TYND 54

Chapter 54

A weekend afternoon with the year’s end fast approaching.

The entire Central Headquarters was bustling all day with a major cleanup and holiday preparations. Laundry lines stretched across the training grounds, lined with blankets hanging one after another.

The sight of the faded blankets fluttering in the wind, forming a grayish wave, gave the soldiers a mix of the emptiness and satisfaction that comes with the year’s end.

Zen watched him with complicated eyes before throwing his arms up high.

“Laundry’s done!”

After finishing the laundry with his subordinates, Zen crouched on all fours and shook himself off. Droplets of water scattered through the air before succumbing to gravity and pattering onto the ground.

The Lycan companions, who were shaking off their own water, grumbled at each other to shake off more thoroughly. As Zen, feeling lighter, began tidying up the laundry basket, his direct superior approached and spoke.

“I’ve been looking for you for a while. I see you were busy with cleaning. If it’s okay, come with me.”

Walter’s hands were laden with a heap of documents and parchment, perhaps after finishing a meeting. Zen squeezed the water from his ears and tail before taking the load and following behind.

Even in the freezing weather, Walter wore only a single shirt.

Zen knew he was indifferent to both cold and heat, so he often dressed casually. But since being assigned to accompany the Queen, he usually wore his uniform due to frequent official duties. Today, however, he seemed relaxed, perhaps because there were no official matters to attend to.

Zen tilted his ears, concerned.

“Grand General, aren’t you cold?”

“It’s a bit chilly for autumn.”

It was not autumn, but December, deep in winter. Zen stretched his neck, staring at him incredulously.

Walter’s voice was the usual calm monotone, but his blank stare straight ahead made him seem somewhat absent-minded. Concerned, Zen spoke in a sympathetic tone.

“You seem really busy lately. Maybe you’ve even forgotten the date. It’s December.”

“December… yes. The new year is coming soon. I should go see the first sunrise of the year…”

The first sunrise of the year.

Zen suddenly understood why his superior was so absent-minded.

No matter how busy he was, even after three sleepless days, Walter usually carried out his routine like a wind-up doll. Yet whenever there was one unfulfilled desire, he would act listless like this.

“Has it been a long time since you went to the mountains?”

At the mention of mountains, Walter let out a long sigh.

“I haven’t gone even once since the late king fell ill.”

“Wow… Has it really been that long? That must be a record.”

“I wanted to reach the summit of the Twin Mountains this year… but it seems unlikely. I’ll just take a walk around the training grounds later.”

Walter twisted his neck from side to side, frowning. The pectoral muscles connecting his chest and shoulders shifted under his shirt with a soft cracking sound.

Zen, admiring his well-formed muscles, suddenly had an idea.

“Come to think of it, Your Majesty also stays inside the headquarters every day, doesn’t she?”

“Yes, to avoid any danger, she refrains from going outside. Why do you ask?”

“They say a healthy body houses a healthy mind. She seemed physically weak even during her cadet days. How about taking her along to climb the Twin Mountains?”

Walter’s eyes widened. But he shook his head, rejecting the idea.

“My mother said most women dislike hiking. It’s dangerous, exhausting, and they just don’t enjoy it. Besides, Your Majesty has always disliked moving around, so would she even agree to it…”

“Oh no, it’s not necessarily like that. Once she reaches the summit, she’ll enjoy the view. My father told me that when courting my mother, he would run around mountains with her to grow closer.”

Walter gave Zen a doubtful look. Lycans, naturally energetic and physically superior, would enjoy running up mountains, but whether a human woman would enjoy it was uncertain. Noticing his gaze, Zen straightened his tail and tried to dispel his doubts.

“Well, there’s the saying that couples fall for each other in times of war, isn’t there?”

“Fall for each other?”

“I heard that the rapid heartbeat caused by exertion is often mistaken for love. Hiking is the same, right? You get flustered from the effort, and in that way, both the Grand General and Her Majesty…”

Walter furrowed his brows, looking bewildered.

“…both what?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand. Her Majesty and I do not have such feelings for each other.”

“Huh?”

Zen’s ears perked up, jaw dropping in disbelief. Walter, stopping in his tracks, raised Zen’s jaw with a calm look.

“I want to ask why you think such a thing. How can one see their sovereign, whom they serve loyally, as a romantic interest?”

“Well… if it’s not love, then why… is it… like that…”

Walter scolded Zen for mumbling like a fool and told him to speak clearly.

Clearing his throat, Zen looked at him more attentively.

“I just assumed, naturally, that the Grand General liked Arschuno from the start and pushed him to become king. I’ve heard she’s smart and, according to the human soldiers, also pretty, or something like that.”

“That’s a regrettable misconception.”

“You really have no relationship at all?”

Walter looked incredulous. Zen, realizing his mistake too late, felt embarrassed and averted his gaze, grinding his teeth.

They walked on in silence, their mouths shutting simultaneously as if by agreement. The daily noises of the headquarters grew distant, and when they entered the corridor connecting the training grounds to the main building, the building’s characteristic heavy stillness pressed down on Zen’s shoulders.

The sound of boots slowed. Walter, reflecting on Zen’s earlier words, pondered them carefully.

He had no interest in the notions of “liking someone” or “flustered hearts,” but Zen’s suggestion lingered in his mind:

“…How about taking Her Majesty to climb the Twin Mountains?”

The Queen’s physical stamina.

Unintentionally living in the headquarters with Lucy, Walter had learned a few peculiar things about her.

She enjoyed messy environments and would lie down anywhere, loved sleeping and bathing obsessively. While she didn’t dislike tidying up, she seemed comforted by disorder and instructed the maids not to clean too rigorously.

Her habit of lying down everywhere was annoying to Walter, but it hadn’t changed. Her love for sleep and bathing wasn’t a disadvantage, so that could be ignored.

The biggest problem was her extreme dislike for physical exertion.

Unless there was a special event, Lucy spent most of her day in the headquarters’ study. She ate, attended meetings, and slept there. Even when meetings occurred, she only walked briefly. Since Whis was assigned as her bodyguard, she completely avoided movement, even flying short distances via Whis.

“This could be difficult.”

Of course, her willingness to move was her choice, but Walter couldn’t help but worry that her health might suffer.

Lucy was not just an individual but the nation’s symbol and Walter’s sovereign. He had placed her on the throne, and she needed to remain there healthy for as long as possible.

“Hiking…”

Walter personally thought hiking was a very healthy hobby.

It didn’t bother anyone, didn’t consume anyone’s labor, helped improve health, and allowed one to enjoy nature’s beauty.

For a lazy, movement-averse woman like Lucy, it was an ideal hobby. Feeling the suggestion was reasonable, Walter resolved to encourage her to hike.

“Ah, Grand General. Just in time.”

Upon entering the headquarters’ study, Lucy sat cross-legged at the end of the table, waving at them.

Facing her sharp yet delicate expression, Walter quickly erased the mental image of her as a lazy sloth.