Chapter 5

“You already know me. Do you know how many years I wandered the battlefield without a single clue in order to find the holy relic? Compared to that, quarrels between nobles are nothing.”

“It must have been difficult, but it’s amazing. But your hand on my shoulder…”

“Stay still. Anyway, Io was completely lost in our Kingdom, right? Do you know where it was? Hmm?”

“W-Where it was?”

“Hmm~”

“That’s… in the Celcius territory! Uahaha! Let’s see what kind of face the Count made after knowing this. You would have laughed if you saw your father!”

“Mmm.”

“By the way, your father. He ridiculously wanted to have the percentage because the holy relic was found in his land. He doesn’t know how long I’ve been trying to find it. I even captured and tortured that slave’s children and his mother.”

“…”

“It’s useless if he disparages my efforts like this. So don’t even think to do the same thing, understand?”

Walking around the street with a light hum, I stopped immediately. As I pondered over the knight’s voice that had been repeating in my head, I stood with my hand on my back.

‘Is this really the place where he said he found it?’

Io.

So far, there have been so many people who want to have it. They wanted to take Io, so the Kings of various kingdoms formed an alliance and even waged war to have Io in their possession. The Kingdom that won the war at that time was the Kingdom of Kasius, to which I belonged. However, ironically, even though they won the war, they couldn’t achieve the goal they were aiming for.

‘Fools’

In a chaotic environment surrounded by war, Io’s whereabouts became unclear. The last owner of Io, a slave mercenary from a foreign Kingdom, seemed to want to take revenge on the Kingdom that pampered him during that time.

‘Maybe I was like that too.’

I can’t believe that the owner of such a precious holy relic was only a slave. I was puzzled at first when I heard the story, but after learning more about the holy relic, I was convinced.

“If you try to interfere with the flow of the world with the human body, you will pay the price…”

It was said by the knight who found the holy relic. He said that the more someone used Io, the more their body would break down to obtain an unbelievable power. In particular, if Io was frequently used in war, their user would have a short life, so I could see why the high-ranking people gave Io to slaves without using it by themselves.

‘Poor person.’

The slave had no choice but to listen to the King for the rest of his life because his mother and his children were captured as a hostage.

“…”

Anyway, it’s already over. It has been a long time since the end of the holy war, and I had no time to pay attention to the long history.

“Sir Shuteri.”

“…Lady Vanora?”

I stood in front of the human being I had been looking for. I was often locked in a room and looked out the window in the past.

What time do the knights train? Who is the most sincere one? Who’s fooling around?

It was my hobby to watch these trivial things.

“Oho, this is the first time I have seen Lady Vanora appearing at this hour. Huh? Wait a minute! Did Madam send Lady to scold me?”

“No.”

“Phew. That’s a relief.”

I hid in the shade of the well, out of sight of others, and spoke to the knight who was smoking the leftover weeds wrapped in paper to make cigars. Unlike his lazy look, he will do a great job. So he was a perfect person for asking something.

“There’s something I really wanted to say to Sir Shuteri, so I went around looking for you.”

“What does Lady want to say?… W-Wait, the way Lady called me was wrong. The title of ‘Sir’ is given only to those who have been formally knighted.”

“…I don’t understand.”

Shuteri was embarrassed when I showed my humble attitude, unlike other ordinary noble.

“I can’t believe Lady is calling a bastard like me with that high title! If someone sees us like this, I will be in big trouble.”

“I’m sorry. I’m still not good at speaking informally.”

“Well… Then let’s continue the story. It’s okay when no one is watching.”

Even though the young Lady appeared, he smoked for a while and rubbed off the cigarette until it was time to look around the surroundings. I opened my mouth without reacting to his appearance.

“I have a favor to ask you. It’s really important to me. I’m only saying this to Mr. Shuteri… last time I went out to town to get a dress for His Majesty’s birthday banquet.”

“It will be the King’s birthday soon. Hmm, then?”

“Then…”

I said with the expression of a lady who was anxious when Shuteri’s eyes fixed on me. Honestly, I was embarrassed for my acting.

“Actually, I lost the precious ring that my mother matched with my dress at that time. The dress takes time to make, but the accessories were bought on the spot.”

“!”

“But the ring my mother bought was so pretty. It rolled from my hand on the way back to the mansion…”

“Where did you drop it?”

“Cross the high overpass on the outskirts and go down…”

At my words, the apprentice knight named Shuteri asked in a panic.

“Then, Lady should’ve told Madam right away! It’s rare for Lady to go out, so I even remember when it was. It’s already been 2 weeks, right?”

“At that time, I was so surprised… Moreover, I was scared to think that my mother would scold me. That’s why I’m not telling her.”

What follows is the acting in tears. Some might say it was difficult to do that, but it was very simple for me.

“This bitch! If it weren’t for you, my life wouldn’t be like this! You punk! I was crazy to give birth to such a useless thing. Aaaah!”

Even before I returned to this period and opened my eyes, I was filled with painful memories that could make me shed tears. Among them, that event was the most injustice and hurt, as if my heart was stabbed with a dagger that made my tears flow. It happened in the distant past, so I’m getting better now. The reflex of that memory and tears couldn’t be separated.

“L-Lady?”

“Heuk… time has passed because I didn’t know what to do. But at this rate, mother will be furious at the banquet.”

“Don’t cry! Oh dear, Lady didn’t do anything wrong. A-Anyone can do that too.”

I trembled my thick eyelashes and lifted my tearful eyes.

“The bottom of the bridge where I lost my ring is steep, and there is no grass for animals to eat, so I don’t think anyone has looked through it.”

“Hmm…”

“Please, can you secretly sneak me out to the town just this once? I want to find the ring but don’t want other people to find out about it.”

Shuteri.

No matter how pathetic he was, he knew the rumors circulating in the family he served. How dark and timid the young Lady in this family is. Also, what kind of person the young Lady’s parents are. So I quickly gained his trust in the act of trembling at the fact that I had lost one ring.

“But how to get the Lady out without others knowing? Doesn’t Lady need a carriage to go out? Lady should probably get permission from the butler or Master.”

Of course, I responded thoroughly to the subsequent remarks from him.

“…I decided to ask you to do this because I heard that you were the only knight who learned how to work in the mansion, which hasn’t taken this year’s vacation yet. So you can go out for three days at any time.”

“That… Meyer, that light-mouthed bastard must have been talking about that to Lady.”

“If you help me, I’ll give you this in return.”

I held out an earring in front of him. It is a drop-type earring decorated with amethyst and white jade. The design itself is quite modest, but the fact that all of it was made from jewels adds value.

“Ea-Earring…”

“It is made with real gems. Whether we find my ring or not, if you take me outside once, I will give the remaining pair of earrings after it is done.”

His salary was insignificant compared to the amount that nobles poured into luxury. Besides, I already knew that he was hung up on money.

‘He’s a gambling addict who can’t resist biting this.’

He was a man who would be forced to flee from one estate to another in the future to avoid debtors by gambling in huge debts before the ink of his knighthood certificate had dried. Of course, he was in a state of busy handing over the card at the moment. Therefore, this financial temptation would have meant a lot to him, who had no money for alcohol to enjoy tomorrow.

“If Lady is so desperate, I have no choice but to help you. Hmm, but… even if Lady can sneak out, no matter how fast we go, it will take more than half a day to get to the town.”

As expected, as soon as I took out the earring, his neck trembled, and his attitude changed. I said to him, “Don’t worry,” and said the prepared words.

“If that’s the case, I have an idea. I can make sure no one is looking for me in one full day.”

“Is that true? Even at dinner time?”

“Yes.”

“Then what? Hmm, is there nothing wrong with it? Suppose I have the carriage waiting for me to move my luggage for vacation, and Lady is hiding in that carriage in advance. In that case, we can go outside the mansion…”

Shuteri began to make his own plans at my resolute words. Then I responded to his words,

“I’m relieved that I’m going out with Shuteri. I heard that your swordsmanship is excellent among the apprentice knights who came this time. If so, isn’t the preparation perfect for my safety issue?”

“…Pardon? Well, I’m a bit like that!”

“It’s not a busy downtown area, and the two of us are secretly looking under the bridge, so it won’t be too dangerous anyway.”

“Still, we have to be careful not to fall. I will be vigilant to keep Lady Vanora come back without getting injured.”

“I’ll be careful.”

I must have blocked him in advance in case he might express troublesome worries about the safety of the nobles. The preparations are over, so I finally go back after scheduling the outing.

“Lady Vanora… feels different today. Was she such a nice person in the first place?”

I didn’t care anymore what he muttered behind me.

The next day.

Surprised by the unimaginable vulgar behavior, Countess Celcius ordered it. She couldn’t let go of my rude behavior, so she kept me from leaving my room for a day as a discipline.

‘I never knew I would be so happy when you’re doing this for the sake of scolding me.’

In addition, the Countess ordered the servants of the mansion to prohibit giving water and food for me to make me realize that preciousness.

‘They can’t even imagine that Vanora Celcius disobeyed Madam’s order and crawled out of the window. When I go back to my room, I need the help of the knight.’

By now, they would think that I was crying in my locked room.