BSRF 04

Chapter 4

As I stepped out of the office and crossed the training grounds, I heard Kiern’s voice from behind me.

“Captain, did you meet with Captain Alonso?”

“Yeah.”

Kiern’s outfit was lighter than it had been in the dining hall earlier.

Looks like this guy planned to train at the practice grounds even on his day off. No wonder he hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol.

“So when’s the next subjugation?”

“A week from now.”

Despite the irritation dripping from my tone, Kiern kept asking questions without hesitation.

“You only returned less than a week ago, though?”

“If you don’t like it, sit this one out.”

Realizing I was joking, Kiern chuckled.

“I’m happy about it. It hasn’t even been a week since the last subjugation, and another mission’s already scheduled. As expected of our captain.”

“Shut up. We’re taking the minimum number of people this time and finishing it fast. You handle the supplies yourself.”

“I’ll make sure everything’s ready so we can leave immediately in a week. Ah, should I prepare your bedding too, Captain?”

Bedding?

I stopped walking and turned around.

Kiern tilted his head in confusion, so I crooked a finger at him, signaling him to come closer.

Then, once he matched my height, I lightly flicked his forehead with my thumb and middle finger.

“Uh…”

Judging by the way he clutched his forehead with a bewildered expression, he apparently hadn’t been joking.

“Why would you prepare my bedding?”

“Well, you said the sleeping arrangements were uncomfortable last time.”

Did subordinates normally care about their superior’s sleeping conditions too? If it were me, I wouldn’t care whether Alonso Vargas froze to death or not.

I looked Kiern up and down suspiciously.

Lately, he’d been acting unusually friendly toward me.

Not that I doubted his abilities. Besides his natural talent, he worked incredibly hard himself.

“Quit wasting time and make sure you prepare the important stuff properly.”

Kiern fiddled with his fingers without saying anything, apparently dissatisfied about something.

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

“Yes.”

“That sounded weak. You looking to get disciplined or something?”

“If it’s from you, Captain, I’ll take it.”

He wanted punishment? Was he insane?

The way he kept grinning made me laugh in disbelief.

As though he really were waiting for discipline, Kiern stared blankly at me, so I lightly punched his shoulder and walked ahead.

“That’s enough, stop following me.”

Then I headed straight for the stables. My beloved horse, Laura, greeted me with a snort.

First, I had to return to the mansion and pack my things.

Come to think of it, it had almost been a month since I’d last seen my younger brother.

After the previous monster subjugation, I’d stayed at the lodging provided by the Emperor to make my report.

If Pavel found out I’d be leaving again in a few days, he’d probably cling to my pants and drag things out forever. Only now did I start worrying about him.

I wonder if he finished all the books I gave him… Is he properly attending the temple?

There was so much I wanted to ask, considering how long I’d neglected him.

I couldn’t waste the entire week calming him down while he begged me not to go.

Maybe I should just leave without telling Pavel?

Thinking that, I grabbed the reins.

As soon as I rode through the castle gates, everyone’s attention turned toward me.

I could hear people whispering.

I hadn’t intended to listen, but years of fighting monsters had sharpened my hearing into a constant state of alertness.

“Look! It’s Shiona Rodriz.”

“That person? The one they say fights monsters alone and wins?”

“Haven’t you heard the rumors? They say her entire body’s covered in hard vinyl. And when she fights, extra arms sprout from her shoulders.”

What was I, some kind of creature?

The rumors were so absurd that I didn’t even feel the need to correct them.

I was always at the center of rumors within the Empire.

Most of them were so ridiculous that you’d wonder if anyone could possibly believe them.

“I see. Guess you need at least four arms to fight monsters.”

“Not just monsters. They say there’s no one on the continent who can match her.”

There actually were idiots who believed it here and there.

Still, I couldn’t exactly go around correcting every single person.

At least these rumors were harmless. Since they were so detached from reality, few people genuinely believed them anyway.

If anything, I would’ve preferred refreshing rumors, like me having fairy wings or the ability to scatter flowers.

Sometimes—no, very often—I wondered what would’ve happened if I’d never joined the knight order.

By now, I probably would’ve become the flower of high society, setting the hearts of the Empire’s men ablaze….

Lucky for the men of the Empire to have escaped lovesickness, maybe, but incredibly irritating for me.

No matter how I thought about it, it felt unfair.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a romance novel? Why does romance only happen to the female lead?

Back then, I’d confidently assumed that every man would eventually fall in love with me, just like some protagonist.

I hadn’t realized it at the time.

Men flocking to someone without effort only happened because that someone was the female lead.

By the time I figured that out, I’d already rolled around enough in the knight order.

Once reality hit me, I wanted to quit everything and move to the countryside to farm.

That was despite never having grown a single plant in my life.

But even that wasn’t easy.

Captain Alonso said crazy things like telling me to kill him before leaving, and after seeing my subordinates crying their eyes out, I eventually gave up.

Damn it.

Thinking back on that tear-filled past made the back of my neck ache.

After riding through the central district and down the quieter streets, I finally arrived at the mansion.

As soon as I entered, the butler Robert greeted me.

“My lady, we’ve been waiting for your return.”

Robert took my cumbersome cloak and followed behind me as he continued speaking.

“The Marquis and Madam likely won’t return until evening.”

“What about Pavel?”

“Actually, the young master—”

“Big sister!”

Robert’s words were swallowed by another voice.

Turning my head, I saw Pavel running toward me from the end of the hallway.

Even though he’d grown enough to surpass my height, he still looked young in my eyes.

I spread my arms wide and accepted Pavel’s enthusiastic welcome.

“Why didn’t you come home immediately after arriving? I’ve been counting the days waiting for you.”

Once the hug ended, Pavel whined at me in a hurt voice.

It was honestly comforting to have someone wait for me like this.

“I had to report to Captain Alonso first. And then there was the after-party with the knights.”

The instant I mentioned that, Pavel ground his teeth, sparks practically flying in his eyes.

“That bald bastard….”

“Hm? Pavel?”

I’d never once told Pavel whether Alonso had hair or not, yet he somehow knew not only his appearance but even his awful personality.

Had he secretly investigated him or something?

I was starting to worry about Pavel’s interest in Captain Alonso.

Especially the way he openly expressed hostility toward him.

Where exactly is all that hostility coming from?

In the original novel, the reason Pavel killed Alonso was because Alonso had been the mentor of the male lead, Ricardo Berg.

But now?

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for the male lead, the story had changed somewhat after I joined the knight order.

Unlike in the novel, Alonso Vargas was no longer Ricardo’s mentor.

I had taken that position instead.

Watching the awkward relationship between the two of them made even me uncomfortable.

So there was really no reason for Pavel to hate Alonso Vargas.

Confused, I asked,

“Pavel, why do you hate Captain Alonso so much?”

“You think it’s only Vargas? The Duke of Berg is just as terrible. Disgusting, even.”

Wait… even the Duke of Berg?

Hating someone was a natural human emotion.

But in Pavel’s case, it was something I needed to pay attention to.

That hatred could continue growing until it eventually became the trigger that turned him into a villain.

From Pavel’s perspective, that might seem unfair.

But after seeing the possibility through the novel, I couldn’t just ignore it.

“Why do you hate the Duke of Berg?”

“Because you dislike them, no?”

Well, I did dislike them.

I thought I hid it well, but apparently it showed.

Still, I couldn’t exactly tell him the truth.

“You misunderstand. I love all humanity.”

I wanted the version of myself Pavel saw to be kind and righteous.

It was part of my strategy to make sure he’d grow into a good person by following his older sister’s example.

“Big sister… you can be honest with me.”

“……”

But Pavel was unexpectedly perceptive.

This wasn’t the first time he’d spoken or acted like he knew my personality was fabricated.

I’d worked hard in my own way to raise him properly.

But I’d been too busy.

I barely had time for long conversations with him, and there was a limit to how closely I could watch over him.

The butler and maids gave me reports, but I couldn’t monitor everything happening out of sight.

Truthfully, after ten years, I’d grown numb to the fact that this world was inside a novel.

Would this kid really kill people? My younger brother is kind, so he’ll be fine.

That complacent mindset had settled in me.

If I hadn’t met the novel’s female protagonist recently, I probably still wouldn’t have worried much about the future.

Emilia Dua.

She was the female protagonist at the center of the novel.

The presence Emilia radiated when I accidentally encountered her was overwhelming.

Just glancing at her briefly made her feel almost inhuman.

At the same time, I felt uneasy.

The moment I confirmed the female lead’s existence, this world truly felt like a novel.

And then the contents of the story I’d treated so lightly began resurfacing one by one.

Pavel Rodriz—the villain who killed countless people, including Alonso Vargas and even the female lead before her regression.

What if Pavel really became a murderer like in the novel?

What if the story flowed toward its predetermined ending regardless of my efforts…?

Could Pavel really…?

The Pavel I knew was someone completely unrelated to murder.

He was kind, gentle, and unless it concerned me, he rarely even got irritated at other people.

But what if he’s hiding another side I don’t know about?

No matter how carefully I watched him, I still didn’t spend enough time with him.

So naturally, there had to be sides of him I’d never seen.

I grabbed Pavel’s hand and asked in a quieter voice,

“Pavel, remember what I told you before?”

“I write down and preserve everything you say, big sister. Though there are surely things I’ve overlooked. I’ll work harder.”

“No, you really don’t need to work harder…. Anyway, remember this. If someone ever….”

“If someone stabs me in the back, I should tell you everything.”

As expected, his memory was excellent.

Well, villains were supposed to be smart.

“And if you ever hate someone or feel angry, you should tell me honestly.”

“Right. You don’t need to handle things yourself. That’s truly wasteful and unnecessary. And if your delicate hands got hurt, wouldn’t that be a tragic waste of humanity?”

“Big sister, I’m not so narrow-minded that I’d get angry over a mere betrayal.”

“Getting stabbed in the back was a metaphor. I mean that if something ever happens that you can’t emotionally handle, don’t hide it from me.”

Thankfully, Pavel trusted and obeyed my words absolutely.

Maybe it was because he still remembered being grateful to the older sister who’d saved him as a child.

Sometimes he felt less like a younger brother and more like an incredibly loyal dog.

Pavel nodded brightly at my words.

Unlike mine, his warm golden eyes gleamed vividly.

And every time I saw that gentle face, one question always came to mind.

This kid was the villain in the novel? Seriously?

I wasn’t just saying this because he was my younger brother.

Pavel was ridiculously beautiful.