Chapter 8 – No Romance, Captain!  (Part 3)

The carriage stopped, indicating they had reached their destination.

She was about to unleash a torrent of insults, but it wasn’t Galverd who opened the carriage door and stepped in.

“Whistle, whistle– You’re awake?”

A man with a long scar across his face tapped his shoulder with a large axe.

Why do thugs always look the same no matter where you go? Is there a certain style they adhere to?

Lena shook her head in disdain.

“Darn, I was hoping to have some fun while you were sleeping. What a shame.”

“If it’s a shame, why didn’t you just do it earlier?”

“What did you say?”

“You’re so slow that you end up doing jobs like this.”

Infuriated by her words, the thug grabbed Lena by her hair and yanked her out of the carriage.

Thrown out of the carriage, Lena squinted at the burning pain in her head.

“You still don’t understand the situation, do you? Let’s strip, sweetie. I’ll have some fun with you now.”

The man grabbed Lena and threw off his shirt. Noticing a familiar tattoo on his arm, Lena narrowed her eyes.

“You’re a mercenary, aren’t you?”

Two crossed swords. It was the symbol of the Mercenary Corps.

At her question, the man hesitated for a moment. Most girls would be terrified and scream by now, but this girl was different.

Look at that? 

The man twisted his lips as he met her fearless gaze. 

This girl is quite bold, isn’t she?

“Oh? You know us?”

“Who hired you to do this?”

Who else could it be? It must be Galverd. 

Lena asked with half certainty. It was a question she didn’t expect an answer to.

“How would we know?”

“I see.”

Lena smiled brightly. Behind the man with the axe, two more men approached. After a brief struggle, they dragged Lena into the inner cabin.

The cabin, which seemed abandoned for a long time, was filled with thick layers of dust.

‘Where did they even find such a place?’

In the old cabin, there was a bright red cushion and a gold chair decorated with all kinds of jewels that didn’t match the surroundings at all.

Galverd was sitting cross-legged on the luxurious chair.

The men roughly forced her to kneel on the floor. Lena sat quietly and glanced around.

Two mercenaries were attached to her. Each held a greatsword and an axe, and they had spare daggers at their waists.

‘Two guards at the door. Three mercenaries with the carriage.’

After assessing the situation, Lena looked up at Galverd with indifferent eyes.

“What are you trying to do?”

“And what makes you so confident, Miss Leshuriel?”

The sight of him holding and shaking a wine glass was laughable.

She had occasionally seen the Captain swirl a wine glass, and it painted a completely different picture.

Lena glanced at Galverd with a look of disdain.

“Again, again! Don’t look at me with such disrespectful eyes!”

Galverd stomped his foot, his face contorting. He looked ridiculous, like a monkey whose banana had been taken away.

“Oh, dear. Was it obvious? I couldn’t manage my expression because someone looked so pathetic.”

“What, what did you say? Did you just call me pathetic?!”

“Hmm? When did I ever call you pathetic, Galverd? I said ‘someone’… Hmm, Galverd. Have some confidence. Why do you think of yourself as pathetic?”

Lena sneered and looked at him leisurely.

Her eyes moved up and down slowly, perfectly conveying contempt, and Galverd’s face turned bright red with anger.

“You wretched wench…!”

Unable to control his anger, Galverd stood up and approached her, raising his hand.

Smack!

The sound of her cheek being slapped echoed loudly. It was so loud that a few small birds nearby flew away in surprise.

The burning pain in her cheek radiated heat. Turning her head back from where it had been knocked, Lena glared at him.

Her eyes flashed with simmering anger.

“Ha, Galverd Paraton. Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?”

A clear sneer appeared on his face. Somewhat calmed by the slap, he arrogantly raised his chin.

“Ah, are you waiting for your Captain? The Duke is probably in a meeting by now. A meeting with the knights’ captains.”

So that’s why today.

She was almost impressed by his thoroughness in gathering information to kidnap her. But at the same time, she had questions.

The Crown Prince’s birthday.

It was natural for the knights serving the royal family to be summoned for such a large event. But the problem was.

“How do you know that?”

This meeting was confidential information that only those within the knights’ order could know.

Given the large size of the knights’ order, rumors spread, but it wasn’t information Galverd should know.

“Didn’t I mention? My relative is the assistant to the Black Knights’ commander’s aide.”

“Sounds like someone as insignificant as you.”

“You insolent woman!”

Galverd gritted his teeth at Lena’s indifferent response. Then, as if he had a thought, he took a deep breath and smiled again.

“Ha, Miss Lena Leshuriel. Do you know your crime?”

“What are you talking about?”

“We both cheated, but only I get criticized. Why is that?”

“I never cheated. Ugh, forget it. I’m tired of explaining it a hundred times.”

Lena clicked her tongue and turned her head. Her openly disdainful expression made Galverd’s face contort again.

“Do you know that Earl Canabella canceled the contract, causing my family to go bankrupt?”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Thanks to that, my family is drowning in debt. Do you understand now, Miss Leshuriel?”

Did my uncle cancel the business contract with the Paraton family? Then they must have paid a penalty.

Lena’s chest ached, and she frowned. She didn’t want to cause trouble for her family, but she had unknowingly caused more harm.

Her already stinging cheek hurt even more, but Lena bit her inner lip. Blood seeped out from her lips.

Galverd knelt on one knee, handing her a handkerchief as if he wanted to play the gentleman.

“Here, my lady.”

“This crazy bastard is really insane.”

“Oh dear, my mistake. The lady has no hands to take the handkerchief, does she?”

Galverd, who was grinning wickedly, took the handkerchief and gently wiped the cheek he had slapped earlier.

The red, swollen area stung even more as it was rubbed.

“Ha, it’s useless.”

While he was caressing her cheek, Lena gathered blood in her mouth and spat it at his face.

Spit.

The hand holding the handkerchief trembled. His face turned red with anger.

Lena twisted her lips into a smile. Her eyes curved into crescents, mocking him.

“You, you b*tch…!”

Cursing, he wiped the blood off his cheek with the handkerchief. He raised his hand to slap her again.

“You idiot.”

But before his hand could reach her cheek, it was grabbed and twisted.

“Argh-!”

“What, what’s going on?!”

“Seize her!”

Galverd, whose wrist was completely twisted, rolled on the ground. The mercenaries, startled by his screams, drew their weapons.

Lena jumped back and grabbed the daggers from their belts.

Swoosh-!

The two daggers in her hands deflected the swinging blades.

Finally, having gotten behind the mercenaries, Lena took a stance, and the ropes binding her wrists were cut to shreds.

“Damn it-! Ugh, argh! Argh, ah!”

Ignoring Galverd, who was still rolling on the ground, Lena beckoned the mercenaries.

“You mercenaries are a disgrace to ‘real’ mercenaries.”