Chapter 2.14

Ragaen Sol Adantie missed Greta Lievo.

During the first week of the expedition training, Ragaen came to a conclusion.

He missed Greta Lievo terribly. He wanted to return to the capital, Hiteria, immediately to see her face and etch it into his memory so he would never forget it again.

In truth, Ragaen could only properly recall the faces of about three people: the Crown Prince, Obil, and Jespa. That was it. He remembered his subordinate knights by their clothing, mannerisms, impressions, and the way they handled their weapons. As for the nobles he met, Jespa would brief him on their personal details, so he had never felt it was a problem. This was the first time he had been angry at himself for not paying attention to someone’s face. How could he fail to remember the face of his one and only female fan?

Ragaen Sol Adantie missed Greta Lievo.

He didn’t want anything from her, nor did he have anything to say to her. He simply wanted to see her face. He wanted to receive a letter from her. He wanted to reply to that letter. He wanted to hear her chatter.

Once he realized this desire, the thought of waiting until the end of the training—two more months—became intolerable. So, Ragaen decided to shorten the training period. The reason this year’s training was far more intense than usual was solely because Ragaen wanted to meet his first and only female fan, Greta Lievo, as soon as possible.

Ragaen took out the small note he had been carrying in his inner pocket. The paper was slightly worn from how much he had rubbed the part with her name. Worried about damaging it further, Ragaen refrained from touching that part anymore.

The Dadian scent that had once lingered on the paper had long since faded. Yet, out of habit, Ragaen brought the note to his nose. Though there was no scent to be smelled, it felt as though there was.

Ragaen Sol Adantie missed Greta Lievo.

He missed Greta.

He missed her so much….

Thus, Ragaen resolved to end this training as quickly as possible.

He had to.

If the knights knew what he was thinking, they would have staged a collective strike.

***

The Imperial Knight Order had been stationed in the Burmato mountain range for a month and a half, continuing their monster hunts and training. Without a shred of mercy, Ragaen had forced them through a brutal schedule, shortening the training period by two weeks. As a result, the knights were utterly gaunt and exhausted. Their eyes gleamed with a madness born of desperation. After nearly six weeks of barely sleeping and eating just enough to survive while scouring the entire Burmato region, even Ragaen’s face showed signs of wear.

“With your cooperation, the official schedule for this expedition training ends today.”

When Ragaen said this to the knights standing in neat rows, they all felt tears well up in their eyes.

“This was the longest and most dreadful time of my life.”  

“This is a nightmare I’ll carry to my grave.”  

“Mom… Dad… I miss you….”  

“Does my son even know how hard I’m working to earn money?”  

“D*mn it. At least it’s over now.”

They wiped their tear-filled eyes with their sleeves, feeling immense relief.

But it wasn’t over.

“We’ll head to the village without resting.”

The Commander had gone mad! 

Cries and groans erupted among the knights. They covered the distance to the nearest village from the Burmato mountain range—a journey that would normally take a week on horseback—in just three days. It was hellish training that truly did not end until the very end.

Upon reaching the village, the knights rented every inn and spare room available in the homes of the residents. After savoring their first proper meal in ages, they collapsed into their assigned rooms. Richard, like his comrades, had just lain down and was about to surrender to sleep when he was startled awake by a sudden summons.

“Hey, Richard. The Commander wants to see you.”  

“Huh? Huh? Me? Why? Me? Why?”  

“I don’t know. Pull yourself together and go.”

During the hellish expedition training, Ragaen had scored the lowest marks as a potential suitor for Richard’s younger sister. The training had been so grueling that Richard now found the very sight of Ragaen Sol Adantie unbearable. Though he had once admired and respected him as his sister’s crush and as his superior officer, he now despised him. 

Respect? Forget it. Admiration? Spit! 

He had even resolved to tell his innocent sister all about how demon-like her beloved Duke was once he returned home.

But remembering how Michael had been beaten to a pulp right next to him, Richard wasted no time in heading to Ragaen’s room.

“Commander. Richard Lievo reporting.”  

“Come in.”

Perhaps because the tension had lifted after the training ended, Ragaen’s face looked slightly different from what Richard had seen until just the day before.

Throughout the training, Ragaen had been so on edge that it seemed like he might explode at the slightest provocation. His lack of sleep had likely exacerbated this. He had even nitpicked minor mistakes that he would normally have ignored out of sheer indifference. His mood had been so foul that no one had dared approach him. Among the knights, Richard had been the only one he treated even slightly better—just a tiny bit better—which meant that all messages and errands involving Ragaen had been dumped on Richard. This only made him resent Ragaen even more.

“I apologize for calling you when you must be tired.”  

“It’s no trouble.”

And yet, here he was, acting like a completely different person after arriving in the village. Why?

‘Could it be…! Was the training hard for him too? Did he endure it all for the sake of completing the training to perfection? Is that why he never skipped the most difficult hunts and led by example?!’

Suddenly, respect for the Commander, which had dried up like a drought-stricken well, began to bubble up again.

“There’s something I’d like to ask of you personally.”  

“Yes! Please, tell me anything!”  

“This.”

Ragaen handed him an ordinary envelope. Richard took it and widened his eyes.

“I’d like you to deliver this to Greta.”

The envelope had “To Greta” written on it!

‘Wha—this man!’

Now that Richard looked closely, Ragaen’s neck and ears were slightly red. He even avoided Richard’s gaze!

‘This man, don’t tell me—!’

One thing was clear: as her brother, Richard could not condone what was happening.

‘Don’t tell meeeee!’  

“If it’s inconvenient, I can deliver it myself….”  

“No! It’s not inconvenient at all! I’ll deliver it as soon as I return!”  

“Thank you.”

Unable to hide his displeasure, Richard left the room.

Once the door closed, Ragaen took out the tusk of Ritmaom, wrapped in cloth. It was something Richard Lievo, who had just left, had retrieved from the Ritmaom that attacked the knight order on the first day. Selecting a small and smooth tusk, Ragaen began carving it into a dagger. It was no easy task to carve such a hard tusk with only one hand. Whenever he had a moment, he would whittle away at it, intending to create a gift in return for the one Greta had given him. Once he returned to the capital, he planned to string it and turn it into an ornament.

He wanted to meet Greta Lievo.

But he had no reason to meet her.

The ornament made from Ritmaom’s tusk was Ragaen’s “reason” to meet her.

The training was over. Tomorrow, he would return to Hiteria, where Greta was. The reason to meet her was complete. Feeling strangely excited, Ragaen delayed his meal as soon as he entered his lodging and began writing a letter. After much deliberation, the result was a single line.

Greta, may I meet you sometime soon?

It was unimpressive. Lacking sincerity. Even if someone said so, it would have been impossible to deny how short it was, but that was the best Ragaen could do. Just as the thought of meeting Greta had been his best effort after six weeks of grueling hardship, during which he had barely slept and even skipped meals he deemed most important.

Despite the crushing fatigue weighing down his entire body, Ragaen Sol Adantie could not sleep that night.

The knights who had gone on the expedition returned to Hiteria, bringing autumn with them.

***

Every year, Greta made sure to be home on the day Richard returned from his expedition training. Since she was the only one who could welcome him back after two months of hardship, it had become an unspoken tradition. Richard, too, assumed Greta would be waiting for him this time.

“What? She’s not here? Greta’s not home?”

Richard, who had come back full of plans to deliver a long speech on “The Truth About the Duke of Adantie You Loved” and extort some allowance from his sister using Ragaen’s letter as leverage, couldn’t conceal his disappointment. Moreover, he felt deeply hurt to find no family member welcoming him after nearly two months. However, the following news was shocking enough to blow away all his disappointment.

“What? Are you serious?”

Richard Lievo tucked the undelivered letter into his chest and immediately went to find Captain Ragaen. He encountered Ragaen just after he had met the Crown Prince, who had been dumbfounded by the report of the training being shortened by two weeks.

Richard handed over the letter Ragaen had written.

“What is it, Sir Richard?”

“Commander! I can’t deliver this letter!”

“What do you mean…?”

“Greta isn’t in the capital!”

Indeed, Greta Lievo wasn’t just absent from home—she wasn’t in Hiteria at all.