‘Why is he smiling?’
Eunice’s green eyes trembled slightly. The chilling smile made her blood run cold.
What was he thinking while smiling? What if he mocked her, asking her to perform like a pet? What if he toyed with her here in this open space?
Having come alone, she had nowhere to turn for help. It meant she had to do whatever she was told.
The image of him striking his servant’s head with enough force to shatter it flashed before her eyes. Even after such unjust treatment, the red-haired servant couldn’t make a sound and had to retreat cautiously at just one arrogant glance.
Perhaps this was the attitude Eunice would need to learn and adopt going forward.
“Ahem. Have you ever camped before?”
“…!”
It was then that a surprisingly gentle voice resonated through the air. Caught off guard, Eunice blinked slowly.
“I’ve been camping the entire journey here.”
“But not before that?”
“I didn’t really have occasions to camp…”
“I see.”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
The awkward conversation didn’t last long before losing momentum.
Eunice nervously fidgeted with her fingers. She felt she should continue the conversation somehow… but not knowing their common interests, she couldn’t think of an appropriate topic.
What did one usually talk about when meeting someone for the first time? Right, weather talk was unlikely to lead to verbal missteps.
She would ask about Nordish’s weather. Whether it was really winter all year round, how cold the winters got.
Having quickly organized her thoughts, Eunice turned her gaze from the campfire to look at Johannes. At that moment, the trivial plan she had formed in her mind flew cleanly away.
The image of the man moving his lips several times, turning his head toward the campfire, roughly scratching his elegant silver hair, and unnecessarily clearing his throat with a “ahem” was imprinted vividly on her retina.
The entire process was so unexpected. It didn’t match the rumors of a brutal monster circulating in the south.
How to put it? He exuded humanity.
“Eunice.”
He seemed to be trying to get along with her.
“May I call you that?”
At his voice asking while looking at her, Eunice nodded as if entranced. Her heart fluttered.
“Of course.”
Had she seen wrong? A flash of amusement seemed to cross his blue eyes. Somehow, she felt less tense than before.
Crackle, crackle.
The sound of the burning campfire circled her ears. The darkness gradually expanded its territory over the land where dusk had fallen.
Silence descended again, but this time it wasn’t awkward. Rather than anxiously wondering what to say, it felt like they were sharing the silence.
Again, Johannes was the first to speak.
“Did you happen to hear my conversation with Rowell?”
He moved his eyes up and down, examining Eunice’s expression. Had they been discussing something she shouldn’t have heard? So the red-haired servant’s name was Rowell.
Eunice recalled how she had been looking for Johannes earlier. Though frightening, he was soon to be her husband, so it had been an effort to earn points with him.
In a strange land without a single familiar face, Johannes was the lifeline she needed to hold onto.
“No. I didn’t hear anything at all.”
Eunice gently shook her head.
“I only saw Your Majesty hitting the back of Rowell’s head. Actually, I was going to ask for help. For a physician or a mage.”
“What?”
“I thought Rowell’s head was going to split in two.”
“…”
“There was such a tremendous sound, like a watermelon bursting…”
“…”
Johannes was silent for a moment.
Eunice’s mouth went dry, wondering if she had made another mistake. Earlier he had changed his attitude, saying her greeting was too elaborate for the wasteland. Now what had displeased him?
Difficult men are challenging. It felt like walking a tightrope.
“Haha.”
It was then that a small laugh erupted.
Eunice blinked in bewilderment. She had worried he might get annoyed, but now he was laughing. But had she said something funny?
As she was confused about how to react to this unpredictable man, Johannes now laughed openly, showing his white teeth.
“Ahaha. That’s really funny.”
“…”
She hadn’t particularly intended to be funny…
“Sorry, sorry. I must have startled you.”
“…It’s nothing.”
This time, Eunice felt struck in a different way. He apologized—she had no immunity to such apologies.
In her life, she had begged others for forgiveness, but had never received an apology. Except for sneers that began with “I’m sorry, but a burden like you…”
Perhaps it was the unexpectedness. Why were her eyes threatening to redden over something so small?
Eunice turned her head toward the campfire to hide her pathetic face. Fortunately, Johannes seemed too busy laughing to notice her state.
“Rowell is fine with that level of impact, so don’t worry.”
“…That’s impossible.”
She kept looking forward to compose her emotions. The warm heat from the campfire seemed to calm her.
“It’s true. He’s been conditioned since childhood.”
“You mean he’s been hit like that for that long?”
“He constantly says things that invite my fist, so it can’t be helped.”
“What did he say?”
Out of pure curiosity, Eunice turned her head. At that moment, she accidentally met Johannes’s eyes, which were already looking at her.
Ah… why with such eyes…
Following the dance of the campfire, a mysterious red light flickered across his beautiful face.
His elegant silver hair, like ground moonlight, and his cold blue eyes, reminiscent of ice crystals, at this moment just looked lonely.
There was no way to explain exactly why she felt that way.
“There is.”
“…”
Had she touched a sensitive spot? Eunice quickly tried to take back her words.
“If it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to tell me. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“I wasn’t going to tell you anyway. But it wasn’t wrong to ask.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“This is just another type of answer.”
“…”
At a loss for words, Eunice closed her mouth.
What was this? Was he playing word games? If his mood soured, the atmosphere would change drastically. Was there no safe topic that was moderately witty but wouldn’t touch sensitive areas?
As she moved her lips, wracking her brain…
Thwack!
“Ah!”
With the pain striking her forehead, Eunice looked at Johannes with disbelieving eyes. And for good reason—he had flicked his finger against her forehead.
It hurt terribly, but Johannes grinned mischievously.
“I can hear the sound of your brain working from here.”
“That hurts.”
“…I did it gently.”
Of course, the standard of “gentle” varies from person to person. Compared to how he had struck Rowell’s head, it was as light as a feather. In fact, Johannes had just tapped her. Really gently, just a tap.
But the power of his finger, hardened with calluses, was tremendous to Eunice. A hint of resentment unconsciously appeared in her green eyes.
Seeing this, Johannes swallowed dryly.
‘Ah, this isn’t right.’ Scratching his head, he carefully stroked the area he had just hit with his thumb.
“Let me see.”
Giving the disease, then the cure.
“It’s a bit red. You must have very sensitive skin.”
“…”
Eunice quietly held her breath. It had definitely hurt, but did he have some kind of healing touch?
The hand that must have been stained with countless blood somehow felt comfortingly warm. Despite all her worries about how to please the brutal monster on her journey here, Johannes had effortlessly closed the distance between them.
“I’ll be especially careful from now on.”
Looking at the man smiling with his eyes curved prettily, Eunice momentarily felt dazed. Whether he intended it or not, his beauty must have played a significant role in unifying the Nordish lands.
As she was thinking this, the thumb that had been gently stroking her forehead like a healing touch smoothly glided past her temple and cheek, down to her chin. Her eyelids blinked rapidly several times at the unfamiliar sensation created by that slow movement.
What did he mean by being especially careful with her sensitive skin? Was there something wrong with her thought process for thinking about a bed in the middle of the wasteland? But it was something that would happen soon anyway.
While she worried about these embarrassing thoughts, Johannes’s hand fell from her chin. As he turned his body backward, Eunice followed his gaze.
Dinner seemed to be ready, as a knight approached them with a bowl in each hand.
“Your Majesty, this is Sir Michael’s special stew.”
“It doesn’t smell bad.”
Giving a gentle passing grade, Johannes took both bowls from the knight and handed one to Eunice.
“Thank you.”
“I’m not sure if it will suit your taste. Meals during camping are modest, but things will be better when we reach Berzan.”
A pinch of kindness was contained in his rough manner of speaking.
He would show a frightening expression, then smile beautifully. He would wield violence mercilessly, then speak gently. He would flick her forehead for some irritation, then warmly provide food.
He was truly an unpredictable man.
Well, come to think of it, they had only just met today. The rumors of his brutality couldn’t have spread for no reason, and he had already shown such aspects quite clearly.
Trying to fit together the unorganized puzzle pieces, Eunice took a mouthful of stew. Despite being called a special stew, it wasn’t extraordinarily delicious.
To begin with, it didn’t contain many ingredients, and they were in the middle of the Land of Death. Considering that, it could be called quite excellent cooking.
Focusing on the taste of unfamiliar spices coating her tongue, she raised her head.
Above the campfire, the vast night sky stretched endlessly. It was a beautiful night, so distant and vast it was almost frightening, with stars flowing like a river.
