Chapter 7

Did I hear that wrong just now?

I blinked several times, but Lothar continued speaking.

“You seem surprisingly oblivious when it comes to this sort of thing.”

Huh? Seriously?

“Wait. Wolfgang likes me?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you misunderstanding things a little too much?”

“I expected you to react like that.”

“???”

No, what exactly do you mean you expected this? Today is practically the first proper conversation we’ve ever had!

Before I could even figure out where to start arguing, we arrived in front of the inn.

Wolfgang, smiling as if nothing had happened, climbed the stairs ahead of us and spoke.

“The room on the far left of this floor is for the Saintess. The room on the right is for His Highness the Prince.”

That guy has feelings for me?

Would someone who liked a woman casually talk about seeing her butt?

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed Lothar had developed premature husbandly jealousy.

I’d have to figure out how to fix that later.

Following Wolfgang up the stairs, I asked,

“What about the other rooms?”

“There happened to be no guests staying tonight, so we rented the entire floor. Aside from the innkeeper, all outsiders can be considered suspicious—”

“Wait.”

A low voice cut off Wolfgang’s explanation.

The owner of that voice was obvious.

Why? Why again?!

Lothar was looking at Wolfgang with one eyebrow raised.

Then he asked,

“Why are our rooms separate?”

“…Pardon?”

Lothar slowly turned his gaze toward me.

“She’s a wife who desired me enough to commit a kidnapping marriage. Isn’t it only natural she’d want to share a room?”

“……”

I quietly avoided Lothar’s gaze and looked at Wolfgang instead.

Hmm. Was that the same expression I had right now?

Seeing him look so blank-faced for once was honestly impressive.

His lips kept twitching, not because he had nothing to say, but because he seemed too stunned to process this.

Recovering quickly, Wolfgang turned to look at me.

Actually, not just Wolfgang.

All the knights around us were staring at me too.

Saintess, what will you do?

That’s what their eyes seemed to ask.

Honestly, most of the Holy Knights already knew my marriage with Lothar was a complete scam.

Even if I drew a line here and shoved Lothar into the room on the far right, no one would suspect anything.

But—

“…We’ll use the left room together. It’ll be easier for protection that way.”

“If you’re only considering the convenience of the knights, there’s no need—”

“Stop complaining and unpack the luggage.”

The one I deliberately drew the line against was Wolfgang.

I watched the playfulness disappear entirely from his face.

I’d forgotten because he always smiled so annoyingly often.

That guy actually had a pretty cold personality underneath.

Feeling an unnecessary sense of guilt, I quietly looked away.

It’s not like I betrayed him or anything…

There was a reason I sided with Lothar.

This man literally has no one but me to rely on here.

A tragic prince who had lost everything.

Now that he’d openly clashed with Wolfgang, the Holy Knights would welcome him even less.

If I didn’t look after him here, who would?

After a moment of silence, Wolfgang spoke again in a calmer voice.

“Very well. I’ll take the room next door. If anything happens, call for me.”

“Got it.”

That should be enough.

I immediately grabbed Lothar’s hand.

The faster I separated him from Wolfgang, the less likely more annoying problems would arise.

Honestly, I also just wanted to get inside and clean myself up.

Unfortunately, our troublesome customer still wasn’t finished complaining.

“You’re taking the room next to ours?”

Tilting his head slightly, Lothar asked the question.

His body stood like a stone wall, unmoving no matter how hard I pulled.

Ugh. My pride hurts.

Lothar slowly looked Wolfgang up and down before continuing.

“I wouldn’t recommend it. You never know what sort of sounds you might hear.”

“What exactly do you mea—”

Wolfgang abruptly stopped mid-sentence.

“…Ha.”

The scoff that escaped him sounded so cold it was practically icy.

And me?

I wanted to punch Lothar straight in the stomach.

What do you mean, sounds?!

For someone who got kidnapped, he sure had a lot of nerve.

I pinched the back of his hand, silently telling him to knock it off, but he didn’t budge at all.

Did this bastard not feel pain?

In the end, I stepped between the two men and cut off the conversation.

“He means you might lose sleep hearing a married couple argue. Right, Wolfgang? So stop worrying and go rest in your room.”

Wolfgang stared at me for a moment before shrugging as though he’d decided to let it go.

“I’ll do as the Saintess says.”

Looks like he understood my desperate plea to please stop talking and just leave.

Though admittedly, I did glare at him a little.

Only then did the Holy Knights who had been watching the standoff begin dispersing toward their own rooms, looking satisfied with the entertainment.

Now then.

Lowering my voice, I asked Lothar,

“Hey. Are you insane?”

“No.”

“Did they damage your brain in the Imperial prison?”

“No.”

When I yanked his hand irritably, he finally followed obediently this time.

I shoved him firmly into the assigned room.

For someone built like an elephant, he sure caused an incredible amount of trouble.

I slammed the door shut behind us and turned around to find Lothar standing there calmly.

Poking him in the chest, I demanded,

“Then why do you keep picking fights with the innocent commander of the knights? Do you want him to stab you through the stomach with a holy sword?”

“If he wishes to challenge me to a duel, I’m willing to accept.”

“No. I’ll stab you first before it even gets that far. Stop causing pointless trouble and stay still. We’re already surrounded by enemies. Why increase your chances of getting killed?”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Lothar answered with a calm face.

Tch. I seriously couldn’t read his expression.

This bastard definitely feels like he’s just trying to smooth things over.

Like he’s only pretending to listen because he doesn’t want to hear nagging anymore.

I thought he’d be easy to tame.

Turns out he was far more unpredictable than expected.

Shaking my head, I looked around the room instead.

The room itself wasn’t bad.

A fire already burning in the fireplace.

Hot water and towels prepared.

One large bed.

Looks like they gave me the best room in the inn.

Wolfgang really did have good sense when it mattered.

Praising him inwardly, I removed the robe draped over my dress.

Then I knelt down to unpack the luggage that had already been brought into the room.

“……”

Wait.

Why was it suddenly so quiet behind me?

Turning around, I found Lothar staring at the lower half of my dress.

Only then did I remember the bloodstains still on it.

“What? Does it hurt your feelings?”

“Yes.”

“What are you talking about? It’s your blood.”

Lothar’s blatant stare bothered me, but I continued unpacking.

I needed to pull out the chemise I planned to sleep in.

“Hmmm.”

But after actually taking it out…

Wasn’t it a little too thin to wear while sharing a room with a giant man?

It looked pretty see-through.

Still, it wasn’t like I had another option.

I couldn’t exactly sleep in a dress covered in dust from outside.

While I stood there fiddling with the sleeve and debating what to do—

“Elise.”

A flat voice called my name, and a shadow fell over me.

At the same time, a now-familiar scent surrounded me.

Leather and wood.

At some point, Lothar had walked over and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“Please continue what you were saying earlier.”

W-What the hell?

The sudden contact made my mind freeze for a second.

What exactly was he trying to pull?

“What?”

“The reason my chances of defeating Maximilian are supposedly close to zero.”

…Oh. That?

Did we really need to discuss this while pressed together like this?

The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that this Prince really had suffered brain damage in the Imperial Palace.

That bastard Maximilian was planning to kill him anyway, so just how badly had he tortured him?

Clicking my tongue inwardly, I pushed against Lothar’s cheek with one hand.

“I want to wash up first.”

“I’ll help you.”

“I can do it myself.”

“Isn’t marriage about sharing even the things one can do alone?”

The fact that he spoke so smoothly while saying nonsense like that was honestly irritating.

Even when I pushed at his face, he barely moved.

All I could feel through my palm was firm skin and high body temperature.

Eventually, I got too tired to keep refusing and nodded.

Fine.

Might as well have a prince wait on me for once.

Let’s see how good he actually is at it—

“Excuse me.”

Oh, holy shit.