Chapter 4: Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

He seemed to think it would be better than renting the entire third floor. If not, there was a reason to hide.

A woman wearing a hood was rare in this Etort port — It was a port where wizards did not wander, so if a person wearing a robe passed by, eyes were bound to be drawn to them. There was something else suspicious.

Magic done by the woman… Most wizards can’t come to Etort Port.

‘Is there any reason to come here even at the cost of a loss of magical power…?’

Since the room was not rented in the name of a woman, it was clear that they would not be able to find her whereabouts if someone came looking for her. Berthas knew this, too, so he had recommended the annex to her.

‘I didn’t know she would say yes that way.’

She was a woman who was less alert than he expected. If not, she was confident in her skills.

‘She seems closer to the latter.’

Watching her pull out the jewels, Berthas smiled with a heartfelt expression.

“It is natural for a knight to give help to a lady in danger. Let’s assume that I paid for my rudeness at the port earlier.”

She could see the woman’s eyes staring at his face when he said that. He felt himself falling into her light blue eyes without realizing it.

‘Light blue…’

It didn’t fit her.

‘I think a slightly darker navy blue would suit her…’

However, soon, he erased the thought. Dark blue was the color of the Royal Family in the Larchen Empire. Moreover, if she had red hair that could be seen through her robes and dark blue eyes, she would have been the Empress of the Larchen Empire.

Why would the Empress be here now…? It was clear that the Larchen Empire would be busy because they would come as an envoy.

Nevertheless, he felt queasy. It was as if he had seen a person with dark blue eyes on that face. He found a continued familiarity.

‘If I keep watching, I’ll find out.’

There was plenty of time anyway.

Since that woman was also avoiding danger, so she won’t be leaving anytime soon. He was willing to keep her safe and find out. He had only been rolling on the battlefield, so Berthas wondered where he had seen that woman.

“Shall we go then, Lady?”

Isilis glanced down at the outstretched hand.

She would welcome the escort, though could she hold his hand…?

She had a thought. It was rather to her advantage that the man misunderstood her situation, so she left it alone. To be honest, even if her aides came here to find her, she wouldn’t be noticed if she was in the annex the man had given her.

This month was so important for her, who came with the thought of having a child.

‘I’ll do it as planned.’

Isilis had ulterior motives for accepting the man’s offer. She was quite fond of him, and she had lingering feelings, so she was planning to seduce the man who had appeared again just in time and get him to bed.

‘If I get close, you will budge. Men are such people.’

She had seen so many men like that, so she thought he might be the same.

Already, his warmth in her hand was warm enough, and his smile as he escorted her was refreshing, so Isilis thought that her plan would soon ring the bell of success.

“The innermost single building is empty. Next to it is my dorm.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.”

“If anything happens, come to my room.”

The atmosphere sunk down at the man’s words.

“Please, don’t get me wrong. You’re the only woman, so I was talking about what might happen.”

“It’s not me that’s going to happen, it’s you men.”

The man grinned at her words.

“That’s true.”

She smiled faintly as the man who had grasped her idea in a brief time. The man who gazed directly at her face lost his words for a moment.

“Why?”

Isilis asked if her smile was strange.

It was amusing to see the man bewildered by his own words. His face, that was red up to his earlobe, was quite cute.

“No. Smiling like that…”

“Smiling?”

There was an answer, but she wanted to keep asking. It was quite pleasant to see the strong-looking man bewildered in front of her.

“…It’s pretty.”

It was the woman who laughed even louder at the man talking to her, clutching her own face to hide her red cheeks. She could feel the man staring at her with amazement at her laugh, but she couldn’t stop laughing.

“What can I give you?”

Isilis entered the tavern. Even though it was late at night because it was boring to stay in the room, she came out. She was a bit frustrated.

“A glass of Isilis.”

Absurdly, there was a drink bearing her own name in the tavern. She heard rumors that there was a maker who made a drink under her own name, although she couldn’t believe she would be meeting it here.

“Miss, that drink is strong.”

The bartender who was cleaning her cup told her, but she didn’t care. Even if it was strong, it was enough to blow away alcohol with magic.

“A glass.”

The bartender poured the drink as if there was no choice but to give her the drink. It was an ultramarine drink.

“The color…”

“It is the color that symbolizes the Empress.”

At the man’s blunt but kind explanation, Isilis nodded her head. It was the color of her own eyes. The bartender continued his speech as she watched her nodding her head.

“I am a veteran, and Her Majesty saved me. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone so beautiful. A beautiful person who stands on the battlefield. I still can’t forget it. She said, “I’ll make sure you don’t die, so hold on”.”

“That old man is saying that again!”

While chatters could be heard next to her, Isilis recalled her memories.

As the man’s face came into her eyes, the memories of her earlier days became clear. It was a war with the barbarians. It was that day when she could not just wait to see her own people die, so she flew directly to the front line and fired a large-scale magic. The day she did say that to that man.

“So, I made up my mind. When this war is over, I will make a drink named after her and offer it to her! This is the drink that was made for her.”

“You named it after Her Majesty?”

“After all, no one knows her true name. So, I’m just calling out her revealed name.”

A wizard’s true name was bound by the caller; hence the true name of the wizard was to be completely hidden. It was common sense in the wizarding empire of Larchen.

Isilis was a wizard and Empress of this empire. Her true name was known only to her mother, the predecessor Empress and no one else. Even for her, in order for her to know her true name, she had to go to a secret room hidden deep in the temple. Her true name was hidden in a room that only her immediate family could enter.

“It’s pretty.”

“It’s stronger than you thought. This is a drink I made for Her Majesty!”

“Then, if you told her…”

“I tried! Though in the middle, they said no, so I gave up.”

“They said no…?”

“The lord who rules this port told me not to do it. That it wouldn’t be of much benefit?”

It wouldn’t be of much benefit…? What made them judge such a thing? Thinking that, Isilis bottomed up the drink in a flash. It was strong.

“Miss, if you drink it like that…”

“Are you alone, Miss?”

Behind the worried bartender’s words came a hoarse voice. A group of people with cuts on their faces glanced at her and spoke to her. Suddenly, one of the gang members pulled on her hood, revealing her face. For a moment, there was silence in the bar.

Red hair with blue eyes…

The gaze pressed down on the other person with cool, outstretched eyes. Everyone couldn’t turn their eyes away from that arrogant face.

“That’s rude.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on her quiet voice. The bullies, who were overwhelmed by her atmosphere, began to tease her.

“We know people here, so how about a drink with us?”

She did not even give them a proper glance at their words and laughed.

Angered by the brief laugh, the group raised their hands to her. As she was about to unleash her magic, there was a person standing in front of her.

“I was wondering where you were… Here you are.”

It was the man.

‘It’s not good to see each other too often…’

“But, there were bugs.”

The bullies were startled by the sound of the murderous voice.

“How did you get here?”

“The room is boring.”

Isilis answered the man’s words. Seeing the man staring at her, the bullies seemed to have lost their prey to a stronger man, so they dared not grab the man’s collar and swear out of anger.

That was the moment, the man’s sword moved with lightning speed.

Without realizing it, their arms were cut off. Eventually, the screams continued, and the thugs rushed out to save their life, though the man did not take his eyes off her and calmly opened his mouth as if nothing had happened.

“A glass of the same thing.”

The bartender poured his drink with shaking hands. It had been a long time since he had seen such an overwhelming force.

He spilled the liquor and said,

“An immediate punishment… Would the security guard here come?”

“The charge of contempt of the nobility is immediate punishment. It is a serious crime to play carelessly in a port city.”

Nodding his head at the man’s words, Isilis ordered the drink again. The man uttered while glancing at the liquor in her glass.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen ultramarine blue liquor.”

“It is the color that symbolizes the Empress.”

The bartender answered the same things he had told her. Isilis smiled softly at his explanation. How could she not be happy when there were people of her own Empire who were saved by her and were praising her for it?

“…Pretty.”

“What…?”

“It’s pretty.”

The man spoke to her while carefully putting on the hood that had fallen off.

“You are not an ordinary woman.”

“You are not an ordinary man either.”

Accepting the man’s words, Isilis spoke in a low voice. She didn’t hate the man sitting next to her.

“Did you go to war?”

The man looked startled at her words.

“How did you know?”

The man’s atmosphere, which had changed, abruptly filled the bar with tension. The eyes around her stung, still, she continued her words casually.

“The smell of blood flows from you.”

“This is true. I erased it, but it is not easy.”

“I am a person like you.”

The man’s eyebrows rose at her words, which subtly hinted that she had also participated in the battlefield.

“You, too?”

“What do you mean, you too? That’s funny. A mercenary doesn’t need to say that.”

There was a lot of tension between the two, exchanging glances. Attention was drawn to the man’s actions, but her words drew attention again.

“Were you a mercenary?”

Ignoring the bartender’s word who interrupted from the side, the man opened his mouth.

“I was.”

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