73 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
“Stop…!”
Juan was worried about the confrontation between Alicia and the guards, who were simply trying to verify her identity.
He didn't think Alicia, who had lost her reason, would respond properly to the guards.
His worries were pointless.
“…!”
The horse carrying Alicia jumped over the guards like they were obstacles and sped past.
The guards were holding exceptionally long spears.
Alicia, who had jumped over two knights with spears and three knights on horseback in one go, galloped away without looking back.
“Sto-stop!”
It was just a formality, but they had a responsibility to guard the outskirts of Baden.
A knight on horseback tried to follow Alicia.
“Get out of the way!”
Juan shouted from afar at the guards who were trying to chase after Alicia.
The knights with long spears were even more on guard at the shout of the uninvited guest following the strange woman in a dress.
“Who are you!”
“I am Juan Lukens! The person in front is Lady Alicia, the Count of Echeveria! Verify her identity with the Reine Marquis’s knight who is following behind! Get out of the way!”
Juan shouted as he spurred his horse on without slowing down.
“Lo-Lord Juan. Ge-get out of the way!”
One of the knights who recognized Juan lowered his spear and stepped aside.
Following him, the other knights stepped back one or two steps.
Juan quickly passed through the confused knights and followed Alicia, who had become an even smaller dot in the distance.
As his horse ran right beside them, a cloud of dust swirled up.
The knights waved their hands to clear their vision and coughed.
“What was that? Was that Lord Juan Lukens just now?”
“I think it probably was…”
The knight who recognized Juan stammered in response to the senior knight's question.
Their faces were utterly bewildered.
“If the person in front is the Count of Echeveria, isn’t that Grand Duchess Tessen?”
“Lady Alicia, the Grand Duchess-to-be.”
“Didn’t the horse twist its body in mid-air to change direction just now?”
“I think it probably did…”
Bewildered faces exchanged uncertain words.
“Everyone, raise your spears.”
The guard, seeing a knight on horseback approaching rapidly from afar, spoke with a stern face.
If what Juan had said as he passed like the wind was true, the approaching person would be a knight of the Reine Marquis.
They had to verify the identities of the two people who had gone ahead and ask him the reason.
“Everyone, mount your horses.”
At the senior knight's words, all the knights mounted their horses and took up a defensive posture.
Thanks to their efforts, the Reine Marquis’s knight approaching from the other side slowed down, unlike the two people who had gone ahead.
But he didn't dismount.
As he got closer to the guards, he showed them the token proving that he was on a mission for the Reine Marquis.
The guards dismounted to show respect to the Reine Marquis.
The Reine Marquis’s knight, without even a brief greeting, spurred his horse on and passed the bowing knights.
Another cloud of dust billowed up.
Alicia finally stopped her horse after running for half a day.
Even when she had set off at dawn, it had been twilight, but as evening came, the road became dark and it was difficult to go any further.
It was difficult to secure visibility, and the horse carrying Alicia was exhausted and could no longer run.
Alicia urged the horse, which was no longer running, several times, but after hearing its weak whinnies, she realized.
She also realized that it was dark all around after getting off the horse.
With a tired face, she gently stroked the head of the exhausted horse and apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
Even so, Alicia's eyes searched for a horse that could run.
Her trembling vision was filled with impatience.
“Lady!”
As the speed of the horse carrying Alicia decreased, the distance to Juan, who was following behind, became quite close.
Juan spotted Alicia, who had stopped, and shouted.
“Lord Juan…”
Juan dismounted and looked at Alicia with a troubled expression.
Alicia's face was a mess with dirt.
Her hair was sticking out in all directions in the wind, and the cream-colored dress she had put on since dawn was now completely ochre.
“Ha, Lady. How could you go alone? And to run all day like this. First, put this on.”
Alicia looked up at Juan, who was draping a cloak over her shoulders, with a dazed expression.
“Lord Juan.”
“What a sight you are. Roderick will come to be friends with you.”
“There’s no time to be doing this…”
Alicia faintly reached out towards Juan's horse, which still had some strength left.
Juan pretended to fasten the cloak and blocked Alicia's hand.
He met her vacant purple eyes and slowly shook his head.
“It’s a four-day journey to Reine. Unbelievably, we’ve gained almost two days, so if we leave as soon as it’s light, we might be able to reach Reine tomorrow night.”
Juan tied the cloak knot in triplicate.
“Lord Juan.”
“Listen to me. You’ll collapse if you keep running without rest. Then we’ll waste even more time. Let’s eat first. The horses need to be fed too.”
Juan turned Alicia around, who was only calling his name, and headed towards the pub.
The tavern on the outskirts of the village, where travelers came and went, had a bustling atmosphere.
The pub, which was a tavern, a restaurant, and provided temporary lodging where one could relieve the fatigue of their journey, was much more comfortable than expected.
“Welcome. Two people? Will you leave the horses outside? If you just rent the stable, it’s five silver coins, watering them is eight coins, and feeding them both fodder and water is ten coins. Just using a seat is five coins, drinking beer is ten coins, and including a meal is fifteen coins. Using a room provides a seat, drinks, and a meal, all for 25 coins. What will you do?”
As soon as he opened the door, a middle-aged man sitting on a chair right in front of the door quickly recited the usage fees.
He gave the impression of an Emperor's tax collector rather than the pub's owner or worker.
He was neatly dressed in a shirt, vest, and dark-colored pants, and if the clothes were just a little tighter, he would have looked like a butler from a noble family.
“Take care of both horses with fodder and water. Rent a room and use three seats. Please prepare a meal right away. Prepare water for washing in the room.”
Juan handed over five more silver coins on top of the fee requested by the pub.
“Use the bar seats. Three beers! Prepare the meal.”
The middle-aged man in front of the door checked the received silver coins and assigned them seats.
He had the stable boy take the horses away and placed an order with the bartender.
Juan sat Alicia in an inner seat with a wall.
Before the two could even sit down, a bartender with prominent muscles brought out large beer glasses.
Juan didn't offer it to Alicia and gulped down the beer placed in front of him.
He emptied one glass in one go and drank half of the second glass.
He looked very hungry, having not rested for a moment or eaten anything while chasing after Alicia.
“I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”
Alicia belatedly offered an apology.
“It’s nothing.”
Juan looked at the wooden plate with four white breads that the bartender brought out with a sullen face.
The soup that followed, steaming hot, smelled quite delicious.
“I’ve prepared the water. Room 2-I on the second floor.”
When a meal that didn't look like it was worth 15 silver coins came out, the owner guarding the door announced.
“Wash your face and hands. You’ll definitely get a stomach ache if you eat like that.”
Alicia obediently followed Juan's words.
It wasn't difficult to climb the suffocatingly narrow stairs and find the room on the second floor.
Compared to the densely arranged doors seen in the hallway, the room was spacious.
The water was much better prepared than expected.
There was a tub of hot water and a tub of cold water, and there was also a wooden dipper to scoop out the water.
There was an empty container and a container to discard the used water.
There were even three clean towels hanging on one side of the tray.
Alicia mixed warm and cold water and washed her hands and face.
Perhaps because she had been running non-stop for half a day, her hair smelled of dirt.
She roughly shook the dust out of her hair, tidied up the tangled hair that had been scattered by the wind, and tied it into one.
When Alicia went down to the first floor, the bustling atmosphere subtly dissipated.
Juan was in the middle of talking to the bartender.
Juan, turning around at the unfamiliar silence, realized that Alicia was approaching him while receiving the attention of everyone in the bar, and he closed his mouth.
Alicia, who had wiped the dust off her face and tidied up her disheveled hair, looked like a noble lady to anyone who saw her.
Her cold and sensitive face was tinged with a faint melancholy.
“Have you come?”
“Yes.”
“Please eat. Don’t move around alone. I’ll go wash up too. I’ll be right back. No killing, just cut off their arms or legs if anyone bothers you. Understood?”
Juan entrusted his sword to Alicia and gave her absurd advice.
Unlike his violent words, he turned around comfortably.
“Lady, no killing, injuring, or fighting inside the store. Would you like me to warm up the soup?”
The middle-aged man with a stern impression, probably the owner, raised his voice towards Alicia.
“No, it’s okay.”
The owner seemed to be talking to Alicia, but he made sure everyone in the store could hear.
Thanks to the owner's caution, Alicia was able to eat comfortably.
The soup and the plain white bread tasted much better than they looked.
Come to think of it, this was Alicia's first meal today.
When Alicia finished her meal, Juan returned.
Juan had not only washed up but had also changed into clean clothes, as if he had extra clothes with him.
“Another beer here. Would you like more to eat?”
Juan looked for beer as he sat down.
He looked back at Alicia after placing silver coins on the bar.
“I’m fine. I ate all of Lord Juan’s meal, so order more.”
Alicia said calmly with a lifeless face.
“This is enough for me.”
Juan picked up his sword again and glanced at the beer that had just come out.
Alicia nodded in response to his words.
“……”
Since Juan had known Alicia, this was the first time he had seen her so powerless.
Most of the descendants of the Lukens family grew up as knights.
Whether they were sons or daughters, those from Lukens were skilled in swordsmanship and horsemanship.
They had a strong competitive spirit and a strong desire for success.
They cherished their family, honor, teachers, and swordsmanship clans as much as their own lives.
The person Juan knew who had the least attachment to being a knight was Juan himself.
The most knightly person Juan knew was Alicia Lane.
Juan didn't have much attachment to a life lived with a sword.
So he didn't understand his relatives who were proud of their knightly family.
He loved things that were more beautiful, prettier, and brighter than that.
Juan's house had only three sons.
Since he had memories, Juan had a fantasy about having a younger sister.
Roderick, who was born in a house full of older and younger sisters, described his female siblings as pitiful, pathetic, but vicious gluttons.
Roderick, who had many family members, also described his male siblings as ignorant money-grubbers, so his words were not worth listening to.