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Chapter 19
On the entire ride back, Karin chattered excitedly without pause. She was like a skylark singing endlessly.
“As expected, Marta is Marta. The moment our eyes met, I could barely breathe. When she looked at me and said, ‘What is it?’ in that cold voice, I felt like I’d committed some terrible crime.”
Arken simply watched her in silence.
“She’s tall, well-built, and her gaze is so sharp. Honestly, she felt less like a person and more like a wild beast.”
“…”
“And I heard her swordsmanship is incredible too. I wanted to see her fight. I wonder if I’ll get another chance someday.”
Karin hummed cheerfully for a while before realizing that the surroundings had become suspiciously quiet.
Had she been talking too much?
Arken was staring at her blankly. To Karin, it looked as though he were silently telling her to please be quiet.
Was I really that noisy? Well… I guess I was talking a lot.
Embarrassed, she closed her mouth, though she couldn’t completely suppress her excitement.
What Karin didn’t realize was that her feet were tapping along to an imaginary rhythm.
Fortunately, Arken broke the silence before it became awkward.
“How did you know about the White Tree?”
So he wasn’t scolding her—he had simply been curious.
Relieved, Karin flashed him a bright smile.
“You may think I don’t know much, but I actually know everything. So don’t underestimate me.”
Because I read it in a book, of course.
“I see. By the way, I never realized you had such a talent for lying.”
“Ahaha…”
Was that so?
Maybe she really did have an unexpected gift for it.
Scratching her head awkwardly, Karin laughed.
Truthfully, she had been nervous while saying it. She had hesitated over whether to bring it up at all, but now she was glad she had.
The thought that the proud knights of Esmeril might cut down the White Tree would have been a tremendous shock to Marta.
And if Marta questioned her later, she could simply say she had gotten lucky.
After all, Marta herself had said it was almost certain. Strictly speaking, there was still a possibility it wouldn’t happen.
“The territory beneath the northern mountain range will be yours now, Your Grace.”
“No. The construction of the annex hasn’t been canceled yet. And besides…”
After speaking with Marta, Karin had realized something.
There was no reason she had to take responsibility for those people in the territory.
I can just refuse it.
She simply wouldn’t accept the territory.
The duke wasn’t going to force land upon someone who didn’t want it. If she refused, the wager would naturally become meaningless.
“Even if the annex project is canceled, I won’t be accepting the territory. With neither a giver nor a receiver, the wager will simply end there.”
Arken raised both eyebrows, as though the possibility had never occurred to him.
“I see. Then I shall inform His Grace.”
Inform the duke…
Karin could already imagine it.
The duke, who was confidently expecting her to fail, would nearly fall backward in shock upon hearing Arken’s report.
Then, during his meeting with Marta, he would be forced to confirm once more that Karin had been right.
That wasn’t the only reason she was in such a good mood.
She planned to visit the palace with Iris around the time the meeting ended.
Just thinking about seeing the duke’s arrogant face crumple made her practically bounce in her seat.
The disappointed young lady? Hah! It’ll be his face that’s disappointed!
Karin nodded rapidly, grinning mischievously as if keeping time with a song.
“Are you really that happy?”
“Ah… haha. Was it obvious?”
“Yes.”
The answer came immediately.
Embarrassed, Karin turned her gaze toward the window.
It was practically a reprimand, yet somehow her mood only improved.
As though reflecting her excitement, the weather remained beautifully clear.
Karin leaned out slightly and enjoyed the fresh air to her heart’s content.
The carriage rattled as it entered the forest road.
That meant they were almost home.
I’ll have a cup of tea when I get back.
A warm cup of tea enjoyed after successfully completing a task would surely taste sweeter than honey.
Just imagining the bittersweet flavor filled her with energy.
She felt light as a feather, as though she could fly.
Whatever awaited her in the future, she felt she could handle it.
So absorbed was she in her pleasant thoughts that she never noticed Arken stealing glances at her every so often.
***
After returning to the estate, Arken compiled a report detailing the conversation between Marta and Karin and filed it away.
When he arrived at the study, Duke Lucas had stepped out briefly.
Arken sat and waited.
He was naturally quiet and composed. At a glance, one might think the room was empty.
Yet beneath that still exterior, a storm raged within him.
Several hours earlier, the young lady had not only admitted her mistake but had even thanked him.
It was entirely unlike the young lady he had once known.
She cared about the people around her.
He had simply thought she was a good person.
At least, until she said those next words.
“Did you know? You’re the most perfect person I’ve ever met.”
She thought unexpectedly highly of him.
He hadn’t been able to hide his surprise.
Partly because he hadn’t expected such praise, and partly because he believed she could only say such things because she didn’t truly know him.
He wasn’t nearly as remarkable as she thought.
If she ever came to know the real him, she would never say such things.
Yet her next words shattered that belief with ease.
“You don’t need to feel pressured. It’s not because you’re extraordinary. I like you simply because you’re you.”
Her clear, ringing voice was almost unbearably sweet.
Sweet enough to force him to revisit a possibility he had buried deep within himself.
A possibility with almost no chance of being true, yet too alluring to ignore.
A possibility that felt like a gift from heaven.
A promise that after all his suffering, happiness might finally await him.
But reality was not a fairy tale.
Stories where people overcome hardship and live happily ever after were exactly that—stories.
Fabrications created to inspire faith that good days would follow bad ones.
And chasing illusions was foolish.
Once had been enough.
He had no desire to repeat the same mistake, nor to become a plaything of fate again.
So it was best to forget such pointless thoughts.
The young lady should live her own life.
He should follow the path fate had assigned to him.
That was the proper way.
He tried to empty his mind.
And yet…
Why wouldn’t her voice leave him?
Like an echo reverberating through the mountains, her bright voice filled his thoughts and refused to let him go.
Without realizing it, he closed his eyes and surrendered to its sweetness.
“You’ve completely lost your senses. Do you know how many times I called your name?”
The duke’s mocking voice snapped him back to reality.
When Arken opened his eyes, Duke Lucas was already seated in the study.
So once again he had wasted time indulging in pointless fantasies.
Cursing his own foolishness, Arken lowered his head.
“My apologies.”
“Forget it. What happened with the Knight Commander?”
Without a word, Arken handed over the report.
The duke accepted it and began reading.
“What is this…?”
It did not take long for shock to fill his crimson eyes.
***
“Let us begin today’s meeting.”
A meeting that should have been routine was instead filled with suffocating tension.
One person sitting in the corner of the table radiated overwhelming pressure.
Marta.
The sole Knight Commander of Esmeril.
She was still wearing her armor, as though she had come directly from training.
The scent of sweat lingered throughout the room like a faint fog.
The meeting moderator, nervously watching Marta’s expression, finally spoke after receiving encouraging looks from the nobles.
“First agenda item. Fortress monsters have been appearing frequently in the northern region—”
“The annex construction.”
Marta spoke at the exact same time.
“Seems wasteful.”
The meeting room fell completely silent.
“…”
“…”
The nobles exchanged looks but hesitated to speak.
At last, one noble gathered his courage.
“…The matter has already been decided.”
Another immediately supported him.
“We discussed everything at the previous meeting. The White Tree Forest would be cut down and an annex constructed—”
“Why do you consider it wasteful?”
The king directly addressed Marta.
The noble could only fall silent.
“Is there anything lacking in your life at the palace, Your Majesty?”
“…”
“Are the rooms too small? Is the wind too cold when you sleep?”
“…”
“If not… then the annex is unnecessary.”
Once again, silence descended.
“But setting aside convenience, it is a matter of royal dignity! If we want to demonstrate that Esmeril is equal to other nations despite its small territory, then it is absolutely necessary—”
The first noble protested loudly.
Yet unlike his booming voice, his hands trembled visibly atop the table.
Now it was Duke Lucas’s turn.
“Radian, a nation twenty times larger than Esmeril, possesses only three annex palaces.”
“C-Cough. But other countries—”
“The Emperor of the Sahara Empire owns only a single small seaside villa.”
“Hrmm…”
“Therefore, I fail to see any connection between royal dignity and the existence of an annex.”
The nobles found themselves speechless.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
Then the king spoke.
Unlike usual, his eyes were clear and focused.
His back was straight.
At this moment, he was not a wilted spinach leaf but a dignified ruler.
“It would be better to cancel the annex project.”
“Your Majesty, but—”
“Besides, the White Tree Forest is a sacred place. Since ancient times there have been legends of fairies living there. Destroying such a place to build an annex… I believe I was too reckless.”
“But—”
“The annex project is canceled. I will hear no objections.”
Faced with the king’s firm tone, the nobles finally fell silent.
The remainder of the meeting proceeded smoothly.
Duke Lucas quickly pushed through the agenda items he had submitted beforehand—restoring the knights’ budget and importing mithril from Radian.
The nobles opposed both measures fiercely, but there was little they could do once the king adopted such a hardline stance.
Throughout it all, Marta merely sat quietly.
Until the meeting ended, she never once made eye contact with the king.
In fact, she never even turned her head in his direction.
The king was the same.
Like the sun rising after the moon sets, and the moon appearing only after the sun has gone down, their destinies continued to pass by one another without ever meeting.
