NOVEL NEXT Chapter 197
Chapter 197. Engagement – By the Stream
The stream flows.
The water trickles. Trickle trickle…
Lena Einarr was out by the stream near the allied camp. She blankly stared at the flowing water, occasionally throwing a stone, which would sink with a plop! The sunken stone never resurfaced.
A squire like her shouldn’t have been acting alone. As a soldier, she was supposed to be under strict control, but Lena’s situation was different from other squires.
She wasn’t assigned to guard generals or commanders. She had joined the battlefield as a member of the knighthood, but she wasn’t actually a knight.
A vague position.
In the loose control, Lena felt lost. She had returned to the camp with Leo, but there seemed to be nothing she could or should do.
– Plop!
After throwing the last stone, Lena squatted down. Seeing her reflection in the stream, she took out a hand mirror from her bosom.
She saw a haggard self. She seemed to have lost some weight, casting shadows on her cheeks and eyelids, which she didn’t like at all.
Feeling empty, Lena lowered the mirror. She held her head for a moment, then looked into the mirror again, asking herself a question.
– What do I have left?
Lena tightly closed her eyes. It felt like something was trying to burst out from inside. She swallowed, but the nausea pressing on her chest only worsened.
– Gulp.
She hurriedly cupped her hand to drink from the stream. One sip wasn’t enough, so she drank two, then five more in a row, kneeling before she knew it. She put away the mirror, but the face reflected in the stream persistently asked her to acknowledge it.
– What do you have left?
Her loose hair touched the water’s surface. Her submerged hands, and the water hastily drunk dripped from her chin. But that wasn’t all that fell.
“I, I…”
Lena stayed like that for a moment. No, she stayed quite a long time. Only after she let more water flow back into the stream than she had drunk did she manage to move, and her first action was to wash her face.
Scrubbing hard, she stood up with wet legs. Without a towel, she walked back just as she was.
“…Loyalty.”
Upon returning to the camp, the soldiers’ curious gazes followed her. Their eyes lingered on her face before quickly dropping away.
Lena wandered without going back directly. The sunset was red, and the groans of patients never ceased in the infirmary. Wiping off the water and lingering feelings from her face, she turned to walk.
Leo was still in front of the tent. How long had he been waiting? The grass around him was wilting.
“…Lena.”
“Yeah. I’m okay now.”
Lena smiled faintly. She had yelled, “I don’t want to do this!” and run away, so she forced a smile out of guilt.
– I believed in you.
She turned her head away from his warm gaze, unable to bear it. Leo’s relieved expression and the feeling of the sword hilt in her hand were hard to endure.
“Then… shall we try again? From when our swords meet…”
Lena let go of the hilt. The sword clattered to the ground, and she said to a dazed Leo.
“Let’s get married.”
Leo’s face twisted in agony. He looked up at the sky before approaching and grabbing my hand.
“Lena. Please…”
But Lena didn’t retract her words. Instead, she buried her forehead in Leo’s chest and hugged him.
What do I have left?
I have only Leo left.
I wanted to become a knight and marry this man. Years ago, I had strived to become equal to the man who had made me kneel, and the sword and Leo were all I had. No, if I had to choose between the two, I could choose Leo without hesitation.
However, the man was heartless.
Lena buried her forehead in Leo’s chest. She clutched the clothes of the youngest Swordmaster in history and sobbed. Even though it was something to be celebrated, she found herself pathetic for being unable to do so.
“Lena. You can do it. You can become a knight. I’ll help you. Okay?”
How kind of him.
Leo probably had no idea what she was thinking. He had no reason to know why she had been postponing the marriage, so Lena made an excuse.
“It’s okay. I never intended to become a knight. I only followed your swordsmanship for fun because you were doing it. Now… I’m done.”
Lies! Those are lies!
Leo knew exactly what Lena was thinking. He gritted his teeth and said,
“Don’t lie. I know that’s not true.”
But Lena’s expression as she looked up was dreadful. The tears flowing down her determined face were begging him to stop.
Where did it go wrong?
Was it a mistake to meet Katrina? — he wondered, but he knew that wasn’t the issue. It had gone wrong from the moment he won the duel with his father right after the scenario started, and he realized this was the inevitable result.
He shouldn’t have missed the fact that Lena’s attitude toward him had gradually changed as he grew stronger through repeated rounds.
No matter how confident Lena Einarr was, he should have been considerate of the limited resolve she could muster and the gap she could close.
Lena sniffled, wiping away her tears, and said somewhat anxiously,
“I’m going to quit being a squire. So… make sure to come back when the war is over. I’ll be waiting. Let’s get married then.”
Was she worried he wouldn’t come back? Or was she afraid that this great Swordmaster would forget about her?
Her eyes were pleading for an answer, and Leo could only nod. He thought, ‘You fool. It’s not something you can quit just because you want to.’ But he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Lena, reassured, hugged Leo’s waist. Hesitantly, she asked for a kiss, looking endlessly small as she sought confirmation.
“…Let’s go in.”
Lena led Leo into the tent.
She discarded the sword that had fallen in front of the tent and threw off her leather armor. She was no longer the confident swordsman.
Only the small hand mirror that fell from her top indicated her identity.
* * *
Lena and Leo retired.
Leo went to see Jensen Baileigh, the commander of the Third Knights, and announced his intention to retire. It was a ridiculous statement since he hadn’t been formally knighted, but it was also an outrageous demand.
“Retirement during a war! Don’t talk nonsense!”
Of course, Jensen was furious. But every time Leo pulled out the insignia of a knight of the Belita Kingdom from his bosom, Jensen’s voice grew quieter. By the time it piled up to form a 14-story tower, including Katrina’s, he was speechless.
The knight commander, who had been pacing for a long time, said,
“A prince is arriving with the next group. You can receive a great reward, so just wait a bit.”, “If you retire like this, you’ll never become a knight! Never!”
He tried to persuade Leo with both sweet words and threats. But despite all the coaxing and intimidation, Leo didn’t bat an eye, and Jensen finally spoke with a tired face.
“You are really different from your father. Or maybe I should say you’re similar, given that you’re retiring like this… Fine. Do as you wish. But as I said earlier, forget about joining the knighthood. The same goes for your squire… that fiancée of yours. I hope you live well.”
He wasn’t cursing out of anger, just stating facts. He said he would visit Leo’s parents someday and offered a handshake.
The next day, Lena and Leo left the camp. Jensen gave them some travel expenses as a reward, and since they still had their {initial funds}, they didn’t have to worry about travel costs.
However, Leo’s destination was not the Avril Castle. He told Lena they were going to the Holy Kingdom of Jerome.
“Why?”
Lena asked, but Leo gave a vague answer. He couldn’t say it was to prepare for the next round, so he used the trip as an excuse. Lena didn’t ‘refuse’ his words. “Alright,” she answered somewhat gloomily.
Her reaction broke his heart, but fortunately, Lena gradually regained her spirit. It was partly because of reasons he couldn’t speak of and partly because Lena started taking an interest in cooking.
Of course, her cooking skills were terrible. Even by the time they arrived in Rutetia, the capital of the Holy Kingdom, it hadn’t improved, and it didn’t seem like it would, but Leo ate it all up anyway.
When Leo showed the emblem of the retired knight and applied for a tour of the capital church, it was autumn, after a scorching summer.
They were exhausted from a nearly four-month journey, but Lena Einarr was in awe of the magnificent church.
“Oh my! There are so many priests. Leo, look over there. That person must be a Paladin. I wonder what kind of swordsmanship the Paladins use…”
Lena’s expression hardened.
She quickly diverted her attention elsewhere, and Leo pretended not to notice, guiding her around the capital church. Although he had only been there twice, he didn’t know the way well, but since they were wandering without a particular purpose, it didn’t matter.
That’s not to say there was no purpose at all. Following {tracking skills}, Leo found Leah sitting on the lawn in front of the library, reading a book.
“Do you know her?”
“…No.”
“Then why are you staring at her like that?”
Lena’s eyes narrowed.
The girl, dressed in white robes like a priest or something, was quite pretty, holding her book tightly as if to prevent it from blowing away in the gentle autumn breeze. Her calmness was something Lena Einarr could never emulate.
“I was just curious. Ah, that must be the library. Shall we go in?”
“Don’t change the subject. Do you like that type?”
“Hmm… Lena, should I honestly tell you what type I like?”
Nervous, Lena, realizing she asked a needless question, anxiously replied, “Go ahead.”
“I like people with droopy eyes. It’s nice if they’re a bit quirky so it’s not boring, and it would be great if they’re from the north. It’s okay if they can’t cook. I can do it. And…”
“Hey! You’re dissing me, aren’t you?”
“Huh? I didn’t say who… Ow, ow, ow!”
Lena pinched Leo’s side hard. The two left bickering, and Lea, who looked up, watched them for a moment,
“Sigh, so noisy.”
She grumbled. Since it was lunchtime, she gathered her thesis draft and books and went to find Veronian.
Well, nothing special happened.
* * *
A few months later, after thoroughly touring Rutetia and the capital church, Lena and Leo returned to Avril Castle.
Leo, unsure when Lev would arrive, kept postponing their return, but as winter approached, he felt they had waited long enough.
He hadn’t completely ruled out the possibility of Lev appearing with a surprise, but that wasn’t something that would happen in ‘this’ round. Leo suggested they finally go home, and Lena was delighted.
Thankfully, that was the right choice.
Around the time they almost arrived at Avril Castle, Lena was pregnant. She suffered from severe morning sickness, barely able to eat and constantly retching, so Leo quickly rented a carriage. He covered the insufficient funds by selling his sword.
By the time they reached home, Lena’s belly had grown noticeably.
Perhaps because of this, no one questioned how they had returned when the war was still ongoing. Only Leo’s father, Noel Dexter, knew the reason and kept quiet.
The wedding was hurriedly arranged. Despite the rush, they couldn’t break the customs of the Einarr tribe, so while preparations were underway, the names of Leo Dexter and Lena Einarr were hung on a long pole, fluttering for three days.
And on the day of the wedding.
Amidst the Einarr tribe people gathered like clouds, the priest solemnly declared,
“…We present the birth of a couple to God.”
Lena smiled brightly.
It was a smile as if she had nothing more to wish for. Leo Dexter, for some reason, felt a pang in his heart but returned the bright smile.
Were they happy afterward?
I don’t know.
[Lena got married! Congratulations!]
Hoping so, I waited for the ending… as Lena and the world faded into darkness.