Chapter 14
14. Not for a Single Moment
"...It bothers me." Black put Liene on the horse in front of him. The warmth and sensation from behind made Liene increasingly uncomfortable. The number of men who had followed Black was fewer than those who remained at the Kleinfelter Family's mansion. Three mercenaries were trailing behind them, ambling along, which made Liene feel as if she and Black were going somewhere alone.
“Does your injured shoulder... bother you?”
Liene swallowed her discomfort and asked.
“If it's hard for you to hold the reins, I can hold them.”
Black was holding the reins with one hand and supporting Liene's body with the other as they rode.
“It's not that bad.”
“I see.”
“Something else is bothering me more than that.”
“What...”
“I'm wondering why there's blood on the Princess's lips.”
“Pardon?”
Liene unconsciously raised her hand and rubbed her lips. Blood? Could it be from when she bit that man...
“Were you bitten?”
“No... no, I wasn't.”
She wasn't bitten, she did the biting. But to say that, she would have to explain why Laffite had covered her mouth.
“Then why is there blood?”
“This is... well...”
She couldn't come up with a plausible answer.
“It's not that I was hurt...”
“It's not that the Princess was hurt.”
“It just... somehow got there...”
“Specifically on your lips.”
“……”
There weren't many situations where blood would end up on one's lips. Black, who had been watching Liene struggle to answer, suddenly stopped the horse. Instead of asking why, Liene turned her head to look at Black. She could see the twist in his lips. Black released the reins and turned Liene's body towards him with that hand, then asked.
“May I confirm?”
“Confirm... what?”
“Whether you're truly not hurt.”
She wasn't hurt. That was the truth.
“Yes. I'm not hurt.”
“I don't believe you.”
The last words were so quick and quiet that Liene didn't have time to respond. Black grabbed Liene's face with both hands and pulled her close. Before she could even be surprised, his tongue touched her lips.
“Why...”
“Open your mouth.”
“……”
He probed the inside of her mouth.
It wasn't a kiss. Black was truly checking every corner of her mouth for injuries. It wasn't a kiss. That's what made it even stranger. A stranger was meticulously examining and touching the inside of her mouth, but it wasn't a kiss, so she couldn't say anything. When he finally pulled away, Liene was gasping for breath, clutching his sleeve tightly.
“There are no injuries.”
...That's what she said.
“That's a relief.”
Was it really a relief? She was already worried about how she could forget this sensation. It felt like he was still inside her mouth. Her body continued to tremble slightly, and she even felt dizzy. The sight of Black licking the moisture from his lips was dizzying, like the dizziness itself.
“Why were you alone in that house?”
Black started the horse again. Since her body was still turned towards him, the movement of the horse forced her to lean even closer to him to maintain her balance. ...This is what's strange. Wouldn't it be more like me to fall off the horse than to be held like this? These questions tormented Liene. Why does this man make me like this? I should hate and fear you. But the truth is...
“Is it difficult to answer?”
“...No. Sir Weroz was accompanying me, but he disappeared midway for some reason... Ah, Sir Weroz!”
Liene belatedly came to her senses. Come to think of it, she had forgotten about Weroz.
“Sir Weroz might be trapped in there.”
“In that house?”
“Yes. He's not the type to disappear without a word, so the fact that he suddenly did means something must have happened...”
Suddenly, she felt a sense of urgency. Instead of this, she needed to return to the palace as soon as possible and send the guards. If something happened to Weroz, she wouldn't be able to bear it. Weroz was the only person Liene could trust at any time.
“Please go back quickly. We need to send the guards right away.”
“There's no need for that.”
Black pulled on the reins to slow down, then gestured behind him. His men, who had been following at a distance, spurred their horses forward.
“Yes, my lord.”
“One of you will have to return the way we came. Tell Fermos to find the Nauk's guard captain.”
“Understood.”
The command was swift. Without another word, one of the three immediately turned his horse around and galloped towards the Kleinfelter mansion. Judging by his speed, it would be several times faster than her returning to the castle and calling the guards.
“...Thank you.”
Liene said in a small voice. The reason the man felt comforting wasn't just because he was big and strong. It was because of moments like these. Because he listened to her even though he knew she was hiding something. Because he checked for injuries. Because he did what needed to be done. Because he eased her worries. As if they were a couple truly bound by affection.
“It is my duty.”
Because their bodies were touching, his words made her skin vibrate. She didn't dislike this at all. Clop, clop... The horse walked slowly towards the castle at the reduced pace. She didn't dislike this slow time either. Not for a single moment. * * *
“So, the total cost for the funeral is expected to be 170 million. It's fortunate that the price of the coffin was fixed.”
mashilow handed Liene a paper filled with numbers. Liene took it, quickly scanned the list and numbers, then nodded and put the paper down.
“That's a reasonable price. We should thank Tiwakan.”
“There's no need to thank them. If it weren't for them, there wouldn't have been a funeral in the first place.”
mashilow stroked his beard, looking displeased. He looked like a sulking child.
“Not that I'm taking sides, but let me remind you that Nauk was the one who launched the surprise attack. As I said, there's no point in arguing about it, so let's move on. What kind of scale is possible for the wedding gifts?”
“Are you thinking of giving wedding gifts?”
mashilow's eyes widened instead.
“Didn't they say they would take care of everything and that we should stay out of it? So I didn't even consider it.”
“They agreed to cover the cost of the wedding and the wedding dress. Wedding gifts are a different matter.”
“I must say, there's no need to be so polite.”
“We can't do that when we've received something.”
She had received a large chest full of gold as an engagement gift. She couldn't pretend not to know about the wedding gifts. It felt like robbery, not marriage. ...Goodness, me. Robbery? Who's robbing whom? Liene smiled wryly at her own thoughts. Why do I keep forgetting that he was the one who forced the marriage proposal?
“It's embarrassing to say, but we have the gold we received as an engagement gift. We're not short on money, so please prepare the wedding gifts to be similar to those of past Nauk weddings. They must be delivered to Tiwakan before the wedding.”
“That's... ahem, hmm.”
mashilow coughed awkwardly when the topic of money came up.
“Lord mashilow?”
That meant there was a problem.
“That money... well... there's not much left, Princess.”
“Pardon?”
She was dumbfounded.
“What are you talking about, Lord mashilow? How long has it been since we received the money?”
“Well... according to the promissory note renewed three years ago, all royal income other than taxes belongs to Lyndon Kleinfelter, the largest creditor.”
“What?”
Liene jumped up from her seat.
“The promissory note says that?”
“Yes, Princess.”
mashilow clicked his tongue inwardly.
“Don’t you remember? There was a great drought three years ago. Not a drop of rain fell all summer. It's already a place with a shortage of water, but it was too much at that time... and there was a great epidemic in the crops. So, the Princess….”
mashilow closed his mouth around there. Seeing Liene's face turning white and distorted, it seemed she remembered.
“I wrote such an absurd IOU and borrowed money from the Kleinfelter Family. …That’s right. I did.”
The memories of that time were filled with nothing but despair. The people she faced every day were on the verge of starving to death. She knew that the IOU that the Kleinfelter Family presented was nonsense, but she had no choice but to sign it. It was humiliating and she was afraid of the future, but she couldn't bear to witness death every day.
“Then, is there none of that money left?”
“According to the law, after confirming the amount yesterday, it was sent to the Kleinfelter Family. I received a certificate that the principal and interest would be deducted by that amount.”
“You didn’t even tell me about that?”
“I thought the Princess knew as a matter of course.”
“……”
Liene glared at mashilow, speechless. It was definitely intentional. If Liene knew, she would have paid off other expenses first, so he must have sent the money to the Kleinfelter Family as soon as it came in. …And he must have received a generous allowance. It wasn't that mashilow was a particularly vicious person that he got along so well with Kleinfelter. The same was true of Cardinal Milode. They were all living off the Kleinfelter Family, from whom crumbs fell, rather than the poor royal family.
“If you wish, I will borrow the money to buy gifts from Lord Kleinfelter. Lord Kleinfelter may not be in a position to welcome the Princess's marriage, but he is a generous man nonetheless, so he will gladly lend you the money you need.”
“……It’s okay.”
Liene spat out a tired voice. Generous? As if that man would be. The enormous debt the royal family owed was the reason why the Kleinfelter Family had been able to act arrogantly and rudely, regardless of status. But seeing what Lyndon Kleinfelter did today, it was obvious that he would never lend a penny for the wedding.
“No more debt.”
And now, she wanted to stop being dragged around by debt. She still couldn't believe what had happened today. No matter how much they made fun of the royal family, she never thought they would do such a thing. To call the Cardinal in advance and force a marriage. That was treating Liene as neither the ruler of Nauk nor an equal human being. If Black hadn't appeared at that time and place, she would have been trapped in that house, forced to have a wedding, and then consummated the Wedding Night.
“Excuse me, Princess, but that will be difficult with just a resolution.”
mashilow added a word, whether he knew what had happened or not.
“Nauk has been living on the Kleinfelter Family's money for years. If that source of money is cut off, everyone will have no choice but to starve to death.”
“……”
“We have to borrow money again just to pay the interest, let alone reduce the principal. Fortunately, Tiwakan gave us some money to cover some of it, so we can breathe for a while.”
The undeniable reality silenced Liene. The frustration and helplessness she had experienced three years ago came back to her. It was so terrible just thinking about it that she felt nauseous. Liene gestured with a pale face.
“I understand, so please leave. I’ll forget about the gifts.”
“I will. Rest well, Princess. You don’t look well.”
mashilow rattled off his worries, which didn't sound like worries at all, and left the King's office.
“……This is so tiring.”
Liene knocked over the innocent ink bottle. The lid was closed, so the ink didn't leak. Actually, she wanted to throw anything, but even venting her anger alone was a luxury for Liene. If the ink bottle broke, Liene would have to figure out how to get the money to buy it again.
“How shameless do they think I am?”
To have used up all that money and then say she won't even give him a gift. Her situation was so ridiculous and miserable that Liene buried her face in her palms. Painful self-mockery leaked out between her fingers.
“……No, I have to do something instead of this.”
Liene got up. Even if she couldn't give him a decent gift, there was one thing she could give.
