“You came again today?”

“Good morning.”

On the sixth day of staying in Solanie Village, I took Lucifer’s undergarments and headed to the well.

Many knights were already there washing their clothes. I joined them and continued washing Lucifer’s undergarments.

At first, handling a strange man’s underwear was embarrassing. But since he wouldn’t let me touch his knight’s uniform or cloak, I had no choice.

I needed to do at least this much. Even then, I had to sneak them out.

“The noble princess-turned-slave is quite good at these menial tasks.”

“I’m an orphan originally. I used to do this well when I was young.”

“No shackles, yet you don’t run away. What a strange prisoner of war.”

“Where would I run to anyway?”

I spoke comfortably to the knights whose faces I now recognized. At first, I was too awkward to properly converse with them.

“True enough. Better to return quickly to the empire and become the commander’s concubine. Then you wouldn’t have to do these menial tasks.”

I stopped scrubbing and looked at the knight who had just spoken. A blue-eyed man with blond hair and freckles. The corner of the fairly young knight’s mouth was twisted unpleasantly.

“Take it easy. That’s going too far,” another knight beside him intervened. But the man didn’t stop.

“Oh, is it? My mistake.”

The man’s gaze scanning me up and down was familiar. It was the kind I often saw in the duchy. The same look that Deltraen Belial, my fake brother, used to give me. Sticky and persistent greed.

Disgusting.

“If you’re close enough to wash his underwear, you must have already spent hot nights together, haha. Ready to serve the commander now?”

His mocking words about me contained ridicule directed at his superior. For a moment, I wanted to throw the bucket of dirty water at his filthy mouth.

But I held back, thinking it would be ridiculous for a slave to get upset on behalf of her master.

“What? Seeing you not denying it, I guess it’s true?”

“Could you say that in front of Lord Croisen?”

Instead, I precisely struck his weak point. The man’s eyes twisted menacingly.

“How dare a slave glare at a nobleman so impudently? Do you know who I am?”

“Who are you?”

Naturally, I didn’t know. The man stood up angrily, huffing and puffing. He threw his laundry in front of me.

“I am the second son of the Marquis Kires family, founding contributors to the Holy Empire.”

The man slightly puffed out his chest, thinking I would be intimidated. But I couldn’t see what was so impressive about that.

He’s just the son of a Marquis. Not even the heir, which is why he lives here on the battlefield as a knight.

When I just blinked silently, the man breathed heavily, his pride seemingly hurt.

“Do you find me ridiculous for doing laundry here?”

This was somewhat awkward. I didn’t understand why he was angry with me.

What goes through the mind of someone who insults you first and then brazenly gets angry?

I glanced at the other knights’ faces. They looked at the Marquis Kires’s second son with contempt but showed no intention of stopping him.

“This is infuriating! It’s already annoying enough taking orders from a commoner-born commander, and now even a slave disrespects me?”

Now I somewhat understood why this man was behaving this way toward me.

He had a worthless inferiority complex. Unable to take it out on Lucifer, he was picking on me instead. Should I just endure it then? Engaging might only encourage him more.

“What’s so urgent about bringing a slave to the empire that he prevents us from bringing servant knights, forcing even a noble like me to do such menial tasks?”

The sparks were flying in my direction. I was about to quietly bow my head to avoid fueling his anger when Kires approached me.

He kicked my bucket threateningly.

“Don’t just wash the commander’s things. Wash mine too. When would a slave like you ever get the chance to meet a Marquis’s son otherwise?”

“I am… Lord Croisen’s slave, not yours.”

I refused, remembering what Lucifer had said before. He intensely disliked sharing his possessions.

The agitated man raised his hand, seemingly about to grab my hair.

“What’s with all this noise?”

Just then, Terseon, who had come to do his backed-up laundry, discovered us.

“Kires, what’s going on? Why is your laundry in front of the princess?”

“Oh, just a mistake. Nothing important.”

Kires took the laundry he had thrown at me and went to the opposite side.

I sighed, calming my startled heart, and silently continued with the laundry. I decided to avoid coming to the well when that man was around.

“Are you alright?”

Terseon leaned in and whispered. I nodded with a gentle smile.

The knight I had become closer to than Lucifer, despite spending the most time with the latter, added a concerned word in my ear.

“Be careful. That guy has had a bad reputation with women since his time in the empire. He was included in the holy war only because of his family name, despite lacking ability.”

“Ah…”

“Plus, he’s probably starved for diversion since the commander is so strict about preventing misconduct in the village.”

“Yes, I understand.”

While Terseon and I were whispering, I briefly made eye contact with Kires.

Come to think of it, that man had a build unsuited for a knight. The other knights looked solid from their shoulders down due to rigorous training, but he looked notably diminutive.

With his thin neck and wrists, pale skin, and short stature, he seemed more like a young master than a knight.

His thighs were barely half the size of Lucifer’s. Though Lucifer might be exceptional.

“By the way, everyone knows we’re departing tomorrow morning, right? The commander said to prepare thoroughly. It’s the last blizzard period before spring arrives.”

“Yes, Vice-Commander.”

While Terseon lectured the knights, I diligently rinsed Lucifer’s underwear in clean water.

The cold winter water felt refreshingly sharp on my fingertips. When I was hanging over the lake, I hated cold water so much.

This sensation too was a blessing only the living could enjoy.

After wringing out the underwear thoroughly, I got up from my spot, leaving the knights behind.

“I’ll go ahead. I need to clean the commander’s room too.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

* * *

“The monsters’ movements are concerning?”

From early dawn, Lucifer was conversing with a knight from the duchy.

“Yes, they’re appearing simultaneously in multiple regions.”

“What’s the scale of damage?”

“Still small, but… Duke Johannes hasn’t taken appropriate measures quickly enough, so the local nobles are gradually showing signs of rebellion.”

Lucifer’s brow slightly narrowed.

Johannes, the governor sent by the Emperor who claimed he would personally manage the Belial Duchy, was widely known for his benevolent character. His ability was beside the point.

“Still, I left 10,000 troops there, so he should manage well enough.”

“What could be the source of these monsters?”

“I wonder…”

Lucifer stood up and positioned himself by the window. Looking outside, he recalled his conversation with Terseon.

Monsters, sacrifices, and the lake creature.

His brow furrowed deeply. Thinking of Leitria made him slightly uncomfortable.

A weak woman. And with strange stubbornness too. Annoyingly so.

“But don’t you feel wronged? His Majesty is being too harsh. He should have given you the duchy as your territory and made you a nobleman.”

“What I wanted was to handle the demons in the duchy with my own hands. For that alone, I am indebted to His Majesty, so it doesn’t matter.”

The window fogged up. It must be quite cold outside. The sky was a darker gray than his ashen eyes.

Almost like a warning of the coming blizzard.

“More importantly, have you discovered who’s commanding the rebels from behind?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Some of the Dark Clan might have survived. Perhaps the monsters’ movements are also that person’s doing.”

“What? But the Dark Clan members were all…”

“I think there’s no possibility, but investigate thoroughly just in case. Also, thoroughly research and bring me information about the legend of the guardian deity living in the unfrozen lake.”

“I have heard something about the guardian deity and sacrifices.”

After sharing all the information he had heard, the knight left.

Lucifer remained silently by the window. The creases on his face showed no signs of smoothing out. The deepening wrinkle between his brows revealed the depth of his anguish.

After a while, the foggy window became somewhat transparent.

Through the clearer view, he could see snowflakes falling outside. And something red chasing the snow like an excited puppy. Lucifer stared blankly at the scene for a moment.

A smile he hadn’t seen since their meeting at the unfrozen lake. It scattered around like the pure white snowflakes.

Lucifer’s eyebrow twitched with displeasure.

“Really, she makes it impossible to look away for even a moment.”

* * *

“Whew, it’s cold. I should hang these quickly and go inside.”

I went to the sunniest spot in the chapel yard, vigorously shook the laundry, and hung it on the poles the knights had set up.

My hands, chapped from cold water and winter air, were still covered in wounds and scabs. Having started working before they were fully healed, they probably wouldn’t recover easily.

It doesn’t matter.

I have no reason to keep my hands pristine. They’re just for doing laundry anyway.

“Oh? Snow?”

Snow, rarely seen in Belial except on the snowy mountains, fell from the sky one by one. I spent some time lost in childlike wonder, enjoying the snow, forgetting who I had been.

“Ah, the laundry!”

The melting snow was preventing the clothes from drying at all. If I left them like this, I might get scolded again. I hurriedly reached out to gather the laundry.

That’s when I saw a pair of slender legs.

“Lord… Kires?”

“Smart girl, remembering my name.”

His voice, unlike at the well, contained no mockery. Instead, there was a kind of inscrutable friendliness that hid his intentions.

“Do you need something from me?”

“Shall I carry that bucket for you?”

“No thank you, it’s light.”

I declined, unable to fathom his sinister motives.

Instead, I quickly put the laundry in the bucket and left. My steps lacked composure as I tried to pass by Kires and enter the chapel.

My entire body stiffened like the laundry in the bucket because Kires was quietly following behind me. Unfortunately, there was no one nearby since Terseon was busy lecturing the other knights.

“Hey, are you upset because I was harsh earlier?”

I kept my mouth shut and walked straight ahead. I don’t know why Lucifer’s face came to mind at this moment. Somehow, I felt that seeing his indifferent gray eyes would calm my anxiously jumping heart.

Because he would drive away this scoundrel.

“Ignoring me again?”

Just then, Kires grabbed my wrist. His rough touch made me drop the bucket I was holding.

The laundry I had worked hard to wash spilled onto the dirt. Kires, knowing they were Lucifer’s, stepped on them as he approached me.

“You seem quite arrogant for becoming the commander’s concubine…”

Kires approached me with a chilling expression. This vile man resembled Deltraen indeed, down to his filthy desires.

“A commoner’s achievements might earn him a mere count’s title at best, but I could push aside my brother and become a marquis.”

“So… what?”

“You’d be better off as my concubine.”

The man’s blue eyes darkened with lust.