The Blue-Eyed Knight (2)
“Why haven’t you come yet?”
Alicia held her head, fell down on the desk, and groaned.
“It’s been a month today since I sent the letter, and there hasn’t even been any message, let alone arrival.”
As of today, more than a month has passed since Count Gaidar sent an unpleasant communication.
They will have already gathered people and set off, so they will arrive here sooner or later.
“Let’s wait a little more patiently.”
Old knight Duncan looked at Alicia, who was sobbing on the desk, with sad eyes.
Because there is an approaching threat, it may be confusing.
However, Duncan knew very well that this was the time when vassals like him had to correct their master.
“You should always prepare for the worst. Only then can you deal with everything with humility.”
“…Should I just get married there?”
Alicia, who had been speaking in a grumbling tone with her lips sticking out, began to laugh empty-handedly, as if it was funny even after hearing what she had said.
“It’s a ridiculous story.”
“……That’s right.”
Sigmund, Count Gaidar, sent Alicia a letter asking her if she would marry his eldest son.
The Gaidar family was one of the most famous families in recent times, and above all, it was on the border with Deermar, so it was a proposal worth considering at least once from Alicia’s point of view.
However, the problem was that there was no sign of respect for the Hainal family in the letter.
If Sigmund truly wanted Gaidar and Hainal to unite, he would not have sent a marriage proposal that felt like a notice like this.
The sweet words written in the letter were sweet, but they did not actually promise the future of Hainal, and the unstoppable war that Count Sigmund had waged so far was a good example of his greedy nature.
In other words, the proposal sent by Count Sigmund was like poison that should not be drunk.
“There are only thieves around.”
“……Alicia.”
Alicia knew better.
Bayezid is also not treating them with simple favor.
There was no such thing as an unconditional ally for the powerless.
“If only we had time, we would have a chance to stand up for ourselves.”
Hearing the words of Duncan, who was trying to give him some strength, Hainal, the only one who had been lying helplessly on the desk, adjusted his posture.
“is it so. “You have to try until you try.”
There was no shame in curling up when you had no strength.
If you don’t have something in hand right now, you’ll have to borrow it somehow, and Alicia was willing to pay the full price.
“But is it this difficult to ask to borrow a squire who is not even a knight?”
However, the boy she had requested from Bayezid still had no contact and was not even seen.
“…He’s just one squire.”
He was not just an ordinary boy.
The boy who protected Hainal’s honor in the duel that day.
And he was the boy who wiped his parents’ tombstones with both hands, holding his handkerchief.
“Alicia. “It is said that people from the Gaidar family have now arrived at the territory.”
When everyone around her was revealing their dark intentions about the territory called Deirmar, there was only one person who could help Alicia out of pure duty.
“all right.”
And Alicia was still waiting for the boy.
※※※※
There were men entering the entrance of Deremar.
The men, who numbered roughly ten, were all well-armed knights.
“It’s a rural area.”
The man standing at the front of the group looked around with wide eyes and opened his mouth.
“And it’s so quiet.”
Ungroomed, dark eyebrows, broad shoulders.
And even though he is smiling, he looks belligerent.
The young man, who was flowing proudly without any composure, was frowning as if he was not surprised by the spirit that caught his eye.
“Dermar is like this. “It is a territory based on diplomacy rather than war and agriculture rather than commerce and industry.”
“It means it’s not fun.”
The man with a lumpy body was scratching his head as if he had lost interest in the explanation about Deirmar coming from next to him.
“I just need to stay still. Godin?”
“You should say hello.”
“All I have to do is say hello, right?”
“Pretend you’re interested and talk about various things.”
“Use it.”
Stephen, the eldest son of the Gaidar family.
He was a person who had no hesitation in doing what he wanted to do, and was also a person born with a natural ability to refuse to do what he did not want to do.
“I don’t want to do that kind of troublesome work.”
The knights behind him naturally became nervous at the sudden fierceness of Stephen, who seemed to be getting heated just by the thought of being annoying.
“You must fulfill your duty to the blood you were born with.”
However, Godin, who was bearing the brunt of the force, simply smiled leisurely.
A knight who always hides a sharp sword behind a smiling face.
That’s why he’s the kind of man you can’t smile at face to face.
“……I get it.”
Seeing Godin unwavering in his own strength, Stephen could only sigh as if there was nothing he could do.
The fact that he sent Godin, who was his right-hand man, also meant that his father was taking this matter seriously.
“They said you have a beautiful appearance.”
Godin knew well that Stephen was a man who could not be appeased only by suppressing him.
“It is said that there is no noblewoman in this area that can compare to her.”
“……okay?”
A Western blooded person who is honest about her desires and doesn’t hesitate to do what she wants.
Stephen, who inherited Sigmund’s temperament, nodded as if he understood the carrot that Godin had openly bitten into.
“I feel a little motivated.”
It was a boring and unpleasant mission, but I was glad that there was at least one thing that interested me.
At the end of Stephen’s field of vision, knights carrying the flag of the Hainal family were running.
※※※※
“Ohh.”
The first thing Stephen said as he looked at the aquatic-haired woman sitting above him was an exclamation.
“I knew about it because I heard rumors, but rumors were just rumors. “There is a beauty before me now that cannot be contained in mere words.”
“…….”
Despite his rugged appearance, Stephen was quite sophisticated and spoke well, but Alicia was already feeling uncomfortable with him.
This is because Stephen’s attitude towards the owner of a fiefdom was too light.
“nice to see you. Lady. “I am Stephen of the Gaidar family.”
“……welcome. “Stvan of Gaidar.”
Stephen dared to call Alicia by the mere title of Lady, even though she had the official title of Baron.
Duncan, who was standing next to her, put pressure on Istvan with a sharp force, but Istvan, who was actually the person involved, just laughed it off.
“You worked hard to come a long way. “It would have been better if you had given me a message ahead of time.”
They were people who could not be pressured with momentum in the first place.
However, Alicia Hainal is the proper owner of Deremar.
As a master, the owner had a duty to honor himself.
“Wouldn’t it have been necessary to coordinate this marriage proposal in advance? “I think it was a bit hasty to come here so suddenly.”
Her hair was the color of water, but the color of the words flowing from the tip of her tongue was icy blue.
Alicia succeeded in wearing the colors of nobility, at least on the outside.
“I’m a little disappointed with the attitude Gaidar showed me.”
As Alicia said, sending a letter would naturally not establish a marriage or engagement between nobles.
However, Gaidar had already sent the person involved, Stephen, to Deirmar without even listening to Alicia’s intentions, so no matter how kindly he viewed this, it could only be disrespectful to Alicia.
“Our Count said that there will be relationships that begin through meeting.”
“Are you saying that a meeting between noble families would proceed so hastily?”
Duncan, who was offended by Godin’s sly words, felt like swearing at him.
To the old knight, his lord Alicia was someone he cherished, no less than his own daughter.
“Don’t be like that. “If the Count cared so much for Alicia, he would have sent his son directly to avoid losing her to someone else.”
However, you should not get angry carelessly.
It must have been an intentional act for them to come in so recklessly, and that intention would have been to gain their own justification.
“We apologize for any degree of disregard for etiquette and procedure. However, Stephen here is the eldest son and successor of the Gaidar family. “He is someone who can already perform procedures that are not customary just by existing.”
As Godin said, sending the family’s eldest son to this event also meant that Count Sigmund gave it great meaning.
If Alicia treated him carelessly here, it would be no different from a public criticism of the Gaidar family.
“Don’t be so angry. “We are the ones who bring good news.”
Seeing Stephen’s sly smile, Alicia grabbed her skirt tightly.
Uninvited guests who came with a difficult and difficult reason to propose marriage.
Alicia tried her best to be patient as she saw the men who clearly had what they were aiming for and were very unpleasant in what they wanted to do.
“We welcome your visit. For now, let’s rest at the provided shelter….”
“Rather than resting, I would like to have a close chat with Alicia first.”
Pioneers are unstoppable.
If there is something you want, you say you want it without hesitation.
“I would like to say hello to my parents first, but the situation is not conducive.”
And in order to have it, you don’t choose any means or methods.
Alicia’s aquamarine eyes were causing huge ripples as she looked at Stephen, who was even talking about his now dead parents.
“How dare you…”
Patience is a precious virtue for everyone, but it is also a good thing.
If you only persevere even after crossing the line, it is only an act of humbling yourself.
“Where am I…” The one
and only Hainal, the monarch of Deermar.
She stood up to vent her anger at the insult she should not have endured.
“Bayezid’s knights have arrived!”
Just as Alicia was about to lose her balance, which she had managed to maintain with patience, the butler came across the lobby, shouting loudly.
From the employer’s point of view, it was no different from tying the master’s mouth shut, but the butler was already allowed to do this and had to do it.
“You have just arrived at the mansion.”
The butler had a pale complexion and was breaking into a cold sweat due to the sharp force of the knights firing from behind, but he was trying his best to do his job.
“Come on in!”
Duncan’s preparations were successful, and the poor butler did his best to complete his task.
With Duncan’s urgent cry, Deremar’s lobby opened by itself.
There were men visible through the slowly opening door.
A furry cloak unique to the North.
The knights of the North exude a sharp and cold aura just like where they came from.
“long time no see. “Baron Hainal.”
And the one-eyed knight standing in front of them and bowing his head politely.
“The knights of Bayezid meet the master of Deirmar.”
Unlike the western knights, the northern knights treated Deirmar’s master with courtesy.
“…….”
Alicia looked at the boy who made eye contact with her without bowing his head.
The blue eyes were looking at Alicia with the same unwavering gaze as before.
When she gave up everything, she was the boy who entered the battlefield alone carrying her honor.
“Forgive me for being late.”
The boy standing in front of the lobby with a slightly different qualification than the knights here belatedly bowed his head and said hello.
“I have arrived here now to answer your call. Lady Alicia.”
Stephen has no right to call Alicia a lady.
But the boy who now entered the lobby had the right to call her Lady.
Because he was the only one she allowed.
“Welcome, knights of Bayezid.”
With Alicia’s nod, the lobby door was closing.
Now everyone who needs to enter is here.
Those who came for a cause and those who came with a cause in their hands were looking at each other.
