Chapter 88
With that thought, as Seth remained in an uncomfortable silence, Gawin, who was by his side, spoke succinctly as if to lighten the mood.
“Is there still something bothering you, Captain? If the prudent Sir Lancelot is this confident, I think you can really put your mind at ease.”
“I really wish I could put my mind at ease. Lancelot, has there never been a case where a decision has been overturned?”
“…Well. Of course, if there’s a significant reason to overturn the decision before the verdict, it may change, but… I don’t think they’ll be able to find such a reason.”
“The Madam said that Rupert had changed His Majesty’s mind… Is there any possibility that His Majesty would exercise his power?”
“I don’t think there will be. Of course, His Majesty accepts everyone’s opinions evenly, but he won’t discuss matters that have already been decided by the Vatican.”
When Lancelot responded with a wry smile to Seth’s point, Gawin twisted the corner of his mouth and spoke sarcastically.
“To put it in a good way, His Majesty has a disposition that’s well accommodating, but he’s just indecisive and is good at being seduced by what others say. Even if someone deceives him with something else, it’s enough for us to come up with our own logic and convince them. So, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”
“…Sir Gawin.”
“Your tongue, brother! Please be careful what you say and do!”
Seth frowned at Gawin’s vitriolic remarks.
Meanwhile, stunned, Gareth grabbed his brother by the shoulder and hastily stopped him from speaking. It was only then that Gawin lightly shrugged his shoulders and looked at his master before opening his mouth again in a light tone.
“Anyway, well. Isn’t it good, Captain? So now, calm down and pay attention to the ‘plan’ you’ve been thinking about. The verdict has already come out, but how long are you going to stay in such an ambiguous state?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, are you pretending not to know? A proposal, a ‘proposal’.”
As his sarcastic appearance disappeared quickly, only a sly expression remained instead, which caused Seth’s brow to furrow even more deeply. Gawin swallowed a laugh to himself when he noticed that his master, who was making a displeased expression, was, in fact, reluctant to reveal the secret that he had kept tightly hidden.
Nonetheless, Seth still pretended not to know what he was talking about.
“Well, who am I proposing to?”
“Oh! Of course, to the Duchess!”
“…She and I are already married.”
“That’s right. You’re married, but you’ve been together for so long without a proper proposal or exchange of emotions. However, isn’t it different now? You now really have a heart-to-heart relationship, right? So, why not propose properly this time? Or don’t tell me… Captain has someone else on your mind besides the Duchess—”
“Gawin, are you crazy?”
“You can fool other people’s eyes though you can’t fool ours, Captain. The fact that you made such a plan couldn’t not be known by the knights who shared life and death with the Captain.”
“…Is that so, Gareth, Lancelot?”
Asking that, he glanced back at the other knights in the office after hearing Gawin’s words to see them smiling awkwardly and averting their gazes.
“Ha…”
The look between Seth’s eyebrows deepened even more.
When Gawin laughed at the blatantly distorted look on his master’s face, Seth let out a short sigh and muttered self-deprecatingly.
“I didn’t expect it to be so obvious…”
“Haha, there’s no way we wouldn’t know. Ever since the day the two of you stayed up all night at the lake, the Captain’s gaze towards the Duchess has been strange. I feel like it’s more affectionate and a little impatient… Isn’t that right?”
“…I see, that’s why.”
Seth smiled bitterly at the answer that came back.
It was as Gawin said. After he found out about her secret that day, his affection increased immensely and he became even more impatient.
One day, she suddenly woke up in another world and heard the accusations that she didn’t have to listen to, and yet her situation, which faced himself and the people around her uprightly without complaining about her given situation, made him feel even worse.
If it had been him, he wouldn’t have been able to take care of himself… Still, even in such a situation, Min-ha was grateful and sympathetic to Noah and her willingness to open her heart.
And at the same time, he also felt a bit of anxiety.
…That one day, she might suddenly disappear, just as one day she suddenly appeared.
Such anxiety made him long for some ‘evidence’ that they were bound by their love for each other… even though he knew that it was of little use in the face of fate and the power of God. So, he tried very hard not to show off, in case that kind person would notice his feelings and feel sorry for him.
Though as Gawin said, it seemed that he could not completely hide it from those who had been through life and death together for a long time.
Seth clicked his tongue briefly.
“…If you knew, couldn’t you pretend you didn’t know until the end?”
“I also wanted to pretend I didn’t know until the end, but I thought the Captain would miss the time if I left it like this.”
“Missing the time?”
“Before the Duchess changes her mind, make sure to put your stamp on it properly! You’re not complacent to say that the relationship between God and Imperial Law was made anyway, right? Wouldn’t the Captain really regret it if the Duchess left the castle and set up a shop as she said?”
“Of course…”
“I know, Captain. You might want to tell me when everything is over, but isn’t now the time when everything is over? After the verdict is announced tomorrow, there’ll be no problems anymore! Now is the right time!”
He sighed again in response to Gawin’s request.
It was as he said. Now was the right time to properly ask Min-ha to be with him for the rest of their lives. And just like Gawin said, he couldn’t just let time slip like this in such an ambiguous way.
He wanted to properly tell Min-ha to be with him forever. If he cared about the intruders and didn’t care about Min-ha while dealing with them, wasn’t that what they were talking about? With that thought in mind, there was no reason to hesitate any longer.
Brushing off the slightest bit of anxiety in his mind, Seth opened his mouth to Gawin.
“Thank you, Sir Gawin. Thanks to you, I was able to shake off the anxiety in my heart.”
“If you really appreciate it, please give me a vacation next month.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you, Captain. Since you’re giving it to me, please give it to Sir Gareth as well.”
Gawin giggled and put his arm on his younger brother’s shoulder, and Gareth, who hadn’t been involved in the conversation between his master and brother until a moment ago, only stiffened his expression before eventually relaxing from the atmosphere.
The next moment, Lancelot also spoke to Seth with a smile on his blunt face.
“By the way, did you prepare a ring for the Duchess?”
“Yes.”
He nodded coolly at the question before pulling out a small set of keys from his chest.
In his hand was one of the many keys, and Seth inserted it into the lock attached to the drawer next to the office desk. With a clicking sound, he then took out a black velvet box from an open drawer, placed it on the desk, and gently opened it.
In the box, a ring with a large ruby was revealed.
The ring, with a ruby the size of a thumbnail in the center and small diamonds surrounding it, was luxurious even at first glance.
As Seth looked down at the transparent ruby ring bathed in the sunlight coming through the window of his office, Lancelot, who was watching it, said with a nostalgic look on his face.
“It’s the former Duchess’s ring.”
“Yes. This is the ring my mother received from my father. I heard he promised my mother with this.”
“Ah, is this the ring you bought with the money you saved from working as a mercenary for three years? I thought His Excellency already gave it to the Duchess when the former Duchess died, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.”
“Yes. I couldn’t give it to that woman.”
Seth responded in a voice filled with complex emotions to Gawin’s words that suddenly interrupted.
An arranged marriage that was made mindlessly out of each other’s needs. While on the outside, he was eager to give a formal courtesy to his partner, on the inside, he couldn’t bear to hand the ring to ‘Minase Persen,’ who always hated him and acted coldly.
‘I thought I’d never hand this ring to anyone in my life…’
…However, like fate, she appeared.
Seth smiled kindly, imagining how Min-ha would react to receiving this ring. Meanwhile, Gawin, who was watching him, gazed at his master with a playful face.
“What is this, Captain? That woman…? Could it be that you still call her by that title?”
“Can that be?”
“Huh? But, a little while ago…”
“Sir Gawin. Before you pry into my words, you must have something to do?”
“Oh, yes. Of course. I have to go to work, yes. The Captain’s faithful knight, Gawin, is off to take care of the piled-up chores. Gareth, come with me.”
“Oh, wait! Brother! Ugh… Then, Your Excellency, I’ll come to you when you have another letter for me to deliver.”
“I’ll also go on an inspection tour of the outskirts of the castle. Your Excellency, all of the piles of wares over there are what I asked you to review earlier.”
“Okay.”
Seeing that his vassal, who had unnecessarily bright ears, showed signs of trying to hold on to the words that came out of his mouth again, Seth closed the ring box and scolded Gawin with a firm expression. Only then did the knights leave the office one by one to do their jobs.
“…It’s finally quiet.”
As the door closed and he was finally left alone in the room, Seth gazed down at the ring box in his hand for a moment before slipping it into his bosom. Then, he smiled slightly and grabbed the quill pen.
He wanted to quickly take care of his postponed work and go see Min-ha.
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