Chapter 38
“Um… could you let me see Rick-san?”
“You? Why?”
“He put his life on the line to protect me, so I want to thank him.”
“Sibel-chan…”
I know.
If I hadn’t gone into the forest, if I hadn’t provoked the monsters, none of that would have happened.
But still, I feel like I have to talk to him.
“…Alright. But I’ll come with you.”
“Yes. Thank you very much.”
After bowing to Leo-san for granting permission, we headed together toward the room where Rick-san was.
In front of the room, a knight stood guard.
After speaking to him, Leo-san unlocked the door from the outside, and the two of us went in.
“Oh, it’s Sibel-chan.”
“Rick-san…”
He was already fully showing his true self, sitting slouched on the sofa with his legs crossed.
He really is quite different from the first impression I had of him as a pleasant young man.
Even though he was under house arrest, I felt relieved to see that his situation wasn’t too harsh.
But for some reason, the corner of his mouth was a little red.
Was he injured after all…? But there, of all places…?
“You came to see me.”
“…Um, Leo-san. Would it be alright if the two of us talked alone for a bit?”
“However…”
“It’s fine. Right, Rick-san?”
“Yeah.”
Leo-san furrowed his brows as if thinking it over, then looked at Rick-san as if to convey something, before nodding and saying, “I’ll wait outside the room.”
If anything happened, he would come in immediately.
“Rick-san, thank you very much for what you did back then.”
“—Huh?”
With Leo-san gone, I thanked him while standing, facing him as he sat.
“Are you an idiot?”
But that was the response I got from Rick-san.
“You know I put you in danger, right?”
“…But Rick-san protected me from the monsters.”
“Even so. If I hadn’t taken you to that place, you wouldn’t have had to go through that. I knew there were monsters there, and I still took you with me, you know?”
“It was a very valuable experience.”
“No, no, no, that’s not what I mean.”
“But it also made it clear that I’m not a Saint, didn’t it?”
“……”
Yes. Even when faced with monsters, I couldn’t do anything saint-like.
I just panicked in fear and fainted… how truly pathetic.
“…You’re really a carefree woman. At this rate, you’ll end up getting eaten by that captain someday.”
“Eh?”
Letting out a sigh without even trying to hide it, Rick-san laughed in exasperation as he said that.
Get eaten by Leo-san? What would he eat? My portion of food?
“Leo-san would never do something like that.”
“You don’t know that. You never know what a man is thinking deep down. Not just the captain—other guys too.”
“Well…”
It’s true everyone always eats a lot. Maybe they’re actually not getting enough?
If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind at all if they ate my portion too.
After all, like Rick-san this time, the knights are risking their lives fighting.
“…Do you even understand what I’m saying?”
“Eh?”
As I was thinking that, Rick-san stared straight at me, as if he’d read my mind, and sighed again.
“I’m saying that creatures called knights are often savage men.”
“…That’s not true, you know?”
What Rick-san was trying to say seemed similar to what Anika had told me before.
But in the First Knight Order, there isn’t a single savage person.
“They’re just hiding it in front of you.”
“……”
I see. That might be true.
Honestly, I don’t really understand men well, but I have heard things like that before.
But—
“That kind of thing happens, right? I understand.”
“…Huh?”
“Everyone has one or two things they can’t say out loud.”
“…Eh?”
Nodding deeply as I said that, Rick-san let out a dumbfounded sound.
I’m the same, after all. If people found out that deep down I secretly love the strong, gallant 모습 of the knights, would they look down on me?
“But more than that, the knights are risking their lives to fight for this country. So no matter what they’re thinking in their hearts, that fact doesn’t change.”
“…Even if they’re thinking something unbelievably horrible—things you’d never imagine?”
“Yes.”
“…They might be lying to you, you know. Keeping secrets. They might even hurt you.”
“What does my single sacrifice matter? Compared to this country, I’m nothing but a tiny existence.”
“…You wouldn’t hate them?”
“I wouldn’t. There’s no way I could!”
I can say that with confidence.
My love for knights is entirely for my own reasons.
To like them on my own, and then become disillusioned on my own—that would be ridiculous.
I didn’t fall for knights with such a half-hearted feeling.
“…I see. Alright, sorry for saying weird things.”
“Rick-san, you didn’t say anything weird, you know?”
That’s why I still don’t dislike Rick-san either.
“…Just how much are you…?”
“What do you mean?”
“…Nothing.”
Rick-san sighed again, but somehow he looked happy.
“Also, there’s something you’re misunderstanding, so I’ll tell you.”
“Yes?”
“I wasn’t the one who defeated the wolves.”
“Eh…?”
If not Rick-san, then who defeated that pack of wolves?
“……”
“Rick-san?”
When I tilted my head and urged him to continue, he averted his eyes and spoke.
“…The captain and vice-captain came, right? Don’t you remember?”
“Eh!”
So that wasn’t a dream…?
If that’s the case, then I absolutely must go thank the two of them properly…!
I’ll be sure to do that later.
—
Of course, Leo is listening to this entire conversation while feeling very nervous.
Next time, a long-awaited return to Prince Marcus’s point of view.
This story is not primarily a “revenge (ざまぁ)” type of tale.
Rick and Marcus won’t be bound up in straw mats, nor will they be killed… (；ᵕ；) (Thank you for the comments!)
Marcus is slowly coming to regret things, but in the end I might not be able to depict the kind of “revenge” everyone is expecting…
I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate your understanding. m(_ _)m
