Chapter : 9
If she did not help him, they would both remain trapped here forever.
“……”
The man looked at the little bride for a moment—perhaps for quite a long time. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he walked over, took hold of the reins, and lifted her onto the saddle.
《– ―.》
“Ah, thank you.”
The two of them mounted the horse and settled into position once more.
“Let’s go back. 《― – ―》, right?”
Aspara smiled brightly at her husband, as though proudly showing off her Northern language skills.
Gus gave no reply.
At the same time, Jack was searching all over the castle in pursuit of Ugly, who had run off.
“This place must have dirt-cheap land prices, because it’s ridiculously huge!”
He finally managed to catch up with the fleet-footed attendant on the awning above the castle’s first floor.
“Who the hell are you?! And why are you running away?”
“Well…”
Jack looked around. Before he realized it, they had climbed into a secluded, shaded corner atop the awning.
Standing in this isolated place that he had wandered into on his own, he remembered the warning his older sisters had given him before he left for the city. They had told him to be careful of adults who tried to get him alone in secluded places.
“Y-You immoral barbarian! A noble knight of House Bell won’t fall for such an obvious trick!”
“I see. Then, honorable knight of House Bell, where is your lady right now?”
Jack gasped, his breath catching in his throat.
Ugly burst into laughter as though he found the sight absolutely hilarious.
“Don’t worry. If even the tip of your lady’s finger gets hurt, every knight in this castle will lose a hand. There isn’t anyone safer in this area than your lady.”
It wasn’t an empty attempt to reassure Jack. It was simply the truth.
“Quit changing the subject. You speak Southern perfectly, don’t you? Who are you really?”
“If you’re calling me suspicious because I’ve been hiding my way with words, you’re not much different. Isn’t pretending not to know something you actually know a lighter offense than pretending to know something you don’t?”
“Well…”
Ugly took another piece of that familiar sweet from his pocket and held it out.
“Here. Catch your breath first.”
Exhausted from sprinting, Jack accepted it while trying to maintain a guarded expression. He chewed it slowly before swallowing.
He really has no problem accepting food, Ugly thought.
Is this guy a knight or a stray puppy?
“I know I seem suspicious, but I have no intention of hurting anyone. I’m a pacifist. Besides, I rather like you. That’s why I accepted your completely unromantic confession.”
“I never confessed! And besides, you should like my lady, not me! You’re supposed to be a servant of the royal family, aren’t you? You should be admiring my lady and promising not to harm her—not me!”
“Hahaha. So it’s okay if I hurt you?”
“I’m my lady’s knight. Knights can get hurt while doing their duty.”
While licking the sugar stuck to his teeth, Jack answered as though the question were obvious.
“…Anyway, I don’t intend to serve as your interpreter. At least not for a while. If you don’t keep my secret, then I’ll expose yours.”
“So now you’re threatening a noble knight of House Bell? I thought you said you liked me.”
“I do like you. Isn’t sharing secrets romantic? Couples are supposed to have things like that.”
“Stop twisting words.”
Even as he said it, Jack secretly liked the idea.
Lovers sharing secrets.
He couldn’t help himself. He was an avid reader of cheap romance novels.
More than anything, Jack was exhausted.
Not just because of the chase moments ago.
The past several days, spent practically surviving alone in an unfamiliar castle, had worn him down inside and out.
“But… still… I want you to help my lady.”
He looked at the barbarian who had suddenly declared himself his lover.
The other man was looking back at him.
His snake-like eyes made him hard to trust, yet whenever he laughed because he found Jack amusing, that smile somehow felt genuine.
“Fine, barbarian. I’ll tell you another one of my secrets, so listen carefully.”
Feeling the lingering sweetness in his mouth, Jack sat down beside Ugly.
“My lady… no, I… Since we’ve come this far, you’ve probably already guessed… but the reason I became her personal bodyguard knight… was basically a joke.”
“A joke.”
“Yeah. In the southern palace, there’s the Second Young Master, whose personality is absolutely rotten. He’s famous in high society because he loves pairing people together. He had quite a reputation as a matchmaker for noble families, but he also enjoyed pairing together people who weren’t noble.”
He was talking about knightly honor just moments ago. Is calling someone ‘that damned Second Young Master’ really acceptable?
Ugly thought so to himself, but outwardly he merely continued smiling.
“My lady and I… we’re only connected because of one of his pranks. Every year, the castle holds a martial tournament to assign bodyguard knights. The first-place knight becomes the eldest young master’s guard. Second place becomes the eldest young lady’s guard, and so on.
“I came in last…
“And when the Young Master saw me, he said, ‘Since you’re the worst knight here, you’re a perfect match for Aspara, the youngest.’
“Everyone gathered in the arena laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.”
“Hmm. Sounds like he really is a bastard.”
“How dare you speak about the Young Master like that!”
Jack exploded in anger.
Didn’t you call him that first…?
Ugly almost pointed it out, but instead swallowed the words and apologized with a smile.
“Anyway… My role was originally to die quickly.
“When the day eventually came that my lady had to disappear, I was expected to defend her with everything I had… and then die alongside her as quickly as possible. That, they said, would be my honor as a knight.
“They said that even if she was only the youngest daughter, letting her die like a stray dog without even a single knight protecting her at the end would disgrace the family.
“At least… that’s what the Young Master who appointed me believed.”
Jack paused for a moment, searching for the right words.
“It doesn’t really matter anymore.
“Anyway, when I was left behind and would have been executed by the Second Young Master, my lady believed my lies and used every last bit of strength she had to insist on bringing me north with her.
“So I absolutely cannot let my lady discover my secret.”
Ugly thought to himself,
What in the world is he talking about all of a sudden?
“I’m asking you… as my lover. Out of affection and honor.
“If you don’t want to reveal your secret yet, then I’ll keep it too. You probably have your own reasons.
“But someday… you have to help my lady in my place.
“That’s our promise.”
Hmm… Is he like this because he’s an idiot?
Ugly kept that thought to himself as well.
Silence settled beneath the awning.
The longer it lasted, the more anxious Jack became.
When he finally saw Ugly nod, he smiled.
Still stunned by the sudden flood of information, Ugly quietly stared at his… lover—or something close enough.
He had only intended to tease the cute little knight while his master was away.
He had never expected that a relationship begun as nothing more than a joke would be taken so seriously by the other man.
“Thank you. One last question.”
Ugly nodded.
He assumed Jack was finally going to ask why he had hidden the fact that he could speak Southern all this time. In his head, he had already prepared countless slippery answers to dodge the simple knight’s questions.
Jack opened his mouth.
“Um… do you have any more of that sweet thing from earlier?”
“Hah!”
The sudden release of tension made a strange sound escape Ugly’s throat.
“Well… since your lady won’t be attending tea today, I could probably grab another one from the kitchen.
“Want to come with me?
“I’ll teach you how to steal food from the kitchen while we’re at it.”
“Knights don’t steal.”
Ugly laughed.
“You’ll have to learn little things like this if you want to survive here.
“You’re going to be here for a long time.”
Gus found the Southern knight with the awkward way of speaking irritating.
It wasn’t because the man was close to Aspara.
The young knight, with his vacant-looking eyes, seemed even frailer than the kitchen servants in the northern castle.
His fluttering eyelashes, utterly unfitting for a warrior, annoyed Gus.
So did his curly blond hair that made him look more like a village maiden than a knight.
Entirely without personal feelings, as one warrior judging another, Gus simply couldn’t stand him.
As someone responsible for leading soldiers, it was only natural that an incompetent man irritated him.
Gus was absolutely not a narrow-minded husband.
Although…
He didn’t particularly like how the man always stayed close to Aspara simply because they came from the same homeland.
He also didn’t particularly like how casually he behaved around a woman whom Gus himself hardly dared touch.
Still, in a strange foreign land, that knight was the only person Aspara could truly speak with.
Naturally, he would be the one she confided in whenever she missed home or voiced her frustrations.
Don’t worry about it, Gus told himself over and over.
And the one who had conveyed to him—on behalf of his frightened wife—that she wanted to go home that day…
That part… I do respect.
Even Gus had gained a measure of respect for Jack after seeing him stand before that barbarian king without averting his eyes while delivering such a dangerous message.
Clop. Clop.
The sound of hooves echoed through the valley.
Stone road.
They had left the snowy fields behind, and the stone road leading back to the castle began to appear.
《You have returned, Lord of the Castle. Lord Ugly said it would take another three hours—》
《Open the gate.》
《Yes, my lord.》
The gatekeeper’s words brought back the disappointment Gus had tried so hard to forget.
His heart, which had floated so high only moments ago, sank even deeper.
It was a secret, but the flower field upon the snowy plains was one of Gus’s greatest prides.
Just like the hidden truth that the castle’s towering spire—known as the Fang Tower—had actually been designed in the image of a flower, it was a secret he kept buried deep within his heart.
