You are at the End of the Downfall

So, words that noble young ladies who could face Kaela might say were casually spoken by those of lower status than Kaela.

That was the level of honor and treatment for her, who had lost both her father and her title at once. She had heard it so often that even she now reflexively recalled those words.

Peon probably heard it too. It was quite noisy, after all.

“Your Highness, where are you planning to go…?”

Kaela didn’t respond to the instruction to lean back and only asked about something else. Meanwhile, she wobbled unsteadily between his arms, trying to balance on her own.

Peon simply pulled her close. The small woman, carrying a faint floral scent, collapsed into his arms.

It’s a bright summer fragrance unimaginable in Lusenford. The noble princess might have been startled, but being a mongrel, a lowborn without a father, it rather suited his temperament to act rudely.

Worried someone might see, he tucked Kaela further into the cloak he was wearing. He hid her cold eyes close to his strongly beating heart, unable to face her as she kept trying to look at him.

“You haven’t had a chance to look around yet, have you?”

The horse picked up its pace a little. The sound of hooves occasionally hitting the hard stone ground was cheerful.

“Let’s take a quick look around.”

After all, Your Highness will be leaving this place soon.

He increased the speed and left far, very far away from Lusenford Castle.

As they got farther away, he felt his breath ease, and he only felt the light density of the small warmth in his arms. His shoulders felt lighter. Yes. This is how he wanted to run. He wanted to run away from the world with her in his arms.

The horse, moving swiftly and quickly, headed in the opposite direction of the village below the castle. The loyal warhorse goes where its master directs. Only the small Grand Duchess trapped in his arms doesn’t know where they’re going, moving her blue eyes here and there.

Peon looked down at his arms once and chuckled. A white face looks up at him. You’re so small, pretty, and lovely. He confirmed it anew.

“I thought you might prefer a place without people.”

When he slightly parted the cloak, she peeked out her face and looked around curiously. Kaela’s blue eyes carefully observed every detail of the surroundings, as if absorbing them. She looked just like a child visiting for the first time.

No, it is her first visit. Peon felt as if he’d been hit on the back of the head. It is Kaela’s first time here. It’s the first time she’s been out since getting married.

“This is north of the castle. It’s close to the border… and it’s a good forest for hunting. There’s a stream that’s just starting to thaw, so it’s somewhat worth seeing.”

His throat was dry, and words didn’t come out well, but he forced himself to speak.

The late Grand Duchess, too, probably saw what was outside the castle the most when she was dragged to the northern tower, after being unable to move an inch from Lusenford Castle all along. Come to think of it, if you go far past this forest, you’ll reach that northern tower. Peon flinched once more.

If only rabbits, squirrels, or some such cute herbivores resembling Kaela would come to drink water by the stream, Kaela would enjoy seeing them.

However, in the forest where cold air still lingered, there were only rugged mountains towering in the distance with snow on their peaks, a gray stream, and densely packed trees.

There was no colorful and pretty scenery that suited her. All he could offer was this bleak landscape.

“It really has thawed,” a small voice chirped from his arms. The sound of the melting stream flowing down was quite vigorous.

“Yes, it has thawed a lot. It’s spring.”

Kaela watched a large unfamiliar bird take flight in the distance. The sky was crisp and clear.

“You’re right. It is spring.”

She had thought she would come in winter and die in winter, but here she was, welcoming another new season.

Kaela looked around for a long time at the stream she was visiting for the first time and breathed in the fresh air. So Lusenford had a place like this too. After taking in the sight for a long while, she tapped the arm tightly holding her waist.

“Let’s go back now.”

This much was enough.

****

To Kaela, Peon seemed to be quite an indifferent person. His indifference was maximized towards those he disliked, and even for those he liked, it wasn’t entirely absent.

No, he was kind, but sometimes indifferent to Beatrice. And Kaela was desperate to receive even a little of that kindness.

“Your Highness, Lady Ravalley is looking for you…”

“Kaela, what is this!”

It was when they returned to the castle, Peon helped her off the horse, and they entered the castle together. Beatrice rushed in, interrupting even the formal words of the head maid who looked exhausted.

Of course, Beatrice probably didn’t intend to physically grab Kaela, but before Kaela could be startled by the sudden face thrust towards her, Peon blocked Beatrice. Beatrice flinched at the sight of Peon standing like a wall.

“What’s the matter?”

“The room, what’s with the state of that room! How can anyone sleep there! There are no curtains, and the bed posts are broken! And why has the head maid changed? Where’s Doris?”

The Grand Duchess’s bedroom that Beatrice encountered was so gloomy it looked like ghosts might pop out.

The furniture mixed with hideous dark pink velvet was cheap, there were no curtains, and even the posts of the four-poster bed were all broken, leaving no curtains to draw when lying in bed.

“That’s the best room. You wanted that place, sister.”

Kaela looked at Beatrice and mimicked exactly what Beatrice always did. She opened her eyes wide and tilted her head.

It might look strange and awkward compared to the flower of high society, but it worked nonetheless.

“You… you…! Kaela, you…!”

Beatrice was at a loss for words. The sight of her mouth opening and closing was both comical and futile.

To think she had been fighting for four years against someone this simple and insignificant. If only she had abandoned her desire to look good in front of Peon, it would have been this easy, dealing with someone who was, in a way, far less skilled.

How Peon thought of Kaela no longer mattered. She was used to his coldness.

“It’s not ‘you,’ it’s ‘Your Highness.'”

Thus Kaela was shocked when Peon, frowning, quietly but clearly corrected her.

Again? He’s taking her side again? Kaela’s side instead of Beatrice’s?

Even up to that point, Beatrice might have been able to laugh it off and smooth things over. But Peon drove the point home.

“There’s no one of noble enough status in Lusenford to dare call Her Highness by name. Does Lady Ravalley not know the proper etiquette for her rank?”