Chapter 8 – No Romance, Captain!  (Part 4)

Lena Leshuriel.

The Leshuriel family was as ordinary as it appeared, just a common barony. Only her mother was a bit special.

Lena couldn’t forgive seeing her mother’s name, the name of a ‘mercenary,’ being sullied.

For a while, the secluded forest echoed with desperate screams.

The mercenaries seemed to have let their guard down, thinking Lena was just an assistant in charge of clerical work, as Galverd had told them.

***

Lena, who was in her uniform, had an emergency flare for such situations. Though it had been briefly taken by the mercenaries, she quickly retrieved it after giving them a few hits.

The flares used by the knights’ order had different meanings depending on their color, and the blue smoke meant mission accomplished.

It signaled that she had finished her task and requested additional forces to wrap things up.

Boom-!

The magical device shot high into the sky, leaving a long blue trail.

It lingered long enough for the knights in the capital to see and come find her.

Alhendore and the knights, recognizing her signal, arrived in no time.

“Kiddo!”

“Aide!”

“Sir Leshuriel!”

Everyone was teary-eyed as if something terrible had happened. Lena, feeling emotional, comforted them one by one before heading to the cabin.

“Captain!”

“Lena.”

“What about the meeting?”

“Is that important right now?”

Alhendore frowned and gently caressed her cheek. His touch was strangely ticklish, even though it was the same spot Galverd had touched.

Feeling embarrassed, Lena turned her head away.

“You’re hurt.”

“This is nothing!”

“…Alright.”

His voice trembled slightly. Lena had a strong intuition that Galverd’s life would not end peacefully.

‘Should I comfort our Captain?’

He didn’t usually show his anger, but he seemed quite furious this time. Worried that he might lash out somewhere inappropriate, Lena lightly punched his chest.

She intended to lighten the mood with a joke.

“Why did you come so late!”

“I came as quickly as I could.”

“You should have saved me before I got kidnapped!”

“I didn’t raise my subordinates to be weak. I believed you would handle it well.”

Lena clicked her tongue at his response. She had joked, but he had taken it seriously. And it was a strange reply.

Alhendore’s eyebrows furrowed at different angles.

“What’s wrong?”

“Who am I?”

“What?”

“Who am I!”

“Lena Leshuriel.”

Lena pouted.

“I’m your lover! Didn’t you ask me out? Aren’t we dating? You should come save your lover when she’s in danger!”

“Before that, you are my loyal aide.”

“…Whoever marries you will be pitiful.”

“Why would you be pitiful?”

Alhendore raised his eyebrows as if he genuinely didn’t understand. Lena found it even more absurd and scoffed.

“When did I say I’d marry you?”

Lena puffed out her cheeks in frustration, and Alhendore furrowed his eyebrows.

“What’s wrong now?”

“There’s no romance, no romance!”

“Romance, huh.”

Seeing him muttering ‘romance’ seriously, Lena was exasperated. 

This man was hopeless.

“I have something to give you.”

“What is it?”

Alhendore suddenly turned Lena around, holding her arms.

Standing with her back to him, Lena looked at the forest filling her view with a sense of helplessness, wondering what he was up to.

“What are you doing?”

“Just stay still.”

He untangled her messy hair and clumsily tied it up high.

Since he had never tied hair before, it hurt as he pulled on it occasionally.

“Ouch…”

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry…”

“It’s okay.”

“I’ll practice.”

Why go to such lengths?”

Thud.

The sound of a clasp being locked ended his attempt to tie her hair.

‘There’s nothing to clasp, though?’

The string he had been using to tie her hair was just a simple one.

Lena blinked roundly and touched her hair. He said he had something to give her. There was a large ornament attached to the back of her head.

“To go to such lengths means it’s something valuable to me.”

Feeling happy, Lena smiled widely, not knowing what was on her head. It was only later, when she realized what it was, that she hit him on the crown of his head.

“I have something to give you too!”

She handed him a small box she had retrieved from the mercenaries.

Alhendore smiled faintly, opened the box, and then put it in his pocket.

“Aren’t you going to try it on?”

“My clothes are about to get dirty. I want to keep it clean.”

“Oh, I see!”

Not wanting to know why his clothes were about to get dirty, Lena quickly turned and hurried into the cabin, passing by Alhendore.

“Good grief.”

Muttering softly behind her as she ran, Alhendore gave various orders to his subordinates.

Galverd, tied to a pillar by the knights, looked at Lena with swollen eyes.

“Oh dear.”

Apparently, Galverd had testified that he only wanted to disgrace Lena.

Not acknowledging that Lena was a knight who had been officially titled ‘Sir’ was his biggest mistake.

Galverd, filled with a sense of inadequacy for not becoming a knight, didn’t want to believe that a mere country baron’s daughter had achieved what he couldn’t.

Maybe it wasn’t that he looked down on her, but that he didn’t want to accept it. That a mere girl from a baron’s family had obtained what he couldn’t.

Lena, with her hands on her hips, looked down at him.

“Live a good life. I probably won’t kill you.”

But our Captain isn’t that kind-hearted. You might end up begging to be killed or unable to die even if you want to.

‘Hmm… maybe?’

She didn’t mention that the Captain might actually kill him. She just smiled, meaning for him to live a happy life, even if only for a moment.

As she came out of the cabin, Alhendore nodded his head.

“Is it over?”

“Yes!”

“Alright then. Go on ahead. I have some finishing up to do.”

Alhendore took some ointment from a bottle he had picked up somewhere and applied it to her cheek. His careful touch was as if he was handling a newborn baby.

“Ugh, it’s ticklish.”

“Stay still.”

Applying a thick layer of ointment on the wound, Alhendore finally lowered his head and captured her lips.

“Ah!”

Caught off guard, Lena pushed him away and looked around. Everyone was tactfully avoiding eye contact, which made her even more embarrassed.

“Y-you pervert!”

Watching her run away, he closed his slightly parted lips.

Creak-.

A beam of light shone through the crack of the open door into the dark cabin. It was as if the Grim Reaper had come to open the final path for the dead.

“Galverd Paraton.”

The Reaper, who called the name of the dead, took a leisurely step forward.

Step, step-.

Swoosh-.

The sound of boots hitting the ground was chilling. The golden eyes that followed gleamed like those of a demon.

“A clean death would be a luxury for you, wouldn’t it?”

I’ll make you understand what it means to want to die but be unable to.

At that moment, Galverd regretted it. He should have bitten his tongue and killed himself earlier. But it was already far too late.