Chapter 48
“Uh, huh?”
Viaton wasn’t easily flustered. But today, he couldn’t help it.
“Kiruen, why are you here?”
“Shouldn’t you be asking if I’m okay first?”
“You look perfectly fine?”
The two were acquainted.
To be precise, they were former lovers.
In their late teens, they started dating. And as time went by, they naturally drifted apart.
Viaton was busy in his own way, and Kiruen was busy in hers.
No one had to say, “Let’s break up.”
At some point, they realized they had broken up, and as more time passed, they became like colleagues.
It had been over 10 years since then.
“To think that the crazy noble riding a four-horse carriage on this narrow road is Viaton. I’m a little disappointed.”
“Ah, this was an unavoidable choice.”
Viaton said confidently.
“I want to give Her Highness only the best.”
“Does that mean Her Highness is inside?”
Kiruen frowned without realizing it.
‘Is she a naive child who grew up pampered in the Imperial Palace?’
Otherwise, there’s no way she’d be riding a four-horse carriage on such a narrow road.
Viaton lowered his voice.
“You can’t hit Her Highness.”
Kiruen frowned even more.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“You were banished to the outer wall for beating your superior like a rag doll before, weren’t you?”
Kiruen was originally the Vice-Captain of the Black Dragon Sword Unit belonging to the Imperial Palace.
One day, she caused a scandal by assaulting the Captain of the Black Dragon Sword Unit.
Due to the disturbance, she had to step down from her position as Vice-Captain of the Black Dragon Sword Unit and leave the Imperial Palace to become the Captain of the Outer Wall Guard.
“I hit him because he deserved it.”
“Wow, you say some pretty dangerous things so casually.”
Kiruen looked at Viaton’s face.
Viaton was grinning.
Even though they were lovers who briefly dated in their youth, she still couldn’t understand Viaton’s true intentions.
“Speaking of which, let me ask you one thing.”
“What is it?”
“About Ramon.”
“Ramon? Ah, yes. The Captain of the Black Dragon Sword Unit who sexually harassed his subordinate knights and got beaten up by you?”
Kiruen had endured it for many days. She put up with Ramon’s nonsense no matter what he said. She turned a blind eye to his constant, subtle physical contact and dirty looks.
After all, Ramon was her superior.
But the moment Kiruen discovered Ramon calling a new knight to his quarters and trying to drug her with sleeping pills, she couldn’t take it anymore.
In the end, Kiruen committed insubordination and beat Ramon up.
Since that day, Ramon had been grinding his teeth, vowing to k*ll Kiruen.
“He went missing a few days after that unpleasant incident with me.”
“Oh, right. That’s right. It was so long ago that I don’t remember it well.”
“Did you do it?”
“Me? Why would I?”
Viaton’s eyes widened. He had an expression as if he was hearing it for the first time.
“Who else could do such a thing but you?”
“I don’t know anyfing.”
Just as she was about to question him further because his way of speaking was quite suspicious, Isabel got out of the carriage.
“Sir Viaton, why are you smiling so creepily?”
“Huh? Can a smile be creepy?”
“I guess so?”
Isabel tilted her head as well.
“It can be, huh?”
However, Kiruen, who was looking at Viaton from a third-person perspective, sensed that his expression had changed.
‘She’s right. He’s smiling the same way, but the smile is different.’
She didn’t know exactly what had changed, but the atmosphere was definitely different.
His current smile and his previous smile were different.
His previous smile felt like ‘the smile of someone who made someone disappear,’ and now it felt like ‘a happy and warm smile.’
“Oh dear, my mind must be playing tricks on me.’
Kiruen bowed to Isabel.
“Greetings, Your Highness. I am Kiruen, Captain of the Outer Wall Guard.”
She briefly paid her respects.
She had no desire to get involved with the naive princess.
“Then I’ll be going.”
Just as she was about to leave, Isabel spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
“Pardon?”
“I heard everything from inside. I didn’t know. I didn’t know what the road conditions were like in the Imperial Palace, and I didn’t know that the luxury I was enjoying could cause harm to others.”
Kiruen closed her mouth for a moment.
Viaton mouthed, ‘No, Kiruen, no,’ but Kiruen didn’t hold back.
Since she was young, there was one thing Kiruen hated the most. It was the phrase, “I didn’t know.”
To her, it was an excuse.
“Ignorance is not a shield.”
“I know.”
Kiruen honestly found it unexpected.
She thought Isabel would naturally be offended. Even if she didn’t show it outwardly, she thought she would be upset inside.
However, there was no sign of such emotion in Isabel.
“But I’m only six years old.”
Kiruen felt like she had been hit on the head.
She had forgotten that the princess was only six years old because Isabel’s appearance looked like that of an early teenager.
“So I don’t think it’s a shameful age to not know things. If you don’t know something, you can learn, and if you make a mistake, you can fix it.”
“……”
“I will learn a lot from now on. I want to be a good a*ult.”
“……I see.”
“So I have a favor to ask……”
Kiruen felt inexplicably nervous.
In fact, Kiruen didn’t really like the children of high-ranking noble families.
In Kiruen’s mind, there was always a hidden blade in their words.
They were so different on the inside and outside that they didn’t suit her.
That’s why Isabel’s words, ‘a favor,’ felt very awkward to her.
“Yes. What is it?”
“Can you give me your autograph?”
Isabel’s eyes sparkled.
She couldn’t show it because she was in a hurry last time, but in fact, Kiruen was a character Isabel really liked.
She was barely controlling herself, but her inner thoughts were a field of flowers right now.
‘No matter how I look at her, she’s insanely handsome and beautiful.’
A tall height. An aura that couldn’t be hidden even by silver armor. A slightly androgynous appearance. Red, straight hair tied in a ponytail.
From head to toe, it was the style Isabel liked.
Her heart was pounding as she saw the object of her admiration with her own eyes.
“My…… autograph……?”
“Yes! Please give me your autograph!”
It took a while to get this out of the carriage.
Isabel held out a notepad and pen.
“You’re asking for my autograph out of the blue?”
Kiruen was flustered, not expecting to be asked for an autograph by the princess.
She looked at Viaton, but he was suddenly helping the coachman. It had been a while since the accident, but he was doing it now.
For reference, the coachman was Viaton’s direct subordinate and an elite who would never get injured in an accident like this.
“It’s okay to speak informally since we’re not in a formal setting, right?”
“That’s up to Your Highness, but……”
“I’ve always wanted your autograph, Unni.”
Isabel was sincere.
That sincerity was reflected in her eyes, and Kiruen was a little confused.
‘When did she see me?’
As if reading her mind, Isabel continued.
“Rumors about you have already spread globally.”
“Globally?”
“It means they’ve spread very, very widely, even to the Imperial Palace.”
She held out the paper and pen again.
“Autograph!”
Kiruen ended up giving her autograph in a daze.
Isabel, who received the autograph, jumped up and down with joy.
“Wow! I really got it!”
Isabel was happy as if it was the most precious thing in the world.
She really acted like a child.
‘Well, she is actually a child.’
Kiruen silently looked at Isabel. She felt as if light was gathering around her.
Kiruen, who was about to leave quickly, asked one thing.
“But why are you going to the outer wall?”
“Ah, I’m going to pick up Yuri Unni.”
“Yuri Unni…… you mean the one from that time……”
“That’s right.”
Kiruen felt strange again.
To call that shabby-looking child Unni.
This princess was definitely strange.
“Why are you picking her up yourself? And even with the Emperor’s aide?”
The Emperor’s aide shouldn’t be this free.
She wanted to say that, but she couldn’t.
Because the Emperor’s aide, who should be very busy, was sitting in the driver’s seat, whistling.
Judging by his appearance, he looked like the most leisurely person in the world.
“Well, I want to help her.”
“Why do you want to help that child so much?”
Actually, Kiruen had a rough idea of the reason.
‘There were some unpleasant incidents with the daughter of Rossild, right?’
That’s right. This was a pride contest. The princess accepting the child that Rossild had kicked out.
From Kiruen’s perspective, it was nothing more than a childish pride contest.
She definitely thought so, but Isabel’s answer was a bit unexpected.
“Do you need a reason to want to help someone?”
“……”
“I don’t really know either. But I feel like I have to repay her somehow.”
“What kind of repayment are you talking about?”
Isabel looked back slightly.
“Sir Viaton, who is the Emperor’s aide, has become my teacher and protects me. And I get to ride a four-horse carriage that others can’t even dream of riding in their lifetime, and I eat delicious food every day.”
Isabel jumped up and down on the spot. Her hair and skirt fluttered vigorously.
It was amazing that her heart didn’t hurt even when she jumped like this.
“I can run like this too.”
Whew!
She puffed out her chest and cheeks, taking a deep breath.
Haaaaaaa!
She exhaled so long that her face turned red.
“I can breathe like this too. I’m so, so happy.”
She was encountering brilliant moments every day that she had never experienced before.
Every day was a gift to her.
“I’m living every day like a gift. I’m so grateful for all of this that I feel like I have to repay something.”
Isabel’s face flushed slightly as she said that.
“……That’s the official reason.”
Yes, that’s right.
Kiruen was convinced that Isabel had another motive.
“I need a friend.”
