SALP Chapter 8

"I'm not going back!"

A shrill voice burst out before she could stop it. Lanthe stepped back, creating distance between them.

"I'll never go back to that bastard."

Why didn't he understand? She finally understood why he was unaffected by the cold wind. Because he'd become an even colder person himself.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing for you either."

His eyes lowered. He seemed to be examining something under the desk.

"Derek Gebimond has a useful body and capabilities even among the young kings of the allied kingdoms."

Swoosh—as he stood, his long shadow stretched toward the side opposite the window.

"Did you perhaps not hear me say that bastard killed Aunt Louise?"

Lanthe stepped back another pace. Thud—one heel touched the door behind her.

"You don't like him because he's a murderer?"

He sneered faintly.

"Looking for someone clean?"

Though his tone was gentle, his expression hardened as he approached.

Thud, thud—the heavy footsteps made breathing feel suffocating.

The boy who used to run to her with a loving smile and light steps whenever he saw her no longer existed in this world.

She'd lost him that day. The kind, warm Raphlish boy had vanished forever, leaving only a cold, arid Penmark man.

"You ran away right before the wedding."

He grabbed her arm with his strong hand and yanked her toward him.

Thump—with a sinking sensation in her heart, she collided with his chest. Even as she raised her chin to glare at him, her heart pounded anxiously.

"How long did you live together? A few weeks? A few months?"

His interrogating tone sounded relaxed but was high-handed. Like Newbella's soldiers had been with Roas's residents.

"Doesn't seem like he treated you badly."

He scrutinized her face and the nape of her neck exposed above her collar as if appraising her. His gaze was blatant. Meanwhile, his other hand stroked the small of her back. His touch, handling her as if she were his property, seemed devoid of affection or respect.

"You don't look particularly thin either."

Lanthe's face flushed hot at the rude, unrestrained contact.

How can you treat me like this? Have you forgotten when you'd blush and giggle shyly when I hugged you? Was my expectation wrong from the start—that a man with such a changed body could retain the same soul?

"Was the bed not good enough?"

He wrapped her waist restrictively and pulled her close, pressing their bodies together. His breath against her ear was incongruously warm. The whispering voice briefly carried traces of his childhood self.

The playfulness of the boy who'd whispered, 'I snuck out without Mama knowing, so it's a secret.'

"...Vigo."

Though she felt confused and even angry at her changed childhood friend's attitude, Lanthe couldn't push him away as longing rose to her throat.

"I heard the equipment is as big as mine. Was the technique terrible?"

"I'm going to Floretta."

Her voice came out cracked and hoarse, barely squeezed out.

"I'll live there alone."

Floretta, the free city governed by its citizens. A place without discrimination by origin or status, where anyone could find work they could do, labor, and receive compensation to live. Fiarelle had taught her about it in a rather pleased tone, saying it was perceived as an obstacle to promoting the imperial state, like a rival.

She wanted to go to that land of freedom. A world resembling Roas existed somewhere in this cold land.

"Floretta."

Vigo, who'd been quietly thoughtful for a moment, released her waist and stepped back. He retreated several steps as if losing interest, then perched on the windowsill and gazed up at her intently.

"What will you do there?"

She could now recognize that his gentle tone and smile were fake.

"I'll polish noblewomen's shoes or shovel horse dung if I have to. What I do is my business."

She caught herself responding rebelliously and quickly changed her tone.

"Let me go. If I earn money, I'll send it here. I don't know if I can earn twenty thousand krone, but I'll repay it for the rest of my life."

When she'd first opened her eyes in this castle's bedroom and heard stories from cheerful Nina, Lanthe had vaguely hoped she might be able to live here with Vigo.

But she now keenly realized how shameless and foolish that thought had been. She couldn't beg someone who was selling her to the murderer of her family in exchange for a huge reward to keep and feed her.

"I know this sounds shameless, but Vigo..."

"I refuse, Lanthe."

He flatly rejected her.

"It's not about money. What would I tell Gebimonde after letting you go? I cannot fail to protect someone entrusted to my castle. Honor is more important than money."

As if the list of things he valued no longer included a name like Lanthe.

She vaguely understood. Clinging won't help.

"...You say honor is more important than money while selling me for cash."

Chuckle, chuckle—his laughter sounded light enough to blow away on the wind.

"Let me correct that to 'reputation.' Your personality hasn't changed."

Did he truly remember her?

Did he remember himself?

Those days more precious than gold...

"You've completely changed."

"Have I?"

If he remembered those times, he couldn't laugh lightly while speaking of money or reputation as her life's price.

"Completely... disgustingly changed."

Lanthe added the spiteful words as if returning to the past, then immediately regretted it.

Fortunately, he showed no sign of anger. He actually laughed freely and smoothly pushed back his disheveled bangs with improved spirits.

"Rix."

"Yes, my lord."

A husky, deep voice came from outside the window.

"Call Nina and tell her to take Lanthe to eat."

Vigo closed the window and walked back toward Lanthe. Their shoulders brushed. Without stopping, he passed by, opened the door, and spoke like an order.

"You wait here."

'Could she secretly escape?'

"Vigo."

It didn't seem possible. The miracle that happened in Newbella didn't seem likely to occur again just anytime.

"Behave yourself for a few days. I'll let you meet your fiancé when he arrives."

'I need to persuade Vigo.'

"He's not my fiancé!"

Her chest felt completely blocked because her words just wouldn't get through.

"That bastard is a demon. I won't go to someone like that...!"

He suddenly turned back to her.

"...There's no such thing as demons, Lanthe."

His eerie gaze and voice contradicted his words. As if a demon were telling lies.

"As long as they wear human skin, they're just human."

Then he softened his expression slightly and continued.

"Human nature is all the same anyway, Lanthe."

'That's not true. Even if it were, humans don't live only according to their nature. You know that too, Vigo.'

"You people just pursued purity too excessively. I understand, though—it's a common form of self-comfort for those who don't have things to glorify not having them as virtue."

'You people. Not 'we' but 'you people'...?'

She looked up at his face blankly. Then, as their eyes met piercingly, he suddenly touched her cheek lightly with his finger. In the startled moment, a strand of hair fell and brushed past her cheek, swept behind her ear.

Only then did she freshly realize this room had been cold. Because his hand grazing her cheek was unexpectedly warm.

"At least that's the world you'll have to live in from now on. Someone like Gebimonde is a decent husband who'll guarantee you an affluent life, so don't complain."

Thud—the door closing sounded heartless.

Only the coldly dry scent of winter forest remained where he'd passed.

His unfamiliar attitude and words rustled noisily through her mind like leaves in the wind.

But within the bitter fragrance, the scent of Roas forest where they'd played together also seemed to faintly remain, so Lanthe leaned against the door and held back tears welling in her eyes.

The one she'd waited for and longed for these ten years.

She couldn't tell if she'd regained him or lost him. He was just within reach yet not, and she desperately missed the kindness of the boy she'd loved. Submerged in deep, deep longing, she felt like her breath might stop.

A guard was posted. The very next morning when she woke and looked outside, some hulking knight was pacing in front of Lanthe's room, keeping watch.

"The dried apricots are delicious, aren't they? I picked and dried these myself."

Nina chattered away endlessly. Even the most fierce-looking soldiers seemed like family to her—she showed no sign of fear. Well, that knight named Rix was actually kind when they exchanged greetings.

The problem was the other human.

"Is the lord kind to you, Nina?"

Lanthe asked while chewing the dried apricots. 'His personality alone doesn't make him worthy of being a little girl's pride,' she thought, chewing on snacks instead of yesterday's memories.

"Kind?"

Nina made an ambiguous expression with her cheeks puffed out. After hemming and hawing, she whispered her answer.

"Our lord isn't usually soft with women. Though his tail might wag for you."

'...Where do I even begin with that.'

"His tail doesn't wag for me either. Not at all."

'He's not a dog—what tail? Or maybe a wolf's tail?'

"Still, someone like our lord is a man of character you can reason with. It's greedy to want more from a man with power, good looks, and a great body."

Greedy, is it?

"I don't particularly want anything."

She really had never wanted power or anything like that from him.

"It's not like I'm going to keep him."

'Oops, I shouldn't have said that last part.' Judging by Nina's expression, she'd sparked unnecessary imagination.

"Hehe. You never know what'll happen."

"You cheeky little thing, grinning slyly."

But Nina was right.

A person's future sometimes flowed in utterly unexpected directions. Like how her own circumstances had changed and Vigo had changed.

"Anyway, the lord is a good person to you, Nina?"

At Lanthe's question, hiding her empty feelings, Nina nodded without hesitation.

"Of course! My father likes the lord too, and everyone working in the castle likes him. Well, except a few people!"

'Of course she'd like the benefactor who saved her father.'

He was actually Lanthe's benefactor too—he'd saved her life.

But he was trying to send her back to the murderer who'd killed her family in exchange for massive compensation.

"Except... a few people."

She smiled bitterly.

'Maybe from now on, I'll be included in those 'few people' too.'