Chapter 13

“Um.”

Benedict, who had been focusing only on Rudy, caught her voice even in the chaotic situation.

She carefully looked up at him.

Benedict almost habitually narrowed his brows but, recognizing it could cause misunderstanding, put strength in his eyes instead.

Rudbeckia, holding him in her gaze, asked.

“What should I call you?”

“Benedict.”

He stated his name without hesitation. He meant for her to call him by name, just like calling other knights.

While it might have seemed like a consideration possible during travel, for Benedict, it was surprising. He had never allowed a woman to use his name before.

“Should I add ‘Sir’?”

“Just call me whatever is comfortable.”

“Yes, I will.”

Rudbeckia accepted his answer after a beat. Perhaps she had unconsciously expected him to say that.

“I won’t call your name too often.”

“That’s also up to you.”

Finally calmed, Rudy slowly took in the street they were walking on.

Though this made their already slow pace even slower, Benedict silently matched her steps.

Her gaze, which had been turning this way and that, glanced at him sideways.

“You’re keeping your promise.”

She could sense her energy near his heart. For some reason, he nodded with a slightly embarrassed feeling.

“I’ll return it after a month.”

“I won’t insist on getting it back. Because if you make me promise here, I’ll probably try to return it stubbornly no matter what happens.”

Stubborn.

Having no other way to express it, Rudbeckia dared to use that word again as she had once before.

However, Benedict didn’t react to the word ‘stubborn.’ He was surprised by her natural assumption and the nuance that suggested she knew him well.

“Both then and now, you seem to think I’ll encounter situations dangerous enough to use this medicine.”

Benedict asked while setting aside various questions, and Rudbeckia didn’t deny it.

“I apologize.”

This made Benedict realize his reality once again.

A being constantly faced with death threats from his own blood.

He could endanger those by his side, and those who wished to stand beside him had to risk their lives.

“Look, Rin is waiting over there.”

She quietly spoke to Benedict, who had suddenly stopped still. The three who had gone ahead were waiting at the end of the alley.

He spotted them too. Benedict answered by moving his heavy steps.

Rudbeckia and Benedict rejoined the group. Aaron didn’t ask what they had talked about and stood beside Rudbeckia.

Aaron and Benedict’s gazes met briefly before breaking away.

 * * *

 “Can’t sleep?”

Irene, lying on the right of the two beds, turned toward the opposite bed.

Almost an hour had passed after lights out, but neither had fallen asleep.

“Did I wake you?”

Rudbeckia, who had been sitting on the bed, asked in surprise, and Irene shook her head as she sat up with her friend.

“No, it’s not that.”

Sitting face to face with their unpacked luggage between them, they both looked out the window as if by agreement.

Irene was the one who started the conversation again.

“I thought you’d be afraid of getting involved with Benedict.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I thought you decided to come along only because of what happened to Aaron’s arm then……”

Irene often called Aaron casually when with Rudbeckia. Something Aaron would never imagine possible.

“That’s true too, Rin. When I found out you had also come back in time, I was really impressed by how you cared for His Majesty despite knowing the dangers ahead. Made me reflect a lot.”

“It’s not just because of Benedict. My brother always comes back alive anyway.”

“Then why?”

“It bothers me that they don’t know those pirates are actually monsters……”

Irene’s voice sank, and Rudbeckia quietly exhaled.

Four years ago, they had thought pirates were just appearing in the Barad coastal region where the knights were dispatched.

That’s how the initial report had come in.

But when Irene revealed she had also come back in time, she told Rudbeckia a slightly different story from what she remembered.

“No one told me.”

“They couldn’t help it. I only found out while researching healing medicine after you were paralyzed.”

At that time, southern Barad was suffering not from pirates but from monsters that had appeared.

Count Renner, worried about his territory’s image, first tried to subjugate them with Barad’s knights and mercenaries but failed, and only then requested help from the imperial family.

Only the Emperor and his close associates knew they were monsters, not pirates.

It was the dispatched knights who stopped the monsters from rapidly spreading from the south to the capital.

Benedict, who had nearly died from poison, overcame the crisis, dealt with the monsters spread in the south, and then led 600 soldiers in a coup.

One could easily imagine how arduous that process must have been.

“That was the biggest reason I couldn’t stop you when you, who had nearly died, said you would come along. Because we inevitably need your power, Rudy.”

“But why didn’t the rumors reach the capital?”

“The southern people’s main income is from trade and tourism. They kept quiet about it after the situation was resolved, though some information probably leaked out. Even if people knew, who would tell you and me about that?”

The southern alliance was stronger than expected.

Until hearing Irene’s words, she had thought they simply couldn’t set foot in Barad land, and monsters were an unexpected incident.

“But Rudy, what’s with ‘Your Majesty’? If that slips out by mistake, there’s no way to fix it.”

As the atmosphere continued to sink, Irene deliberately changed the subject.

Before Irene, Rudy hadn’t even realized she had called Benedict that.

“I’m still too used to ‘Your Majesty’. Benedict, Benedict, Benedict.”

As Rudbeckia practiced saying Benedict’s name, Irene smiled slightly.

“Rudy.”

“Yes?”

“Are you really not interested in Benedict?”

Irene tilted her head playfully, and Rudbeckia wrinkled her nose bridge in difficulty. Her thoughts hadn’t changed no matter how many times she was asked.

“I won’t marry this time.”

“You got rejected, Benedict.”

Irene shook her head as if sympathetic, though her expression showed no sympathy at all, and Rudbeckia quickly said as if making an excuse.

“There are many other good ladies anyway.”

“Elena? The one he said looked like Idris, not knowing she was the Marquis’s adopted daughter?”

“Maybe he did that on purpose?”

“Rudy, that was genuinely an uninterested face. You know that, right?”

Not all couples marry for love. Even without interest, people can live together well enough if their interests align.

Like her past self.

So the current Benedict could certainly do the same.

“Come on, Irene.”

Uncomfortable with the talk about Elena and Benedict, Rudbeckia quickly lay down with her pillow.

Irene also lay back on her pillow and whispered.

“Good night.”

“You too.”

They fell asleep in the early hours like that.

 * * *

 After their light sleep, they woke up early, washed up cleanly, finished packing their bags, and sat in the first-floor restaurant to eat breakfast before departure time.

Hot potato soup was prepared for breakfast. Despite it being summer, Rudbeckia and Irene, wearing robes, sat facing each other with their hoods up and began eating.

“Where are you from?”

They hadn’t taken more than a few spoonfuls when someone spoke from the next table.

In that brief moment as they passed by, the guests who had seen their faces were taking seats at the table next to them.

“Can’t you hear? I asked where you’re from.”

“They must not want to answer because you asked.”

“Acting really expensive.”

“They look like they have expensive faces. Hey, ladies.”

Rudbeckia and Irene continued eating without moving a muscle. This was something they often experienced when walking with hidden identities even in the capital, so they weren’t particularly bothered. It was also almost time for Hugo and Derek to return from the stables.

“Looking at how they’re completely ignoring us, they must be nobles or something.”

“What nobles? What noble lady would eat potato soup here?”

“Well, since they seem deaf, I’ll go over there……”

At that moment, as the man who had stood up was cut off mid-sentence, someone sat down next to them.

Rudbeckia and Irene, who had been looking only at their soup bowls, raised their heads to check who had sat beside them.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Ah, yes, Sir Walter.”

Rudbeckia smiled as she met his eyes.

Irene also greeted Jeremy, who sat beside her, with a pleasant voice, grateful for his presence.

“Good morning, Sir Jeremy.”

“Yes. Good morning to you too, Miss Rin.”

Though their forms of address were still unfamiliar, it wasn’t as awkward as they had expected. The noisy men had already fled after hearing their conversation.

“Please eat comfortably.”

“Yes, you too, Sir Walter.”

Just as Rudbeckia and Walter were about to continue their meal shyly, it happened.

“Sir Walter.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Benedict, wearing riding clothes, commanded Walter who was sitting next to Rudbeckia.

“Go outside and prepare the horses first.”

“Yes, Commander!”

Irene’s snicker mixed with Walter’s response. Walter immediately stood up and left upon receiving the order, and Benedict casually sat at the table next to them.

Jeremy had already emptied his bowl, drinking the potato soup as if it were a beverage.

“Commander, I’ll head out as well.”

Benedict nodded.

After Jeremy swiftly left, only Irene, who didn’t need to greet Benedict, and Rudbeckia, who had missed her chance to greet him, remained in the dining room.

Unable to properly greet Benedict due to the hectic situation, she picked up her spoon with great discomfort.

Though Irene kept signaling to the increasingly fidgety Rudbeckia that it was fine, Rudy shook her head and moved her lips nervously.

As departure preparations were completed at the inn’s entrance, Benedict rose from his chair.