The Leech's Expulsion and a Knight's Eternal Loyalty

The words left my mouth dry and arrogant.

“How many times have I given you money for that theater over the years? About twenty?”

“What are you talking about? Including this one, it’s only the fifth time. We agreed to buy the large theater in Fron for 2,500 gold, remember? I become the theater owner, and you, Chloe, become my wife.”

Ray’s voice was thick with frustration, as if he couldn’t believe he had to explain it.

“So if I give you just 300 gold this time, you can buy the theater?”

“Exactly. Just one more time and that theater becomes mine—ours. So… please?”

When I pretended not to remember, Ray clicked his tongue in annoyance. Then, as if flipping a switch, his tone melted into something sickly sweet, the kind of voice that could thaw an icicle. The longing gaze was extra.

Kneeling in front of my wheelchair, meeting my eyes tenderly while placing a bouquet on my lap—it would have looked incredibly romantic even if I imagined it myself.

Ray watched me staring blankly at the flowers he’d given me and smiled with satisfaction. His strategy of giving gifts only occasionally instead of every meeting had been a stroke of genius. Even when he offered them as rarely as beans during a drought, I used to tear up with gratitude.

Just goes to show, it’s all in how you tame them.

Still wearing that pleased smile, Ray suddenly found the bouquet flying straight into his face. His head snapped sideways with a loud smack. He hadn’t even had time to dodge.

Ray blinked rapidly, still trying to process what had happened, then clutched his cheek where a twig had scratched him. It stung sharply.

“C-Chloe. What did you just do?”

When he touched the sore spot, a bead of blood rose like dew on his fingertip. His eyes widened to the size of plums at the sight. But that tiny scratch was nothing compared to the storm of abuse that followed.

“Would you look at this son of a bitch—Siberian husky’s duodenal hookworm clinging to its fur. In all my life, I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as you, strutting around with nothing but a pretty face and an empty head. Thanks to my heavenly mercy I didn’t kick you out in nothing but your underwear on a freezing day. I even let you sleep one night in the stable and let the horses’ amylase smear all over your face. You should’ve come to your senses and stayed gone. What? The theater? Pay one more time? You’re basically asking me to dig your own grave on the theater grounds. I ought to rip every hair off your head and shove it straight up your ass.”

The words poured out of me like a runaway locomotive, without a single breath. Ray’s eyes grew wider and wider.

“C-Chloe… how can you say such things…”

It wasn’t just Ray who was shocked. Delma, Anna, and the guards standing nearby all stared with their mouths hanging open.

“Throw this bastard out immediately! And find whoever let him in and kick them out of the castle too!”

I shouted, still not satisfied.

“Yes! Lord, we will carry out your command!”

The knights, who had been momentarily stunned by their lord’s fierce order, answered with perfect military discipline. To them, I was no longer the weak, clueless lord from before. I was the hero who had charged into a monster-infested forest to save them, the sovereign to whom they would pledge lifelong loyalty.

“Chloe. I truly love you so much. I can’t live without you. Please, Chloe, just listen to me!”

“Shut your mouth before I find a sewing needle and stitch it shut with an obrok.”

He didn’t know what a sewing needle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or an obrok was, but the terrifying look on my face told him it was clearly some kind of monster. Overcome with fear and sorrow, Ray’s beautiful eyes spilled fat tears like chicken droppings.

The old Chloe would have felt her heart break at those tears, but to me right now they were nothing but chicken droppings.

A short while later, Ray’s voice echoed pathetically through the garden of Grace Castle as a knight dragged him away.

“Um… My Lord.”

I was smiling in satisfaction as I watched Ray flailing his legs, when Delma’s hesitant voice reached me.

“Yes?”

“Just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠where did you learn such language? The part about pulling out hair and shoving it into… the anus.”

“Ahem!”

Delma’s face had gone pale as she spoke. From the side came the sound of Anna failing to hold back her laughter, snorting quietly. Delma shot her a stern look before continuing.

“And who is Amyla that you would smear it all over—”

“Hkkk!”

Anna now had both hands clamped over her mouth, her body shaking. The words were hardly fitting for a noble, but no matter how you thought about it, they felt incredibly refreshing.

Delma lowered herself in front of me as I pretended to admire the scenery and spoke with a face full of concern.

“Please promise me you will never say such things again.”

“What things?”

I asked with an innocent expression, as if I had no idea what she meant.

“That… obrok! Hehehe.”

Delma tried to repeat the earlier phrase but finally lost control of her expression and burst out laughing. A playful smile spread across my own lips.

That evening, a welcome visitor came to see me.

It was Red Bear, who had been helping with reconstruction in Morta Village ever since his injuries allowed him to move. He kept his head bowed before me, saying he had no face to show after failing to protect his lord properly.

“Now that you have awakened, My Lord, I wish to step down from my unworthy position as Commander of the Grace Knights.”

Hearing the gloom in Red Bear’s voice, I could easily imagine how much he had suffered.

He still hadn’t removed the bandages wrapped around various parts of his body. I examined the ones around his side carefully, but with his armor on I couldn’t tell how well the wound had healed.

“Red Bear.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Were you sad that you couldn’t protect me?”

“…”

Red Bear’s head dipped even lower. He had always looked strong and fearless, yet today he seemed so pitiful. I wanted to walk over, hug him, and pat his shoulder, but my own body was still in no condition for that.

At least I could move around thanks to the wheelchair Builder had made. I felt newly grateful to him. I should give him a gift later.

“I was sad that I couldn’t protect my people. Does that mean I should resign as lord too?”

“That’s—!”

“We did our best. You got a hole in your side, and I nearly had my head smashed to pieces. Let’s be miserable only until our bodies recover. After that, let’s work hard again for the people who are still alive. So don’t even dream about it. Where do you think you’re going, running away like a coward by yourself?”

“…My Lord.”

“Yes.”

Red Bear finally lifted his head. His face was terribly swollen—from pain, from lack of sleep, from the torment of guilt.

Suddenly he knelt on one unsteady knee and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drove his longsword into the ground.

“Red Bear Brandel swears to devote his loyalty solely to Lord Chloe Grace until the day his life ends.”

It was an abrupt oath of allegiance.

I stared at him blankly, unsure how to respond, then rose from the wheelchair. Delma moved to support me in alarm, but somehow I felt I had to stand on my own right now. Pain shot through my legs and waist, but I endured it, limping over to Red Bear.

“Red Bear.”

My throat tightened with an emotion I had never felt before, but I called the name of the knight kneeling before me slowly and clearly.

“Yes, My Lord.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to answer at a time like this. But I can promise you this one thing. I will protect you too. So if you ever get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too scared during a fight, hide behind me.”

Having lived his entire life as a knight, Red Bear had never heard a lord answer a loyalty oath this way. He looked up at me. Right before his eyes, his lord was gazing at him with deep brown eyes that sparkled.

A small, fragile girl no bigger than a handful was smiling beautifully and promising to protect him.

“Yes, My Lord.”

Red Bear looked up at his lord with reverence and smiled warmly.

Lying down all the time and then meeting people had left me extremely tired. I had gone to bed intending to sleep, but instead I opened my status window for the first time in a while. Until now I had been too busy recovering to think about anything else. Each day had been exhausting—just taking medicine, sleeping, and receiving treatment.

The moment I thought about opening the status window, a familiar blue screen appeared before my eyes as if it had been waiting.

Several things had changed.

It was only natural that my physical level had dropped after suffering such serious injuries.

The silver lining was that it would return to normal once my wounds healed.

A new trait had appeared: Great Leader (Beginner). It was probably because I had rushed to Morta Village carrying a slingshot.

The negative value in territory residents’ favorability had completely disappeared, replaced by 20,000 points.

In contrast, my MP had plummeted from 1,235 to a pitiful number.

“What exactly is MP?”

It suddenly occurred to me that my MP dropped every time I was in pain.

And after it dropped, my physical condition improved dramatically.

“Is it like an emergency medicine?”

I wanted to ask the status window, but since it was related to MP, I doubted it would answer.

As I pondered, I recalled the moment I had been attacked by the Cullen and was falling. A dazzling light had appeared, along with Tae-chang.

Even as he saved me, he had worn an extremely annoyed expression. In the final moment, when he saw his own body growing faint, he had looked deeply bewildered.

“It happens regardless of his own will…”

I stared hard at the MP value again.

“One hundred twenty, and eighty-six thousand four hundred. There must be some secret behind that eighty-six thousand four hundred… Wait. Could this be… one day’s worth of time?”