude was probably part of what had earned him the nickname of the Black Dragon of the battlefield.

To him, who was asking a reasonable question as a ruler, I gave the words I had prepared without the slightest hesitation.

“If I betray you, cut off my limbs at once and leave only my tongue and my mirror. Even if I am tortured, I will reveal everything.”

Having spoken sincerely, I felt Henrik’s gaze slowly scan me once again.

“You are thin enough to look younger than you are.”

I knew very well how I must have appeared to him. Henrik was probably thinking that if he applied even a little force, someone like me would break easily.

“Your Highness, use me as a tool for your sake. I ask only one thing. Please take me to Bwendorfka.”

It was easy for me to appear like someone who was not afraid of death. In truth, I was not terribly afraid of death.

My life and heart were already broken. Would adding one more thing, death, really change anything?

Even if this ended in death, I would simply do my very best to accomplish one single goal.

“…”

Henrik remained silent for quite some time.

To me, it felt like a positive sign. Ever since he had met me, he had never hesitated and deliberated so deeply.

“I will think about it. I will give you my decision tomorrow.”

Ah, it worked!

I smiled without hiding my joy. He would watch me clench both hands tightly and make his own judgment about me, but I did not care.

A woman who was useful to him. As long as I could appear even slightly like that, it was enough.

I felt satisfied because I seemed to have accomplished that purpose to some extent during our very first meeting. I bowed politely.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Atillenta, who had entered this annex pleading for help, quietly withdrew after their conversation ended.

“Your Highness. You listened to her for quite a long time.”

Lord Krakow spoke with an impassive expression.

“Wouldn’t it be interesting if she were an assassin?”

Henrik, who had been leaning against the sofa, shrugged. Despite having just spent considerable time deliberating over an unfamiliar foreign princess, Henrik looked completely relaxed.

“You knew from the beginning that she wasn’t.”

“That made it even more interesting.”

Henrik naturally accepted the cigar Lord Krakow handed him and placed it between his lips. The cigar hanging loosely from his lips looked precarious, quite unlike its owner’s relaxed and leisurely attitude.

“I think it could be a coincidence. But it would also be difficult to dismiss it as an outright lie.”

Henrik looked at his loyal subordinate, Lord Krakow, who, just as she had said, was secretly going through a difficult situation.

‘That knight has feelings for Your Highness’s younger sister.’

Henrik knew as well. He knew the feelings of his adjutant, who was secretly in love with his engaged younger sister.

The fact that a woman who did not even know his younger sister, let alone ever set foot in the northern kingdom, had seen through it at their very first meeting was more than enough to pique Henrik’s interest.

Of course, it was also unusual that a princess who had skipped the banquet hosted by this country’s king had come knocking late at night on the annex where a foreign prince was staying.

A woman who was welcomed by no one here had ultimately decided to join hands with a foreign prince. That, too, was interesting.

“That is a wise judgment. If what she says is true, let her go there and prove herself. If she is unnecessary, simply send her back.”

The master Lord Krakow knew had always been like that. Even on the harsh battlefield, Henrik had always given prisoners at least one opportunity to change sides.

“If she is useful, it is right to make use of her. There is no doubt that that man named Antony became famous for a reason.”

“If it really was thanks to her.”

Lord Krakow had a firm belief. It was true that the woman had offered strange deductions and explanations, but he was certain that Lord Henrik had not completely abandoned his suspicions.

Although the woman had such a fragile appearance that she seemed incapable of properly holding even a sword, it was certainly possible for a trained spy like that to exist.

“We still haven’t properly grasped the situation in the south.”

That was also the reason for their visit here this time: to eliminate such unknown variables.

“You’re right. Still, I find her rather bold. Who would simply enter my room like that? Hmm?”

Henrik gave a faint smile. To think that she had come straight to his bedroom with that skinny, frail body of hers.

She was incomparably bolder than the women who had sent daring looks and touches at banquets in their homeland in an attempt to seduce the prince.

And then, the words she had spoken were—

‘If I betray you, cut off my limbs at once and leave only my tongue and my mirror.’

In Henrik’s homeland, no woman had ever uttered such words. The men he had met at political and social gatherings were no different.

It had been a very long time since Henrik had encountered such a strong and cold determination.

On the battlefield, only very rarely had an utterly unyielding prisoner ever expressed something like that.

Just kill me instead.

‘Even that prisoner probably didn’t mean that he wanted me to torture him. Usually, people just want things to end cleanly.’

“Heh heh…”

At first, it was merely a light chuckle through his nose, but eventually a deep laugh escaped Henrik.

“She does seem rather quick on her feet.”

His adjutant, Lord Krakow, added a remark of his own. He knew well that what Prince Henrik needed was a capable person.

The prince was someone who would do anything and use anyone if it meant accomplishing his objective. Whether that woman was truly useful was something they could simply observe and judge.

Lord Krakow glanced at the newspaper lying on the table. Apparently, rumors were spreading that this visit was for a peace treaty between the northern Kingdom of Bwendorfka and this southern country. But in reality, it was the opposite.

Still, one could not expect to receive everything from the beginning. The small pieces of information obtained at the banquet and the unusual woman’s request—these were satisfactory results in their own way.

Suddenly, Lord Krakow wondered whether that woman would be able to survive in Bwendorfka’s social circles.

In a place where a succession struggle was taking place between two princes, there was no need for anyone who could not survive.

“She wouldn’t be a bad worker, either.”

Despite the exhausting schedule of the day, there was not the slightest sign of fatigue on Henrik’s face. Then, in his usual casual voice, he passed judgment on her.

Lord Krakow realized that his master had decided the woman’s fate.