When The Silent Peony Blooms - Chapter 57

“Really?”

Before Pellerhart could add anything else in a curious voice, there was a sliding sound.

“It’s over.”

Sophia let out a small sigh. Bellen was covered in dust, lying sprawled out with his limbs stretched, panting heavily.

His wooden sword had flown off somewhere, and his left eye was blackened as if he had taken a hit.

In contrast, Erdene, not even out of breath, poked the ground with the tip of her wooden sword and said,

“You’ve definitely improved since last time. Though you still got beaten up. You have good eyes, Commander Wizard.”

Bellen suddenly sat up.

Compared to last time, when he was beaten so badly by her that he couldn’t even get up and had to be carried away, this was tremendous progress.

He even bowed his head to Erdene right there.

“Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness.”

Meanwhile, Betor’s soldiers sighed again and fell into despair. They had been secretly believing the rumors about Commander Wizard.

The rumors that he would never lose even against Erdene of Hirschstein – those who had pinned their hopes on that illusion were all disappointed.

Sensing the atmosphere, Erdene turned towards the soldiers and raised her voice.

“If you have time to envy others’ achievements or lament failures, swing your sword one more time. If you want to show that Betor’s knights are also spirited and proud soldiers, become so yourselves. Understand?”

There was a brief silence.

Seeing the soldiers’ and commanders’ eyes shining brightly, Erdene said,

“I’ll leave three of my former subordinates here, so learn as much as you can from them. Merton, Aiman, Telma. Do it properly. Understand?”

Telma jumped up and down with an incredulous expression, but Merton and Aiman moved as Erdene ordered.

While Betor’s soldiers and commanders flocked around them, bombarding them with questions and requesting sparring matches, Erdene wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked up at the platform.

Pellerhart, who made eye contact with her, smiled and waved.

He came down from the platform and handed Erdene a handkerchief.

Erdene looked at Pellerhart’s handkerchief for a moment, then chuckled and accepted it.

“Thank you.”

“How can Your Highness move like that? Even that adjutant following you… what was his name? Delma?”

“Telma. It’s Telma.”

“Right, he’s impressive too, but Your Highness’s swordsmanship is astonishing. I’ve learned some sword skills myself, but thinking back, it must have been God’s grace that my head didn’t fly off from Your Highness’s sword back then.”

“I think so too.”

Pellerhart burst out laughing at Erdene’s straightforward lack of modesty.

Pellerhart spoke again.

“I can see why the Imperial soldiers fight so well. They learned by watching someone like Your Highness.”

“Well, if they could improve their level just by watching and listening, I wouldn’t have had to sweat so much training those guys.”

“That’s true. If all the Imperial soldiers were at Your Highness’s level, the continent would have long ago…”

Pellerhart, who had been speaking thoughtlessly, suddenly closed his mouth.

Erdene stared at him with an unreadable expression, then smiled meaningfully as she tucked the handkerchief into her waistband.

“I’ll wash and return it to you.”

“You can keep it.”

Erdene blinked a couple of times.

She didn’t dislike Pellerhart’s kindness, but she was curious about why he was being so friendly towards her.

Pellerhart said,

“By the way, Your Highness’s adjutants… your former adjutants, I mean. They seem to be causing some trouble…”

Erdene looked back and shrugged nonchalantly.

“It’s fine. I deliberately told them to stay because I was worried they might cause mischief out of boredom if left alone. Besides, to reorganize Betor’s knightly order, we need to teach the soldiers anew.”

Pellerhart’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You’re going to reorganize the knightly order?”

“The current composition of Betor’s knightly order is too inefficient. They probably just gave commander positions to those who looked impressive, and the soldiers under them are even worse. They probably don’t know what weapons they’re good at handling, what talents they have… They’re just placed wherever without knowing anything about such practical matters. How is this any different from a ragtag group or a disorganized rabble?”

No matter how peaceful Betor was said to be, this was intolerable for Erdene.

It was absurd that those calling themselves a knightly order were so disorganized and chaotic.

Why don’t they consider the possibility of unforeseen circumstances? They say Betor is currently acting as a fortress for other inland kingdoms against the Empire, but what if one of them becomes more ambitious and decides to side with the Empire to attack Betor? Who would stop that?

‘Well, I would stop it.’

While she felt somewhat indifferent on one hand, the knightly order still needed to be reorganized.

Bellen Wizard, of course, and Raedet who had faced Merton and Aiman, and what was his name? Sislan? At least the commander-level individuals seemed to have potential.

Just then, Pellerhart tilted his head and asked,

“By the way, does Arkan… does His Majesty know about Your Highness’s plan?”

“No, not yet. Well, I’ll tell him sometime.”

Pellerhart’s eyes sparkled with life.

“I think I might be able to help Your Highness a bit.”

“You mean, Duke?”

“Please call me Pellerhart. Yes, I think it might be better if I give His Majesty a heads-up. Of course, if Your Highness doesn’t want that, I’ll keep quiet.”

Erdene, lost in thought for a moment, nodded.

“Alright. It might be better if you talk to him rather than me.”

After all, any attempt at conversation between Arkan and herself would likely end up in a fight. The matter of the knightly order was an important issue.

If this issue became muddled due to their bickering, she might really end up hitting Arkan this time.

“Then I’ll do that. And Your Highness.”

Erdene looked up at him as if asking what he wanted.

“What is it?”

“Well. If you don’t have any plans, I was thinking of inviting you for tea together.”

“Thank you, but I have things to do. Let’s have tea another time.”

Pellerhart smiled with a slightly disappointed expression but withdrew gracefully.

Erdene didn’t understand the meaning of the bitter smile that passed across his face.

“Then I’ll look forward to next time.”

Erdene nodded and strode away with Sophia, quickly disappearing from view.

Pellerhart touched the pocket where his handkerchief had been, then sighed briefly and rubbed his face with his palm.

“Hmm, it’s okay. It’s still okay for now.”

Muttering something incomprehensible, he suddenly moved hurriedly towards the royal palace as if he had remembered something to do.

Erdene went straight to where Rolz was, without even changing her clothes.

Despite coming as an official envoy of the Empire, she was practically confined due to her audacity in acting out in Arkan’s presence.

The soldiers guarding the door didn’t recognize Erdene at first.

However, when they saw her pale blue eyes flashing fiercely, they flinched and stepped back, only realizing her identity when they saw Sophia behind her.

“We greet Your Highness.”

“Is the envoy still inside?”

“Yes, we’ve been taking turns guarding since last night.”

“Good.”

Erdene nodded and turned to Sophia.

“You wait outside. There’s no need to look inside no matter what sounds you hear. Soldiers, the same goes for you.”

Sophia bowed her head respectfully.

“I understand well, Your Highness.”

She intelligently grasped Erdene’s words.

Not only to guard outside but also to prevent others from entering. Feeling somewhat satisfied, Erdene entered the room.

Rolz was so engrossed in scribbling something at the desk that he didn’t even notice her entering.

His tightly pursed lips, flushed face, and profile dripping with cold sweat were an unsightly sight.

“Are you writing your will?”

“Wh-hick! Y-Your Highness.”

Belatedly realizing Erdene had entered, Rolz’s gaze quickly moved to the paper he had been scribbling on.

What happened next was unconscious. Right in front of Erdene’s open eyes, Rolz crumpled the paper and hid it behind his back, stumbling backwards and making the chair clatter.

Erdene, with her arms crossed, said,

“Hand it over.”

“Wh-what? Th-this is… a report that His Majesty the Emperor must see…”

A drop of sweat fell from Rolz’s chin. Erdene uncrossed her arms and took a step towards him.

“It seems you’ve forgotten who I am since it’s been a while. Shall I remind you?”

“Y-you, you can’t threaten me! Y-Your Highness, you can’t do this anymore…!”

“Threaten? How about I stuff that entire paper into your mouth, make you swallow it and excrete it from your behind, then hang you upside down and make you read it aloud word by word? Then you might develop the brain to judge whether my words are a threat or not.”

At these words, which sounded more like something from hardened mercenaries who had seen it all rather than a princess or queen, Rolz’s face turned pale.

The most frightening thing was that in Erdene’s case, it would never end with just a threat.