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Mia’s Trust is Unwavering!
After the first warning that bandits were coming, the carriages stopped all of a sudden. Esmeralda held her breath. Mia, on the other hand, let hers out because she thought it was finally over.
After all, it’s been a while since Dion ran off by himself. Most likely, we’re done. But still… I don’t want to see what’s going on outside. It must look like a sea of blood!
Mia and the others couldn’t see what was going on outside because the arrow screens had been put down to protect them. Mia’s unshakable faith in Dion, on the other hand, made her sure that what was going on outside was a scene right out of hell. Dion Alaia was a one-man killing machine. The average group of bandits didn’t stand a chance against him. There wouldn’t have been a fight at all. It was pure, brutal murder, done in a very measured way. She didn’t have any doubts. Again, Mia’s trust in Dion is unwavering.
Eventually, someone knocked on the door.
“Pardon me, Your Majesty.”
The voice belonged to the man himself, Dion Alaia.
Mia looked at Nina, who was sitting near the door, before she took off the barrier that kept her from seeing what was going on outside. The maid had the same worried look on her face as Esmeralda.
Mia smiled at them to cheer them up. “Don’t worry. It is Dion. Let him in.”
Nina opened the carriage door after hesitating for a moment. As expected, the man who took over was the best in the Empire. Mia, whose eyes had been fixed on the wall across from the door, took a slow breath, steeled herself, and then turned her gaze toward him. As soon as she saw him, he was covered from head to toe in…nothing. He and his armor were both completely clean.
My, so he not only killed all those bandits, but he also did it without getting any blood on himself. As always, this is so scarily good!
Mia’s trust in Dion was completely unwavering!
“Greetings, Dion. So, I’m going to assume that you’ve solved the problem. Tell me, how many victims—I mean, casualties were there?”
She thought there would be a lot of dead bodies behind him. Horses and humans probably had their bodies and limbs spread out across the ground. Pieces of armor that had been left out in the sun probably still had parts of the person who wore them. Whatever was out there, it was sure to keep her up at night for days.
Dion’s answer was very laid-back. “Zero. For us and for them. We were able to avoid a fight because the Sunkland army stepped in at the right time.”
“An interference? Don’t tell me you left the Sunkland army to fight the bandits and pulled out our own people?”
That would be very bad. Mia almost jumped up when she thought about it.
“Unfortunately, we never even got to try. The bandits just ran away. I saw them leave,” someone outside said.
Mia jerked her head forward to look behind Dion when she heard a voice she knew.
“Sion… My…”
The boy smiled at her in his usual calm way.
“Moons, you’re safe. Oh, that’s good.” She quickly got out of the carriage and walked over to make sure.
“Ha ha ha, what did you really expect? Just bandits, that’s all. All the time, things like this happen. It’s not a big deal.”
He said it in such a casual, amused way, as if the smallness of the situation made her worry funny. That Mia almost wanted to slap him right there and then.
“Even if they are just bandits, Prince Sion,” she said with anger in her voice, “you can’t ride out to fight them yourself. Think about who you are! What if something bad happened?”
Keithwood, who was standing further back, nodded so hard that he might have pulled a muscle in his neck.
Sion, on the other hand, just laughed.
“Thanks for what you said. I’ll do my best to follow your instructions.”
Since Sion was a gentleman, he didn’t say the second part of the sentence: “rather than as you do.” Still, he couldn’t stop himself from giving her a “et tu” look.
Sion then said to Mia and Esmeralda, “Now that we’re all done judging me, I’d like to say that it’s great to see you again. It has been awhile. I have missed everyone.”
Esmeralda almost lost it when he smiled at her.
“Wow, it’s a nice surprise to see you here, Prince Sion!”
The tension from the bandits went away right away, and it was replaced by fiery joy when her favorite thing—handsome young men—came into view.
Moons, she’s such a simple person. She could be shaking in her shoes one minute and then… Mia shook her head. She can be so hard to deal with at times. It’s almost too funny. As a young woman from a noble family, she should really act with more class…
She was about to roll her eyes at how her friend was acting when a small figure jumped out of a nearby carriage.
“Prince Sion! I really missed you! Are you all right?!” Bel ran up to him and smiled from one pink cheek to the next. She seemed to have the same amount of energy as Esmeralda, which made Mia do a facepalm.
Bel, bel, bel… Who taught you to be like that?
They were soon joined by Citrina, Tiona, and Liora.
“Tiona, you too?” Sion asked, surprised by how many noble girls were there. “What brings so many of you here to Sunkland?”
“Uh, well… We are here as Esmeralda’s entourage. I think she will talk about getting married with the oldest son of one of your Dukes.”
“A Duke’s oldest son?” Sion looked sad. “That’s strange. We only have a certain number of Dukes’ oldest sons, and all of those who are old enough to get married are already married.”
“My, that’s odd,” Esmeralda said, sharing his surprise. “My father told me that it was a young person with a lot of promise who might one day get a title even more prestigious than Duke.”
“More prestigious than Duke? And in the end, at that?” Sion’s scowl got even worse. “Do you know who came up with the idea of proposing marriage in the first place?”
“I think it’s Count Lampron. At least, that’s what my father told me…” Her mumbled voice suggested that she hadn’t been told much about what was going on, which wasn’t too shocking. When lords got married, it was important to the whole country because it brought together two important families. There were times when the bride and groom didn’t meet until the day of the wedding. Having said that…
At least we should know what family the possible groom is from… At least they must have told us that much.
Mia looked at Esmeralda, who shifted uncomfortably on her feet and said, “I-It’s not my fault! We’re going to turn them down no matter who they are, so what does it matter? Also, what if that person is a really good choice? If I had known that before, I wouldn’t be able to say no!”
In other words, Esmeralda didn’t pay attention to what her father said because she had already chosen to say no to the proposal.
Mia asked, “By the way, could this Count Lampron be someone whose words should be taken with a pinch of salt?”
“No, that’s not what I would say. The Lamprons are an old family with a good name. Even though the count is a bit self-righteous, I don’t think he would do something like that to hurt the honor of his house. Well, this is a mystery that will be solved in time. Let’s move on to more important things. You don’t seem to need extra protection right now, so I’ll send my men after the bandits—”
“N-No! No, you can’t!” Mia said it out loud, then quickly corrected herself. “Uh, I mean, we definitely need more protection, so you, Sion, are going to go with us to the capital!”
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When Sion said he was going, she almost had a heart attack. If they went their separate ways here, he might die in another fight with the bandits. That would go against the whole point of this trip. She needed him to come with her, and if she had to pull a few strings to get him to agree, so be it.
“Huh? But you don’t—”
“Isn’t this your kingdom, Sion? And am I not a guest? Do you think it’s okay for me, a guest from Tearmoon, to be in danger?”
Sion gave her a few blinks of his eye.
“I…guess you’re right. All right. Then let me take you to where Count Lampron lives in the capital.”
He smiled at her warmly, which made the guard captain’s blood run cold right away. “A duke’s daughter, a princess…and now Prince Sion?”
Only one person noticed that the captain’s skin was getting pale. Keithwood, who had been Sion’s servant and sufferer for a long time, quietly said a prayer of sympathy.