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Chapter 48
7:00 AM sharp. Day 13 of confinement.
“Huh.”
After finishing his early morning exercise and a shower, Lai returned to the commander’s office.
Standing in front of the mirror wearing only his lower garments, he inspected his body from every angle.
He hadn’t been able to exercise properly while guarding Julian.
It was like: miss one day, you notice it yourself; miss two, others notice it.
Feeling the weight of his body, he had chosen to wake up earlier to train.
Even moving on his own, his muscles, which had felt a little loose, were now angrily alert.
“Still not enough.”
Sweat glistened on his well-toned upper body, making his muscles shine even more.
Broad chest and shoulders, a comparatively slim waist—a perfect inverted triangle—but for Lai, it still wasn’t enough.
“Should I stop now…?”
“Not yet.”
If he had known he’d be embracing Iva, he would have prepared his body beforehand.
Lai, who had always seen training and exercise as purely for personal satisfaction, worried that today his body might not be in an ideal state for holding her.
“I need to move more.”
He planned to add a nighttime workout, anticipating another day of being tormented with Julian’s escort duties, so he waited in the commander’s office.
But even after breakfast time passed, there was no summons.
“Quite leisurely.”
With some free time, he headed to the training grounds to check on the knights.
“Commander? Haven’t you left yet?”
Hans, the vice-commander, who had been overseeing the knights’ training on Lai’s behalf, was surprised to see him and approached quickly.
“The princess hasn’t called yet today.”
“Really? I assumed she had summoned you since dawn.”
Not only Hans, but all the knights in training were delighted to see him after so long.
Of the 12 days he had been in confinement, 12 of them had been spent running errands for Julian.
From the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, he had to accompany her like a cherished doll until she fell asleep late at night.
He remembered the sympathetic glances from the knights whenever they crossed paths with him while he was with Julian.
“It seems the princess isn’t well enough to require a guard today.”
He had planned to deliver the items he requested from the market personally.
But a maid insisted she would deliver them since Julian was still unwell, so he couldn’t meet her.
There were many doubts in his mind; he wanted to ask her directly, but since he couldn’t meet her, he had no choice.
“Then shall you rest a bit? I can have the commander’s meal sent to the training hall.”
“No need for a meal. I’ll observe today’s training.”
“I thought you might say that. With the commander here today, everyone will be surprised.”
“Training shouldn’t change depending on who’s watching.”
Hans smiled, taking Lai’s strict words as a welcome return of the commander.
“Huff… huff…”
The pleasure was short-lived.
Hans panted as he tried to stop Lai.
“Commander! Enough! I can’t go on!”
“Hans, I see you’ve been slacking in training while I was away.”
Lai, as if he didn’t know how to stop, threw off his shirt and flexed his bare shoulders.
“No! I trained really hard! It’s your stamina that’s extraordinary, commander!”
“Stamina grows through movement. Now, take up your sword.”
“Do you plan to exhaust all the knights from the morning? They’re all tired.”
He selected the strongest knights for one-on-one sparring.
Even including Hans, ten knights were collapsed on the ground, crawling.
Lai, moving his body properly for the first time in a while, enjoyed it without getting tired.
But as Hans had warned, overexerting from the morning wasn’t wise, so regrettably, training had to stop.
“I planned to continue until the princess called, but it’s gone on long enough. Let’s stop here.”
At Lai’s word, Hans, who had barely held on, also collapsed onto the floor.
Lai leisurely gathered his shirt and left the training ground with light steps, heading to the archery range next door.
Even after finishing all the prepared arrows, there was still no call from Julian.
It was quiet.
Seeing an opportunity, he rode his personal horse around the palace several times.
“Good.”
By around 4 PM, there was still no summons from Julian. Lai felt refreshed, having spent the day freely training as if granted a day off.
But his mind wasn’t at ease.
“As commander, I should check on her first.”
Unaccustomed to spending the day alone, he went to Julian’s bedroom himself—the first time he had done so voluntarily.
“The princess doesn’t wish to see anyone today.”
But again, he couldn’t meet her.
“How is the princess?”
“She is gradually improving.”
“That’s a relief. Inform her that tomorrow will be the last day of my escort duty.”
“Yes, I’ll convey your message.”
Julian’s maid turned to enter the room again.
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
Lai whispered cautiously, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
“The scene in the bedroom with the princess… must not be misunderstood. I hope you don’t spread nonsense.”
He denied once more that his presence atop Julian had been misunderstood. The maid, who had doubted him entirely yesterday, now nodded obediently.
“Yes. I was mistaken.”
“You suddenly believe me?”
“The princess told me to forget yesterday. So don’t worry.”
Lai expected her to cling to the misunderstanding, but Julian herself was willing to let it go.
Even Lai sensed she had been deliberately avoiding him.
“So that’s why she didn’t summon me.”
The increasingly confusing and unfamiliar situation made Lai’s head heavy. He went back to the training ground to sort his thoughts.
Ahead, someone staggered, carrying an enormous stack of books. The pile was so high it blocked his view and seemed ready to topple. He rushed over.
“I’ll help you.”
He lifted half the books, revealing a familiar face.
“Oh! Commander! Thank you. My arms were shaking; it was too heavy.”
“You’re the secretary.”
Chase repeatedly thanked him sincerely.
“How far are you going?”
“To my carriage at the west gate. Thank you so much.”
“Of course. It’s my duty.”
Despite carrying far more books than Lai, Chase felt slightly embarrassed by the contrast with Lai’s solid, muscular arms.
“I need to exercise too. I envy your muscles, commander.”
“You, secretary, are busy with her highness’s matters. I exercise because it’s my duty.”
“Still, you look impressive.”
“You are more impressive to me. You study with this many books.”
“Oh, these aren’t for me. Iva asked me to borrow them.”
At the mention of her name, Lai instinctively looked at Chase.
“Iva?”
“Yes, she contacted the palace library to borrow books on the Grace region.”
Chase had received the request from Iva. Even though Lai had sent letters daily, he had never received a reply.
He had thought it was enough just to be acknowledged, but now Chase was communicating with her, and Lai felt slightly envious.
“How is Iva doing?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her much lately. I’ll check her at the mansion after work today.”
“…I see.”
Being able to meet her casually made Lai envious.
Moreover, since they were childhood friends, he felt jealousy seeing their casual physical closeness.
When he saw Iva with Chase in the palace, they were half-embracing each other.
He had held back so much, fighting the urge to run over and separate them, that his fists ached.
“Is Iva going to Grace?”
“Eh? Commander, don’t you know she tried to go to the countryside but was placed under house arrest?”
“House arrest?”
Lai looked completely unaware, and Chase realized his mistake.
“What do you mean?”
Chase, a timid creature faced with a wolfish Lai, hesitated, then explained:
“Iva told her parents she wanted to go to the countryside, but the count strongly opposed it and imposed a week-long house arrest.”
It was unfortunate Iva couldn’t go out, but lucky she couldn’t go to the countryside.
So that was why she disguised herself in a maid’s outfit. He finally understood the reason for her disguise.
“When does the restriction end?”
“Tomorrow.”
It ended on the same day Lai’s confinement did.
“We’ve arrived. Thank you for helping me, Commander.”
“Secretary.”
“Yes?”
“I have one favor to ask.”
Lai looked at Chase with pleading eyes. Though polite in intent, it felt like immense pressure to Chase.
“What favor?”
“Could you deliver a single letter to Iva?”
“A letter?”
“Yes, just one.”
It wasn’t a difficult request. Chase thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Understood. I finish work around 8 PM. If you give it to me by then, I’ll deliver it to Iva.”
“Thank you so much.”
Even after meeting Iva by chance at the market, Lai had not sent the letters he wanted to. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, but letters remained unsent.
Seeing this as his final chance, he happily organized in his mind what he wanted to say to her.
