Chapter 38

"Wh-What are you doing...!"

Brodie, pale-faced, protested.

No matter how hard he tried not to think about it, the image of the knights' eggs cracking appeared before his eyes.

How could a person be so cruel?!

Brodie looked at Aristine with a look of disgust.

However, Aristine was looking at Brodie with an odd expression.

"Eating eggs?"

It was as if she was asking if he had never seen someone eat eggs before.

"That, that egg is..."

"An egg?"

"It's, it's broken..."

"Then you crack the egg to eat it, don't you? Do you eat the shell and all?"

It was frustrating to be treated like a strange person by the princess who he had thought was mentally unstable.

Brodie's face turned red with shame.

But he couldn't say anything.

'Could it be... she really doesn't know what happened yesterday?'

He had assumed she was deliberately humiliating him by pretending not to know about the knights.

'Now I'm the one who looks strange.'

Brodie tried to compose his expression and lifted his chin haughtily.

"You don't even know what happened to your knights by noon."

No matter what Brodie said, Aristine continued to tap the egg with a silver spoon.

The cracks in the shell grew wider and deeper.

Crack, crackle.

Brodie's eyes twitched as he watched.

"Princess!"

The silver spoon cut into the soft egg.

Brodie couldn't hold back any longer when he saw Aristine take a bite and enjoy it.

"Do you know what happened to the knights and still eat like that?! How can you swallow it?"

Aristine swallowed the egg in her mouth with a gulp.

The fresh egg was rich and soft, incredibly delicious.

It was seasoned just right, and the yolk was cooked just enough to be firm but not overcooked.

"It goes down just fine. It's delicious."

Brodie's lips trembled at her casual response.

He wanted to retort, but he didn't know what to say.

Aristine twirled the spoon and asked.

"What exactly happened?"

Brodie couldn't bring himself to say that the knights' eggs had broken.

No matter how he phrased it, it would be too vulgar to come out of his noble mouth.

"...The barbaric and violent warriors of Ailugo attacked. Our knights were severely injured..."

"Ah, so you came to me just for that?"

"Just for that?! The knights serve you with all their hearts, so it's only natural for you to take care of them."

One more time, and they might end up as sex offenders.

Aristine leaned back in her chair and twirled the spoon with her thumb and index finger.

Her expressionless face was reflected and then disappeared on the spoon's surface.

"I thought you refused to be my governess last time."

"What do you mean?"

"You're asking me to scold the other party because your knights were hit, right?"

Brodie closed his mouth.

The way she put it made him feel incredibly childish.

"That, the knights serve you, so it's only natural to come to you first..."

"Yes, they serve me. I don't serve them."

Aristine, who had been staring at the spoon with a detached look, raised her head and looked at Brodie.

When their eyes met, Brodie involuntarily swallowed hard.

For some reason, a shiver ran down his spine.

Without realizing it, Brodie averted his gaze and looked around, then flinched and hunched his shoulders.

The palace staff in the dining room were all staring at him with cold, stern faces.

They looked so serious that it was hard to believe they had been laughing at Aristine's stories just a moment ago.

"Who dares to open the door without knocking while the princess is eating?"

This was the start of the Ailugo palace staff speaking up.

"The lady-in-waiting from the bride's family should respect the princess the most."

"If you can't even follow basic etiquette, how can you show respect?"

"Y-You're talking to me?!"

Brodie's face turned red as he argued with the palace staff.

"Who else is here besides the lady?"

"You must be slow to judge if you can't even follow basic etiquette."

Ailugo's way of speaking was much more direct than Silvanus's.

The palace staff looked down at Brodie and smirked.

Until yesterday, Aristine was not Tarkan's wife.

Even though they were going to get married, the wedding ceremony hadn't actually taken place.

Therefore, the palace staff treated Aristine like a close guest.

Naturally, they couldn't say anything to Aristine's ladies-in-waiting.

That would be a way of ignoring Aristine.

But now it was different.

Aristine was the princess of this country, the lady of the palace, and their mistress.

They could freely point out the insolent lady-in-waiting.

Brodie felt intimidated by the sharp gazes of the Ailugo palace staff, who were much taller than him.

Had they been glaring at him like this all along?

He didn't know when it started because he had been too excited to think about anything but confronting Aristine when he entered.

'Why should I, of all people, be intimidated by these barbarians?'

His pride wouldn't allow him to back down to barbarians.

Brodie clenched his fists and took a step forward.

"I am the lady-in-waiting from the princess's family. How dare you insult me, who is closest to the princess, like this..."

Although he tried to maintain his pride, he was visibly trembling.

"Hmm, strictly speaking, you're not really a lady-in-waiting from the family."

Aristine shrugged.

"You didn't serve me when I was in Silvanus, did you?"

"That's..."

"But you followed me all the way here to serve me, so I should treat you with the respect you deserve. Both you and the knights."

Aristine muttered and stood up.

Brodie tensed and looked at Aristine.

Although her words seemed to be in his favor, why did he feel so uneasy?

Aristine ordered the palace staff.

"Prepare some eggs for the knights."

The palace staff bowed with a smirk.

Brodie's face turned pale.

"Wait, wait a moment!"

Brodie grabbed Aristine's arm tightly.

"You can't possibly be giving the knights eggs, right?"

"Why not?"

Aristine looked at Brodie with a puzzled expression.

"You asked if the eggs would go down when the knights were injured."

Brodie's lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.

"I'm fulfilling your wish by giving the injured knights something delicious to comfort them. What's wrong with that?"

"N-No, the knights are..."

He couldn't bring himself to say they had been castrated.

Aristine looked at her silently and then glanced at her wrist.

Brodie quickly let go, surprised by his own action.

'How could I, of all people, be intimidated by a princess?'

Especially when the princess hadn't even said anything to him, he had backed down out of fear.

Brodie bit his lip.

"They'll definitely like it because it's delicious. They are loyal knights who serve me with all their hearts, so it's only natural for me to take care of them."

Aristine smiled and left the dining room.

Behind her, the palace staff followed with a basket of boiled eggs.

* * *

Groan, groan.

The infirmary was filled with groans.

The knights' condition was worse than Aristine had imagined.

Their noses were crooked, their faces swollen, and their skin bruised.

It was hard to recognize their original faces.

The knights struggled to sit up when they saw Aristine.

'I thought they would lie in bed and pretend to be in pain to receive me.'

It was unexpected.

"Princess..."

His tongue was swollen, making his speech unclear.

Aristine approached the knights.

'Ah, they were just pretending to be asleep.'

They were so swollen that it looked like their eyes were closed.

'Hmm?'

Aristine raised an eyebrow after examining them for a moment.

'Their injuries look like they just happened...'

She had heard they were injured last night.

But the blood on their wounds was a mix of old and fresh.

Hiding her doubts, Aristine slowly spoke.

"Oh dear. My loyal knights are so injured."

A look of concern spread across Aristine's delicate face.

She approached a senior knight and patted his back.

"Princess..."

"Ugh, those barbarians..."

It was supposed to be a joke, but the knights took Aristine's words seriously.

'Even if they are weakened by pain, this is a bit too much, isn't it?'

Despite her thoughts, Aristine pretended to be concerned and asked.

"Barbarians?"

"Yes, those ignorant and uncivilized warriors..."

"Oh, really?"

Aristine cut the knight off.

"Surely you don't mean that the noble knights of the great Silvanus Empire were beaten by Ailugo warriors, right?"

The knights, ready to vent their grievances, looked up at Aristine in a daze.

"I can't believe that."

Aristine smiled, a firm smile.

"You always said that if you went to war, you would crush Ailugo and make Silvanus victorious every day."

The knights' faces turned red, but it wasn't noticeable due to the bruises.

"To say that you were beaten one-sidedly by Ailugo warriors... that's absurd. You are excellent knights, aren't you?"

Aristine, seemingly unconcerned about their physical state, enthusiastically attacked their morale.

"Besides, there's no reason for Ailugo warriors to attack my knights, right?"

Aristine tilted her head innocently.

"Unless they were saying something vulgar about me, the princess of Silvanus and the princess of Ailugo."

The knights and Brodie looked at Aristine in shock.

The innocent act was gone, and Aristine's eyes were lowered with a sly smile.

Her violet eyes exuded the authority of a monarch.

The senior knight flinched and stiffened when he met her gaze.

His injured body screamed in pain as his muscles tensed, but he didn't even feel it.

"There's no reason for Ailugo warriors to attack my knights unless something like that happened."

It was an undeniable statement.

To deny it would mean admitting to saying something vulgar about Aristine.

"Yes, Princess, you are right..."

"There's no reason for the warriors to attack us. Ha ha!"

The knights quickly agreed with Aristine, forcing an awkward smile.

The palace staff, watching from behind, looked at Aristine with admiration.

'As expected of our princess...'

'She has prevented Silvanus from protesting to Ailugo!'

If it became known that Ailugo warriors had attacked Silvanus knights the night after the peace marriage, what would happen?

If Silvanus officially protested?

Of course, there was a reason, but it couldn't be revealed for the sake of Aristine's honor.

But just now, the knights had denied that Ailugo warriors had attacked them.

It was all due to Aristine's guidance.

The knights, feeling cornered, even made up an excuse.

"In fact, we were trying to commemorate the princess's wedding by, um, exterminating some monsters..."

"Yes, that's right. We were surrounded by hundreds of monsters."

"Of course, we took care of all the monsters."

"Is that so..."

Aristine clasped her hands in front of her chest in admiration.

"I am impressed by your loyalty."

In fact, she was impressed by the knights' ability to maintain their bravado even in this moment.

The knights sighed in relief.

Thinking that the princess would let it go with a bit of flattery, they were indeed foolish.

They didn't realize they had fallen for Aristine's guidance.

"I can't just stand by and let you sacrifice your bodies to elevate my status."

At Aristine's gesture, the palace staff came forward.

"I will personally bestow gifts."

The palace staff took something out of a basket and distributed it to the knights.

The knights' eyes widened when they saw the items.

"T-This is...!"

It was eggs.

"Eggs are a complete food, good for the body, and will help you recover from your injuries."

Aristine explained as if singing, but her words didn't register with them.

They couldn't hear or see anything.

All their senses were reliving the tragedy of the previous night.

When they were beaten by the warriors and transported, the knights hadn't lost hope.

Although they couldn't resist the brutal violence, they believed their lives wouldn't be so easily taken.

They were sure of it.

The doctor came in immediately, and the quick emergency treatment gave them even more hope.

But then.

"I'm sorry."

The doctor bowed with a solemn face.

"No, why are you apologizing, doctor..."

"Surely not...?"

"We're not the kind to die so easily!"

"They've been with me all my life..."

The knights' cries of shock and confusion made the doctor's face even more solemn.

"They have... passed away."

The knights shook their heads, unable to accept the doctor's words.

This must be a dream.

It must be a dream.

It has to be a dream.

But the "ones" who had passed away showed no reaction.

They were the two eggs that contained the genetic material for the next generation.

The knights, each clutching their legs, wept bitterly.

The ones who had passed away were not their fellow knights or the servants they had brought.

They were the two eggs of the men.

"I'll find a husband and earn money."