Chapter 47

Chapter 47

“M-my lady!” Mark screamed, terrified. When I gave him no answer, he turned to Eckles instead. “L-l-listen, Eckles!”

He looked terrified as Eckles stalked toward him, silently pleading for help from his fellow knights with his eyes. The higher-ranked knight stepped forward, this time with the loud vocal support of the other knights. “Eckles, enough! That’s an order!”

“That’s right! I-I’ll admit I took it too far. Let me apologize, and—” Mark wasn’t able to finish his sentence. Eckles’ hand darted out and seized a fistful of the knight’s hair as he tried to escape, yanking him back. He gurgled and tried to kick out, but Eckles already had his arm around Mark’s throat and he began to choke the man with unrelenting strength. Mark’s eyes seemed to pop out of his head as his air supply was slowly cut off.

“Eckles! What are you doing? Stop it!” The other knights cried out, shocked, but Eckles did not react to any of their commands. None of the knights seemed capable of physically intervening to stop the slave as he slowly choked their companion to death. Maybe they didn’t step in because I had given Eckles the order to kill Mark, or maybe it was because the slave they’d made fun of was suddenly radiating an aura of hostility they’d had no idea he was capable of.

Mark gasped for air, his tongue lolling out, saliva dribbling down his chin. The spit dripped onto Eckles’ arm, but he gave no mercy.

“My lady! Y-you can’t do this!” Realizing their companion was about to choke to death, the knights fell to their knees at my feet. “Please forgive us. We behaved poorly. We will report everything that happened to the captain, excluding no detail, and all of us will accept whatever punishment is our due.”

“...”

“My lady, murder is strictly forbidden amongst the Eckhart knights!”

I put my finger in my ear, wiggling it around as if bored, staring into the distance. It was a trick I’d learned from Reynold only the day before.

“My lady!” the knights begged as the whites of Mark’s eyes began to show.

“Enough,” I said, raising my hand. Eckles, who had been intently focused on choking his fellow knight, immediately loosened his hold.

Mark flopped to the ground, hacking and gasping for air. Wrapping both hands around his throat, he coughed and gasped. I stared down at him without expression, but internally I was actually slightly surprised.

I hadn’t expected Eckles to carry out my commands with so little hesitation. I thought he’d ignore me and try to kill the man. I hadn’t really intended to see Mark dead, of course, so I’d been at the ready with the ruby ring that still sat on my left hand. By my logic, he wouldn’t resent me too badly for using the ring if I allowed him to choke his torturer a little first. However, Eckles had obeyed my command immediately. That meant he held my orders at a higher priority than his own feelings. I found this incredibly satisfying.

“Didn’t you say I’m a fake that will be abandoned when the duke’s real daughter returns?” I looked around at the knights, all of them frozen in place. My words caused them to go even more tense.

“Which do you think will happen first? I’ll be thrown out of the manor, or all of you will be relieved of your posts?” I asked in a playful tone, smiling pleasantly at them. That was when a notification popped up.

<SYSTEM>

Your relationship with the occupants of the manor has declined.

You’ve lost 5 reputation points as a result.

(Total: 10)

Sadly, my reputation had taken a hit. But the knights were not love interests in the game I was playing, so frankly, I didn’t care. I turned to the only male protagonist present.

“Come here, Eckles.” He came straight to my side. “Let’s go.” With the hand that didn’t hold the fan, I took his wrist and led him from the training grounds.

[Affection Score 32%]

Though his face showed little emotion, his rising affection score felt like the wagging of a puppy’s tail.

* * *

As Eckles and I arrived at the main gate, Pennel was waiting to greet me with the carriage. “My lady, you look dazzling today.”

“Are the preparations complete?”

“Yes. We’ve prepared a carriage equipped with protection and tracking spells. You already have someone to guard you, so...” The old butler glanced at Eckles, who stood behind me, and continued. “We’ve selected a mage employed by the house to be your horseman. Should you be in any danger, he will teleport you directly back to the manor.”

Just like Winter, mages did not often or easily reveal their identities, and thus hiring their services was very expensive. It was rare for even the royal family to call on a mage to serve as a horseman. So this is what the duke’s house is capable of. I was pleased to be treated so well but acted unmoved.

“Well done.”

“Oh, one more thing...” The older man retrieved something from his jacket and handed it to me. “The duke says that since you haven’t gone out in a while, he wants you to enjoy yourself.”

It was a blank check. I looked at it with surprise, not expecting the duke to still be so concerned with the events of the day before. He wouldn’t be so generous if he knew about the trouble I just caused at the training grounds... I hesitated, unsure if I should accept.

“Please take it, my lady,” The butler encouraged. “You haven’t even called on any merchants lately.”

“Well... All right.” I supposed there would be no harm in accepting it. I pushed aside my concerns and accepted the check. “Tell my father I’m extremely grateful.”

“Of course.”

I turned to the carriage. Eckles, who’d been waiting quietly, followed immediately. I paused in front of the open carriage door and held my hand out to him. He stared at it silently, unmoving. Was he reacting like this because I’d neglected him for too long after bringing him here? Eckles didn’t seem to think that he needed to offer his help, like a real personal guard would.

“Silly. In situations like this, you should offer your hand to help the lady up,” I chided him, crinkling my nose playfully. There was the faint gleam of a strange emotion in his ash-colored eyes.

“But... I’m a slave.”

“No,” I corrected him immediately. “Right now, you are my personal knight.”

“...”

“What do you think you should do now, then?” I said, wiggling my hand gently before him. It was the hand with the ruby ring. Eckles gave a faint smile, taking my hand and going down slowly on one knee. His manners were so perfect, that even the butler seemed taken aback.

He stared deeply into my eyes. “Please step on me, mistress. I’ll help you up.”

* * *

“My lady, shall we head to the clothing store first?” asked the horseman when Eckles had joined me in the carriage.

“No. Take us to the weapons trader,” I said offhandedly, resting my chin on the windowsill. Before long, we were off. Since the carriage was enchanted, it drove almost as smoothly as a car. I was watching with interest as the scenery whizzed by when I heard Eckles murmur softly from the opposite seat.

“Why...” I turned and found that he was staring at me. His eyes were unreadable as he said again, “Why... didn’t you come to see me all this time?”

It was an unexpected question. I studied his face, wondering if he resented me for letting the knights harass him like they’d done today, but I could glean nothing of what he was feeling.

“Were you upset?” I asked him directly. I intended to just apologize if he said so, but his reply was not what I expected.

“You promised.”

“What...do you mean?”

“You said you would come to see me often as my reward for training hard.”

Ah. I bit back a groan. I’d forgotten the reason I’d avoided going to see him. The frightful memory of that rainy day came rushing back to me.

“I... waited for you every day,” Eckles murmured, almost in a whisper, unaware of what was going through my mind. Was I mistaken, or did his usual blank expression seem despondent? I tapped rhythmically on the windowsill, searching for an excuse as to why I didn’t go to him.

“I was displeased,” she said. Seeing the confusion on his face, she clarified, “You lied to me, Eckles.”

“What?” His eyes grew wide. He was so handsome that I’d say he was as pretty as a doll if not for his constantly dead, emotionless expression.

“You told me that no one was harassing you, and yet look at what has happened to your pretty face,” I said, reaching out and caressing his cheek. He flinched and backed away. I laughed when I saw his gray eyes dart around, flustered.

“Back then...”

“...”

“There really wasn’t anyone harassing me back then,” Eckles insisted urgently.

Sure there wasn’t, I thought to myself. When he’d swung at me that day on the training grounds, he’d been aiming to deliver a killing blow so I didn’t believe him. He was turning out to be quite cheeky.

“In any case, that reward is off the table. You didn’t inform me that anything like the events of today were happening.”

“But...”

“Shh. I intend to give you a different reward, so don’t complain and just be patient,” I interrupted. He blushed lightly, perhaps embarrassed that I was scolding him. But then, his affection score rose again.

[Affection Score 33%]