Chapter 6
I picked up a rose lying beside me and spun it idly between my fingers. As I lay there clearing my mind, evening came before I realized it.
When I went down to the dining room, my parents—who had been out—had already returned.
“Shiona!”
The moment she saw me, Mother jumped up from her seat and ran over with a bright smile. I lifted her clean off the ground, spun her around a couple of times, then pulled her into a tight hug.
Her cheerful laughter echoed warmly in my arms.
Father and Pavel watched the scene with satisfied smiles. I straightened my posture and addressed my family properly.
“Shiona Rodriz, reporting my return home in service of the Empire.”
“Oh my, how impressive.”
“Well done.”
“As expected of my sister.”
The moment I finished, all three spoke at once.
The dinner that followed was lively and warm. I gladly accepted the endless praise being showered on me, nodding repeatedly and clenching my fist with exaggerated enthusiasm.
I told embellished stories of fighting monsters, reenacted my subordinates’ ridiculous antics, and generally played it up.
Mother dabbed at her tears while laughing at every word I said, and Father kept repeating how proud he was.
Moments like this made me forget entirely that this world was supposed to be a novel.
I didn’t even refuse the alcohol Father offered. At some point, I drank it down—and promptly passed out.
When I opened my eyes again, I was already back in my bedroom.
Even through the haze, I could feel someone looking down at me.
“Pavel…?”
I frowned, unable to make out the figure in the heavy darkness. Then a cool hand reached out and gently covered my eyes.
The touch lingered softly on my eyelids, careful, almost hesitant.
The coolness against my flushed, drunken face pulled me back toward sleep.
I fell asleep instantly.
Shiona Rodriz.
In my dream, someone kept calling my name.
“Gah!”
I woke up thrashing.
I’d had a strange dream. Several, actually—but the last one was so vivid that I couldn’t remember the others at all.
Huff.
Clutching my still-racing heart, I took a moment to catch my breath. It had been a truly awful dream.
“Agh, cockroaches… that’s disgusting.”
A gigantic cockroach monster.
Something I never wanted to encounter—whether in dreams or in reality.
Shivering, I rubbed my arms and looked around.
“Did someone carry me here?”
My last memory was grabbing my brother by the hair while sitting next to him. Pavel must have carried me back after I fell asleep.
Feeling slightly nauseous, I rang the bell by my bed. Since it was a day off, I had every intention of not moving a single step.
Not long after, Marian arrived with a glass of orange juice. I gulped it down eagerly.
“Thanks. I really needed something refreshing—my stomach’s a mess.”
“You always crave fruit the morning after drinking, miss.”
I set the empty glass aside and leaned back into my pillow.
“Can you keep breakfast light? I’ll eat in bed.”
“Of course. And you’ll be staying in bed all day again, I assume?”
“Yep. Bring snacks and lunch here too.”
“The head chef heard you were back and is very motivated. You’ll have to eat a lot today.”
Marian laughed playfully, eyes curved into crescents. I shrugged as if that were no problem at all.
From the moment I woke up, I didn’t leave the bed except to use the bathroom.
Propped up against several plush pillows, I read one of the novels Marian had brought me.
A tray sat on the bed, filled with various snacks. I picked up a tart topped with blueberry jam.
As I turned the page, I took a bite. The flaky pastry and sweet jam melted gently in my mouth.
“Yes. This is it.”
This honey-sweet rest—something I hadn’t enjoyed in ages—was blissful.
An ordinary, peaceful day.
This was the life I’d always wanted.
Fighting monsters while covered in dust and unable to even wash properly was never the life I’d desired.
“Who cares if monsters show up or not?”
If not me, the male lead would’ve handled it just fine.
Besides, monsters barely even appeared in the novel. The story focused on finding a murderer—not on knights wrestling monsters in the dirt.
Haa…
Letting out a long sigh, I stuffed the remaining half of the tart into my mouth.
I tried to refocus on my book, but the story wasn’t doing it for me.
“What is this? If it’s a romance novel, then romance already. Why is everyone fighting again?”
Annoyed by the painfully stagnant relationship between the leads, I snapped the book shut.
As I browsed through the other books Marian had brought, one title caught my eye.
The Duchess’s Secret Temptation…
Ahem…
I glanced around unnecessarily, then cautiously picked it up.
This novel jumped straight into the main act, and the immersion was noticeably stronger than the previous one.
It even had illustrations.
And they were detailed—so detailed that the illustrator’s determination to vividly depict every scene was unmistakable.
Feeling obligated to respect that dedication, I stopped turning pages and swallowed hard.
Then—
Bang! Thud!
Noisy footsteps came from beyond the door, followed by the butler’s voice.
“Sir Kiern!”
Bang!
The door flew open. I hurriedly shoved the book under my blanket and shouted,
“What is it?!”
“Commander!”
The butler followed Kiern in.
“My apologies, miss—Sir Kiern arrived so suddenly, and—”
Looks like he’d come straight up without permission.
“Commander, is it true?”
Ignoring the butler, Kiern strode up to my bed and demanded an answer.
“Is what?”
“I heard Ricardo is joining the monster subjugation. That’s not true, is it?”
I gestured for the butler to leave.
Click.
The moment the door shut, I grabbed a fork from the tray and threw it at Kiern.
It grazed past his neck and embedded itself in the door.
Kiern stared at the fork, his face stiff.
“Commander… are you trying to kill me?”
“That depends on what you say next. You didn’t come all this way for such a pointless reason, did you?”
“This is important to me. Are you really going with Ricardo?”
Leaning back against my pillow, I replied flatly,
“Yeah. He’s coming. But you won’t need to prepare anything special, so don’t worry about it.”
“Ha! Do you have no pride at all? Think about what that guy’s done. And you’re still letting him come?”
“What exactly did he do…?”
Sure, Ricardo disliked me—but from my perspective, it was almost cute.
All he did was glare from a distance and mutter to himself. It’s not like he hired an assassin to kill me.
But Kiern clearly didn’t agree.
He dragged over a chair, sat beside the bed, and launched into his complaints.
“He picks fights constantly, tries to pressure you using his status. Everyone knows he’s sly and twisted—well, everyone except someone as dense as you, Commander.”
…Now that he mentioned it, yeah. He did pick fights.
And yes, Ricardo was a bit twisted.
Nodding along, I suddenly frowned at one particular word.
“Dense…? Me?”
I had ten years of experience navigating this novel’s social landmines. Dense did not describe me.
“That came out wrong. I meant someone as important as you, Commander.”
“…….”
“That’s not the point. He must’ve begged to come, and you accepted it again. Your heart is too soft—that’s the problem.”
Watching Kiern rub his forehead and sigh like this was a major crisis, I couldn’t help but laugh incredulously.
“It’s already decided. What do you want me to do—take it back? If you hate it that much, why don’t you sit this one out?”
“Commander…!”
“Perfect. I was worried about the budget anyway—this saves one person’s share.”
When I laughed jokingly, Kiern let out a dry chuckle.
“Please don’t joke like that. Can you even function without me?”
True enough.
I’d long since dumped all the annoying logistics—supplies, budgets, paperwork—onto Kiern.
My secret plan to eventually dump the commander position on him entirely hadn’t been discovered yet.
“Anyway, don’t worry about Ricardo. This actually works out. I can pressure Captain Alonso for a bigger budget—and squeeze some funds out of the ducal house too.”
“If money’s the issue, our family can cover it. There’s no need to rely on him.”
“What can I do? He respects me so much he practically worships me and wants to follow me everywhere. A generous person like me has to understand.”
Hahaha—Ricardo worshiping me?
Even I found that ridiculous. I laughed loudly and slapped Kiern’s shoulder.
But Kiern’s expression remained cold.
“I don’t like it. People who admire you are already more than enough. You should be more decisive about cutting them off.”
Was he joking?
I shrugged.
“No matter how much I cut them off, they cling. Isn’t it because I’m just that exceptional? Being too capable really is a sin.”
At that, Kiern clenched his fist and bit his lip, clearly holding back laughter.
“I don’t follow you just because of your ability.”
Oh, please.
He’d challenged me to a duel when I first became commander because he refused to acknowledge me. After getting utterly crushed, he started following me everywhere.
I clicked my tongue.
“That still doesn’t change anything. Ricardo’s coming. It’s already decided. So stop disturbing my precious rest and get out.”
“…….”
“I said get out.”
“Then promise me one thing.”
I knew he was stubborn, but today he was especially bad.
I jerked my chin for him to continue. He hesitated, lips parting and closing again.
Growing impatient, I asked,
“What promise?”
“Please acknowledge me… as your right hand.”
My eyelashes trembled.
Not from being touched by his loyalty—but from sheer irritation that my rest had been interrupted for such a ridiculous reason.
I kicked off the blanket and stood up, clenching my fist to project my authority as commander.
Just as I was about to strike Kiern in the stomach—
Thud.
A book hidden under the blanket flew into the air and landed on the floor.
Open.
To the illustrated page I’d been very focused on.
“…….”
I prayed Kiern had bad eyesight.
Unfortunately, this was the same man who could identify monsters from dozens of meters away.
If I could see it, there was no way he couldn’t.
Silence filled the room.
“…….”
I redirected the fist meant for his stomach and raised it above my head instead.
“O-of course.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Who else could possibly be my right hand but you? It was such an obvious thing to say, my body just moved on its own… haha….”
“Y-yes… of course.”
Words spilled out without passing through my brain.
Kiern’s face was now red all the way to the tips of his ears. Unexpectedly innocent, he had absolutely no resistance to situations like this.
In the awkward atmosphere—like I’d just teased an innocent young man—I found myself at a complete loss.
“Ah… right.”
“Th-then I’ll be going now…”
Flustered, Kiern turned to leave, tripped over his own feet, scrambled up, then slammed the door behind him.
I stared at the door in silence.
Only after his footsteps faded did I clutch my head—
And scream.
