CH 17

The mood of those who remained in the castle was heavy.

Everyone was gathered in the first floor hall.

Everyone, men and women alike, lifted their huge weapons. And someone was about to pull out a cannon.

“It’s a little scary. Isn’t it?”

Lily was sitting on the stairs, holding a baby bottle. The foal, Dominic II, drank the contents peacefully.

“Aren’t you hungry, Miss Lily?”

Gianna asked as she walked by. A stone bow was placed on her arm.

“I’m fine.”

“You can talk to me anytime. Right now all I can give you is jerky, but you can’t go hungry.”

“One time, I didn’t eat anything for two days before the Imperial Palace party. And this jerky from the castle is strangely good for my palate. I feel as if I’ve been eating it for a long time.”

Lily asked the question she wanted to know the most.

“Is this situation common? People get together and leave for battle……”

“About once every year. We do patrols, but sometimes monsters lay their eggs in secret places.”

“It’s nothing serious, is it?”

“Better than dying, anyhow? Just bear with me one day and I’ll serve you a nice stew. Besides, the pony is especially dependent on you, Miss Lily.”

Gianna smiled broadly and hurried away.

People stopped by Lily one by one, even though they didn’t have much time since they were armed. She could tell how much everyone cared about her and loved her.

But every once in a while there was a time when Lily was left alone, and there was a young boy who waited for just that.

“What are you doing?”

Sebastian stood in front of Lily as she sat on the stairs. His tone was unfriendly.

He had difficulty approaching Lily because of Blake’s concern. And he didn’t like that fact.

Winter Castle, and the people of the Duchy, did not live under the protection of anyone.

The only thing that can protect them were themselves and their  weapons.

It was with this belief that they all built up their armed forces.

The boy didn’t appreciate Lily changing Blake.

He was full of desire to pick a fight with Lily. And now, after waiting with bated breath, he had his chance.

“What are you doing here alone when everyone else is so busy out there?”

“I’m protecting a newborn foal.”

Dominic II just glared at Sebastian. Even though it was a child, its eyes shone like its fierce mother.

She sighed as he involuntarily stepped aside.

“Hmmm.”

Lily was used to other people’s quarrels.

When she was young, her parents told her that there was nothing she could do. After she got married, it was the same, except that the person in charge of her changed to her husband.

“You have nothing except your face. Do you know, my love, Lily? Can you do accounting or handle taxes?”

It was only natural that Lily didn’t know, since she never had the chance to learn.

But her husband stopped her from all activities without giving her reasons. She was tired of being treated the same way, so she left everything she had and ran away.

Sebastian was offended by Lily’s seeming indifference.

“It’s fine. I didn’t expect Lily to do anything.”

“What are you doing with that?”

“Don’t you know it when you see it?”

“I see a boy who’s too lazy to talk to me, though.”

“Excuse me, but I was polishing my arrowheads!”

Sebastian wanted to warn Lily.

Blake was the Lord of the Winter Castle and the symbol of the Upus people.

The master always had to look as creepy as a well-worn sword.

And he needed special people to assist him. For example, Sebastian himself.

“Stay put, please. It seems that it’s best for you to stay out of everyone’s way, Miss Lily.”

“Thank you for your kind advice. You can go if you are finished with your business.”

It was an obvious dismissal order.

He was angry with a red face under his cap. ‘Arghhh! Don’t act all high and mighty!’

The others were approaching Lily.

Sebastian hurriedly left his seat.

Dominic II put his head on Lily’s lap and murmured. 

Neighhhh.

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t bother me at all. I’m sure he felt it.”

How much time had passed while people were moving so fast.

The sun rose high in the sky and then disappeared.

The snowy mountains outside the castle became too dark to be seen without a light.

Finally, the huge gate opened…. The people who had departed returned.

The first thing she felt was the smell of iron mixed with oxygen, in other words, the smell of blood.

They had twice as many people as when they left, but only a few were actually healthy.

Many were on the backs of horses or carried on their backs by others.

She could even see an old man limping along, leaving bloodstains in his wake.

“….!”

Lilly spotted Blake.

He was fine, except that his cloak was stained red.

The man, to her surprise, had brought two men-at-arms on his back and dropped them off in the hall.

As soon as Blake entered the castle, he looked around as if he was trying to find Lily. He spotted her right away through the black clothes. It was like magic.

The man walked over to her without even being aware of his actions.

He didn’t feel very good.

If there was a hell, it would be no different than the situation before he came back to the castle.

His prediction had come true. The guests who came to Winter Castle were attacked by a pack of demons and were isolated.

After the battle, he finally brought everyone back, but his mind and body were exhausted.

Every single step he took was heavy.

As he approached Lily, she could hear his armor overlapping and clattering.

“Lord Blake! Are you okay?”

“Is everything okay, Miss?”

Their words came out at the same time, worrying about each other.

Blake smiled faintly just like when he left. He liked the way Lily looked in her panic.

He sat down on the floor, taking off his cloak at random.

“Tell me what happened to the castle first.”

“We just stayed the same the whole time. Is everyone on your side safe?”

“I’ve saved all of them, but I don’t know. If only the people who are supposed to die could hit the safe side for once.”

The situation wasn’t good.

Some of them had lost one arm. Most of them needed emergency surgery, but resources were scarce.

Blake took a drink of cold water.

“We need a sorcerer and a hospital, but we can’t go down the mountain right away, we haven’t killed all the monsters yet.”

“Let’s just get some first aid!”

“Still, we need a sorcerer as well. But with IIDexter in the state he’s in, some of them are going to die.”

Il Dexter was also lying in the hall, unconscious.

“It’s no use waking him up. His guidance was very helpful in returning. Now he’s run out of energy for work and has been sleeping like a lazy bum for days.”

The dukedom had very few sorcerers.

Because the pureblooded imperialists were more powerful and the only suitable academy was in the capital.

Moreover, there were various political interests at stake. So, IlDexter was the only sorcerer in the castle.

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Lily didn’t understand.

She was a sorceress too.

She accepted the fact that Blake hadn’t trusted her with any special tasks during that time because he didn’t trust her.

But it was foolish to pretend not to know even in this situation.

“I can do it too! Of course, I don’t promise to save everyone, but anyway, unless you want me to punch you in the cheek, bring me all the spell resources in the castle! If IIDexter worked hard enough to pass out for a week, what will happen until first aid?” (Lily)

“What are you talking about?” (Blake)

Of course, Blake had no idea what Lily was capable of, so he had to be perplexed.

“Is the Lady a sorceress?”

“Of course I am!”

“You didn’t tell me!”

“How famous I was in social circles. Only a person who burned the journals and newspapers and all the letters coming from the capital without even unfolding them would not know!” (Lily) (Blake burns everything that came from the capital so he didn’t know Lily was in the news)

“…………I didn’t know for that very reason.” (Blake)

Lily took it as a joke, but Blake was extremely serious.

How well she got it right, and the man even suspected that she was watching him.

“Everyone moves in turn. Classify the seriously injured in front of the fireplace and the general patients to the side of it.”

Lily was weak by nature and didn’t get much exercise. It was because she was not allowed to go outside much.

As a result, she was able to get to and from the hospital often and had a good understanding of how the medical system worked. 

Under Lily’s excellent direction, the people moved in a straight line.

Now everything was in Lily’s hands.