Prologue
His eyes were deep, blue pupils situated above a strong, sharp nose, and his hair was so jet-black it seemed to radiate cold. From the armor that covered his sturdy frame to the navy-blue cloak with gray lining, the man looked like he’d stepped out of an oil painting depicting war.
The man’s eyes flicked between the family identification plaque on his desk and the boy standing behind it.
The boy was raggedly dressed, as if in a hurry, and his hair and face were caked with mud, making it hard to determine his complexion or shape.
The man, Aslan, spoke in a low, chilling voice.
“Rashid? Julius of Rashid’s house is already serving in the royal palace, his house isn’t subject to conscription.”
Leona swallowed hard. She could feel Aslan’s presence in the room, even though he wasn’t looking her way.
Aslan Nautilus, she’d heard countless stories about him. A general who, at an early age, became known by the grandiose name ‘Guardian of the Kingdom.’ Aslan was a man who did not often show his face in the city, as he guarded the border with the Formillas Empire. In addition, the war with the Empire raged on in recent years, so this was the first time Leona saw his face.
Because of this, there were countless rumors about him floating around the capital. That he ate human flesh, that he looked like some hideous monster from a novel…
Now she could clearly see all those rumors were nonsense.
“My brother is fulfilling his duties at the palace, and I have come to join the general at the front, sharing life and death!”
Since this was not the time to admire a pretty face, Leona gathered her wits and confidently shouted. She’d come back from the dead, so why would she be scared to make a ruckus?
The officers chuckled at the youngster’s shout. One of them, a graceful-looking man with slight shadows around his eyes leaned towards Aslan. His gray-purple hair cascaded down his back.
“General, Sir Julius Rashid has been a loyal knight since he enlisted at a young age and the number of times he’s been absent from the palace since he entered can be counted on one hand, it wouldn’t be polite to leave his brother among the common soldiers.”
“Lord Meyer. I’m not in the habit of keeping a child around who knows nothing.”
Aslan dismissed his words with a single statement, brows knitted together. Another officer next to him spoke quietly. Reiner Cade, a man with light brown hair and maroon eyes.
“Why don’t you let Lord Mayer take charge? He also has a son. Aren’t they similar in age?”
“…Sir Cade, my son is much younger than that… It looks like this child will soon be old enough to get married.”
“The general isn’t even married yet, who’s taking about marriage?”
Leona listened closely to the conversation between the officers and generals, biting her lip in frustration. It was a good thing she’d stolen her guard’s family plaque and rushed straight to Aslan Nautilus’s camp, but after that, she was worried. She thought she might only be able to get close to General Aslan after mingling with the common soldiers for a while.
However, as soon as she arrived at the camp, she was immediately summoned to the general’s tent. It was all thanks to her guard’s family plaque. Considering she’d just been following her instincts, the result was quite favorable. The guard she’d once resented so much before returning to the past turned out to be quite useful at times like this.
“But did Julius Rashid have a younger brother…?”
With a sneering tone, Reiner Cade scrutinized her while muttering. Leona swallowed her troubled feelings and set her chin as impudently as possible. Next to him, Senis Meyer responded with a gentle expression.
“There are some things you don’t know much about.”
“I don’t claim to know everything that’s going on in the world, sir.”
Watching the officers’ bickering, Aslan sighed briefly and then spoke up. That alone brought silence to the tent.
“What did you… say your name was?”
“It’s Le…o, Leo!”
“Have you ever worked as a squire?”
As soon as Aslan asked Leona, Reiner, who was standing next to him, looked back at Aslan a glint in his eyes.
“Hey! General, are you going to take charge of this kid?!”
“Sir Cade, please shut up…”
Leona inwardly agreed with Senis’s sentiment. Aslan was still staring at her, his cold blue eyes piercing her.
“I may not have any experience as a squire, but I will do my utmost to try!”
“Trying alone is not good enough.”
Leona suppressed the harsh words that were about to escape her lips. Why did she rush all the way here, cut her hair, smear herself with mud, and bind her chest? For whom was she doing all this?
However, she couldn’t voice these thoughts, so she just gazed at Aslan, feeling a mix of frustration and injustice, hoping her expression conveyed earnestness.
‘If you die, the kingdom will fall, and I’ll die too!’
So, she couldn’t allow him to die, no matter what.
This was the reason why Princess Leona Cor Leonis, the only princess of the Kingdom of Cor Leonis, was disguised as a man in the camp of Aslan Nautilus, who’d been fighting against the Formillas Empire for the past few years. Even on the day the war ended, when she left everyone behind and returned to the palace, Leona had no idea that she would end up making a vow of love with the man she’d done so much to save.
1 page. The general marries the princess
“Take this.”
A week and a day after returning from her three-month long absence spent on the battlefield, Leona, whose lips were dry and not fully healed yet, held out the jewelry box on the nightstand to Julius. Julius clucked his tongue at the smile on her face that belied her pale complexion.
“You’re smiling even after being sick for a whole week?”
“Why wouldn’t I! We’ve announced victory, and made peace. That’s great!”
“Yeah.”
In addition to being wounded, she’d had to ride her horse in a hurry for three days and nights, and even before that, was overworked at the military camp. The problem was that the arrow that hit her shoulder was poisonous, and she’d worn the necklace that changed her voice for a long time. Because of all that, Leona had to spend an entire week in a hospital bed.
The king lamented that Leona conveniently fell ill just to avoid punishment and sent a healer to her five times a day.
“The war is over, so we need to settle things. Take this.”
“I don’t need it.”
Julius quickly retorted, carefully observing her complexion. Leona’s face had grown gaunt, but at least some color had returned, and her voice, once praised by the courtiers as having the ‘tone of an aurora’, had returned to its former state, though it was slightly hoarse from being bedridden.
“Her Majesty the Queen prepared this for you.”
“I told you, I don’t need it…”
“You’re penniless from your pay cut. Wouldn’t it be wise to take it when it’s offered? You need to buy a house to get married.”
“…”
Julius closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pursed his lips.
It was always the king who tearfully begged Julius to look after this troublemaker. This time, after she ran away from home, the king loudly proclaimed Julius Rashid’s dismissal and pay cut, but then secretly called him and gave him double the deducted amount from his private funds. When Julius declined, he found a chest of gold bars already delivered to his residence.
However, even if he told her this, he wasn’t confident that he could overcome the princess’s rhetoric.
“…Anyway, have you taken your medicine?”
“Ah, I hate taking it.”
“Just quietly and obediently take it.”
“It’s incredibly bitter.”
“General Aslan will be arriving in the capital in a few days, and there’s a ball to celebrate the victory. Aren’t you going to attend?”
“I was planning to use the excuse of being sick to avoid it. Anyway, I’ve never attended such events; I’ve always pretended to be a sick chicken at the villa.”
“…”
Julius was about to ask something but stopped. Leona thought Julius seemed to be in a slightly better mood but didn’t ask why.
‘Surely, he’s not happy about me pretending to be a sick chicken.’
Julius held out the medicine to her again.
“I’ll give you some sweets, so please take your medicine.”
“Shouldn’t medicine be edible? If I eat this, I think my lifespan will shorten.”
“At least it wouldn’t kill you right away.”
“…Are you still mad at me for sneaking out?”
Leona carefully watched Julius. As the top knight in the palace, it might have upset him to become the personal guard of a mere princess. He had never shown it, but considering how much he had to put up with her constant escapades, it was understandable if his patience had worn thin. Moreover, this time she even rolled around as an ordinary soldier at the border.
“I’m not angry. This isn’t the first time you’ve done this.”
“That’s harsh, Sir Rashid.”
“Then, since I’m angry, you’ll relieve my anger if you eat all of this.”
Leona pouted but couldn’t hide the smile in her eyes. Despite the bitterness of the medicine, she closed her eyes tightly and downed the tonic in one go. Julius pulled out some cookies from his coat.
“Open it quickly!”
“Hold on a moment. Geez.”
“Hurry up ~!”
Leona impatiently kicked her feet on the bed. Julius grumbled but hurriedly unwrapped the cookies and placed them in front of Leona.
