I Don’t Need A Husband - Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

All the lieutenants here knew that Sir Hector’s words did not mean that Berthas himself had to be careful. If the misbehaving Crown Prince does anything in the Larchen Empire, then there would be war.

The Larchen Empire was a magic Empire. It was a country with a potential that no other country could match when it came to magic and engineering — A country where treason has never occurred in history because the imperial lineage was strong, and the loyalty towards that lineage was great.

It was clear that the Larchen Empire would not stand still if the Crown Prince caused problems while he was in the position of negotiating. The Larchen Empire was a great power in name and also reality.

Now, it was impossible for Hillenton to defeat the powerful Larchen Empire.

‘I don’t know what this is all about, but…’

The Crown Prince came on behalf of the Emperor when the Emperor was supposed to go.

Nonetheless, if the Empress, unaware of that fact, appeared at the negotiating table, he could not expect how the Larchen Empire would act. It was impossible for the Empress and the Crown Prince to sit face to face at the negotiating table, considering the status of the Larchen Empire.

He had to stop that from happening. His uncle had sent the Crown Prince to give the perception that Hillenton was superior to Larchen.

‘How can you be so stupid?’

The basics of diplomacy were courtesy.

The envoys didn’t even have proper manners but were fortunate to be able to enter the Imperial Palace. It was obvious that they would not even be allowed to sit at the negotiating table, given that the Emperor had not come by himself.

‘…And, when I go back, they will reproach me.’

It was obvious.

“You have to be really careful. Duke.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

The Crown Prince would arrive tomorrow. It was necessary to keep the woman out of sight of the promiscuous prince and to contact the Larchen Empire. Although it wasn’t right for him to contact the Larchen Empire first, he couldn’t have his men put to death.

Berthas wrote a letter to the head of the information guild here.

“Never let it fall into the hands of others. You must give it to the guild leader.”

“Understood.”

He pleaded with Sir Hector, who had received his handwritten letter. It was a meaningless letter if it fell into someone else’s hand and not in the hands of the guild leader.

It was the last resort he took, knowing that the guild leader had a close relationship with the main figures of the Larchen Empire. If the Larchen Empire understood and treated the Crown Prince appropriately, there was no need to anger and trouble each other.

‘Wars with wizards are the most difficult.’

Even though he ascended to the position of Sword Master, the thing he hated the most was the battlefield with wizards who fired wide-area magic. While he might be okay, many soldiers and men would die.

Sir Hector greeted him with a determined expression as if he understood Berthas’ heart that did not want to have such a war against the Larchen Empire.

“Then, what are we going to do today?”

As another lieutenant asked, Berthas replied.

“You should rest until today because tomorrow the Crown Prince will come. You can all go out and have a drink.”

“All right!”

Watching his men run away excitedly, he smiled quietly.

After the morning meeting, he made his way to the quarters where the woman was.

An eve festival was held here to commemorate the Empress’s birthday. The full-scale festival would start tomorrow, so excited people were walking around.

Berthas were also wandering around the city with her.

He bought things for the woman who didn’t want him asking her name or even if he told her his name first. Since she couldn’t carry everything, he told her that he would carry it, and he started buying more things from the stall.

“How about this? I think it will go well with your hair.”

“It’s crude.”

It seemed difficult to satisfy the woman’s high aesthetic no matter what she showed. He should have been offended by the woman’s words, but Berthas was rather pleased. Tonight, he would tell her about the person who gave him the recovery potion as she requested… And, he would propose.

There was a magical weapon where the woman’s silent gaze reached.

‘Does she like things like that?’

Berthas asked the price, saying that it was inevitable for wizards.

“Are you trying to buy it for me?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

The woman gazed at him with blank eyes as he replied to her casually.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Won’t you ask me to tell you my name?”

“What does a name mean?”

“It means a lot to me.”

If he knew her name, there was no way he couldn’t find her. Even if she ran away from this place, Berthas were confident.

He was sure to find her anywhere.

Although he was a wanderer who moved around the battlefield, he knew many mercenaries, and the guild leader of the intelligence guild knew quite a bit.

‘Come to think of it… I had to go visit him here.’

He forgot to visit and say hello to the guild leader after a long time, so why not just ask him for a favor…?

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Berthas smiled as he thought of the guild leader, who could be called a close friend. The magic weapon being calculated by the stall owner was a bracelet. When the bracelet with a shimmering reddish flaming magic stone settled on her wrist, he quite liked it.

“Do you know the meaning of a bracelet?”

“…The meaning of accessories?”

“You are the most meaningful person to me.”

“What…?”

“The meaning of a bracelet, that’s what it is.”

Berthas smiled faintly as he saw the woman frowning again. The woman didn’t seem to think of him as much as he thought of her yet.

‘It won’t be easy.’

Still, his life had never been easy. He gained it all by working his foot. Everything he gained in life was achieved through hard work.

He did not neglect training even on the dangerous battlefield to become a sword master and slashed countless enemies to become a commander. He crossed over to the enemy camp to cut the enemy army commander and raised his sword to survive.

That was his life. It was his life where he came to this position with a single sword.

When he was young, Berthas wondered if his life would have been different if his parents were still alive. As he read the book, he thought about it, so in the end, he threw the book away.

He only needed a strength that others could not reach. That strength became the force that protected him and the source of his power. Berthas were well aware that even if his uncle, the Emperor, tried to kill him now, it was not easy because there were many concerns that were spread across the border.

He had never had an easy life.

It was a bit disappointing that even getting a woman wasn’t easy, although that was good, too. The more difficult it was, the more valuable it would be.

Buying so many things that the things he held in one hand were heavy, he was distracted by the heavy things and the trivial thoughts. When he came to his senses, his opposite hand was already empty.

“No!”

He reached out his hand towards the woman, but he could not catch her as she walked away.

How could he catch her who disappeared after leaving the words ‘see you next time’?

She wasn’t swept away by the crowd, she just let herself go. Various thoughts ran through Berthas’ head as he gazed at his palms with a bewildered face.

‘Why in the world…’

…Why did she leave him?

It didn’t matter who she was. It didn’t matter if she wasn’t a noble. Even if she was a commoner pretending to be noble, it meant nothing to him. He just liked her, so why? The questions that kept coming up over and over again filled his mind.

“I will find her. For sure.”

“What did you say now?”

“They said that the Hillenton Empire sent the Crown Prince.”

“Ha! They played a little bit of a land-expansion game*, and now they look at Larchen funnily!”
[ T/N: 땅따먹기 a children’s game, read here: https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/1511 ]

Red magic flowed from Isilis’s body in anger. Faylos, who glanced at her, opened his mouth again, “It looks like they have been putting it strictly confidential. It would have been ridiculous if you had come out and met him.”

“Are you saying that the Crown Prince is parading to be the Emperor?”

“That’s right.”

It wasn’t even funny. What was she going to do with this kind of provocation…?

“Do they want to start a war?”

Faylos spoke with a serious look as she murmured quietly.

“It could be. It seems that the Emperor and Crown Prince of that Empire are not in their right minds right now.”

“If they were sane, they wouldn’t be able to do something like this. Fayl, anyway. How do you know?”

“The Duke of the Empire has brought the news.”

“…The Duke?”

“Don’t you know? Son of the previous Emperor.”

“The Emperor’s dog?”

As Fayl nodded his head at her words, Isilis was immersed in her thoughts.

After the death of the predecessor Emperor of the Hillenton Empire, there was a secret history that was famous even in the Larchen Empire. The imperial family fell flat on their heads in order to live without pride of the Imperial Family.

Now, the imperial family who had given up the right to succession to the throne couldn’t be called the Imperial Family — but actually, an imperial family who travelled from war to war to survive.

“Is this how he loves his country?”

Faylos looked at Isilis with curious eyes. She looked into his eyes and lifted her chin up, but Faylos didn’t say anything.

“I guess he didn’t want war.”

“Even if there is a war, it will be the people of that country who will die.”

“Still, the predecessor Emperor of the Hillenton Empire was an extremely competent monarch.”

Although the present Emperor was destroying the country.

—

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