Ch.108Chapter 108. The Match (2)

* * *

Serpina watched Swen as he left, saying he would go clean up. She sat in her chair, lost in thought.

Yes.

That man’s name is—Swen.

And I know him.

Of course, “knowing him” included the fact that “he’s the man I met in my dream”—

But deep in her heart, her awareness went one step further.

Did I originally know Swen?

But I don’t know why I think that.

So for now, I need to keep him close.

That was Serpina’s conclusion.

In fact—even without focusing solely on him being the man from my dreams, thinking purely practically.

Recruiting this young white-haired man as her subordinate would be quite beneficial for Serpina.

First of all, he was “potentially a mage,” as acknowledged by State Advisor Jenna, who was currently overseeing the capital in her place.

Considering what happened at the northern fortress, and what happened a few days ago here at Hisfil Castle, there was a very high possibility that he was a real mage.

Having such a man under her command would clearly be worth more than an entire castle.

In any case, Serpina thought, I want to have that man—Swen.

And so far, she had never failed to obtain anything she wanted.

‘If I win this bet, I’ll serve you… is that it?’

Thinking about it now, those words couldn’t help but be significant.

Though he talked about having an opportunity to choose a worthy lord to serve and whatnot—Serpina had encountered many people of his kind during her conquest of the northern continent.

Most people didn’t have particularly deep loyalty to the rulers they served.

In other words, he could make such a proposal precisely because he wasn’t deeply committed to Yurie in the first place.

If he were a truly loyal general, he would rather be dragged to an underground prison than challenge her to a contest.

That wasn’t necessarily bad. Serpina had no intention of reproaching him for it.

Rather, in these chaotic times, those who stubbornly served only one person were the odd ones.

The Brans Army, the Aeshus Army—they were ultimately just warlord groups without deep history, and Serpina herself knew well that being truly loyal to the leader of such a warlord group was something you’d only see in fairy tales.

Therefore, what she emphasized was not legitimacy but how she treated her subjects.

If subjects could change their lords at any time, her policy was to ensure they never felt the need to do so.

At that point, a new question arose.

‘He was definitely with the Brans Army.’

For some reason, he had left the Brans Army for the Aeshus Army, and now he was changing allegiances again.

If his goal was to serve a “truly powerful ruler,” he could have come to our army from the beginning.

So perhaps his goal… might not even exist yet—that thought occurred to her.

How interesting.

Serpina slightly raised one corner of her mouth.

Saying “there’s no reason not to serve Lady Serpina” also meant there was no compelling reason to serve her either.

She was curious about the true intentions of this man who said that, yet smoothly declared he would serve her.

If she were to categorize all the people she had encountered so far, they would fall into three types.

First, those intimidated by her background.

Second, those who openly showed hostility toward her background.

And third, those who, overwhelmed by her background, openly swore loyalty to her.

And Swen, coincidentally, belonged to none of these categories.

‘He’s the man who stirred me in my dream. He can’t be insignificant.’

Now the choice was up to Yurie.

If she were Yurie, she would never give up Swen, no matter how important Anima was as a general.

Apart from their relationship, it was obvious that her subordinates would be greatly disturbed if they saw her sacrificing one general for another.

Baranga Yurie Aeshus wasn’t that foolish. So she would make the sensible decision.

If that happened, she would release Swen for now.

But—as mentioned earlier, she had never lost anything she had set her mind on having.

‘Even if you leave my side temporarily, you’ll soon be back in my hands, Swen.’

With that thought, she let out a soft “kufufu” laugh.

If Swen had known this, there was one fact he couldn’t deny:

He had just missed the opportunity to see her most enchanting and beautiful side.

* * *

“Kheuk!”

Five soldiers fell.

Irene, showing no signs of fatigue, looked at the Serpina Army soldiers glaring at her and said:

“If anyone else wants to come at me, feel free.”

“General Rendolf has fallen? Impossible…!”

“Damn it… how can a mere escort be this powerful?!”

The soldiers were looking at the last man to fall with utter shock.

Judging by how they addressed him, this man was apparently not a simple soldier but a general receiving a stipend under the Serpina Army.

She didn’t know why they were suddenly attacking them—

But if their situation was this bad, Swen must also be in a difficult position.

If so, she couldn’t put down her sword.

She needed to enter the royal castle where he was as quickly as possible.

Irene spoke loudly, putting strength into her voice:

“Let me sincerely advise you, you should bring more soldiers if you want to defeat me. As things stand, only you will be seriously injured.”

“What…?”

“If you let me into the royal castle even now, I’ll specially overlook your rudeness so far. I hope you make a wise decision.”

As the soldiers exchanged glances, a man’s shout came from behind them.

“What are you doing? Didn’t our lord command! Capture those people!”

“B-but we’re outnumbered like this!”

“Reinforcements are coming now! What are you doing not even forming a battle line!”

Watching the Serpina Army soldiers in confusion at the sudden situation, Irene sighed quietly.

“…So you insist on shedding more blood.”

She had already warned them in a strong tone, and she had no intention of giving up here—

But the problem was Reika hiding behind her.

While Irene herself made her living on battlefields of life and death, Reika was just the daughter of the Nighthart family who followed Swen well.

Since she was a woman with whom marriage talks with Swen were ongoing, she naturally included not just Swen but Reika among those she needed to protect.

At that moment.

“Um… Lady Irene…”

“I’ll listen to you later. Don’t move. It’s dangerous.”

“Well, that… I…”

“…?”

Whoa.

Reika took a short deep breath, then spoke with a determined expression.

“I… th-thank you for worrying about me… but I absolutely won’t hold you back, so it’s okay.”

“…?”

“So… could you… move aside a little?”

What?

If she moved aside, Reika might unnecessarily become a target for the soldiers.

But Reika’s voice sounded so serious.

“Are you serious?”

“In a situation like this… I don’t lie.”

Does she have some way to resolve this situation?

Irene very gently moved to the side, clearing her line of sight.

And then.

“…!!”

An unbelievable sight unfolded before her.

The Serpina Army soldiers didn’t seem to have noticed yet…

But from Reika’s hands, a red, flame-like sphere began to emerge.

‘Th-that…!’

“Everyone, charge!”

Just then, reinforcements seemed to have arrived, as they began charging toward Irene and Reika.

There were quite a lot of them—would they really be okay?

“Haaah…!”

Just as Reika’s voice was heard from behind.

“Everyone, you’d better stop there.”

A familiar man’s voice reached Irene’s ears.

* * *

“Swen…!”

“Ah, S-Swen-nim…!”

Fortunately, all the soldiers’ attention focused on me at my words.

I didn’t miss the opportunity and continued to convey my message.

“These are Lady Serpina’s orders. Please stop trying to capture us.”

“What? How can we believe…”

Just as the soldier representative was about to show a sharp reaction toward me.

“What he says is true.”

Behind me, a tall handsome man with jet-black hair that contrasted sharply with mine stepped forward.

“Lord Ian…!”

So that man’s name was Ian.

I had met him by chance on my way out of the royal castle, and when I explained the situation and asked for help because I thought the soldiers wouldn’t listen to me, he readily agreed—but I hadn’t thought to ask his name.

After the man paid his respects to Ian, he lightly acknowledged it and shouted loudly to the soldiers:

“The order to capture the Aeshus Army’s envoy has been withdrawn! This is our lord’s will! Everyone return to your positions!”

The situation was quickly resolved with Ian’s words.

In conclusion, all the soldiers surrounding Irene and Reika left their positions.

“There are injured men.”

“I want you to know it was self-defense.”

At Irene’s words, Ian calmly nodded.

“I know the gist of it, so don’t worry.”

I approached Ian.

“Thank you for your help.”

“It’s nothing. I’ll take my leave first.”

And so, with Ian taking care of the injured soldiers, the situation somehow concluded.

Only then could I return to Irene and Reika’s side.

“Swen, what happened? Are you okay?”

“Swen-nim…!”

Both of them showed such obvious concern for me that I felt strangely apologetic.

“I’m fine. Anyway, I’ve returned safely. …Though I won’t be able to return to Valhart Castle for a while.”

“What…? Can’t return… what do you mean?”

At Reika’s question, I explained the situation to both of them.

“I see. So you were almost captured and thrown into an underground prison. That’s why they attacked us too.”

“U-underground prison…! But Swen-nim was just here as an envoy…”

“We’re talking about none other than Serpina von Einhart. It seems the rumors about her were roughly accurate.”

At Irene’s words, I shook my head slightly.

“I don’t think that’s entirely true.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I don’t know the details, but, well, she did accept my proposal, didn’t she?”

Irene murmured, “I suppose so,” and quickly understood.

Lately, I’ve been feeling that she would believe me even if I told her beans could make soybean paste.

“Anyway, I’m sorry. Both of you got involved because of me.”

“No, Swen. You have nothing to apologize for. Rather, I’m glad I could follow you. If I had been separated from you and wasted time not knowing what was happening, I would have been very lonely.”

“I-I’m fine too…! I came prepared… I’ve already talked everything over with Father, so I think… he’ll understand.”

After saying “That’s good, then”—

I looked back at the royal castle.

There was nothing more I could do now.

Whether I liked it or not, the outcome of this contest would be decided not by me or Serpina, but by Yurie.

So it’s just a matter of waiting, is it?

‘It’ll be a rest period for a while.’

I was used to waiting anyway.

Hadn’t I spent days meaninglessly passing time before Luna recommended me?

As I walked back toward the royal castle with Irene and Reika, I sent an unanswerable question on the wind.

Lady Yurie.

What choice are you planning to make?