….I feel nervous.
Rienne was riding on Black’s horse with him, but she felt embarrassed. She was extremely conscious of how he was sitting behind her, feeling his touch and heat against her back.
The mercenaries that were escorting them back to the castle were fewer in number in comparison to the ones she had seen at the Kleinfelder Estate. In total, there were only three following them, but they were lagging so far behind, Rienne and Black might as well have been alone.
[ Rienne ] “How is your shoulder….? Does it hurt?”
Rienne asked while swallowing her discomfort and mustering her courage.
[ Rienne ] “If it’s difficult to hold onto the reins, I can take them.”
As they traveled, Black was holding onto the reins with one hand while keeping Rienne’s body securely on the horse with the other.
[ Black ] “It’s fine. It’s not bothering me.”
[ Rienne ] “I see.”
[ Black ] “But there is something else that is.”
[ Rienne ] “Something else…?”
[ Black ] “Why is there blood on your lips?”
[ Rienne ] “Huh?”
Immediately, Rienne lifted her hand and touched her lips. Sure enough, there was a hint of red left on her fingertips.
This must have been from when I bit Rafit…
[ Black ] “Did someone bite you?”
[ Rienne ] “No…I…”
Rienne wanted to say she wasn’t bitten by anyone. In fact it was just the opposite, but in order to explain herself, she’d have to talk about Rafit. Knowing that, she clamped her mouth shut.
[ Black ] “Then why the blood?”
[ Rienne ] “It’s just….”
But she couldn’t think of a good excuse.
[ Rienne ] “It’s alright, I’m not hurt….”
[ Black ] “So you say, Princess.”
[ Rienne ] “Well… I just so happened to… get blood on my face….”
[ Black ] “On your lips, of all places.”
[ Rienne ] “. . .”
There wasn’t any reasonable situation that would cause someone to have blood on their lips. As Rienne struggled to explain herself, Black suddenly stopped talking. Catching this, Rienne turned her head up to look at him.
His mouth was twitching.
Black let go of the reins, turning Rienne’s body to face him with one hand.
[ Black ] “Can I make sure of it myself?”
[ Rienne ] “What…. do you mean?”
[ Black ] “I want to make sure you’re really not hurt.”
She wasn’t. That much was true.
[ Rienne ] “I’m fine, honestly.”
[ Black ] “I don’t believe you.”
He spoke his last words so quickly and so quietly that Rienne didn’t even have a chance to reply before Black seized the sides of her face with both his hands. Her mind was so busy trying to catch up she wasn’t even surprised when he wet his lips with his tongue.
[ Rienne ] “What are you doing…?”
[ Black ] “Open your mouth.”
[ Rienne ] “. . .”
And just like that, he pressed his mouth over hers and began his search.
He wasn’t really kissing her.
Black was just meticulously checking inside her mouth, searching every inch of her to see if she was hurt or not.
It wasn’t a kiss, but that just made all of this even stranger. Rienne couldn’t say a single word, even as someone’s tongue intensely explored her. By the time her lips were free, Rienne was breathing heavily, her hands weakly clasping her sleeves.
[ Black ] “No injuries.”
…That’s what I told you.
[ Black ] “That’s good.”
Was it really?
Already, Rienne was worried this feeling would never go away—that she’d never be able to forget it this sensation. Even now, it still felt like his tongue was inside her.
Her body was trembling and she felt dizzy, and even looking at Black wetting his lips made her remember what just happened, that dizzy feeling only intensifying with the thought.
[ Black ] “Why were you there alone?”
Completely unfazed, Black urged the horse to start moving again. Feeling the jolting movement, Rienne instinctively grabbed onto him to maintain her balance, her body still turned towards him.
….This is too strange.
Rienne always thought she’d rather fall off a horse than hold onto him like this and yet, even the thought of feeling that way felt weird to her.
How does he always do this to me?
She should hate him for all he’d done. She should be terrified of him and yet…
[ Black ] “Is it a difficult question to answer?”
[ Rienne ] “…I wasn’t alone. Lord Weroz accompanied me but at some point he disappeared… Ah Lord Weroz!”
It was a realization that hit Rienne far too late.
In all the commotion, she had completely forgotten about Weroz.
[ Rienne ] “Lord Weroz might have been locked up.”
[ Black ] “At that house?”
[ Rienne ] “He’s not the type to just disappear without saying a word, and yet I couldn’t find him when I needed him. That must mean….”
A sense of urgency hit Rienne.
They had to return to the castle as soon as possible and send the castle guard back to retrieve him. If anything were to happen to Weroz, Rienne would never forgive herself.
Weroz was one of the few people Rienne could trust without question.
[ Rienne ] “Please, we need to hurry. We have to send the castle guard back to help him.”
[ Black ] “That won’t be necessary.”
Black pulled back on the reins, slowing down their tracks as he gestured behind him. Seeing his signal, the men who were following far behind rushed over.
[ Mercenaries ] “Yes, my Lord.”
[ Black ] “One of you, go back and tell Phermos to keep an eye out for the Captain of Nauk’s castle guard.”
[ Mercenary ] “Yes, sir.”
Swiftly, the order was carried out. Without hesitation, one of the three mercenaries following them quickly turned his horse around and charged back towards the Kleinfelder Estate.
He was moving at a pace much faster than if they were to return to the castle first and sent a guard back instead.
[ Rienne ] “….Thank you.”
Rienne’s voice was soft.
Finally, Rienne was starting to understand. The reason why she felt so safe and comfortable around this man at times wasn’t because he was big or his body was sturdy. It was everything else.
He listens to my troubles even though he knows I’m hiding something from him. He checked to see if I was hurt and does things to help me.
And…he tries to alleviate my worries.
Reminding herself of that, it made her feel as though they were a true couple, bonded with real affection.
[ Black ] “I only did as I should.”
Rienne felt her body tremble whenever she made contact with him as he spoke.
I don’t hate this. I don’t hate this at all.
And that wasn’t the only thing.
Their horse was walking towards the castle at an extremely slow pace. It was like time had entirely slowed and Rienne thought, even just for a moment, that she didn’t dislike it.
* * *
[ Maslow ] “We’ll likely need around 170 million for the funeral. We should consider ourselves lucky the coffins they provided were suitable enough.”
Maslow put a piece of paper in front of Rienne, dense with various numbers. After looking it over, Rienne verified the numbers were correct and nodded as she put it down.
[ Rienne ] “That sounds reasonable. We should thank the Tiwakan.”
[ Maslow ] “I think not. If it weren’t for them, there would be no need for a funeral in the first place.”
Maslow stroked his chin in a disapproving manner, as if he were witnessing a small child misbehaving.
[ Rienne ] “It’s not as though I’m taking sides, but Nauk was the one who attempted a raid in the first place. I don’t wish to argue this point any further so let’s just move on. Let’s discuss the matter of the wedding gift.” (1)
[ Maslow ] “You’re planning on giving him a gift?”
Maslow’s eyes widened.
[ Maslow ] “Didn’t that man say he’d take care of everything? I wasn’t even considering a gift because of that.”
[ Rienne ] “He said he’d pay for the wedding and the dress, but the gift is a different story.”
[ Maslow ] “As I’ve said before, you don’t need to force yourself to be polite to him.”
[ Rienne ] “I’m not. But he got me something, so it’s only fair.”
Rienne had gotten a large chest of gold coins as an engagement gift, so it wasn’t as though she could just forgo the wedding gift and claim she forgot. Back then, she didn’t even consider this a true marriage. She still thought he was only trying to take things from her.
…I’m one to talk, though.
Who’s taking things from whom now?
It was a laughable thought and Rienne could only smile mockingly at the irony of the situation.
With how things were, it always seemed to slip her mind that he was the one forcing this marriage to happen.
[ Rienne ] “It’s embarrassing to admit, but I was the one who received gold as a gift. It isn’t as though we have zero funds, so please prepare a suitable gift in accordance to Nauk’s wedding customs. It should be delivered to the Tiwakan before the wedding.”
[ Maslow ] “That’s, um cough, cough.”
The moment Rienne mentioned money, Maslow awkwardly coughed.
[ Rienne ] “Lord Maslow?”
That meant something was wrong.
[ Maslow ] “It’s just that… in terms of money… we don’t have much left, Princess.”
[ Rienne ] “Excuse me?”
You’ve got to be kidding.
[ Rienne ] “What are you talking about? How long has it been like that?”
[ Maslow ] “Well, after that loan card was established three years ago, all income made by the royal family, excluding taxes, now belongs to the creditor of the loan—Lord Linden Kleinfelder.”
[ Rienne ] “What?”
Rienne jumped up from her seat.
[ Rienne ] “Those are the exact details of the loan?”
[ Maslow ] “Yes, Princess.”
Maslow said this while biting his tongue.
[ Maslow ] “You remember three years ago during the drought…. There wasn’t a single drop of rain until the summer’s end. Because of the lack of water, a disease began to spread in the crops, so that’s when you decided, Princess….”
Maslow’s words trailed off as he shut his mouth. That pale, distorted look on his face was all Rienne needed to jog her memory.
[ Rienne ] “I decided to borrow money from the Kleinfelders using that foolish loan card….Yes…I remember now.”
From what little she could remember from that time, she felt nothing but despair back then. Every day, more and more people were dying from starvation. Rienne knew that loan was suspicious at best, but to save her people, she had no choice but to agree.
It was humiliating and she knew she’d be made to pay the price for such a choice in the future, but she couldn’t stand by and watch her people die.
[ Rienne ] “So there’s no money left?”
[ Maslow ] “In accordance with the law, I checked what we had yesterday and sent it over to the Kleinfelder Estate. After that we received a notice stating the interest that was deducted from the principal amount.”
[ Rienne ] “And you didn’t even think to tell me?”
[ Maslow ] “I thought you already knew.”
[ Rienne ] “. . .”
Left completely speechless, Rienne glared at Maslow.
He didn’t tell me on purpose.
If he had, Rienne would’ve used that money to pay for necessary expenses first, so he sent it off to the Kleinfelders as soon as it came in instead.
…And no doubt he got a cut himself.
While he was no match for the Kleinfelders, Maslow was just as greedy of a person.
Maslow, the High Priest—everyone sided with the Kleinfelders so they could ride their coattails towards prosperity, rather than side with the poor and destitute royal family.
[ Maslow ] “If you’d like, we can always borrow money from Lord Kleinfelder to get a gift. Lord Kleinfelder may not be so inclined to welcome your marriage, but he is a generous man. I’m certain he’ll be willing to give you what you need.”
[ Rienne ] “….Enough.”
Rienne’s voice was tired.
A generous man?
The only reason why the Kleinfelders were able to act the way they did despite their status was because of the huge debt the royal family owed. It’s why they acted so insolently.
But what Linden had tried to do that day was proof he would never, under any circumstance, put forth money that would allow this marriage to happen.
[ Rienne ] “I will not incur another debt.”
I will not allow myself to be dragged around by them forever because of money owed.
Rienne still couldn’t believe everything that happened today. The Kleinfelders may look down on the royal family, but to think they were capable of trying something like that.
They called the High Priest to their home and tried to force her to marry Rafit.
It was an action that showed Rienne they didn’t respect her as a human being, much less as the Princess of Nauk.
If Black hadn’t shown up when he did, she would’ve been trapped inside that house. She would’ve been forced to get married and forced to endure a first night.
[ Maslow ] “If I may, Princess, I don’t think it will be that easy to decide.”
With no regard for her thoughts, Maslow added another comment.
[ Maslow ] “Nauk has been surviving on Kleinfelder money for years now. If that flow were to suddenly be cut off, the people will starve to death.”
[ Rienne ] “. . .”
[ Maslow ] “Rather than reducing the principal amount owed, we’ll likely need to borrow more just to pay back the interest. The burden has been lessened somewhat thanks to the money supplied by the Tiwakan, but even so…”
Once again, the crushing undeniable reality made Rienne quiet.
All those horrible feelings from three years ago came back to haunt her. The frustration, the deathly exhaustion—even thinking about it made her feel sick.
With a pale face, Rienne turned to Maslow.
[ Rienne ] “Alright, fine. We’ll forget about the gift.”
[ Maslow ] “Very well. You should rest, Princess. You look ill.”
His concern didn’t sound in the least bit sincere, but he left the King’s office after expressing his weak worry.
[ Rienne ] “……..I’m so sick and tired of everything.”
Rienne gently knocked over the ink bottle on the table, but the lid was closed so it didn’t even leak.
Truthfully, Rienne wanted to throw a fit.
She was so angry, she wanted to throw things around and make a mess, but even that was a luxury she couldn’t afford. If she threw that ink bottle and it broke, she’d have to think about the money she’d need to buy more.
[ Rienne ] “What a shameless person I am.”
You gave me so much money and yet I can’t even get you a gift in return.
Rienne’s situation was so miserable and laughable she could only bury her face in her hands—a self-pitying laugh escaping from between her fingers.
[ Rienne ] “….No, at times like this, I should be thinking about what I can do.”
Rienne lifted herself up from her seat.
Even if I can’t get you a proper gift, there is something I can give you.
How do you feel?
