CH 36

“Yes, Sir!”

The knights quickly mounted their horses, their golden cloaks fluttering in the wind. The Dukedom of Judeheart’s insignia, a pattern of two crossed swords, shone proudly on their left shoulders.

As Rosalie turned around, she saw Emma sobbing and Erudit and Dolan standing there with stern expressions. Behind them stood the servants of the duchy.

“Emma, Dolan. Please take care of the duchy’s mansion.”

Upon hearing Rosalie’s words, Emma turned her body to hide her tears. Dolan struggled to compose himself and spoke up.

“We couldn’t find Bella’s lover who ran away. We’ll keep looking for him until the Duchess returns.”

“No, you don’t have to look for him.”

It was decided that the punishment for Bella would be dealt with after the territory war. The servants and knights of the mansion caused a brief commotion, insisting that they had to find Nathan, but ultimately failed to find him.

“But…”

“Dolan. You don’t have to look for him.”

Understanding Rosalie’s hidden meaning, Dolan nodded his head and deeply bowed.

“Please be careful.”

“Good luck.”

Erudit also bowed his head, and everyone else who was present followed suit. Rosalie’s cloak fluttered wildly as she mounted her horse. That day, the people of the duchy felt as if her small figure was similar to a towering fortress. 

Leaving the duchy, Rosalie gestured to Aaron beside her.

“Let’s meet at the rendezvous point.”

“Yes. Please be careful.”

Rosalie and Joey led the way as the firing squad veered to the right. Their rendezvous with the knights would take place in about a week. During that time, communication would be handled by Joey, who was skilled in handling the messenger network.

As she drove her horse, Rosalie glanced at the small pouches attached to her waist and the waists of the firing squad members. The palm-sized pouches contained at least 50 kg of luggage. As someone who had carried a military bag the size of a person during her days as a soldier, the magic pouch was a very welcome item.

‘Magic is really convenient.’

Reducing the weight of the luggage saved the soldiers’ stamina, so she had no regrets about purchasing it at an expensive price. 

They rode their horses for a while until the horizon was dyed with a crimson sunset. Soon, they could see a village under the jurisdiction of the Dukedom of Judeheart.

“We’ll spend the first night here.”

The village chief, who had been given prior notice of their arrival, opened the village without hesitation and provided a vacant house for the firing squad members. Rosalie dismounted her horse and spoke.

“Follow the designated shifts for keeping watch. Since I’ll be the last one, wake me up on time.” 

“Yes, understood.”

“Sir Joey. If anything happens in the western region, call me immediately.”

“Yes, understood. Please rest.”

Rosalie entered a shabby house and took off her armor, pulling out a fur blanket from her magic pouch. 

While it was common for nobles or royalty to bring a retinue of maids when going to war, Rosalie found such practices unnecessary. Above all, their presence would be inconvenient in critical situations. 

“Phew…”

Having taken off all of her armor, Rosalie sat on the bed with a much lighter body and exhaled. The territorial war would not take too long.

It was not a massive war between countries to capture the capital in the first place, but simply a matter of repelling the knights who had invaded their territory. 

Afterward, she would press charges against the Marquis to claim compensation for the territorial war, and Rosalie would finally obtain the Dita Mine that she wanted.

‘After that, if we do some business with Countess Seth in moderation…’

Rosalie picked up a hairpin from her pocket. It was the gift she had received from Bianca that didn’t suit the battlefield at all.

‘I wish I wouldn’t have to use this… If I do, it’ll be troublesome.’

Tucking the hairpin back into her pocket, Rosalie covered herself with the fur blanket and closed her eyes. Although the bed was uncomfortable, she managed to drift into a shallow sleep after tossing and turning several times.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

At that moment, in a tree that was a short distance away from Rosalie’s house, Nathan was humming a tune on a tree, dressed in a black robe.

“She’s finally asleep.”

As the rhythmic sound of Rosalie’s breathing reached his ears, Nathan also closed his eyes gently. Nathan, who secretly followed the firing squad, had one goal: to keep Rosalie from getting hurt. This was Derivis’s request, as well as his own will.

‘Although I’ve killed many people before, this is my first time protecting someone.’

Nathan tried to fall asleep by using the regular small breathing sounds that echoed in his ears as a lullaby.

After waking up from her sleep and fulfilling her watch duty, Rosalie’s firing squad set off again. After two more days of diligent marching, they arrived at their target location in the early morning, when the sky was turning a pale blue. 

They easily spotted the enemy troops who had set up their tents. 

The firing squad members skillfully hid behind trees. Looking at the torches that were still burning between the tents, Rosalie spoke. 

“We arrived at the perfect time.”

“There are more enemy troops than we thought. It seems like there are more than half of what we expected.”

Rosalie nodded. Even if it was reckless, eliminating the enemy troops here was necessary to get closer to victory.

“Beta team, stand by and provide cover to the Alpha team.”

Rosalie’s command prompted the Alpha team members, including herself, to take grenades out of their pockets. At her signal, they threw their grenades with all their might toward the tents and charged toward them without hesitation.

“It’s an ambush! It’s an ambush!”

“What the hell is this explosion? Everyone, quickly grab your swords!”

When the unexpected explosion occurred, the tents collapsed and fires broke out everywhere, causing the enemy soldiers to panic and run around. Meanwhile, the Alpha team members continued to advance, hitting the enemy with unrelenting fire.

“There they are! Chase after them!”

The enemy troops quickly identified the position of the Alpha team and chased after them. However, the Alpha team confidently retreated into the mountains under the cover of the Beta team.

“Beta team, open fire!”

As the enemy troops entered deeper into the mountains, a full-fledged battle began with Joey’s shout. The firing squad members skillfully hid their bodies and targeted the enemy troops coming into the mountains as they were already familiar with the terrain. Among them, the best sniper was undoubtedly Rosalie.

“Keuk!”

Rosalie hid behind a tree and took out the enemy troops with her shots. She found them like a ghost, no matter where they were hiding.

Just then, a group of enemy troops that were fearlessly showing themselves entered her field of vision. Rosalie gestured to a firing squad member hiding in a nearby tree.

“Throw a grenade towards that cliff.”

Following the order, the firing squad member pulled the pin of the grenade without hesitation and threw it towards the cliff. Rosalie accurately hit the grenade with her crossbow as it neared the cliff’s surface.

BANG!!!

The explosion, accompanied by a loud noise, collapsed the cliff and buried the enemy troops below it in an instant. Unable to escape from the unexpected event, the enemy troops disappeared without a trace under the falling debris.

“Wow…”

The rabbit-eyed gaze of the firing squad member shifted to Rosalie at the sight. Unfazed, Rosalie studied the scene for a moment before quickly moving on.

The intense battle in the mountains did not cease until the sun had completely risen. The bodies of the fallen enemy troops were scattered throughout the mountains, and Rosalie, who was surveying the mountains for the last time, discovered fallen enemies that had died not from arrows or grenades, but from deep sword cuts.

“A sword? It’s not an ordinary sword judging from the deep cuts. They are a skilled swordsman…”

Feeling puzzled, Rosalie followed the trail with full vigilance. She went deep into the forest for a while and at the end, she found a surprising figure that was cutting down the enemy troops mercilessly.

“Nathan?”

When Rosalie called out to him, Nathan, who had been coldly slashing the enemies, changed his expression to a brighter one.

“Oh, you caught me? Hello, Rosalie.” 

In truth, Nathan had known that Rosalie was close by the sound of her heartbeat, but he had no intention of hiding; watching her in silence had long since gotten the better of him, and he had decided to boldly reveal his identity. 

With a cold gaze, Rosalie opened her mouth in response to Nathan’s unexpected appearance.

“Why are you here?”

“Well… Don’t look at me like that. I came here because I was asked to.”

Rosalie suddenly adjusted her crossbow and took a shooting stance.

“Duck.”

The arrow swiftly shot from the crossbow whizzed past Nathan’s ducked head and struck the enemy soldier behind him. Nathan blinked his eyes at the sight.

‘Maybe Devi and I were worried for no reason.’

Lowering her crossbow, Rosalie spoke again.

“At whose request?”

“Hmph… I won’t tell you.”

Rosalie frowned at Nathan’s grumpy reply. 

A small part of Nathan had expected her to be surprised or even pleased with his sudden appearance, but the cold response made him grumpy.

“Go back quickly.”

As Rosalie turned away, Nathan followed closely behind.

“I told you to go back.”

“No. I don’t want to.”

When Rosalie turned her head sharply to look at him, he shrugged his shoulders.

“How can I go back when I’ve come this far? I absolutely refuse.”

“…I won’t care even if you die.”

When he showed no signs of going back, Rosalie gave up arguing with him. After dealing with the remaining enemies together, they descended from the mountain to find the firing squad still standing in front of the burning camp. Joey spoke to Rosalie.

“Everything has been taken care of.”

“The mountain is also clear.”

Rosalie scanned the gathered firing squad members. Most of the knights had suffered minor injuries, but a few were seriously wounded.

“The wounded will return to the village. Head back to the mansion after getting help from the village.”

There was no time to enjoy the victory of the battle as they needed to quickly regroup with Aaron. Joey casually glanced at Nathan, who stood behind Rosalie.

“Who is he?”

Since the knights rarely encountered Bella, Joey didn’t recognize Nathan’s face. However, Nathan seemed to have no intention of introducing himself, so Rosalie gave a vague answer.

“Don’t worry about him.”

After peering at Nathan, Joey nodded slightly in understanding and focused on regrouping the members. Rosalie walked towards the ruined tents. It was to check one last time, just in case.