Lying in his tent, Johannes thought to himself.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have insisted on separate tents.’
The time spent sitting by the campfire, exchanging meaningless conversation while eating dinner, had been pleasant. Regardless of Eunice not remembering him, the distance between them seemed to have narrowed by a step or two.
What if they had spent the night in the same tent, riding that momentum?
“Sigh.”
Johannes turned his head to the side. Though blocked by canvas, it was the direction where Eunice’s tent had been set up. Perhaps because they were separated by just a few layers of fabric, he found himself increasingly on edge.
“How pathetic.”
Johannes decided to turn off his thoughts and just go to sleep.
Even after crossing the Land of Death and entering Nordish territory, it would still take several days to reach Berzan. The decision to use separate tents during this long period had been made by none other than Johannes himself.
It was his own consideration. Partly due to his conservative nature, and partly because they couldn’t share a bed before marriage.
Some might ask what the problem was. Of course, Johannes occasionally had more generous thoughts.
‘What’s the big deal? We’re going to get married anyway.’
But when it came time to decide, his mouth moved on its own.
「Take special care of the lady’s tent. Make sure she has no discomfort whatsoever. Pack enough fur for the floor. She might be sensitive to cold.」
He had nagged the knights who were packing, interfering with pointless comments.
“…What an idiot.”
And now his body was burning, unable to sleep.
Johannes slowly opened his eyes that he had closed. His mind was becoming increasingly clear, making it impossible to fall asleep.
‘I should check around the camp. And see if the night guards are at their posts.’
Rising from his bed, Johannes pushed aside the canvas at the entrance and stepped outside. The quiet night’s curtain was spread above his head, with the moon and stars quietly illuminating the sleeping world. Torches placed at intervals also brightened his view.
Having achieved his initial purpose of “checking the camp” by simply looking around from where he stood, Johannes turned his head toward the direction that had been nagging at him.
One step, two steps.
Arriving at the entrance of Eunice’s tent, he quietly held his breath. Unable to go in, he stood foolishly for a while before gathering his courage and pressing his ear against the tent.
Perhaps he wanted to hear the sound of her breathing. But there wasn’t even the sound of tossing and turning.
‘Is she in deep sleep?’
Johannes concentrated harder, listening intently.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah! You startled me!”
Clutching his wildly beating heart, Johannes whirled around like a child caught stealing. Rowell was looking him up and down as if he were some kind of pervert.
Concerned that Eunice might have awakened, Johannes checked for any signs from inside the tent before turning back to Rowell and hastily making excuses.
“This, this is… I was just checking if Eunice was sleeping well…”
“Why not pat her to sleep like when she was little?”
“…”
“Your face says you regret not doing just that.”
“Shut up.”
Johannes made a savage threat. Even then, he remembered to lower his voice so as not to wake Eunice.
* * *
It was a clear day without a single cloud.
Having slept fitfully due to the uncomfortable bedding, Eunice greeted the morning with tired eyes. From early dawn, the entire camp was covered with busy energy.
She could feel the knights moving busily outside through the air. This made Eunice feel increasingly anxious.
“This is a problem.”
It was fortunate she had brought a hand mirror.
It hadn’t been an issue until yesterday. The maids who had come with her from the Pavlone duchy had helped with her grooming.
But on the first morning after joining the Nordish escort, there was no maid to help with makeup, hair styling, or putting on her dress.
Of course, she could do her grooming alone. She had done it by herself many times, and it wasn’t that difficult. If only the basics were available.
Various types of cosmetics, a spacious and comfortable vanity, two or three full-length mirrors to check her back where her eyes couldn’t reach, lukewarm water suitable for washing her face…
All were absent.
“Since it’s awkward to remove makeup, I should keep it light.”
She was the only woman among men. Without a maid, she felt foolish for not being able to make even a simple request like asking for water to remove her makeup.
But nothing looked more pathetic than a woman putting excessive effort into her appearance in the middle of a wasteland. Yet she couldn’t show a disheveled appearance to the man whose favor she needed to curry.
Above all, Johannes would likely look as sculpted and perfect today as well. She wanted to maintain at least a prettier state than her husband-to-be.
Eunice groomed her hair and adjusted her clothes while checking herself in the small hand mirror from various angles. She kept her makeup very light, almost non-existent, considering later, and wore her dress simply without a corset.
It was far below her usual standards…
“Can’t be helped.”
‘Makeup… should I do a bit more?’
After a moment’s hesitation, Eunice patted some powder on her face.
* * *
Does she not eat breakfast normally?
Johannes, who had started activities as soon as dawn broke, watched the knights moving in perfect coordination before turning his gaze toward Eunice’s tent.
Usually, everyone took care of their own breakfast with jerky, dried fruit, or bread. He had instructed a knight to provide food for Eunice, but the knight reported not even seeing her face. Only her voice had come out, saying she was fine.
Well, even as a child, she had been a picky eater.
「Johan, peel this for me.」
「How annoying. Give it here.」
She would bring a round tangerine that her small hands couldn’t fully hold. The tangy fruit scent that tickled his nose under the ash tree on a bright day was still vivid.
Though annoyed, he peeled it all and gave it to her, and young Eunice would cut it in half and hand it back to him. Young Johannes would put it all in his mouth at once with an indifferent expression.
Unlike him, she would tear off one piece at a time and eat each in several bites.
「When I grow up, I’m going to marry Johan.」
「…?!」
「Because you peel tangerines for me, I like you so much.」
「Cough, cough… You little thing. You’ll forget all about this later.」
He almost spat out the juice. As he looked at her with disbelief while clearing his throat, young Eunice smiled brightly.
And yet, he never expected her to forget so completely. It hurt his heart anew that he had been perfectly forgotten.
Well.
Perhaps the poorhouse had just been a place she visited a few times out of boredom. She was, after all, a lady from a high-ranking ducal family.
Besides, what could he expect from a six-year-old?
Johannes soothed his bitter emotions while squinting one eye. The fact that Rowell was approaching also contributed to his desire not to provide material for teasing.
“Your Majesty, you know.”
That voice… without a drop of respect or awe mixed in.
When he raised an eyebrow to ask why Rowell had called him, Rowell looked around before speaking.
“Should we actually conduct an investigation?”
“The grass?”
“Yeah.”
Johannes had been thinking about it too. While the land’s recovery was a good phenomenon, it bothered him not knowing the cause.
After a moment’s consideration, Johannes nodded.
“As we go north, the prairie will disappear, so gather the mages and have them act separately.”
Originally, he had brought mages to protect Eunice with a solid escort on the way to Nordish. But now they would actually implement the official pretext of “investigating the Land of Death.”
Well, with Johannes present, the escort would be the strongest even without mages.
As he heard Rowell’s acknowledgment, Johannes shifted his gaze. He saw Eunice’s tent rippling. Soon the canvas at the entrance was pushed aside, and Eunice appeared.
Their eyes met.
“Eun…”
…ice, good morning. Johannes’s expression instantly crumpled as he tried to speak.
This woman, really…
They had clearly just made eye contact, he had seen her distinctly. Why did she pretend not to see him and turn her head away, disappearing as if escaping?
Johannes’s eyes narrowed with tension.
“Maybe I’m imagining it, but it seems like she’s avoiding me.”
“It looks that way to me too. Did you make a mistake yesterday?”
Standing beside him, Rowell rolled his eyes to look at Johannes.
Mistake?
They had only exchanged ordinary conversation before parting, hardly leaving room for mistakes. The atmosphere had been good right up until they said goodbye…
“Maybe she noticed you lurking outside her tent like a pervert in the middle of the night?”
“…”
Surely not…
Johannes was quite skilled at suppressing his presence. If he had been caught, it was entirely Rowell’s fault.
Ah, really.
Johannes irritably swept back his hair and glared at Rowell.
“What. Why.”
Rowell was annoyingly confident. He truly invited punches as easily as breathing. Suppressing the urge to hit him squarely, Johannes repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist, blue veins protruding.
‘Be patient, be patient. Be patient because Eunice is scared.’
Johannes strengthened his patience while being mindful of her, though she had already disappeared from sight.
