The Mad Commander is Obsessive (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
“So? What did you say your name was?”
Aaron touched his lips, and the woman’s face twisted in frustration.
Her eyes, trembling in fear just moments ago, instantly blazed with anger.
I’d even thought her unfocused gaze was as beautiful as a sapphire…
But now, those eyes, glaring at him with hostility, were even more vivid and alluring.
The raw, living shifts of her emotion made Aaron smile even wider.
“I don’t have a name to give to the likes of you.”
Despite the woman’s sharp retort, Aaron’s expression remained relaxed.
He leaned in and settled himself onto the bed where she sat.
Startled by the imposing presence of his large frame drawing near, she flinched backward.
The same scent as her own clothes drifted from the man leaning close.
“Let me introduce myself first. My name is Aaron Stilietz Bergen. The sole Grand Duke of Stilietz and Supreme Commander of the Imperial Soldiers. Just call me Aaron.”
Meeting his curious gray eyes, the woman furrowed her brow slightly.
“I don’t think we’re close enough to be on a first-name basis.”
At her cold response, Aaron slowly inclined his body forward.
She leaned back to avoid him.
For every inch she retreated, Aaron closed the distance further.
Neither the gap narrowing nor widening—yet their breaths mingled so intimately it felt as though they were already touching.
“If you refuse to tell me your age, affiliation, or status, I suppose I can’t force you…”
The woman, trying to evade him, finally lost her balance and toppled backward.
Before the rough texture of the field bed could meet her back, a firm arm caught her, slowing her fall.
Gently cradling her, Aaron laid her down softly upon the bed.
“But you still need a name I can call you by.”
Aaron’s exquisite eyes sparkled captivatingly above her face.
Instinctively, she raised her bound hands to push against his chest.
The more she resisted, the more mischievous his expression became.
“Move aside.”
“I’ll move aside if you tell me your name.”
“I told you to move—stop playing games.”
Dizzy from his intoxicating scent, she blinked rapidly to steady her faltering mind.
Her long lashes fluttered, scattering shards of light.
“If you won’t tell me, shall I pick one for you? What should I call you?”
Aaron whispered softly, gazing at the scattered glimmers in her eyes.
“Fake commander of the Iorenti volunteer militia? The enemy who stabbed me in the back so hard I saw stars, then slipped away like an eel? The unidentified lifeform stuck in my head? My prisoner who acts nothing like a prisoner? Or the woman I’d like to drink down with brandy?”
A look of mild embarrassment briefly crossed Aaron’s face as he murmured these possibilities.
“There are just too many things I want to call you—it’s rather troublesome.”
Delia stared at Aaron, utterly dumbfounded by his shameless words.
She didn’t want to deal with him, yet she couldn’t escape either.
Her resigned sigh carried the exhaustion of one who had finally accepted reality.
At last, she gave a tiny flutter of her lips.
“Del.”
“What was that?”
Pretending not to hear, Aaron asked again.
She frowned and turned her head away.
“Del. Call me Del.”
“Del.”
He repeated the name as if engraving it into his memory.
“It shouldn’t be so hard just to hear a single syllable. It’d be easier on both of us if you’d just say it outright.”
With a soft chuckle, Aaron helped Delia sit up.
As she moved under his gentle guidance, her golden hair drifted gracefully around her.
Beside Aaron now sat the bowl of porridge his subordinate had left earlier.
“How about we eat now?”
“What exactly are you trying to do?”
In Aaron’s hand appeared the thin porridge bowl Dyke had brought.
With his other hand, he scooped up a spoonful and held it toward her—
as if ready to feed her himself.
“I’m going to feed you. Open up.”
“I’ll eat by myself—just untie my hands.”
“My beautiful prisoner. Have you forgotten you’re a prisoner before even being a patient? I can’t untie your hands. Open your mouth—I’ll feed you.”
Delia clicked her tongue in exasperation.
What a madman.
“Aren’t we supposed to be enemies who pray for each other’s swift deaths, not caretakers?”
“Why? We’ve already shared quite a lot.”
Aaron’s eyes gleamed playfully.
This boded ill. What absurd thing would he say next?
Delia narrowed her eyes, sending him a sharp, wary look.
“This bed and these clothes—they’re all mine.”
Ah! Delia hastily checked herself.
No wonder—the scent of her clothes matched the one emanating from him.
“I stayed up nursing you till dawn when you were ill, gave you water to drink, and even changed your clothes while you were unconscious. And you’re saying we’re nothing to each other?”
Pale-faced, Delia tugged the coarse blanket over herself.
Even fully clothed, she felt utterly exposed.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Why? I’m treating you very well.”
“This isn’t how one normally treats a prisoner. What exactly do you want from me?”
Hmm… What do I want from you?
Aaron gently lifted a stray strand of her tousled golden hair.
“Prisoner, I’m the one who asks questions. What exactly are you? Where did you gather those subordinates of yours?”
At Aaron’s question, Delia’s eyes flickered with unease.
It was rather amusing how she reacted instantly every time he prodded her.
Aaron smiled faintly, feeling a refreshing clarity as if his thirst had been quenched.
“I need to know your true identity so I can make use of you. So speak up—what are you really?”
Unable to contain her anger any longer, Delia roughly shoved the porridge bowl away.
The bowl clattered loudly against the floor, its echoing noise filling the tent.
“Then I absolutely won’t eat. I have no intention of being used by you. I’d rather die.”
Closing her eyes and turning her head away, Delia made it clear she wanted nothing more to do with him.
Once again, that blue glow vanished like a fleeting illusion.
The smile Aaron had maintained even as she pushed the bowl away disappeared instantly.
“I believe I told you not to look away from me.”
He planted a hand on the bed beside her, caging her in with his presence.
“This won’t do. I need to remind you, my prisoner, exactly what your situation is.”
Delia opened her eyes to an odd tension hanging in the air around her.
Reflected in Aaron’s eyes, now close before her, was her own image.
She met his gaze without flinching.
She refused to be dragged around by this man simply because she was his prisoner.
“You’ll soon learn again just how despicable and insignificant a man you truly are.”
Delia lifted her chin proudly.
Go ahead—do your worst. I’d welcome a spectacular end.
At Delia’s defiant glare, the mask Aaron wore seemed to crack.
In that instant, Aaron’s calm breathing turned ragged.
“Commander.”
Aide-de-camp Dyke burst through the tent flap without ceremony.
The sudden intrusion sent a chill rippling through the air inside.
The atmosphere between them dropped instantly.
“Uh, uh, I… um…”
Dyke, who had been urgently seeking the commander, couldn’t finish his sentence.
Overwhelmed by the strange tension in the tent, he stammered, forgetting what to say.
“I-I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Aaron rose to his feet with a stern expression.
In a low voice, he asked Dyke, who was babbling nonsense.
“Why did you call for me?”
Dyke’s eyes trembled violently.
A cold edge seeped into the commander’s voice.
He was clearly furious about being disturbed at such a crucial moment.
“I’m sorry. You didn’t have to stop—I’ll step out again…”
Dyke’s trembling voice was swiftly cut off by Aaron.
“Just deliver your report.”
If he wanted me to report, why glare at me like he wants me dead?
Sweating profusely, Dyke fumbled to carry out his superior’s order.
“A messenger bird from Counselor Colin has arrived.”
“And?”
“Should I speak here?”
Dyke glanced uneasily toward the Iorenti prisoner.
Military intelligence arrived by messenger bird—should an enemy prisoner really be allowed to hear?
But the commander didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.
“I can guess roughly anyway. Say it here. The prisoner should understand her situation clearly.”
So she won’t dare look away from me again.
“Counselor Colin’s main force has reached the Iorenti capital.”
At Dyke’s report, the corners of Aaron’s mouth lifted slightly.
If they launched a surprise assault, seized the royal palace, and forced the king’s surrender, this tiresome war would finally end.
The expectation that his plan would soon come to fruition made Aaron smile.
What would he do with this prisoner once the war ended?
Perhaps he could claim her not as part of a prisoner exchange—but as his spoils of war.
Lost in visions of victory, Aaron barely noticed Dyke’s hesitant voice.
“But…”
“But?”
“It seems the Iorenti royal palace is mounting fierce resistance, and the standoff may drag on.”
The corners of Delia’s mouth, frozen until now, slowly curved upward.
“Oh dear. How terribly unfortunate.”
Aaron’s smile vanished as he glared at Delia.
Her clear, joy-filled voice—and the smile playing on her lips—
made it impossible to believe she was truly saddened.
“After all that hardship crossing Mount Tarence, your surprise attack has lost all meaning. What a pity—all that effort for nothing.”
Delia sneered openly at the man before her.
Mount Tarence was treacherous terrain, especially for troops laden with heavy armor and supplies.
The kind of mountain where one might think, ‘Could the Imperial Soldiers possibly…?’ only to quickly reassure themselves, ‘They’d never dare…’
Delia had insisted on sending troops to Mount Tarence, arguing, ‘Just in case.’
Convincing the royal couple that certainty was better than anxious doubt, she’d led two hundred royal guards to scout the mountain—
hoping desperately it would all end with a simple ‘They’d never dare…’
But upon seeing the endless Imperial column ascending the slopes, Delia could only let out a quiet groan.
‘So the Imperial Soldiers really…’
What she’d carried out then had been a desperate surprise attack.
She never expected her two hundred guards to defeat nearly ten thousand Imperial soldiers.
Her goal was delay—not victory.
She had to slow their advance, postpone their arrival at the royal palace—
to prevent Iorenti’s capital from falling helplessly,
and to buy time for the kingdom to prepare its defenses.
Satisfaction bloomed on Delia’s face—mission accomplished.
“Hey. Commander.”
“Commander?”
At Delia’s call, Aaron’s eyes snapped toward her fiercely.
To be addressed as ‘Commander’ in such a mocking tone…
He’d never realized this usual honorific could sound so irritating.
The more Aaron’s expression twisted, the brighter Delia’s smile grew.
“Yes. Commander. I suddenly feel quite hungry.”
Meeting Aaron’s fierce glare with unshaken confidence, Delia lifted her chin lightly.
The dizziness from lying down so long vanished instantly.
Her smiling lips parted gently.
“Go ahead—feed me. I’ll gladly accept it.”
For the first time since being captured, Delia faced Aaron with a radiant smile.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Wow the tension between these two is something else.
Good job Del! Looks like in the end she has won the wager.
If the fate of the crown prince is unknown, why would they send away the only other heir?