Chapter 105

“Maybe you should have been more careful with your hands, Sir Winston. Trying to lay hands on someone else’s fiancée? It seems you have poor habits.”

Kaien held onto Philome’s hand without taking his gaze off Winston.

Realizing that Philome’s hand was trembling slightly, Kaien felt even angrier. She was someone so precious that he had treated her with caution. Seeing her scared made him regret even striking Winston’s wrist with the blade.

“…Duke.”

As the pain gradually subsided, Winston quickly assessed the situation.

“…Aren’t we still in combat?”

“Well, I felt quite uneasy. How should I put it… It feels like an ungrateful mutt has crawled into my house.”

Kaien smiled with narrowed eyes, a cold expression.

“I thought I should quickly kill the monster and check things out. But since the aura wasn’t contained, I couldn’t control my strength.”

Kaien clicked his tongue in disappointment as he looked at Winston’s wrist, which had swollen to twice its size. He regretted that it hadn’t broken.

“It was my mistake.”

“…It’s alright.”

“So, what made you so reckless as to reach out to my fiancée?”

“…”

“If you were bold enough to move behind someone defenseless, it must have been serious, right?”

As Kaien asked with the intent to make things equally serious for Winston, cold sweat ran down Winston’s back.

“That is…”

Realizing that lying would be futile, he spoke honestly.

“I was curious about Lady Philome’s nickname.”

“Why?”

“…I was curious if she was someone I know.”

“That can’t be true, can it?”

Kaien tilted his head.

“There can’t be anyone as beautiful as Philome.”

Kaien smiled.

“It seems Sir Winston is quite mistaken. Isn’t that right?”

“…Yes.”

There was only one answer Winston could give.

As he nodded, Kaien turned his head towards Philome. During their conversation, Philome had calmed down and was no longer trembling.

Having confirmed that Philome was okay, Kaien whispered softly, still not fully composed.

“Philome, should I kill him?”

Philome, taking a deep breath while slightly tense, let out a small laugh at his words.

Knowing it wasn’t a question seeking an answer, Philome turned to him.

“I’m fine now. I can manage my expression.”

Philome turned away.

“You seem to be mistaking me for that Mel person, but I’m not her. That’s not even my nickname.”

“Then…”

“Are you asking what my nickname is?”

Philome rolled her eyes slightly.

“I don’t think I can tell you that.”

“Right. I tend to get a bit jealous, you see.”

Kaien wrapped his arm around Philome’s shoulder and kissed her temple.

Winston’s gaze swept over the affectionate and familiar skinship between the two. To anyone watching, they looked like a loving couple.

Noticing Winston’s stare, Kaien felt a strange sensation.

However, he soon smiled brightly.

“If someone else were to learn Philome’s nickname… well, I might be blinded by jealousy and end up killing them.”

His cold words contrasted with his dazzling smile, yet it was enough to instill a chill in the observer.

“So, Sir Winston, it would be best if you didn’t try to find out Philome’s nickname from now on. Don’t give me a reason.”

Winston swallowed hard and avoided Kaien’s gaze.

He nodded slightly, keeping his eyes downcast.

“…Yes. I apologize.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

As Kaien was about to take a step, he added, “Oh.”

“Now go. Don’t get in the way and accidentally touch my sword like before.”

Having finished speaking, Kaien turned away. Winston, who had opened his lips to respond, slowly closed them while watching their retreating figures.

“…Yes. Understood.”

Winston stood there for a long time, rooted in place.

* * *

“Saint, Marquis Evelyn has sent a message.”

Johannes cautiously began.

“She asks if we could extend the battle time a bit…”

At those words, Nadia stopped her hurried steps. For a week, Nadia had spent a little over two hours each day on the walls, dealing with the monsters.

In those two hours, the most she could manage was three monsters, just enough to handle those precariously close to breaching the walls.

“…Three is the maximum. Anything more than that is too much for me.”

“I conveyed that message as well, but Marquis Evelyn was puzzled that despite having more divine power than the previous saint, you handled so few monsters…”

“Your Excellency!”

Nadia shouted angrily.

“Are you comparing me to the previous saint? You’ve seen how exceptional my divine power is!”

Johannes hurriedly waved his hands.

“No! I’m not making a comparison. I’m just relaying Marquis Evelyn’s words.”

Nadia glared at Johannes, taking deep breaths to calm herself, then closed her eyes.

“Your Excellency, how is my reputation among the people of the territory?”

“…It hasn’t changed.”

“What did you say?”

Nadia’s face contorted in frustration.

There was a reason she deliberately went up to the walls to deal with the monsters. While there was an external purpose for being here, she also aimed to change her reputation within the castle.

According to what Nadia had learned through her maid, Philome was already well-received by the territory’s people.

Despite lacking any special abilities, Nadia wanted to surpass Philome in every field.

Even if it was a reputation of little worth.

Nadia naturally thought that the people would prefer her over Philome after witnessing her achievements.

However, nothing had changed.

‘This is all because of that incident.’

She recalled the time Kaien mentioned in front of everyone that Emon and she had run away together.

Just thinking about that day caused Nadia to wake from nightmares in the middle of the night.

‘It was just a small mistake; do I really have to suffer like this?’

She had made a mistake that anyone could make. In fact, Nadia should have been angry at Philome.

Philome had insulted her as a friend and betrayed her terribly over such a trivial mistake.

While Nadia was lost in thought, Johannes cautiously added,

“And we should probably contact the sorcerers, shouldn’t we? It seems we will need the sorcerers’s help to execute the plan you mentioned, Saint.”

A few days ago, Nadia had proposed a plan to Johannes. Hearing it, Johannes was pleased, saying he also wanted to expedite his own plans, but their combined strength was insufficient.

“Or perhaps we could rely on the Third Prince’s power.”

“…Alright.”

Nadia spotted Winston walking down the hallway from a distance and quickened her pace.

“Sir!”

Before Winston could react, Nadia poured out her words.

“I have come up with a plan; listen to me.”

“….”

“First, we need to let the Northerners know of our greatness. Also, the necessity of the saint. It seems they don’t realize how incredible I am. Such insolence! They wouldn’t dare mock me like this otherwise…”

“So, what is the plan?”

Winston interrupted Nadia’s speech with his question.

Since this was the first time he had done so, Nadia momentarily felt flustered, then belatedly looked at Winston’s face.

Winston was always someone who considered others first, regardless of the situation. Even if Nadia were to get angry, he wouldn’t lose his smile.

But now, there was not a trace of a smile on Winston’s face.

This was the first time Nadia had seen Winston’s expressionless face. She also realized for the first time that when he withdrew his smile, he had quite a cold demeanor.

“Oh, so…”

Meeting his chilling gaze snapped Nadia back to reality, and she averted her eyes.

“I think we need to awaken the Northerners’ sense of caution.”

Nadia then explained her plan in more detail.

For some reason, as he listened to her plan without a word and with an expressionless face, Nadia felt an inexplicable pressure and stumbled through her words.

“…I think this should work… No, will it work, Your Highness?”

She carefully addressed him formally.

After a moment of silence following her words, Winston finally spoke.

“Isn’t that insufficient?”