Chapter 16
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 16. The Visitor
The night of the North is noisy.
The noise of the banquet faintly echoes from outside the window.
Laughter. Songs. The sound of someone breaking a barrel. Someone must have lost at arm wrestling again.
I returned to the guest room leaving that noisy disturbance behind.
Ssssss─
Black aura flows backward.
The black armor covering my entire body dispersed like a haze, seeping into my body and disappearing.
The Black Knight's armor is not actual metal but a materialization of aura. Therefore, it is closer to 'withdrawing' than 'taking off'.
This was the reason it wasn't uncomfortable even if I wore the armor all day long.
A strange thought crossed my mind for a moment.
What if this was real metal armor? A steel can vibrating with the smell of sweat from not washing for days?
……Just imagining it is terrible.
In that sense, this aura armor is a blessing.
To think there would be something to be grateful for in the setting of being a kin of the Evil God.
"……Huu."
Let's organize the situation.
A lot happened today.
Axe Festival finals. Pulling out Ulfric's teeth. Lucia being acclaimed as the temporary leader.
And……
'How do you intend to proceed with the wedding with the Great Warrior?'
That single remark from the elder didn't leave my mind.
Wedding. Marriage. Ceremony.
Who?
……Me and Lucia?
Thump thump.
Why is my heart doing this. Is it broken.
I am a rational modern person. An intellectual who graduated from university. Although a humanities major.
Naturally, I absolutely, not even a bit, not even a speck, agree with such a barbaric custom.
Because a relationship obtained by force is not true romance.
'It is common for all of Grombalt's daughters to marry the Great Warrior.'
The elder's voice replayed again.
A strong warrior takes multiple wives? That is the providence of Mother Nature?
All, he said.
Then Lucia and Freya…… simultaneously…?
No no no.
……I'm not interested.
Really not interested, I tell you.
Such impure imagination is ungentlemanly.
It deviates from the essence of romance I pursue.
I aim for pure love. I believe in the value of platonic love. The last romanticist of this era.
That is the Black Knight, my identity.
Anyway, what is important is Lucia's heart.
Tradition, custom, whatever, it is meaningless if she doesn't want it.
I will wait like a gentleman until she opens her heart voluntarily.
It was then.
Knock knock.
Knocking sound.
"……?"
At this hour?
The banquet should still be in full swing. Who came to visit me?
Don't tell me Brynjolf came with alcohol again.
I think we already emptied ten barrels at the banquet earlier.
Or Freya asking for a revenge match?
A development where I said 'Come back in 10 years' and she says 'Let's fight right now'?
Since Northerners seem to not know the concept of waiting very well.
"Come in."
Creak.
The door opened.
And.
I saw blonde hair.
Lucia Von Astellia.
She was standing in front of the door.
Instead of the traditional dress she wore at the banquet, thin silk pajamas.
A thin gown worn over it.
She must have bathed. Her blonde hair was slightly wet. Moisture-laden hair clings to her neck.
Moved my gaze to her face.
Pale cheeks. Anxiously shaking pupils. Tightly closed lips.
……Huh?
This is somewhat strange?
Middle of the night.
A man's room. Thin pajamas. Wet hair. Trembling shoulders.
The conclusion derived from combining these elements is──
'……What is it?'
Is it a forced event that occurs automatically when a flag is triggered in a romance game?
My heart started pounding again.
'Calm down.'
Nothing is confirmed yet.
I opened my mouth pretending to be as calm as possible.
"What is the matter?"
"Uh……?"
Lucia blinked.
"Wh-Who are you……?"
Ah, right.
It’s the first time I showed my appearance without armor.
I slowly turned my head.
Our eyes met.
For a moment, a strange tension struck.
'……What would she think?'
I was curious.
Is my face her type?
What if she's disappointed?
……It bothers me.
First, I should loosen the atmosphere.
Lightly. Humorously. Making the tense girl laugh.
'It’s me, me. Black Knight.'
"Seems you are in heat."
"……?"
"Visiting a man's room in the middle of the night. Your ass is light for a Princess."
"……!?"
Ah.
Again.
'Light joke' transformed into 'heavy sexual harassment'.
Lucia's face flushed bright red.
She took a deep breath for a moment, then opened her mouth slowly.
"E-Excuse me…… F-For all this time…… giving help…… thank… you……"
Every word was cut off.
"Today… what the elder said… I mean… wedding… that is… so…."
As expected, she was concerned about it.
Well, naturally. Being told to marry a Black Knight whose identity she doesn't even know suddenly, how absurd it must have been as a Princess.
I tried to open my mouth to reassure her.
'Do not mind it. It is an old man's nonsense', like that.
But Lucia was faster.
"I… know. I know."
Lucia looked up at me.
Moist eyes.
Trembling lips.
"I came to pay… the price."
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump thump thump.
Calm down. My heart.
Do not decipher romance arbitrarily.
……Wait.
Something brushed my mind.
'Pay with your body.''Become mine.''I'll make you a dog.'
Threatening remarks I have piled up so far.
And even the wedding remark that exploded today.
……Ah.
I can imagine how it was interpreted in her brain.
'This monster wants me. Someday he will demand a price.''And today, he officially obtained that right.''Since running away is useless. Offering it obediently is the wise choice.'
No. Absolutely not.
Submission by fear is not love.
It’s just a crime!
Shiver shiver.
Lucia is trembling like a rabbit that turned itself into a tiger's den right now.
I have to resolve the misunderstanding.
Right now.
I approached her.
One step.
"Hiek!"
She flinched and stepped back.
But there was already a wall behind her back.
A rabbit cornered in a dead end.
No place to run.
"I, I mean! Th-This is the first time so that……"
Tears welled up in her emerald eyes.
Too pitiful.
I realized how great a fear I had planted in her.
Right, let’s be calm.
Now is the time to pierce through the system's interference and convey sincerity.
Inhaled deeply, and spoke with the softest voice possible.
'It is a misunderstanding, Your Highness. I did not help you expecting a price.'
"No need to rush."
Great! Right! This is it!
'Do not worry. I will make you the Emperor. That is my goal. Seeing your smile is enough. I do not wish for more than that.'
"Still unripe. Reeks of greenness."
……Huh?
"Chewing on unripe fruit only gives a bitter taste."
Ah.
Ahhhhh.
My mouth. Please. Why. Why again.
What is 'unripe fruit' now! What kind of perverted line is that!
Lucia's face turned white like a sheet of paper. Beyond white, it is transparent. On the verge of becoming a ghost altogether.
'No. My words do not mean that. I respect you. I have not a speck of intention to ignore your will.'
This time for sure, a proper explanation!
"You cannot run away anyway."
"Hiek!"
"I will wait until enough honey flows."
What is 'honey' now, you crazy bastard!
Hiek!
I screamed in my heart too.
The woman reflected in the mirror was red.
Cheeks are red. Is it because of alcohol?
Probably because of alcohol. Let's say it’s because of alcohol.
That is good for mental health.
Lucia Von Astellia sighed.
The banquet is over.
Northern warriors might still be rolling in the debris of the festival like muddy slush, but at least Lucia's banquet is over.
……It should have ended.
But it didn't end.
'How do you intend to proceed with the wedding with the Great Warrior?'
That single remark from the elder still hovered in her ears.
Wedding. Marriage. Consummation.
……Consummation?
Lucia met eyes with herself in the mirror.
Eyes too miserable to call a Princess's eyes.
'……You know.'
I know.
The absurd remarks the Black Knight spat out so far came to mind.
'Pay with your body.''Become mine.''It is useless to run away.'
I knew from the beginning.
That that monster wants me.
That someday he would demand a price.
The price for saving my life, bringing me to the territory, and letting me get the Leader's seat cannot be cheap.
There is no free lunch.
There is even less of a free dinner.
If there is, it’s either a fairy in a fairy tale, or a madman whose head is wrong.
And since that man was too big, black, and heavy to be a fairy, there is only one remaining correct answer.
Madman.
A monster blinded by desire.
And the object of that monster's desire is──
'……It is better to go first than to wait.'
Lucia concluded.
Even at this moment, the Black Knight might suddenly kick the door open and enter.
Flashing red glint in the dark. Clattering black armor. Demanding 'Hand over the price'.
'Hiek!'
Just imagining it sent chills down her spine.
Right, facing fear is better than waiting fear.
Since I can at least decide the timing.
I must hold onto at least that shabby initiative.
The last pride remaining to a Princess.
"Anyway…… I was prepared for it."
She said prepared, but honestly, it was closer to resignation.
A Princess's body is a tool for politics.
Although looking noble, in reality, merely a product sold at the highest price.
Political marriage. Proof of alliance. Collateral for a peace treaty.
Lucia knew since she was very young.
That her fate would be decided on someone's bed.
Fate to marry a man whose face she doesn't even know someday, bear children, and end her life in a nameless land.
A Princess is such an existence.
Hostage wrapped in silk. prisoner plated in gold. Slave decorated with jewels.
So honestly, this situation wasn't much different.
Since it was a body to be sold anyway.
Since it was a fate to become someone's possession anyway.
Just that that 'someone' became a black monster whose face she knows, not an old royal whose face she doesn't know.
……No, wait.
Lucia suddenly realized.
She said 'whose face she knows'.
But has she ever actually seen that man's face?
Helmet.
That man was always wearing a helmet.
When they first met. When walking the snowfield together. When arriving at the Northern Grand Duke's house. When fighting at the Axe Festival.
He never took off his helmet even once.
Red glint leaking through the helmet slit.
Low voice echoing beyond the lump of iron.
That is all.
'……What is inside the armor?'
Suddenly curious.
What kind of face is hiding inside the helmet on earth.
Skeleton?
Undead with rotting flesh? Demon with horns? Scar distorted by burns?
Or something truly not human?
'……No. Whatever it is.'
Lucia shook her head.
Nothing changes anyway.
Whether skeleton, demon, or tentacles.
Because what is important is paying the price.