Chapter 129

In the evening, Aiden first informed Raylenne about the contents of the imperial edict, expressing his intention to participate in the war.

Raylenne had steeled herself for this moment, so she was able to offer a gentle smile to Aiden as he conveyed his thoughts with concern.

“Yes, that’s right. After all, you’re the strongest person in the empire, Aiden.”

Aiden blinked slowly, seeming quite surprised. Knowing why he reacted this way, Raylenne spoke first to convey her feelings.

“Aiden, you understand the horrors and necessities of war better than anyone. If you’ve decided to participate in another war, you must have a good reason.”

“…”

“I want to respect your decision, Aiden. Of course…”

Raylenne’s smile took on a bitter tinge.

“I am worried.”

Aiden reached out and took Raylenne’s fidgeting fingers in his hand.

“Why do you think I want to go to this war, Raylenne?”

“Well… to protect the people of our territory, and by extension, the people of the empire…”

Aiden embraced Raylenne. His grip as he pulled her close felt somehow poignant.

“The reason I’ve decided to participate this time is because of you, Raylenne.”

Raylenne looked up at Aiden’s face.

“Because of me…?”

“I have a duty to make this empire, where you live, peaceful and safe.”

Raylenne blinked.

“Then… you’re saying you decided to go to war because of me?”

“Of course, the people of our territory and the empire are important, but ultimately, it’s you who moves my steps.”

Raylenne felt a lump in her throat.

She had no idea that Aiden’s decision to plunge into another war, where he would once again engage in fierce battles between life and death, was because of her.

“Raylenne.”

At his tender call, Raylenne met Aiden’s eyes with her own reddened ones.

“Let me make a promise. I will return to you safely by next summer.”

Next summer was only a year away.

Would that really be possible? Raylenne knew there were many outstanding combat personnel in the Hamnebu Empire besides Aiden. The knights Caverion and Bedeusian were prime examples.

The empire had more exceptional awakened individuals than other nations, and since the imperial government spared no expense on military support, their technology was advanced and war supplies were abundant.

Even so, given that their opponent was the Kanpos Empire, it wouldn’t be an easy war. After all, the economic scale and population of the Kanpos Empire were not that different from the Hamnebu Empire.

Perhaps reading concern in Raylenne’s silence, Aiden added:

“Have I ever failed to keep a promise?”

A faint smile played on Aiden’s lips. His rare smile exuded confidence.

“Well, no, but…”

“Then please trust me and wait. I’ll return with news of a great victory before the red leaves appear.”

Aiden’s attitude as he said this was so solemn yet reassuring that Raylenne could only nod.

Aiden lifted the corners of his mouth, forming an elegant curve. He had become much more natural at smiling than before.

Raylenne stared blankly at Aiden for a moment, then raised her hand to wipe away the tears that had welled up in her eyes with her sleeve.

At that moment, Aiden gently grasped Raylenne’s wrist and lowered it. Then he licked away the tears that were precariously clinging to her eyes.

Raylenne turned red in an instant. Aiden didn’t stop there, carefully pressing his lips to Raylenne’s slightly parted mouth.

Then he gently pushed Raylenne down onto the bed, continuing the kiss.

Raylenne opened her eyes slightly to look at Aiden. Seeing him so focused on the kiss made her already rapid breathing feel like it was completely blocked.

Perhaps feeling her gaze, Aiden slowly opened his eyes. The eyes visible beneath his languidly opened eyelids expressed raw emotion.

The desire to possess you completely. As that feeling became palpable, Raylenne’s toes curled.

Her heart pounded pleasantly, filled with anticipation and excitement.

Aiden’s feelings must not have been much different, as he began urgently unbuttoning his shirt one by one.

Raylenne squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment.

* * *

The departure ceremony would soon be held. Raylenne had to learn embroidery, something she had never done before in her life, in order to give Aiden a handkerchief she had embroidered herself on that day.

‘Who came up with this silly superstition…!’

It all started with Janie’s subtle question.

[My lady, you’re going to embroider a handkerchief for the Duke yourself as a gift, right?]

[…Huh?]

[Don’t tell me you didn’t know? There’s a tradition in the empire of giving personally embroidered handkerchiefs as gifts to knights going off to war.]

They say that if a wife gives a personally embroidered handkerchief as a gift, that person will return safely from the war.

‘If such a thing really worked, why would there have been any casualties in the wars up until now?’

Even while thinking it was nonsense, superstitions were the kind of thing you couldn’t just ignore once you knew about them.

So Raylenne began hurriedly learning embroidery with the help of the chambermaid.

The embroidery design she wanted to complete was a clover flower. While others often embroidered images symbolizing peace like doves or laurel wreaths, Raylenne liked clover flowers.

It was a type of grass that grew abundantly in this castle, and though modest, the leaves of clover symbolized luck as well.

When she first came to this castle, she would often go out for walks to search for four-leaf clovers. Although there was much to learn and master as a duchess, having to do something alone in this unfamiliar castle without Aiden was an overwhelming task at first.

So she found peace of mind searching for four-leaf clovers hidden among the clover patches.

As it was such a meaningful flower, she wanted to embroider it and give it to Aiden as a gift.

Of course, that journey was not an easy one.

“My lady… perhaps it would be better to embroider something a bit simpler, even at this point?”

At the chambermaid’s troubled voice, Raylenne looked at the handkerchief in her hands.

‘It certainly doesn’t look much like a clover flower…’

The white clover flower petals looked more like monster teeth. But there wasn’t enough time to start over with new embroidery.

Raylenne blurred her vision as if to deny reality.

‘See… if you look at it this way, it almost looks like a clover flower.’

Through her blurred vision, she could see the white clumps of embroidery. Raylenne soon put on a calm expression and said to the chambermaid:

“It’s fine, let’s continue.”

* * *

Finally, the day of the departure ceremony arrived, and Raylenne stood at the main gate to see off Aiden as he left the castle.

Not just Raylenne, but everyone in the castle came out to wish Aiden and the knights good fortune.

“Duke.”

Raylenne called out to Aiden. This title of “Duke” was still hard to get used to. Perhaps because she always called him Aiden when they were alone.

However, there were many people present now, so she had to address Aiden formally.

Raylenne opened her mouth with a solemn expression, as if she were the one departing for war.

“I believe in you.”

“That gives me more strength than any words could.”

Aiden smiled faintly. As the wind blew, Aiden’s silver hair, uncovered by a helmet, swayed gently.

The sight of Aiden’s silver hair floating lightly in the air reminded Raylenne of flower petals flying in the sky, and she remembered the clover flower. She quickly took out the neatly folded handkerchief from her pocket.

“Here.”

Raylenne unfolded the handkerchief to show the embroidered clover flower. There was a moment of hesitation in Raylenne’s gesture due to her lack of confidence in her work, but she soon proudly spread it out to show Aiden.

Then, in a small voice so others couldn’t hear, she said:

“It’s a clover flower. It symbolizes peace and luck. Since it’s a flower that blooms in summer, I hope Aiden will return around the time these flowers are in bloom.”

Aiden accepted the handkerchief.

“I understand. Clover flower… I’ll remember it.”

Raylenne nodded.

The two shared a brief embrace, exchanging warmth. And before that warmth could fade, Aiden mounted his horse and led the knights away from the castle.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

Raylenne stood at the main gate, praying for the safe return of those who had departed, until the sound of hoofbeats could no longer be heard.

* * *

For a year, Raylenne spent her time guarding the empty castle.

Though she occasionally worried about Aiden and her brother who would be roaming the battlefield, worrying wouldn’t change anything, so she tried to keep herself busy.

She spent most of her time learning new things, and one thing she learned thoroughly during this time was the administrative work of the castle.

Of course, she had briefly learned about ledger management and basic income and expenditure before, but this time she mastered even the complex tax system through the castle’s administrator.

After that, she learned embroidery. If there was one thing she regretted after sending Aiden off like that, it was the clover flower that looked like monster teeth.

Of course, she admitted that she had tried to embroider too difficult a flower from the start. It was similar to a novice who had just picked up a chisel insisting on sculpting Michelangelo’s David.

It would have been much better if she had simply followed the chambermaid’s advice and embroidered a dove.

So Raylenne took this regret as an opportunity and diligently learned embroidery.

The clover flower embroidery completed each month gradually transformed from a lump of white thread into a plausible form.

And finally, the twelfth clover flower embroidery she completed was so lifelike it seemed as if it had been plucked straight from nature.

‘Look at this! I did it!’

Raylenne excitedly looked at the embroidery she had created. Of course, it wasn’t just the perfect embroidery that excited her.

It was because news of the Hamnebu Empire’s victory arrived just as the hot winds began to blow and the cicadas’ cries became deafening under the scorching sun.

Having heard yesterday that the victorious army had arrived in the capital, they would likely hold a celebration party, take sufficient rest, and then disband the army.

Then, she would be able to meet Aiden, who would return to the territory within this month.

Because of this news, Raylenne had been unable to calm her excited heart lately.

Today was no exception. At the thought of seeing Aiden, her legs fidgeted restlessly under her chair.

At that moment, she saw a knight passing through the main gate outside the window.

Although he was fully armored and his face was covered as he galloped on horseback, he looked all too familiar to Raylenne’s eyes.

‘…Huh?’

There was no way he could have arrived at the duke’s castle already.

Raylenne went downstairs as if she had seen an apparition. However, the knight who had seemed like a mirage stopped in his tracks upon spotting Raylenne.

Then he dismounted and removed his helmet. As beads of sweat scattered in the air, a dreamlike man’s face appeared beneath the damp hair.

“…Aiden?”

It really was Aiden.

“I thought if I stayed in the capital any longer, the red leaves might fall before I returned to the castle.”

So he had returned to the castle alone like this? Leaving even the knights behind in the capital?

Raylenne could hardly believe what she was seeing.

Aiden held out something to the stunned Raylenne. A snow-white flower was visible between his rough gauntlets.

“This is…”

It was a small clover flower.

The tiny flower held by the man clad in rough, cold armor seemed out of place, making Raylenne feel once again as if she were dreaming, but the grassy scent of the clover flower tickling her nose made her realize it was real.

“I’m glad I wasn’t late.”

Aiden’s voice sounded vivid.

“Who cares about being late…!”

Even as she said this, Raylenne embraced Aiden. Aiden also wrapped his arms tightly around Raylenne’s waist.

After feeling each other’s embrace for a while, Raylenne was the first to pull away. Then she unfolded her handkerchief to show the clover flower embroidery she had just completed.

“What do you think? It’s much better than the embroidery on the handkerchief I gave you before, right?”

Aiden smiled lightly.

“Both look perfect to me.”

While thinking that this response made all her hard practice seem pointless, the castle scenery bathed in crimson by the sunset and Aiden standing there like a painting looked so perfect that Raylenne couldn’t help but smile along.

Gazing intently at Raylenne, Aiden spoke in a low voice:

“I missed you terribly. I wanted to tell you this as soon as I arrived.”

“…”

“I love you. From the depths of my heart.”

Raylenne etched this scene, which filled her vision along with a strange sense of fulfillment spreading from her heart throughout her body, into her eyes as if embroidering it—this moment she would never forget.

<End>