CATB Chapter 24

Ha, really—

I let out a hollow laugh because Berford returned exactly what I had said to him earlier, word for word.

That bastard, he looks pretty but he's pettier than he appears.

Still firmly gripping my shoulder, I momentarily wondered if it would seem too heartless if I smacked this bastard in the face and got off the horse. But he did help me, so going that far might be a bit much....

"Hurray!!!"

"The monsters are all dead. Hurray!!!"

With the one that Belkellion had just finished, the monsters in the field vanished without a trace.

The joy and happiness of winning the long battle filled the soldiers' hearts.

"Long live Captain Berford!!!"

Someone among them started a cheer for Berford's name.

What the f*ck?

What has this bastard done?

Well, I'll acknowledge that he didn't run away with his tail between his legs like the others, but—

Wasn't it me and Belkellion who did the bone-breaking monster cleanup?

Am I wrong?

When I quickly turned my head to look toward where the sound came from, it instantly became quiet.

I must have looked quite pissed off. I couldn't manage my expression. Sigh...

"Ah... Long live Princess Alexa!!!"

"That's right, this is all thanks to Lady Alexa!! Hurray!!!"

"Long live Alexa the Beast!!!!"

Is that last hurray a compliment or an insult?

Damn, Beast is just my name now.

People tend to get swept up in crowd psychology. The initially hesitant cheering soon spread among the soldiers, and now these bastards were putting their arms around each other's shoulders chanting "A-LEX-A!" They'll probably start singing the national anthem next.

But you know—

Doesn't it seem like someone else is missing, guys?

I looked at Belkellion with an uncomfortable expression.

He had made the greatest contribution in the monster attack. All I did was flap my mouth a bit to send the knights back into battle and killed a few monsters. The decisive contribution to today's victory (though I don't know if we can conclude that a monster attack was a victory) was because he had killed all the eastern groups and came over to this side.

To be honest, I wasn't as enthusiastic about monster extermination as I had been when I was with Belkellion earlier. I had some thoughts like 'let these bastards eat some shit,' and my heart just didn't reach the desperate feeling that I had to kill monsters. Not that I was negligent, though.

But Belkellion processed the monsters faster than anyone. In work that no one asked for or demanded, he did his best for Pellipe. Looking at his indifferent face watching me, he seemed to have expected this kind of reaction. Even with them so blatantly excluding him like this, he remained unshaken.

Why does that calm appearance make me angry?

He should have received praise for the enormous contribution he had just made to the battle.

It wasn't something to be brushed off so nonchalantly.

They say continued kindness becomes an entitlement—had his contributions been taken for granted this way?

I clenched my fists. I could feel my nails slightly digging into my flesh.

"You all are...."

My words, uttered amid the commotion, weren't heard clearly at first.

Whether Berford behind me gave some silent signal, the soldiers who had been noisily cheering eventually closed their mouths.

"Ungrateful."

"......"

At my coldly spoken words, the crowd became even quieter. Knowing that my mood had hit rock bottom, they cautiously watched for cues.

I couldn't directly mention the Grand Duke. If I had to mention him for them to recognize it, it might be seen as proof that the Grand Duke was being treated too lowly. I wanted Belkellion to be recognized for his worth, but I didn't want to hurt his pride.

"You're like dogs who don't recognize the owner who fed them and wag their tails at someone else. Isn't that right?"

At my words, the atmosphere turned ice cold. The knights seemed to sense something wrong in my words and were trying to figure out what they had done wrong.

Among them was the knight from the fifth row who had cleverly assisted me earlier.

When our eyes met, I looked down at him briefly, then turned my gaze to Belkellion. Then I looked back at the knight. The knight cleverly caught my intention from the rapidly changing glances.

"Long live Grand Duke Belkellion!!!"

The knight raised his voice in a cheer. His voice echoed across the quiet field.

He kindly continued to cheer the Grand Duke's name repeatedly. The bewildered soldiers soon seemed to realize. The Grand Duke's presence as he mercilessly cut down monsters. If he hadn't so easily defeated the monsters, it wouldn't have been easy to eliminate them all so quickly.

Really, as Alexa said, they deserved to be criticized for being ungrateful. A thread of guilt began to sprout in the soldiers' and knights' hearts. They hadn't been aware of the Grand Duke's presence because he said nothing. The Grand Duke who had been emanating intimidation earlier—had that intimidation faded at some point? No, they were still afraid of the Grand Duke standing quietly over there, so that wasn't it. Even searching for superficial reasons, no valid explanation came to mind. The faintly sprouted guilt erased the negative thoughts they had harbored toward the Grand Duke. Alexa had achieved a similar effect. The greatest contributors to this battle were those two.

It was ironic. The two most ostracized people in the kingdom had saved them.

The beast and the demon had saved their lives.

The royal family they had been proud to revere had fled when they needed them most.

First, at that.

What was right? No, where had things gone wrong?

They could hear the standards they had built and accumulated so far slowly crumbling.

Since they were all people who had lived in battlefields where life and death were at stake, they were quicker than ordinary citizens at grasping the essence of situations. They weren't bound by customs and obstinacy like ordinary nobles either. If they had been, their lives would have been lost long ago. Pride wasn't an essential element for survival.

They had been wrong.

"Hurray!!! Long live Princess Alexa!!! Long live Grand Duke Belkellion!!!!!"

"Long live Pellipe!!! Long live Grand Duke Belkellion!!!!"

"Long live Commander Alexa!!!"

The hesitant looks from earlier now began shouting her and the Grand Duke's names until their throats were hoarse. The fire bursting from their hearts escaped through their mouths. They were now truly ready to look at both of them.

The soldiers shouted Belkellion's name with one voice. My name came up too, but I felt more pride in the Grand Duke's name. I was looking down at them with satisfaction when a black shadow fell over my head.

The hand gripping my shoulder tightened further.

Ah, I was still with Berford.

I had been so angry earlier that I forgot his existence.

"Alexa."

A low bass voice resonated in my ears.

"Are you all right?"

Even though the soldiers were cheering his name, Belkellion showed no signs of pleasure.

He could be a little happy... well, I'll say it's good that he's consistent.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Of course. It wasn't really a dangerous situation."

I heard a faint snort from behind me.

Did he just mock me?

What the hell is this guy's character?

"If the Princess says so, then I guess it wasn't really a dangerous situation when your horse ended up like that."

At Berford's cold gaze looking down at the spot where the monster had attacked earlier, we all turned our eyes there.

A brown horse lay crushed flat under the large body. It was the brown horse that had followed me well earlier, and I felt very sorry. A horse's death might not be a big deal on a battlefield, but I was just an extremely ordinary civilian who had never even encountered horses before. If it hadn't been for me, that creature could have run away and survived.... As the innocent eyes of the horse that had looked at me came to mind, my chest tightened with guilt. Whether animal or human, watching the death of a being who had briefly shared a moment with me wasn't pleasant.

"......"

I fell silent. While the surroundings were bustling with cheers, silence hung around us.

"I'll have it buried in a good place."

Perhaps noticing that I was concerned about the dead horse, Belkellion spoke up.

Though it was quietly spoken, it still felt like it somewhat consoled my dejected heart.

"Marquess. Please put me down."

I spoke to Berford, who had remained silent afterward.

I was already quite uncomfortable with him for specifically pointing out the painfully dead horse.

After a brief silence, Berford soon let go of my shoulder. I jumped down from the horse.

At the same time, Belkellion also dismounted and approached me.

Kuro came over with him and rubbed his head against me. He was being cute, acting affectionate since he'd seen me earlier. He must take after his master. I smiled slightly.

"Alexa, ride Kuro."

"Then what about you, Grand Duke?"

"......"

"Are you going to walk then?"

"Yes."

How can someone be this kind—won't he get swindled somewhere?

People who look tough are often soft as marshmallows inside. I looked up at Belkellion with sympathetic eyes.

"Let's ride together."

"......"

The person who had snatched my waist without a second thought in the forest couldn't even think of riding together over something this trivial, so Belkellion quietly closed his mouth. Leading around someone this pure-hearted... sigh, I let out a sigh. Compared to me, who's rotten to the core and always looking for opportunities to make moves, I feel guilty.

"We rode together earlier too, come on."

When I urged him, he hesitated slightly, then approached me and Kuro. He firmly supported me as I clumsily tried to put my foot in the stirrup. Only after seeing me safely mounted did he climb up behind me. Why do I feel embarrassed again about riding together?

"Ah... Lady Alexa!! Where are you going...."

One of the knights who had been watching us approached and asked as I was about to leave.

What are you asking? I dealt with the monsters, saved you guys, now should I wipe your asses too?

I casually looked around. Everyone's attention seemed focused on us.

I should say something before leaving.

"Good work, everyone."

Wondering if Belkellion had something to say, I looked up at him, but as soon as my words ended, he immediately took the reins. Since I didn't particularly want to stop him either, I decided to keep my mouth shut until we left the hunting grounds.

Berford briefly watched the silhouettes of the man and woman riding the black horse as they departed.

He felt disgusted by the repetition of the emotion he had felt earlier in the forest.

At Berford's cold demeanor, the royal knights watched their captain's mood.

Thinking it was because of the soldiers still cheering for Alexa and Belkellion, the knights quickly lined up the soldiers. The cheering died down somewhat from earlier.

The knights didn't know that the main targets of the soldiers' cheers being Alexa and Belkellion wasn't the reason for Berford's current low mood.

Berford Harman, who was unusually upright and just for a nobleman, acknowledged that he had been completely powerless as a knight commander today. He also acknowledged that those two had greatly helped the knights today. Though he hadn't been very aware of the Grand Duke's presence, just from seeing him in action today, he could roughly guess at his abilities. He didn't feel inferior. He had already realized his limits long ago when looking at Alexa, so what would be surprising about this?

The reason for his irritation was, yes, not this.

Alexa.

Alexa the Beast.

Berford quietly mulled over that name.

She had been looking at the Grand Duke with the same eyes she used to look at him.

The only thing that had shone on that furry creature were her two golden eyes.

Those persistent eyes that had steadfastly followed only him were pathetic and tiresome. Contemptible.

Others would be shocked to faint if they heard, but Berford disliked the beast's personality more than her appearance.

Not that he had ever felt femininity in the beast's appearance, but if it had been only Alexa's appearance alone, Berford thought he might have kept the beast close. After all, she was an absurdly exceptional existence in war. They might have been able to become something like friends, he had thought when he was young. Yes, when he was that young. When he was naively foolish, he had thought that way.

Those persistently clinging eyes of Alexa that had followed him around, those spine-chilling eyes that had been the only things to sparkle brightly, were now directed toward the Grand Duke.

Indeed, even with the magic broken, her obsessive nature that couldn't tell heaven from earth hadn't gone anywhere—even when the monster was attacking, she was too busy following the Grand Duke with her eyes to pay attention. She was truly a pathetically hopeless existence. Whether it was falling stupidly into that trap earlier or causing all sorts of accidents like a screw was loose, she was no different from before. That beast only thinks of herself. She doesn't even consider the surrounding repercussions her actions might cause.

Berford had now succeeded in maintaining perfect composure regarding the beast through long practice.

He was no longer young enough to get worked up over every single thing that beast did.

But

Why does he keep—

Why does he keep feeling disgusted?

"Return to the royal palace."

Berford opened his mouth in a low voice.

It almost sounded like a growl.