Chapter 15
Johannes muttered as if sighing,
“What a crazy bitch…”
“I’ll do what I have to do, so you can ignore me, capture me, or kill me. Do as you please, General.”
Daphne watched without blinking as his face contorted, the signs of anger directed at her. At least it seemed clear that her presence could provoke him. Amidst it all, Daphne was pleased by this fact. Even while instinctively shrinking back from the dangerous atmosphere.
She didn’t know him well. Two encounters in this forest and observing him from the watchtower was all. However, his expression was the worst she had ever seen. She was certain he was extremely angry with her.
If he ignored her and left like this, she wouldn’t know how to hold him back. Perhaps, in a fit of pique, he might drag her to the barracks or even kill her.
But somehow, she had a feeling he wouldn’t do that.
Just then, the sun began to rise, and Johannes, as if he couldn’t bear to deal with her any longer, turned and started to walk away.
Daphne felt like he was running away. The black-haired monster, the battlefield butcher, running away with just me in front of him. Her smile deepened. Daphne shouted at his retreating back,
“Two days from now. I’ll come to the forest again.”
It was a gamble of sorts.
💎
Daphne spent the whole day wondering if he would come to the forest or not. Time flowed slowly and quickly at the same time. She wanted two days to pass quickly, yet she also wished that time would never come. At times, her head felt feverish, and every meal sat in her stomach like a rock.
Naturally, it was difficult to concentrate on anything else. Leaning her neck against the warm bath, she was thinking about Johannes and missed a few of Thisbene’s questions. When the princesses’ conversation unusually stalled, Leah, who was dropping a few drops of pomegranate oil into the bath, suddenly turned her head and asked,
“You seem particularly absent-minded today. You don’t have a fever, do you?”
Leah was quite serious. It would be troublesome if the princess fell ill. Daphne wasn’t pleased with the maid’s concern. She put on a vacant smile, as usual.
“It’s nothing. Don’t you think it’s a little hot? Maybe that’s why I’m a little tired.”
“Now that you mention it, it feels like summer already.”
Leah replied, glancing towards the window. The days had indeed grown longer recently. The red sunset just now, after dinner, was proof of that. Daphne took the opportunity to change the subject.
“By the way… are you busy today?”
Leah usually disappeared somewhere after dinner, around sunset. She didn’t know who Leah’s partner in the tumble behind the building would be today, but the fact that Leah went out every day meant she had a new lover in the royal palace.
This unfaithful and promiscuous maid was, nevertheless, the daughter of a prominent nobleman. Furthermore, a princess’s maid held a fairly respected position in the royal palace. Leah had to disappear for the guards and servants to relax their vigilance, and only then could the princess sneak out of the castle.
“Oh my, would there ever be a day I’m not busy?”
“I know, I know. Thisbe and I will just…”
“But today, I think I might have time to read to you.”
Leah said in a self-satisfied tone. Daphne, momentarily flustered, hesitated with a smile on her face. Fortunately, Leah didn’t notice.
“Of course, I’m incredibly busy, but just for today.”
“That’s really… good news.”
‘Oh dear. She must have broken up with her lover.’
Daphne couldn’t help but be flustered by this unexpected variable. She had boasted to Johannes that she would come to the forest again, but if things went on like this… She tried to put on a happy face and smile. But her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the darkening window.
Daphne still didn’t lose hope. Leah sometimes disappeared out of habit, even after saying things like this.
“…”
Daphne, who had been lying quietly in bed with her eyes closed, slowly opened her eyelids. She carefully got out of bed and tiptoed to the door, listening intently. She could hear the rhythmic footsteps of someone pacing the hallway. With a maid guarding the annex for the first time in a while, the guards and servants had regained their vigilance.
It seemed Leah had decided to betray her expectations today.
However, Daphne didn’t give up easily. She clung to the door for a while longer, then suddenly approached the window. She carefully peeked out, gauging the distance to the dark ground below. But no matter how she looked at it, it was too high to jump.
That night, Daphne could do nothing but stand by the window, staring longingly at the forest hidden behind the fortress. She was frustrated that she had to miss another opportunity. She’d thought her luck had been excessively good lately.
💎
The next night, Daphne, having escaped the castle, walked through the oak forest, her feet sinking into the damp earth. Her steps, certain that he wouldn’t be there, lacked energy. Yet, she had stubbornly come to the forest because of the lingering feelings of regret.
Perhaps it was because she had no expectations.
“…”
Daphne couldn’t immediately recognize that the tall figure standing crookedly against the backdrop of the moonlit lake was Johannes.
The dark silhouette slowly turned around. It seemed her footsteps had stopped, causing him to react.
Ah, it’s Johannes Tennan. Only then did Daphne realize it was him, that he had been waiting for her. And his shadowed expression was probably…
Daphne took cautious steps, as if approaching a wild animal. He stood there, motionless. The fact that he was standing before her felt surreal. Her heart pounded.
When the distance between them closed to ten steps, then five, his expression, buried in the darkness, became somewhat visible. As expected, he was frowning. But she didn’t care about that. His presence before her was enough of an answer.
Johannes Tennan couldn’t ignore someone vulnerable.
Daphne asked in a trembling voice,
“Were you waiting for me?”
He just glared at her without answering.
“Did you really wait here since last night…?”
He cut her off coldly, as if unwilling to allow her even a sliver of joy.
“I’m not that idle.”
And Daphne couldn’t help but smirk. Because those words sounded like he had, in fact, been waiting for her.
Seeing this, one of Johannes’s eyebrows shot up sharply. Daphne let out a small sigh, as if to suppress the laughter that threatened to escape. Then he asked,
“Why did you come out?”
His expression seemed to ask, “Do you have any sense? Are you really crazy?” Daphne, putting on a vacant smile for the man who seemed extremely displeased by her presence in the forest, stuck to her original answer.
“…I told you, there’s something I need to find in the forest.”
“Is it more important than your honor and your life?”
While Daphne searched for a suitable answer, he changed the question as if such things weren’t important.
“What are you looking for?”
“…A dagger.”
“A dagger?”
“I don’t know if you remember, but General… you took it from me and threw it somewhere.”
Johannes closed his mouth for a moment. After a while, his frown deepened. He remembered the ornamental dagger he had carelessly thrown away when they first met in the forest.
“That toy-like thing?”
Johannes muttered unconsciously. His tone was dismissive.
“Toy…”
Daphne repeated his words, a knowing smile slowly spreading across her face. The moment Johannes had a bad feeling and narrowed his eyes, Daphne spoke,
“It might not seem like much to you, General. But it was left to me by my sister who was killed by Equilla, so it’s very precious to me.”
With each word she spoke, Johannes’s expression subtly hardened.
“So, to me, it’s more important than honor, life…”
“Stop.”
Johannes finally ran a hand through his hair in frustration. It seemed to be a habit when he was feeling exasperated.
Daphne let out a chuckle unintentionally. It was similar to the sigh from earlier, but this time, a clear sound escaped.
Johannes frowned. He scanned her with a look that seemed to question her sanity. Daphne didn’t mind appearing that way to him.
Then wouldn’t he be even a little more concerned about me? Thinking this, Daphne suddenly took a step closer to him.
