Chapter 8

River began pushing women into his barracks.

It was already the fourteenth time.

“I told you it’s useless.”

He’d done it for no other reason than to make him look so vulnerable in River’s eyes.

Tired of arguing with him, Aidan gave in.

“How can embracing a girl make you feel better? What a stupid idea.”

‘I’ll just leave her alone and let her go in the morning.’

But it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

He glimpsed the woman standing by the door.

Seeing the fragile creature tremble, his mood sank even further.

‘Why? Why can’t this war, which makes everyone suffer, come to an end? ‘

On the tenth day, he hadn’t even rested.

With the woman inside, he couldn’t sleep comfortably. So he decided to stay up all night.

Contrary to River’s intentions, Aidan’s nerves only grated more sharply.

The woman in the doorway stood stiffly, huddled in a corner as if it took all her strength.

As much as he’d like to tell her to make herself comfortable, he can’t offer her his bed.

If the soldiers saw him treating a captive woman with kindness, it might hurt morale.

One night’s hardship is a small price to pay for a prisoner of war.

Aidan ignored his discomfort as best he could.

On the fourteenth night of this pointless battle of nerves,.

A woman entered.

‘Another day, I see.’

Aidan glanced at the doorway, still feeling deeply tired from the night before.

Then he turned his gaze back to the documents, but…

Something felt off. He felt discomfort.

‘Why?’

He tried to find the cause of that discomfort and discovered it.

The woman was calm.

With her lush milk-brown hair and green eyes, she looked around with a serene expression.

No, she was looking at him.

And not just looking, but dissecting him piece by piece.

He hadn’t directly looked at her, but, being the owner of a keen sense, he could feel her gaze.

Unconsciously, his body stiffened.

His eyes kept slipping off the documents.

Somehow, he became curious about the woman.

Whether she knew about his feelings or not, suddenly she started to move.

Nervous, but deliberately pretending not to pay attention to her, he went about his business as usual.

A while later, she brought a steaming cup of tea.

“Am I… not frightening?”

He looked at her. Unintentionally, he spoke with a stern expression, as he usually did.

Normally, women would be startled and eventually retreat.

Even women from the North would do that, especially the captive women. As the leader of the enemy and the nicknamed Ice Wall Commander, he could make his soldiers tremble.

But this woman simply offered him tea without concern.

After she left, realizing that the fragrance he had sensed earlier did not come from the tea but from her, he drank it.

It was strange. After drinking the tea, drowsiness suddenly overwhelmed him.

“Darn it, I shouldn’t fall asleep.”

At least he didn’t want to fall asleep while the woman was still watching.

With determination not to fall asleep, he got up from his seat.

Staggering, the woman hurriedly approached and supported him.

Again, that fragrance, coupled with Brody’s confusion, stirred Aidan’s mind restlessly.

He didn’t know when it started, but from then on, it was clear.

He wanted her.

* * *

Aidan looked at Brody lying next to him.

From that day until now.

Every day felt new.

Instead of crawling in despair, a small hope sprouted in the North.

“If we win the war, I’ll give her everything she can enjoy as the Duchess.”

Even if she still didn’t like him much,.

If she truly hated it, even lying beside him like this would be abhorrent. But she wasn’t afraid of him, then or now.

He hoped she might enjoy being by his side a little, and Aidan harbored a little hope.

Weeks passed quickly like this.

The commander, along with the soldiers, was ready for the march.

When the fourth star rose, they would execute the plan.

Meanwhile, Brody was busy with her own tasks.

To achieve results in a short period of time, Brody was inspecting the crops, encouraging them to grow faster.

“You’re diligent.”

“Woahh!”

At a sudden voice, Brody almost had a heart attack.

She turned in the direction of the voice.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you…”

“Your Grace”

‘He didn’t realize what I was doing, did he?’

Brody clasped her hands over her heart and looked up to meet the Duke’s gaze.

“This is great, having crops grow here. It’s improving the spirits of my soldiers.”

“It’s an exaggeration.”

In the face of the Duke’s attitude, which was either nonchalant or, yes, seemed satisfied, Brody inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as he responded.

“What do you think? Do you believe we can achieve the harvest volume ordered by the river?”

“If there are no variables like natural disasters,”

With a confident response, Aidan nodded with a pleasant expression.

“Perhaps the hero of this war will be neither me nor the Chief of Staff, but you.”

“It’s too early to say that, as I haven’t achieved any results yet.”

Now, they walked between the grass that had grown to ankle height.

The night was subtly illuminated by the moonlight and what seemed like pouring starlight.

Aidan, preparing for today’s battle, decided to embrace the tranquilly and enjoy it, despite feeling somewhat alienated.

In the chilly air of the north, between rustling grass, a woman’s voice suddenly echoed.

“Your Grace, I have something I’m curious about.”

“Hmm, what is it?”

Aidan suddenly thought that Brody looked cold and draped his cloak over her while asking softly.

Brody, awkwardly receiving the Duke’s gesture, hesitated for a moment and then made up her mind, opening her mouth.

“If I fail to achieve the goal, will you kill all the captive women?”

There was a pause, and Aidan’s hand, offering the cloak, trembled.

But soon, he took a deep breath, met her gaze, and withdrew his hand.

Under the moonlight, his eyes were shining resolutely.

His voice calmly echoed in the night air.

“I… trust you.”

“…!”

Aidan swept a hand through Brody’s curls, tidied up Brody’s messy hair, swept it aside, and spoke.

“That’s why what you’re doing won’t fail.”

Brody, feeling strange, laughed awkwardly with one eyebrow raised.

“I don’t doubt it, especially when you sound so confident, but if we have to consider the what-ifs, then yes, …….”

“…!”
Brody gasped, her gaze lowered to the floor, and suddenly Aidan was in her field of vision.

He was, in other words, kneeling in front of her.

“I promise you on my honor, I will never let your courage and hard work go to waste.”

Aidan took Brody’s flustered hand and lifted it to his lips.

It was the position a knight would take when swearing an oath to a lady.

“It’s dirty, Your Grace, I mean, my hand.”

Brody hastily withdrew her dusty hand from the plant and hid it behind her body.

Aidan looked embarrassed as he watched the delicate hand slip from his grasp, then smiled weakly and stood up.

“It’s not dirty.”

The backlight shone at an angle in the moonlight. And a smile scattered in the night air.

A thump, thump, thump. Brody’s heart raced and her face flushed red at the sight of the Duke.

Brody turned away, trying to hide her blush.

“What are you going to do if I don’t do my job right, and you’re already making promises like that?”

“If you were afraid of screwing up and dying, you wouldn’t have stepped up.”

“Well, if you’re going to kill the prisoners, you’re going to have to kill me too.”

Although stumbling over her words due to surprise, the content was undoubtedly a threat.

‘Is she threatening me to save the prisoners? With her life?’

Aidan’s heart started to beat as he realized what Brody was doing.

It was both surprising and strangely lovely… Feeling a mixture of admiration and love.

Suppressing the desperate desire to hold her in his arms, Aidan responded.

“The knight’s oath is not something to be taken lightly. You can trust me.”

Brody, also showing uncontrolled emotions, was no different.

‘Why is my heart pounding like this? Ah, isn’t that appearance, that atmosphere, and those lines a bit unfair?’

Brody walked to the other side of the Duke, trying to turn the conversation around.

It was a desperate attempt to divert the conversation.

“When will Your Grace be participating in the battle?”

Aidan looked up at the sky, measuring time by the position of the stars and moon.

“Soon.”

Brody stopped walking.

It’s war. A real war.

Originally, considering the Icicle Duke could be dead, she didn’t know the outcome of this war.

She thought Brody would survive whether he won or lost in the war.

But the thought that he might die made her feel uneasy.

“Please return victoriously.”

“Hmm, is that coming from you, a prisoner of war?”

Aidan said, puzzled as if he hadn’t expected to be cheered.

“Will we prisoners be safe if you lose? Well, as long as you don’t lose your temper, it should be fine.”

Brody’s realistic response darkened Aidan’s face.

“In other words, it would be better for us if Your Grace returned.”

Brody tried to phrase her wish into a more general statement.

It was somehow too embarrassing to speak from the position of a lover honoring his victory.

“By the way, I’m afraid I won’t be able to serve you tea for a while.”

Brody looked at Aidan with a concerned look.

“What can I do? You have work to do here.”

With a worried nod from Brody, Aidan coolly replied.

“Don’t worry, it’s a pain I’ve lived with all my life, and it bothers me less when I’m fighting than when I’m still.”

“Ah… yes.”

Though she knew he was trying to alleviate her worries, the mention of fighting brought the harsh reality of the war to her mind, making her even more anxious.

Aidan sweatdropped as he watched Brody sink, despite his best efforts.

He wasn’t sure what else to say when Brody spoke up.

“Your Grace, when you came back from your victory.”

“Uh, um.”

Aidan breathed a sigh of relief that the awkward moment had passed and waited for Brody to continue.

“If I make it through the war, will you grant me one wish?”

“Sure, anything I can fulfill.”

Brody’s face brightened at his words.

“Really? Will you promise, no, swear?”

“Yes, I swear.”

Aidan witnessed her happy reaction with a smile for the first time.

For some reason, watching her smile like that made him feel good. He thought he should grant her wishes more often to make her smile like that.

He didn’t even know what Brody was going to wish for.