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Chapter 87
“Do you remember?”
“Remember what?”
“When we hadn’t known each other long, you said you’d punish the person who spread the rumor that I was a hooligan noblewoman.”
Danha, hands clasped behind his back, nodded slightly with a faint smile.
“That’s right. Why, do you want me to punish them?”
He looked at me now as if I were cute, so I felt a little relieved and asked,
“You know, Danha…”
“Hmm?”
“You think that rumor was a misunderstanding, right?”
“…….”
“You think it was a misunderstanding, right?”
“…….”
“It was a misunderstanding, wasn’t it?”
“…….”
“……”
I repeated my question three times.
Danha looked at me with his pupils shaking violently, then cleared his throat and turned his head.
“I am certain.”
Oh, so he’s not a hooligan?
“If I just follow what the young lady says, we’ll be at peace.”
Trying to stir conflict, huh?
After that, we exchanged a few lighthearted jokes, reassured ourselves that we were alive, and then began figuring out our positions properly.
I gestured for Danha and pointed to what we guessed was our location on the map.
“We must be around here. First… meeting with our companions is priority, so let’s wait until they find us.”
I hesitated, unsure how he’d react if I said “companions,” but Danha smiled faintly.
“The word ‘companions’ does sound nice.”
“…Hmm. Anyway, the important thing is to meet everyone.”
“By the way, have you decided on the route south?”
“We had originally planned to go through the southern forest, but the plan changed. We’ll cross the rift and head south.”
My finger traced the route from the chapel in the central cemetery, where Marquis Lapran is, toward the southern forest. Danha, having learned the location of the warp scroll from me, nodded.
“There’s no other option if we want to find the warp scroll.”
“Exactly.”
Southern forest or the rift? No need to think further.
Since the warp scroll is in the chapel, the rift route is no longer mandatory.
I stood and gestured to four crows staring at Danha.
“Thanks to your ability to control birds, the plan will be much easier.”
“Ride the crows, find the warp scroll in the chapel, and dash straight to the southern forest, is that it?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, Danha, unnecessary battles and dangers are reduced. Thank you.”
“It was you who showed me how to use my powers, young lady. I should be the one thanking you. You’ve saved me several times already.”
“But even now, I survived thanks to you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But if you do something like that again, I’ll get seriously angry.”
I glared and clenched my fist; Danha, observing me quietly, furrowed his brow and laughed heartily.
“Why are you laughing? Do you find my anger amusing?”
Danha shook his head, as if misunderstanding me, and looked at me with a faint, lingering smile in his eyes.
“…You know, young lady, you remind me a lot of my youngest sister from behind.”
“Really?”
“But apart from that, there’s no resemblance.”
“Are you drawing a line now?”
Danha chuckled lowly and shook his head.
“No. I mean literally, you are a different person. But I just found one more similarity.”
“…What is it?”
Curious, I asked lightly.
Danha lowered his gaze. His eyes brushed against my hair for a moment before dropping.
“My sister, like you, used to scold me sometimes.”
“Doesn’t she look like someone who would get into trouble often?”
“She was always cowardly as a brother, so of course she got scolded.”
Danha let out a pained laugh around his eyes, slowly wiping away his smile.
Because I was staring at him silently.
“Young lady, why are you like that?”
I had noticed it before… he tends to belittle himself out of habit.
Because of his looks, it doesn’t come across as groveling—it’s more sorrowful and poignant, and coupled with his gentle, eloquent speech, it must have captivated older sisters’ hearts.
Yet as a charming trait, it also felt bittersweet.
It seemed like a habit formed by his circumstances.
According to the original story, Danha, as the 13th prince, was brilliant from a young age, but with a palace maid for a mother, his maternal family’s position weakened, making him prey to his brothers in the palace.
Despite this, he tried to earn his father’s recognition. After his mother passed away, he was harassed by his brothers and eventually had to step back from palace politics.
From then on, he lived like a carefree young man while taking care of his siblings who reminded him of himself.
My suspicion about Danha losing the warp scroll earlier is related to his past.
It wasn’t just insight or experience—it was because he was inherently intelligent.
Perhaps he pretended to be carefree to avoid his brothers’ scrutiny.
Thus, lowering himself before his brothers became a habitual expression.
I felt a pang of sadness for Danha’s painful past.
“So that’s why he calls himself cowardly. He had to be submissive to survive.”
I hesitated briefly, then spoke up.
“Danha, this isn’t your homeland. We’re deep in the forest.”
Danha tilted his head as if asking why I was stating the obvious.
“I mean here, you don’t need to lower yourself or be cautious. Honestly, I could call the eldest one a jerk! The second one a scoundrel! And the only ones who’d hear it are you and me. Want to try?”
Danha’s eyes widened in surprise, then he bent over laughing.
“Haha!”
He covered his face with his large hands, giggling for a while before exhaling lazily and raising his head.
Though the laughter lingered, his eyes were somber.
I brought up a topic that had been weighing on my mind.
“And no one calls a person cowardly if they are willing to bend their principles to save someone’s life.”
I remember him fighting off zombies for me.
I was a little taken aback by his actions differing from the original story, but I was inwardly grateful.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t had the chance to say it before.
Perhaps my words reached him, as his purgatory-colored eyes softened.
“You are truly a hopeless woman.”
“…….”
“If I were to fall for you, why would you be so kind?”
Just as he murmured lowly, a strong wind blew.
Leaves rustled and my hair was blown about.
Danha leisurely reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear.
After a long, steady gaze, he finally spoke.
“Young lady, never turn your back on me.”
Danha smiled faintly, the dimples in his cheeks showing.
Does he mean literally not to show his back, or is he missing his sister… or is it…
‘A warning not to show weakness?’
Perhaps because of the wind, a strange unease stirred in me.
Danha leaned against a tree wrapped in ropes, observing Redria.
Redria said she would firmly train the arrogant crows until the party arrived.
Although Danha could tame them, unexpected situations could arise, so each person should be able to control them individually.
She even wore a strange, half-circle-brimmed hat, though I had no idea where she got it.
It seemed like she was role-playing as a “trainer” or something, but I only partially understood.
‘It seems young lady enjoys this quite a bit.’
So I cautiously asked,
‘Young lady, do you enjoy training the crows?’
‘…What do you mean? I’m only training soldiers for aerial operations.’
Her expression was as sullen as usual, but I could tell.
As she turned, she pressed her hat down to hide her cheeks, slightly blushing.
Right after, she refused when offered a flute, claiming she didn’t want to use it to channel aura.
I watched to see how she would train them… Hah. I couldn’t help but laugh at Danha’s expression of disbelief.
