MFTR 80

Chapter 80

 Your Highness, Where Are You Now

“W-wait a minute. You’re saying Luke quit the knight order?”

Annette asked in shock, and Kardin’s face immediately twisted into a deep frown.

Fortunately, Zeon Millard—who had been tensely watching every detail—seemed uninterested in her reaction. But the moment Annette mentioned another man’s name, Kardin’s mood soured.

Come to think of it, she got injured protecting that guy, didn’t she?

Kardin, who already knew the entire roster and background of the Hayworth royal knight order, quickly recalled Luke’s details in his mind.

He had only seen him once—Luke was a rookie who hadn’t even been in the order for a year.

What did that guy’s face look like again?

All of a sudden, this Luke fellow began to gnaw at his mind.

It was because Annette had been injured that their marriage talks could move forward earlier than expected. He had only checked how badly she was hurt, without thinking too much about the circumstances.

After all, it wasn’t unusual for Annette to throw herself in harm’s way to protect those incompetent royal knights.

But… could it be that she actually likes him…?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, jealousy flared in Kardin’s chest like wildfire.

Clenching his teeth, he lowered his voice even more than usual.

“Anyway, it’s a relief. Since Your Highness has no intention of meeting them, I also have no intention of letting them see you.”

Hadn’t she just asked whether Luke had quit the order?

Seeing Kardin give a completely different answer to her question, Annette narrowed her eyes, but he ignored it.

“I’ll deal with them. Your Highness, please tell me what you want to do about Hayworth’s request for support.”

Annette froze at his words.

Her gaze darkened, weighed down by responsibility—or was it guilt? Kardin, afraid she wouldn’t speak honestly, coaxed her as if comforting a child.

“If you say the word, I’ll gladly send my knights to Hayworth without asking for a single condition. If you don’t want that, I won’t blink even if they offered me their entire kingdom.”

Annette stared at him with trembling eyes.

Instead of asking why, she whispered:

“Because you told me I could do whatever I wanted, without anyone’s permission?”

Kardin almost nodded instinctively.

“Except for going into that room.”

A suffocating silence descended between them.

Just as Annette parted her lips to speak, Kardin—holding his breath and staring at her—spoke first.

“Then think about it and let me know what you decide.”

“Wait…!”

But before she could stop him, Kardin had already fled the room.

Left alone, Annette sat there, blank-faced.

“I was going to apologize…”

She had been about to say she would never bring up that room again.

A hollow laugh slipped from her lips.

At that moment—

Zeon and Luke were seated in a reception room on the first floor of the main castle.

Hubert had politely returned their identity tokens, sent their horses to the stables, and escorted them here in his own carriage.

The distance from the castle gates to the main keep made the carriage ride an unexpectedly shocking experience for Luke.

But his awe quickly faded as the long wait dragged on, leaving him scowling.

“When are they coming? They leave us sitting here like this without a word…”

“We came unannounced. They could have turned us away at the door. Being made to wait is the least of it.”

“But still—Sir Millard, you’re here as the kingdom’s representative. Treating you this way is practically the same as looking down on Hayworth.”

That meant they were looking down on Princess Annette too.

Suddenly anxious, Luke recalled the sharp stares from the maid who had served them tea.

She hadn’t welcomed their presence one bit.

The servants of the Grand Duchy of Harzent had grown up believing that anyone from Hayworth was a bad person—after all, those people had never once congratulated their beloved lady on her birthday.

Not knowing this, Luke clenched his fist, convinced Annette too would be treated with disrespect.

But then his shoulders sagged.

“Why hasn’t the Commander—no, Her Highness—the Princess appeared yet? I thought she’d come as soon as she heard we were here.”

Zeon’s expression stiffened slightly.

Though he pretended to be calm, he too grew more restless with each passing moment.

Was she so ill that she couldn’t come out at all? But if so, why was she recuperating here at the Grand Duke’s estate?

His unease only bred more questions.

“This place is more ordinary than I expected,” Luke suddenly remarked.

Zeon blinked in confusion—ordinary? This opulent reception room was far from ordinary.

Luke lowered his voice.

“Well, the Grand Duke of Harzent has a fearsome reputation, doesn’t he? War-mad, bloodthirsty… oh, what was it again? Right—said to revel in slaughter. I thought it would be gloomy here, maybe with stuffed animals mounted on the walls, or monster corpses displayed everywhere.”

But instead, the interior looked “normal.” Luke brightened in relief.

He was trying desperately to find good things about the man who would, after all, become Annette’s husband.

Even if the Grand Duke’s people scorned Hayworth now, surely once they knew Annette’s true worth, they would change.

Or at least, Luke wanted to believe so. Because he just wanted Annette to be happy.

But his fragile hope lasted less than a minute.

“You’ve been kept waiting.”

The master of the castle threw open the reception room door without knocking.

And he was terrifying.

Though his golden hair shone brighter than an emperor’s, no one noticed it—overshadowed by the ominous black mask that shrouded his face. A predatory aura emanated from him.

Like prey cornered by a beast, Luke silently screamed.

Wh-what’s going to happen to our princess?

To think she had to marry such a dreadful man!

It even felt as if those piercing eyes were aimed only at him. Shuddering, Luke darted his gaze about, only to lock eyes again with that dreadful stare and nearly faint.

If looks could kill, he would already be dead a dozen times over.

“Your Grace, the Grand Duke of Harzent. I am honored. I am from Hayworth—”

“Yes, from Hayworth.”

Cutting him off, Kardin fixed his gaze solely on Luke.

Luke straightened, voice ringing with forced discipline.

“T-to be precise, I came from the Imperial Palace of Alcan!”

“The Imperial Palace?”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

Kardin’s brow twitched behind the mask.

“And your reason for coming here?”

“We… we came to see our Commander—no, Her Highness the Princess…”

Luke trailed off, then blinked.

“Wait… did only Your Grace come? The Princess didn’t come with you?”

You didn’t even treat her properly when you had the chance, and now you call her ‘our princess’?

Kardin bit back the urge to snap and replied coldly:

“I came alone. Is there a problem with that?”

“W-what? No, I just assumed Her Highness would be here…”

“Assumed?”

Kardin’s patience snapped.

“Why would my fiancée come to see you as a matter of course?”

“F-fiancée…?”

“That’s right. My fiancée. Soon to be my wife, the future Grand Duchess. Why?”

Well, because… she was our princess, our commander…

Unable to say it aloud, Luke mumbled under his breath, trembling under the Grand Duke’s glare.

Kardin snorted inwardly. That princess of yours said she doesn’t want to see you anyway.

In truth, she had said she couldn’t see them, but in Kardin’s mind, that had long since been rewritten as she doesn’t want to—and for his sake at that!

Still, if he wanted to drive them out, he couldn’t boast about his precious princess.

So he asked coldly:

“Do you not know my fiancée is recovering from illness?”

Luke’s eyes flew wide in shock.

“Oh, I knew… but is she so unwell that she can’t even move?”

“Exactly. So forget about seeing her. Say what you came to say, then leave.”

Kardin waved them off like peddlers.

But Luke, shaken by news of Annette’s health, grabbed onto Kardin in desperation, begging to see her.

It was looking more and more like he’d either be thrown out of the castle or tossed in a dungeon.

Zeon hurried to intervene.

“Luke, that’s enough. Your Grace, allow me to speak. I am Zeon Millard, knight of Hayworth’s royal order.”

Kardin, who had been prying Luke off his leg, gestured curtly. Speak if you have something to say.

Zeon, surprised by his unexpected willingness, studied him carefully.

He hadn’t expected Annette’s condition to be so severe—or for the Grand Duke to deny them even a glimpse of her.

A foreboding chill gripped his chest, but Zeon forced himself to think rationally.

It would be unwise to bring up Annette directly. He needed to discuss the official matter of the royal family’s request.

Such decisions couldn’t be made immediately; even the Grand Duke would need time to consider.

That would give them a chance to see Annette later.

But when Zeon finally opened his mouth, what came out was—

“Your Highness, where are you now?”

Words that betrayed his reason.