Chapter 2

“Retreat!” Irene shouted her orders as she snatched a wounded kingdom knight and hoisted him onto her horse. Irene made use of the imperial army’s inexperience with the harsh Theorin winter and aimed to hasten the exhaustion of the army’s stamina through frequent and vigorous assaults. Since her intent had been moderately achieved, there was no reason to continue engaging the imperial army in battle.

“Retreat!”

“Retreat!”

Soon, shouts following Irene’s orders spread all over the field. While the imperial army scrambled to chase after the fast retreating Theorin forces, Kael merely stood and stared blankly at one spot.

“Your Majesty!”

The squeaks and shouts of the imperial army’s chief of staff buzzed in the crown prince’s ears, but his mind was elsewhere. Suddenly, the dagger that had been attached to Irene’s ankle whooshed in front of Kael’s eyes. Even though he easily dodged the attack, a chill crept up his spine. “To continue pointlessly struggling even now,” Kael muttered with bemusement.

“Your Majesty! Are you alright?”

“Why would you think I’m not?” Kael responded harshly.

While Kael’s tone caused the chief of staff to cower, if the listener had been Wellen, Kael’s aide, he would’ve recognized that the crown prince was actually in a good mood. In reality, Kael felt strangely uplifted even as his heart sank when he thought of the sharp dagger that had aimed for his eyes. The tumult of emotions he experienced wasn’t just because of the fierce spirit directed towards him.

“Should we keep chasing them?” the chief of staff inquired. When Kael directed a pitiful gaze at him, the chief felt his mouth run dry. After some hesitation, the chief asked, “Then, should I order them to cease pursuit?”

“Are we that capable? How would you suggest we go chase them down? For every step we take, they put five steps between us,” Kael remarked dryly.

Among the Theorin knights, the Ventus Knights of Voltern were renowned for their speed and agility. Capable of moving at incredible speeds, the Ventus knights could cover a distance in one week that would take others at least half a month. And it was none other than Irene who was at the forefront and leading these knights. During this brief exchange between Kael and the chief of staff, the Voltern knights had already managed to escape off into the far distance.

“Still, shouldn’t we at least keep up the pretense of a chase…?”

“It’s better to mislead them into thinking our army is too exhausted to keep up, even if such a chase has no impact on our stamina. Instead, focus on fixing up the camp.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Even after the chief of staff departed, Kael didn’t move from where he stood. His thoughts were centered on Irene, who’d disappeared after throwing out that dreadful dragger as if it were nothing. ‘She acted as if she didn’t have a care for her life.’ At that moment, the only thing that had been reflected in her eyes was a determined will to defeat her opponent.

Irene was not one who wielded her sword or threw her dagger recklessly. Yet, she showed no hesitation when dashing out to rescue her wounded comrades, even if it knowingly placed her in the line of fire and required her to leave her back unguarded and open to attack. She was human, yet unlike any that he’d ever met before.

“I want to see her… again.” Kael touched his fingertips, which still tingled with the exhilarating energy that he’d felt when they’d exchanged blows. Even as time passed, the sensation remained.

* * *

“What’s that?” A languid man atop the castle’s wall yawned and rubbed his eyes. “T-that is… Could it be that Voltern has been breached?”

While fierce battles were waged against the empire day after day along the kingdom’s border with the empire, it was but an afterthought for most of the kingdom’s populace. The capital nobles who envied Irene and her father, Count Voltern, begrudgingly understood that the peace they enjoyed was by virtue of the Voltern family firmly standing guard at the border. As a result, the Voltern family was regarded fondly for sheltering the rest of them from having to stain their hands with blood or suffer losses of property. Still, such good times couldn’t last.

“It’s the enemy! The Imperial Army! the Imperial Army!” Having never needed to run before, the knight’s armor creaked loudly as he hastened to ring the rusty bell that had remained untouched for many years.