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Chapter 25

Nevertheless, that little bastard fought very well. Sir Glencia once again marveled at how Wilhelm fought in the cliff.

〈There was a time when I wished I had a son like that.〉

〈Your son is listening right here.〉

Marquess Glencia only chuckled at the whining Fernaha Glencia. Hundreds of barbarians were being slaughtered at the bottom of the cliff already. It was a one-sided massacre.

This was the case even with their advantage on the terrain. The barbarians who were fighting with all their might for more than two years had lost almost all of their war chiefs and were now in a disarray. Among them was a slim, jet-black-haired, savage knight, who was swinging his sword like a madman.

It was Wilhelm who fought crazily and overshadowed the other knights. It was like a slaughterhouse around him rather than a battlefield. There was splattered blood everywhere and corpses. Seeing the horrendous yet pleasant sight for his allies, the Marquess gave brief comments.

〈But seeing it in person, I think it would be better not to hire him. The Lord of Luden must’ve also had a headache because of him.〉

〈The Luden Knights are also here listening to you say that. And, our Lord won’t have a headache.〉

Dietrich answered, standing next to the Marquess. At that time, Dietrich was also there with Marquess Glencia’s son. He was different from Wilhelm in a sense.

If Wilhelm killed a hundred people himself, Dietrich was a man who would calmly manage his troops and end a fight of a hundred barbarians with only ten people. So the Marquess had no choice but to cut back on him. He looked at Dietrich with a surprised expression.

〈That fighting cock is a gentle lamb in front of his Lord…. Probably.〉

〈Probably what?〉 Argen said from behind. The Marquess chuckled.

〈It would hurt your head if you turn like that.〉

〈What do you mean?〉

〈Those who fight like crazy dogs can’t be gentle sheep. He’s either a wolf in sheep’s clothing or a sheep pretending to be crazy. But no sheep holding a sword would pretend to be insane.〉

〈There are a lot of guys with swords here.〉

〈I’m saying there are a lot of dogs. 〉

Being said that, the Marquess swung his sword he was holding a few times. It was said that Wilhelm was one of those dogs. The nearby knights laughed.

〈That’s why the Lord of Luden should not be too comfortable. I would only have a headache if I had a son like that. It seems like my fox-like son is better looking at that situation. If my son is as crazy and hard as stone as him, I’m afraid his mother would be scared to death that her crazy son was unable to recognize her, and his father would want to kill him.〉

〈Oh, I see.〉

Glencia’s fox grumbled. Anyway, he just knew it was over. No matter how well Wilhelm fights, he doesn’t intend on hiring him under his wings.

However, as the war neared its end, the game changed.

〈Father, wasn’t he something to use as a matter of fact?〉

Fernaha asked his father carefully while the Marquess groaned loudly.

〈That’s right….〉

It is only normal to rejoice when a war is already over, but Marquess Glencia wasn’t very pleased. Nathantine’s Wilhelm – no, of Luden – beheaded the war chiefs so the remaining barbarians ran for their lives. It would be more correct to say that he almost annihilated all of them. While the Emperor won the hearts of the people, Marquess Glencia had a headache.

The War of the Spring has been practically a year-round event. Therefore, the Empire allowed Marquess Glencia to enlist nearly 10,000 soldiers. But the barbarians were now scattered. Who will the 10,000 soldiers fight with?

A Lord with an enormous number of 10,000 men was a huge threat to the Empire. Obviously, the Emperor will try to reduce the size of the conscripted military personnel of the Marquess. It would’ve been better if that would only end at a reduction. It could’ve been possible if it was three years ago, but it is impossible now – because Hu Linke was dead.

They were the two veteran generals that formed two pillars of the Empire – the Marquess Glencia and Hu Linke. However, Hu Linke was killed in the riot that happened in Sarawak, and Marquess Glencia was the only one left.

The Emperor wouldn’t suffer a loss to keep Marquess Glencia in check, because the Marquess was always bankrupt. This was the case with the Marquess, so it became an urgent matter.

The biggest problem now was the dissolution of the 10,000 soldiers enlisted. It has been more than two decades since the Marquess commanded a 10,000 soldier troop. Those soldiers had taken a career to work on for the rest of their lives, and they would be happy to return home once the war is over. There was no answer as to how they would settle in their hometown, but what can those people who had been killing all their lives do?

Farming? You can’t expect them to earn that much money from farming only for a year. If he permitted them to go home, there would be a very high possibility that 10,000 conscriptions would turn into thieves once they returned to their hometowns. Then there would be an immediate danger on the northern border – the territory of Marquess Glencia. What’s funny is that the Emperor would not care about such a thing.

From whom did Michel Allanquez’s indecisive disposition come? Even if the soldiers turned into thieves, there was a high possibility that the emperor would dismiss it as a matter to be dealt with in each territory.

Is that all? He would start to target the old man with fewer enlisted soldiers. Because there was a public enemy in the north, Marquess Glencia was firmly established. Even if that public enemy, the barbarians disappear, his loyalty wouldn’t disappear like a bubble that easily.

So it was obvious that the Emperor would think like that – removing the center. Thus, Marquess Glencia started to scout talented knights.

Most of the knights happily swore allegiance to the Marquess. This was especially true of the knights around the northern part. Since the war was over, the knights had nothing to do in the territory. Now that peace has come, they were more likely to be kicked out within a few years, because the lords would feel burdened by paying the knights’ salaries. There was no reason to refuse to work for a well-paid job under a well-known military commander rather than being kicked out.

Luden’s Dietrich was one of them, but he died just before the war ended. Naturally, Glencia’s next priority was Wilhelm, because no one fights as well as him.

When Reinhardt opened her eyes, it was already morning. She was about to rub her eyes, but she saw something strange. After blinking her hazy eyes, she saw a white piece of bread.

〈‘ … Bread?’ 〉

After a moment of staring at it, she lay down on her bed laughing out loud, because it was obvious who put that bread there. She got up from the bed, grabbed the white bread from the bed, and rubbed it. It was still slightly warm as if it had just been baked.

“This is okay but… he would still secretly go inside and out of the lord’s room even when he’s already grown up. How cute.”

She grabbed the side of the bed and stood up from it, recalling how a certain knight was disgraceful as he put the bread there. Reinhardt often skipped her breakfast. It was only natural that Wilhelm was already gone after secretly putting the bread on the table every time as he woke up early.

‘That little kid has grown up so much.’ Reinhardt smiled as she muttered to herself, looking at the slice of bread.

She didn’t know when he entered and left her room, and she wanted to say something to him, but that thought soon disappeared. Dietrich even taught her that a grown-up boy shouldn’t enter a girl’s room recklessly, because he said he was choked up whenever he thinks about that.

With a groan, she spat out the bit of bread in her mouth.

〈Oh, d**n it. I forgot. 〉

She bit her lip as she remembered that Dietrich Ernst was no longer in this world.

“D**n you Mikhail Allanquez. You f***ing a**hole.”

When she saw the corpse-less coffin, she fell on the floor as she grieved, thinking that Mikhail Allanquez not only took away her beloved father, but also another person special to her. The hatred inside her that disappeared for a while resurfaced again, burning intensely because she was hanging on the Luden Estate for three years already. She clenched her fists so tight that her nails dug on her palms.

“How should I kill him?”

There was no way to do that at the present. The reason she kept on holding on to the estate was because of Mikhail, but she still had a long way to go.

It would be possible to raise a secret army of 3,000 if the territory was about the size of Helka in her previous life. It was also possible to proceed secretly and slowly.

But the Luden Territory is different. There were only about 3,000 residents of Luden although the territory was quite large. Moreover, the population density wasn’t that high, so there may be a big difference if she selected other scattered people of the territory. It was said that many immigrants were coming in, but it was just the beginning. It was vastly different compared to the 3,000 soldiers.

Even if Wilhelm is there.

She wanted Wilhelm to grow up properly with Dietrich and make him her piece of armor. Even if there was a small number of soldiers, she believed that there would be a way to approach the capital with a well-thought plan if it was armed with Wilhelm.

She wanted to raise Wilhelm properly with Dietrich and make him her own unbreakable armor. Even if there were a small number of soldiers, he believed that if he was armed like Wilhelm, there would be a way to approach the capital with a well-planned plan.

But Dietrich wasn’t here anymore. To her, Wilhelm wasn’t reliable yet as he still easily blushes at her. Reinhardt concluded that the fox and his aide would run away in fear if they had heard about it.

〈I feel helpless. 〉

She didn’t know how Mikhail Allanquez raised Bill Corona into such an obedient mad dog. Who Bill Corona studied with and how he was selected by Mikhail was well-kept hidden information. She felt frustrated that she couldn’t do anything about it, despite having the best cards of Bill Corona and Wilhelm in her hands.

〈…… There are no soldiers! What is the use of a knight without a commander!〉

She remembered what the fox of Glencia said. She looked down at the bread in her hand.

‘I wish there was a glass of wine instead of soft bread. D**n.’

She muttered to herself. There was nothing wrong with Fernaha Glencia’s words. She couldn’t accept her defeat, and now she was feeling uncertain.

〈I know. He should lead the soldiers.

〈 What can you do with forty-two guards at most, Wilhelm? Wouldn’t it be better for you to be sent to Glencia? 〉

Her father gave her a new life, but Reinhardt was troubled by the sense of shame that there was nothing she could do.

“Should I have not stabbed that bastard?” Reinhardt muttered, clutching the leftover bread with her hand.

She can still clearly remember that moment she came back to life. She thought at that time that she was only dreaming because she was thinking it over the past 15 years in her previous life. She then picked up the sword and stabbed Mikhail.

“I should’ve done it right if I was going to stab him anyway.”

She should’ve stabbed his heart. If not …. Reinhardt threw away the bread and clutched the left side of her chest. She was out of breath. She never once regretted her decision of stabbing Mikhail after coming back to life.

But now that Dietrich died, she was regretting it.

〈Should I look for a better opportunity if the same thing was going to happen again? Would it have been possible to find a clue if I were to follow my previous life step by step? Can I receive Helka again…. 〉

“Again….”

The tips of her fingers turned white. She was pressing hard on the edge of the table.

‘No, even if a third life were given to me, I would do the same.’

Reinhardt can only vent that much of her anger and power at that moment. It was a waste of time to regret that she would have done better if she was given another life. She clenched her fists once again.

〈There must be a way. A way….〉

It wasn’t that there was no way. Now that the war was over, the situation had changed and Reinhardt had a way to try. The problem was that she didn’t have the power to support everything.

Will everything end up like her first life? Reinhardt hit her chest, violently opened her drawer then closed it back again. The cover of the book [Abandoned Temptation] was shown to the world for a brief moment.
(T/N: I don’t get much what this means 혹한지의 폐서 [the title of the book])

“… What’s next then?”

Reinhardt shook her head abruptly. A familiar young man was standing in the shadow that she couldn’t see properly. Her heart was startled for a moment, but then quickly calmed down.

“…… Wilhelm. What is it, didn’t you go out?”

“I was going to leave, but you opened your eyes.”

Wilhelm approached her silently, knelt in front of her who was sitting on the desk, took her hand, and kissed it softly. His movement didn’t have any hint of hesitation; Reinhardt looked down at the top of his head with a gaze of a stranger, as she pulled her gown. It was because her clothes were messy.

But after kissing the back of her hand, Wilhelm raised his head and smiled as if he didn’t care she was still wearing her gown.

“Sir Glencia went back.”

“… Already? When?”

“Last night. More than that, there is something I want to ask, Rein.”

〈I mean, did he go back because I scolded him for his horse that eats too much? Or did he notice that I would want to prick his freckles with a needle?〉

Reinhardt tapped Wilhelm’s cheek with her thumb even though she was curious why.

“Why are you in such a hurry to ask me, that you’ll even come to my bed?”

She rebuked Wilhelm for sneakily entering a woman’s bedroom as a grown man, but he just rubbed his cheek against the back of her hand as if he didn’t understand what she was saying.

“Perhaps, do you like land?”

“…… Land?”

〈Shouldn’t this be something I should ask while giving the land? No, why was he asking such a thing? 〉

An arrogant and mischievous thought crossed Reinhardt’s mind. She tried to put on a playful smile.

“Why, will you give me the land?”

“Do you want it?”

“No one hates land.”

“How much do you like it?”

“A lot.”

Wilhelm laughed. Reinhardt smiled as well. In her previous life, one of her handmaids once told her with a big smile that her child told her, ‘I’ll become rich someday and I’ll let mom live in luxury!’ This child in front of her was now saying he would make her live in luxury. She thought of that as insignificant.

But Wilhelm wasn’t talking about the future. Reinhardt soon learned what he was talking about.

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