She was both satisfied and happy that his laughter was made out of her jealousy. And honestly, she didn’t create any jealousy, so she continued to complain.
“Anyway, we won’t meet again if we attend the Countess’s birthday banquet.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Of course I am jealous. won’t you?”
“Haha.”
Leone’s laugh broke clear.
“Jealousy, I think it’s good.”
And the words that followed sounded a bit screwed up. Like a person in love.
“Oh, and that… To Sir Adler.”
“It’s secret. It must be.”
“Do you think so too?”
“Because Adler is a bit on the unusual side.”
“Puff.”
She burst into laughter at those words. Did Leone think so too? When she thought of Adler, who would look like he was betrayed by his well-bred son, she felt sorry for laughing, so she didn’t want to laugh, but once the laughter erupted, she didn’t know how to stop.
“Oh, I shouldn’t be laughing. Whoops. Haha.”
“A knight, that is. That it’s for me I know now.”
“Really?! Did you even know that?”
“Now I know a lot. He can’t know. There’s no benefit to being next to me and it would have been hard work, but he is struggling like that. I don’t know how.”
There was a faint affection in Leone’s eyes.
“Yeah, I don’t like- no.”
“Hmm. Isn’t the hostile time too long?”
“By the way, um… More than anything.”
He slightly rolled his eyes as if choosing his words. It was a cute and humorous face that made her want to pinch his cheek. It was surprising that emotions had come to his face this far. Even though they were always together, she couldn’t even notice the moments when Leone observed and learned these faces and expressions.
“I guess I just can’t like men who are close to you.”
“Not the men around me, Leone. Are they the people who gathered for you?”
“But he was your employer.”
“…ah.”
“You did that before. The knight owned you.”
It reminded her of the mistake she made in trying to teach Leone the concepts of money and employment. Her face turned red.
“Uh huh, really. I really… I’m not explaining straight. Haha. I really… sorry.”
The words dragged on for a long time, but eventually an apology followed. She didn’t know if Leone thought of her as a family member, if she said that she belonged to Adler after saying that he loved her from the beginning… It seemed that the heartache must have been quite considerable. She felt like a felon.
“No. Thanks to you, I worked so hard.”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you curious that I worked so hard? Trixie. You got more and more engrossed.”
“Yes… ji. I was curious. I was worried because you just said it was fun. Still, I thought it was like that later. Was there another reason?”
His eyes twinkled.
“I wanted to reach you.”
Even after realizing that Leone loved her, the first thing she felt was not embarrassment, excitement, or any other kind of emotion. Even seeing the same places as her, he had to figure out something else. Because there were many things he didn’t know. He tried multiple times. How many times had he raised his world? She couldn’t even guess at what point.
That it was all for her.
It was not enough for the person she loved to love her face-to-face, but because he loved her, he tried to become a different being. And he did it. It was a gift that was so undeserved, grateful, happy, and extremely sorry. The tip of his nose was cold.
Leone stroked her hair.
“My hair is more tidy than before. Curly hair that sticks out even when you tie it up, touching it. Did you like- Trixie? What’s the matter?”
“Oh, Leone. too… great job.”
It would have been nice if she had been like Leone. At least, she wished she had learned to understand his language better. It was his own effort. She urged his efforts in the name of wanting to know him. In the end, it was all thanks to Leone that they were able to face each other like this, and she was both moved and sorry.
Tears dripped down.
“Sorry. I only made it hard for you I-“
“I was greedy for you, so I have to suffer.”
He was smiling effortlessly, with an effortless face at all. His white long fingers wiped her tears.
“That’s it. Me too. It’s like being greedy. Hehe.”
Wasn’t it an honest feeling that even if you’re the same person, you want to lie down if you’re an actor in another country’s language? The kid who lived like a wolf without knowing words at all…
“Huh. I should have lived, crawling on all fours!”
“Puff. Hmm… Trixie. calm down.”
Leone rubbed her shoulder with a slightly distorted face. Was she mistaken for the sound of laughter?
“Sorry-“
“Then do this, Trixie. The last time I hurt your shoulder- remember? You showed up with a bandage on.”
“Huh. Suck. I remember.”
“Fuck it.”
“…Where else did you learn that word?”
“Who was it? A history teacher?”
“No, why are they all teaching such strange things?”
“A good student always has a lot of questions.”
“Did you ask about that?”
Although Leone’s barrage of questions was terrifying when she was observing, she didn’t think he asked such a question. Every time she observed, they took classes together, but she was not sure because there were many times when she was sitting far away from Leone.
“Anything, it’s good to know.”
Leone smiled sullenly and put his forehead on her forehead. Then he rubbed the tip of his nose. The loveliness he showed her made her desire to ask more disappear. How about these, how about those… There was a man like a puppy sitting in front of her, smiling seductively like a fox and looking only at her.
“Trixie, everything. I love you.”
The love that the man gave her was really sweet.
* * *
“The Archduke is working hard on recruiting soldiers.”
“After scratching once, you’re preparing for treason right away?”
To be exact, it was close to detonating a bomb by sending a ribbon-only corpse after scratching it once. Leone didn’t care and asked the guild leader.
“Hey. It’s not openly recruiting. The Archduke isn’t stupid, he’s doing it covertly. Ahem. Who are we? Isn’t that verbena? We figured it out.”
Safe hideaways to hide from the Archduke, generous down payments and bonuses. Verbena’s guild leader’s face was bright, as if he had tasted the flesh these days.
“If not outright… In Verbena- how did you find out?”
“We searched every suspicious place, and we were lucky enough to find out a few things… It’s not really that the Archduke is openly saying that. Most people won’t know. Even hired soldiers won’t know that they work for the Archduke.”
“Again, again- it’s a stock offensive.”
Anyway, he was an old man who liked big things. Leone sighed. Originally, the number of soldiers that the imperial family could employ was far greater than that of ordinary nobles. After all, he could even bring in the soldiers guarding the frontier. If there were many unbelievers, he had the confidence to persuade or screen them out. So the number of people was not a problem. That was even weirder. Just because he scratched a little, in a fit of rage, he immediately committed treason? There was no guarantee that he would definitely win. This side was an army made up of elites, and the other side was a ragtag private. How did he plan to win? Besides, no matter how capable Verbena was, to think that things were being done carelessly enough to ‘accidentally’ find out about the Archduke’s treason. The essence of treason was secrecy. No one should be aware that there was an inversion in the heart of the Archduke. It’s a failure just by leaking out.
“Isn’t it false?”
“To some extent… It seems fake, though. But even if we really mobilize all of Verbena’s manpower, the only news about the Archduke is that he ordered a large quantity of whiskey, or that he is living in seclusion.”
“I’m a secluded alcoholic…”
“First of all, contact the Margraves of the West and North. Afterwards, investigate whether there is a connection with the Archduke.”
“Yes.”
Adler answered in a hushed voice. A moment of silence passed.
“It looks like the Archduke is acting.”
Trixie, who had been lost in thought throughout the guild leader’s report, opened her mouth and the silence was broken. Leone’s gaze turned to her, and naturally her piercing expression softened. The love in her eyes was deep and strong enough to be noticed by anyone. Fortunately, Trixie didn’t face Leone, but her serious face. So, in the eyes of others, Leone had a crush on Trixie. She was in a state that could be misunderstood to an extent. Since both of them asked to keep their love a secret, it could be called a good defense. That’s because at least one didn’t get caught.
“For us… He’s trying to show that he’s angry, and that he’s about to commit treason, having lost his temper. Why?”
“Only that side- pay attention, the method used is stupid.”
“It’s a lame treason no matter who sees it.”
Trixie’s attitude of being respectful because the guild leader was in front of her made Leone slightly sullen. To the subject who was using the ‘statement of a dignified prince’ that he himself has been learning hard. Trixie looked at that face and thought it was ‘cute’, but bit her lip to avoid showing it. Fortunately, the most unusual person in this room was unaware, and the quick-witted guild leader did not have the power to dare to tease the prince, saying, ‘Are you two chickens right now?’
“Huh. And- it’s quite successful if it’s trying to undermine the spirit by preparing the soldiers and making other situations suspicious. Recruiting an army and preparing for treason- it’s not easy.”
“That’s right.”
Leone and Trixie hardened their relaxed faces as much as possible at Adler’s voice, who sighed and interjected. Anyway, it was said that flowers bloom even on the battlefield. It was quite hectic to have to defend from the outside as well as from the inside, but the lovers were just happy.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR, thank you very much for reading!
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Next post will be released on August, 21.
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