AFYD 06

 Chapter 06

“Princess. We have arrived.”

Shortly after the carriage came to a stop, a knight announced their arrival.

Ines took a final breath, then extended her foot through the opened door. Shoes made of magically treated fine leather stepped onto the carriage stairs.

The moment she fully emerged, an icy wind blew in. At the same time, a snowy landscape unfolded before her eyes—something never seen in the ever-mild capital. A place still entirely white even in the heart of spring: the north.

Her skin, accustomed to the warm interior of the carriage, protested the cold, but Ines paid it no mind and drew a deep breath.

Cold air rushed into her lungs. The cool, clean breath she had longed for until the day she died.

“……”

Only then did it feel like she was truly breathing. Only now did she truly feel that she was alive.

Ines forced strength into her moistening eyes and took the remaining step she had halted.

As she fully descended from the carriage, a tall man approached her.

Among all those wearing thick winter coats without exception, he was the only one in a light dress uniform, yet he looked more robust than anyone.

Ines forgot to walk, forgot to breathe, and simply stared blankly at him as he drew near.

Black hair contrasting against the white snowfield, deep blue eyes shining within profound eye sockets, a tall, straight nose bridge, smooth lips.

Ines could not take her eyes off the man. The man possessed a tremendously excellent appearance, and was wrapped in an atmosphere that surpassed it.

A well-refined ferocity that only an overwhelming strongman could possess.

That much was evident just from the way the imperial knights—whose pride reached the sky—gazed at him with entranced eyes.

But that was not why Ines could not look away.

Killian Rupert, alive, his eyes more brilliant than any jewel, gazing at her and moving without hesitation.

<Killian, snap out of it. Open your eyes. Please…….>

As if erasing the afterimage of those firmly closed eyelids, Ines continued to paint him on her retina and carve him into her mind. At last, he stopped about three steps before her.

“Welcome to Rupert, Princess.”

A heavy, low voice that pleasantly coiled into the ear.

“I am Killian Rupert.”

The greeting she heard for the second time in her life.

In that moment, Ines had to clench her fists tightly to swallow the sob threatening to burst out.

* * *

It did not take long for Ines to compose her emotions.

‘Pull yourself together.’

Scolding herself inwardly once more, Ines drew a natural smile.

“Thank you for coming to meet me, Grand Duke. I am Ines Delcarion.”

Her voice, as it flowed out, was somewhat trembling, but it was not entirely unseemly to hear.

Ines felt slightly relieved. It had been worth drawing out this reunion hundreds of times before today came.

But that too was brief—Ines soon lost her relief. Because Killian’s eyes, which had been gazing at her, furrowed ever so slightly.

‘Did I make some mistake? That can’t be…….’

She soon learned the reason.

“I think it would be better to exchange the rest of our greetings inside. You seem very cold.”

Cold, her? Ines asked back with a bewildered face.

“……Me?”

“You’re trembling.”

Killian, who had shrugged lightly, gestured with his eyes toward Ines’s arm.

“Ah…….”

Only then did Ines realize that her hands were trembling violently.

This trembling was not from the cold, as he said. It was the residue left behind when emotions she thought she had neatly organized escaped control.

But to the eyes of others who did not know him, it would look like she was shivering from the cold.

Killian was this considerate. The trembling hands of a princess the Emperor had forced upon him—he could have simply ignored them.

Ines naturally curled her hands into fists and smiled faintly.

“It is…… a little cold.”

Then she murmured softly.

In truth, it was not cold. Her emotions outpaced her senses, leaving no room to feel the chill.

“Still, in about a month it will become quite warm. The north has its summers too, after all.”

Killian answered her small murmur kindly and set off walking toward the castle.

As he took a step, his broad back was immediately visible. Then she too should move and follow at his side. But in that moment, his firm and upright back overlapped with his blood-soaked back that had always walked one step ahead, and her legs stiffened without her realizing it.

<Ines. Don’t fall behind me.>

<Your back is bleeding…….>

<It’s fine. You know this much heals quickly.>

<……Killian.>

The dragonkin’s regenerative power was unbelievably excellent, but even that had its limits.

Blocking the endlessly pouring enemies, his back gradually became soaked in blood, and from some point on, his clothes could no longer hold the blood and it dripped steadily to the floor.

In that situation, all the pitiful, powerless Ines could do was endure her near-bursting heart and avoid falling behind.

However unhappy her childhood may have been, she was still a princess who had been raised precious, having never even held a sharp blade, let alone done menial work.

In a wartime situation where every moment was urgent and even a cat’s paw was desperately needed, Ines, who had only been raised delicately, was nothing but a burden. No one said so to her, which made Ines resent herself all the more.

Ines could only foolishly stare at Killian’s back as it grew ever more distant.

“Princess?”

At that moment, a maid who found it strange that Ines was standing still called out to her. Only then did Ines come to her senses.

“……Ah.”

“Are you all right? Are you unwell somewhere……. As I thought, you must have overexerted yourself. The north is so cold too……. Shall I support you?”

At the maid’s words, she felt Killian turn to look. Ines quickly replied.

“No, I’m fine.”

Because the memories and emotions of the past had swept through her entire body, the tone of her refusal came out rather sharply.

“Yes…….”

At Ines’s reaction, the maid, Lena Orso, retreated one step with a slightly sullen face.

Ines briefly considered whether to soothe her, but soon withdrew her gaze. This much could be attributed to fatigue, and setting everything else aside, now was not the mood to face that loathsome countenance.

Killian, who had by then grown three steps away, suddenly returned to Ines. Then, with a somewhat awkward face, he apologized.

“I apologize. My pace was too fast. I am clumsy in how I treat women and made a mistake.”

“No. I was just thinking about something else for a moment…….”

Ines hastily waved her hands in embarrassment and apology. Killian, smiling faintly at that, instead of walking ahead again, extended his hand.

“If it’s all right with you, I will escort you.”

Ines looked at him with somewhat dazed eyes, then gradually lowered her gaze.

A hand that was large and firm, yet gave the impression of being delicate and beautiful rather than crude.

That hand was always soft and gentle, and after his deep blue eyes, Ines loved this large, firm hand the most.

“……I would gladly accept.”

Swallowing the formless stone rising up her throat, Ines carefully placed her hand over his.

Even amid the fierce wind, his hand was very warm. She was deeply grateful for that warmth.

Because Ines had held in her arms a man whose warmth had vanished.

* * *

As she entered inside on Killian’s escort, a cozy warmth that made her forget the cold air outside wrapped around her entire body. At the same time, servants lined up in rows welcomed Ines.

“We greet the Princess.”

Ines looked with a somewhat dazed face at the dozens of servants bowing politely at the waist.

This extravagant welcome was also her second time, but since she had paid it no mind before, she ended up looking shabby in her surprise.

“Ivan.”

Killian, who had glanced at the flinching Ines, called someone. Then a middle-aged man who had been bowing at the very front straightened his upper body.

With neatly groomed graying hair and glasses that suited his clean butler’s uniform, he was the head butler, Ivan.

“Everyone, return to your respective posts.”

At the instruction of Ivan, who had received his master’s command, the servants returned to their workplaces in perfect order without leaving behind even a single curious glance.

What remained there were Ivan and a woman who appeared to be of similar age to him.

Killian, who had naturally released the hand that had been escorting her, introduced the two.

“This is Ivan, and beside him, Marisa. They serve as the head butler and head maid of this castle.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess. I am Ivan Brodel, head butler of Rupert Castle.”

“I am Marisa Dianin, the head maid.”

Ivan and Marisa bowed once more in greeting. Even without that introduction, Ines knew them.

<Hurry and go! Hurry!>

<What will you all do……!>

<You need not worry about us. We have already lived as much as we need to.>

<Ivan!>

<We entrust the master to you, Madam.>

The two who had volunteered to remain in Rupert Castle as crimson flames surged, in order to buy time. Killian and Ines, who had to flee leaving them behind with hearts vomiting blood.

Ines held the memories rushing in like waves close to her chest and smiled as if nothing were amiss.

“Both of you, I look forward to working with you going forward.”

In this life, she would never let it be that way.

Never again would someone lose their life to protect her, and furthermore, she would make it so that this castle would not burn.

That was the best atonement Ines could make.