CPBF 18

Chapter: 18

“That child should be in Serom right now.”

This was the conclusion Sis reached after hearing about the night Irilin disappeared from Vin.

The guards who regained consciousness holding a single melon, the testimonies of the staff saying the carriage doors had been ripped open…

Based on these, Vin agreed with the judgment that Irilin had fled north.

But why she chose the cold and dangerous Serom, no matter how much Vin asked Sis, he would not answer.

Still, Vin wanted to go to Serom based solely on Sis’s words.

Because she was anxious. Always in sight, she had quietly slipped away, and now she had run to a place completely out of view.

She was worried. What if she was scheming something unknown…? That might have been the concern in the past.

Now, her worries were more practical: Was Irilin alive? Unable to wield a sword, had she been attacked by someone? How did she manage meals with a body that had never once prepared food for herself?

The kind of worries anyone would have.

It was these feelings that moved Vin, even with uncertain evidence.

But…

“Why do you insist on doing what the pursuers should? Pull yourself together. You are the Viscount of Ortega. No matter what happens, you must stay here and protect your family.”

Again, opposition followed.

“Turn it over. Destroy everything that torments you. Don’t just hit it timidly—overturn it completely so it can never bother you again.”

At that moment, those words flashed through her mind.

Almost bewitched, Vin ignored the continuing nagging, turned, and rode straight toward Serom.

However, war broke out along the way, and just as she neared Serom, the border was closed.

“How can I cross that?”

The Serom forces, pressing forward without rest, kept pushing the border further south.

For Vin alone to cross it in these circumstances would have been suicide.

Even if her reason was driven to rebel, her judgment remained clear.

She reined in her horse like a hidden hawk and returned to Abert.

Upon returning, the effort to reclaim the territory was in full swing.

“That’s it!”

The most certain way to cross the border: participate in the war.

Naturally, Ortega erupted in protest, but Vin dismissed their objections in a single sentence:

“I’ve already applied and am on my way.”

In this urgent time, with every minute and every person counting, Ortega knew well they could not cancel a war participation request.

Ortega had always been responsible for recruiting troops when war broke out. Canceling such requests was against the rules they themselves had set.

For a family member to cancel participation would dishonor the family.

Thus, Ortega had no choice but to let Vin go.

Of course, there were repeated verbal and physical assaults, but as Irilin had said, nothing was truly lost.

Vin was the only heir; if she fell short of expectations, so be it. Breaking free from their grasp was not what they truly wanted.

“Since you’ve decided to join the battle, uphold Ortega’s honor. I’ll protect the family.”

Even when she failed to meet expectations, they would simply place new expectations on her.

It was easier to act first and ask forgiveness later than to seek permission.

And it was true: once she overturned everything, Ortega cautiously treated her with respect.

No one expected unreasonable things or forced her to do anything.

“Easy,” she thought.

The hardest part had been overcoming her own fear rather than the will of the adults.

Once that was conquered, everything else was nothing.

“Like Irilin.”

Vin looked in the mirror and whispered her determination like a spell.

For the past seven years, she had practiced this without missing a single day.

Ironically, the hardest task for her was finding the one who had made everything easy for her.

For the first week after I disappeared, no pursuers followed me to Serom.

But after another week, the situation changed. Somehow they realized I was here, and the pursuers swarmed.

Escaping them with spells on the carriage worked only once or twice.

The decorative carriage, useless except for looks, had been completely shattered.

Luckily, the border with Serom was closed due to the ongoing war, or else I might have been captured, sent to an asylum, or executed as planned.

So I’ve been grateful to survive for seven years now.

In that time, thirteen-year-old Irilin’s body aged to twenty, matching my original age, and I underwent changes too.

I learned to wield a sword. Not by effort alone, but the will to survive naturally led me there.

“Not a branch, a sword. And when the day comes that we both overcome…”

Sometimes I remembered a promise made to some child.

Though guilty for making a promise I couldn’t keep, I pushed the thought away. By now, they probably forgot too.

Now that I am twenty, Vin and the Crown Prince, separated once, would meet again.

The war between Serom and Abert had just ended.

It would be the time for the Crown Prince, who had participated in the war, to return.

I had to be careful not to run into the Crown Prince coming from the north… but before I could even think that, danger arrived.

The danger I had firmly believed would never come for seven years.

“Mission, Mona.”

“What mission?”

“Escort the tribute to Abert.”

Seven years ago, the leader of the mercenary group I now belonged to saved me when I was buried in snow while escaping pursuers.

Rough and blunt, typical of Serom folk, he was weak only toward children.

He had a daughter my age who had been killed by a bandit raid.

I used that to my advantage, acting like his daughter, seeking guidance.

Believing his daughter would have survived if skilled in swordsmanship like me, he trained me with zeal.

Thanks to him, my skills improved far beyond what my original self could do.

Buried in the snow, I had met terrible misfortune in Irilin’s body, but immediately after escaping, I found incredible luck.

I loved this life as “Baek Mona.”

I grew fond of the mercenary group, even the harsh cold of Serom.

“Where exactly?”

I asked, warming my frozen hands.

“Funder Mountains.”

“…Funder Mountains? Isn’t that dangerous? Abert has troops there.”

“The war’s over. If we deliver the tribute quietly, Abert’s ‘Red Dog’ won’t harm us.”

The “Red Dog” was a title for the Crown Prince after the war. When his red eyes fixed on Serom’s soldiers, their will to fight vanished.

Damn. After seven years avoiding him, I was going to meet him like this…?

No, too soon to judge. Seven years had passed; perhaps he forgot. Irilin’s body had grown, so even if he remembered, he might not recognize me.

Still… I couldn’t be completely at ease. The possibility existed.

“Leader, could I be excused from this mission?”

“Why, sis? Scared? Ah! Is it the Red Dog and Blue Dog?”

The newest, smallest mercenary teased me, imitating dogs with his hands.

“Blue Dog” was a title for another Abert hero.

I had known of the Red Dog from novels, but this Blue Dog was new to me. Likely one of the Crown Prince’s subordinates.

“I’m just not feeling well.”

“Come on, not feeling well? You just trained for five hours with the leader!”

“Excess training can make you unwell, Mona. Are you really not feeling well?”

The leader looked concerned, a sight my father never showed me. I felt my resolve waver.

But I had to keep calm. The leader did not want me dead.

“Yes. I feel a little under the weather. I’d like to rest.”

“A little under the weather, and you quit? Who told you not to complain unless you really had a fever…”

“Don’t worry about the mission. Rest.”

The leader stopped the young mercenary from teasing and left with a laugh.

If anyone else said that, they’d have scolded me for weakness. I felt pangs of conscience.

“Forgive me, leader. I’m surviving for your sake.”

I paid my moral debt to survive. But then… the annoying youngest mercenary brought danger back to me.

“I slipped on the stairs while drunk, shoulder dislocated.”

“I’ll go.”

I spoke before I could stop myself, trying to spare the leader from worrying about my illness.

Hopefully, old school friends wouldn’t remember me… or recognize my face.

It was reckless, and now my life was at stake. Harsh, but what could I do?

And so, I rode the carriage carrying tribute.

As the leader said, Abert posed no threat. The road to Funder Mountains was rough, and bandits were far more dangerous than Abert soldiers.

My duty was simply to protect the carriage while transferring tribute from Serom to Abert.

Thanks to the leader’s consideration, I only had to stay inside. Aside from the occasional anxiety at Abert accents outside, the day seemed peaceful.

Until a familiar male voice rang out:

“Abert Empire Knights. We need to check the quantity.”