TYND 05

Chapter 05

Lucy followed him, doing her best to maintain a calm expression.

They remained silent the entire way, from the corridor, through the gallery, and into the back garden.

The awkwardness was partly the reason, but more so because each was lost in their own thoughts. As she watched his broad back ahead of her, Lucy quickly recalled everything she knew about him.

A man in his mid-twenties, with no history of romantic entanglements with women, who had devoted his entire life to the military.

Born into a prestigious family, skilled in social graces and manners but not particularly enjoying them. Fond of chess and contemplation, he spent his days off hiking nearby mountains to rest.

It wasn’t difficult for her to remember these details.

If she were confident, she could say that aside from his family, no one knew Walter better than she did—not because she had any special interest, but simply because in her previous life, their paths had crossed often.

If there hadn’t been a marriage proposal with the crown prince, she probably would have married this stoic man.

Throughout her three lives, he had always been the kingdom’s protector, and she was the only remaining princess.

The most efficient way to control such a powerful figure was through a blood alliance. Hence, King Parnas had tried to bind him with marriage, and in Lucy’s second life, marriage negotiations had even been exchanged between them.

Still, despite the depth of that connection, this was the first time they were actually meeting in person.

Remembering this, a hollow laugh escaped her. Lucy composed her expression and turned her thoughts to why he had summoned her and how he knew her.

“I heard that the princess had entered the military academy, but I did not expect to meet you in person.”

Walter, having reached a corner of the garden, pointed toward a bench and spoke first. His tone was much softer than when they had faced each other in the classroom.

Suppressing her surprise, Lucy cautiously sat down.

“General… you knew me? How?”

“How could I not know the princess, serving the royal family as I do? And personally… you are my…”

Walter’s voice trailed off quietly as he faltered, then he changed the subject, raising his tone slightly.

“I’ll explain in detail when there’s time. More importantly, I recently had the chance to meet Ansilla at the palace.”

Ansilla?

Hearing her mother’s name, Lucy blinked reflexively. Walter stood before her with his hands folded behind his back in a polite stance.

“Your Highness,” he began softly.

“Your mother is deeply concerned. While I understand your hardships over four years as a cadet, perhaps it would be better for you to return to the palace. It may sound presumptuous for me to say, but the military is hardly a romantic place.”

Though the words sounded arrogant at first, his tone was filled with concern. Lucy looked at him silently and shook her head slowly.

“So that’s why you know me, General—you have ties with my mother. I appreciate your concern, but I can handle my own affairs.”

She said it confidently, though she didn’t expect him to accept her words.

Now sixteen, she must have seemed hopelessly young and inexperienced to him, so any attempt at reasoning would probably just frustrate him.

And as expected…

“Even if the academy is tolerable, romance ends the moment you are deployed to the field. Even the third prince, who entered ambitiously, returned to the palace before graduation. If he could not endure it, how could someone like you survive such a harsh life?”

Walter narrowed his eyes and advised her in a serious tone.

Lucy already knew from experience that life at the academy was far from romantic. Enlistment would only be more grueling. His warning was not wrong.

Suppressing a sigh, she chose her words carefully.

“General, do you know how many princesses and princes there are in the royal family?”

Taken aback by the unexpected question, Walter answered after a pause.

“Including Arsinoe, there are ten.”

“And among those ten, how many are not children of the queen?”

“…One.”

“Yes. That’s me. My mother was a dancer, a former slave from the desert. She had no name, was only called a concubine, and was forbidden to leave the secondary palace.”

Walter’s face stiffened slightly at the blunt explanation. Lucy shrugged and continued in a calm tone.

“Luxurious and comfortable as it may be, it’s no different from a cage. Returning to the palace would mean being trapped there as well. Because I am the child of a concubine, the palace logic dictates that I must stay with her.”

“Yet… even so, you were born of royal blood, so you are surely still a princess.”

“No. From your perspective, General, all of His Majesty’s children may seem like princes and princesses, but I am not a princess. No one actually treats me as one.”

A sigh escaped her. It wasn’t bitterness—it was an exhausted sigh from long-standing frustration.

Lucy tilted her head and looked at Walter with an expression that was both understanding and questioning.

“I understand your concern. My mother still nags me to return to the palace. But I came here thinking it would be better to learn something rather than remain trapped in the secondary palace.”

“…May I ask why you chose to become a soldier?”

“I wanted to protect Parnas, and I wanted to work with you, General. If there was a profession that could satisfy both, it could only be the military.”

Walter’s eyes widened slightly at her unexpected words.

“Why did you want to work with me?”

Because I wanted to be involved with you.

Lucy hid her true feelings and answered naturally.

“You said it yourself in the classroom: a skilled soldier is evaluated regardless of race. A general who does not discriminate against people would treat me as a professional, not underestimate me. And also…”

“And also?”

“Because you’re impressive.”

For the first time, a small crack appeared on Walter’s previously expressionless face.

He parted his lips as if unsure, twitched a few times, then pressed his mouth into a firm line. Walter stared at Lucy, his expression ambiguous, and ran his hand over his mouth while shaking his head.

“If you have a purpose for enlisting… I understand. Please disregard my intrusion as a foolish question.”

“If you ever meet my mother, please tell her not to worry.”

“I will.”

Walter skillfully managed the conversation, then looked at Lucy with calm, softened eyes. A quiet, noble warmth spread across his composed face.

“You’ll graduate in two years. Until then, I look forward to seeing how much you grow.”

He bowed deeply and offered a gentle gaze. With that, he quietly turned and disappeared inside the school.

Words that described him came to mind as he moved without making a sound.

The undefeated general, the genius of the blade, the martial deity, the master of dawn.

Thinking of his many titles, Lucy stared after the space he had vacated.

The chime from the pointed bell tower rang softly, signaling the end of the afternoon schedule and instructing students to return to their individual training rooms. Walter gazed at the bell, exhaled lightly to shake off lingering thoughts, and turned toward the stables.

Though his face remained impassive, his mind was awash with thoughts of her—Arsinoe, that princess.

“She’s already sixteen… time flies.”

The concubine Ansilla, confined to the secondary palace by the king’s obsessive control, and Arsinoe, her daughter, had always fascinated him from the first time he saw her.

Her ambiguous status, caught between commoner and noble, her pitiful circumstances, and the sorrowful reality of her mother—all these were reasons to care. But most of all, it was her eyes that left a lasting impression.