Chapter 287
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Amid the Fireworks (5)
“Are you going to marry Irina first?”
As I hesitated for a moment before answering, Lydia asked in a curt tone.
Even she, who had always been so bold and brimming with confidence, seemed to be on guard against Irina—our connection from our past lives.
“…”
I paused, unsure of how to respond.
I had already shared beds with the princesses and accepted their feelings.
Marriage was inevitable at this point.
‘So, am I going to become a consort?’
What did consorts even do?
Having spent my entire life on the front lines and as a bodyguard knight, I had no clue.
Ideally, I’d just lounge in bed all day, then greet my wives warmly when they returned.
“You look lost in thought, so I suppose you’re troubled.”
Lydia stared at me intently, her face flushed red.
Even as she gently brushed back my tousled bangs, I remained dazed.
“Hehe… This hesitation alone is more than enough.”
Satisfied just by my wavering, the princess quickly regained her characteristic confidence.
“I’ve heard that marriage is the second war of life.”
Quoting something she’d learned from her mother, Vanessa, she declared it with gusto.
Her red eyes gleamed fiercely, like a little devil.
“Even if you win the first war, losing the final one renders it all meaningless.”
With that, Lydia lightly grasped the loose necktie of my dress shirt.
She shook it gently like a leash and whispered seductively.
“In the end, the one who completely conquers you becomes the true first wife, right?”
It was an ambition befitting the empire’s Third Imperial Princess.
She smiled slyly and let go of the necktie.
But perhaps because she was drunk…
“Ah…!!”
She accidentally knocked over the beer on the table.
I’d switched it out because she seemed to be drinking too much baijiu, but the yellowish beer now soaked her short skirt.
“To make such a rare mistake…”
Beer droplets fell onto the garter belt hugging her thigh.
The alcohol seeped into the gaps of her plump, compressed flesh.
“Please go to the restroom for a bit. I’ll wait.”
“Alright… But when you come back, you have to give me a proper answer. Who you’ll marry first—.”
I chuckled and said I understood.
Then, I watched fondly as Lydia headed to the restroom, trying her best to walk straight.
“Marriage, huh…”
Once she was gone, I murmured to myself without realizing it.
Afterward, I stared down at the beer glass in front of me and let out a deep sigh.
‘Maybe it’d be best to do it one by one, in order.’
But if I did that, His Imperial Majesty would probably burst out of the Heavenly Palace and hurl thunderbolts at me.
Now that he’d recovered more than when we first met, I couldn’t even gauge how strong he was.
In truth, my final life-or-death battle might be with him.
‘But doing all three at once…’
His Majesty would probably slice me fairly into three pieces to make it happen…
A chill ran down my spine, making me shudder.
That was when I sensed someone watching me from afar.
It was the presence of a pro, expertly surveilling their target.
I wiped the smile from my face and stared straight ahead rigidly.
Then, I spoke calmly to ‘her,’ the one spying on me.
“Have you eaten?”
In the bustling Eastern restaurant, I transmitted my voice.
There was only one swordmaster-level person who could respond to that.
“You knew?”
Noticing her presence had been detected, a woman with long black hair emerged from the restaurant’s dark shadows.
One eye covered by a bandage, dressed in a black uniform jacket over slacks.
“My animal instincts are just that sharp.”
I grinned slyly at Black Knight Captain Lynn, my eyes crinkling.
Seeing that, my peer approached slowly, muttering that I was incorrigible.
“Now I see why they call you the Fox.”
Her slacks highlighted the curves of her toned thighs, topped with a simple dress shirt.
Her casual outfit perfectly reflected her usual cool-headed focus on duty.
“Since you’re here, have something to eat. My treat, as thanks for your help today.”
“I’ve hardly ever eaten out, so…”
Lynn slowly scanned the surroundings, as if visiting a place like this for the first time.
She seemed instinctively on guard against the throng of customers.
That habit alone showed how grueling her life had been.
Of course, those experiences might be why she’d become such a seasoned swordmaster without needing regressions.
‘I’d love to pit her against that Southern Supreme Sword I fought a few weeks ago.’
“Noodles and dim sum…? Bring some more of what I had earlier.”
“Got it!!”
I ordered naturally and guided her to the seat beside Lydia’s.
Just a month ago in Rustium, we’d fought like mad.
But now, acting so friendly as if those memories were erased, Lynn blinked her single black eye in surprise.
That black pupil resembled a sparkling crow’s.
“Try it. It’ll warm you up inside. It’s our Western soup, kinda like pasta noodles.”
“…Thanks.”
Lynn tilted her head at the long noodles she’d never seen before, unsure how to eat them.
But crows were clever birds, weren’t they?
She picked up chopsticks from the holder and gripped them like daggers in both hands.
“Like I said earlier, thanks for today. You’re the only knight order near Rubinsk.”
“You saved my little brother, so of course I repaid the favor.”
Lynn awkwardly twirled the noodles with her chopsticks.
Then, like knitting, she scooped some up and took a bite.
Watching her instinctively lean forward as the noodles slipped from the chopsticks, I could tell she was human after all.
The first time I saw her, she’d felt like the incarnation of the battlefield returned.
Watching her like that sparked my curiosity.
From what I’d heard, she was 21 this year, like me.
As a fellow young peer, I wondered what she thought of marriage.
“Captain Lynn, have you ever been married?”
“Pfft…!!”
My sudden question made her choke and cough.
Even a seasoned swordmaster couldn’t handle hot broth, it seemed.
“We’re practically strangers in a private setting… That’s rude, Lord Veil.”
“Ah, you have. Sorry.”
Lynn shot me a cold glare and straightened up sternly.
But contrary to her icy, indifferent image, her voice rose a bit as she shouted.
“I haven’t!!”
Then, regretting her emotional outburst, she sighed deeply.
She continued in a calm voice.
“Black Knights hardly ever marry anyway.”
“Ah, what a foolish question…”
The Black Knights’ missions involved life hanging by a thread dozens of times.
Their fame was renowned, but family could become a weakness, so most chose not to marry voluntarily.
“Of course, I’ve heard it’s possible if you find a compatible partner.”
“That’s fortunate.”
I chuckled and popped a dim sum into my mouth.
Chewing, I added a serious question.
“If it were you, what would you think if your husband had multiple brides, including you?”
Lynn blinked her single black eye at my words.
Then, she rubbed the bandage over her other eye with a finger to adjust it.
“Well, it’s common, isn’t it? Most nobles have multiple husbands and wives.”
“So you wouldn’t mind having many other wives besides yourself?”
Lynn shook her head at my bluntness.
Smiling maturely like a woman, she teased me lightly.
“Your swordsmanship outshines your grasp of women’s hearts, Marquis Veil.”
The Black Knight Captain swept her steaming black hair coolly behind her back.
No perfume, but a faint soap scent wafted up.
“Of course she’d mind. She’d think he’s adding partners because he’s unsatisfied with her alone, so it’d hurt.”
“I see…”
Even a woman without dating experience said as much, and I closed my eyes involuntarily.
“It’s because of the princesses, isn’t it?”
“Yes… You’re sharp.”
Lynn stared at my weary everyday self, so different from battle.
She lifted her bowl daintily and sipped the broth.
“Gathering intel is basic for us.”
Unlike her refusals earlier, she devoured the noodles in seconds.
Secretly scribbling the restaurant’s name on her palm, she continued.
“Still, I think your case is a bit different, Lord Veil.”
“Oh?”
Interested, I leaned in, and Lynn hid the name on her palm before answering.
“Yes. The princesses all seem to truly like you. Even if they marry together, they’d see it as joyful competition.”
I was dumbfounded by how casually she rattled off my relationships with the princesses.
“Joyful competition…? What are the conditions for winning that competition?”
“Hmm…”
Lynn paused, about to explain her words.
“Well, it’s about whether you…”
But perhaps feeling it too frank before a peer, she clamped her lips shut.
“Hmm—?”
“No… Anyway, if you’re worried about that, just give each one sincere love as if she were your only one. That should solve it.”
Her voice carried a hint of humanity from the word she’d held back.
But regaining her captain’s composure, she offered earnest support.
“You’re a Grand Master, after all.”
“…”
True…
I had too many memories with them to choose just one now. It felt impossible.
It was time to overcome this together.
“Thanks for the honest advice. As expected from a knight order captain, unlike me.”
“No problem.”
Around then, I found my answer.
Lynn’s noodle bowl was empty.
I placed a few dim sum on it and said.
“Is your little brother fully recovered?”
“Ah, yes. Thanks to the medicine you gave him then.”
“Really? I didn’t expect it to work that well…”
Truthfully, the werewolf elixir was said only to restore vitality beyond normal.
Apparently, that vitality included curing all ills.
“There were side effects, but I subdued them with loving care.”
“Ah… Side effects.”
Suddenly, Irina turning into a she-wolf at the concert hall came to mind.
Just thinking about it quickened my pulse.
“The side effects weren’t anything too wild, were they?”
“Wild how? What do you mean?”
Lynn tilted her head, her jet-black eyes sparkling like obsidian.
“Ah… Nothing.”
“Hmm— You can speak freely, you know.”
Lynn got revenge for my earlier awkwardness mentioning the princesses’ rivalry.
Even her lips, which I thought incapable of smiling, quirked up.
“Has Her Highness Rozanna stopped giving scary orders lately?”
I changed the subject casually.
“She actually summoned me recently.”
“What assassination mission this time?”
When I asked nonchalantly, Lynn hesitated.
“It’s still not something I can discuss…”
For the captain to hesitate, it must be quite the task. My interest piqued.
Seizing the topic shift, I gazed at my peer captain with fox-like wide black eyes.
‘Kidnapping or murder, maybe?’
But no.
Her answer was utterly unexpected.
“Security for Lord Veil and Her Highness Lea’s wedding hall.”
“Pfft…!!”
I’d tried to dodge the topic!!
The repeated marriage talk made my head spin.
“No need for a honeymoon; straight to her secret chambers, she said…”
The sensual First Imperial Princess, growing ever bolder with experience, flashed in my mind.
If Irina brought pure fluttering excitement, Lea stirred an instinctive thrill no man could easily resist.
“Whew…”
I calmed my mind deliberately.
I stood to get some night air.
Lynn rose to follow as I headed out.
But just as she was about to ask if I was leaving…
The situation made it unnecessary.
“Excuse me, are you the lady’s guard knight at that table?”
The kitchen head, who’d been patting his waist out front, approached first.
“Yes, that’s me… Is something wrong with the lady?”
I shot back sharply.
He gave an awkward smile and led us outside.
‘Strange… She seemed fine when she got up.’
Wary, we stepped out to see a fox statue.
And there, as expected, a very familiar woman was dozing off, head propped against it.
“Oh no…”
Even as the daughter of Emperor Leonhardt, she was just a twenty-year-old woman.
“Your Highness, please wake up. You can’t sleep here.”
“I can ride a horse too…”
Unlike the other princesses, Lydia—who wasn’t good at horseback riding—mumbled.
“This isn’t a horse. It’s a fox.”
“A fox? Even better…”
The empire’s Third Imperial Princess mumbled in an adorably cute voice, unlike her usual self.
My lips kept twitching up, so I bit them hard.
“What will you do?”
Lynn asked, approaching.
I blew on her protruding bangs to smooth them back.
“I’ll escort her home for now. Here, hop on, Your Highness—.”
Lydia clung tightly to the fox statue.
As I knelt and offered my back, she cracked open her tightly shut eyes.
Her seductive red eyes fixed on my back, then slowly released the statue.
Slipping slyly onto my back.
“…”
Lynn noticed, her cold expression twitching.
She bit her lip and turned away, pretending not to see.
“Finally riding the fox~.”
Lydia wrapped her arms tightly around my back, too broad for her hands alone.
Her soft cheek pressed against my shoulder, stretching like dough.