Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Ambush (3)
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“Madam, it might be best to find a female physician for a more thorough examination.”
Bill was clearly speaking more politely after the proper mental reconditioning Selma had given him yesterday.
There wasn't a trace of resentment toward Rose anywhere in his courteous demeanor. Even if he harbored any, it meant he had the discernment to keep it hidden.
I replied gladly at the realization.
“Proceed after asking the Duchess. Arrange for a skilled female doctor in advance.”
“Understood, Your Excellency.”
Bill bowed in preparation and headed out of the castle.
The knights, led by Knight Captain Mathias, were waiting on horseback in the open space before the inner keep. They were the very ones whose drawn swords, brimming with killing intent, had made the back of my neck prickle yesterday.
Forget what happened yesterday.
Though they had gotten under my skin yesterday, they were among the few excellent talents I had personally trained and raised.
I shouldn't underestimate them over just one day's events. On the battlefield, no one was sturdier or braver than them.
“Your Excellency.”
Mathias spotted me and bowed his head.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's head out.”
“...Yes, sir.”
Mathias looked like he had a mountain of things he desperately wanted to say, but he obediently spurred his horse forward.
“I'll be off.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“And...”
I gave Bill one final instruction.
“If the Duchess requests anything, prepare it right away.”
“Yes, sir.”
“No matter what it is.”
“Of course.”
Leaving Bill's crisp response behind,
“Hyah!”
I spurred my horse into a gallop. It was a fresh mount whose health Bill had meticulously checked right up to the end.
“Hyah!”
Mathias and the rest of the knights followed right behind.
Clop-clop, clop-clop.
We raced through the biting cold air on horseback. I led at the front, with Knight Captain Mathias right beside me, followed by a line of knights.
“We'll arrive in an hour,”
Mathias said, pulling his horse up close beside mine.
“I know. By the way...”
I asked the stiff-faced man.
“What message did Bill relay yesterday? It must have been quite urgent.”
“He said an important guest had arrived at the castle. So we left only the minimal knight force behind and departed.”
“I see.”
I nodded, then asked further.
“Then why didn't you return to the mine yesterday?”
Before entering the castle after receiving Rose, I had instructed Mathias to head back to the mine first—I would depart tomorrow.
I distinctly remembered him saying he understood, so it was surprising he'd stayed here.
“Is something happening at the mine? Do you need my help?”
“...No, nothing like that.”
Mathias's face grew even stiffer. It was the look of someone suppressing something on the verge of bursting.
“It's just that I...”
Mathias started to say something but shook his head.
“It's nothing.”
It was obvious he'd stopped because he was conscious of the surrounding knights.
Still the same as ever.
Mathias had been raised as my squire since childhood.
I'd recognized his talent, taught him the sword myself, and eventually granted him one, making him knight captain.
So I could read him like a book just by looking into his eyes. Discontent was plastered all over his still-youthful cheeks.
“...”
Even with that expression, Mathias kept his mouth firmly shut and just rode on without a word.
It wasn't like him. If he had a grievance, he'd normally kick open the door to my study and demand answers.
He must not want to ask me directly.
I wasn't the soft type to coax someone acting like that. Besides, he was making it so obvious—this was practically a silent protest begging me to notice.
It irritated me enough that I had to say something.
Clop.
I urged my horse a bit faster, pulling ahead.
“Your Excellency?”
“Mathias, over here.”
Mathias hurriedly brought his horse alongside mine.
Once we'd opened enough distance that the knights couldn't overhear our conversation,
“Mathias.”
“Yes.”
“What is it you want to say?”
Mathias chewed his lip, then finally spoke.
“Brother.”
Since he'd been by my side since early childhood, we spoke casually in private like this.
He spat it out as if it was filth he couldn't hold back any longer.
“You're not really smitten with that woman, are you?”
His shit-eating expression and pleading eyes screamed, Please say no.
“And if I am?”
“Brother!”
He raised his voice in disbelief, then quickly lowered it, glancing around.
“Why are you doing something you never did before? How can you trust a woman you saw for just one day enough to bring her into your bedroom?”
“It's not just one day. We attended the Academy together.”
“Same difference. I was by your side the whole time at the Academy, and I'd never even caught a glimpse of her.”
Mathias's nostrils flared wildly.
“The Vicander family? Ugh, don't get me started. And did you see that carriage? I thought it was livestock being hauled to the slaughterhouse.”
“It means no meddling from the in-laws.”
“Who knows? Minds change coming out of the bathroom. A daughter sent off like that getting loved as the duchess?”
Mathias snorted loudly, as if to say it was obvious.
“Would a poor baron's family just sit idly by? How greedily they'll wield their influence—ugh, just thinking about it is horrifying.”
“You think I'd be swayed by that?”
Mathias flinched and shook his head.
“Not that, but... cough. Or maybe another family could reach out with sinister hands through that duchess?”
Mathias kept raising concerns,
worriedly,
or grudgingly.
“I can't fathom what you're thinking, brother. The castle's already in an uproar. They say you're handing over your liver and gall to that woman—it's all the talk.”
The rumors had spread faster than expected.
I figured they'd circulate among the servants—I'd even encouraged it somewhat. But I hadn't anticipated it reaching Mathias's ears.
“Didn't know there were such loose lips in the castle.”
“Ah, no. It's not like that. Don't misunderstand.”
Mathias suddenly broke into a cold sweat.
“I grabbed a passing servant and asked. I didn't eavesdrop on their chatter.”
“Hm.”
Not entirely convinced, but I let it pass, and Mathias quickly changed the subject.
“And this morning... ugh. I've never seen you grill Sir Joel with such a grave face.”
“Me?”
I hadn't even pressured him that hard. I'd just been frustrated that he wouldn't tell me what the illness was.
My gaze must be the problem after all. Like some magic that makes even the same words sound ferocious.
“That woman looked frail—maybe she's sick? You're making a fuss over something like that.”
“Where'd you hear that?”
“I didn't hear it, I saw... oh damn.”
“Peeking into a lady's bedroom? Bad habit.”
At a loss for words, Mathias scratched his head vigorously.
“Anyway, that's not the point... your taste is seriously in question, brother. What's so great about that scrawny little girl?”
“Forgot about the previous wives? A beautiful rose has thorns.”
“Well... those women were crazy beauties on the outside.”
Mathias hemmed and hawed but didn't back down.
“Doesn't mean you bring a girl like that into your bedroom. This is too much, really.”
“Mathias.”
I raised my hand as a signal to cut it out, and his mouth shut. But his nostrils kept flaring, spewing hot breath nonstop.
She's not even his wife yet, and he's like this.
In the original story, Mathias disliked Rose too. No—precisely, he hated every woman who entered as my wife.
He knew what motives they brought into the family. He'd witnessed it all while staying by my side for over ten years.
He hates women in general anyway.
So it was natural he'd be shocked and disgusted by yesterday's events between Rose and me. But that didn't mean he could treat her carelessly.
“Whether I'm smitten with her or not—what's it to you?”
At my curt remark, Mathias's face changed dramatically. He blinked as if he couldn't believe what he'd heard.
Like the brother he trusted and relied on had betrayed him.
“Rose is my wife. Treat her with the same respect you show me.”
“...”
“No more calling her 'that woman' or 'this girl' rudely.”
“No, brother. How can you!”
The unspoken follow-up was clear: trust her over me?
Yeah, that's how it must look to Mathias. After over a decade of trials and tribulations together, it probably seemed like I'd lost my head over a woman.
“She's the wife I chose. No backtalk.”
I cut him off ruthlessly, as if there was no more to say, and Mathias's whole face twitched.
That dog-like habit of his is surfacing again.
His squire days weren't much different in sloppiness and rudeness.
He'd only shaped up to his current knightly demeanor after getting pummeled with fists and beaten with a sword in crash-course etiquette training.
But when he got worked up, he forgot it all and turned into a lightning-struck beast again.
“Want me to retrain you in etiquette?”
“Gah!”
If he'd forgotten, I'd just remind him. The law is distant, but violence—no, education—is close at hand.
“Brother, please.”
Mathias hurriedly tucked in his tail.
“Spare me that. I'm the knight captain now.”
“Getting thrashed in front of the knights might have even more effect.”
“Brotherrr.”
Mathias drooped his eyes pathetically, signaling total surrender. But a faint trace of discontent lingered at the corners of his mouth.
Should I muzzle him?
He wasn't the type to listen anyway. He'd blab everywhere, avoiding my eyes.
No, just let him be.
If I couldn't fully silence him, better to use it. He was the only one who could spread rumors to the distant knight order.
But knowing his personality, he'd eventually cross the line. He wouldn't dare with me, but with Rose, he absolutely would.
Need to take precautions in advance.
As that thought crossed my mind,
Clank.
I gripped the sword at my waist.
“Ah, brother! You're not really—”
“Ahead.”
At my curt word, Mathias's demeanor shifted.