The Lion's Massacre
“Miss! It’s raining—where are you going?”
“Sir Jerome.”
Rachel beamed at the knight approaching her.
“This is my escort knight, Sir Jerome. Sir, please greet her. This gentleman is the physician His Majesty the Emperor sent.”
Yet Jerome sneered openly.
“And why has he come? What use is a physician in the business of catching ghosts? He won’t be any help at all.”
“Watch your tongue, Sir Jerome. This person is a noble. She is the Duchess of Valentino.”
“Ah, so you are Duke Valentino’s wife. I’ve heard a great deal about you. You’re quite famous, after all.”
“……”
“What was that nickname again? Filth? Something of the sort……”
Jerome’s words cut off. The sharp edge of a blade now hovered at the tip of his chin.
“Shall I slice it off?”
Claude asked Canna with a smile.
“Or would you prefer I cut out his tongue?”
“W-what is the meaning of this……”
Jerome’s face flushed with alarm. Rachel, who had been watching in distress, pleaded.
“Knight, please lower your sword.”
But Claude answered gently.
“I listen only to the Duchess’s commands, my lady.”
Canna was startled inside. She had not expected Claude to behave this way.
Having an escort is incredibly convenient, isn’t it?
It was almost too useful. Kalen had not assigned him for nothing.
“Lower your sword, Sir Claude.”
“Yes.”
Claude obeyed her order once again.
As the blade slid down with a soft hiss, Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Jerome’s face, however, had turned a furious scarlet.
He snapped.
“Drawing a sword without warning is conduct unbecoming of a knight!”
“Well, that’s true.”
“……Pardon?”
“I said that’s true.”
“A-are you actually admitting it was unknightly?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Scratch, scratch. Claude rubbed his cheek and grinned.
“But aren’t you the same, Sir Jerome?”
“W-what?”
“Didn’t you dare to spout insolent drivel at a noble lady? If it were up to me, I’d slice that tongue of yours clean in half.”
Claude uttered the brutal words as though they were casual remarks.
“Unfortunately the Duchess is far too kind to issue such an order. A pity.”
“……”
“So count yourself fortunate that the Duchess possesses a heart as gentle as silk.”
Canna felt a flicker of embarrassment, yet she kept her chin high. With her own escort knight speaking so boldly, she could hardly shrink back in shame.
“I apologize in his stead.”
Rachel swiftly cut in, offering her regrets.
“I am truly sorry, Duchess.”
“Yes, that is exactly as it should be.”
Canna smiled sweetly.
“Even when the dog one raises misbehaves, the owner must apologize. All the more so when one’s personal escort knight behaves so disgracefully. It is only natural that you should be the one to apologize, Lady Rachel.”
“……!”
Jerome ground his teeth. He could only clench his fists until they shook; no further words escaped him.
You really should have trained your escort knight properly from the start.
It was unfortunate for the gentle Rachel, but this was a burden she would have to bear.
“Right, then. Shall we go?”
Canna toured the village with Rachel. They did not get far before taking shelter in a small teahouse nearby.
“It’s pouring rather heavily.”
Rumble! Thunder rolled in the distance.
“We should wait until the rain eases a little.”
“Yes. Let’s have some tea.”
She had been feeling hungry anyway.
Canna filled her stomach with the rye bread that accompanied the tea.
It has a wholesome flavor.
It was plain rye bread—natural, organic, with neither sugar nor butter added.
Aah, I want a brownie. It would be perfect with coffee.
Canna glanced at Claude standing behind her.
“Sir Claude. Would you like some bread?”
Her favorability toward him had soared, so she offered him food without hesitation.
Yet Claude smiled and declined.
“I’m fine. An empty stomach is more comfortable while on duty.”
“An empty stomach is… comfortable?”
“Yes. The body feels lighter that way.”
“……”
Comfortable with an empty stomach.
It was a mindset Canna could not comprehend. Rachel, who had been watching quietly, asked.
“How is the rye bread? It doesn’t taste very good, does it?”
“It’s not that it doesn’t taste good, exactly……”
Rather, it had no discernible flavor at all…….
Which meant it was tasteless.
“Yes, it’s tasteless.”
Rachel gave a melancholy smile.
“Though the taste may leave something to be desired, rye is the staple of the islanders. There are few crops that can be grown on such barren land.”
“I see.”
“Yes, so I hope you’ll understand.”
Even as she spoke, Rachel did not touch the bread with so much as a fingertip. She had already enjoyed fresh oysters and trout steak for lunch.
In the end, rye was the staple only for the islanders—the poor residents of the island.
“By the way, this is the first time I’ve seen a woman from beyond the island. Are all mainland women as beautiful as you, Duchess?”
“No. I’m particularly so.”
It was a statement utterly devoid of modesty, yet Rachel accepted it without batting an eye.
“I see.”
“Yes.”
“I thought it might be. You truly are beautiful, Duchess.”
“Thank you.”
Rachel hesitated a moment, then asked.
“Then what about Lord Orsini?”
“Orsini?”
“Yes. Are there many people like Lord Orsini on the mainland?”
“In what sense?”
“He’s so impressive.”
What!
Canna nearly spat out her tea. She coughed violently, and Rachel quickly offered a handkerchief.
“I’ve never seen anyone as impressive as Lord Orsini. He’s on an entirely different level from the men of this island.”
Was she serious?
Canna began to question the woman’s sanity.
“Lady Rachel, don’t tell me this is about his appearance? It’s because of his looks, isn’t it? Definitely his looks, right?”
“O-of course his appearance is excellent, but……”
“Don’t let yourself be fooled by the exterior!”
That man was nothing but a flashy scoundrel!
Of course, everyone had their own tastes.
If a woman preferred a fierce, intensely masculine look, she would find it impossible to look away from Orsini.
“For a man, while appearance matters, there are far more important things. Orsini is a bit—no, quite violent by nature……”
“That’s because he’s valiant.”
“Valiant……”
Canna could not finish the sentence.
Valiant? Valiant?
Did this woman not even know the meaning of the word?
Rachel murmured with a dreamy expression.
“He is truly strong and courageous. Just like the king of beasts—a lion.”
“……”
Canna could only agree with the final comparison, though in an entirely different sense.
Indeed, Orsini was beast-like.
Those piercing eyes and ferocious temper belonged more to a wild animal than a man. Even his hair resembled a lion’s mane.
“Yet beneath that exterior lies a tender heart.”
It was an excessively biased view. In the end Canna could no longer restrain herself and objected fiercely.
“That is absolutely not true.”
“It is. I know it is.”
“It’s not. I’m telling you it’s not!”
Rachel narrowed her eyes. She clearly disliked Canna’s disparaging opinion of Orsini.
“When he lost the knights, Lord Orsini was deeply heartbroken.”
“……”
“He didn’t show it outwardly, but he must be tormented by overwhelming guilt. I know. His heart is as transparent and beautiful as a glass bead.”
……She would pretend she hadn’t heard that last part. Canna silently censored the deluge of sentences.
Suddenly a line from the letter Orsini had sent floated into her mind.
The knights have been annihilated.
Do not send any more knights.
Canna asked carefully.
“I heard that the knight order was annihilated. Was it because of the monsters?”
“N-no. So you hadn’t heard that part yet. It wasn’t a monster that harmed the knights.”
Rachel smiled sadly.
“It was Lord Orsini.”
……Pardon?
Canna stared at her in utter bewilderment.
Rachel’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling. In a voice steeped in rapture she declared.
“The one who annihilated the knight order was Lord Orsini.”
Rachel began to tell her the story of that day.