Chapter 10
10
===
Joseph perked up his ears and craned his neck toward the top of the stairs.
What were the two of them talking about? He was curious about the Princess who had magnificently ruined the wedding, and equally curious about Walter, who followed the Princess around like a bee drawn to a flower.
What is it? I'm dying of curiosity!
"You'll break your neck."
At the sudden voice, Joseph drew his sword from his waist and swung it. The blade stopped precisely in front of a slender neck. The one who had approached without a sound was a young woman with a face full of freckles.
"Who are you?"
Joseph asked fiercely, but the woman widened her eyes instead.
"What if I am?"
What are you going to do about it?!
Joseph, unknowingly pushed back by the woman's spirit, quickly regained his composure and made an even more menacing expression.
She was definitely not someone who had just wandered into the inn. Her relaxed attitude despite having a sword pointed at her neck, and above all, the fact that she moved with a stealth he couldn't detect.
"Answer the question properly."
Faced with the threat from Joseph, a large man who could intimidate most adult men, the woman responded with an even greater outburst.
"Are you going to stab me if I don't answer? Stab me, stab me!! Go on, stab me!"
Far from being afraid of the sword, she craned her neck and widened her eyes even more. It wasn't just three-whites, it was four-whites. The whites of her eyes gleamed eerily.
As expected, momentum is important in a fight.
"Who do you think you are, talking down to me like that when we just met? Is this your house?!"
No.
Joseph almost answered without realizing it.
"It's because knights like you resort to swords before words that you're called ignorant!!"
The bone that had been bitten by a Magical beasts a few years ago suddenly seemed to ache.
"Are you going to put that sword away?!"
"So, who are you..."
As Joseph asked back in a subdued voice, the heavy and light footsteps of people coming down the stairs were heard in harmony. A clear voice followed.
"Jessie?"
"Yes, Princess Grace!"
Apart from the cheerful reply, Jessie glared fiercely at Joseph and pushed the tip of the sword away with her index finger.
While Joseph awkwardly retracted his sword, Grace came down the stairs first, followed by Walter. His position half a step behind Grace looked quite natural.
Joseph paused for a moment. For some reason, the two of them had the atmosphere of a newly married couple. But that was only for a moment, as the atmosphere changed when Walter moved. He stood between Joseph and Grace and introduced Joseph first.
"Joseph Rexton, my aide."
At Walter's introduction, Joseph quickly put away his sword and stood at attention towards Grace. Grace gave Joseph a light nod and pointed to Jessie, saying,
"This is Jessie. She will be helping me with whatever I need from now on."
Jessie politely bent her knee to Walter in greeting.
"I am Jessie, Princess Grace's maid."
"Before that, she was also my teacher."
"Teacher?"
Walter, seeing Jessie's youthful face, asked with a puzzled expression, and Grace smiled at Jessie.
"She taught me guts."
Jessie twitched her nose, and Joseph recalled the gleaming four-whites and muttered inwardly.
More like madness than guts...
At the same time, his mind became a jumbled mess. How on earth is this going?
However, the master's explanation that followed was enough to push him into even greater confusion.
"From now on, Grace will go to Richmond with me as my lover. Joseph, get the carriage."
"...Yes, ...what?!"
Joseph jumped and looked at Walter, but the unkind superior would never add a long explanation.
"Your Grace?"
Please give me a proper explanation!! Lover?! Suddenly?!
Joseph gaped as if he was going crazy, but Grace extended her fair, beautiful right hand to him and smiled elegantly, as befitting her name.
"Nice to meet you, Sir Rexton."
Joseph, his head buzzing, could only open his mouth, and Jessie, who was beside him, gave him another four-white glare, and Grace flicked her fingertips slightly and whispered softly.
"Please take care of me in the future."
Even though she was a woman as slender as his forearm, he strangely felt like he had to obey. The image of her stacking gifts in front of Viscount Sachsen and returning them flickered like a hallucination.
"Ah... yes. Princess Grace."
Joseph kissed the back of her hand as if possessed, and only then did Jessie relax the tension in her eyes. She had a very pleased look on her face. Joseph felt a chill down his spine as he seemed to hear the voice, 'I raised her well.'
"Move quickly, Joseph."
Joseph creaked his head around to look at his master. Walter exuded a heavy weight, but he was also a man who was ready to do any crazy thing if necessary. He couldn't even guess what was lurking beneath that hard mask.
In the end, Joseph, unable to ask anything, turned his stiff face, mechanically gathered the money, and left the inn.
Driven out into the noisy street, he shuddered once. It was as unsettling as if a piece of the story had been cut off, and above all...
"I think I've become the weakest one..."
Such intuition had never been wrong, so it must be true. He scratched the back of his head, which felt strangely numb, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
＊ ＊ ＊
Joseph's intuition soon became a reality.
He had done all sorts of things in the Wall of Death for the past 10 years, but being a coachman was a first. His beloved horse, which had roamed through Magical beasts with him, had also suddenly become a carriage horse.
Nevertheless, he didn't feel so bad... no, rather, he felt good, because the smile of Princess Grace, who had suddenly become his superior's lover and companion, seemed to compensate him for the past 10 years of misery.
She was very kind.
"Sir Rexton."
Joseph was surprised that his name could sound so sweet.
Who had called him the most so far?! That cold face with no humanity, those fierce eyes, when his superior, who had built a wall against the word 'kindness', called him, Joseph's heart always thumped. He begged and begged in his heart not to call his name!
Our Princess Grace not only called him kindly, but also spoke beautifully.
"To have a great knight drive a carriage. I'm sorry."
"No!! My dream was to be a coachman!"
Without realizing that Grace had become 'our Princess Grace', his thoughts jumped out of his mouth without going through his brain.
Walter, as well as Jessie, felt like they were looking at him in amazement, but Joseph did not regret what he had said. Because Grace burst out laughing.
The appearance of calmly ruining the wedding was nowhere to be seen. A clear, pure laughter echoed behind him, and a breeze with a fragrant fruity scent tickled his cheeks. Was this paradise?
Then, Grace, who had been staring at Jessie, suddenly asked.
"Jessie, what would you have done if I hadn't come then?"
Jessie, who immediately understood Grace's words, scratched her nose and smiled.
"Then I would have smashed the Viscount's head with a wine bottle instead of you, Princess Grace?"
"......?"
"?? "
Walter, who was riding ahead, and Joseph, who was driving the carriage, turned their heads at the same time.
The faces of the two women were half visible through the wide-open carriage window.
"Princess Grace, but is your wrist okay?"
"It's a bit achy. Turns out, real life is different."
"Looking at the bruise, it seems like you chose a bottle that was too thick. You should have chosen a bottle that suits your strength, Princess Grace. And next time you swing, you should use your whole arm, not just your wrist."
At Jessie's advice, Grace raised her right arm and swung it several times in the air. It was definitely a gesture to properly hit something.
Walter and Joseph inevitably recalled the blue bruise around Viscount Sachsen's eyes.
"......"
"......"
The two, who had been silent for a while, looked forward at the same time as if they had made a promise, but more murmuring voices were heard from behind. A voice as soft as the gentle breeze was carried along.
"When I meet him again, I won't just hit him with a wine bottle."
At the brutal meaning contained in the song-like voice, Joseph swallowed hard without realizing it.
Meanwhile, Jessie stared at the shining Grace and slowly hugged her. Hiding the feeling of utter despair with a smile.
Jessie was prepared to die in Grace's place, but she could not walk her path for her. Grace vowed revenge, and threw herself into it entirely.
Not only did she humiliate the Empress's nephew and ruin the wedding, but she also declared in front of everyone that she had a hidden lover. For a noble lady, it was no different from social suicide. Moreover, now that even the Taylor Dukedom would cut Grace off to avoid the Empress's wrath, the depth of humiliation she would have to endure would become even more distant, even if she was shielded by the Duke Richmond's lover.
"Don't worry."
As if she had seen through Jessie's heart, Grace whispered. The two looked at each other and looked out the window at the same time as if they had made a promise. The Taylor territory was spread out wide. Unharvested wheat rippled, and the people passing through it looked like dots.
Finally, they had taken the first step to reclaim that land. They would not stop, and they would not collapse from exhaustion.
