Ch.2Excuse

In the end, my body recovered faster than I could push Serena away.

The droplets of blood that had stained Serena’s blonde hair returned to my mouth, and my internal organs that had been pushed upward found their proper places again.

As my spine restored itself, it naturally pushed away Serena’s hands that were embracing my waist. My lungs, torn by the shattered ribs, also regained their function.

Finally, my ribs—which had been crushed from the head-on collision with the armor—and my chest—which had been caved in from the impact—returned to their original form, pushing away Serena’s head.

Only then did Serena release her grip on my waist and step back. Though she retreated, she kept glancing at me, as if still not fully satisfied.

What came next was obvious. Seeing me raise my right hand, Serena quickly lowered her head.

My hand rested on Serena’s head. As my hand moved from side to side, stroking her silky hair, Serena immediately smiled brightly and threw herself into my arms once more.

It was a gentle, delicate movement, completely different from before.

Like a frail beauty, Serena clasped her hands in front of her chest and nestled into my embrace, silently enjoying the sensation of my hand stroking her head.

If anyone were to see this, it would cause an uproar, but who would come to a place like this? They’d rather stay as far away as possible.

Besides, Serena is far better at detecting presences than I am.

“Would it be strange to ask how you got here? I’m sure you found your way just fine. Let me change the question then. Have you been well, Serena?”

“I have not been well. The sense of loss from not having my lord by my side was so overwhelming that I couldn’t focus on anything. Whether getting up, training, or lying in bed, all I could feel was the emptiness beside me. If it weren’t for the orders you gave me, I would have gone mad. Placing me in the Royal Knights, ordering me to hone my skills there—all of it must be part of your grand plan that someone as insignificant as myself couldn’t possibly comprehend, but even knowing that, I…”

My mouth gaped open at her lengthy lament of longing that followed.

I had only offered a simple greeting, but in return came an incredibly heavy response.

If she had kept it to a sentence or two, even with the heavy content, I could have laughed it off with a joke like, “You should just say you’ve been well even if it’s a white lie. You still have more to learn.” But since she wouldn’t stop talking, it was awkward to cut her off.

Moreover, there were several concerning expressions in her words.

‘Insignificant? Who?’

Serena, who would easily rank among the top three strongest beings on this entire continent, was calling herself insignificant.

Dumbfounded, I pressed down harder with the hand stroking her head, but Serena continued to rub her face against my chest with a seemingly happy expression, constantly inhaling my scent.

Well, as if someone like me applying a bit of force would even register to Serena. She’s at a level where she can withstand a direct hit from Meteor, the highest-tier magic.

I gave up and relaxed my hand. As the pressure of my stroking weakened, Serena took my hand and brought it to her cheek, rubbing her cheek vigorously against it.

“I hate it all. I just hate everything. All I need is my lord, but having to serve that self-aggrandizing woman who calls herself a queen, having to mention serving her every time I’m introduced, receiving meaningless praise as the kingdom’s strongest, bearing the honor of being the First Captain of the Royal Knights—I hate it all. I just want to give it all up and spend my life by my lord’s side, serving you forever, but you wouldn’t allow it. Of course, I know that even harboring such thoughts is an insult to my lord. But, but—”

Even as she frantically rubbed my hand against her cheek, complaints and dissatisfaction flowed endlessly from Serena’s mouth.

Did I leave her in the Knights for too long? It should have been only about 6 years. No, was it 7? Or maybe 8?

I’d given up on keeping track of dates a while ago, so my sense of time was hazy. It didn’t help that this region doesn’t have distinct seasons.

Seeing the usually extremely quiet Serena talk at such length suggested that quite some time had indeed passed.

Since it’s been confirmed that even a dragon can’t kill me, there’s no reason to stay in this city any longer. Perhaps it would be fine to return to the palace with Serena.

Anyway, at this rate, she seemed like she would hold my hand and mumble to herself all day, so I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away slightly.

Though she let out a short sigh of disappointment, Serena obediently followed my lead. Of course, her blue eyes remained fixed on my hand, still longing.

There’s plenty of time now, so I can pat her head again later. For now, there was something else I needed to ask.

“Serena.”

“Yes, my lord. Please speak.”

“What brings you here?”

Yes, more urgent than asking how she came was asking why she came. She probably used a teleportation gate or something to get here.

The important question was why Serena, the First Captain of the Royal Knights, had come all the way to this forest at the edge of the continent.

At my question, Serena’s expression turned serious. She stepped back a few paces from me and knelt on one knee.

She knelt on her right knee, raised her left knee at a right angle, placed her left hand on the ground, and laid her right hand horizontally over her heart.

Then, bowing her head deeply, she spoke.

“I’ve come to escort you, my lord.”

“You came to get me?”

“That is correct.”

There wasn’t the slightest tremor in Serena’s voice. Her words seemed truthful, but my questions weren’t fully answered yet.

“Why so suddenly?”

I still hadn’t heard why Serena had unexpectedly come to fetch me.

“I received a letter from the lord of a nearby city requesting help with a dragon sighting. Since it was from the lord of the city where you reside, I accepted the request and came to provide assistance.”

It wasn’t surprising that rumors of the dragon had reached the lord’s ears. I had already anticipated that.

But it was quite unexpected that the lord had immediately sent a letter to the royal palace requesting help.

Considering the distance between the lord’s city and the royal palace, it would be impossible to arrive in a day by normal means. It would take at least two weeks.

Yet Serena said she had received a request for help, which meant there was only one possibility.

A teleportation gate.

The fact that the lord used a teleportation gate just to deliver a single letter showed how seriously they were taking the situation.

It was understandable. A dragon, whose very existence had been uncertain, had appeared and spent an entire day breathing fire in the forest—enough to make anyone’s heart sink.

If the dragon was angry for whatever reason and showed itself in the city, total annihilation would be certain.

“But Serena.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Did the lord send the letter requesting help to you?”

Serena’s body stiffened abruptly. A quiet silence fell.

After remaining frozen for quite some time, she finally answered.

“…No.”

“They probably sent it to Charlotte. Knowing her personality, she would have come herself rather than sending you.”

“…”

Watching Serena hesitate without continuing, I roughly understood what had happened.

It was simple. The urgent request for aid from the lord arrived at the palace, and Serena intercepted it before it could be shown to the queen.

Upon confirming which territory had sent the request, Serena sent the messenger back, saying she would meet with the queen directly as it would be faster.

After the messenger returned to the lord via teleportation gate, she headed here herself.

She had intercepted a letter that should have gone to the queen, failed to report it, and moved on her own before orders were issued. She probably even lied to the lord, claiming she came on the queen’s orders.

This was high treason at minimum, with so many criminal charges I couldn’t even count them. If Serena had a family, the entire clan would have been exterminated for such serious crimes.

‘Though Serena probably doesn’t care.’

Simply put, the rest of the Royal Knights combined couldn’t match Serena.

The Royal Knights were a collection of superhuman monsters selected through an excessively strict screening process from among the talented individuals gathered in the kingdom’s capital, who themselves had been chosen from across the entire continent.

The entire Royal Knights together couldn’t defeat Serena alone.

Ironically, such a being was now trembling, not knowing what words might come out of my mouth.

“Well, I won’t dig too deeply. You handled it somehow, Serena.”

“…Thank you, my lord.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, so I’ll let it slide. Don’t be too disheartened. I don’t mind.”

In truth, even if there had been a problem, I would have overlooked it unless it was something extremely serious. Like if she had obliterated an entire city or something like that.

Well, honestly, I could probably overlook even that depending on the circumstances.

“By the way, you said you came to investigate the dragon, but the lord sent you alone? Where are the other soldiers?”

They would be useless anyway, but I thought they might have sent a few for formality’s sake.

“I was offered some, but I refused. If they had insisted on sending them, I would have killed them on the way. They would only be a hindrance in serving you, my lord.”

“…That’s quite brutal.”

“It’s what needed to be done.”

There was determination in Serena’s eyes as she spoke. It was a bit strange to show such resolve while talking about killing people just because they might interfere with coming to get me.

“And, if you would permit it, my lord, I would like to kill the lord as well.”

“What? Why the lord suddenly?”

Startled, I asked, and Serena answered impassively.

“Because they insulted you, my lord.”