EEA Chapter 26

A few days later at dawn, the couple departed for Escalize. The carriage that set out at dawn stopped in the middle of an empty field when the sun went down. They couldn't reach the Sutton region in a single day.

Several tents were pitched where the carriage had stopped. When Ailea stepped down from the carriage, her face was so pale that Kaiton, who had been directing the tent setup, was startled and rushed over.

"My lady, you don't look well. Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's not that..."

When the sound of wolves howling came from somewhere, Ailea's eyes squeezed shut. Only then did Kaiton realize she was afraid of wolf howls, and he wore a troubled expression. 

Kaiton said, "It's alright. If the sound is this faint, they must be very far away."

"Yes..."

Ailea's shoulders trembled slightly. While Kaiton was at a loss for what to do, Clint, who had walked over from a distance, asked, "What's wrong?"

"It seems my lady is frightened by the wolf sounds."

"Is that so?"

Clint looked at the trembling Ailea and asked, "Should I have them hunted down? It would take some time, though."

"Oh, no! In the middle of the night..."

"It would be good training."

Just traveling this long distance was hard enough, and now wolf hunting! When she could feel waves of despair from all around, Ailea shook her head vigorously.

"I'm not that scared of this much."

At her words, Clint crossed his arms and asked Kaiton, "Sir Kaiton, doesn't my lady seem to be shaking? Is she cold?"

"Yes, she's trembling quite a bit. She must be cold."

"Even though we're heading south."

As the two men teased her, Ailea glared at them alternately. Clint chuckled and grabbed Ailea's arm to pull her along.

"Let's go to the tent. I'll stay by your side until you fall asleep."

"Oh, that works out well."

"Hm?"

"Then would you like to study while you're at it?"

"...My lady, I'm not feeling well right now."

Though Clint tried hard to deny reality, Kaiton quickly brought over the bag containing Ailea's belongings and carried it to the tent.

With the two-pronged attack, Clint had no choice but to read the documents Ailea had prepared.

Clint's expression, which had been pained at first, gradually became more serious.

This wasn't an amount that could be organized in a short time. Moreover, the level of vocabulary she used surpassed even the eldest sons of noble families who had received intensive education.

Clint asked Ailea, "You know..."

"Yes?"

"Weren't you scared when you were exiled to the outer castle? What kind of mindset did you have to study this much?"

Ailea looked at Clint for a moment. Then she smiled with her eyes and said, "Don't make excuses and just study."

"...Even my older brother wasn't made to study more than you."

Though Clint grumbled, he obediently turned his head back to the documents.

Several days later, the carriage arrived at the Escalize territory, which was at the very edge of the Sutton region.

Upon arriving at the territory, the first thing they encountered was a village. The commoners lived in the safest place in the territory, and behind them were several mansions where Escalize's former vassals had lived, though they had now been massacred.

At the entrance, an enormous number of soldiers had come out to greet the two. Ailea's eyes widened.

"Were there always this many people?"

Each time they recaptured a castle, Teniac natives rescued from there joined them, growing their numbers. Clint smiled and said,

"Did you think we recaptured Escalize with just twenty men?"

Ailea had never seen so many people gathered in one place in her entire life. Only now did Ailea truly understand why Clint might find his position burdensome. All the scales she had imagine in her mind while staying indoors had been far too small.

"Do you see over there? That's Escalize Castle."

There was a vast meadow, and in its center stood Escalize, which Clint had just reclaimed.

Ailea's mouth fell open on its own.

The dazzling green land. The castle of Escalize in the south, beautiful yet stained with blood, where countless white flowers bloomed.

The meticulously built castle was solid. It wasn't a castle made for show. A castle built solely for strength.

Sutton too was incomparably vast compared to what she had imagined. And the master of that castle, the Grand Duke of Escalize, would rule this enormous territory that comprised one-third of Teniac, without much interference from the Emperor.

Clint whispered in his wife's ear,

"Now you will become the mistress of that castle."

"..."

"This is a dangerous place. The village is behind us, and we guard the front lines. This is the place that best shows the roots of our country Teniac's ideology, where nobles take responsibility for commoners' safety instead of collecting taxes from them—here at Escalize."

He continued, "If I were to lose to enemy forces and even lose my head, everyone in this castle would fall into slavery under the Kanna Empire."

"..."

"A striking woman like you might be dragged around as war spoils and made into a spectacle."

Though it sounded like he was trying to frighten her, it was merely realistic talk. Ailea bit her lip. If Clint were to die, this would actually happen. This castle was dangerous. And only someone with strength proportional to that danger could claim this castle.

Clint led Ailea to his horse, Velvet. She stroked the back of Velvet, who had been exhausted from running to the border for days while leading other horses.

Clint watched this scene silently. Velvet didn't like being touched by anyone other than her master. She wouldn't attack, but she would move to another location. Yet somehow, she didn't avoid Ailea's touch.

Velvet must be tired. Clint thought to himself as he helped Ailea onto the horse and headed toward the border.

"Captain Ron also died in battle because of His Majesty the Emperor's unreasonable demand to recapture this place."

"...Yes."

"You were safe even when your father died in battle because you're from Yuliana Castle in the interior, but it's different in this castle. If I die, your life ends too."

"..."

"I'm not telling you to run away. I'm telling you to stay alert."

He smiled mischievously and then spurred his horse to the very edge of the meadow in one swift motion. When they reached the edge of the meadow, the border came into view. He helped Ailea down from the horse for a moment. Then, pointing to the half-collapsed castle wall, he said,

"We're currently repairing that castle wall. When the Kanna Empire invades, beacon fires will light up from way over there. There are grooves on top of the castle wall. When the castle wall spots those beacon fires, or if it's already too late and they see enemy forces swarming with their own eyes, they pour oil into the grooves and set it on fire. Then flames will rise across the entire castle wall. It's a spectacular sight, but you'll lose precious lives as the price for seeing that spectacle. When that time comes, I will gladly sacrifice my life to save even one more person."

"..."

"Coming to this castle means you need to be prepared for that much."

Ailea looked at Clint quietly. She had never seen him this serious before. He who always joked around never took lightly the task of guarding this border.

And now, he was carefully explaining all these facts to his wife.

Ailea had to admit that he was quite a capable man.

She unconsciously reached her hand toward Clint's cheek, then noticed the black spots on her hand and quickly lowered it. Instead, she smiled gently.

"You'll do well. And even if I were to become such a... spectacle."

Ailea looked at Clint and continued, "I would think gratefully of how you protected me until now."

"..."

"Still, try not to die if you can help it."

Ailea joked and smiled a little. Suddenly, Clint's gaze became strange. He had seen Ailea hiding her hand. He roughly grabbed Ailea's wrist.

"Ailea."

Ailea looked up at him in surprise. Clint looked straight into her eyes and kissed her fingers.

"C-Clint!"

Ailea tried to pull her hand away in surprise, but Clint didn't let her go. He bit her ring finger hard enough to leave teeth marks. Ailea flinched and closed her eyes. And when he released her hand, she looked down at it. The teeth marks Clint had made remained like a tattoo.

"What are you doing?"

When she looked at him reproachfully, Clint faced Ailea and said, "I could devour you whole."

"What?"

"From head to toe, I could chew and swallow everything with my teeth and it wouldn't matter at all."

"..."

“If you don't want me touching you, I'll stay the hell away. If my face disgusts you, just say the word and I'll cover it with my mouth.”

"..."

"Until then, don't try to guess my feelings."

He spoke like an arrogant king. And seeing Ailea's clear sky-blue eyes widen, thinking he had frightened her too much, he wore his characteristic mischievous smile and flicked the finger with the teeth marks.

"That's punishment."

Ailea looked at her hand. The teeth marks on the spot where she had the black spots. She felt a strange sensation from those marks he had left to show that her curse meant nothing to him.

A man desired by countless women. A man who seemed like she would never even get a chance to love.

Ailea pulled Clint's left hand and lightly bit his wrist. Teeth marks appeared on his black hand. Ailea glared at him and said,

"That's punishment for startling me."

Clint looked at his wrist. The lightly made teeth marks felt cute to him. He chuckled and put his hand in his pocket to pull out a box. Then he grabbed Ailea's hand again and put a ring from the box on her finger.

Ailea's surprised eyes became round.

Clint smiled with his eyes at Ailea, who was too surprised to say anything. He put a ring on his own finger as well and said,

"Usually wedding rings are mainly diamond gifts, but since the gemstone symbolizing Escalize is ruby."

Ailea stared blankly at her finger. Ruby. It was a ring set with the gemstone that was Escalize's symbol. Clint said smoothly,

"How is it? Surprised again?"

"Yes..."

"I like being punished by you. I guess my tastes have changed."

At his joke, Ailea's face reddened and she hit Clint's arm with her hand, not hard enough to hurt. Then Clint exaggerated his pain.

"Ah, bite me instead of hitting me."

"Playboy! Ugh, really..."

"Let's go inside the castle and see how ruined it is."

As he headed toward Velvet, taking the lead, Ailea said to him,

"Thank you."

He waved his left hand as if it was nothing. The ruby on his hand sparkled. Ailea truly, truly realized that she had become his wife.

Originally, she should have died. But she didn't die, and she married that man.

That fact always made her feel sorry. If she had died when she was supposed to die, he would have met a woman he loved and lived happily.

However, Ailea was still grateful for the fact that she was alive. And she hoped her husband would be happy despite her being alive. So she set a new goal.

She would make the people of this land love him.

Ailea placed her hand near her heart.

So please, let me not cling to him seeking love. Let this heart be beating only from surprise right now. She was desperately hoping.

Ailea raised her hand in the air and quietly looked at her finger. She felt this ring with the glowing red gemstone was particularly precious.

Even while riding the horse toward Escalize, when Ailea couldn't take her eyes off the gemstone, Clint asked,

"Do you like it that much?"

She seemed like someone who had never owned jewelry in her life. Ailea nodded and opened her mouth.

"When I was little, someone who was my father's subordinate sent me a necklace for my twelfth birthday."

"...A necklace?"

"Yes. It was so beautiful that I wore it every single day."

At the necklace story, the corners of Clint's mouth turned up slightly. Not seeing this, Ailea continued,

"When I had to go to the imperial capital, my younger sister Sophie had to take care of household affairs, but I had nothing to give her."

"..."

"So I gave her that necklace before I left. Looking at this ring somehow reminds me of that necklace. Because I feel the same precious feeling."

Clint had no response. Ailea marveled again.

"It's really beautiful."

"What was it like, that necklace?"

"It had small diamonds set in it and in the center..."

She was about to say it had a ruby like this ring when Clint asked,

"Rose-shaped?"

"What? How did you know?"

"Rose shapes are common."

"Ah... That's right, it was rose-shaped."

She seemed very happy as she said to Clint jokingly,

"You really know about women's accessories."

"More than that, the Rishers family symbol is also rose-shaped. That's why I mentioned it."

"Is that so?"

When Ailea nodded seriously as if she had learned an important fact, Clint smiled.

When they arrived at the castle, Clint put the horse in the stable.

While the waiting maids first guided Ailea inside Escalize Castle, Clint called over one of his subordinates and said,

"Go to Yuliana Castle. Go there and ask Lady Sophie Elgar Yuliana to return the necklace Ailea gave her seven years ago."

"You mean the necklace, sir?"

"Yes. That's a Rishers family item, so bring it back no matter what price you have to pay."

"Yes, Your Grace."

The subordinate immediately ran off to depart without delay. Clint soon followed Ailea, who was walking ahead, into the castle.