DMDTY 1.2

On the day I left my homeland, I just smiled brightly and left because I couldn’t even look my father in the eye because I was too sorry.

 

I pretended to be quite mature, but I was actually very scared.

 

So, I cried and cried in the carriage on the way here.

 

No one comforted me, but even if they did, it was tears that wouldn’t stop.

 

The country of the ruling power that I arrived at in tears was more ruthless than I had imagined, even though I had prepared myself to some extent.

 

Everything I encountered was extremely cold.

 

In particular, their gazes at me were so terribly cold that I got goosebumps every time they touched me.

 

I was too small and young at that time to endure all those things indifferently.

 

My back, which was curled up in the face of intense emotions, heaved.

 

It was around that time that an unexpected beautiful voice came from above my head.

 

“…Are you crying?”

 

I instinctively raised my head.

 

The owner of the voice was a silver-haired boy I had never seen before.

 

The boy, who looked about my age, was looking down at me with the moonlight behind him.

 

I was looking up at him with my face covered in tears and snot, and I was even hiccuping from shock, so I must have looked like a fool. Later, I was ashamed of that and asked him what his first impression was, but Romi never answered, so it was purely my own thought.

 

His short silver hair sparkled even more in the moonlight.

 

A white face for a boy, and bluish-gray eyes.

 

I stared blankly at him without even wiping away my tears.

 

‘Ah, if you were to humanize a white wolf cub, would it look like that? Fair and sharp.’

 

“…What are you doing here?”

 

It was when his cheeks turned red because he couldn’t stand my gaze that I came to my senses.

 

A cute dimple welled up on his reddened cheeks.

 

Only then did I wipe my eyes with my sleeve and get up from my seat.

 

“What’s it to you!”

 

I think I answered a little curtly because I was secretly embarrassed.

 

“Of course it matters if a guest in my house is crying.”

 

At those words, I finally seemed to know who he was.

 

I had seen him somewhere, and those beautiful silver hair and gray eyes were exactly like those of the King of Montague.

 

“Guest, my foot.”

 

Now that I knew who he was, my tone became even sharper.

 

He was still smiling faintly at my sullen tone, and he took a step closer and reached out his hand.

 

Despite my startled reaction, he cupped my wet cheeks with his hand, wiped away the tears I hadn’t wiped away, and greeted me in a warm voice.

 

“Welcome to Montague. Julia Lether.”

 

That greeting was the first kind word I had heard since coming here.

 

It was so kind, so warm and sweet, that I finally burst into tears that I had been holding back.

 

He didn’t know what to do because it was the first time he had seen a woman cry like a baby.

 

At that sight, I laughed out loud while crying.

 

That was my first meeting with Romi.

 

After that, we naturally became childhood friends.

 

I learned how to ride a horse and learned swordsmanship by following him.

 

Of course, my swordsmanship never improved no matter how hard I tried to imitate others.

 

The King of Montague often scolded me for not being ladylike, but I didn’t care.

 

When I rode my horse at full speed, Romi would follow, nagging with worry, and sometimes when we spared, she would deliberately lose to me, even though my sword was too heavy for me to wield properly.

 

I loved Romi’s kindness so much that I didn’t care about being scolded.

 

One day, when I was treated like a fool for not knowing how to read, even though I understood the language of Montague, Romi got angrier than I did at the nobleman who was teasing me and taught me how to read for days.

 

Returning to Caple after the war was incredibly joyful, but the only thing I felt deeply sad about was Romi.

 

‘Should I have said goodbye?’

 

I felt a little sad for a moment, but I quickly shook it off.

 

Somehow, I had a feeling that we would meet again soon.

 

When we meet, I’ll have to give her a big hug.

 

And then I’ll mess up her spiderweb-thin silver hair.

 

That way, I can see Romi’s face as she yells, ‘Do you think I’m a puppy?’

 

Thinking of Romi, who made me laugh just by thinking about her, I turned my horse around.

 

If I was any later, my mother might really spank me.

 

“Giddy-up.”

 

I grinned on the back of the galloping horse.

 

As I wished, I met him again. Although it was in a completely different form than I had expected…

 

 

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Sometimes wars break out for the most trivial of reasons.

 

Quite unlike the extreme consequences they bring.

 

For example, soldiers bickering at the border, or a horse in training crossing the border. Such petty reasons that even snot-nosed children in the neighborhood would forget the next day.

 

I had never understood it.

 

Since I was young, I had been taught that minor disputes should be resolved through dialogue, and above all, it was much more efficient than fighting and hitting each other while bearing enormous costs.

 

When I grumbled about this one day, Romi replied as if it were obvious.

 

‘Because the reason doesn’t matter. Julie. The reason is only necessary, not important.’

 

It was only recently that I began to understand what she meant then.

 

The Count and Countess of Montague were attacked and killed on the spot while visiting Caple as tourists.

 

At first glance, it seemed like the work of robbers, but their jewelry and cash remained intact at the scene, and the only thing that disappeared from the bloody scene was the lives of the two people.

 

From the beginning, it was strange that a count would come to visit a hostile country with nothing to see.

 

Without even a proper escort.

 

I had a fundamental question of ‘why,’ but it was already after the incident had spread like wildfire.

 

Whatever the reason, the atmosphere between the two countries, which was already as precarious as a time bomb, was driven to a breaking point by this incident.

 

The weather was incredibly warm with the full spring, but the border between Montague and Caple was once again filled with a cold tension as if winter had come again.

 

Montague announced that they would dispatch a knight to investigate the truth of the matter.

 

It was closer to a unilateral notification than a request.

 

“Dispatching a knight? No matter how noble they are, it’s an incident that happened in Caple. What else could it be if not treating Caple as a vassal state?”

 

“It’s called an investigation, but they’ll definitely find some fault and try to interfere with our internal affairs again.”

 

Public opinion was boiling.

 

In fact, this kind of pattern was too old-fashioned. In short, it was obvious.

 

If we accepted the knight and handed over the right to investigate, they would somehow link it to national responsibility and demand compensation.

 

That compensation would be an absurd amount that would not only empty the national treasury but also incur debt.

 

The debt to be repaid for a long time was a perfect excuse to subtly interfere in internal affairs.

 

I kept thinking that I should meet Romi in person in this worsening situation.

 

Of course, it wasn’t a matter of appealing to personal feelings, but I couldn’t think of any other way right now.

 

My father only scolded me sternly when I asked him to let me meet Romi.

 

It may have seemed immature, but I thought it was much better for me to talk to them than the Minister of Military Affairs, who knew nothing about Montague.

 

And in the meantime, the knight of Montague crossed the border of Caple.

 

The problem was that a Caple guard shot an arrow at this knight without permission.

 

The knight who was hit by the arrow suffered a fatal wound.

 

To make matters worse.

 

Before we could do anything, Montague immediately declared war on Caple, and as if they had been waiting for it, their army began to advance towards the palace.

 

All of this happened only ten days after the Count and Countess of Montague died.

 

Thus, war broke out again. For a very small and trivial reason.

 

Caple fought with all its might, but it was miserably defeated by the Montague army with new-style guns.

 

Montague was truly destructive and excessively wasteful.

 

They poured out expensive bullets without hesitation and gathered not only their own but also foreign mercenaries indiscriminately.

 

It was a war they could have won anyway without having to go this far. Nevertheless, Montague pushed Caple as if they were being chased.

 

Thanks to this, they won all the successive battles with an overwhelming difference in military power, and reached the capital in just fifteen days, passing over the cold corpses of Caple soldiers.

 

In the meantime, most of the nobles and knights in Caple sold their property and turned it into gold or fled to neighboring countries.

 

The omen of Caple’s doom became clear in the one-sided invasion that was embarrassing to even call a war.

 

As the Montague army pushed into the palace, my father hurriedly summoned Jeremy and me.

 

My mother was crying beside him, and my father opened his mouth with a rather firm expression.

 

“Although it’s still early, I intend to pass on the throne.”

 

“Father!”

 

I looked at my father with a shocked face. It couldn’t be. Jeremy was only 12 years old.

 

The throne to a child who likes sweet candy…

 

Above all, I knew very well what it meant for a living king to inherit the throne.

 

For a king, the throne was like his life.

 

“No, Father… please, don’t give up.”

 

My voice was filled with tears as I pleaded.

 

If I told Romi and cleared up the misunderstanding, we could surely get through this peacefully.

 

Attacking the knight was a mistake, and we would give reasonable compensation, so please withdraw the troops.

 

That childhood friend, who was endlessly kind in my memory, would listen to me.

 

Because she always had.

 

I was frustrated and heartbroken that all of this situation was caused by a trivial misunderstanding, but how could he give up so futilely?

 

My father shook his head at my naive wish. And then, in a rather solemn tone, he opened his mouth.

 

“The King of Caple, I, Erison Lether, hereby transfer all authority to Jeremy Lether from this moment on. As of this moment, all governing and military command of Caple belongs to Jeremy Lether, and his sister Julia Lether and his mother Jane Lether are witnesses to this succession.”

 

My father, who had now become the former king, took off his crown with a resolute expression and placed it on Jeremy’s head.

 

Jeremy, who was standing blankly even after the succession declaration, was forced to kneel by his mother, and eventually received the crown that was too big and heavy for him.

 

“…I’m sorry there’s not much left.”

 

Unlike the solemn words before, the added words were in a very pathetic tone.

 

My father soon put away his sadness and ordered the few remaining knights in a rather loud voice.

 

“This is my last order. Protect the new king and princess. Go to the Nation of Nathan and entrust your bloodline there.”

 

Some of the remaining knights grabbed Jeremy’s and my arms, crying and clinging. It was because we had to get out of the palace, which would soon be a sea of fire.

 

The fleeting peace was shattered.

 

I was put on a horse by the knights, with the last sight of my father drawing his sword in the palace that would soon be in ruins.

 

Even as I left the palace, the sound of enemy horseshoes vibrated throughout the land.

 

 

⋆˙🖇️˚.⋆