TLSD 10

Chapter 10

Even from a distance, why did those laughing sounds travel so clearly?

She forced down the potato against a throat choked even on watery soup, chewing thoroughly to avoid indigestion.

She seriously and deliberately debated whether to eat the greasy bird leg right now or save it for later, before being startled straight by a horse’s whinny.

Carlos’s back came into view.

When had he gotten so close? He was stacking mountain-high piles of fodder right in front of her.

“Planning to catch a cold? Pull your blanket up properly.”

Elio stared wide-eyed at the man who spoke as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

“Summer colds are for dogs—”

The man turned around.

“It’s warm….”

With an awkward posture, Elio spread the blanket he had given her last night across her knees.

Flustered by his lingering, unblinking gaze, she grabbed the bird leg and slipped a bite into her mouth. He slowly turned away again, piling up buckets of water for the horses.

He seemed to do all the chores himself instead of making the junior knights handle them.

Taking the hint, Elio took just a single bite of the bird leg and set it down. She quickly got to her feet and reached for a bucket.

If she got kicked out right now, she wouldn’t even have lodging money to survive on her own.

Until she saved up enough money, for at least three months, she couldn’t afford to get on his bad side. Neither this man’s nor Greta’s….

“Uhm…! Give me that bucket. I’ll carry it.”

The man slipped on his leather gloves and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m really good at all sorts of—”

“I don’t make kids work, so go eat.”

The man clicked his tongue and reached out. With his own thumb, he roughly wiped away the greasy residue smeared around the corner of her mouth.

“How many did you eat?”

“O… one.”

Elio stammered with a blazing hot face.

The man had nonchalantly wiped her mouth with his thumb and then licked the grease off his thumb with his tongue.

What is he, a total playboy….

Flushing red, Elio turned away and rubbed her lips fiercely. She felt thrown off by the calluses on the man’s thumb brushing against her lips.

She grew convinced he was a libertine who hated the idea of marriage and only cared about playing around with lovers.

“Don’t leave anything. We’re leaving soon. Wash your food tray when you’re done eating.”

He spoke indifferently, picked up the bucket and the remaining bundle of fodder in one arm, and walked toward the wagon. The young knights were all busy loading boxes onto the wagons.

Elio looked around uncertainly before rushing back to her food tray and hungrily devouring the rest of the bird leg.

As soon as she finished her meal in a rush, Carlos signaled for departure right on cue.

Elio scrubbed her food tray in the ice-cold brook water until it squeaked, drying it entirely with the hem of her skirt.

Shortly after scrambling into the wagon in a daze, shouting orders rang out, and the horses powerfully dug their hooves in and bolted forward.

It was her first time experiencing such a bustling, busy morning. The wagon sped along so fast that the bushes blurred past like afterimages.

Rubbing her red fingertips frozen by the cold brook water, Elio rummaged through her pocket and pulled out some dried jerky.

“…You could’ve woken me up earlier.”

“Sleep more.”

He said with his eyes closed. Since he kept his eyes closed, she just stared right at him and chewed her jerky sparingly.

She exhaled in time with his quiet breathing.

Her jerky-chewing slowed down gradually until she stopped chewing altogether. Her gaze naturally drifted down along the man’s bold lines.

Fascinated by his broad, square shoulders—easily three times the width of hers—she stared intently before her eyes traveled lower down.

A chest stretched so tautly it looked as though the leather armor might burst.

A sleek waist bound by cord.

Thighs thicker than a warhorse’s….

Even someone sturdy like Greta would surely be scooped up and enveloped in those arms…

“You said you learned swordsmanship.”

He opened his eyes and turned his head at the exact same moment. Elio started chewing the jerky rapidly like a thief caught in the act.

“In the backyard mountain. From a big sis I know.”

“Did Lady Greta already tell you?”

Elio popped her head straight out of the wagon window. The warm wind brushed against her flushed cheeks.

“Give me your hand.”

“Why?”

At the abrupt, random demand, Elio clutched the window frame.

Carlos let out a short huff and held out his hand to Elio.

“What is this. Uncharacteristically… are you handing out candies or something?”

Elio’s eyes rounded as she carefully pinched the strawberry hard candy resting in his palm.

Her hand was caught.

Holding her fingers that gripped the candy, he pulled the candy right out of her hand and popped it straight into her parted lips.

Left flustered, Elio rolled the candy into her cheek, blinking blankly as she alternated between looking at Carlos and her captured hand. She hurriedly shoved the candy deeper into the side of her mouth.

“W-what are you—”

He lightly stroked the tender skin between her index finger and thumb.

Tension surged into her hand, and her shoulders stiffened. Her stunned face heated up.

“That’s not a hand that has held a sword.”

He locked eyes with her, as if weighing something suspicious. Before long, he lifted both her hands entirely and kneaded them to inspect her calluses.

Absurdity gaping her mouth open, Elio struggled to yank her hand back and cried out:

“I-I really did learn, you know!”

Carlos chuckled dryly, let go of her hand, and leaned back against the seat.

“It’s strawberry flavor. Not to your liking?”

He curved the corners of his lips as he watched the frozen rabbit, who was neither sucking nor chewing the candy.

“It really doesn’t suit the commander.”

Elio muttered under her breath with a look reserved for a lunatic.

“My mother gave it to me.”

“……Strawberry is universally liked, after all.”

Rolling the candy over her tongue, a sweet strawberry fragrance spread throughout her mouth.

Love is truly blind; the Duchess must have understood her own son terribly poorly. Strawberry-flavored candy for a beast like this guy?

Total wolf. Libertine….

Frowning, Elio threw the wagon window wide open and rested her flushed hands on the window frame.

Watching the woman’s smooth hands quietly, Carlos followed her gaze toward the window. The wagon had already cleared the dense forest and was rolling across a low hill.

Perhaps because of the little rabbit poking her face out the window, a sweet strawberry scent drifted in on the breeze.

He tapped his armrest slowly and rhythmically.

“Shall we go a round later?”

Carlos’s cool lips curved softly.

“You and me. Swordsmanship.”

Elio dropped her jaw, completely forgetting to suck on her candy.

You and me? What?

It was an absurd combination of words.

“I’m curious about the swordsmanship you claim to have learned.”

“You want to spar over that? With the dragon slayer… me?”

Wasn’t that a wildly creative form of suicide?

“Sign here, quickly.”

Eyes sparkling, Elio thrust a piece of paper forward.

Beneath the cool shade of a tree, standing three steps away from the man, she stretched her arm out as far as it could go.

Carlos let out a dry laugh and wrote down “Schönhardt” in a clean, flawless cursive.

Elio moistened her lips and carefully accepted the signed paper.

Recommendation Letter

At those three deeply satisfying words, a cotton-soft smile naturally slipped out.

“To randomly demand a recommendation from me. What on earth are you planning to use it for?”

Carlos chuckled as he watched the woman stroke his signature.

“Who knows what kind of work I’ll end up doing after parting ways with you? Whatever job it is, won’t people trust me more if I have a recommendation letter from a Schönhardt? Make sure to stamp your official seal on it once we reach the capital.”

“I worry about the reliability of the Schönhardt name.”

At Carlos’s clicking of his tongue, Elio glared at him.

“You should at least be willing to sacrifice that much…! A lady like me is putting aside immense fear and danger just to spar in swordsmanship with you. I need to get something out of it, too.”

“What is there to be afraid of?”

“The sword! It’s scary! And you holding a sword is even scarier.”

“You said you knew how.”

“Even if I know how, scary is scary!”

Carlos asked back in disbelief.

“And what about putting yourself in danger?”

“Because you’re dangerous.”

“Me?”

Elio leaned in toward him, her brows furrowing deeply.

“How do I know you won’t torture me by claiming you’re just testing my strength, like you did with the ogre? What if I end up dying?”

He gazed at her quietly without a word.

Elio let out a soft sigh and shook her head side by side. She folded his recommendation letter neatly and tucked it deep inside her bag.

Isn’t this compensation worth enduring at least one sparring match? Even by her own standards, it felt like a brilliantly harvested reward.

A brisk gust of wind flipped the hem of Elio’s skirt. Consciously avoiding the man, Elio’s gaze followed the wind.

All over the hill, knights were kicking a ball made of matted grass or lying down taking a nap.

Looking at the horizon stretching endlessly below the hill, her mouth felt dry.

Which estate should she settle down in and live in from now on? Pressing her fingertips firmly together, she turned her head.

The man was still leaning against the same tree trunk, quietly closing his eyes.

The sight of him dozing under the large plane tree looked so peaceful and relaxed that Elio’s rapidly beating heart calmed down in sync.

Could this guy ever feel scared, even once…?

He was so unfailingly nonchalant that she felt like even if she dropped dead right in front of him, he’d just say, ‘My, how frail. Dead already,’ and move on….

“……!”

Elio stiffened with a start. She locked eyes with pitch-black pupils.

“Why don’t you pay for your recommendation letter now?”

She stared at the greatsword that had dropped right in front of her. It finally hit home that she was stuck with this insane Schönhardt who would bare his blade even against his own fiancée.

Carlos gestured for her, took three brisk strides forward, raised his greatsword up to his brow, and then lowered it.

Barely steadying her trembling body, Elio picked up her sword and stepped up to face him. Cold sweat broke out at the sight of the giant sword towering over her height. Just how much would it hurt to get slashed by that thing?

“…Aren’t you going to greet me?”

“What greeting?”

“…….”

Amidst the man’s heavy silence, Elio nervously gauged his expression before bowing deeply at the waist.

Carlos silently looked down at the fair back of the woman’s neck as she bowed at a 90-degree angle to him.

For the first time in his life, he felt like a back-alley thug.

To think he was seriously baring his blade against a woman who hadn’t even learned how to greet an opponent in a spar.

“Commander. What on earth are you doing with a delicate lady? She’s still just a child, don’t bully her.”

Greta approached with a soft smile and gently grabbed his shoulder.