My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

“As Lady Salvia loves Lord Aquila, you must not rush in too aggressively. You should blend in naturally, just as you have been doing.”

“Hmm… I see….”
Karon nodded at Luca’s advice but suddenly felt a surge of anger rising within him.
As he tried to pinpoint the source of his frustration, he strode purposefully toward the hostage he had captured.

‘Why are there so many people who dare to be disrespectful to Lady Salvia?’
Salvia always worked hard, yet she constantly attracted people who looked down on her. Take those civilians they had just sent down the mountain, for example.
Of course, he had no intention of taking revenge on them—Salvia had explicitly told him not to.

‘But she didn’t say anything about the hostage.’
Bang!
The chair-bound hostage, still tied up, tipped over and crashed to the ground.

Karon stood over him, his towering frame casting an imposing shadow. The hostage shuddered violently in fear.
But Karon felt no sympathy. He simply stated in a flat voice:
“You shouldn’t have messed with Lady Salvia. It’s disrespectful.”

And then, he proceeded to execute everything he had learned from the Border Defense Army.
Screams filled the air.
“You mustn’t let Lady Salvia see this side of you,” Luca reminded him, ever the dutiful advisor at his side.

Even as Karon carried out his vengeance, only one thought remained in his mind:
‘No one will be allowed to be disrespectful to Lady Salvia. And I must make sure she can never abandon me.’
She was now someone he had to protect.

***
“Ah, f***.”
That was the first thing I said upon entering my barracks.
One glance at the mess inside, caused by my hurried departure, had me sighing in frustration.

More importantly….
“Ah, damn it! I didn’t even get to finish my letter!”
Seeing the crumpled stationery and the pen lying on the floor made my blood boil. Of all the times for things to blow up, it had to be before I could finish a single letter?

Yeah, that’s on me for trusting the military to be peaceful.
The reason romance had never infiltrated my life before now was simple.
It was because the Border Defense Army was not romantic.

I had no time to write some poetic, roundabout love letter filled with flowery words. What I needed now was something direct and to the point.
I grabbed a fresh sheet of paper, picked up my fallen pen, and got to work. The ink was running low, so I couldn’t write much. But I didn’t need to—this wasn’t the kind of letter that required long explanations.
The pen scratched rapidly against the paper.

“Done!”
I stared proudly at my finished work. Yes, this was perfect.
To Aquila,
I think I love you.
Let’s get married.
From Salvia.

‘I said everything I needed to!’
This should be more than enough to convey my sincerity!
Feeling satisfied, I started to think about my future.

Now that I had acknowledged my feelings for Aquila, I had to start picturing him in my life going forward. For example….
‘Would he join me in the revolution?’
Aquila would undoubtedly support me in that which must not be named. Yes, a larger revolution force would be beneficial.

Unfortunately, my brain—so accustomed to violence and fear—was not wired for imagining a romantic post-military life….
Yeah, I’ll think about the romance later.
***

To Lord Ishina,
Greetings, Lord Ishina!
Thanks to your advice, all my worries have been resolved!

Today, I wrote a proposal letter to Aquila!
Thank you! It’s all thanks to you!
Sincerely, Salvia.

“Hah…”
Ishina let out a long sigh as he read the letter he had received.
That was just like Salvia.

‘Is this… a good thing?’
He had always been irritated by Aquila’s advances toward Salvia, but that didn’t mean he was against their marriage. After all, who else could handle the two of them besides each other?
‘And yet, for some reason, this bothers me.’

Placing a hand over his chest, he tried to pinpoint why he felt as though a heavy stone had settled there.
It bothered him.
The feeling gnawed at him, and eventually, Ishina concluded that he needed to meet Salvia again.

Seeing her face might help him understand the reason for this unease.
And in order to see her…
“Commander.”

The officers were currently conducting evaluations of the different units. Ishina had no intention of missing this opportunity.
“The other day, you mentioned a way to assess a unit’s combat strength. What if we conduct a joint training exercise? Perhaps with a renowned unit like the Snowy Mountain Battalion…”
“Hmm. If multiple units leave their posts for training, there could be an incident.”

“That has never happened before. Besides, you know as well as I do that improving our ability to fight against humans is just as important as fighting monsters.”
Ishina smiled, his dark green eyes gleaming. It was a smile that made people instinctively trust his words.
“…You’re right. It’s unlikely anything will go wrong. That’s a solid proposal.”

With that, the commander accepted Ishina’s suggestion, granting him the chance to see Salvia again.
Unfortunately, they had both underestimated just how likely an incident was when multiple units left their posts at once.
***

“What? Now we’re doing a joint battalion training exercise? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
The news that Luna had brought me made me whip my head up in disbelief.
Aquila hadn’t even sent me a reply yet! Was my life cursed? How was it that one thing after another kept happening?

This latest ordeal was the so-called joint battalion training exercise—an event where various units were pitted against each other to assess their combat abilities. Typically, a single platoon from each battalion would be chosen to represent their unit.
And, of course, it was always our Alpha Platoon that got picked for these things!
“Ah, f***! I don’t know who came up with this bulls*** idea, but I swear I’m going to kill the bastard!”

“I completely agree, Lady Salvia. Whoever they are, they must be an absolute scumbag.”
We grumbled as much as we could, but there was no escaping this. We had to accept our fate.
Still, it wasn’t all bad.

Because I saw some very familiar faces among the other units.
‘Aquila, Karon, Ishina!’
As the battalions lined up, I spotted Aquila and Karon looking in my direction. I couldn’t talk to them yet, but maybe there would be an opportunity later.

And standing right next to me was Ishina—close enough to speak to.
“Lord Ishina! It’s been a while!”
“It has. I believe the last time we met was during training.”

Ishina greeted me with his usual warm expression, but then, still smiling, he asked:
“So… you proposed to Aquila.”
“Yes, though I haven’t received a reply yet.”

“No, that’s not right. Aquila proposed to you first, so your letter was merely a response.”
“Oh, is that how it works?”
As expected of the wise Ishina. That explanation made sense. Aquila’s reply was probably taking time because he was writing a detailed response about our upcoming marriage.

Just as I nodded in understanding, Ishina suddenly asked something odd.
“But Salvia, are you sure?”
“…Huh? About what?”

“Are you sure you really love Aquila?”
“….”
I blinked in surprise.

Wasn’t he the one who convinced me that I loved Aquila in the first place?
“If I imagine Aquila with another woman, I want to kill him. Isn’t that love?”
“Salvia, I just want you to make the right choice.”

Ishina’s voice was uncharacteristically serious.
“If you rush into marriage, you might regret it. Even though you and Aquila know each other well, what if your feelings fade? If that happens, you could… wait.”
“…What?”

“If you marry, there’s a chance it could end.”
I tilted my head in confusion, but Ishina muttered to himself.
“Yes. Romantic love is unstable… There’s no reason to be possessive of that position.”

“…Excuse me?”
“No, never mind.”
Suddenly, Ishina looked at me with an oddly bright expression.

“Now that I think about it, you and Aquila truly are meant for each other. You should get married.”
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
“No, I just got a little confused for a moment. But looking at your face, I’m certain now. If you love Aquila, then marry him.”

“…Ah, okay….”
I had no idea what he meant by that, but the training exercise started right after, so I didn’t get the chance to ask Ishina for clarification.