Warrior Marigold

20.

It was quite a sight.

That was the only way Lancel could describe the current situation.

It was truly a spectacle.

“I have adored you for a long time, Miss Mary! Please accept my proposal!”

“Um… have we… known each other for a long time?”

Pattern one: mindless comments.

These were the types who would throw out cliché confessions even though they had just met.

Surprisingly, this was the most common type.

“Mary, when I see you, my heart feels like it’s flying to the fields of Lonaronia. A woman like the setting sun, shining brightly, and the newly risen moonlight, so fresh! Without you, this Imperial Capital is like an empty night sky, so how can I describe my heart without you…!”

“I’m sorry!”

Pattern two: the poet.

These were the ones who gained nothing compared to the effort they put in.

Isn’t that too grandiose to begin with?

And where the heck is Lonaronia? Lancel had never even heard of such a place.

Because their words were unnecessarily long, Marigold always ended up cutting them off and running away.

“Look. If I may say so myself, I am going to be the strongest man on this continent. I will surely achieve great feats in this war and join the best knight order in the Imperial Capital. Isn’t this enough of a condition for a woman of humble origins like you?”

“……”

Pattern three: just a prideful human.

At this point, it was hard to tell if they were flirting or just spouting insults.

“Okay, Miss Mary, let’s do this. I’ll give you one hundred gold coins out of three hundred. There’s nothing difficult about it. Just pretend to be in love with me for a while. You can just sit there and earn one hundred gold coins. Isn’t that great? Isn’t that a fantastic idea?”

Pattern four: the negotiator.

This type began to appear when emotional approaches clearly weren’t working.

Another point to note was that there wasn’t a single person willing to give up more than half.

“Woman. Will you marry me, or will you die by my hand?”

Fifth: out of the question.

“Puhahaha! Those stupid bastards, they’re really trying hard.”

The Sixth Prince, far away from the scene, was busy laughing heartily at the farce he had created.

“Seeing how they can’t even seduce one woman, they must all be married. Stupid bastards.”

He hadn’t approached Marigold for days.

He just sat there watching, as if he was confident that he could make her his at any time.

Lancel found Mary hiding in a corner, avoiding the men.

“What are you doing?”

“Eek! Ah, Master.”

She looked like she was about to cry.

“…I wonder what Your Highness is thinking.”

“He’s probably not thinking at all.”

Lancel frowned, looking at the drooping figure.

‘Sixth Prince, you’re always causing trouble wherever you go.’

He was treating this expedition like a game.

It was as if he had completely forgotten that they were the Imperial Capital support force, leaving to rescue the Fifth Prince’s army in crisis.

What if they lost the war?

Everyone here would take the blame.

Except for the Sixth Prince, the culprit of all this.

The disgrace of failing to rescue the Prince was not something to be taken lightly.

He was sure that all the knights and commanders would have to give up their titles and move to the remote provinces. Perhaps some would face even greater punishment.

Lancel found it difficult to guarantee that it wouldn’t be him.

“What were you thinking when you made this bet?”

“Huh?”

The Sixth Prince chuckled and replied.

“Do I need a reason to make a bet? Isn’t it just something you do because it’s fun?”

“Fun…”

It had already been two days.

The dogfight between the swarming hyenas rushing to earn three hundred gold coins and Marigold’s attempts to avoid them had been going on for two days.

Lancel couldn’t forget the sight of her, half-dead, nodding off.

—…Master, please hide me. People are chasing me everywhere. Everywhere…

==========

—Marigold saw the greed lurking in the eyes of those who approached her, shouting about love. Humans are really scary, so scary.

※Marigold’s stamina and condition are greatly reduced. Fatigue continues to accumulate.

==========

“Why? Do you want me to stop? Then just admit one thing.”

The Sixth Prince lowered his voice eerily.

“Just admit that the relationship between you and Miss Mary is not just a master-servant relationship, but something much stickier. I’ll call it off right away.”

“……”

“Of course, the scandalous rumor that a man who got married just three days ago is already running around with a lover… will spread like wildfire throughout the Imperial Capital.”

‘Of course.’

The Imperial Capital nobles were truly serious about affairs of the heart. The moment the news of Lancel abandoning his wife and having an affair spread, those idle bastards would chew him to bits for months.

The Sixth Prince was using that to prevent Lancel from interfering in this bet.

He also seemed to be inwardly convinced.

That Lancel and Marigold were in such a relationship.

“Then the news will spread to the Iceford Heiress in an instant. I wonder what the Count Palatine will say when he finds out. You know that Grandfather looks like a nice person, but he’s actually scary, right?”

The Sixth Prince’s hand crept up onto his shoulder.

“So I’ll take Miss Mary, Lancel. You can think of it as compensation for daring to take the Iceford Heiress that I had my eye on.”

Suddenly, he made eye contact with Marigold, who was far away.

‘Hmm… I was aiming to marry her off to a Prince, but somehow she walked right in?’

Maybe this is the easy way.

Now that things have come to this, connecting the Sixth Prince and Marigold might be the fastest way to become an Empress.

Even if he’s in this state, a Prince is still a Prince. He’s one of the eight characters in charge of the game’s ‘main ending’.

What was the reason Lancel had been searching for Marigold for the past few decades?

Wasn’t it to connect her with a Prince?

And now, all the conditions were set before him.

All that was left was to choose.

But.

“……”

Lancel chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?”

The Sixth Prince’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Was what I said funny?”

“No.”

Lancel ignored the Sixth Prince’s glaring eyes and continued.

“Aren’t you overlooking something big, Your Highness?”

“……What are you talking about?”

No matter how much of a Prince he was.

‘You’re not good enough.’

Lancel’s eyes moved towards the Sixth Prince.

“Why are you so sure that Mary will fall for you already?”

“……?”

The Sixth Prince looked truly incomprehensible.

Perhaps it was something he hadn’t considered. A common misconception among men in positions where they can get anything they want.

But Lancel knew.

The protagonist of this world, Marigold, wasn’t so easily swayed that anyone could have her just because they were a Prince.

Especially if Lancel was interfering, the possibility was even lower.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

The next day.

Marigold received an invitation to dinner from the Sixth Prince. It was a dinner for just the two of them.

Marigold refused the invitation.

It wasn’t just an invitation from an ordinary person, but from a Prince.

.

.

.

“That cheeky bitch!”

The Sixth Prince smashed the table in a fit of rage. Crockery and food spilled out from the overturned table, scattering in all directions.

The items he had arranged to create an atmosphere for inviting Marigold were now shattered into pieces.

“…Did she really say that?”

“Yes, Your Highness. I clearly heard her say that she didn’t know why she had to dine with you alone…”

“Heh, heh heh.”

The Sixth Prince’s face twisted with bewilderment. He had never been ‘rejected’ after inviting someone before. He felt the heat rising to the top of his head.

“Lead the way. I’ll have to go myself.”

He walked down the train corridor with hurried steps.

He nervously threw open the door to the dining car where Lancel and Marigold were.

“Lancel Dante!”

“……? What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

Lancel Dante and Marigold.

They were shamelessly sharing a meal in the corner of the dining car.

It was a simple meal consisting of a loaf of bread and a few slices of ham.

It was almost embarrassing to compare it to the delicacies the Sixth Prince had prepared.

“I came to see what a woman who refused my banquet was doing, but what is this…”

Lancel stared at the Prince for a while without any reaction.

“I see.”

Lancel wiped the grease from his hands and continued.

“But don’t be too disheartened, Your Highness.”

“What?”

“Aren’t you in the position of courting Mary right now? It’s normal to be rejected in such cases.”

“C-c-courting? Courting?”

The Sixth Prince seemed to be greatly shocked.

“Your Highness?”

After standing there blankly for a while, he turned around roughly, making a whooshing sound, and disappeared.

Was he so shocked that he lost his words? Lancel thought it was a good thing.

“Maybe things will quiet down a bit now.”

“…I really hope so.”

Marigold sighed deeply.

It was a bet with three hundred gold coins on the line. Those who were constantly making advances were still appearing at this very moment.

But they weren’t complete idiots either.

Seeing even the Sixth Prince returning empty-handed, they began to realize that there was no way to seduce Marigold.

As a sense of helplessness spread, the faces of the men grew pale.

“It’s hard enough to even say a word, so how are we supposed to seduce her?”

“Three hundred gold coins? I wouldn’t be able to do it even if you gave me a thousand. She avoids eye contact…”

To make matters worse, this expedition wasn’t just a pleasure trip.

‘The people who gathered to go to war can’t keep clinging to such a ridiculous bet forever.’

There were only a few days left until they reached their destination.

The soldiers of the First Imperial Capital Support Army were slowly waking up from their dreams and returning to reality.

What awaited them was not three hundred gold coins, but a battlefield calling for blood.

==========

TIP: Marigold’s condition is too low. How about going on a picnic to change her mood soon?

==========

He could see the shadows under Marigold’s eyes as she nodded off.

“When we get back, shall we go on a trip to a quiet place?”

“Yes?”

Marigold was silent for a moment at Lancel’s words, then nodded slightly. He could feel the fatigue that had been hanging over her face disappear in an instant.

“…I’ll go. I want to go.”

21.

==========

—Dawn of October 13, 818 in the Imperial Capital calendar.

—When a man hiding in her bedroom lunged at her, Marigold reflexively struck with her sword. She defeated the intruder in one blow. It was worth practicing so hard.

※Marigold has achieved the ‘First Kill’ achievement. (Sentiment, Faith, Dignity Down!! Charm, Sexiness UP!!)

==========

Bang!

Lancel threw open the door to the room where Marigold was staying.

He had just woken up from a deep sleep, but his fatigue was long gone.

He saw Marigold trembling before him.

The blood-soaked hilt of the sword fell from her grasp. He could see the bright red blood spreading and staining the floor.

“M-master.”

Lancel silently examined the man who had fallen in front of Marigold.

He had no pulse. He had died from a single strike. The man had died with his eyes wide open, as if he couldn’t believe it.

Of course, it wasn’t the Sixth Prince. But it was clear that he had sent him. In the dead man’s hand was a small pouch.

‘Could this be?’

Inside was a finely ground purple powder with a sweet smell.

Lancel already knew what it was.

“Blindweed.”

It was a very expensive poisonous herb that initially made people lose their minds and later blinded them.

Something seemed to be burning inside Lancel. A feeling he had forgotten for a while after meeting Marigold.

“Sixth Prince, Karin… you’ve finally caused an accident.”

Only the sound of the train wheels cutting through the rails broke the silence.