Chapter 103: The Grand Duke's Drive
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 103: The Grand Duke's Drive
Leon spoke, struggling to keep his nose from twitching with pride.
"Her Highness the Consort is quite fond of spicy food, so for this amount, adding one large ladleful should suit her palate perfectly."
The Grand Duke gave a slight nod of understanding.
"Should I... write down the recipe for you?"
At those words, the Grand Duke cleared his throat awkwardly and gave a small, curt reply. "If you wish."
Leon didn't know why on earth the Commander wanted the recipe, but he offered a polite, knowing smile. His liege, who had never once commented on the camp menu before, had finally shown a reaction.
With the determination to create the finest stew in the Empire—one that would surpass even his mother, Lady Marie—Leon stirred the pot with all his heart.
"Whoa, Leon! The stew is incredible today!"
"Just one more bowl! No, wait, can't you just brew another pot?"
The knights' reactions were explosive.
However, the Grand Duke, who had shown such interest in the cooking process, finished his tomato stew in silence and offered no further comment.
Maybe it wasn't as good as he expected?
Leon swallowed his disappointment as he ladled out more stew for the other knights.
*
Lying on his cot in the barracks, Loik swallowed a sense of emptiness.
Since Annette wasn't here, he thought eating the tomato stew she loved might make him feel better. Instead, it only made the reality of her absence feel more poignant.
I want to tell her that I think I’ve grown to like tomato stew, too.
After dinner, when he saw the men washing their hands in the stream and—every single one of them—wiping their hands with the handkerchiefs Annette had given them, he felt a surge of inexplicable irritation. How dare they use such precious things so carelessly and shamelessly?
He hadn't even used his own yet because he found it too precious to soil.
I wonder what Annette is doing right now.
Between the delegation and the shopping district, she had no shortage of things to worry about. Lately, even Whitley seemed to be subtly asking her to manage the castle's internal affairs. On top of that, she had to look after her stepmother and half-sister who had followed her from the capital. She was likely incredibly busy.
Still, it would be nice if she thought of him at least once before falling asleep.
He closed his eyes, trying to force himself to sleep, but his mind kept drifting back to her moist lips. The sweet scent that wafted from her every time he ran his fingers through her hair the night before he left was still vivid in his mind. When he imagined her small shoulders trembling every time their lips met, his arms felt unbearably empty.
If he had never known her, it might have been different, but now that he knew the happiness of being with Annette, being alone was too much to bear.
Outside, the knights were resting around the campfire. Bursts of chuckling and laughter broke out, likely over some funny story.
Loik looked back at the situation with cold objectivity.
If Annette leaves, I probably won't be able to survive.
Loik was different from the men outside. Of course, if Annette left Blenheim, they would all be deeply saddened. They would all feel the void she left behind, missing her and regretting her departure. But then, they would eventually return to their own lives.
But for Loik, there was only Annette.
If she left, Loik would truly have nothing left. He didn't have the confidence to live out the rest of his life alone with only the warmth of a single handkerchief to sustain him.
I have to break the curse, no matter what.
If he could just find a way to nullify the contract with the dragon, a path would open. Once his body was normal, he could hold onto Annette. He could tell her to forget about the one-year contract and just live as husband and wife.
And if she still said she was leaving...
I will never grant her a divorce.
He would beg her every night, weeping if he had to, not to leave. Even if he alone wasn't enough, if everyone in the Grand Duke's Castle clung to her, the soft-hearted Annette would never be able to abandon this place. And as long as she stayed, he would make her so happy that she wouldn't even think of looking elsewhere.
Once they were a real couple, he wouldn't need to find excuses to hold her anymore.
Perhaps we might even have a child who looks just like her...
Even in the darkness, Loik felt the tips of his ears grow hot. The image of a cute little girl who looked exactly like Annette running through the glass greenhouse made his heart feel like it was going to leap out of his chest. He told himself not to harbor such vain hopes, but he couldn't stop the branches of his imagination from spreading.
Resting the back of his hand against his forehead, he clenched his fist tight.
If only I could find the Dragon's Lair...
If he could at least confirm the dragon's existence, he might find a clue. Until now, the dragon had obsessively erased all traces of itself. Even after his father, the previous Grand Duke, passed away, Loik and the knights had spent nearly ten years scouring every mountain range in Blenheim, yet they hadn't found even the smallest hint of the dragon.
The only thing that could be called a lead was...
Was it that priest?
There had been a priest at a small temple in the Pogen Mountains who had returned from the capital. As a priest from the Grand Temple, he had spent a long time academically researching history and scriptures, and he was quite knowledgeable about dragons.
Loik had visited him personally a few times, but the priest was an exclusive sort, reluctant to carelessly release the knowledge of the Grand Temple into the secular world.
He definitely knew more, but he rarely opened his mouth.
But even that hope had nearly been abandoned when the man returned to the Goddess's embrace a few years ago. If he were to start tracking from there again...
I believe there was one junior priest left who used to attend to the old priest.
Come to think of it, the temple wasn't far from the campsite.
Loik bolted upright and stepped out of the barracks.
"Commander?"
The knights chatting by the campfire lowered their voices when they saw him.
"Our apologies. Were we too loud?"
"No, Norton."
Loik called for Norton, who was sharpening his sword off to the side. Norton quickly approached and stood before him.
"The fellow who used to attend to the old priest at Pogen Temple—is he still there?"
"You mean that junior priest from back then?"
Norton searched his memory for a moment before answering. "It's been a while since we lifted the surveillance, but we still have eyes in that area. If the priest had moved, a report would have come in."
"I need to bring that priest in."
"...To where, sir?"
"To the Grand Duke's Castle," Loik said in a dry voice. "How long will it take from here?"
"If we ride hard, about two hours."
"It's close, then. We leave now."
"What about the escort?"
"Just you and me. We have to be back by tomorrow morning anyway."
Norton packed his sword without a word. All sorts of questions flooded his mind—like how it made no sense to abduct a priest dispatched by the Grand Temple, or how a two-hour mountain ride in the middle of the night was by no means "close," or how he must have misheard the part about returning by morning—but he wisely swallowed his questions.
*
"Wow, the weather is beautiful!"
Summer in the North was much more pleasant than expected. Though the sun had grown quite hot, the breeze blowing under the shade of the trees was incredibly refreshing. It was a wind that blew down from the snow-capped northern mountain ranges.
Loik must be somewhere beyond those mountains, right?
She wondered if he was eating properly.
Just as she was lightly touching her forehead—which felt itchy where he had kissed her the day he left—Cecilia spoke up.
"It's been a while since we've had such a relaxing day," Cecilia said, sipping on cool apple juice.
Preparations for the delegation's visit were mostly finished, the printing for this month's recipes had been handed over, and the shopping district was running smoothly. Despite the peace, I pressed a finger to my lips.
"Shh. Don't say things like that."
"Why not?"
"Because whenever you say things like that, something busy is bound to happen."
Oops. Cecilia made a motion of zipping her lips shut.
Still, today isn't bad. Even the Marchioness is quiet.
The Marchioness was currently suffering from a late onset of travel fatigue. Though, seeing as she hadn't felt the need to postpone her boutique appointments, it seemed half of it was an exaggeration.
By the way, why is she here?
Janet was joining the tea time under the pretext of looking after Raphael. For the record, Raphael was more than old enough to drink tea on his own without anyone's help.
"Your Highness. There's something I'm curious about."
Right on cue, Janet spoke up. She was squirming in her seat like someone with an itch they couldn't scratch.
"Um... what kind of person is Sir Perel?"
"Why do you ask about Sir Perel?" Cecilia asked sharply from the side.
"Oh, I got lost in the castle the other day, and Sir Perel personally escorted me back to the annex," Janet said, her face flushing slightly. "As we talked, I found we had a lot in common... and he seemed like such a kind gentleman."
"Sir Perel is generally a kind person," I said dismissively.
"Is that so? He suggested we have tea together sometime soon."
"Sir Perel asked you to have tea?" Cecilia said, her eyes narrowing.
Janet bit her lip slightly, looking bashful. "Is Sir Perel... by any chance, married?"
Please tell me this isn't some pathetic plan to seduce Perel and squeeze information about the North out of him!