🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 35
“Monster!”
Someone shouted at Valentis. Valentis personally led his unit into battle.
He cut down both demonic beasts and humans without hesitation. Rather than giving orders, Valentis preferred to take action himself.
As a result, Valentis had a fearsome reputation among the enemy. With each horizontal swing of his sword, two or three enemies were cut down.
The enemies recognized his face. They attacked him in groups of five, trying to capture him. But Valentis was not so easily defeated.
“Robin!”
When Valentis saw his lieutenant in danger, he twisted the neck of the enemy in front of him.
Then, grabbing a sword, he sliced off the head of the foe threatening Robin.
He offered his hand to Robin, who was sprawled on the ground. Robin groaned as he grasped Valentis’s hand and stood up.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“I told you not to come out, didn’t I?”
“How could I stay in the barracks while Your Highness was on the battlefield?”
Robin usually stayed by Valentis’s side, devising strategies and giving advice.
In contrast, Valentis had spent his entire life fighting on the battlefield. Against monsters and invaders of the Empire—
He had fought all kinds of enemies.
“I didn’t expect the enemy numbers to swell so suddenly.”
“That just means I have a lot of enemies.”
Valentis’s enemies were both inside and outside the Empire. Even intelligent demonic beasts had vowed to hunt him.
But because Valentis was so overwhelmingly powerful, they couldn’t approach him easily.
“Looks like things have settled down.”
“Yes. I’ll finish the cleanup and return shortly.”
Leaving the rest to Robin, Valentis returned to the command tent. The battle had been with a tribe that had long been in skirmishes with the Sylok Empire.
They were a sizable tribe surviving by stealing and hiding in deep canyons.
“Phew…”
Valentis wet a towel and wiped his face. It was instantly soaked in blood.
“Are you injured?”
“No.”
Though the towel was drenched, it wasn’t his own blood.
“I’m fine. Go check on the others.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Valentis was unscathed. But his cherished soldiers had suffered injuries during the battle.
There were no professional physicians on the battlefield.
The best they had was Robin, who had picked up some basic medical knowledge.
“Is that…”
Then Valentis noticed the medicine in Robin’s hand.
“Oh, this?”
Robin replied.
“It was a gift from Lady Sophie.”
Come to think of it, all the medicine being used by the soldiers came from Sophie.
Sharp-minded Robin had already realized that Sophie’s abilities went far beyond her curse.
So he had asked her about treatments and sought her help.
“Her medicine is definitely the most effective.”
Robin rolled a small, fist-sized medicine bottle in his hand. It was small but highly effective.
To warriors constantly getting wounded, this little medicine was as valuable as life itself.
“Maybe it’s because the spirits grow the herbs… In any case, I only use Sophie’s remedies now.”
No matter how he looked at it, Sophie seemed too talented to be living in a small village.
“…I see.”
Valentis quietly nodded at Robin’s words. Somehow, Sophie had deeply entangled herself in his life.
Even the chronic chest pain that had tormented him for years had been forgotten. The trouble of hiding the tattoos that extended from his neck down to his thighs had vanished too.
“To put it bluntly, I like you. Out of all men and women, I like you the most.”
“This includes both my affection for you as a friend and my feelings as a man.”
Valentis had confessed to Sophie. And he had done it very directly.
Thinking back to that moment, he remembered how Sophie’s face had turned red at his sudden confession.
Trying to act unfazed, clenching her fists and raising her voice—that memory was endearing.
Proud Sophie disliked showing emotion or being shaken.
But what could he do? Even her flustered expressions were so cute they made him smile.
“Your Highness?”
From the moment he decided not to turn away from his feelings, Sophie never left his mind.
“Be quiet!”
It seemed a recent wound had reopened. Blood seeped through the rough bandage. Alarmed, Robin rushed over.
“Your Highness, you’re bleeding…”
“…”
But Valentis was still lost in thoughts of Sophie. He just wanted to return to her clinic as soon as possible.
Forgetting that he was on a battlefield, Valentis grinned like a man possessed. Robin looked at him in disbelief.
What is wrong with this guy…?
“Your Highness! Are you okay? I think the wound has reopened.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Is that so?! Does he not feel pain? Robin moved closer to examine the wound.
It was a fairly deep stab wound. The bleeding, previously stopped, had started again. It must be painful, yet Valentis only smiled like a fool.
“Do you like Lady Sophie that much?”
“…?!”
When Robin finally mentioned Sophie’s name, Valentis’s eyes widened. How did he know what I was thinking?
Robin sighed and rubbed his face.
“I’ve served Your Highness for over ten years.”
“…”
“At this point, it would be stranger if I didn’t know.”
Robin began rambling about how they should return to the Imperial Palace soon.
After wrapping up the battle, Valentis and his soldiers returned to the capital. The prince and his unit were welcomed with cheers from the citizens.
Valentis had spent his youth striving to earn the love of the people and the Emperor. Going to the battlefield personally had been part of that effort.
“I’m glad, though. That Your Highness likes Lady Sophie.”
“Glad?”
“She’s helped us a lot, after all.”
Robin was thankful to Sophie as well.
“And I think it might be a good thing if you two end up together.”
Valentis wanted to give Sophie the final say. Forcing her into the palace was out of the question.
So he decided to openly express his feelings to her. It would be wonderful if she fell in love with him too.
Either way, Valentis couldn’t separate himself from Sophie. He was completely captivated by her.
“…Yes.”
To make Sophie his, Valentis believed this was the only way—to use his full strength to protect her from the Emperor and win her heart.
He had never cared for someone this much before. Never wanted someone so deeply.
So, though inexperienced, he decided to give it his all.
“That’s what I hope for.”
Before long, Valentis’s unit entered the Imperial Palace. Towering walls surrounded them.
The palace was vast like a mountain range, and deep like a canyon.
Its walls were as high and thick as the Empire’s dignity. To Valentis, his father felt just as distant and imposing.
“I greet His Majesty the Emperor.”
Seated on the throne was Emperor Joseph. Since childhood, Valentis had wanted his father’s approval.
The Emperor’s sharp gaze scanned Valentis. Even though he was his father, standing before him took as much courage as facing a dragon.
“I worried you’d return half-dead…”
Joseph tapped the throne with his finger.
“But you came back in one piece. That’s a relief.”
Valentis resembled his father greatly. But the Emperor had been shaped by time—he was a towering, ancient tree, a seasoned veteran.
“I told you there was no need for you to go to the front lines.”
“You know I prefer to fight directly.”
“You are someone who should give orders, not risk your life in battle.”
“I am not Emperor yet.”
Valentis’s defiance faded under his father’s stern gaze. He had feared his father since he was a child—and Joseph knew it.
Valentis longed to be loved and respected by the people. But Joseph wanted more. He wanted Valentis to become a better Emperor than himself.
Yet Valentis still feared his father. And Joseph believed that as long as he feared him, Valentis would never break free from his grasp. So he kept pushing him.
“Right.”
Joseph changed the subject and paused to think.
“What happened to the apothecary owner we spoke of?”
“…”
At that mention, Valentis’s calm eyes shifted dramatically.
Though he was a warrior, he had always been intimidated by his father.
But now, it was like he was back on the battlefield—his gaze was defiant.
Joseph’s lips curled slightly. He had been waiting for this. That the apothecary could evoke such a reaction…
The Emperor was quietly impressed.
“As for that matter…”
Valentis warned his father firmly.
“I will handle it myself.”
“And how am I supposed to believe that?”
The Emperor scoffed.
“Maybe it’s better if I take matters into my own hands before you mess things up again.”
“If Your Majesty intervenes, you’ll only make things worse.”
Joseph was amused and intrigued by this situation.
“So please, stay out of my affairs. I’ll take care of it myself.”
Now, Joseph was growing curious about this apothecary woman.
