Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Secret Vacation (3)
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“Grrrh—delicious.”
I grimaced at the taste of Mago’s beer, which I was having after a long time.
Somehow, my tolerance had increased without me realizing it, as I drained half the hefty mug in one go.
“Hey, has your drinking gone up? You used to whine after just one beer.”
Cain, my old cadet-days buddy sitting across from me, looked puzzled.
“Practice makes perfect.”
I let out a deep sigh as I replied, and he gave me a sympathetic look.
“Well, yeah, now that you’re a noble, you probably have a lot more occasions to drink.”
Cain had heard the news that his old comrade had become a baron, and he looked envious.
After all, he was just a local defense knight in the Cornell region, my hometown.
“Still, I’m jealous—”
“Hey, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a title. Unless you’re from some ancient prestigious house, other nobles won’t even treat you like one.”
I waved it off, trying to downplay it.
My long-lost friend chuckled and slapped my shoulder.
“Still cool, though, Baron Veil. Looks like the birth of House Mikhail?”
“What house...”
I snickered at his sly remark.
As expected of the ace from our cadet command team.
Maybe my own smooth talk came from him.
“So, you’re not gonna start one? Nobles marry into alliances to build power. You’ll need to do that if you wanna stand on your own.”
“Someone might think you’re the noble here.”
I smirked flatly, and Cain thumped his chest confidently.
“Trust the words of a man about to get married.”
Marriage.
Come to think of it, I’d heard he’d gotten engaged recently.
“Oh, right. You’re getting married?”
“Yeah, wedding at the cathedral this winter.”
I looked at him fondly.
In my past life, he’d pushed the fight with Richard and ended up crippled.
But in this life, here he was, a healthy knight becoming a family man.
It felt admirable, yet strangely bittersweet.
“How’d you pull it off? I figured you’d chicken out.”
I grinned as I asked, and Cain slapped his palm over his mouth to make a duck beak.
Then he quacked smugly.
“I’ve got one killer smile.”
His fiancée was the second daughter of a knightly baronet family.
Even in my hometown, they had a solid reputation, so it put my mind at ease.
“You’ve really made it. I was always worried about you.”
“All thanks to you.”
Cain dropped the playful hand and looked at me seriously.
“If I’d gone off with Richard back then, I never would’ve met the woman who’s now my wife.”
Images flashed: the sturdy Cain now, and the defeated, broken one from before.
“Thanks, Veil.”
The guy who’d sobbed while clutching his shattered arm.
In this life, he’d become a strong man responsible for not just his sister, but his wife too.
“No need for thanks. I just stole your chance to advance for my own gain.”
I grumbled at him.
The now-mature guy on the verge of marriage just curved his lips into a grin.
“You little punk, can’t even say it nice...”
The heartwarming exchange made the mood awkward for a moment.
Cain broke the tension by continuing slowly.
“So. At all those parties you’ve been hitting to build up that tolerance, did you meet anyone you like?”
I shook my head firmly at his question.
There were women around, sure, but none at a level where I could dream of marriage.
“Hah, who knows. Who am I to even think of marriage?”
Seeing my skeptical look, the soon-to-be married man waved it off.
“Hey, you gotta do it young like me. Kids grow up fast, and then our retirement timelines line up perfect.”
He’d already planned his old age down to the details.
“Plus, marrying into nobility means your kids start with better blood. Raise ’em right, and you’ll reap the rewards.”
“As if the nobles would even meet me.”
As I’d said before, I wasn’t ready to truly love anyone yet.
A deep-seated terror lingered in my mind, beyond mere physical pleasure.
That entity was probably the world’s strongest doting dad emperor.
And the futile death of the person I’d guarded my whole previous life.
“But there was that commoner knight who married a princess.”
Cain saw right through my thoughts.
He shared a meaningful old tale with me.
“Isn’t that just a legend?”
“Nah, real story from a hundred years ago.”
My cadet buddy’s brown eyes sparkled.
True to his note-taking ace rep, he launched into storyteller mode.
“There was this knight who earned merits on the battlefield, and he saved a princess from an assassination attempt.”
I nodded at the cliché novel plot.
Then Cain lowered his voice.
“After that, the princess kept proposing to him, but the knight kept refusing out of fear of public opinion.”
Yeah.
How could a commoner dare court royalty?
“Smart guy.”
I nodded, arms crossed by myself.
“Right? He was like, how could I take a princess? Too scared. But he eventually accepted.”
“Suddenly?”
I furrowed my brow.
My fox-like narrow eyes narrowed too.
“The truth is...”
Cain glanced cautiously around the Owl House tavern.
Then he whispered in my ear.
“The princess couldn’t hold back her desires and kidnapped the knight.”
“K-Kidnapped...?”
My sharp eyes flashed, and the excited storyteller nodded.
“She couldn’t just say she wanted to marry him outright—His Majesty would refuse for sure. So she got clever.”
“How?”
An uneasy feeling washed over me, and I swallowed hard.
“She took the kidnapped knight to some remote outskirts like this place and locked him up. Then kept sharing his bed.”
“Sh-Sharing his bed...?”
I asked, face frozen in shock.
Cain replied with a solemn look, insisting it was real.
“Yeah, until her belly swelled.”
He took a swig of his beer, parched.
Then continued the tale slowly.
“Once she was pregnant, she showed her father proudly and demanded marriage. No choice for His Majesty then.”
“No way that’s true. Don’t lie...”
I scoffed in disbelief.
Cain just shook his head quietly.
“I thought so too at first. But the kid from the commoner knight and princess was born just four months after the wedding.”
Hearing that...
The faces of the princesses who’d aggressively pursued me sexually flashed in my mind.
“All part of the princesses’ strategy.”
“Terrifying...”
I muttered blankly, dazed.
Cain chuckled to lighten the mood.
“Hey, what’s scary about that? Bedding beautiful princesses. Way better than being a stone.”
I slowly shook my head at his words.
“You don’t get it... You’d know how scary if you experienced it.”
Cain stared at my drained face.
“Scared of beauties approaching?”
My buddy eyed me worriedly, my eyes unfocused.
Then he tilted his head, noting my improved physique.
“Weird guy. Never seen someone hate hot girls before.”
“It happens. Let’s just drink today...”
I gave a bitter smile and reached for the nearly empty plate.
But a pale, slender hand refilled the bread instead.
“Looks like some woman’s been bothering you, Veil.”
Long black straight hair, petite in a simple dress.
The witch-pale woman smirked as she added snacks.
“If you had worries like that, you should’ve asked me.”
Mago crossed her arms alone.
She shrugged, as if saying trust only her.
“Leave it to me. I’ll pick your partner myself.”
I glanced up at the Owl House owner, my old friend.
Buoyed by the buzz, I smirked.
“What makes you qualified—?”
“Because I’ve been your friend for fifteen years.”
My childhood friend looked down at me with a bold grin.
Her black eyes brimmed with smug confidence, like she knew everything about me.
“You’re too oblivious. Girls ask for anything, and you pretend to hate it but do it anyway.”
“No, I’m pretty firm.”
I protested, and Mago shook her head like a hissing cat.
“What do you mean no? Like that silver-haired duke’s daughter before...”
Mago hesitated mid-sentence, and Cain, sitting beside her, tilted his head.
“Duke’s daughter? You knew someone too?”
Cain showed interest, and the petite witch sighed deeply.
“Sigh... Never mind. I’ll get more snacks.”
Mago grumbled and headed back to the kitchen.
Deep inside, her face turned icy cold.
There, rough mercenaries chopped onions with axes.
“So, perimeter patrol done?”
“Yes, no outsider women entered the village today.”
In truth, she’d been patrolling the area since I arrived in Cornell.
She’d gotten secret reports from her mercenaries.
“Good. Keep reporting steadily while Veil’s here.”
“Got it. But some random woman coming to this backwater...”
The mercenary captain asked cautiously.
Then the witch’s black eyes flashed like a feral beast.
“Since when do you question my orders?”
Her eyes, meek as a cat in the tavern, sharpened like a wildcat in the dark.
“S-Sorry...”
The spooked men slipped out the back door.
Left alone in the kitchen, Mago’s face fell glum.
“...”
With no one around, she looked melancholic.
She started chopping carrots in lonely silence.
“Come anywhere near...”
Mago recalled the silver-haired duke’s daughter she’d met before.
Eyes as exquisite and mysterious as an elf from myth.
Unlike her, the girl shone just by existing—Mago chopped, thinking of her.
“I’ll smash you to bits...”
Muttering to herself...
She unconsciously channeled mana and cleaved the carrot in half.
「――――――」
While someone halved a carrot.
In the magic tower, Irina snapped the pen she held after hearing Leah’s words.
“That place...”
After the 1st Imperial Princess left, the remaining two princesses staggered out of the guest room.
They looked so stunned they forgot even Miya, who’d come with them.
‘What do we do...!’
Miya bit her lip at the princesses’ fierce expressions, terrifying like conquering lords.
“Sorry, Veil...”
Irina left the tower without a word and boarded her carriage alone.
True to her modest nature, the plain carriage sped away from the capital’s west side at frightening speed.
As if urgently searching for someone.
“She’s off.”
Lydia watched silently.
Then she snapped her fingers crisply.
「You called, Your Highness.」
From the empty shadows of the dark magic tower.
Someone appeared like magic from the gloom.
“Yes.”
Lydia, in her black cheongsam, glanced over her shoulder.
She summoned her assassination captain, who’d perfectly hidden his presence.
「Must be something very important to call me.」
Elites originally for intel wars with the crown prince.
They awaited the 3rd Imperial Princess’s orders with solemn faces.
“Indeed, Captain. Very important.”
The princess crossed her arms alone.
With cold eyes, she commanded him.
“The arrogant commoner big sister’s carriage ahead. Pursue it.”
「Understood.」
“Chase it and clearly find out who she meets.”
「As you command.」
The shadow operatives vanished into shadows with earth magic.
Then they stealthily tailed the carriage toward Norton.
Leaping between building roofs.
――――――.
But somehow, Irina’s carriage noticed.
It accelerated, speeding away faster.
The swift operatives chased the carriage hidden by tall cathedral roofs.
The moment they vaulted over—
“Oh no...”
Emerging onto the main road, they spotted dozens of carriages identical to Irina’s.
“She just had to use such a plain carriage...”
“The ordinary look even acts as camouflage.”
The carriages were stalled briefly for traffic.
But soon they’d scatter in all directions.
They’d lose the princess in no time.
“No choice. I authorize earth magic.”
“Isn’t it banned in the capital?”
Normally, strong earth magic was forbidden unless for official assassinations.
But the captain, obeying Lydia, proceeded solemnly.
“I’ve never seen Her Highness with such a displeased face. Looked ready to start a war, fierce as could be.”
“Indeed...”
Lydia was endlessly benevolent to her people usually.
Knowing this, the operatives swallowed hard.
“This must tie into the imperial succession—a major incident. We give our all.”
“Understood.”
The black-clad men clasped palms together.
Soon...
They focused their minds, forming eyes in the air.
――――――.
Mana-forged eyes in the void scanned the carriages one by one.
Soon...
“Found it.”
They relocated the 2nd Imperial Princess’s carriage with mystic arts.
“Let’s go.”
They pursued the restarting carriage.
From building roofs, they watched it stop before a quiet bank in Norton.
“...”
The carriage door opened.
Irina stepped out.
“She’s out.”
The operatives eyed her silhouette closely.
But the one descending from the 2nd Imperial Princess’s hard-won carriage...
“...!!”
Wasn’t Irina.
“Who’s that...”
It was Dasha, with the same silver hair.
Wearing leggings and shirt just like Irina’s on purpose.
A fellow assassin origin, she sensed Lydia’s operatives.
“...”
She glanced up at the building roofs and smiled.
As if she’d known they’d come.
Her relaxed expression twisted the proud Eastern operatives’ faces in unison.
「――――――」
While Lydia tailed Irina’s carriage.
Leah had long known Irina hadn’t boarded hers.
She’d gotten reports via messenger birds around the tower.
“Cute, Irina. Trying to dodge my eyes from the west side.”
Back in her office, Leah settled comfortably in her chair.
She focused mana in her eyes to monitor Irina through the birds’ vision.
“So, hailing a street carriage to avoid suspicion.”
Irina, wide-brimmed hat low, approached a street coachman discreetly.
She handed him two gold coins, begging to leave fast.
The overpaid carriage bolted toward the capital outskirts.
“Outskirts, huh. Indeed... darkest under the lamp.”
Entering the outskirts, the unpaved road jolted the carriage.
Pitiful to watch.
“Veil’s hometown must be some rural spot inland.”
Leah leisurely sipped tea, keeping mana in her eyes.
Her advanced skill let her share vision real-time with birds.
――――――.
The carriage carrying Irina stopped at a countryside farm.
Full of plump milk cows being milked.
“Milk cow farm...? Did that guy Veil even dip into dairy?”
Leah nodded at his outlandish business expansion.
But...
Her head froze abruptly.
“...!”
A woman alighted from the carriage.
She removed her wide-brimmed hat.
“Who...?”
Leah scowled so hard she spilled tea on her chest.
She watched intently as the woman removed her silver wig.
Blue bobbed hair emerged.
And a youthful face around eighteen.
The Irina disguise was none other than her own knight order’s top ace.
Shinshiya.
The girl pulled out paper Irina had left her.
And...
Bowed to Leah’s messenger birds first, apologizing.
“...”
The 1st Imperial Princess stared blankly.
Then, as Shinshiya unfurled the paper to the birds...
Her face contorted fully.
「Leah, the place you need to barge into.」
That’s what it said.
Pointing at the farm’s cows, mocking her—Irina’s doing.
Leah’s eyes twitched beneath.
“Ha, Irina...”
Her teacup shook, spilling onto her ample bosom.
Irritated, Leah brushed off her dress.