LLTEEFM 119

#119. A Single Encounter

Of course, this operation required time.

After all, I couldn’t very well go to the barbarian village myself.

So every day, I followed the locations where the boy, said to be the chieftain’s son and spotted by Tula, was likely to appear.

In the worst-case scenario, I had even prepared to skip school without excuse after the vacation ended. Fortunately, I managed to meet the boy before the vacation was over.

Considering the time it would take to return, there was exactly one day left until the deadline.

“…Is there a problem?”

Though still a boy, he had been trained as a warrior; his shoulders were broad, and his arms solid.

Despite all the trees in the mountains, his skin was surprisingly untanned.

His gaze was sharp, yet his eyes looked innocent.

I brought my hand to my ankle and gave him a worried expression as he looked down at me.

“My leg… it got caught in a trap…”

Blood ran from the deliberately inflicted wound on my ankle. The boy’s eyes widened.

“Oh. You’ve gone down the wrong path for a hunter.”

He hurriedly took a water canteen from his waist and poured water over the wound.

As I had suspected when he first spoke, Tula’s assessment—that he was favorable toward the kingdom—was correct.

Otherwise, even if I were injured, he wouldn’t have bothered to tend to me.

“Ah…!”

I shrank back and cried out. This wasn’t pretending—the pain was real.

I just had to endure it.

“Hold still for a moment. We need to wash the dirt off.”

After cleaning the wound, he took a cloth from around his neck and tightly bound it around my ankle.

It was the best that could be done under the circumstances, without medicine or anything else.

“You should see a doctor soon. How did you get here?”

“I rode a horse, but I lost it. While I was here, it seems to have wandered off somewhere.”

Of course, that wasn’t true. The horse was probably grazing idly on a nearby plain. If the boy had merely passed by me, I couldn’t really have lost the horse—it was needed for the ruse.

‘To win a man’s favor, you have to trigger his protective instinct. You must look helpless unless he intervenes.’

Alright, let’s see how this goes.

How would this boy react to a helpless, pretty girl who’s alone, caught in a trap, and lost her horse?

The boy hesitated before asking,

“Are you from a nearby village?”

Naturally. Would a girl in a dress live on the plains?

But I understood why he asked such an obvious question, so I delivered the prepared lie.

“Yes. I came to visit someone I know during the vacation… I only planned to get some fresh air, but things turned out like this…”

The lie was unnecessarily long and detailed. I even prepared a story about how nobody knew I had come and that I’d get in big trouble if I didn’t return by dinner.

I believe lies are more convincing when they contain as few false elements as possible, so normally it wouldn’t have been this long—but this was Tula’s advice.

Apparently, long, detailed lies can be more effective with children.

I obediently followed her guidance.

“I was foolish…”

I recited the prepared lie, just as the Count Griff had taught me, with sorrow and vulnerability, as if the boy held my fate in his hands—a choice I could never imagine on a battlefield.

Surprisingly, the boy was cooperative.

“Can’t be helped. I can’t take you all the way to the village, but I’ll get you close. Just avoid the guards’ line of sight, and you’ll be fine.”

If he had been trying to kidnap me for ransom, all my preparations would have been useless. Yet his answer was simple and straightforward.

Are children normally this well-behaved, or is this the Count Griff’s charm at work?

Having had conflicts with children repeatedly in my previous life, I found his cooperation astonishing.

“We’ll still have to walk a bit… but it’s better than walking all the way from here.”

The boy led me to his horse and helped me mount it. Perhaps because it wandered the mountains, it was a smaller, nimble breed.

Trying to maintain an obedient, calm impression, I stayed silent, but the boy spoke first, perhaps thinking I was uneasy.

The conversation was trivial, but it provided valuable information that Tula couldn’t have observed from afar.

Before long, we reached the village walls.

Being close to the barbarian village, the walls were sturdy and well-built.

“This is as far as I can go… Can you manage from here?”

The boy looked apologetic, but I found his concern overwhelmingly considerate.

Winter raids by the barbarians had already occurred, so the villagers were on high alert. Considering he was the chieftain’s son, this was truly a risk on his part.

I wasn’t in mortal danger, only had a minor injury, and yet… he went this far. I almost suspected ulterior motives.

“This is already more than enough. Thank you so much.”

From an objective standpoint, there was no political intent in the boy’s eyes.

“Truly… you’re like a savior to me.”

Yes. I could consider my plan successful. I trusted my judgment of people and lowered my guard.

“As a small token of thanks… would you accept this?”

I untied the ribbon from my neck.

It was a simple piece of high-quality cloth, no elaborate decoration.

“What? It’s nothing. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Seeing him hesitate, I pointed to the cloth around his ankle.

“As an exchange for this.”

The boy seemed thoughtful for a moment.

“…Alright. If it makes you feel better.”

I wrapped the ribbon around his wrist, subtly brushing his arm as I did so.

“I’ll treasure it.”

Of course, that was my line. I nodded toward the cloth around his ankle and smiled shyly.

“Whenever I see this cloth, I’ll think of you.”

A meaningful remark and an exchanged token. A single encounter.

This was different from meeting the emperor after spending seasons together and building feelings.

There was no battlefield intensity, no blood and screams leaving a lasting impression.

This wasn’t my usual method. I normally take time to reason out how to win someone over. I don’t rely on chance meetings with no benefit.

Yet Count Griff had lectured me on how meaningful first love in childhood can be.

No matter how clumsy or irrational, a man clings to that emotion for life.

Of course, she referred to the Archduke cherishing me, but I interpreted it differently.

Since I couldn’t maintain regular contact or immediately give him what he wanted, relying on this fleeting emotion seemed the best option.

If by chance—or fate—the boy is affected by me and remembers this feeling, then when I return in four years, the memory of his “first love” might make him cooperative.

Of course, it’s not guaranteed.

I had been a good student of Count Griff, but that only meant I had learned her methods well, not that I was persuaded by her logic.

I still couldn’t be sure if I could truly become the boy’s “first love,” if he’d remember a single encounter after four years, or if it would help when I made my proposal then.

But trying couldn’t hurt.

At least it would be more useful than using this charm to flatter the Archduke.

“…I will. I’ll think of you whenever I see this cloth too.”

And that’s why I could smile at the boy, even though I didn’t entirely trust his words.