Chapter 3

Translated by XyeHeart Edited by XyeHeart

Meriel ignored his odd behaviour and started to move.

It was best to hurry and not waste any minute.

Just then, Gilbert returned with a troubled expression.

While scratching his head as if regretting he couldn’t find the right mercenary, Meriel approached him and handed him the gold coin in her hand.

“Thank you for searching. I just found myself a mercenary.”

Then she turned her back from Gilbert, who had received the gold coin in surprise, and as she approached Kiyan, who was still contemplating, she invited him.

“Shall we go out and talk about the rest?”

Instead of answering, Kiyan nodded quietly after Meriel, who first left the guild information centre.

Meriel stopped walking only when they got out of the crowded main street and passed through a crowded alley, and came out of a secluded park.

“We won’t talk too long.”

“It would be so sad if we come all the way here and just have a simple conversation.”

Kiyan was still smiling like the first time they met. Meriel sat down on the nearby bench and spoke, making sure that there were only children playing sand around. He follows through by sitting to the nearest bench.

“You know who I am, don’t you? From the attitude of the mercenary guild guide, I don’t have the look that earns respect. You could tell from his tone.”

“….”

“But when you saw me a while ago, you brought up the word ‘escort’. We often don’t use that word to people with low status. And then, you immediately asked ‘why’. Isn’t it because you already know who I am and you just want to know why I’m going there?”

“Can’t I be curious? Are you somebody with high status?”

Kiyan shrugged and pretended not to know. Meriel still went on without being embarrassed as if she knew it would.

“Above all, you say ‘go back’ to the Dustin Estate. That means you’re not from around here. Kiyan, aren’t you one of the Dustin Estate people? You made such an offer to me easily because you know who I am, and the reason I also accepted your offer is that you are a member of the Dustin Estate.”

“….”

“Are we clear?”

Meriel sighed a little as she looked at the brooding Kiyan.

There was no time for this, but Dustin Estate people were more reliable than ordinary mercenaries, so she had to explain and hurry off.

As much as she was pleased with the marriage agreement with the Grand Duke, Meriel was still anxious about the fact that his people knew her identity immediately, but now she was not in a position to choose between hot and cold meals. (T/N: it is almost the same with ‘beggars can’t be choosers’)

You should feel fortunate that I am willing to explain this. She thought cockily.

“But it’s still a little wrong. I don’t know who you are. I often saw nobles trying to get to Dustin Estate, so I thought you were one of them.” Kiyan slowly continued, staring at Meriel with his eyes narrowed.

“And I am indeed one of the Dustin Estate’s people and it’s my job to get rid of bugs here.” Kiyan smiled leisurely.

There was a curious glow in his eyes, while still observing her. Meriel thought he knew for sure who she was, but she was appalled that the reasoning was off the mark.

‘Of all the things, why did I think everybody knew me?’, she thought.

If you think about it, as a princess, she was a fool to people. No one would have ever imagined that she would find a mercenary who could escort her to go to Dustin Estate with her far-spoken manner.

As Meriel bit her lips, Kiyan’s eyes gleamed.

“So, who are you?”

Meriel hesitated. Will she answer his question honestly or lie? But the answer was already set. Kiyan said his job was to filter bugs out of the Dustin Estate.

‘That means this man, most likely a confidant of the Grand Duke Dustin. And I have to prove that I’m not one of those bugs.’

After a short thought, Meriel raised her hand and took off her hood. She was already ready to leave the palace. Self-identification or detection was not supposed to be possible, but there was no other way now.

“…Prin…cess?!”

Kiyan looked at Meriel in surprise. His eyes, which held with observation and curiosity at first, were now filled with bewilderment and agitation.

He felt baffled…

And agitated.

‘Why do I feel a sense of agitation?’

His strange feelings tilted Meriel’s head.

“Why…why…”

“I want to go to Dustin Estate. I need you to escort me there safely.”

Meriel then, steadily confided to Kiyan, except her reason for going to the Dustin Estate. It was a simple statement, but it was with an expression of earnestness. However, for some reason, Kiyan lowered his head at her words. Clenching his fists and biting his lips was somehow strange. It was not just agitation due to the fact that he met the princess, but rather agitation due to some other reason.

Having been silent for a long time, he slowly raised his head and made eye contact.

“Princess Meriel…”

It was completely different from the way he had been talking and smiling a while ago.

No emotions could be read in his voice and eyes.

If there was anything Meriel could feel from him, it was a little bit of a pity that went on.

Meriel couldn’t understand why he was agitated and why he was displaying such strong sympathetic feelings towards her.

Kiyan was the first person she saw in the mercenary guild that offered to escort her.

‘You fool, do you feel sorry for me now?’, she thought sulkily.

During that time, there were two types of people who treated Princess Meriel.

Those who mock her for being a fool, and those who sympathize with the noble princess for losing her mother. However, most of the people in the Imperial Palace mocked her. For example, the maids of the Imperial Palace laugh and steal her belongings and extort money.

Those who sympathized with her were extremely rare. As she usually ran around escorted by knights who showed such similar feelings with a pitiful look in their eyes. The knights would have felt sorry for the stupid princess. But to be precise, their situation may have been more pitiful.

They sometimes sigh and mutter, ‘ A pity that we’re serving a fool…’

It is no wonder that, unlike the maid who served at the princess palace, most of the knights of the Imperial Palace can be demoted without success.

When a knight’s master grows in power, it is also the rise of the knights. Their master, the foolish princess Meriel, did not have a chance to grow in power and was always acting foolish.

‘Well… the reality is crueller…’, she thought and sighed .

To Meriel, Kiyan’s feelings were understandable.

She thought it was more of a pity. Otherwise, there was no way to explain the sympathy he expressed. For Meriel, it was a strange feeling that Kiyan subtly showed like he unconsciously pities what happened to Doyeon’s life.

“…what are you going to do in Dustin Estate?”

“Do I have to state my reason for going there?”

“If I refuse to escort you, it will be hard to get to Dustin Estate. Will not you tell me?”

Meriel sighed in frustration. She thought it might have been a worse option to reveal who she was. However, it was harder to say that she was going to marry the Grand Duke with a proposal from the emperor.

“I have a letter to give to the Grand Duke.”

“I can deliver it for you.”

“I have to give it to him personally.”

“Is it important?”

“My life depends on it… so shall we go?” Meriel insist on Kiyan, who is still looking at her with a look that is difficult to understand.

“What do you mean by ‘your life depends on it’…?”

He asked as if he didn’t understand, so she told him as simple as possible.

“I can’t explain it to you. I’ll explain myself to the Grand Duke.… please take me to Dustin Estate.”

After revealing her identity as the princess, pursuing him to escort her naturally flowed out.

The strange thing was that after she revealed her identity, he naturally treated her with respect. It was not the casual way of a normal mercenary who uttered when we first met in the mercenary guild.

‘It must have been an act so he could easily approach me without suspicion from me.’ As Meriel remembers, Kiyan’s mouth fell wide open when she revealed her identity.

“All right. I will escort you, princess, to Dustin Estate.”

It was a completely different answer from the previous atmosphere he showed. He was refusing her request one by one and asking questions, so she felt a little anxious that she might not be escorted.

When he gave his consent, which seemed hesitant, she became a little dazed and just blinked her eyes while staring at him.

Then, Kiyan rose slowly from the bench and held out his hand to her.

“Shall we go, princess?”

“Already?”

“We must pass through the gates of the capital before sunset.”

“Can we.. just proceed tomorrow…..?”

When Kiyan hadn’t yet agreed, Meriel was getting impatient to travel. However, when he said that he would escort her, she felt relieved and reassured, and the tension was released from within her. Now she felt tired, so she thought that she could at least take a break and rest for a while before moving on.

“You can take a break, but those who want to take the princess’ life can still follow suit…Nobody can easily enter the Dustin Estate unless they are prepared. Are you going to give a chance to those who want your life to follow our tracks?”

Her fingertips trembled discreetly with anxiety as the realization hit her. As if trying to relieve the anxiety, Meriel grabbed his hand tightly.

She already knew she was under surveillance ever since she left the palace because she felt the overflowing ominous feeling. However, as they continued to walk through and past many people, she focused on her conversation with Kiyan, so she, somehow, didn’t feel that ominous feeling.

‘Draven… As expected of you, you’ve got your watchdogs on me…’, she thought grimly.

Their pursuers continued to follow them as they walked through, but Kiyan, who immediately sensed their presence, made a sudden turn that made them lose their pursuers. Meriel was just astonished at how Kiyan handled it.

“Kiyan, you…”

“Just trust me.”, he reassuringly said to her. He holds Meriel’s hand in a tight grip. Like he wants to calm her anxious mind.

Translator’s Note:

This Kiyan guy seem suspicious to me…hmmm…What do you think?

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