Chapter 24

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“Shut up, Carlz.”

Her mouth fell open when she heard his growling voice.

Her husband was the best gentleman in the Empire, and was always cultured, perfect, and alluring.

‘No matter how tired he is, how could swear like this?’

He noticed her surprised expression.

“Carlz is a real problem. He always teaches you vulgar words and expressions.”

“No…!”

Amarion frowned and looked at Sir Carlz.

She couldn’t say anything truly positive about Carlz’s mannerisms, so it would be better if Carlz refrained from talking to his master like this.

Carlz, who was about to say something, downed his alcohol like water with a pouty expression.

“I wonder if this is how the Empress feels when she sees the Emperor playing with a concubine.”

“Why are you the Empress?”

“Is that important?!”

Leonard patted Carlz on the back, as if comforting him.

She didn’t know what to say, and instead ran her fingers over Victor’s eyes, closing them. Diederick quietly draped a blanket over the two of them.

She thanked him with a smile and watched the crackling campfire.

***

She seemed to have fallen asleep.

“Be careful, this way…!”

She woke up to the sound of swords clashing.

The fire had almost gone out, leaving behind only embers, but her sharp senses allowed her to get a feel for the situation.

A huge monster had attacked the campsite.

The monster was a nightmare orc. It lived deep in the mountains and was usually active at night, and was feared for its ability to quietly kidnap its victims.

‘Why is an orc on a plain like this?’

She panicked and looked around. Several knights had managed to hinder its movement by wrapping chains around its ankles, but the gigantic monster, twice the height of the average man, was thrashing about wildly.

She bit her lip and tried to stand up, but she felt a weight on her thighs.

Victor was asleep, his head on her lap.

“Madame.”

Leonard noticed her getting up and rushed over.

“Stay there. I didn’t wake you up on purpose.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“One orc is easy enough to catch. His highness has been sleeping for a long time, so please rest with him.”

She nodded anxiously and put down her sword.

The Morte knights were not weak enough to be defeated easily, but she still felt sad watching them. Amari’s advanced knights hunted monsters easily. But even senior knights couldn’t handle an orc well.

Two knights quickly approached the back of the monster. Perhaps they were trying to cut the joint behind the knee.

‘But it’s dangerous to make that kind of move…!’

Then, suddenly, Victor opened his eyes.

She looked down at him in surprise.

“Victor? You’re awake…”

He did not respond to her, and stood up, drawing his sword from his waist. Then he strode towards the monster.

Seeing their master approaching the orc’s range, the knights shouted.

“Your highness! It’s dangerous!”

“…!”

The next moment caused her to open her mouth in awe.

“No way…”

In a single sword slash, the orc fell, it’s stomach brutally torn open.

‘I have to strike twice to bring an orc down, and he did it in a single strike?’

Orcs had leather-like skin, which was the reason why her sword couldn’t penetrate it at once.

But Victor’s strength made it possible.

Praise for Victor could be heard all around. His knights jumped up and ran to him.

“Awesome, master! The only person who could do such a thing is the Duke…”

Gradually their footsteps slowed down.

Their bodies were signaling danger.

She felt it too. Goosebumps formed up on her arms, and she unconsciously straightened her spine.

Slowly, Victor’s gaze moved to his knights.

She shouted.

“Get away!”

Bang!

A tent collapsed with a terrible sound. It had been struck by Victor.

She clenched her teeth and unsheathed her sword.

The current Victor was in a state of nightmarish sleepwalking. But, for some reason, he was stronger than he had been any night previous.

‘Why is he doing this? Was it because he was sleeping for a long time? Or was it because we are outside?’

She struggled to guide him into a field, away from their camp. The knights grabbed Diederick and ran away quickly. It was understandable why they were running away from their master without looking back, but it still felt a bit sad.

‘I should’ve just killed the orc… an orc is much easier than-’

Without giving her a moment to lament, Victor’s sword swung towards her forcefully. She turned her body, narrowly avoiding his eerie strike.

Their swords met with a sharp clang.

“You must sleep deeply tonight.”

She smiled bitterly as she struck his blade.

“Victor.”

‘He can’t hear me.’

It was more upsetting because she hadn’t seen him in this state for a long time.

His eyes were cloudy, and his hands were gripping his sword tightly. He was wandering through a nightmare.

‘How much pain will he be in when he wakes up tomorrow?’

She dodged his strike and swiftly moved behind his back. Right now, she just wanted to put him to sleep.

“Good night, my husband.”

With a brief hand gesture, his firm body collapsed.

***

Victor woke up late the next morning.

“You’re awake?”

After digging through the orc’s corpse for a while, she greeted Victor, who was approaching her.

He looked at her with a strange expression on his face.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking out the poison glands.”

Nightmare orcs had pockets of poison in their throats, which they used to paralyze their prey.

It was poisonous if drank or touched directly, but it was a precious ingredient that could be diluted to make various medicines.

So, in Amari, whenever they killed a nightmare orc, they would throw a party, saying it was a good omen.

They only got one plate of pickled meat each, but they called it a feast…

The knights who were standing guard watched in amazement as she skillfully cut the orc’s neck open and removed the sacks of poison.

Victor moved to her side.

“Need any help?”

“I’m okay. Please stay away. You might get blood on you.”

“It’s already all over the place.”

She raised her head and looked at Victor. He was smiling bitterly.

“I hurt you.”

“Ah.”

She received a scratch from him while trying to protect the knights.

It wasn’t too bad, and Diederick had already treated it and wrapped it with a bandage.

She hid her arms behind her back.

Victor’s expression contorted.

“I’m sorry…”

“I told you not to apologize for anything that wasn’t your fault.”

She spoke firmly as she stored the poison glands in a leather bag.

“You have a disease. It’s a disease we’re curing together, but it’s not easy. I do not resent the sick.”

Victor’s eyes darkened.

She still couldn’t read his thoughts.

What was certain was that he wasn’t smiling brightly like he normally did.

She tried to comfort him as best she could.

“Victor, you don’t know… at night you are too weak to hurt me.”

Victor’s golden eyes widened.

“If it wasn’t for the knights yesterday, it would have ended without a scratch. It takes less than a few minutes normally.”

“…”

“Do you ever get angry when your dog scratches you?”

Victor asked, one beat later.

“…You mean I’m a puppy?”

“Is that weird?”

“No… I’ve never heard such a metaphor.”

He looked a little stunned.

She burst out laughing.

“You called me a wildcat.”

“I did. You still look like a wildcat in my eyes.”

“Night Victor is like that to me, too.”

‘A knight by day, but as weak as a child by night.’

‘Victor is that kind of person to me.’

She was scared at first, but now that she knew everything, he was too weak to be a real threat.

It was sad to see the weakness of such a strong person. She saw his body and mind at its weakest every night.

She wiped her hands with a rag and walked over to him.

“So, just say thank you and smile.”

A smile slowly spread across Victor’s lips. It was bittersweet, but, as always, it was beautiful.

“That’s better.”

He hugged her tightly.

“How can there be someone as sweet and pure as you?”

She couldn’t speak for a moment, and just gently hugged him back. As they exchanged body heat, she felt unexpected comfort. She hoped he felt the same way.

Someone shouted.

“Stop it and come back! How could you behave like that?!”

She was startled and pushed Victor away.

Victor stared fiercely at the jeering knights and grabbed her hand.

She was led back to the camp, blushing.

***

Kofi shop is updated from chapter 25-29!