Let’s See
Stunned into stillness for a heartbeat, Regina quickly climbed down from the bed and knelt, bowing deeply.
"I greet the highest sword of the Empire."
As she lowered her head, a line surfaced in Regina’s mind.
[Black hair and blue eyes.]
When she had read that description, it had stirred her curiosity for no particular reason. Blue eyes like hers.
[Distinct features. A face so beautiful he could be mistaken for a woman at a glance, yet once he drew his sword, no one could stand against him—the knight among knights.]
She had assumed no knight could possibly be stronger than herself, no matter how formidable he was.
[He had reached the realm of the Sword Master, freely wielding Aura, and usually rode a white horse.]
And that white horse was named Douglas.
Regina nearly bit through her lip at the memory. She swallowed the reaction down and curled her trembling fingers into fists, hiding the unsteadiness of her hands.
Meanwhile, Conrad, studying her face, had felt a strange sense of familiarity since yesterday.
After stroking his chin for a moment, he ignored Limutan’s urgent call and asked, "Have we met somewhere before?"
Without question, she was a face he had seen somewhere. Not now—when he was younger.
Even then, with hair burning red just like this, he had thought she looked like a portrait of the founding emperor.
With that thought flickering through him all at once, Conrad found himself wanting to look at her more closely.
"The Madarin Barony is a minor family in the borderlands, so there would have been no chance for Her Majesty to meet the Emperor."
Even after Regina answered in that calm, composed voice, Conrad did not back down. Instead, he leaned forward and took hold of her chin.
His blue eyes raked over her with almost piercing force. Her fingertips tingled from the tension, and the fine hairs at the nape of her neck stood on end, but Regina could not move.
How much time passed like that?
"Well, a face with hair this red would be hard to forget."
His cold, mesmerizing blue eyes drew closer and closer until they were nearly right in front of her. Regina held her breath and focused every nerve on him.
Then, in the instant their bodies touched, something flowed into her.
Something cold and blue, like the color of his eyes, brushed through her in a fleeting instant.
The utterly foreign energy made her dizzy all at once.
Seeing Regina’s face go suddenly pale, Conrad paused.
He glanced over her thin body, wrapped in bandages, and one brow twitched. Then he released her and stepped back.
Hah.
As his face moved away, Regina let out a silent breath of relief.
"You know your blood keeps agitating the monsters in this area, don’t you?"
"I… do, and I’m sorry for it."
"You’ve already interfered with the extermination, so saying you’re sorry doesn’t exactly settle the matter."
"…"
There was nothing to be done about the fact that mage blood awakened monsters.
If I could just control mana properly, none of this would have happened...
Regina swallowed the frustration rising in her chest and lowered her head.
As though this was only natural, Conrad gave the order.
"You’ll cause no further interference. You are not to leave this place until the battle is over."
With that, Conrad turned and walked out without a backward glance.
Only after his footsteps had faded into the distance did Regina finally let the strength drain from her body. She slid to the floor and leaned against the bed.
Her limbs had gone so weak she couldn’t even stand.
Conrad strode out of the tent with no hesitation and crossed through the extermination force’s camp.
Limutan, following behind him, could hardly bring himself to speak in the face of Conrad’s grim expression.
"The Madarin Barony?"
Conrad gave a short, disbelieving laugh. At the murmur, Limutan stepped closer.
"Well, it may not be entirely unrelated. Limutan, investigate that barony."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Limutan hurried away at once, and Conrad watched his retreating figure for a moment before the corner of his mouth lifted.
"Let’s see. Whether you’re the woman from my memory or not."
Once something fell into his grasp, there would be no escaping it.
Conrad had been searching for one woman ever since.
Twenty years ago, when he had been eight and visited the Ferman Empire with the late emperor, it had happened.
The little girl who had vanished with a beautiful woman after taking care of the assassins who had ambushed them with magic.
I wonder if she remembers.
Would she still remember him, when she had been only six years old?
If that woman really was her, then what was he supposed to do?
Conrad’s fist tightened.
"Nothing’s decided yet."
After murmuring those words, Conrad turned and headed toward the knight order.
Life in the Fredericks tent was not bad.
Whenever the time came, the military doctor visited to check Regina’s wounds, and her body recovered steadily as well.
I need to escape this place and get to the Madarin Barony.
While she had been in the Monster Zone, survival had been her only goal. Now that she had made it out alive, a plan had begun to take shape in her mind.
She would go to the Madarin Barony, meet with the mages of the Ferman Empire she had planted there, and find a way to break the seal on her mana.
Once she set that goal, Regina felt far better, and she was even able to welcome the military doctor with a smile.
"You seem to be in a good mood today, Lady Madarin."
"It’s a nice day."
"Though I’d say the wind is rather strong for that."
Alan Ashula.
The second son of House Ashula, the viscount family of the Fredericks Empire, and the army’s military doctor.
Regina could neither welcome him nor dislike him. She had already realized that Conrad, the Emperor himself, had sent Alan to keep watch on her.
The corners of Regina’s mouth lifted faintly, but her voice was low.
"I went out for a moment, so I didn’t notice."
At her clumsy answer, Alan raised the medicine case in his hand and said, "Would you show me your wound?"
"It’s almost completely healed now."
Regina held out the arm that bore almost no trace of injury and waved off his concern.
"I’m glad to hear it has healed."
Conrad entered the tent without a sound and came to stand nearby.
When did he get here?
Even injured, how had she become this defenseless?
Cursing herself inwardly, Regina bowed to Conrad.
"I greet Your Majesty the Emperor."
"Enough."
Conrad added that she needn’t bow since she was still recovering, and Regina straightened her back. It was at least fortunate that she no longer had to kneel on the floor as she had at first.
The tent where Regina stayed had a small table and chairs. As if it were his own tent, Conrad claimed one of the chairs and sat down, then indicated the seat across from him.
"Why are you just standing there? Sit."
When Regina remained where she was, Conrad asked again, "Do I need to pull the chair out for you?"
"No, Your Majesty."
It was uncomfortable to sit opposite him and face him directly, but she had no choice.
Once Regina sat, Conrad’s aide came in after him, placed two teacups on the table, poured the tea, and then withdrew.
With only the two of them left inside the tent, a suffocating silence settled over the space. Unable to endure the awkwardness any longer, Regina lifted her cup toward her lips.
That was when Conrad spoke.
"After the magical barrier was raised in the Ferman Empire, monsters began pouring into the Fredericks Empire."
"Cough…!"
The cup, tilting in her hand, came to an abrupt stop. Regina felt as though her insides had dropped icy cold.
Conrad continued as if he had not noticed her reaction at all.
"There are so many monsters now that it’s hardly an incursion anymore. We’ve taken to calling it a monster wave."
Though he seemed to be speaking to himself, Regina’s stomach twisted unpleasantly.
"In the end, I had to come out here myself."
She had already known, since the moment she was taken prisoner here, that the Emperor of the Fredericks Empire had gone into the field personally. But hearing it directly was something else entirely.
Feeling a sharp, accusing weight of guilt pressing toward her, Regina lifted the cup again and swallowed the tea.
If she didn’t do that, she might blurt out that she was the one who had caused all this.
"At any rate, because of this incident, Lady Madarin was injured as well, and for that I do feel sorry."
"It’s nothing."
"Of course, you also said you don’t remember why you’re here."
"…"
She could hardly laugh, but neither could she show Conrad a blank expression while he watched her so intently.
Regina forced an awkward smile and touched the teacup.
She could not bring herself to say that she had been exiled beyond the magical barrier in the Ferman Empire.
Wait. If I was exiled, then that means…