Seeking Adelia (2)
At noon, Sinclair made her way to Adelia’s office. A maid waiting inside informed her that Adelia had entered the chapel within the headquarters building that morning and had yet to emerge.
Concern etched Sinclair’s face. “Again today?”
“Yes. She said she wished to see no one and ordered that no one should seek her out.”
Sinclair let out a heavy sigh as she left the office. This had been going on for two months now—ever since Adelia began abandoning her duties to visit the chapel. From the day the unit returned safely from the Dark Forest, Adelia had grown increasingly strange. She would spend entire days lost in thought, oblivious even when someone approached, and at night she sometimes clutched her head and screamed as if tormented by memories she wished to forget. For several days she had even been bedridden with a high fever, unable to eat or sleep. The chapel was where she had eventually sought refuge. Praying to the gods seemed to bring her some measure of peace; by the time she returned at dusk, her expression was noticeably calmer than when she had entered. Yet the real problem was that the Lion Heart Unit’s commander was neglecting her duties to frequent the chapel, bringing all unit operations to a near standstill.
Final decisions rested with the one in authority, but Adelia showed no intention of stamping the growing pile of documents awaiting her approval. As a result, the Lion Heart Unit had effectively ground to a halt. Administrative work remained frozen in place, and the soldiers could do nothing but repeat the same drills day after day.
“Is Lady Adelia still unwell?”
While walking along an outdoor corridor overlooking a small pond, Sinclair happened upon Orlando, the lord’s son. She nodded with a deliberately grave expression. “There is still no sign of improvement today.”
Orlando, along with the lord and his retainers, believed Adelia was confined to her bed with a physical illness. In truth, her ailment was not of the body but of the mind—a malady whose cause appeared to be a man named Kang Hyun-woo.
“If it is all right, I would like to pay her a visit. Would you take me to her?”
“I am terribly sorry, but the commander is deeply distressed that she cannot set an example for those beneath her while lying in bed. She is reluctant to let her current state be seen. I beg you to understand with a generous heart that a visit will be difficult.”
Orlando nodded regretfully. “Then there is nothing to be done. I understand. Please tell Lady Adelia that Orlando wishes her a swift recovery.”
“I will convey your words.”
Orlando turned and walked away. Watching his retreating figure, Sinclair thought to herself, That man. Judging by everything he has done so far, he is clearly infatuated with Lady Adelia. He is someone I must watch carefully.
To Sinclair, Adelia was like a daughter she doted on. Anyone who approached Adelia was met with immediate suspicion; Sinclair viewed them through a lens of distrust from the very start.
“Lady Sinclair.”
While she stood there regarding Orlando with disapproval, a voice suddenly called from behind. Turning, she saw the junior adjutant, Velita, approaching.
“Does Lady Adelia still have no intention of leading the unit?”
“It is the same today. We can only hope for tomorrow once more.”
At Sinclair’s reply, Velita spoke again, her face filled with worry. “It seems Lord Gregory has also learned that our unit’s activities have recently slowed.”
“Is that true?”
Sinclair’s brow furrowed. Gregory was the commander of the superior Wittelsbach Knight Order and Adelia’s father.
“Last night I received a letter from a friend in the royal capital. Within the order, there is a rumor that among all units dispatched to the southern region, the Lion Heart Unit is making the slowest progress—below average—and that they intend to recall the fastest-advancing unit and send it here instead.”
“What?”
“So this morning I checked the progress of all units. If the rumor is true, it is believed that the Guillotine Unit led by Sir Orleans will be sent our way.”
“Sir Orleans? Is that not the one with the infamous reputation?”
Each of the nine knights commanding the nine units dispatched to the southern region had a nickname:
1. The Guillotine Judge, Orleans.
2. Ikeras’s Starlight, Melanie.
3. The Silver Tracker, Priscilla.
4. The Steel Destroyer, Vincentius.
5. The Guardian of Light, Adelia.
6. The Silent Wolf, Sergal.
7. The Indomitable Ogre, Haltavar.
8. High-End Louise.
9. The Saint of Edelbur, Angelina.
Of these nine, the Saint of Edelbur, Angelina, had already lost her life in a trap laid by bandits in the Kenburk territory where she had been dispatched early on. Among the remaining eight knights, the Guillotine Judge, Orleans, was rumored to be the most cruel and merciless. A knight more bandit-like than the bandits themselves, he had bizarre and vicious hobbies—using the corpses of executed criminals as dartboards or boiling them in cauldrons and serving the meat to starving people while claiming it was pork—that made one suspect he was mentally deranged.
“Seeing our unit struggling here in the Nobern territory, Commander Gregory apparently spread the rumor throughout the order that he intends to send the most advanced unit—the Guillotine Unit under Sir Orleans—to support Lady Adelia and prevent any further incidents like the death of Lady Angelina.”
Sinclair flared up. “That cannot be allowed! Receiving help from another unit would be a disgrace to the Lion Heart Unit! Lady Adelia would never accept such a thing either! And of all people, it had to be that man Orleans!”
She clenched her fists. “There is no time to waste! I must persuade Lady Adelia before that rumor becomes reality! If she learns that Orleans might come, she will surely snap out of it—she dislikes him the most among the nine knights!”
Sinclair made up her mind and strode forward with purpose. The situation was urgent; she intended to drag Adelia out of the chapel by force if necessary. Just then, a commotion erupted from one side.
“Who goes there! Reveal your identity at once!”
A soldier’s shout rang out from nearby, and armed soldiers could be seen rushing in that direction.
“It seems someone has intruded,” Sinclair said.
Sinclair and Velita, sensing something amiss, immediately followed. Soon they witnessed five soldiers surrounding a man. From the looks of it, he had been caught by patrolling soldiers after climbing over the wall.
“Whoa, whoa, don’t stab me. I didn’t come here to fight.”
The man raised both hands to show he had no intention of resisting and looked around. Spotting Sinclair, who had just arrived, he grinned broadly, baring his teeth.
“It’s been a while. You remember my face, don’t you?”
Sinclair stared at the man who had suddenly acted so familiar, her eyes widening in disbelief. She stood frozen for a moment before her gaze sharpened as if she had seen an enemy. She shouted fiercely at the soldiers.
“Arrest that man at once!”
Inside the chapel of the Lion Heart Unit, Adelia sat quietly with her hands clasped in prayer to the gods.
“O Lord Yurus, who governs the laws of this world, protect my soul. I am your faithful servant. You are my guide. Save this pitiful and wretched servant who is tempted by the devil’s sweet whispers.”
At first, she had thought suppressing the bandits would be easy. Indeed, she had achieved remarkable results by wiping out every bandit group in the first territory she arrived at. However, as she moved into the regions below, she suddenly hit a wall. The bandits, realizing the gravity of the situation, had united and resisted, making suppression difficult. On top of that, corrupt retainers and local notables had openly interfered, causing delays and prolonging the campaign. While she was tied down in the second territory, news arrived that the knights dispatched to other regions were boldly advancing southward, crushing every bandit group they encountered.
Adelia agonized over it again and again. Was it because she was too young to handle the work? Was it because she lacked the resourcefulness of the other knights that she had become stuck starting from the second territory?
Then one day, while she was losing confidence and living in confusion, someone had reached out to her like a devil.
“Don’t you need help? I want to form a symbiotic relationship with you.”
Kang Hyun-woo.
The reason she had been visiting the chapel every day for the past two months was because of Kang Hyun-woo’s sweet proposal. Yet joining hands with a criminal was something she could never accept as the eldest daughter of the Hildegart family, which had produced generations of judges and protected the nation’s justice for hundreds of years. Still, compared to the other knights dispatched to the southern region, she was the most behind. The thought that she, who had always been first since childhood, was now playing at the very bottom filled her with impatience and endless shame. She had no face to show her father.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Just then, someone began pounding violently on the chapel door, which had been firmly locked.
“Lady Adelia! Lady Adelia!”
Listening closely, she heard Sinclair’s voice from outside. It sounded more urgent than usual.
“What is it?”
Had some emergency arisen? Yet with the unit’s activities currently halted, there should not have been any urgent matters. The fact that Sinclair sounded so frantic meant something had happened…
Feeling a chill, Adelia stopped praying and stepped outside at once.
“What happened?”
“Lady Adelia! We have captured him!”
“Him? Who?”
“Kang Hyun-woo! We have arrested Kang Hyun-woo inside our camp!”
“What…? Is that true?”
“Yes! He is currently locked in the prison!”
Adelia’s eyes wavered. It was a sudden, almost unbelievable situation. For him to come of his own accord and get caught—it was the kind of story one might hear in a dream. She hurried toward the prison where Kang Hyun-woo was being held, intending to confirm it with her own eyes.