Perhaps because they were drunk, the men found the name rather interesting.
As they were about to stir up again, Benny stopped them.
“The princess needs to rest.”
Benny’s voice, which had become a full-fledged young man’s, was as heavy and cold as ice.
He boldly wrapped his arms around my waist and moved forward.
As we passed by the woman in the golden dress, she followed us and winked playfully.
“I don’t know why men’s voices grow louder when they are drunk.”
The expression on her face was so attractive that I felt bad instead.
From her dressing to her tone of voice, this aristocratic ‘young lady’ was definitely a man.
On top of that, he was also the crown prince of the empire.
***
“Phew, I’m finally alive.”
As soon as Garou arrived in the waiting room for the bride and groom, he sat on the sofa and stretched his legs out of the dress.
I was a little curious as to how the young men would react if he showed the calf muscles that were clearly visible through the stockings when they were chasing him.
“I need to catch my breath. I’m not kidding, I’m just saying.”
Without hesitation, Garou lowered the top of his dress and slipped his hand through the loose clothes.
Around his waist was a corset that even I did not wear.
‘Wow.’
It was a full-fledged disguise that was not inferior to participants of most contests.
“Where the hell did you get that corset? I heard that they all disappeared after the overfishing of whales was banned.”
“Exactly around that time, when the clothing simplification movement started. I stole one from the Imperial Palace museum.”
Garou shrugged and loosened the corset’s busks one by one.
When the busks were pulled out, the horizontally stretched corset was like a bridge made of several pieces of wood joined together.
“It’s been a year, Lilietta. The last time I saw you was at the reception.”
Garou brought his knees to his cheek and smiled slyly.
“Did you miss me?”
“Yes.”
I nodded without hesitation.
I was just answering frankly, but Garou opened his eyes wide as if it was unexpected.
I placed Alan’s cloak on the hanger and made sure the door was closed.
“I kept wondering if your business was going well.”
Unlike my room, the waiting room was covered with soundproof magic.
Our voices wouldn’t leak unless someone knocked or opened the door to dispel the spell.
I looked back at the crown prince who had sneaked into my wedding, unfastening his corset with confidence.
“What did you come here for? We decided not to meet after the reception. It will look suspicious.”
“I miss you so much.”
Garou lied through his teeth and whispered romantic words.
The expression on his face without a smile was really different from what I was used to, so I was taken aback.
“Is there any information you need to pass on? If you wanted to see me so badly, you should have come in my dreams.”
“Lilietta, you told me not to go into your dreams again.”
Garou let out a slow sigh as if he was sorry for it.
‘That’s what I said. Right.’
At the time, I spoke out of anger, but to my surprise, he was still granting my request four years later.
“Because of it, I couldn’t keep an eye on my darling disciple who’s idling around.”
“I’ve never been idle.”
I sat down in the seat facing Garou.
I beckoned to Benny, who was standing at the wall, and he came up to me and sat down next to me.
“When it comes to black magic training, I worked hard. I never missed it.”
“Hmm. Can I test you?”
“Here? I don’t want to ruin the dress.”
“Not black magic.”
Garou raised his index finger in the air. Black sand spurted out of his fingertips.
The sand, which had gathered like a cloud in the air, made a rattling sound, and then vomited out a square box.
I accidentally received the wide box that flew to my thigh.
“The chessboard…?”
“You reviewed the war history, didn’t you?”
Garou opened the chessboard that was folded in half and laid a stiff sheet of paper on it.
Instead of a black and white grid, a map was drawn on the paper.
I had a rough guess of what he was going to do.
“…You want to play ‘real chess’?”
Garou smiled as if I had guessed it right.
I sighed, but nodded in agreement.
Then, Garou arranged the black and white chess pieces so quickly that I could not see his hands.
This was a game I played right after I learned some black magic.
Garou taught me military science with ‘real story chess’.
This chess did not follow the usual rules.
Not only the formation of chess horses, but also the type and number of horses changed accordingly.
This was because it was based on actual battles, not a virtual war.
‘Although, at first I wondered why I had to learn this…’
It was hard for me to follow this class because it was hard to control the power of demons.
To be honest, in the past, I only learned black magic, so I thought it was a good thing to go according to the commander’s orders.
‘In conclusion, it was good I learned it.’
Amazingly, learning a chapter of military history helped me prepare for battle rather than running around all day in the circular stadium.
Because I wasn’t alone in the war.
Thanks to the tactics and types of formations he taught me, I was able to adapt easily when training with the knights.
“The Battle of the Highlands 150 years ago. This was the formation of the Imperial Army and the Rebel Army.”
Garou placed the white chess pieces in a zigzag position opposite the black ones.
If the rules were the same as before, the white ones were the emperor’s Imperial Army, and the black ones were the nameless rebels.
‘If the Bauners also fail in their rebellion, it will be like this…’
I looked at the black horses and thought for a moment.
The family that rebelled against the imperial family long ago also had a cool name.
But now they were not recorded anywhere and were collectively referred to as ‘rebels’.
“There were ten thousand more rebels, but they were defeated. What was the reason?”
“…There were so many desertions, so the spirit wizards were sandwiched between the infantry.”
I tapped the black bishop between the pawns.
“Due to the thin spread of the troops, they lacked the strength to bring down the left wing.”
“Is that all?”
“No, this was the cause of being pushed back from the battle. There is a reason why the rebels were destroyed.”
“Tell me.”
Garou leaned his cheek into a palm and looked at me with ecstatic eyes as if admiring a work of art made with his own hands.
I spoke after reviewing the war history that I memorized one after another in my head.
“They didn’t look around properly.”
“It’s too simple.”
“That’s really it. They only did a bit of reconnaissance. But they were approaching hastily, so they couldn’t see the long swamp surrounding it.”
I pointed to the wetlands on the map. It was a new mark added after the battle 150 years ago.
“Because of it, they couldn’t retreat, and just got hit.”
“Just by listening to you, it sounds like the commander made a hasty mistake.”
Garou narrowed his eyes.
“Is that really all, Lilietta?”
“…No. The commander had a good reason.”
What surprised me while learning military science was that no matter how foolish the miscalculations seemed in the future generations, there was a good reason at the time.
“Although there were far more rebel forces, that meant they needed a lot of food too. It was just before the first snow fell. When winter comes, supply becomes difficult, so they are in a hurry. Starving to death or fighting to death, it’s the same thing…”
“Well, then, what should they do to win?”
Every time Garou played chess, he always entrusted me with the losing side.
It was because it was much more important to reflect on the lost battles than to praise the victories.
Thanks to that, I felt like my head was going to break as I tried leading the brutally shattered army to victory, even in my imagination.
“…Ambush through the forest?”
As soon as I carefully moved the black pawn, Garou hit my round head with two white pawns.
“Wrong. The road is too narrow. Those who go there will be caught.”
“Climb to the top and bombard the wizard.”
“Are you going to break through the swamp and climb the hill? It is a shortcut to self-destruction.”
“Build a simple bridge in the swamp.”
“The imperial army will come before they even finish making it.”
“Should they just stand there?”
“Until it snows? As you said with your mouth, if supplies run out, they will starve to death.”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
As I screamed in dismay, Garou tapped my temple as if it was rather enjoyable.
“Think about it. It’s the brain that came down from Natalia, a rare genius.”
That’s Lily’s background. Whereas I was an ordinary demon.
‘I don’t know why this bastard is tormenting me until the day before the wedding.’
As I was tying my hair, Garou tightly pressed his middle finger and thumb together and brought it to my forehead.
And with a bright smile too.
It was clear that he intended to punish the foolish disciple.
“Uh, uh…”
I was in trouble. Garou’s hands were burning. I pursed my lips to come up with an answer.
“Three. Two. One. Well, it’s your defeat…”
“They can’t win.”
Just before I got a finger flick, I uttered out loud.
But Garou’s hand suddenly stopped in mid-air.
“Are you going to surrender?”
Garou wasn’t the kind of person who would let me off just because I cried for mercy.
In other words, it was a response that came out because I was close to the correct answer.
I desperately moved my tongue.
“No. It was the best thing for the rebels to do at the time – admit they couldn’t win. This was a losing fight. They can’t go out in a game where the other person planned it. They will only lose their troops.”
Now that I said it, it sounded somewhat plausible. In fact, as if I was right, Garou folded his arms.
“If you had retreated like a coward before the fight, you would have been brought to the commander-in-chief as soon as you returned to the capital. The commander has no back up, so he will be sentenced to death.”
“There are different kinds of cowards. A coward without a plan and a coward with plans.”
I moved the black queen behind the white horse.
“If it were me, I would have turned around and marched forward to cut off the supply lines of the Imperial Army.”
“Then the supply of the rebels will be cut off too, won’t it? Do you want to die together?”
“…Yes.”
“Hmm?”
“That, I mean…”
A trickle of cold sweat was dripping down. As I said, I didn’t know if this was right.
But once I spit it out, I couldn’t back down.
“It’s okay because the side which will move first…”
Bang!
The black knight moved without hesitation.
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