Chapter 5
Reason for Desire
The meeting was over. Fermos, as he had said, excused himself with Weroz to discuss the movement and redeployment of troops. Mashilow, who needed to finalize a clear marriage contract before Tiwakan arbitrarily invaded the castle, also hurriedly left the reception room. An armor-like silence pressed down on the space where only the two of them remained. There was clearly a large table between Tiwakan's leader and herself, large enough for thirty people to sit around, but Liene felt as if she were being pinned down by him with her bare body.
“Would you like to take a walk?”
Liene, unable to bear the suffocating atmosphere any longer, stood up.
“Anything.”
Black pushed back his chair and rose from his seat, mimicking Liene. She was about to tell him to wait a moment, but he approached her side before she could speak.
“Where are we going?”
“I will show you the patronage of Nauk.”
…This man is too big. That's why she keeps feeling suffocated. If not, there was no way to explain this tension. Liene slightly turned her head to the opposite side to avoid Black.
“Wait a moment. Madam Flamvard… Ah, I will call a governess to accompany us.”
“No accompaniment is necessary.”
“No. When taking a walk with a foreigner…”
Black abruptly cut off Liene's words.
“I am not a foreigner, but the princess's betrothed.”
…That's right, he was. Liene bit her lip. For a moment, she wondered how a barbarian could know such etiquette, but the question dissipated as Black offered his arm.
“……”
Liene lowered her eyelashes in resignation and placed her hand on Black's outstretched arm.
“Ah…”
His arm was so hard that she was startled. When Liene stopped in surprise, Black lowered his head to meet her gaze.
“What's wrong?”
“No, it’s… nothing.”
Liene pointed forward as if asking him to forget it. But before that, her fingers were held.
“A wound.”
“……?”
“It seems you haven't applied medicine.”
On the palm of Liene's hand, held by Black's fingertips, was the wound she had made yesterday. And next to it was another wound that had appeared today. The small, crescent-shaped wound could not hide the fact that it was a fingernail mark.
“What did you have to endure this time?”
Black lifted Liene's hand, uttering a slow question that didn't seem to require an answer. It was fine until his hand was held. But it was not okay at all for that hand to touch Black's lips. She couldn't bear those lips covering the stinging wound as if to comfort it, gently sucking on her skin.
“……Stop!”
Liene couldn't bear it any longer and snatched her hand away. If Black hadn't been watching, she would have clenched her fist again, leaving fingernail marks on her palm.
“I’m… fine. Rather than that, taking a walk…”
“I am not fine.”
Those kind words, that he hated her wounds, did not sound kind at all when they came from the lips of a man with beast-like eyes. Rather, they felt like a suffocating threat.
“Take care of yourself. All of the princess's wounds will now be my responsibility.”
It was ridiculous that the man who was most fatal and dangerous to her was saying such things. Just like yesterday, Black was a tangled contradiction to Liene today as well.
“……This way.”
Only after resolving not to make eye contact with the man again was Liene able to link arms with him again. After informing the guards in the reception room of their whereabouts in advance, Liene headed to the back garden with the man she now had to call her betrothed. * * * Even though it was called a back garden, it was only wide and could not be called beautiful. Since the drought began, the flowers bloomed very briefly and then withered. Bushes with pointed leaves, which did not require much water, occupied most of the back garden. Was it too much to suggest a walk in a place like this? While being careful not to let their linked arms touch too closely, Liene somehow felt embarrassed by the desolate scenery that suddenly caught her eye.
“……”
What if he thought she had brought him here to deliberately mock him? But that was absolutely not the case. It wasn't that she had intentionally chosen a place that wasn't beautiful; most of Nauk was in this state. Barren and parched. The magnificent waterfall that had once split into nine streams, gushing and pouring around the castle, had long since dried up without a trace. Would he feel it if he saw it? That this land was not worth obtaining in such a way.
“Someone will covet either the princess or this land.”
Black's words, as if mocking Liene's thoughts, echoed in her head.
“No…”
Liene shook her head without realizing it, uttering a denial.
“What is not?”
Black stopped walking abruptly. It was a mistake to raise her head in a fluster. Her eyes were trapped again.
“……”
Liene swallowed hard. Those eyes were the problem. Eyes that she couldn't avoid, but couldn't face either. She had to admit that they were scary but fascinating. Perhaps they were frightening because she couldn't resist them.
“……It was nothing. It was a sound that came out because I regretted asking for a walk in a place with nothing to see.”
“There is something to see, though.”
Black's answer slowly burrowed into her ear.
“Because the princess is here.”
“……”
What does that mean? Does he mean I'm worth seeing, or that he has to watch me?
“Then I will take that as a sign that it's okay.”
Liene moved her feet. But it was at that moment.
“Don't move.”
Black's slow voice stopped her steps first. As Liene raised her head in bewilderment, Black covered her as if shielding her with his body. Thwack! Thud! Liene saw a black line, a streak, flying through the air and lodging in Black's shoulder. The black line was an arrow.
* * *
“That way!”
Tiwakan's mercenaries, having realized that an arrow had been fired, moved swiftly.
“Don't let them get away! And capture them alive if possible!”
Liene, watching the mercenaries move with unbelievable speed, realized that this was not just a walk for the two of them. In a way, it was only natural. The leader of a mercenary band that had roamed the battlefields for over ten years would not so easily dismiss the dangers that might be lurking somewhere.
“Are you alright?”
Liene looked at Black with a pale face. The arrow lodged in Black's shoulder could become an opportunity to ruin everything. It might seem as if she had only pretended to accept the proposal and was actually preparing to betray him like this. Her head felt like it was about to explode. Who on earth? Who would do such a foolish thing? This was neither revenge nor rescue. It was a path to plunging Nauk into a swamp of self-destruction. Even if Black were to die from the arrow, it would be the same. If they lost their leader to a cowardly assassination, Tiwakan would never leave Nauk alone.
“First… first, let me support you… It seems safer to go inside than to wait for someone here.”
Liene reached out her hand to support Black. Her hand trembled slightly. Liene gritted her teeth to suppress the trembling, lest she be misunderstood.
“This has nothing to do with Nauk. I have never had any intention of harming Lord Tiwakan.”
“……We'll see about that.”
Black said, looking at Liene's hand.
“I think I will need support.”
But it was Liene who was wrapped around the waist by his strong arm.
“Lord Tiwakan. I am not the one who is injured.”
“That's why I'm surprised too. Why is someone who isn't even injured trembling as if they're about to collapse?”
“……”
“Then let's walk.”
The person with the arrow lodged in them began to walk, supporting the person who wasn't. She was about to say that she didn't need support, but her lips wouldn't part. The shoulder supporting her back, the presence of the arm around her waist, was too distinct. Why… And the fact that she was trembling too. Why on earth… Now it wasn't her hand, but her spine that was trembling. The hairs on her skin stood on end at the fact that this man's arm was touching her back. She remembered the moment just before the arrow struck, when he had pulled her into his arms. The sensation of their hard bodies colliding forcefully. And so, the fierce sensation that had pierced her skin. This trembling had started then. * * *
“Good heavens, Princess!”
Liene, having brought Black to the reception room, came to her senses upon facing Madam Flambard, whose face had turned white.
“What happened! Where are you hurt! Who on earth…!”
“It's not me. Lord Tiwakan was hit by an arrow. Call a doctor and bring hot water and towels. Quickly.”
“Yes…? Who was hurt, you say?”
Madam Flambard looked bewildered, as if she couldn't quite believe it. Liene felt slightly embarrassed, as she could guess the reason. But this was not the time to explain the situation, so Liene urged the madam.
“Madam. Quickly.”
“Ah, yes. I understand, Princess.”
Madam Flambard hurried out of the reception room. Liene turned her head towards Black and said in a low voice.
“You can let go now. I'm fine.”
“If that's the case.”
The hand that had been supporting her back disappeared. But Liene didn't collapse. In fact, there was no reason for her to have been supported by someone who had been shot in the shoulder all the way here. While Liene's mind was briefly tangled in finding the reason, Black dragged a sofa in front of the fireplace.
“Please sit down.”
“……Pardon?”
Liene looked at him in surprise.
“As I said, you're trembling. Still.”
“……”
Was it because she still felt like his hand was touching her somewhere? Liene forcibly regained her composure.
“I am not injured. It seems more urgent to tend to Lord Tiwakan's wound.”
“I know. But sit down anyway.”
After speaking, Black glanced back at the arrow stuck in his left shoulder. Looking at him, it was hard to believe he was injured. His eyes, looking at the wound as if he had been pierced by arrows hundreds of times, showed no emotion.
“I think my clothes will get in the way.”
Black muttered to himself and knelt in front of Liene. For a moment, she stiffened, but Black's intention was simpler than Liene thought.
“I would like your help taking off my clothes.”
“Clothes…… Yes.”
He wouldn't be able to take off his clothes with an arrow stuck in him. Liene quickly got up from the chair.
“I'll get the scissors.”
“There's no need.”
Liene was already turning around.
“Please wait a moment.”
There was a need. She needed a reason to not be too close to him alone. She had to escape this phantom pain that still felt like he was holding her. * * *
“I didn't intend to get hurt.”
Black, left alone after Liene disappeared, muttered to himself.
“Fermos will nag.”
Even so, Black's expression remained unchanged. Looking at his face, you couldn't tell he had just been shot with an arrow.
“……”
Black, who had been silent with his eyes closed, suddenly turned his head. His gaze was directed at the chair where Liene had been sitting just now. He reached out with his uninjured arm and tapped the chair. As if trying to confirm with the remaining warmth that someone had been sitting there just a moment ago.
-I am with child. Will you still propose?
Like the warmth tickling his fingertips, the words he had heard yesterday tickled his ears. As she said, a bastard was no big deal. From the beginning, he hadn't expected anything plausible here. He was just trying to take what was his. He felt the same way about Nauk. It was more of a loss to own this barren land that was falling apart. They must have been barely making ends meet by selling off the royal family's assets. Becoming the ruler of this place meant pouring wealth into a bottomless pit, as Liene had done. Still, it bothered him to think that someone else would take it. He didn't particularly want it, but that annoyance made him decide to propose. After wandering the continent for ten years, one becomes sensitive to the political situation and trends of each country. Even if they weren't publicly lovers, there would be plenty of men who wanted Liene Arsac. Among them, there would be wealthy people who would consider Nauk as a small burden attached to Liene. He decided to just take it rather than give it to someone else. Taking it was the goal, so he hadn't thought about what would come after. That was why it didn't matter if she had a lover or was pregnant with a bastard.
“But.”
Black moved his lips.
“……It bothers me.”
Even though he was going to have her, it still bothered him. The tightly clenched fists whenever she faced him, the palms with the nail-shaped scars left by them. The trembling lips, the shaking eyelashes, the frightened complexion. And yet, that frail but strong body that never backed down. Tap. The movement of his fingers stopped. The warmth his fingertips had been tracing had already disappeared. A sudden thirst surged. He wanted to know exactly what this annoyance was.
