Chapter 141 – The Nameless Holy Knight
“Your Grace,”
Cecilia muttered in a very excited voice.
“Did you… perhaps… consummate your marriage last night?”
“What… what are you saying!”
I had planned to send Loic back to his room as soon as he woke up in the early morning, but I was so tired that I ended up sleeping until the sun was high in the sky.
When I opened my eyes, I was already lying in Loic’s arms, nestled in his large embrace.
— “Did you sleep well?”
Loic, with a lazy smile, was gently massaging my cheek.
— “Loic! What are you doing here?”
— “I was watching you sleep.”
Loic casually brushed my hair aside as he spoke.
— “Did you know you make the cutest face when you sleep, scrunching your nose? It’s really adorable.”
— “That’s not…!”
In a quiet voice, I quickly sat up, flustered.
— “If you’re awake, go back to your room! What are you doing here? What if someone sees us!”
Loic, looking slightly downcast, lazily lowered his eyes.
— “We’re married, what does it matter?”
As I glared at him, trying to get him to stand up, it was at that moment—
“Your Grace, it’s morning!”
The door suddenly opened with perfect timing.
Cecilia, who had entered with a tray, stopped in her tracks when she saw me sitting on the bed and Loic lying with his back to me.
Her eyes grew wide in surprise.
— “I-I’m sorry!”
Cecilia quickly closed the door and ran off, and Loic, still dawdling, was eventually pushed out of the room by me.
After a while, Cecilia returned with a new dress, her face flushed.
She said with a bright smile, “There’s no need to be embarrassed.”
“It’s not what you think!”
“You’ve been married for quite some time now, so it’s perfectly natural!”
After taking off my nightgown and turning to face the front, I heard Cecilia exclaim in shock.
“…Your Grace.”
“Hmm?”
“U-um… I’ll bring you a dress that covers all the way up to your neck.”
Cecilia stammered, her face completely red, and hurriedly left the room.
“Why is she acting like this?”
I looked down in confusion, only to panic when I saw the dark red marks all over my chest below my collarbone.
It was just a light kiss, but I never expected it to leave such a mark.
‘Maybe it would have been better to just say we consummated the marriage…’
Embarrassed, I stood there covering my chest until Cecilia returned with the new dress.
Later, when we were ready to leave the temple:
“Your Grace, we’ll have to delay our departure by about an hour,” Perel said.
“What happened?”
“There have been signs of a dragon near the mountain range. The captain and a few knights have gone to investigate.”
Since they didn’t expect it to take long, I decided to go on a walk with Cecilia around the temple.
The temple was bigger than I thought. Even though Miel had shown me most of it, there were still places we hadn’t visited.
At the far end of the temple, we came across a small chapel.
There, behind the chapel, was a grey-walled graveyard. Inside, there was a large tombstone in the center.
“This must be the grave of Priest Venemus,” Miel said.
There were still small flowers and handmade bracelets placed under the tombstone by the faithful.
As I looked around, I noticed a smaller, relatively simple tomb at the corner of the graveyard. The gravestone was blank, with no name engraved on it.
I was puzzled by this—how could there be a tomb in the temple without any name on it?
Just then, Miel, who had been inspecting the area, came over.
“Whose tomb is this?”
“Ah… I don’t know exactly,” Miel answered. “But I’ve heard it’s the grave of a holy knight.”
“A holy knight?”
Miel added that sometimes, when a holy knight died on a secret mission, their death would be kept anonymous for confidentiality.
“That’s absurd,” I muttered.
They should at least have put up a proper tombstone if they died serving the temple.
“What about their family?” I asked. “Did they notify them about the death?”
Miel gave a sad smile. “Holy knights don’t have families. And even if they did, they must sever all ties the moment they join the order.”
“I see.”
Looking at the grave, I couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.
What kind of belief would someone have to accept such a lonely death, to end their life without anyone remembering them?
I closed my eyes for a moment and silently wished peace for the nameless holy knight.
Meanwhile, Loic and the knights were investigating the dragon’s traces in the forest.
“It’s faint, but the magic residue on the leaves and branches shows this was definitely a dragon,” Enolius said.
Dimiche frowned. “Damn! That means if we had come just a day earlier, we could have encountered the dragon!”
The knights had been too cautious, and now they regretted not bringing the entire order along to investigate.
“This is strange,” Enolius said. “A dragon hasn’t shown itself in over ten years, so why leave traces now?”
“Could it be a trap?” Dimiche asked.
“No, the area’s already been cleared,” Enolius said, shaking his head. “If it was a trap, there would still be something left behind.”
“Quiet.”
Loic whispered, sensing something.
“There’s someone nearby.”
The knights immediately drew their swords.
Soon, the sound of horse hooves echoed in the distance.
“It’s the knights,” Loic said.
The knights, now more relaxed, stood down as a group of six knights approached and dismounted.
The lead knight walked up to Loic and bowed.
“Your Grace, Duke of Blenheim. I am Volter, a senior knight of the Selvanis Order.”
The knights seemed to have recognized Loic from his coat of arms and black hair.
“Why is the Selvanis Order here?” Loic asked.
The Selvanis family was a noble house from the Arsen kingdom, and while we were near their territory, this was still Blenheim land.
“We received a report about dragon traces near the mountains. Since it’s close to Selvanis’ land, we came to check on the situation,” Volter explained.
“I see. But it’s been some time since the traces were left. There’s not much left to see now.”
“I understand,” Volter said, looking around nervously. “Actually, we found dragon traces before, farther from here, near the Arsen border.”
“Anything unusual?” Loic asked.
Volter hesitated. “There were signs of blood.”
“A dragon bled?” Loic asked, his brow furrowed.
“This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
Enolius spoke up. “It’s possible the dragon is weakening.”
“Do you think that’s likely?” Loic asked, his voice low.
“It’s just a theory,” Enolius said, crossing his arms.
“If the dragon isn’t able to control its power well, it might not be able to erase the traces.”
Volter looked around uneasily. “Could it be that the dragon is growing weaker?”
“It’s possible,” Loic said. “But we’ll need more information.”
The knights then discussed their findings, with the conversation turning to the possibility of the dragon’s decline.
Later, after the investigation, a knight named Joren stepped forward.
“Your Grace, I have something to report,” Joren said, a little hesitantly.
“Is there something important?” Loic asked.
“My mother works as a maid for the Countess Selvanis,” Joren said.
“…What does that have to do with anything?” Loic and the knights blinked in confusion.
Joren took a deep breath before continuing.
“The Countess Selvanis is the sister of the late Count Freis’ wife.”
Loic gasped quietly.
‘The late Count Freis’ wife—Annette’s biological mother.’
That meant the Countess Selvanis was Annette’s aunt.
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