Crowning My Feral Prince - Ch 25

She sat next to Adler with a nervous face and stroked Leone’s hair.

“I wonder if Sir Leone has some aftereffects from his wounds.”

“Sigh. Because the wound was deep. No matter how fast the recovery is, it may be unavoidable.”

“In this state, it might be impossible to leave here.”

“That’s fine.”

No, wait.  What would you do if your lord, whom you gave your life for, went to the capital in this state and got a wound?

Leone opened one eye and glanced at her. She shook her head and Leone bent down again and made another noise.

“Beep.”

“Si-Sir Leone!”

Adler didn’t know what to do, and he looked up.

“Gourden, doctor-.”

“We were leaving soon! Weren’t we supposed to leave within a week? Wouldn’t it be difficult for Sir Leone to go to the capital with this body?!”

Seeing that the doctor would say he was in perfect health, she hurriedly interrupted Adler.

“Yes?”

Adler looked at her with a puzzled face.

“Are we leaving soon?”

The return question was embarrassing. She asked softly.

“You were preparing to leave. Weren’t we going right away?”

“You seem to be misunderstanding. I’m not leaving right away like that.”

“Yes?”

“Sir Leone’s wounds need to be treated, and it will take time to empty these mansions without leaving any traces. The water supply also needs to be properly maintained. We will probably be here for about three months.”

Adler was slightly resentful that it would have been better if he had explained it properly from the beginning. Still, it put her mind at ease. Three months was very short, but she couldn’t imagine leaving right now. It was a really good thing for her.

“First of all, Sir Leone, let’s see the doctor.”

Adler cut off his explanation and looked at Leone.

She stroked Leone’s back.

“Leone. Does it hurt a lot?”

It was a sign of hard work. If she stroked his back, he could stop pretending to be sick. Leone stopped whining and sat down in a comfortable position to yawn.

“Are you okay… Are you?”

“I guess so.”

“Hmm…”

Adler looked suspiciously at her and at Leone.

“Perhaps.”

“Yes?”

“Did Sir Leone feign an illness?”

“Pardon?”

A chill went down her spine.

“Looks like Trixie wanted some petting and attention. Have you not been taking good care of yourself lately?”

Adler asked rather sharply. In short, it was a question of whether she had been negligent in her work. She never thought an accident would happen that way. Should she say she was glad she didn’t get caught doing something wrong with Leone…

Suddenly, seeing Adler pointing out like a strict boss, she started thinking about her salary.

She smiled for service and spoke naturally.

“Haha. That’s not it. Could it be that he wanted to see Sir Adler?”

“Yes?”

“You have been very busy lately. Seeing that he got better after pretending to be sick, now that Adler came back, it looks like there is a possibility.”

She lied without putting a drop of saliva on her mouth.

“I… me?”

Adler opened his eyes wide in surprise and looked at Leone, who had a calm face. Emotion flooded his face again.

“Sir Leone… were you worried…?”

Her conscience stung at the trembling voice. She quickly changed the topic by asking another question.

“Yes, by the way, Sir. Adler. You’ve been very busy lately. Weren’t you preparing to move to the capital?”

A week was the number Gourden originally suggested, but there was another crucial reason that made her believe they could really leave in a week.

Adler was too busy.

“Of course… Busy.”

He barely escaped the emotion and handed over the answer.

“Because we have to carry out the background investigation of the assassins.”

Even though he looked tired, his face brightened as if the emotion from earlier had remained.

“I hid my stay here for five years, but it was suddenly discovered. We need to find out why. It is not the capital, but here, at the foot of Meto Mountain, you have to be more diligent to give orders so that you can quickly employ manpower.”

“Aha…”

“Since Sir Leone had killed all the assassins, the other side must have noticed that we are not ordinary nobles. But he won’t know exactly what we are.”

“Why do you think so?”

“If they knew that me and Sir Leone were here, it’s only natural that a stronger person or someone I can’t hurt would come to visit. You know you’re going to die anyway, but send 15 people to throw away their life and stop things from progressing, ha… It must be assumed that they do not know of my existence.”

That confidence. Should she say that he was the strongest knight?

“Since they’ve all been killed, there’s no one to relay information to, so it will take quite a while to figure out the situation.”

“Yes!”

She nodded eagerly. It was a very reasonable and accurate analysis. It would have been nice if the time to go to the capital was delayed.

“And even if they got the information, it won’t be easy to send someone again. Not normally, but I guess, because they can’t be sure who’s here.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It will take more than a month and a half for the other person to figure out the situation and send more people, even if there are only a few.”

“A month and a half? You gave me three months to spare.”

“Because I am here.”

Adler said in a voice as if telling something obvious.

“I fully realized that Sir Leone can protect his body, and I can earn about three months. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable for Sir Leone if he had three more months to adapt?”

“… okay.”

She nodded her head, and suddenly she was envious of the confidence of a strong person. She was a person who could only think of running away. It would be nice if she could buy more time, but for now, she was satisfied with that amount of time.

After a week or three months, her mind suddenly became relaxed.

“Of course, it would be unreasonable to assume that the other person had the same mobility as me.”

“Could there be anyone as fast as Adler?! Didn’t everyone say Adler was very strong? The best knight in the empire!”

She hastily added flattery to Adler’s negative assumptions.

“That’s right.”

“Who can catch up with the best knight in the empire!”

“Whoops. Then please check Leone’s health and let me know. I’m tired of Mr. Benjamin’s constant asking when he’s starting his education.”

“Yes. Yes!”

“Then I’m fine.”

Leone’s health was, in fact, good enough that he could start teaching right now. The doctor also said there would be no more wounds. She decided to give up my common sense understanding of his resilience.

Adler walked away. She tousled Leone’s hair and let out a silent cheer.

“Trixie.”

“Yes.”

These days, the number of times he called her name properly had increased. He was like a cute puppy.

“Great.”

“Is it good? Yes. Great.”

As long as the marriage vow record was expunged, there really was nothing more to ask for. The salary wass good enough.

“Hey. You have a teacher.”

“…?”

“He will tell you all about it. Things like how Leone can tell stories better, how he can sit down and eat.”

“Trixie.”

Leone made a puzzled face.

“Another teacher will come.”

“Teacher… sir. Trixie.”

Since Gourden usually called her Teacher, he probably thought ‘teacher’ was her, right? Then that’s even better. It would made him less wary of Benjamin.

“Maybe he will come tomorrow.”

“… Trixie.”

“Yes. It is expected. You should do well. Mr. Benjamin must be a good man.”

He had no answer. As always, there was no expression, so it was difficult to read his emotions.

“Leone, come here.”

They headed towards the mansion to have lunch. As if it was natural for him to follow when she moved, Leone followed her.

Benjamin. She was looking forward to it. She could give Leone stability and train him to be a ‘good dog’, but she couldn’t make him human. How will the man who taught even the deaf make Leone? Maybe we could get Leone to sit down to eat.

Then Adler might actually pull out the marriage record expungement and proceed with it. Adler’s happy face and the rewards pouring down on her. The beautiful sights busily spinning in her head made her willpower stronger.

Being weak, all she could do was plan her own way to live. To sever ties with Jamie and live peacefully with a generous fortune. That was the only thing that mattered to her right now. It was right to bury the remorse.

* * *

“Is that the child?”

Benjamin asked in a rather stiff voice. The description of him in the novel was literally colorless and odorless. He was said to be the crystal of mediocrity.

Thanks to that, no one noticed that Benjamin had a brilliant brain. So, the female lead, Leila, who noticed this man, seemed to shine even more.

The main couple, who got married, had to stay in Namjoo’s castle for a while. It was only natural that he would go to Namjoo’s territory through Sail Village, the border of borders and the place where Benjamin lived. While staying in the village for four days due to ambiguous time, she runs into Benjamin, who was being ridiculed by the villagers.

Leila immediately recognizes that he will be useful. She introduces Benjamin to the second son of the Marquis Hanneman, who is struggling with his education due to his deafness in one ear. The great lord marquis who stayed neutral and did not step into the whirlpool of the capital had a faint presence because they did not go against the wishes of influential nobles or anyone else. After being moved by Benjamin’s education, such a marquis felt a great sense of pleasure when he became a reliable backing for the male lead.