Chapter 62.2
Chapter 62.2
Yawn.
Kalion, unable to fall asleep, continued to toss and turn. He wanted to return as soon as possible. His body shot up the moment he thought that. After spacing out for a while, he swept his face down with his hand again.
Up until now, never once had he thought about ‘quickly returning home’ while out hunting for demons. That was a fact, because among his duties, it was one of the most basic things. No one was at the castle and no one was waiting for him there anyway. He had been thrown out of his home country, and not a single person in Hessenguard wanted him.
Vanessa, the Chairman of the Hessenguard Council, treated him kindly, but other lawmakers he sometimes encountered looked at him as if they were dissatisfied with his angular face. They never fully expressed animosity toward him. But he was a grand duke that could be replaced if they had to do so. At that time, his life would be in danger if someone just ran up and kicked down the castle door.
In order to survive, Kalion had to recover and at the same time show that he was worth something. His body which had been abandoned in his home country could not be abandoned even here. He had to diligently do everything that was thrown at him. Diligence was not a virtue but a necessity for survival.
The same would go for Erna.
Kalion thought she would naturally leave before him since she had cried all day on the first day. When he had run into her at the Grand Castle, he thought she was still holding out. But when he thought about it, it was natural. Erna would have nowhere to go if she were thrown out of Hessenguard like him.
Thinking about stuff from the past, he stood from his lying position. As expected, no matter how much he tried, sleeping was out of the question tonight. When he couldn’t sleep a wink, conversing with the knights or keeping a watchful eye out for demons would be better.
By the time he left the tent, the end of the campsite had become noisy. Kalion was also on alert, immediately drawing his sword, and soon found out that they were the village people who had stopped by in the morning. I should send them back right away, he thought.
At the sound of a woman’s voice, he felt a hatred deeper than before.
Why in the hell do I think Erna will hug me after I left her?
They were people he didn’t understand. Why did he think a married man with a wife would want another woman? Then, as he approached, the woman named Freya came to greet him. Kalion, who was about to tell her to return to her village, realized that Freya and Erna both had similar hair and eyes. So naturally, he looked her up and down.
He sensed it deeply: Just because their hair and eyes had the same color didn’t make them look similar.
Despite having the same color, he felt different from when he met Erna. Erna’s blonde hair shone even in darkness and was smoother than silk. And her eyes? When the sun rays hit her eyes, her green pupils looked like leaves on a tree.
Kalion decided to only compare the two women up until there. He would feel sorry if he compared their faces. Kalion’s eyes then fell to what Freya was wearing.
Why doesn’t Erna dress like this?
Erna mainly dressed in a large robe worn by other wizards. And on days where she had political affairs meetings or when she had to do her duty as the grand duchess, she wore her duchess dress and robe.
Even on banquet days, she was clothed in her grand duchess robe. Erna rarely wore colorful and pretty dresses. However, at the recent welcoming banquet held for the delegates from Haband, she wore something other than a robe for the first time in a long time. She seemed more out of her mind that day…
While staring at her outfit, Kalion thought, Should I buy her clothes like this… when I go back? Kalion told Freya to come closer. Then Freya stumbled on purpose, and anyone could see her clinging to Kalion’s arm.
At that moment, he felt unbearable displeasure, just like usual. He gravely hated when someone touched him, even more especially when it was a woman.
But why Erna? Should he hug and kiss her first? At that time, the voice he wanted to hear so bad echoed loudly in his ears.
“Is that so? Then it would be best to go home and rest.”
Kalion winced and turned at the voice.
“Er…na?”
At first, he thought his ears had tricked him. But the person he saw now was definitely Erna. Kalion shoved Freya from his arms and immediately ran to Erna.
“Erna? How did you…?”
The shock was intense, but he was more pleased. The moment he tried to grab her though, she slapped his hand away while glaring at Freya and said, “Why? Are you shocked you got caught?”