Chapter 98

It had been days since Derek wrote to Kentrail.

In the market near the house where Gideon and Finn were living, a large white carriage that could be seen easily entered. Because of that, everyone’s attention was turned to it. People showed curious eyes, wondering if high-ranking nobles seemed to have come to visit.

The carriage finally stopped on the way to Derek’s accommodation. And, the men who were escorting the carriage came down from their horses.

“Derek!”

One of them shouted at Derek, who was waiting for them.

“Tommy.”

Derek’s expression brightened up the face he had not seen in a long time. As a member of the same mercenary group, they roamed the entire battlefield together until he left the mercenary group. The others also reached out to him and said hello.

“We’ve got someone to escort with, huh?”

“Yes, assassins were sent to them a few days ago to try to harm them, so now they may be aiming during the road to the capital again.”

“Don’t worry. Who are we?”

Even though the heavy air fell for a moment at the word ‘assassin,’ everyone showed a confident expression at Tommy’s words.

At that, Derek nodded, believing in their skills.

“Then introduce them. The people we need to protect and escort.”

“Wait a minute. They’ve been preparing since morning.”

Derek lifted his head and looked at the window of the room where they were staying. It was time for them to come down.

Sometime later, as Derek and Tommy continued their talking, Gideon and Finn appeared. The market people were surprised to find out that they were going to ride that big carriage. In particular, the faces of the people who went hunting with them were filled with astonishment.

“Is there no one to say goodbye to?”

Derek turned to Gideon, and he shook his head. There was no one who had a special relationship with him, so it didn’t matter if he left immediately.

“Then I’ll introduce you. This is Tommy of the mercenary that I belonged to.”

Gideon and Tommy shook hands.

A strange relationship was formed in an instant. The two were supposed to be taken to the Capital while protected from harm, but the mercenaries were commissioned to bring them under close surveillance so that they could not escape as they were criminals.

Those who greeted each other finally climbed to start their trip to the Capital.

* * *

Fortunately, Brielle began to recover quickly. He moved his belongings to the next room in Kentrail instead of the old one, as Marie, who nursed Brielle, also continued to stay next to Kentrail’s bedroom and looked after him.

“He fell asleep.”

After confirming that the child was sleeping, the two walked out of the room that had become Brielle’s bedroom, cautiously to avoid waking the child.

“It’s a little cold at night.”

Kentrail, who grabbed Marie’s hand in the hallway, glanced at the thinly clad woman with worried eyes.

“His temperature seems to drop a lot in the morning and at night.”

Marie agreed with him.

“…If it’s okay, would you like to go to the next room and talk?”

Her eyes widened at Kentrail’s words.

‘The next room is the Count’s bedroom…?’

It was a place she had hardly ever entered except when he was sick. Because of that, there was a moment of tension between the two of them.

Sweat seemed to form on the hand he held.

Kentrail only gazed at Marie’s mouth for the answer. It wasn’t with impure intentions from the beginning though as time passed, he began to ask himself whether he had any such intentions, and he swallowed a gulp.

As Marie peered into his eyes, she smiled unknowingly as she thought to herself.

‘What was I really thinking? The Count couldn’t have said it with that meaning, but I’m overreacting to the idea of the bedroom.’

She simply nodded her head.

It was something she could do because she didn’t know Kentrail’s head. The next moment, he grabbed her hand and opened the door to his bedroom. The two entered the bedroom, and the bedroom door closed with a rattle.

“Khmm.”

The sound re-established the tension between the two.

“Sit down.”

Leading her to the sofa, which was placed near the bed, he then sat himself across the bed.

“The Young Master may wake up, so I have to go back soon.”

When Brielle went to sleep, Marie knew that he’d most likely never wake up in the middle, but those words came out without her knowing. Knowing this, Kentrail took out the music box, which was placed at the top of the bed, to relieve her tension.

When he turned it on, monotonous notes resounded.

“My parents bought it for me before. It broke down though I recently found a music box craftsman to fix it.”

It sounded like a nursery rhyme that didn’t fit him, but as he recalled his childhood, it couldn’t get along better than this, Marie thought.

“This is the reason I asked you to come to my room.”

He handed the music box he was holding.

“Why is this…”

“When I was young, I used to listen to this music box when I was worried… Then, at some point, my worries went away, and I was able to fall asleep. I can’t seem to sleep these days.”

He was right. After Brielle was poisoned, Marie could not easily fall asleep.

“Thank you.”

Needless to say, he knew her so well just by looking at her rough face.

As she looked up at the music box and she then gazed at him. A magic stone that gave off a warm light softly illuminated his face. Marie, drunk in the atmosphere, didn’t even know what kind of gaze she had when she looked at him with.

It was Kentrail who burned with those eyes. It was as if she had put him in a hot seat.

He shut his eyes to contain his greed. Now, he had to keep her gaze away from him. However, when he closed his eyes, other senses came to him more clearly. It was when he couldn’t stand it and tried to get up…

…A soft touch touched his lips.

In an instant, his eyes opened. In front of him, Marie’s two pretty eyes were tightly closed.

Kentrail eventually had to open his mouth and touch her to the fullest of his greed. The lustful lips finally brushed off her lips. It was the first time he had kissed her so deeply, and she clasped her hands tightly around him.

Then, the lips that were gradually moving towards her neck stopped. He hugged her tightly and tried to soothe his heart, which was racing like crazy.

Marie had to shut her eyes tight as she heard the sound of someone’s pounding heart.

“I’ll take you there.”

Kentrail’s low voice echoed in her ears. She felt ashamed because his lower-than-usual tone seemed to signal what had just happened between the two of them.

“Wait…”

So, she had no choice but to hide her face in his arms. She couldn’t show her flushed face. At that, he didn’t say anything for a while, embracing her in his arms, whether he knew her thoughts.

Another night of two lovers passed like this.

* * *

Gideon and Finn’s carriage seldom accelerated. There were sick patients, so they had no choice but to take a long break.

Consequently, the distance that used to take two days to come by carriage was taking three days.

As time passed, the tension of the mercenaries was relieved. It was because the assassin they were worried about had not yet appeared. It was easy to make a surprise attack mainly when passing through the wooded forest, though a flat field would soon follow—meaning, the surprise attack was even closer to impossible.

“It will be the plains soon.”

Tommy said to Derek, who was looking around. He tapped his shoulder as if to relax a bit.

“Yes, so you have to be more careful. This will be their last chance, so they won’t miss it.”

Rather, Derek was rather setting up his senses, and he glanced into the carriage. It was to check if Gideon and Finn had the stamina to run away on horseback just in case.

‘…They’re already exhausted. It’s already difficult to move around in the carriage, so it’s impossible to run on a horse.’

They still had a lot to ask and a lot to repay. As such, he had to bring them safely before his master.

It was when the rattling carriage was crossing the forest and finally made its way onto a relatively undisturbed path that a dagger flew from a distance and hit the leg of one of the mercenaries. A scream of pain resounded, and those who turned their heads along the direction the dagger had flown surrounded the carriage.

Derek wielded a long sword and cut down the enemy that appeared from behind a large tree. The air surrounding the forest changed.

Taking a step back, he spoke to the two inside the carriage.

“Sit as far away from the window as possible and keep your head as low as you can.”

“Yes…”

A suffocating voice was heard from Gideon.

Meanwhile, the sound of metal clashing echoed through the forest. Occasionally, there was also a mixture of screams. Inside the carriage, Gideon covered Finn and sat on the floor. The sound of her breathing, which was usually not well, grew weaker and weaker.

Water dripped from his hands. As the sound of the clash of swords drew closer to the carriage, their feet trembled and trembled as they got closer.

Gideon and Finn, wishing that this time would pass quickly, closed their eyes and waited for Derek to come back and call them.

* * *

“Master.”

As the day dawned, Taylor came to visit Kentrail.

“What’s going on?”

“It appears that one of the Caveran’s knights is dead.”

“Knight? Does anyone know this…?”

“The body was secretly disposed of, so no one would know except us, who were watching them.”

“How do the knight’s bereaved family know of the circumstances of the incident?”

Answering Kentrail’s question, Taylor posted a detailed report. It seemed that Caveran stated that the knight lost his life while working though the bereaved family did not believe it. The dead knight had bruises on his arms and face that looked like he had been beaten.

“It will be helpful when we demand Caveran to answer later. Let’s protect the bereaved family from our side.”

“Yes.”

“And, keep an eye on it for anything else. It’s been quite some time since Derek sent me a letter from there, so he should be here soon.”

“I will.”

Looking at Taylor nodding his head proudly, Kentrail told him to leave.

‘I hope they bring them back safely.’

As time passed, he became more and more worried.