The King's Procession
The royal banner of the Franz family, hoisted high on its pole during the king’s procession, whipped fiercely in the wind. More than five hundred soldiers were marching through the city gates. Citizens lined both sides of the long road as far as the eye could see, waving the royal crest flags in welcome.
King Mikelan, escorted by Marquis Gregory and Marquis Espera, rode at the head of the column, basking in the cheers of the people. Behind him stretched a line of carriages carrying the queen, the princess, the prince, and the civil and military officials. Adelia and the six dispatched knights had come out from the inner castle to greet the king with proper respect. Our Kether Mercenary Group stood among them.
King Mikelan dismounted and shook hands with each of the dispatched knights, offering words of encouragement and praise for their hard work. Adelia reunited with her father, Marquis Gregory. She hugged him with a bright smile, eyes glistening with tears she refused to let fall. Meanwhile, my gaze kept drifting toward Olivia, who moved like a shadow behind Marquis Espera, quietly supporting him.
It had been a long time since I last saw her. She wore elegant, ornate martial attire that gave her an air of refined grace—nothing like the bandit leader she had once pretended to be. She seemed like an entirely different person. And perhaps she truly was, because even though she knew I was staring, she deliberately ignored me and never once met my eyes.
“You have all endured much as well.”
King Mikelan extended his hand to me, the mercenary captain, and to Seira, praising our efforts. The mercenary group had originally been excluded from the formal ceremony, but Adelia had arranged a special place for me. Thanks to her, I received the honor of standing close enough to see the king’s face clearly. Who could have guessed that small kindness would trigger such an enormous upheaval?
“You… you are…?!”
King Mikelan’s eyes widened as he recognized Dana’s face. She was kneeling neatly beside me.
“Are you not Dana, princess of the Piria royal family?”
Marquis Gregory and Marquis Espera rushed forward at once. The entire scene erupted into chaos. King Mikelan and Dana already knew each other. The Franz and Piria families had maintained close ties since Dana was a child, so the king remembered her face well. Dana made no attempt to hide her identity. She bowed politely and spoke with quiet dignity.
“Your Majesty, it has been a long time.”
King Mikelan looked genuinely astonished.
“Oh! How can this be? To meet you again here—it must be that the gods have guided us!”
What followed happened in the blink of an eye. The Ferus Kingdom, Dana’s homeland, had fallen to rebels who now occupied the royal palace. Taking that into account, King Mikelan promised to look after her from now on and promptly took her with him. Faced with such overwhelming authority, I could offer no resistance. I could only watch helplessly as Dana was led away.
To make matters worse, Dana—who had been sulking for days—left without saying a single word to me. She simply followed the maids the king had assigned her and vanished under the escort of royal guards. Seeing her depart so coldly, I couldn’t bring myself to stop her. She had chosen to leave on her own.
Feeling hollow, I trudged back home. A thousand thoughts swirled through my mind. Would I never see Dana again? Was she going to follow the king all the way to the capital? I sat alone in my room, face grave, letting out low groans of distress, when Unia and Pasvachio walked in carrying a bottle of liquor.
“Feels empty without Dana, doesn’t it?”
Unia poured me a drink. I took the cup and gulped it down. The alcohol tasted strangely sweet. I held the empty cup out for another.
“Wow… I had no idea Miss Dana was a foreign princess,” Pasvachio said. “If I’d known earlier, I would have treated her with proper respect. Heh, really. Did you know, Captain?”
“Of course I knew. You think we were dating without me knowing that? Right, Captain?”
I drained the second cup without answering. Dana, who had left like a gust of wind, left a bitter taste in my mouth. It was only a moment of resentment—I didn’t truly hate her… but still.
“Even so, leaving without even talking to the captain first is a bit much,” Pasvachio continued. “Honestly, it’s pretty disappointing. We might never see her again, yet she didn’t even say goodbye—didn’t say it was fun while it lasted or to take care. Don’t you think so?”
Unia pinched Pasvachio’s thigh as if to say, Are you serious?
“Ow! That hurts!”
“Are you joking? Think about what the captain’s been doing since he fought with Dana. While she was locked in her room, nearly dying of heartbreak, he was out there laughing and flirting with every woman who crossed his path. Without even trying to soothe her anger.”
Unia’s words, spoken right in front of me as if urging me to reflect, were full of thorns. I had to admit she was right. I did regret how I had spent my time laughing with other women while leaving Dana alone. I had told myself I was trying to detach my feelings, but looking back now, it had been incredibly stupid. I thought I had been acting according to my own will, but that wasn’t true. Lately, overwhelmed by psychological instability, I must have been moving through the world half out of my mind. Nancy’s letter had been the trigger. Perhaps I had wanted to throw away everything I had built and run off to catch Nancy just so I could return to Earth. Dana had been the first victim of that selfish urge. After our falling-out, I had gone looking for fleeting women to fill the empty space she left behind.
“When you really think about it, Dana’s absence leaves a pretty big hole, doesn’t it?” Unia asked with a small smile.
I nodded weakly.
“People always forget the value of those who stay by their side,” she said. “Only now do you realize how precious Dana was—the one who was always there so naturally?”
I couldn’t deny it. Only two hours had passed since she left, yet enduring even those two hours felt unbearable. Whenever I came home, Dana had always been there like my other half, whether in the room or anywhere else. Now she was gone, and the thought that I might never see her again made my heart feel like it was crumbling.
Unia gave my back a firm slap.
“So you’re just going to sit here? At this rate you might really never see her again for the rest of your life.”
Her words were enough to set my heart ablaze. They instantly cleared away the complicated problem I had been agonizing over for so long. My stalled heart began to pound violently. The fear of losing Dana, the anxiety of missing my chance at happiness—it all pushed me forward. Dana’s face rose in my mind, and her voice echoed like a lingering refrain. I want to hold onto her again.
Mother, Father, I’m sorry! I… I can’t give up on Dana!
Once the decision was firmly made, there was no reason to hesitate. I would find Dana and confess my true feelings. I also resolved to tell her everything honestly—including the fact that I was an Earthling who had crossed dimensions, starting with Sohee.
“I’m going to bring Dana back!”
I kicked the door open and ran toward the entrance. My chest swelled with anticipation at the thought of seeing her again. The moment I flung the front door wide, however, I froze, eyes widening.
An entirely unexpected person was standing right in front of me.
“You even open the door for me first. How polite you’ve become.”
It was Olivia. My mouth went dry.
“I came to get you.”
She smiled brightly.
“I don’t have time to talk with you.”
I cut her off curtly and tried to walk past, but her voice followed me from behind.
“If you’re going to see Dana, you’d be better off using the banquet tonight. The inner castle is under such tight security right now that not even an ant could slip in or out. Try forcing your way in and you’ll end up in prison immediately.”
I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes for a moment. Taking a deep breath, I forced down the excitement that had been surging at the thought of meeting Dana and turned around.
“I am not your possession,” I said, putting deliberate strength into my voice. I had long anticipated that Olivia would eventually appear before me and had already prepared exactly what I would say. That preparation allowed me to remain calm despite her sudden appearance.
“You were never honest from the beginning. You disguised your identity and deceived the subordinates who trusted and followed you. To you, we were nothing more than insignificant people you could abandon at any time, weren’t we? As long as you cannot give us trust as a leader, I cannot act together with you. Please leave quietly while I am still speaking nicely. If you don’t, I won’t stand by idly.”
“Hmm……”
Olivia tilted her head slightly, an amused look on her face as she studied me. It felt as though all the energy was being drained from my body. The overwhelming pressure she had exerted as the bandit leader remained unchanged. Did she roast and eat an entire lion every day? Her spirit was truly formidable.
“You said you wanted to live with style, didn’t you?” she asked abruptly.
Yes, I remembered. I had said those words in front of the bandit leader once.
“I am living that way now.”
“Being the captain of a small provincial mercenary group is what you call living with style?”
“It’s only the beginning.”
“And when exactly will that beginning bear fruit?”
Olivia laughed. The laugh sounded like mockery, and it irritated me.
“After deceiving me, what face do you have to come here? Besides, I heard you don’t get along with Adelia’s Hildegart family. As you already know, I am on friendly terms with the Hildegart family. On the other hand, I feel nothing but antipathy toward your Penclau family. After all, long ago you were the first to break faith.”
Olivia answered with the same unshakable composure she had always shown, even when faced with words meant to wound her.
“At the time, I truly meant to stand with you. But then Orleans appeared out of nowhere and everything fell apart. Is that entirely my fault?”
“My plan back then was to cooperate with Adelia to save our bandit group. But think about it. If Orleans had never attacked and things had gone smoothly, what do you suppose Adelia would have done the moment she saw you? She wouldn’t have cooperated with our bandit group—she would have tried to wipe us out instead. The real problem is that you pushed the plan forward even though you had already predicted that outcome. What exactly was your reason for doing so?”
Olivia smiled softly.
“You’re right. If Adelia had seen me then, there would have been no cooperation with our Elk Bandits.”
“Then why did you still do it, knowing that?”
“Hmm. I simply wanted us to get along.”
She answered so lightly, as if it were nothing important. The reason was so plain it left me feeling empty.
“Get along with Adelia?”
“Yes. Our families are on bad terms, so I thought at least we could be on good terms. That’s all.”
I wasn’t sure whether to believe Olivia’s words or take them with suspicion. But it was all in the past now, and my own path had already been decided. There was no point in dwelling on it any longer. I spoke firmly.
“In any case, please go back. Our connection is over, and it seems we have nothing more to say to each other.”
“Do you dislike me that much?”
“Please acknowledge that I have become independent from under you.”
“Come back in.”
“I told you I am not your possession.”
“I have no intention of interfering.”
Why was she clinging to me like this? What possible gain could she get from it?
“I’m the type who leaves things alone. And you said you wanted to live with style. I came here to make that happen for you.”
“How?”
Olivia smiled like gentle waves and said,
“Follow me. There’s someone I want to introduce you to.”