Because he hit all three of the incidents she was talking about.

It seemed just right at this point to believe her words.

He didn’t know where to put his common sense whenever he thought about her, which made his head pound.

“……Anyway, let’s talk a little later.”

She shook her head. The blonde loose silhouttes evoked a strange sense of wit.

“I’ve slept much longer than expected. I came here in the flesh because I didn’t have the chance to talk to you. This arson, I think I’ve mentioned that it’s too grand…… Probably a diversion tactic.”

Kalad understood what the woman was trying to say without asking any further questions.

“Are you saying this is not the only place they’ll set to fire?”

The woman nodded her head.

Kalad told his deputy, Chet, to be on the lookout again, and sent some soldiers up the mountain.

At that moment, several arrows flew towards the side of Kalad and Alusha.

Did the remaining rebel climb up the walls?

Kalad covered Alusha and struck the arrow with his sword. This technique of striking an arrow with his sword is almost an impossible thing to do, and even if one successfully do so, the sword may break in the process, but Kalad was a man who knew how to handle a sword like it’s second nature.

After the final attack, it was reported one after another that the remaining rebels were safely suppressed.

“……Ah.”

At that time, Cathy was seen holding the hem of the blonde woman’s clothes, looking helpless.

The arrowheads he had struck earlier seemed to have brushed the back of her loose clothes.

A lion pattern shone through the torn clothes.

What am I seeing right now?

Kalad glanced at the woman’s back, the lion’s crest visible through the scattered blonde hair. The shining lion’s crest.

It was the symbol of Serine’s royal family.

A frown was plastered on Kalad’s face.

From the time Princess Alusha was born, it became a famous story that she had a lion crest on her back. But contrary to people’s expectations, Alusha just grew up weakly.

His already firm conviction became stronger.

Since she came, Kalad was the only one she revealed her identity to.

So he understood. If he knelt down in a place where there are many people watching like this, everything will be in vain.

Kalad replaced the greeting with the ancient body language only known to Serine. The gesture of stroking her right arm with his left arm, raising it on to his chest and then moving it forward lightly.

It was a greeting which meant to dedicate his heart and sword to his Lord.

She was briefly puzzled by Kalad’s behavior, and soon found out why he was doing so, she held her clothes tightly so her back won’t be visible.

Her actions just appeared to be a reluctance of a woman to expose her body, rather than simply being surprised by the visible crest on her back.

Kalad looked at Alusha once again in detail.

The woman in front of him whose face was already exposed to the light, had blue eyes like tranquil lake deep in the forest.

Blonde hair and blue eyes. It was a common Serine feature, but it certainly matched the characteristics of Princess Alusha.

And he understood what Cathy was trying to say. She must have seen the crest.

At that, Alusha chuckled.

“If we don’t deal with their tracks properly, we’ll have some trouble.”

This caught Kalad’s eye.

He thought she would start by accusing him of not recognizing her immediately.

Not even a word of blame.

However much difficult it was to determine that she was actually the Princess, it was impossible to pass the rudeness he’s acted towards her in the beginning.

Kalad headed to the room where Alusha was staying. It was natural to talk in her room rather than to talk alone at this late night in the drawing room.

Kalad thought as he took steps.

Why have she changed so much? And, how did you change?

And what have I been saying to the Princess all this time? I wish she had shown me the crest in the first place, but since she didn’t, it wasn’t my fault, was it?

Arriving in front of Alusha’s room, Kalad told a servant to stay outside the door, and ordered for a warm tea. But Alusha shook her hand to signal she didn’t need it.

Alusha saw Kalad standing blankly and refusing to sit by her side. She breathed before opening her mouth.

“Now that we have a table where we can talk properly. Let’s sit down.”

“……Yes, princess.”

“Let me say this again. I need you to propose to me.”

It was only now that he understood the story of the proposal she had made when she first came here.

If there is a princess in the imperial palace in the middle of the enemy camp, not only the princess herself, but also the independence movement of Serine will be restricted.

Kalad nodded slowly. But his first thought was that it was impossible in reality. He asked back.

“……Did you come all the way here to talk about that?”

Alusha said, with her blue eyes fluttering in the candlelight.

“Because the Duke is my only ally.”

Alusha’s bold appearance, looking straight into the his eyes in a calm tone, aroused his curiosity.

Was there ever an opportunity for the princess to change this much?

“So, I’m the only hand you say. When my mother, grandfather and numerous noble men from northern region ran into your royal audience and begged you to reinforce the defense force, you kicked them out like they bothered you that much and now you long for my allegiance?”

Alusha was not shaken by such a retort.

“I know, my father, the king’s politics were wrong. And I found out too late. But what’s the point of being angry about it now?”

“Is this what you wanted to say?”

“By myself no matter how hard I try, there’s no way I can deal with that mad emperor, whose heart is in an unknown place somewhere. So please help me. I’ll be a good hand for you, too.”

Kalad nodded, beckoning her to continue.

Alusha continued.

“What I want is to take revenge on the emperor. But to do that, I realized that I have to completely remove Hortuac out of the land of Serine, not just the emperor alone. I’m not good enough, and I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t experience it myself…… I realized it too late. I’m sorry to the people as well.”

Kalad shuts his mouth for a moment, not knowing what to say to her. Then without realizing it he replied sarcastically.

“……So are you saying that you’re going to join the independence movement for your personal revenge?”

Alusha smiled casually.

“That’s right.”

“……Princess, are you still immature?”

He drank his water in sarcasm.

She kept talking as if her feelings weren’t hurt at all

“Do you want to blame me? I understand. I’ve seen a lot. The people who died from being forced to labor in quarry, the people who were unable to eat a grain because they were swept for military food, and the soldiers who became playthings like lowly beasts in a stadium. Yes. I’ve seen it all too late.”

In where does a member of the royal family admit one’s fault, and incompetence to a servant like this.

When this happened, it was Kalad was rather speechless.

After a long silence, Alusha, who was silently sipping on her tea, said.

“I can’t help it if my goal is too personal. Saving the people? I’m not sure if someone like me can do that. Honestly, the revenge for my family alone is already too overwhelming. But it also hurts when I think of Serine. I’m not going to throw away that responsibility. That’s why I’m here to somehow go on that deadly road with the Duke.”

She speaks of the whole Serine, seeming as if she were speaking of it as her personal goal.

It is the king to be served by the country, not the king to serve and suffer for them.

He sighed quietly.

Though still small in thought, the bowl is big. Having compassion in her position is a more difficult virtue than you might think.

(T/N: ‘Bowl is big’ word to describe someone’s ability as smart or nice.)

Perhaps the Princess would have become a formidable figure if she had the right knife, pen, and chair.

It’s all meaningless thoughts.

Kalad, shaking off his useless thoughts, looked at Alusha.

“I understand.”

“The last remaining royal family is someone foolish like me who can’t protect my family, but I have to do something about it somehow.”

The last remaining royal family.

He couldn’t believe to hear the words ‘I can’t protect my family’ and ‘The last remaining royal family.’

After a long hesitation, he managed to put the doubt on his tongue.

“……So, your Highness is……”

Alusha pressed her mouth in a straight line.

Her eyes that seemed to have lost their place to go, and head drooped quietly. It was such a clear expression and it no longer needed to be said.

“Is that true?”

“Well, would I lie about my parents’ lives?”

After a long silence, Kalad knelt.

Frankly, it wasn’t something he couldn’t guess at all.

The people who are protesting to have the king and queen shown and to brought out are being suppresed every day. As they kept protesting, there were many doubting whether the king had survived at all.

Besides, what good would it bring anyway if Alusha lied to him.

But he didn’t want to believe it, so he has been denying it all the time.

No matter how much the King and Queen had lost, he did not wish for their miserable death at the hands of the Empire.

It was an insult to the country. So many people of Serine are still alive with both eyes open, but they secretly killed the king and not announce it?

How much more insulting can they get?

He gritted his teeth.

How long did it take to clear his anger? Even when the tea has cooled down, the two of them stared at the table for a while more.