Ernel.

Eldrian did not know the name of the small fishing village that had been mercilessly crushed beneath Blackwood’s boots. Lesta thought that Blackwood probably didn’t remember it either.

To them, a tiny coastal settlement meant nothing. The lives of fewer than a hundred people who had called it home meant no more than aphids clinging to garden leaves.

No one counts the aphids they kill, and in the same way, wiping out every village along the coast must have seemed to Blackwood a trivial act, nothing worth recalling.

But it wasn’t just Ernel that vanished.

When Lesta was cast into the sea, every village along the shore where her body might have washed up was burned to the ground.

For a while, the disappearance of those seaside towns simultaneously became the subject of murmurs and rumors, but time washed even that away.

Blackwood had the power to ensure such small incidents never grew large enough to be remembered.

Small incidents.

For Lesta, it meant the end of her world. Blackwood, however, barely gave it a second thought.

✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘

“All right, Lesta.”

Eldrian said with a light smile.

“It might be a bit soon, but I’ll start calling you by your name. You should call me by mine, too.”

Lesta frowned slightly.

“I’d rather not.”

“What?”

“It feels too familiar.”

“You were the one who said to call you by name.”

“Well, I’m just a commoner. You, on the other hand, are a noble.”

“It’s the noble who’s telling you it’s fine.”

“Still, I don’t want to. It’s better to keep some distance.”

Eldrian glanced helplessly toward Nestor, who merely shrugged with a look that said, You’ll just have to understand.

“If you prove yourself worthy of being addressed by name, then I’ll consider using it.”

For a commoner, being permitted to address a noble by their name would be an unimaginable privilege. Yet Lesta spoke as if she were the one being magnanimous.

Eldrian found the situation absurd, but since he needed her help, he smiled and nodded in good humor.

“All right then.”

Eldrian said with an amused glint in his eyes.

“What do I need to prove, to earn the right to be called by name?”

Lesta leaned back slightly, her gaze sharp and unwavering.

“For starters, I’d like to know why you came to see me. Be honest. No flourishes.”

“As you wish. To form an alliance.”

“For what purpose?”

“To go against Blackwood.”

Her silence wasn’t long, but to Eldrian it felt like an eternity.

Earlier, he had been too focused on the Mercenary King herself to notice, but now he glanced around the room and his gaze was drawn to the small doll sitting on top of her desk.

A Dominic doll.

Did keeping something like that on display mean she was a fan?

He had already considered the possibility that the famed Mercenary King might be loyal to Dominic Blackwood. However, his inquiries had revealed that there was no connection between the Ides mercenary corps and the Blackwood family. He had come here in haste, hoping to persuade her before Blackwood’s influence could extend this far.

It was only now that he noticed the doll, and the sight of it filled him with unease.

“How far do you intend to go against Blackwood?”

It wasn’t an answer, it was a question.

“What do you mean by how far?”

Lesta merely tilted her head to one side, offering no clue as to what she wanted.

He knew that whatever he said next had to satisfy her, yet he had no idea what kind of answer she was expecting.

“I want to strip Dominic of his title as a hero and stop Isabella Blackwood from becoming the Crown Princess.”

It was a safe, measured offer. If he set his sights too high, she might be put off. However, the look she gave him was icy.

“That’s all?”

“…That’s all?”

Dominic was the hero of the Lunaris Empire and beyond. He was the hero of all of Serendia. His blade had saved countless nations from disaster during his years of triumph.

“Dominic’s popularity is immense, L—”

Eldrian caught himself, watching her face twist the instant he began the word.

“I mean, Lesta.”

But that correction didn’t help.

When he added, almost carelessly,

“Lesta, you like Dominic too, don’t you?”

Her expression darkened further, even more than it had when he addressed her as ‘Lady’.

“Me? Why would you think that?”

Eldrian pointed at the desk with one finger. Lesta followed his gaze to the Dominic doll, and after a brief pause, let out a soft, amused “Ah.”

“Oh, I see now. You think I’m a fan of Dominic.”

She turned to Nestor, tilting her head back slightly.

“Nell, did that ever cross your mind?”

Nestor just shrugged again. Eldrian couldn’t help but think that he probably ended half of his conversations this way.

“So, you’re not?”

Lesta smiled faintly.

“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. What difference would it make if I helped you strip Dominic of his heroic title and stopped Isabella from becoming Crown Princess? What would I gain from it?”

She asked the question as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Eldrian couldn’t tell whether this stemmed from confidence, arrogance, or a kind of frightening indifference. Nevertheless, he answered straightforwardly.

“Mercenaries fight for money, don’t they?”

“Money.”

She repeated, her tone unreadable.

“I’ll pay whatever you ask for.”

“If I ask for a hundred, will you give me a hundred?”

“Yes.”

“And if Blackwood later comes along and offers two hundred?”

“…”

“Then those of us who are only in it for the money would turn on our heels and leave without a word. Are you OK with that?”

Her meaning was clear: What good is an alliance without trust?

Eldrian had no answer. After all, he had only known her for less than an hour. Trust was a luxury neither of them could afford, and he still didn’t understand what she truly wanted. Worse still, he now suspected that she might be one of Dominic’s loyal supporters.

What could he possibly offer her now?

Seeing him hesitate, Lesta spoke first.

“You should go back, Little Duke.”

Her tone was calm but final.

“Mercenaries who only fight for money do not want to make the Blackwoods, a family richer than the imperial court, into enemies.”

✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘

Even after Eldrian had left, Lesta remained seated, quietly staring at the teacup he had left behind.

When Nestor returned from his rounds hours later, he found her still sitting in the same spot. The tea had long since gone cold, and it was impossible to read her expression in the dim light.

He sat down opposite her and quietly gathered up the teacups.

“What if Eldrian Sunray really leaves and doesn’t come back?”

Lesta asked at last.

Nestor shrugged.

“If you’re that worried, go after him.”

“I don’t want to.”

Truthfully, she wanted to accept whatever he offered. But things gained too easily are easily discarded. If she accepted too quickly, she risked becoming nothing more than a disposable pawn.

The Ides mercenary corps — and Lesta herself — had to become too valuable to abandon.

“The Little Duke will come back.”

Nestor said suddenly. He wasn’t one to speak in certainties. Hearing such conviction from him made Lesta lift her head in surprise.

Nestor only shrugged again, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

“Just wait. No matter what happens, he’ll come for you.”

✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘

Outside, Eldrian walked alongside the enormous white wolf that had been waiting by the gate. In contrast to his dramatic arrival, he left quietly and heavy.

“I thought money would be enough. But she wants something else. What could it be? What would a mercenary want, if not money? Luna, if you were the Mercenary King, what would you ask for?”

The great wolf, Luna, glanced at him sideways before turning her head forward again and continuing to walk on with calm, regal grace.

People liked to say that Eldrian could speak to animals. But that wasn’t true. He simply understood them well, reading their moods and needs, and they understood him in return. It only looked like conversation.

Right now, he knew exactly what Luna wanted: rest.

“Yeah, what would you know? You just want to sleep, don’t you?”

Although he didn’t understand the words, the clever wolf sensed the slight in his tone and huffed loudly through his nose in response.

Eldrian winced.

“No, no—don’t you dare lift that paw. I’m not fighting you. Not in the mood. Sorry, okay? I know you ran hard to get here. Let’s go rest. I’ll give you meat later.”

Luna snorted again, but continued walking, graceful and composed as ever.

“I expected this might turn into a long game, but I didn’t think it would really be one.”

Mercenaries were creatures of freedom. Even the most skilled of them rarely remained loyal to a single cause.

He hadn’t expected Lesta — the so-called Mercenary King — to surrender so readily, nor to reject him so completely.

“She could’ve at least hinted at what she wants. But she gave me nothing. Not a word, not a clue.”

He frowned, watching Luna’s ears twitch.

“If she’s a genuine fan of Dominic’s and has no intention of ever joining our side, things could get complicated.”