CH 21

“Sir Adler. Get up.”

A confused voice came out.

“How can I thank you…!”

She felt like crying. She hurried over to Adler and grabbed him by the arm and raised him up. Two streams of tears streamed down his determined face.

He was really crying.

“Sir Leone sometimes spat out fragmentary words. Most of them were close to swearing without knowing the meaning. Just… He learned how to hit people!”

“Ah…”

The words he said were close to cursing. Did he only hear negative words, or did he only absorb words to use in negative situations? Since they did not know the exact contents, speculation has constantly spread in various directions. Somehow, her heart was hurt.

“I never thought he’d be able to answer questions or say something other than swear words…!”

‘But it was 5 years ago.’

How touching was the fact that his lord, who occasionally swears but couldn’t even calm down himself, let alone use human language, recognizes him. Even though he was called ‘the damn knight’, Adler smiled broadly.

Leone was watching the whole scene.

Adler bowed deeply to Leone.

“Sir Leone. I am your knight! I will try to be a good knight, not a damn knight! So stay calm!”

It was truly a sight that could not be seen without tears. He looked at Leone with a complicated mind, but he had an unexpected face. An expressionless expression that shows neither discomfort nor wariness.

Leone looked intently at Adler, then put his chin on his chin and rolled up his body.

‘What was that just?’

“Sir Adler. Then the tutor would-”

“I will bring the person Trixie recommended. Then I will go, I don’t want you to fell uncomfortable, Sir Leone!”

Adler greeted him in a lively voice and turned away. It was different from the way he asked her a while ago, covered with jealousy, envy, and sorrow. It was nice to see the backs of the two men excitedly walking to the mansion with the happy face of Gourden.

“Oh right. Trixie! We promise to give you the reward! Add more!”

And Adler’s words from afar could not have been so sweet.

* * *

“Think again, Adler.”

For a while, the annex became noisy. It was because Jen, the general butler, blocked Adler’s way when he was about to leave for a while.

“To hear just one word from that child and go all the way to that remote village. The road is dangerous, and in the meantime, you don’t know what will happen to this mansion. Sir Leone is also a risk factor, and the outside… You know.”

“Jen.”

“Adler-sama, isn’t this the first time you’ve been away for such a long time? I am very concerned.”

“I know the butler’s feelings, but I trust Trixie.”

Adler said calmly.

‘What is it? I’m a little impressed.’

At that, Jen glanced back at her.

“… I, I mean it’s me.”

He looked at her with the same, no, more dissatisfied eyes than the first time he saw her.

“Sir Adler, you trust people too easily since before.”

“The reason I got over the butler’s rudeness each time was because most of them were helpful nags. However, it’s been a month already, Jen.”

Adler said hard in an emotionless voice. Jen heard that and backed away with his head down.

“Sorry. Be careful, and go.”

“Yeah. Please take good care of the mansion.”

Adler walked out of the annex. In front of the porch was Gourden, where his horse was waiting. Before getting on the horse, Adler looked at her and Gourden with a pensive face.

“Are you really okay? Gourden and Trixie alone… ”

He just said he trusted her…

She nodded.

“It’s okay. You brought four knights, so I don’t think you need to worry.”

It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand his worries, but seeing the four stalwart knights he brought, she wondered if there was a need to worry that much. They were men with a physique comparable to Adler or Leone, and the impression that even making eye contact with them could make anybody afraid.

“I don’t like it. I hadn’t been away from the mansion for such a long time. Jen’s words are not true. Unconditionally, be careful, be careful again.”

“Sir Adler. Isn’t the situation different from then! We have teachers.”

Showing how proud he was, Gourden stretched out his chest and banged his fists. Every time she looked at his praise it was so… She was ashamed.

“It doesn’t work even if there are many soldiers, or at least it’s uneasy… I managed to get them, but in the end, I can’t make them reside in the mansion, so I have to be anxious.”

His sigh deepened.

Mount Meto was chosen as a refuge for Leone because the mountain was steep. Because no one could easily find it. However, if people come and go too much, eventually someone will find a trace. Adler’s vague explanation last night ended with ‘This is a secret villa’, but it was easy to guess that he was hiding from the villainous Grand Duke or from someone who threatened Leone. Because of the circumstances, Adler had not brought in as many people as possible here, and he moved himself. It was for that reason that he came to pick her up himself without using a servant in the past.

If it were Adler, he would erase his presence, slip into a side road, cut off his tail, and even if someone was following him, he could quickly get away with it. For the same reason, Benjamin had to be brought by him himself.

Until now, if you took a shortcut that only Adler knew, you would only find servants in villages near the capital. The same way as when she came.

At any rate, he had never been away from the mansion for more than a day. He could leave it with Gourden for a day or so, and that was fine, as long as his horse ran fast, he would be back in no time. The problem was that the ‘four days village’ where Benjamin lived was very far away. The road to the outskirts of the empire was also difficult. It was so harsh that the inhabitants there were almost self-sufficient. That’s why Adler had to go all the more. He was the best knight in the Empire, and he was the best in terms of mobility, as he could face a battalion alone.

Adler, who had no choice but to go on a long journey, said he would return within fifteen days, and he attached four reliable privates to the main building. For most travelers, it would not make sense to move all the way to the village of Sail for a period of 15 days. However, Adler’s calculation method must be different from hers, so she didn’t add much.

The four tall knights, fully armed, guarded the mansion as unobtrusively as possible. Hiding unconditionally in case Sir Leone got startled and had a seizure. So they did not even show their nose.

If Leone saw even a strand of their hair… They would have to wait and be prepared for the day he returned. That was Adler’s order to his knights.

“Then I will really go.”

After hesitating for a while, and finally got on his horse. She and Gourden sent him off with his weary face. Adler’s horse became a small dot in an instant, then disappeared from sight. The word “really fast” came out of nowhere.

“Ha. Sir Adler seems to be very worried too. He is wasting his youth. Isn’t he in his early thirties yet?”

Having been bothered by Adler’s worrying nagging all morning, she chose words that wouldn’t sound like curse words and cursed at Adler.

“Yeah. you’re right. He is a young man who should be talking about marriage. He is not at an age where he should be nagging and worrying like this…”

Gourden sighed as if he had the same feeling as her. There wasn’t a single swear word or harsh word between the two of them, but there was a sarcasm that could only be felt through lamentation woven with a sense of kinship.

“Maybe it’s time to start a family and take care of yourself.”

“Yes. He hasn’t been able to properly meet Jung, who he left behind in the capital city, for nearly five years… Actually, since he went to the capital from time to time, it would be nice for them to meet. It feels like my whole heart is being torn apart.”

“Eh. Don’t be upset.”

Ending the conversation with exaggerated concern, they returned to the mansion. 

Leone was quietly lying in the lobby, curled up.

‘Don’t have nightmares while Adler is gone.’ She begged earnestly.

She didn’t want to see the sight of those four knights rushing in and subduing Leone.

* * *

Her shoulders are finally free.

“You really didn’t move.”

The doctor smiled heartily.

“I think it would be amazing if I could move it with it closed like that, sir. It’s as if I couldn’t move.”

It healed neatly, but the pain would come if she overdo it, so the long treatment ended with the diagnosis that she should not move too hard in the future. It was a wound that didn’t even need to be bandaged in the first place.

She was too… It’s just that she was given an extreme drug prescription because she moved too much.

“Sir Adler moved even when he was tied up like this.”

“Isn’t that because it’s Sir Adler?”

“I guess so.”

To compare her with Adler…

Since her body was so weak, the doctor prescribed medicine that was good for energy and told her to eat while she was at it, back to her room.

‘Uh, huh. Cool. My stomach is open!’

She didn’t know that losing the use of one arm would be so terrible. She had never been so hurt when she was beaten by Jamie. He knew very well that she had to earn money, and he didn’t beat her to the point of knocking her out or aim at the bone. So she didn’t know.

The strength of Lim Bobae in her previous life, who had never broken a bone, and the viciousness of Jamie. These two things instilled in her the ignorance that there was no answer to injuries, that if she got hurt, it would stop.

“Then let’s go.”

Ten days have already passed since Adler left. For a while, everyone was worried because of Adler’s absence, who was said to be back within 15 days. Both the annex building and the main building worked very well. The servants did their job skillfully, and Gourden and she were idle with Leone.

In the fortress Leone didn’t hate that much even when Gourden came close. Rather just… It was a feeling of indifference.

“Leone. I’m here.”

“Hey, Teacher.”

Excited, as soon as she opened the mansion door, there was a loud noise.

“What, what!”

The identity of the sound was Gourden. What was his expression… It was strange.

“I, I…!”

Could it be that something was not going well? She took a quick look, but there was not a single scratch on Gourden’s leather clothes.

“Are you okay, Gourden?”

Just looking at Gourden’s distorted face, it was difficult to guess his emotions. Was that joy or sadness? Was he scared? Didn’t seem like that either.

“I succeeded in standing next to Sir Leone without Teacher!”

Oh that was a thrill.

“Oh my goodness!”

She was startled and clapped her hands. It was a truly amazing achievement.

“Congratulations!”

Gourden gave a big nod.

“I think sedatives help quite a bit.”

“It seems so.”

After she taught him, he politely called him ‘damned knight’, but before that, Leone had a seizure in front of Adler and her. The seizure of fighting with Adler until the end even while shedding blood was so intense that it comes to mind even when she closed her eyes. The sedative was said to have been formulated with herbs that induce deep and stable sleep so as not to strain the body as much as possible. It’s okay if it’s prepared by a professional therapist, but anyway, if he abused any medicine, it would eventually put a strain on his body.

‘If a seizure occurs while I am away, the four knights will have to rush. Then Sir Leone will be hurt. As a fallback, it is better to take the medicine every day. Didn’t he have a seizure the other day after locking us up and not giving him a sedative to keep an eye on him?’

Just before Adler left, they had a serious meeting. After thinking about his words for a long time, she finally nodded her head at the earnest persuasion.

They decided to give Leone a sedative every night.

Previously, he had seizures almost every day, and it must have been too much to do without a limit on the number of times, but it was helpful to induce deep sleep by keeping a certain amount of time in a comfortable state. It was fortunate. In fact, it was her greed that gave him the sedative.

The look in Leone’s eyes when he had a nightmare. Such a greed that she never wanted to see those eyes that were so ferocious to the point of hurting his heart but blurry as if he couldn’t see.