Why Do You Only Hurt Me (3)
Perhaps it was because she had spent half the day locked inside her office, locked in combat with an endless sea of documents. To loosen the stone-hard knot her mind had become, Wolfgang plucked a cigarette from the military uniform hanging on her chair.
A month and a half had already passed since the hearing ended. The early summer that had arrived with July was so oppressive that even Wolfgang—who stubbornly clung to male attire—found herself stripping layers. She wondered if some remnant of masculine pride still lingered inside her, but the truth was simpler: she had no desire to reveal her female form to anyone. That was why she had insisted on the suffocating disguise.
Yet what finally forced the wanderer to shed her clothes was not clouds but the sun’s brutal heat, and not even Wolfgang Leonhardt, the war hero who had saved the empire, could escape it.
Her upper body wore only military undergarments—a black bra top that left her navel exposed. Even that barely contained her full breasts. Her body was the very picture of ideal feminine beauty. Constant military training had given her an impossibly narrow waist and powerful, defined abs. Sweat now traced glistening paths between those ridges, like waterfalls cascading down sun-warmed stone.
She was displaying every inch of the exposure she had always hated. But what did it matter? No one else was here. Instead, she savored this tiny act of rebellion to its fullest.
Even so, her small, precious moment of indulgence could not free her from the mountain of paperwork.
The Eastern Power Defense Command served as headquarters for the entire Eastern Defense Force—the literal brain and heart of the army guarding the empire’s eastern border. Training schedules for subordinate units, proposals for new weapons, personnel evaluations… the work here was endless. The Eastern Defense Force was among the finest in the imperial military. Setting the Vendetta Legion aside—the unit that had secured victory in the Winter War—there were still the Eagle Legion, the 7th Steel Brigade, and countless other elite formations filled with soldiers who had distinguished themselves in that brutal conflict.
I want my abilities recognized by Lord Leonhardt.
If I give everything I have, Lord Leonhardt will surely notice me.
Even if it’s only to stand at that person’s side one day…!!
The problem was that every one of these talented individuals revered Wolfgang. When people burn with the desire to be acknowledged by the one they respect, their passion becomes fuel. And the white-hot fervor of capable subordinates returned to her in the form of even more work.
Thanks to them, the papers on her desk never ran dry. Her waist-length white hair was as wild as a beast’s mane, and the single golden eye not covered by her eyepatch had long since moved past resignation and into the realm of transcendence.
“…Speaking of which, was her name Lana Frost?”
Sitting crookedly in her chair and lighting her cigarette, Wolfgang muttered without thinking. The name had come up repeatedly—both during the hearing and in the strange rumors that had circulated before it. Anyone who wasn’t a complete dullard would inevitably grow curious.
Come to think of it, I ordered Galina to investigate her separately, but she said the information was strangely difficult to obtain.
It was almost as if someone were deliberately erasing every trace. At this point, only a fool would fail to realize that Lana Frost needed serious investigation.
There is undoubtedly some connection between this body and Lana Frost. But with no immediate way to uncover it, what am I supposed to do…?
Knock knock.
“Captain~ May I come in?”
“Galina? Enter.”
At the knock, Wolfgang granted permission. The moment Galina stepped inside, her nose burst into a fountain of blood.
“Wh-what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“It’s nothing, Captain!”
“But…”
“I’m perfectly fine! Please let me stay here! I’ll even lick your boots clean!”
“I understand. I understand, so please don’t lick anything.”
Galina had crawled forward on all fours with genuine intent to lick the boots. Wolfgang barely managed to stop her. Only then did she learn why her adjutant had come.
“The kingdom sent a delegation?”
“Yes. It appears the empire and the kingdom have been engaged in fierce negotiations for the past month.”
“The empire actually accepting a delegation from the kingdom? Tomorrow the sun will rise in the west.”
The Mines Kingdom lay to the southeast of the imperial capital Herot. It was also the very border where the Eastern Defense Force was stationed. In other words, the empire had long classified the kingdom as a potential enemy. Indeed, the moment the Winter War ended, the empire had redirected all its main forces to the eastern front.
“Is there a problem with that?”
“Since it is a formal delegation, Duke Ifrit, leader of the noble faction, suggested that one member of the Vendetta Legion should go out to greet them.”
“I owe that man a great deal. Besides, he isn’t wrong.”
Recalling her debt to Duke Ifrit, Wolfgang nodded. She thought she could simply send one of the idle members. At least until she received the delegation list from Galina.
Among the names was one she could not possibly ignore.
Teodore von Frost?
Same surname as Lana Frost.
Same kingdom of origin, same family name. Could this truly be dismissed as coincidence? Of course not.
Wolfgang rose from her seat at once.
“Who should we send?”
“I will go myself.”
“…Pardon?!”
A perfect opportunity to learn about the Lana Frost she had been so curious about had arrived. And Wolfgang was not the sort of person who let golden chances slip away.
As expected. There was no way things would resolve this easily.
Zaid thought bitterly as he flailed on the ground, still reeling from the impact of being thrown from his horse.
They had spent nearly a month and a half negotiating with the empire—first to improve relations, then to secure permission for this delegation. The empire had refused with blade-like finality, but perhaps even they could not ignore such earnest bowing, or perhaps they had their own schemes. In the end, after a month and a half, they had permitted the kingdom’s visit.
This delegation carried the kingdom’s very survival on its shoulders.
Please be careful. The roads of the empire are not as gentle as those of the kingdom.
I thought it was mere courtesy at first. I never imagined it was literal.
The kingdom’s future hung in the balance. Failure to mend ties with the empire would cast a long shadow over its destiny. They could not afford to send a half-hearted delegation. The elite knight order that the Mines Kingdom boasted of, accompanied by the next head of the Frost Duchy—Zaid had believed this combination might even rival the empire’s famed Vendetta Legion.
That had been a miscalculation.
Monster attacks were common. The brilliant crown prince Zaid knew this well. Yet seeing the royal family’s proud elite knights being pushed back by monsters was an experience that could never be called ordinary.
When an unbelievable situation unfolds before one’s eyes, most people freeze in panic. But Zaid’s extraordinary mind quickly identified the cause.
It’s the Apocalypse Winter. The monsters that adapted to that harsh environment for a hundred years have become several times stronger than any we have faced before.
The long winter had not affected only humans. Beasts and monsters across the empire had suffered as well. Most perished in the cold, but many had survived by adapting through sheer tenacity. To endure the brutal Apocalypse Winter, they had been forced to grow stronger.
A creature with scales and appearance like a dragon from legend, yet without wings, crawling on four legs across the earth. A drake charged straight at Zaid.
Slash!
Before its savage fangs could tear into the prince’s throat, a man intervened. The drake’s body was sliced cleanly in two.
Hair as white as snow, a back straight as tempered steel—the man’s posture spoke of unyielding will. Yet his golden eyes were utterly lifeless, like those of a corpse.
“Your Highness, are you unharmed?”
“Thanks to you, Sir Frost. I owe you my life.”
“I will take command from here.”
Zaid nodded. Teodore von Frost was one of the kingdom’s strongest knights. And the strongest of the Mines Kingdom stood at a level that could hold its own even within the empire.
Not only larger than a normal drake, but more than twice as strong and fast. With so many of them, it’s no wonder our elites are struggling.
Teodore calmly cut down the drakes while assessing the situation, yet with every swing an unbearable pain stabbed into his chest like a nail.
With those small, fragile hands and feet, had she truly walked this nightmare path? How cold must she have been? How much pain had she endured?
Merely imagining the child walking such a road tore his heart apart. He could barely endure it.
Though young, she had been more mature and kinder than anyone.
“I absolutely cannot permit it. The northern empire is a land of death…!!”
“Brother, right now there is not a single person outside who does not speak ill of the Frost Duchy.”
“Then ignore them. Who would dare oppose the Frost Duchy!”
“But we will lose the people’s hearts.”
“……”
“The people’s heart is heaven’s heart. A noble who loses the people’s support cannot endure. You know this, don’t you?”
In a kingdom of knights, a noble without honor was no longer treated as nobility. For the sake of the family she belonged to, for the sake of her house, that child had vanished alone.
How had she managed to slip out of the duchy by herself? Who had helped her?
No. In the end, those were only excuses.
For the past ten years he had lived a life painted black with regret. If only he had guarded the door himself that day. If only he had stayed by her side and truly understood her heart…
Would you still have disappeared?
Even surrounded by dozens of drakes, he felt no fear. Perhaps, somewhere inside, he even wished to die here.
But at the very moment death reached for him—
Roar!
A rain of fire fell from the sky and swallowed every drake whole. The monsters that had driven the kingdom’s finest knights to the brink could not even resist. They were reduced to nothing but ash.
Reflexively, Teodore looked upward. He quickly spotted a woman descending from the heavens.
Though she wore men’s clothing, he recognized her as a woman instantly. No—if it were anyone else, perhaps not. But he had to recognize her. He must.
The younger sister he had longed for and regretted for ten long years. Though much time had passed and her appearance had changed, she was still the sister he had dreamed of every night.
“Is everyone all right?”
Lana Frost. The sister he had believed dead now stood before Teodore von Frost.