Chapter 9.
You’re the Only One Who Doesn’t Know Your Condition!
Just like William naming his horse “Bibi,” I was suddenly struck with an overwhelming desire to give our horse a cool name, too.
“Your nickname is the ‘Bloodthirsty Maniac of War,’ right? Since this is your horse, how about something fitting like ‘Savage’ or ‘Ferocious’? Pretty fierce, huh?”
“What?”
Judging by the way his face instantly crumpled, it clearly wasn’t a hit.
Hmph, well, maybe he’ll like this one better.
“Then how about ‘Bloodstorm’? You know, like a storm of blood to match your nickname! It even has a nice ring to it! Bloodstorm, you like it, don’t you?”
I thought it was a genius name. But the horse, who’d been calmly standing still, suddenly reared its front legs into the air and started thrashing like it was having a seizure.
“Eek!”
As my body tilted back, I instinctively grabbed onto his arms for dear life.
“How can you come up with a name that even a beast finds offensive?”
With his perfectly arched brows raised, he looked down at me like he was genuinely baffled.
“Offensive? No way. Bloodstorm wouldn’t hate it. That was just a coincidence—”
Whiiiiinnnnny!!!
The damn horse reared again, thrashing wildly. I flinched hard again and glared at the back of its head once my racing heart calmed down.
“Fine, I get it! I won’t call you that, okay?! You’ll just be ‘Horse’ for the rest of your life. Hmph!”
King Miklok, who had been watching me grumble, shook his head with a sigh. He then patted the horse’s neck to calm it down and said,
“You’d better not name anything ever again.”
He firmly kicked the horse’s side, and the beast took off like the wind. Over his shoulder, he added one last remark.
“You’re not naming our kids either!”
“What?! Who said I would?! And our kids?! I never agreed to that!!”
The words “our kids” hit me like a truck. I shouted back in a fluster, but of course, all my protests were completely ignored.
On a hill across the northern border of the Harun Empire, a royal carriage from the Pritan Kingdom waited, surrounded by six elite knights of the Special Cavalry Division.
By schedule, they should have been riding hard toward the Marquess of Uzkal’s estate.
But after receiving word that Miklok was personally riding back with his fiancée, they’d decided to wait at the border instead.
A red-haired knight peered through binoculars at the border. Another knight with the same fiery red hair approached him.
“Ralph, they’re not even close yet. It’ll be at least an hour.”
“You don’t know how Miklok and Commander William ride. They’ll be here within twenty minutes.”
“You idiot. They’re not alone, remember? They’re bringing the future queen and her maid.”
“Freddy Thoron, is that any way to talk to your superior officer?”
“Excuse me?! You little punk, talking back to your noble older brother like that?”
The infamous twin knights of the elite Pritan Special Cavalry—Freddy and Ralph Thoron.
They looked so alike that even their comrades had trouble telling them apart. But their personalities couldn’t be more different.
Freddy, the older twin, was all brawn and instinct. Ralph, the younger, was cool-headed and brilliant.
While Freddy outperformed in swordsmanship and horseback riding, Ralph had climbed the ranks faster thanks to his strategic mind and leadership skills.
Not that Freddy cared. At least, not unless Ralph pulled rank and acted like a smug jerk—like now.
As Ralph continued watching the border, a smirk tugged at his lips.
“They’re here. Told you.”
With his signal, the resting knights jumped to their feet and prepared to greet the king.
Soon, two horses galloped into view—Miklok and William, each riding with a woman seated in front.
“We greet the great Prince Miklok of Pritan!”
All six knights dropped to one knee in unison. Miklok and William dismounted in one smooth motion.
“Thanks for your service.”
“An honor, Your Highness. In fact, we all wanted this assignment so badly we had to draw lots…”
Freddy rambled until Ralph smacked him on the arm, telling him to shut it.
Glaring briefly at his brother, Freddy shifted his gaze to peek around Miklok’s shoulder.
Not just Freddy—the others were sneaking glances at the woman on Miklok’s horse.
Their war-obsessed king was getting married?! They were burning with curiosity about the future queen.
Seeing their obvious interest, Miklok chuckled softly. He helped the shyly seated Lea down from his horse and began introductions.
“These are the finest knights of Pritan’s Special Cavalry. This is Vice-Captain Ralph Thoron, and the one who looks exactly like him is his twin, Freddy Thoron. Freddy will be your personal escort on this journey, so get familiar with his face.”
“Thank you for coming all this way for me.”
Lea offered a warm greeting, and smiles instantly bloomed on the Thoron twins’ faces.
They were already thrilled that their king was getting married, but now they were also blessed with a beautiful, kind queen? Incredible!
The other knights looked equally moved. Their eyes shimmered with emotion. William rolled his eyes.
“You idiots, pull yourselves together! You’re the so-called Hellhounds of Pritan. What’s with those puppy-dog eyes? You’ll scare the enemies—oh wait, never mind. I’ll behead them before they even get a chance to laugh.”
“Enemies won’t get that chance, Sir William. Not if I see them first,” Freddy said with absolute confidence.
Watching him take it so seriously, William could only sigh.
Ralph opened the carriage door for Lea.
“Please step inside. We’ll escort you safely to Pritan Castle.”
With Miklok’s help, Lea climbed into the carriage. Freddy quickly grabbed Milly’s luggage from her hands.
“Thank you. Pritan knights are so kind,” Milly said with a bright smile—unlike someone else, she thought.
Freddy gave her a sheepish grin.
“We’re moving out at full speed. Until we reach the castle, your lives belong to the protection of the future queen. Understood?”
William’s command rang out, and the elite knights mounted their horses and took formation around the carriage.
“See you at the castle,” Miklok called to Lea, who peeked her head out the carriage window.
And before she could even reply, he vanished at terrifying speed. William and his horse, Bibi, quickly followed.
“…Wait, what? I thought we were traveling together?!”
Lea sat frozen, mouth agape, staring in the direction they had disappeared.
As he chased after Miklok’s horse, William couldn’t help but question if this was truly the same king once known as the blood-crazed war maniac.
Earlier that morning, after Lea went back into the tent clutching her blanket near the fire, Miklok had said something strange.
“When the royal carriage arrives, you’re heading back to Pritan with them. I’ll go on ahead.”
“…What?”
William’s face twisted in disbelief. After two weeks of nonstop tailing Miklok, he was exhausted too.
He had hoped they could finally travel at a sane pace with the carriage—but now he had to ride like his butt was on fire again?
“I get that you like handling things yourself, but maybe start trusting your subordinates. Preparations for deployment are already flawless.”
Miklok looked at him like he was the one spouting nonsense.
“Of course the preparations are flawless. I oversaw them myself before we left.”
“Then why the rush?”
“I need to open Royal Storage No. 3.”
That stunned William.
Storage No. 3? That’s where the thermal magic stones were kept. In cold, wintry Pritan, those were more precious than diamonds.
“Why would you need those all of a sudden…?”
“She’s never lived anywhere colder than Harun. How’s she going to survive in Pritan? I need to line her bedroom, reception room, study, and lounge with extra thermal stones.”
William’s jaw dropped. Did he hear that right?
And then Miklok added even more absurdity:
“If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve looted more thermal stones during the last campaign.”
“…Didn’t you already empty two mines back then?”
“We left one untouched, remember?”
Miklok now looked like he was actually regretting it.
“So… just because she said she was cold earlier?”
“She’s already clinging to a blanket in this mild weather. What do you think will happen once we reach Pritan? She’ll freeze to death!”
Ever since Miklok mentioned the “Dragon’s Breath” had faded, William suspected something was up between them—but he didn’t expect it to be this extreme.
“At least send a message ahead. You don’t have to do this yourself.”
“I have the key to Storage No. 3.”
Miklok smiled like it was the most natural thing in the world. William was left speechless.
No one in the world would believe the blood-soaked king of Pritan was racing home to personally decorate the queen’s palace with thermal magic stones.
That ridiculous conversation had taken place just this morning.
As he stared at the cloud of dust Miklok left behind, William sighed.
His king looked exactly like a man deeply in love—and, unfortunately, had no idea just how far gone he already was.
If I exaggerated a little, the royal carriage I was riding in might’ve been even bigger than my room back at the marquess’ mansion.
Pulled by twelve horses, it still glided so smoothly that I often forgot we were even moving—unless the window was open.
“It’s amazing, Milly. It’s being pulled by twelve horses, and it barely shakes.”
“Milly, honestly, what amazes me more than the carriage is the knights.”
“Huh?”
Confused, Milly peeked out the window. Six knights—including the driver—rode alongside us, rotating positions around the carriage without pause.
“We’re inside eating and sleeping, but those guys have been riding all day. When do they even sleep?”
“Oh! I asked Sir Freddy that. He said they get about four hours while we’re sleeping.”
“Oh, good. I was wondering how they kept going even when I woke up!”
Then Milly suddenly frowned.
“At least they get some sleep. Sir William’s the real issue. He barely slept or ate for two whole days.”
“How did you manage?”
“I just fell asleep on the horse. I trusted he wouldn’t let me fall.”
…What? That’s some serious trust.
“Wait… Don’t tell me. Do you like Sir William?”
“What?!”
Milly spat out her tea and began coughing. She hastily pulled out a handkerchief and started wiping it up, then looked at me dead serious.
“Lady Lea, I do have standards, you know. I trust Sir William—as a knight, and as a person. That’s all.”
Her eyes were full of pure, righteous indignation.
‘Oh… maybe not?’
Maybe I misread things. Milly, you sure know how to throw people off.
