Episode 85. Surrender (6)

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Episode 85. Submission (6)
Episode 85. Submission (6)

I’m going crazy, I’m going crazy!
To end up wearing clothes like this, and even walking around in them!
While leaving the main castle and heading back to her quarters, Allen desperately hoped she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew. Being dressed in a dress that was the epitome of femininity was as humiliating as being naked for her, who always tried to emphasize her knightly qualities. What if her fellow knights, or even her superiors, saw her like this? Ugh… just imagining it was awful.

She quickened her pace as soon as she left the main castle. It was okay inside the main castle because there were only servants, but from now on, she could really run into someone. Allen looked around and walked towards a less crowded area. Each time the bare skin of her thighs rubbed together, the skirt fluttered back and forth, and a cool breeze touched her legs. She had worn dresses when she was young, but it felt completely unfamiliar. It felt like wind was coming into a place it shouldn’t. The coolness was nice, but it even felt a bit chilly since it was autumn.
“…!”

It might be a little awkward, but she tried to act as natural as possible. She turned her head just enough so that her face wouldn’t be visible as she passed by. She saw some knights whose faces she had seen a few times. Please don’t look this way. She walked as quietly as possible so that her footsteps wouldn’t be heard, and when she was about to pass them, she ran quickly as if she was half-walking. She wasn’t even close to them, so how would they identify her as Allen just by looking at her back in a dress? After passing through the well-paved road, Allen hesitated slightly at the crossroads and took the side path.

Baseurak, baseurak.
She walked along the promenade, which was already full of fallen maple leaves. Originally, she favored the much shorter road that crossed the estate, but that road was close and well-paved, so it was crowded with people. Thanks to that, Allen, who would never usually use the promenade, didn’t feel too bad.

“Wow….”
When the wind blew, the maple trees with red leaves swayed. It was Mountberne’s unique autumn, which couldn’t be easily seen elsewhere. How long had it been since she had leisurely strolled around like this? Allen, who had been moving like a knight for efficient work, felt that she had become sentimental because of the clothes. As she blankly let the wind take over her body, her skirt puffed up, and she hurriedly pressed it down with her hands.

“Kyaat! Heum, heum….”
Even the surprised sound became feminine because of her attire. But wouldn’t this much be okay? It wasn’t like she wanted to live like a man from the beginning. She was just living that way out of a sense of responsibility, because her father had said that there had to be one knight to carry on the Family line. The series of events that had happened between Edward and her, and the clothes she was wearing now, were awakening her childhood feelings.

‘He said it… suited me.’
Maybe I’m prettier than I thought. When she recalled the compliment she had heard for the first time about her appearance, Allen smiled slightly without realizing it. A light sky-blue dress. Like she had seen when she was young, she grabbed the ends of the dress on either side with both hands and lifted it slightly. Hmm, it’s too short because it’s not a dress. She felt a little disappointed, but she pulled herself together and quickened her pace. She had forgotten for a moment, caught up in the atmosphere, but this appearance was not something to be seen by anyone. To be exact, she was about to quicken her pace.

“Oh my, who is this?”
If she hadn’t met someone who knew her face.

“Wow, I thought I was seeing things.”
Franchello Mountberne. Whether he had come for a walk after eating, he had run into him on the promenade where no one else was walking. Allen tried to pass by pretending not to see him, but there was no one else except Franchello and Allen, so even that was not possible.

“Hello.”
“Oh, yeah. You still don’t completely ignore your senior, do you?”
“How could I dare do that….”

Allen was uncomfortable with Franchello. Franchello had been in charge of managing all the knights of the Mountberne Family for a long time. She heard that he was the uncle of Henry Mountberne, who was currently the Count, and the younger brother of the previous Head of the Family. In many ways, he was her superior. Even if the superior was a good person, it was hard to like them, but Franchello’s personality was….

Moreover, managing all the knights meant that he naturally knew all about Allen’s personal information. That meant….

“What’s with you wearing those clothes all of a sudden? Do you want to show off that you’re a woman that much? Puhah!“

It meant that he naturally knew that Allen was a woman. She didn’t really want to let anyone know in case it caused problems, but the Antoinette Count Family had already sent the documents, so she couldn’t stop it. And as she had worried, Franchello often harassed her with it.

“I entrusted you with escort duty, but you abandoned it and wandered around somewhere, and it turns out you were out having fun in such a ridiculous state. The prestige of the Mountberne knights will fall to the ground.”
“You said you didn’t need an escort….”
“Does that mean you take those words at face value? You have no sense of the job….”

The words ‘ridiculous’ seemed to pierce her heart. The slightly uplifted mood crashed to the ground. It felt more sad because it felt like she had realized the reality, rather than being cursed at.

“Who are you trying to look good for dressed like that? Did you become a concubine for the nobles who came as guests or something?”
“….”

Why would she do such a thing when she had so much to offer? It wasn’t like she wore it because she wanted to.

“Well, since that brat Edward has returned, are you trying to seduce him by going there in those clothes? I mean, what do you think nobles are?”
Why is that knight’s name coming up here? Seeing that Franchello mentioned him first as an example of a high-ranking noble, Allen thought that Edward might be a noble of quite high status, not just a simple knight as she had thought.

“Is it because you’re a villager, that’s what you’re thinking? Even if he can’t become the Head of the Family and went off to marry into another Family like a son-in-law, he’s still from the Mountberne Count Family. It’s not someone someone like you can covet. Do you think you become a lady just by putting women’s clothes on that face?”
“…No, I’m not.”

She was even called a villager and ‘you’. She felt even more depressed because she was told she was ugly. Wasn’t Franchello the one who demanded something strange when he first found out she was a woman? Allen was dumbfounded that he had put her in the obscure position of escort knight because she had refused, and now he was saying she was ugly.

“Stop talking nonsense and return to duty from tomorrow. Then go.”
“…Yes.”

Was she that embarrassed? It suited her quite well.
Swinging his sword in the training grounds that Allen had vacated, he recalled the scene he had seen in the morning. How long had he been cross-dressing that he was so flustered by a single dress?

Whatever the reason, it was nice to be able to use the space widely by himself. It seemed that it would take quite a while for Allen’s injury to heal, so he would be able to use it like this for the time being. He finished his training satisfactorily and packed his bags.

“Excuse me, are you perhaps Sir Edward Yulstein?”
“Hmm? Who are you…?”

As I was heading to my room after finishing training, a man who looked like a merchant came to find me. I’ve never seen him before, so how does he know my name?

“I am a merchant from the Yulstein territory. A lady named Vera Yulstein sent a letter. There was a condition that I had to meet you in person to deliver it… so I came to find you like this.”
Ah, a letter delivery. I’ve sent them before, but I’ve never received one, so I didn’t know. The letter that the merchant took out had ‘To Sir Edward Yulstein’ written on the outside in Vera’s familiar and elegant handwriting.

“Please receive this… and sign here once. I have to prove that you received it directly.”
What is this again? ‘Recipient Confirmation’? I wrote my name clearly in that place. Hmm, it seems my handwriting is improving. The merchant, who handed me the letter and received my signature, quickly left. Seeing that his luggage bag was full of letters, I thought it would take him a long time to deliver them all. I took the letter and went up to my room. I was about to read it as it was, but I saw that I was dripping with sweat, so I decided to wash first. I didn’t want the paper to get wet with sweat.

I quickly washed my body and opened the letter in a clean and neat state. The letter is, um…. There are two pages? One page was large and had a lot of content, and the other page was small and simple. Should I read the short one first? This handwriting, who was it? Ah, I think it was Winnie. Seeing that it came with Vera’s reply, she must know that Vera received the letter. Did she write a nagging message because she was sulking?

‘It’s a disaster. Please come quickly.’
….
What is this? Suddenly, this kind of content without any context, I didn’t understand at all. I wondered if there was any additional explanation in the other page, so I read the contents carefully. The letter, which seemed to have Vera’s warmth remaining, had a reply to the letter I had sent last time, written in beautiful handwriting that resembled her.

‘Edward, I miss you so much too. I’m sure you miss me too, right?’
She seemed to be absorbed in writing the letter, and the letter, full of polite language, seemed to reveal Vera’s personality as it was. Just reading the words, I could hear Vera’s voice in my head.

‘I called a painter and had him paint my portrait. I’m putting one in and sending it to you, so please think of me while looking at it.’
One more? Ah, it was overlapping.
…Ah, I miss Vera.

The moment I saw her face, I couldn’t remember Winnie’s words very well. I kept the picture in my eyes and lay down on the bed.