Even if it was called luggage, there was nothing to unpack. Lebel was one of those with the least amount of luggage in the mercenary group. It was a small privilege enjoyed by someone who could leave at any time.

He came out of his quarters and slowly looked around the encampment. It was quite far from the center of the imperial palace, and the buildings looked old, but he didn’t care at all.

‘The place where you are. And the place I must come to.’

It felt as if breathing in the air here would allow part of her breath to seep into his body. Finally, he could meet her. How long had he endured and persevered to live for this moment?

“Captain. I heard you’re going to meet the Emperor here? Then there will probably be other high-ranking people like the Empress, so why don’t you dust yourself off and tidy up before going? I’m worried you might be criticized for looking out of place.”

“Come to think of it, I heard the Emperor here is quite the character.”

“Eddie, remember this. No matter how handsome a man shows up, our Captain is the best. Look at that fine face and chest that’s never outdone anywhere. Even as a man, I can’t help but admire it.”

If Lebel had heard this, he would have kicked Lailo in the shin for talking such nonsense. Lailo tensed up for a moment, watching carefully, but their captain had long since disappeared to wash up.

**

Ilarid was dressed in neat, unadorned clothes. As always, a thin scarf was tied around her neck. Cledius was standing a little distance away, but she didn’t even glance at him.

The vast banquet hall was empty. A modest welcoming ceremony with only two people to greet them. The silence was as deep as the empty space.

Rather, the quietness made Ilarid feel comfortable. Could she even casually converse with him as if nothing had happened?

“Your Majesty!”

The banquet hall doors opened and Selina came running in. It would sound like ice cubes clinking in a crystal glass. Selina’s figure running across the carpet still looked dazzling and radiant.

“You’re becoming more radiant by the day.”

“You flatter me, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Why don’t you rest a bit until the enthronement ceremony? You must be quite tired.”

“I thought it would be better to pay attention to even small imperial events, as I’ll soon be taking the position of Empress. Wouldn’t it reflect poorly on the Empress if I appear ignorant of everything?”

Selina smiled brightly towards Ilarid.

“It’s not to the extent that I would suffer because Miss Selina doesn’t know something. So for now, you should only focus on supporting His Imperial Majesty well.”

Ilarid also responded with a smile, but her words had a sharp edge to them.

It meant that Selina didn’t need to know or intervene, but just stay quietly by the Emperor’s side.

Although it was what Selina wanted most, the more she mulled it over, the more displeased she became.

“… Does Your Majesty the Empress think I’m inadequate in serving His Imperial Majesty? That’s too much. I’m trying my best in my own way…”

She lowered her head with an expression that looked like she might cry at any moment. Cledius, who had been watching Ilarid’s indifferent face, pulled Selina’s waist towards him.

“Empress. There’s no need to make this child cry over this.”

Whether she cried or not. Ilarid silently gazed at the door, waiting for the guest to arrive. If she added any more words, she would get entangled in their behavior. Ignoring them was her best defense.

Finally, the door opened. Heavy footsteps echoed through the empty banquet hall.

He was a man all in black. A man of such low saturation that he seemed ready to burrow into the darkness and become one with the shadows at any moment.

The appearance of the man slowly entering was imposing, and he seemed ready to cut off someone’s breath at any moment.

Cledius instinctively checked if he was armed. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to possess any weapons, as all weapons had to be left at the entrance of the banquet hall before meeting the Emperor.

But the man had an atmosphere that suggested he would attack the person in front of him with his teeth if the time came. He seemed like he would desperately dig his nails into the enemy’s skin even at the moment a knife pierced his vital point.

Raw wilderness surrounded the man. Although this was only the second time seeing him, Cledius still wasn’t used to it.

‘I expected he wasn’t ordinary, but…’

Is this how it feels to face a difficult-to-handle wild animal? A fierce beast that would bite its owner’s nape the moment one mistakenly thinks it’s perfectly tamed after whipping and putting a leash on it.

However, he was a mercenary. When the contract period ends, they can just send him back. Cledius decided to maintain this uncomfortable cohabitation for just a very short while.

Selina, seemingly frightened by the man’s dark atmosphere, shrank her body and grabbed Cledius’s sleeve. Her fingertips, gripping tightly, were trembling slightly.

She had heard plenty about the people said to be living in the north. Barbarians who cut and eat raw meat and raw fish as is. There were said to be so many former slaves in the mercenary group, could this man be one too?

She carefully observed the man in black clothing, not hiding the curiosity blooming beyond her fear.

Those distracted by the entering man didn’t notice the subtle change in the Empress.

He was walking straight towards the Empress, staring at her. It wasn’t a vague gaze, but an intense eye contact. A faint blue light approached more and more clearly. The unexhaled breath that hadn’t been released in time stayed inside Ilarid.

Everything around seemed to stop, and only the dark and quiet man walking towards her could be felt.

He was certainly the one she had seen at the Clover Pub, so he shouldn’t be unfamiliar. But it was strange. Had they met before that? Ilarid pulled out and retraced past times one by one. But the memories were blocked somewhere and showed no signs of coming out.

Before she knew it, the man had approached the three people in the banquet hall. The man willingly knelt before the noble ones in front of him and opened his mouth.

“I am Lebel, the captain of the Rikas Mercenary Group.”

After finishing his words, Lebel raised his head, his eyes directed at only one person.

Ilarid felt goosebumps rising from her legs. It felt like being swept with a blade made of ice. Lebel’s gaze was cold yet hot, seeming to contain some indescribable emotion.

Pushed to the edge of his gaze, she felt a trembling from the inside of her body. The clear resonance that occurs when lightly striking a glass filled with water, once used by a court musician. That sound filled her blood vessels one by one.

Ilarid quietly closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. When she opened her eyes again, Lebel had risen as if nothing had happened.

“We express our gratitude for your cooperation. You must have had a hard journey, so rest for today and we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

Cledius spoke in a gentle voice, as if bestowing a favor.

Selina looked Lebel up and down with fear in her eyes. It was rude behavior, but she found it hard to contain her curiosity.

It was also her first time facing a man from the North. The power that Lebel, this man, was exuding was different in texture from the man beside Selina.

If Cledius possessed a charm that shone nobly and beautifully, Lebel was the opposite.

Cold and heavily sunken, but like a snow-covered mountain that never crumbles. Like a blue star of a winter night shining buried in darkness.

As if ignoring Selina’s curious gaze, Lebel glared at her with cold eyes. Startled by the murderous look, Selina trembled and burrowed into Cledius’s embrace.

‘Why is that person looking at me with such eyes?’

After shooting a glance at Selina, Lebel briefly paid his respects and left the banquet hall. His retreating figure was cold enough to raise a chill.

Cledius clicked his tongue watching Lebel’s back. Though his skills were unknown, his other attitudes were not at all to his liking.

“Annoying bastard…”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. Oh my, are you still scared?”

Cledius comforted Selina, who was still clinging to his waist, and looked at Ilarid standing nearby. Ilarid was coldly composed, a stark contrast to her agitated appearance just moments ago.

“Isn’t the Empress afraid?”

“He’s here to help Your Majesty. Why would I be afraid?”

“I hear… they tear and eat the flesh of their captives raw. They’re famous for wandering battlefields with blood-smeared mouths.”

Selina squeaked and burrowed deeper into the Emperor’s embrace. But Ilarid didn’t flinch. Where did he pick up such baseless rumors?

There were so many “they say” stories about mercenaries that they could be found rolling on the ground. Most were just baseless rumors spread to add flavor to the war stories of those returning from battlefields.

“…Would they be more cruel than the one before my eyes right now?”

The brutally butchered servants of the mansion and her brother who was cruelly tortured and executed still appeared in nightmares.

Despite committing such cruel acts, Cledius showed not even a hint of apology, let alone actually apologizing.

With those final words, she left the banquet hall. There were no more words she wanted to say, no more conversations to have.

It was Selina, not Cledius, who reacted to Ilarid’s words. She glared at the departing Ilarid with eyes full of anger, as if she had been severely insulted to her face.

“Your Majesty the Empress is really too much. How could you say such harsh words to His Majesty?”

“It’s a proper attitude for an Empress. So don’t push her too hard.”

Cledius quietly calmed Selina while stroking her pink hair. Selina reveled in the fullness of happiness, embraced in the Emperor’s arms.

But Cledius’s gaze followed Ilarid’s footsteps. He stared blankly at the closing doors of the banquet hall, unable to take his eyes off the Empress’s retreating figure.

All the way to the Empress’s palace, Ilarid was absorbed in recalling memories of the past.

But the once dense memories had already faded, their luster dimmed. Was it perhaps a brief encounter during happier times? Lynette, who had been watching her quietly lost in thought, spoke up.

“Your Majesty the Empress. What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“I feel like I’ve met him somewhere before.”

“Do you mean the mercenary captain? You probably feel familiar with him because you met him at the pub last time.”

“No… much earlier than that.”

Perhaps they had briefly crossed paths before she became the Crown Princess. But the other party already seemed to know Ilarid. Otherwise, that fiercely burning gaze couldn’t be explained.

It must have been because she was nervous meeting him properly for the first time. Ilarid once again calmed her trembling heart. They had succeeded in entering the imperial palace, now all that remained was to completely win them over.

Luck and the surrounding circumstances were helping Ilarid. She didn’t want to let go of this barely grasped opportunity.

Cledius’s vision became rather dull when inside the palace, and it was better to be inside rather than outside the palace to convey minor instructions.

Secretly leading affairs within the vast imperial palace had now become Ilarid’s best specialty. In order not to waste the time she had endured so far, Ilarid decided to make full use of that ability.