Chapter 21
Carl stood up and tidied his disheveled appearance. Sian twitched her eyebrow, her hand on the floor plan.
“I’m not seeing you frivolously, it’s a conclusion I’ve reached after careful consideration. To be honest, can you say there’s absolutely no intention to use me for your purpose of clearing your name and returning here?”
If you have a conscience, you definitely won’t be able to answer that. Sian thought to herself while closely observing Carl’s every reaction.
Whether it was interest, concern, or bait thrown after realizing that she had fallen for him, he absolutely couldn’t deny that there was an intention to grasp at straws through a smooth relationship with her, a prince who currently had nowhere else to rely on.
While Sian was thinking confidently, Carl silently faced her, having erased even the smile that had been on his lips.
A subtle silence flowed.
“If I answer that there isn’t, would you believe me?”
After a long while, Carl skillfully avoided answering with a counter-question that was neither yes nor no.
He certainly wasn’t an easy person to deal with.
Anyway, as Carl said, Sian wouldn’t have believed him regardless of whether he answered yes or no. But it was another matter to be pointed out as if being counterattacked by the subject who had to answer.
“I’ll try to believe.”
Carl pulled the corners of his mouth long again at Sian’s honest and straightforward answer.
“I like your honest side. Then I’ll answer honestly too. ‘No’.”
Sian couldn’t help but twitch her eyebrow involuntarily.
“See?”
“But I didn’t say that was all. You were the one who asked so strictly if I had ‘absolutely no such feelings’.”
“How would I know? Whether the ratio is 9 to 1 or 1 to 9. What’s important is that there are impure thoughts mixed in anyway.”
Sian spoke sulkily as she gathered up the floor plan she hadn’t really looked at. The assembly time was approaching.
She hadn’t intended to waste time talking about such unproductive things, but how did it end up like this?
“Well, since we’re on the topic, Your High… I mean, I won’t deny that your looks are to my taste.”
“…”
“If you thought I’d provide abilities beyond the contract because of my personal preferences, you’ve really misjudged me. For now, I’m not interested in anything other than the 6 to 4 split of the secret funds as stated in the contract.”
“You’re incredibly cold-hearted.”
Carl shrugged his shoulders.
“Why wouldn’t I be cold when it’s obviously just empty talk?”
“Isn’t ’empty talk’ a bit harsh?”
“It’s not harsh at all. I feel like I’m being made fun of, so I’m not in a good mood.”
Sian narrowed her eyes at Carl. Carl looked awkward, as if he had run out of things to say in the face of her clearly accusatory gaze.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Lady. And I certainly didn’t intend to make fun of you.”
“…”
“I sincerely apologize for the part that offended you. I’m sorry.”
Carl apologized readily in a low voice. While it was true that she had been upset, Sian hadn’t expected him to apologize so easily, so she unconsciously frowned and stared blankly at Carl.
“You’ll know as time passes anyway, so I won’t rashly ask you to believe me, but there’s at least one thing I’d like you to know.”
Carl, who had somehow come close enough to be right in front of her, was earnestly meeting her gaze with his turquoise eyes. At the close distance, as if he was about to reveal his inner thoughts, Sian unconsciously leaned her head back to create some space.
“Whatever my situation may be, I swear by Idelin’s name, I’m not frivolous enough to go around seducing just anyone for the sake of convenience.”
Carl said quite seriously.
* * *
“From now on, you are no longer mere mercenaries of the empire, but proud soldiers of Ivarid, protected by Idelin, the great descendant of Yggdrasil.”
Yurian, who had appeared again, spoke loudly from the platform. His solemn voice sounded quite like a convincing commander.
The mercenaries called in by Ivarid’s officials, who were in a rush after Idelin’s appearance announcing the prince’s survival, filled the center of the training ground.
“Although you’ve been hired out of necessity, I expect you to guard Ivarid’s borders with pride and dedication.”
Judging by the atmosphere alone, it seemed as if they were about to face some great war.
Awkwardly mixed in among the men, Sian was lost in other thoughts. Glancing to the side, she saw Carl, about a hand span taller than the others, looking straight ahead with an indifferent expression.
…What could he be thinking?
Did her mumbling to herself while unaware that he was awake arouse suspicion? Or is he trying to make a move after realizing he couldn’t get any information through a good conversation?
But even if that’s the case, there’s no reason to pay so much attention to a relationship that will end once the secret funds are retrieved.
Sian’s mind was very complicated. Although she couldn’t read any other suspicious signs in Carl’s expression when he quite seriously confessed that he wasn’t such a frivolous person, for some reason she couldn’t believe at all that the prince’s interest was purely due to personal liking.
It seemed she had been staring intently at Carl without realizing it, lost in thought. Sian quickly turned her head when Carl’s gaze, which had been directed at the platform, turned towards her.
Perhaps because she had received an inscrutable seduction, even making eye contact had become strangely uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Yurian on the platform assigned each mercenary to an officer and distributed tasks. The mercenaries, who had been quietly listening to Yurian’s speech in neat rows and columns like well-trained soldiers, quickly lost order and scattered.
“Hey, sis.”
She should have been assigned to Yurian as well, but she hadn’t heard anything because she was lost in thought. As Sian belatedly realized the dispersing formation with an “Oh no,” someone approached and spoke to her.
When Sian looked up, it was the male mercenary who had gotten into an argument with Carl earlier.
“You said you were from Brinyue, right? You’re sworn sisters with that tall lady over there?”
The man pretended to know, having picked up information that hadn’t been shared anywhere.
“I’m Daram. I’m from Volando, a mercenary who travels alone without a team.”
“I’m Sian.”
As if the earlier threatening confrontation was a thing of the distant past, the man introduced himself friendly and extended his hand.
“I behaved shamefully earlier. I’d like to apologize, but I don’t have the courage to approach that tall lady.”
As Sian shook Daram’s hand, he glanced sideways at Carl standing a little distance away. His purpose in acting friendly with Sian seemed to be aimed at Carl.
“It’s fine, Karen was also a bit sensitive.”
“I’m grateful if you say so. Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you could pass on my apology when you get the chance.”
“Sure.”
Daram looked a bit surprised at Sian’s refreshingly straightforward answer.
“Unlike that lady over there, you have a refreshing personality. Have you been a mercenary for long? It’s not an easy job for women, you know.”
“Well, I’ve been at it for quite a while. Why are you alone without a team?”
“I haven’t been a mercenary for very long… These days, there’s not much work, so everyone’s reluctant to take on new members. So I’ve been wandering around and ended up like this.”
“Ah, I see.”
Sian nodded. As wild dragons disappeared and the situation inside and outside the empire became peaceful, mercenaries who sought out conflicts naturally found their work decreasing.
The conflict between the Crown Prince and the Prince that erupted in Ivarid was the biggest event among those that had occurred within the empire in recent years.
That’s why all the mercenaries of the empire, including Sian, had flocked to Ivarid. Daram, who had entered the most severe recession since Sian became a mercenary, seemed to have drifted here in search of work without even finding a team.
“What about you, sis? You look decent enough, and it seems like you’d have plenty of ways to make a living without doing such rough work. How did you end up becoming a mercenary?”
“Despite my appearance, physical labor suits my constitution.”
Sian smiled at Daram, who was openly curious about how a woman had become a mercenary.
“What are you talking about so interestingly?”
At that moment, Carl, who had noticed Daram and Sian conversing, interjected with a prim tone.
Daram was clearly startled by Carl’s sudden intrusion. Carl stretched his mouth into a long smile at Daram, who looked as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, but his eyes were as fierce as if he was about to pick another fight.
“This gentleman wants to apologize for the earlier incident.”
“Since the quarrel was with me, shouldn’t the apology be to me?”
Carl smiled at Daram with a murderous intent, as if even that was unsatisfactory to him.
“That lady is too fierce, so I was just asking to pass on the message for me.”
“That’s a nice excuse.”
Carl twisted the corner of his mouth at Daram’s honest answer.
“By the way, Daram. You said you’re from Volando? Isn’t Volando the territory of the Dragon Knight Antonio?”
“That’s right.”
“You must have seen plenty of dragons. How is it? I heard Sir Antonio’s Brita is a brown dragon, is it as intimidating as the rumors say, making your knees weak just by looking at it?”
Sian hastily changed the subject. She was worried that Carl might confront Daram again, and she was also curious about Antonio’s dragon.
“Being from a Dragon Knight’s territory doesn’t mean we see dragons often. Unless there’s something special, they stay cooped up in their nests and don’t show themselves.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Daram shrugged. Sian showed a disappointed expression.
“Rather than Brita… Who was His Majesty’s younger brother again? The dragon master…”
“Marquis Daniel Gregory.”
“Ah, right. Marquis Daniel Gregory.”
As Daram stumbled over his words, trying to remember, Carl interjected. Daram brightened up, snapping his fingers.
“I think I saw that Marquis’s dragon more often.”
midori
thanks! lolol carl being jealous