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Chapter 9
Ludwig’s knights, who finally came to their senses, shouted in shock.
Their faces had all turned pale.
“Such disgrace!”
“What will the Duke say when he finds out about this?!”
“How could you do this, especially considering Prince Ludwig is your cousin?!”
Only one knight became angry on behalf of the bride, Hillia.
“How could you humiliate a noble lady like this!”
Clang!
He drew his sword without hesitation and stepped in front of Hillia.
The one most surprised by this bold act wasn’t the knights or even the threatening Crown Prince—
It was Hillia herself.
‘No! I’m supposed to be kidnapped today, Beltane!’
At this rate, Hillia’s life-risking gamble was about to be ruined by her loyal knight.
* * *
The moment Hillia saw the Crown Prince block the bridal procession, she cheered inwardly.
‘Yes! I’m saved!’
Encouraged by the Crown Prince’s chaos, she got too excited and jumped out herself.
‘This will make it even easier for him to abduct me!’
“At this rate, I’ll be late for the wedding. Please let us pass.”
What she really meant:
‘Come on! Quickly! Faster than the wind! I’m ready to be kidnapped!’
Only Arpad understood that unspoken message clearly.
He chuckled quietly.
‘She really is a strange woman.’
What surprised him most was that… he didn’t hate the feeling.
Actually, thinking back, it was strange from the beginning.
“Please kidnap me!”
She had said something so absurd. And yet, he let her live and walk away.
Maybe the moment he let her go, he had already lost in their tug-of-war.
‘Still, it doesn’t feel bad… why?’
‘Whatever the reason, I do feel the need to keep her close and observe her.’
Even that seemed like an excuse to accept her outrageous “request.”
But it was already decided.
‘Let’s see how this plays out.’
Feeling quite entertained, Arpad was unusually merciful today.
Meaning—he didn’t kill the knight who had dared draw a sword at him in one stroke.
“Ugh!”
Clang!
The knight, wounded in the arm, dropped his sword.
Hillia screamed:
“Sir Beltane!!”
She was genuinely worried for him.
‘What…?’
Arpad’s amusement immediately vanished.
He realized he was annoyed—just from seeing Hillia’s expression.
Hillia stepped in front of her knight and pleaded:
“Please show mercy, Your Highness!”
Her earlier act as a gentle bride had been clearly fake—
But this concern for the knight?
‘It’s real.’
Arpad was momentarily taken aback. Something twisted inside him, but he couldn’t figure out why.
Chapter 2. The Abduction
Arpad revealed his twisted mood right in his tone.
“So, he’s your knight, I presume?”
“Yes. So whatever sin he committed is my responsibility. Please punish me instead.”
Hillia’s sincere answer made Arpad’s already tangled emotions twist even more.
Sir Beltane clutched his wound and tried to stand in front of his lady again.
“No, it was entirely my decision to draw my sword. The Lady has done nothing wrong!”
Even before the Crown Prince’s bloody wrath, Sir Beltane did not falter.
“And more than anything, it was you, Your Highness, who humiliated my lady first!”
Arpad’s lips curled into a dangerously soft smile.
Anyone who knew him would know:
Arpad smiling like that was many times more dangerous than when he was angry.
* * *
‘Stop it! Please stop!’
Hillia knew well how honorable and knightly Sir Beltane was.
But she didn’t expect him to be this upright in front of a mad Crown Prince.
As she tried to stop him, Arpad spoke first:
“Can you keep your earlier word, Lady Delphine?”
“Huh? Which one?”
‘I said so many things earlier, which one’s he talking about?’
A sharp smirk tugged at the corner of Arpad’s lips.
She got a bad feeling.
‘No way… Is he going to cancel the abduction because I upset him?’
That would ruin everything.
But Arpad’s next words were unexpected:
“You said you’d pay for your knight’s sins yourself.”
‘Oh, that part? But why…?’
He grinned like he had caught her in a trap. The air around him felt bloody.
Beltane had already shed blood—so had that other servant. It wasn’t just a feeling.
But Hillia didn’t step back.
‘You never turn your back on a beast. That’s when they strike.’
“Yes. It’s a master’s duty to take responsibility for her knight.”
She only said this because it was Sir Beltane.
He had never betrayed her in any past life.
In the most recent one, he died terribly because of her.
‘This time, I won’t let that happen.’
Hearing her answer, Arpad smiled in a strange, bright way.
It was completely different from the dangerous, bloody smiles he had shown earlier.
Maybe it was the sunlight behind him, but for a moment…
He looked like an innocent boy.
Which made Hillia freeze—just for a second.
When she came back to her senses—
His face was right in front of hers.
His arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her up in one move.
“Ah!”
Her vision blurred—sky and ground spun into a blur of gray.
By the time she regained her senses, she was already in Arpad’s arms, on his horse.
‘Wait—what?’
Everyone stared at them in shock.
Arpad whispered against her ear:
“You said it yourself—you’d do anything. This has nothing to do with your threat.”
A chill ran down her spine.
She turned slightly to meet his eyes and asked quietly:
“What are you saying? Did you forget about my request?”
“That’s a separate matter.”
“Sir Beltane was just reacting reasonably to your actions!”
“Even so, drawing a sword in front of the Crown Prince is treason.”
Arguing with Arpad was hopeless.
‘He’s like a human form of “You can’t reason with this guy.”’
‘Should I have told Sir Beltane not to interfere?’
But knowing him, he never would’ve allowed the abduction.
And she couldn’t tell him about the regression either.
‘Still, I have to protect him somehow.’
Arpad must have sensed her conflicted look and asked:
“You really care about him, don’t you?”
“…He’s my knight.”
‘I want to save him.’
Almost as if reading her mind, Arpad added:
“You seem to trust and value him.”
“I do.”
“Seems like he’s the only one worthy of being called your knight.”
“Ugh.”
He had hit a nerve.
After her father died, she had led the family for three years—
And yet Beltane was the only knight she could truly call her own.
‘That’s my failure.’
She had been naive. Trusted Ludwig too much.
‘Never again!’
Just as she tried to collect herself, she noticed something off about Arpad’s expression.
‘Wait… why does he look like that?’
She had just revealed one of her weaknesses, but his face looked strangely… displeased?
‘Why would he be upset?’
But whatever it was, the look vanished quickly.
Only his usual smug smile remained on that annoyingly handsome face.
“Remember this—now you owe me a debt. Worth as much as your knight’s life.
