TLDWAE 57

Chapter 57

“Well, fine. No matter where your body was, your heart was always my knight… good. I’ll write it as you wish. But if you’re working under me, then that’s not at my side, but—”

“No!”

Just as her words of affirmation fell and hope filled Higon’s eyes, the door suddenly slammed open. Noah, face flushed red, stormed in.

“I absolutely cannot accept that man!”

At his untimely intrusion, both Karia and Higon turned their eyes toward him.

“Were you eavesdropping outside?”

“I wasn’t eavesdropping! It’s just that… my hearing gets sharper in the evenings, that’s all!”

“What?”

It was the boldest, most nonsensical excuse imaginable.

Karia turned her head away, unable to believe how Noah—who was normally so composed—was puffing like an angry child. The absurdity of the moment made her let out a faint laugh.

When she deliberately avoided his eyes and cleared her throat with a couple of soft coughs, Noah nervously tapped the tips of his shoes against the floor.

“I was going to wait. But isn’t the conversation between the two of you, alone in a locked room, going on far too long? The sky’s already red!”

“Yes, yes, our virtuous Sir Noah Trantes must return home at his appointed hour. Fine, you may leave.”

Noah thumped his chest in frustration. The duel had started right after lunch, and now dusk had already come. By rights, he should have gone home already. He had even put on his robe, ready to leave.

But he simply could not bring himself to go.

There were many reasons—but above all, the biggest was that the one who had just confessed, the one Karia acknowledged, was the man she had called her “first.”

“I know this isn’t my place. But… but I clearly won the duel! That man knelt first, didn’t he? He cannot become your guard. One knight is enough—you have me.”

“It’s not enough.”

When Noah appealed to her to decide by reason and principle, Higon—who had been quietly watching—spoke up.

His gaze toward Noah carried even greater hostility than it had during their duel.

“Your Excellency is now the Marquess of Balta, a great lord. You don’t have a knightly order of your own, and you’ll be taking on more external affairs. If something happens and there’s only one knight attending you, what then?”

“Why wouldn’t it work? Even if she has her title, the Lady is staying in the capital. Nothing will really change!”

Noah showed not the slightest courtesy to Higon. He could not forgive what Karia had told him of Higon’s past actions.

No matter how desperate his reasons had been, the fact remained that once someone betrayed trust, there could always be a second time. Noah could not trust him.

“Enough.”

Just as the two glared at each other, clashing with words and will, a firm voice cut through.

“You two are making assumptions. Who said I was taking him as my guard?”

Karia leaned back comfortably in her chair and looked from Noah, standing stiffly, to Higon, kneeling at her feet. She had let the farce go on long enough, amused to see how far it would stretch, but the two of them had run away with their own assumptions.

She had never once said she would make Higon her guard.

“Higon Alcestre.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“From now on, you’re my dog.”

“…Yes, Your Excellency?”

At the unexpected words, Higon—who had held a small spark of hope when she spoke his name—could only gape in confusion.

Had he misheard? It sounded like she had just told him to stop being human.

Seeing his baffled face, Karia calmly explained, in words even a child could understand.

“Most of the time, you’ll continue as the princess’s knight. But if anything happens in the palace, you’ll report to me in secret. And you’ll make sure no one learns of her pregnancy. The emperor and crown prince must never find out.”

“…What are you planning?”

“What else? Helping my dear niece come into the world.”

“But, Your Excellency, that child’s father—!”

Higon couldn’t finish the sentence. Her eyes, when they met his, were too cold.

He had been the princess’s personal guard. He had shadowed her at every ball, every outing. Even on the night she had her tryst with Karia’s ex-husband, Duke Pandeon, Higon had been posted outside, protecting them.

“Ah, so you knew everything from the start. Of course—you were her guard. You couldn’t not know.”

“Your Excellency, I… I did think about telling you, but—”

“You really are a dog.”

Useless as a man. Karia clicked her tongue and shook her head. At that, Higon fell silent.

She didn’t seem angry. And the reason was simple—she had no expectations left. Higon realized then that the trust they once had was gone forever. There was no going back.

“It’s late. Go. The princess will be looking for you.”

“But…”

“I’ll call you when I need you.”

With a wave of her hand, as though brushing away a nuisance, she dismissed him. Guilty as he was, he could not protest, and turned away.

She had not even entertained his desperate confession.

‘But there’s still something I can do for her.’

Casting one last, lingering glance at Karia, Higon left.

Noah remained standing, unyielding as a mountain, until the man disappeared from sight. The sunset streaming through the window painted his eyes red, like fire.

“Do you still have something to say?”

Karia relaxed more now than when Higon had been present. Listening for hours to impassioned words was tiring. Worse, the conversation had taken an unexpected turn, dragging up old memories that gave her a pounding headache.

Higon could be kept as a piece on the board, a pawn in the palace, to make up for past grievances. But Crown Prince Robert… she had never expected his name to come up here.

‘So I owe Robert a debt, too. A personal grudge I never had, until now.’

Of course, she knew Robert cherished Serivis. His image in society was that of the benevolent brother, protective of his only little sister.

As heir to the throne, he had the reputation of being compassionate and fair. Even with Karia, he had always observed proper boundaries.

She hadn’t liked him especially, but among her royal kin, he had been the only one she bore no personal resentment toward.

But thinking back, it had always been strange. Impulsive, reckless Serivis had still managed to remain beloved by the people, the darling princess. That could not have been her doing alone.

‘Who knows how deeply he’s obsessed with her… but it will be amusing to see.’

If Serivis was his weakness, then Karia was already in the midst of her revenge. The foolish princess was already in her grasp, and Karia fully intended to have her bear a child that would ruin her life.

Just picturing Robert’s face, so often full of false concern for her, made Karia’s stomach churn.

The great nobles and royals were all the same. Like Grenberic, who publicly acted the dignified aristocrat while spewing abuse at her behind closed doors. These “great” royals, pretending blue blood flowed in their veins, were nothing more than broken humans, each warped in their own way.

“Lady, please keep your promise.”

“…Promise?”

Lost in thought, her palm shading her eyes, she turned at Noah’s voice.

The last light of sunset blazed through the window. He was still standing there.

“You said if I won, you’d listen to the words I’d been holding back, the things I never dared to say before.”

“Ah, yes, I did.”

Karia remembered the condition she had set that morning, when he had asked her a favor.

She had known for days that his subordinate Shagal had been trailing her like an eager puppy, clearly wanting to say something.

But she had been too busy, brushing him off with, “Later, later,” after only hearing a mention of some “forest.”

She had guessed the “forest” meant the elves’ forest. She had no idea what he wanted to ask, but she assumed he had seen her entering it.

Whatever he wanted, she was willing to help the Black Night, as long as it wasn’t dangerous to her. After all, she had her own “confirmation” she wanted from Noah, and she would be seeing them for a long time to come.

“Go ahead. The urgent matters are settled for now. But is there enough time? You usually go home by sundown. Ah, why don’t you sit?”

“I like you.”

The words burst out of him, completely out of context. Karia jolted, her shoulders twitching. What had he just said? She blinked several times in disbelief.

When she lifted her stunned gaze, Noah was staring straight at her, his face red—whether from embarrassment or the glow of the sunset—and repeated,

“I like you.”

“…I thought you were going to ask me about the forest?”

At her bewildered question, Noah let out a small “ah” of realization, but he did not take back his words. Instead, he swallowed dryly, his tension plain to see, and slowly approached her with careful steps.

Then he knelt before her.