5.

“…Do you think you’ll get away with this?”

Count Zellered ground his teeth in frustration. Things had gone terribly awry. The king had entrusted him with this task, expecting the insolent hero to be shaken by being given a captive as a bride.

But this brazen woman had ruined it.

As a result, Count Zellered had no choice but to ease the pressure he had so carefully built against Leo Fric.

“Do you think I fear death?”

Ateira scoffed lightly.

She had lost her country, her family, and everyone she cared about. Surviving only to be forced into marriage with her enemy didn’t make life feel any better than death.

She traced a speck of dust floating lazily in the sunlight with her fingertip, moving slowly as if toying with it.

“Fine. So, you don’t care about your own life.”

Count Zellered let out a long sigh and took several deliberate steps toward Ateira.

Once he was close enough that not even one person could pass between them, he whispered low so no one else could hear.

“Prince Dermin.”

A name she hadn’t expected to hear made Ateira look directly at Count Zellered.

“Now, do you perhaps care a bit more about your younger brother’s safety?”

* * *

“Ah…”

Leo Fric stretched out on the sofa, his long legs carelessly draped over the armrest, his posture relaxed yet somehow elegant. Despite his rough movement, he appeared both languid and graceful. Exhaustion weighed on him. One hand rested over his aching eyes, while the other dangled over the edge of the sofa, barely touching the floor.

“I’d like to be rid of this.”

“…”

He tugged at the buttons and laces of his formal attire in irritation, leaving them in disarray. Jinpetsu’s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight. Pulling at them so recklessly would only make it harder to undo later.

“Just hold on a little longer.”

“I know.”

Leo Fric replied with a slight smile. Not knowing what could happen next, he couldn’t afford the luxury of casually changing or demanding more comfortable clothing.

Jinpetsu, touched by his commander’s uncharacteristically mature demeanor, felt a small sense of pride. At least he hadn’t torn the clothes this time.

In the room prepared by the baron’s servants, Leo Fric and Jinpetsu took a moment to catch their breath. After carefully inspecting the room and even the terrace outside, they dismissed all the servants. The knights attempting to linger under the guise of security were met with Jinpetsu’s fierce glare and promptly withdrew.

“Are you alright?”

“Of course. I’ve received land, a title, and even a bride… all in one go. How could I not be?”

He hesitated noticeably, almost spitting out the word “bride” with a mix of irony and reluctance.

“Anyway, Petsu, I’m alive thanks to your insistence on following me. Thank you.”

“…It was nothing.”

Jinpetsu, usually one to keep his expression impassive, looked a bit flustered at the unexpected gratitude and nodded slightly.

The loyal vice-commander Jinpetsu had insisted on accompanying Leo Fric, despite Leo Fric’s plan to go alone. He’d refused to back down, blocking Leo Fric’s path and arguing, “As long as I don’t enter the room, right? I’ll just quietly wait outside and enjoy the garden. Or, if that’s not allowed, I’ll slip in and hide.”

“Come on, Petsu. I’m just visiting my cousin. What could possibly go wrong?”

“The problem, Commander, is that you are no ordinary man.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Petsu?”

After a childish argument, they had finally compromised on the entrance hall. When they reached the front door, Count Zellered’s knights blocked them, looking uncomfortable.

Jinpetsu responded bluntly.

“I’m just here for a walk.”

When Leo Fric was asked to disarm, he handed over his sword with an intense glare, as if daring anyone to challenge him. Jinpetsu then took off his own weapon as well, strolling leisurely by the entrance, taking his “walk” as promised. Watching this, Leo Fric shook his head as he entered.

This was starting to feel like overprotection.

“Even so, they still call me a hero of the continent.”

“And… if we’re being honest, I think it was the other side who survived thanks to me, not you, Commander.”

“Whoever lives, lives. That’s what matters.”

Thanks to Jinpetsu’s timely intervention, Leo Fric had managed to keep his composure until the end. If he’d been alone, listening to threats of annihilating his entire knightly order, who knows how he might have reacted.

Feeling a fresh wave of tension, he lay back, tapping his head with his fist to dispel the headache building there.

He’d pushed the count to the edge just a moment ago, and his mind was feeling the strain.

“Our encircling forces have received orders that if you, Sir Leo Fric, disobey the king’s command and somehow manage to leave, they are to massacre the knights before you can rejoin them.”

“…”

“What will you do, Sir?”

“Is that a threat?”

Leo Fric’s beautiful face remained expressionless, like a mask. His voice was cold and devoid of any hint of feeling. The chill in his low voice made a shiver run down the count’s spine.

For the first time, he glimpsed the true nature of this man.

“I’m simply hoping to avoid unnecessary harm to the Black Wolf Knights.”

Count Zellered, pale as a sheet, swallowed dryly. It was taking every ounce of courage he had to hold his ground, a desperate attempt to regain control of the situation.

“So you’re telling me to take to bed with a woman who could be an assassin?”

“I made it clear she’s no assassin. And if anyone should know who she is, it’s you, Sir Leo Fric…”

“There are plenty of people in the world who look alike.”

“This is absurd!”

“The absurdity is asking the person who was stabbed to share a wedding night with the one who did the stabbing.”

No amount of scheming could come up with a rebuttal for that. That mad princess had ruined everything. Count Zellered swore to personally punish the people who’d overseen her “reeducation.”

“…Then perhaps an identity verification would help.”

“And how would that work? You’ve already lost all credibility. Do you really expect me to stand around, wait for you to verify, and just accept it as fact?”

With a derisive laugh, Leo Fric raised his left hand, blood still seeping from his wound.

“I’ll handle it myself. You’re welcome to try, Count, but I don’t think I’ll be trusting your verification.”

“…”

“The Black Wolf Knights will enter the castle.”

“…!”

“To ensure proper security, I’ll need to issue orders to my knights. I can’t have them too far from me.”

“And besides, there’s still a risk of assassination. For security purposes, it’s necessary.”

Leo Fric nodded at Jinpetsu’s calm suggestion, as if it had slipped his mind. He showed no sign of perceiving the situation as a threat.

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Count Zellered’s forehead, and his face began to turn a shade paler.

It was imperative to isolate the Black Wolf Knights.

The knights were undoubtedly formidable, but without Leo Fric, they were simply another courageous order of knights.

However, under Leo Fric’s command, things were different.

The knights standing beside this hero were known as the plague upon the living and the closest companions of death.

The count and the nobles who had spent the entire war in the safety of the capital dismissed the tales as exaggerated rumors, laughing them off. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. The orders had explicitly instructed him to keep Leo Fric and his knights separate.

It irritated Count Zellered to no end that he felt any fear, even momentarily, because of this handsome knight and his subordinate. After all, they were only two men.

No matter how skilled, what could two men possibly do against these numbers? Leo Fric was even unarmed.

“That will not be allowed.”

The count finally smiled smoothly, his voice regaining its usual butter-like softness.

No matter how well they fought, there was no way they could reach the knights before the order to eliminate them was carried out.

“…Count, you should know I’m showing you an enormous amount of leniency right now.”

Leo Fric’s lowered hand moved slowly, his long fingers gently but precisely playing through the air as though conducting an invisible tune.

“I’m doing this to avoid disobeying orders and to send His Majesty’s messenger away unscathed.”

“…”

“If I were alone, then yes, perhaps you could have detained me until your courier left with the annihilation order. But now Jinpetsu is here. With a single word, he’ll leave here and deliver the news to my knights faster than your courier could.”

“And, Count, I promise you this: while he’s on his way, I’ll make sure to keep things quiet here so that no one gets the chance to deliver that annihilation order.”

“…”

“And can you truly be sure that all my knights are calmly stationed outside the castle right now? Are you positive Jinpetsu came alone?”

A slow smile crept to the corners of Leo Fric’s mouth.

It was a bluff. Just a bluff.

But Count Zellered gritted his teeth.

He wasn’t prepared to risk his life to see if Leo Fric’s gambit was a bluff or not.