The Crazy Prologue Never Ends

r run or overdo it.
I have already told the duke, so he will pay attention to the young lady’s health.”

Somehow, it felt like I was a few steps away from escape.

I only realized this after coming back.

As expected, without the stone of warmth, it was impossible to leave the duchy.

The harsh cold was worse than expected.

I returned to the guest room after a week.
Tears welled up in Suren’s eyes.

At the bedside was a rare flower in a ducal family.

The white flower was filled with water, as if it had frosted at dawn.

“Lady, I almost got kicked out again.”

Suren held onto the sick me and wept bitterly.
The corners of her eyes were red.
The wound on my arm hurt again, and I barely pushed her away.

“When I’m gone, you can have a better master.”

“Don’t say that.”

Suren blew her nose and said.

“I actually thought that the lady had run away.
The duke, who came back in the middle of the night, looks very urgent, and his complexion is pale.
While the lady was in the cave, the duke’s castle turned upside down.
Looking for you.”

Suren murmured as she watered the vase.

“Young lady, who wants to wait, was not there.
The ground is full of wolf tracks.
If there were torn clothes or bloodstains around, they would have given up earlier.
Everyone was exhausted and was about to give up, but the duke suddenly climbed the mountain, as if he had a feeling, and you were the cave!”

Suren slapped his palms together.

“They hurried in because there was a sign that the fire was turned off.
The young lady was there.
When they shook you, your head dropped… It was like a scene from a tragic play.”

Suren sniffled.
Tears filled her eyes.

Are you that sad?

Suren chattered incessantly as if she were present at the scene.

“I heard the young lady’s head falling helplessly.
Oh, of course, not me, but the Duke.
I thought you were dead.
I thought we would all die because we couldn’t take care of the young lady properly, but His Highness said.”

Suren cleared her voice and said.

“She’s breathing.”

Suren was talking like a one-man show.
Although she had to stop her chatter as she was pushed by the medics who came after her.

My story spread well among the Knights.

It seemed that she was rumored to be a brave young lady who made a firm decision for the wounded soldiers.

I felt a little guilty.

To be precise, it was more of a decision for the Duke’s safe end of the prologue and for Leoni’s petty-citizen life.

“But what is all this?”

In one corner of the guest room, an armful of firewood was piled up to last for several years.

The firewood was carved into small pieces to fit into the fireplace.

“The Duke gave us firewood.
Don’t catch a cold again.”

That’s very thoughtful, isn’t it?

After saying that, Suren placed a cold towel on her forehead.

Suren continued to talk at length about how friendly the duke was, but I thought of one thing as I looked at the pile of wood.

If Suren or the Duke found out, they would be terrified.

‘Oh, I’m going to make scarecrow arms with this.’

***

The maids changed my clothes, but fortunately, the map in my pocket was not found.

I took out a map that was quietly stored in my folded clothes.
I was glad I found the map before washing it.

‘If the snow gets on it, the painting will definitely be smeared… The map should be hidden inside.’

Looking for a place to hide the map, I opened the drawer by the window.

Something was pushed into the drawer and fell.

I recognized it at a glance.

A bracelet tied with small stones and transparent green emeralds engraved with the patterns of dukes and barons.

It’s a bracelet made by Leoni.
Thinking of Deon.

Is it a love letter that couldn’t be delivered?

I turned the bracelet that was tangled together.

The two stones facing each other without reaching each other were like Leonie’s heart.

***

I went out to the garden to get some sun.

In the garden, Viter and Deon were having a conversation.

The two met eyes.

Bitter, who ran fast, stood in front of me.

“How can a person be so reckless?” “Why did you come out here when you haven’t warmed up yet?”

After choosing his words for a while, Viter suddenly got angry.

“Although things went well, the Young Lady’s body is not the only one that belongs to the Young Lady.
Without blood, the power of His highness is at stake and the safety of the Duchy is also threatened.
Be careful.”

Yeah.
Where’s that principleist going? I heard that if something big happens, you will have camaraderie, but this guy must be a cold-blooded person who does not correspond to it.
His nagging was colder than the northern weather.

In fact, it’s your fault that I ended up there!

“Don’t do that again.
I won’t even listen to you.”

He let out a deep sigh.

“Young lady… the result of the failure of a successor who once challenged the throne to usurp the throne is not just a setback.
It’s extermination.
Honestly, I don’t like it, but…While the lady is at the duke’s residence, we’re on the same boat.”

Viter barely even uttered the word ‘one boat’.

Whether there is

Please, let me stay on that boat for a long time.
It’s not the case to throw it into the sea before you even set off because you don’t need it.

Deon suddenly interrupted as she let his words flow through one ear.

“Viter, stop it.
The young lady’s body hasn’t recovered yet.”

“… I will leave, Your Highness.”

Viter disappeared, and Deon and I were left alone in the garden.

Deon, who had been looking at me for a while, spoke up.

“… Are you feeling well? Where is it inconvenient?”

“Except for the strain on my lungs, they say I’m fine.”

He asked again and again what he had already heard from the doctor.

“From now on…”

After a long pause, he said:

“Just think of yourself.
I won’t leave you, either.”

“…”

“It was a hasty decision.
The tense situation clouded my judgment.
Normally, I would never have left anyone.”

“Yes, sorry.”

I pulled the corner of my mouth up and smiled.

It was understandable to say such a thing.
It was a medicine brought to the ducal family at a high price.
To die without completing her bloody mission was a great loss and neglect of duty to him.

“Leoni.”

He stopped and said.

“Only… I’m not talking about blood.
I don’t want anyone to die on my estate.
I will never miss it again.”

Lie.
If new blood appears, you will kill me without remorse.

To bury me in this garden.

As if he heard my thoughts, he brushed my cheek with the back of his hand.