CH 30

Gareth tried to wake Elena up at dawn while everyone was preparing to leave, but she had not been able to open her eyes. When he saw her face which had become pale overnight and her bruised lips covered with teeth marks, he quietly ordered his men to get breakfast ready. They had a light breakfast before leaving. In the beginning, Gareth did not ride with Elena, opting to leave the wrapped-up woman in the hands of Hansen, as he was one of the few among his men who had received an education. However, Gareth soon found that he was constantly looking back for some reason. He didn’t know why, but he was beginning to get annoyed as well, perhaps because of Elena who was tensed up and crouching in front of Hansen.

Gareth eventually stopped and lifted Elena from Hansen’s horse as if to snatch her away and sat her down in front of him. She seemed surprised by his behavior at the time, but ended up placing her head feebly against his chest. She had been half asleep ever since then until noon. It seemed that she was very tired. There was otherwise no reason for someone to sleep in a state like this.

“Should I take her off your hands for a while?” Giggs asked as he came to Gareth’s side. He knew from experience that Gareth didn’t like being near people. When he first met Gareth, Giggs had been severely criticized for offering to be his guardian in this tough world, showing off that he was a few years older than him. Afterwards, Giggs had approached Gareth multiple times with gentle gestures. He thought he was doing Gareth a favor, but Gareth took it differently. After many trials and errors, he was now able to proudly say that he knew Gareth’s personality better than anyone else. He knew that Gareth simply did not like people.

“It’s fine,” Gareth said. 

Giggs scratched his face with one hand and murmured to himself at his boss’ determinate refusal. “Hm, that’s strange.” He didn’t know what Elena meant to Gareth, but was clearly aware from the couples’ first meeting that Gareth was interested in her beauty and that he had a desire to have her.

‘But why did he meddle? Why would someone who doesn’t like to interfere or receive attention do that kind of thing? And to take her as his wife…’ Giggs could not wrap his head around it. He then moved his hand and began scratching his neck. It seemed that the skin disease had recurred in this area. Giggs kept thinking as he scratched his neck loudly.

Just by looking at Elena, he could tell she was beautiful. Frankly, Giggs was fond of her strong personality as well. It was much better than the other noblemen’s daughters who wept, clung to men, and acted as if they were fragile flowers, especially during warring periods such as this. At that moment, he caught sight of Gareth correcting Elena’s posture so that she wouldn’t lose balance. He was hugging her wrapped-up body with one arm as if to protect her.

‘That’s weird. Now that they’ve slept together once, that should be it. If it’s the Gareth I know, that should be it.’ Giggs continued to itch his wounds loudly.

“Giggs, did you put on ointment this morning?” Gareth asked at that moment. 

Giggs grinned at his boss’ sudden question and slowly lowered his hand that was scratching his face and neck. His skin was now stinging from the excessive scratching. Gareth took out an ointment from his inner pocket and tossed it to him.

“You’ll start to get pus if you continue scratching,” Gareth said.

The dry weather and unsanitary camping conditions were doing harm to the men’s skin. Not only did they suffer from big and small injuries, but they were plagued with skin diseases as well. Giggs rubbed the ointment Gareth had thrown to him onto his skin as he continued to follow behind him. “I’m guessing we’ll continue like this until evening,” he commented.

“We will,” Gareth replied quietly. They were returning home for the first time in a year, and this was the first time they were traveling leisurely. They would always make their horses run at full speed, but they were traveling slow this time, as if they were out on a horseback riding session. At that moment, they noticed something else: The flow of time through the scenery.

“It’s autumn, sir. I hope the harvest went well this year,” Giggs noted.

“The rainy season lasted 10 days longer this year than last year’s, so I’m not expecting much,” Gareth replied.

Giggs tilted his head at Gareth’s comment which showed that his boss had remembered the exact number of days of last year and this year’s rainy seasons. He only thought that it rained more than usual, and had no idea that the season had lasted a certain number of days longer. He began to wonder again about Gareth’s abandoned title. ‘Was it a baron, or a viscount?’ His boss sometimes spoke in a more vulgar way than the common people, but at times seemed to be more cultured than the nobles. Moreover, he seemed to have a good memory at times, but did not at other times. He couldn’t figure out what kind of person Gareth was.

“We’ll go a little bit faster,” Gareth ordered at that moment. 

If they were traveling at their original pace, then they would have already been passing through the middle of the forest infested with outlaws. As the territorial disputes continued, the ones who suffered the most were the farmers who had to pay taxes. They had become serfs working on a property owned by their lord. To make up for the money spent in the territorial disputes, the lords treated their serfs harshly, causing some to flee their lands to become fugitives. From there arose outlaws who formed alliances among themselves to plunder and kill others. The king only sat back and watched as these things happened and did nothing. A bitter smile fell on Gareth’s lips.