Chapter 23: This Feels… Dangerous?
I was embarrassed.
Not just embarrassed—I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and hide.
As I kept my eyes shut, pretending not to know anything, Leonard’s playful voice followed.
“If you’d like to keep leaning on my shoulder, it would be an honor in its own way.”
His whisper jolted me awake.
“S-Sorry.”
I quickly straightened my back.
“If you wish, you’re welcome to lean on me anytime.”
Leonard gestured toward his shoulder with a slight tilt of his chin.
His cheeky attitude left me speechless.
“You’re really…”
“I’m not joking. Please take me seriously.”
Despite his words, he was smiling mischievously.
This man. Is he really the Knight Commander?
“…When did you notice?”
I had made sure to keep my eyes tightly closed.
“Have you ever heard that you can’t hide your expressions?”
“Not at all.”
Leonard, who had been quietly watching my annoyed face, pointed at his own brow with a finger.
“You were frowning in such a cute way while deep in thought.”
“……!”
My face grew hot.
I must have been scrunching my brow while I was thinking.
“So, you were observing my face all this time.”
“Yes. I could watch it all day without getting bored.”
“There you go again, saying things you don’t mean…”
Before I could finish my sentence, the carriage came to a stop.
“Your Majesty, please disembark.”
Leonard, who had already stepped out of the carriage, extended his hand toward me with a calm expression.
Part of me wanted to just return to the palace.
But this was a deal, after all.
And I was curious about what he wanted to show me.
I hesitantly took his hand.
“What is this place…?”
The carriage had stopped at a completely unexpected location.
When Leonard had asked me out, I vaguely imagined a dazzling jewelry shop or a fabric store with mountains of expensive silks.
But the place where his carriage arrived was a serene landscape of dense woods surrounding a small lake.
“Your Majesty, shall we take a walk?”
Leonard gracefully offered his arm.
It was a gesture of escort.
I walked through the forest path with Leonard.
Of course, I didn’t take his arm.
I understood the etiquette and grace of nobles, but holding the villain’s arm was unsettling.
“Are you worried that I might act improperly?”
“I know you’re not the kind of person who would do that.”
He was someone who wouldn’t hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve his goals.
But he wasn’t an indecent scoundrel.
Leonard gave a subtle smile.
“Sometimes… I feel as though you know me very well, Your Majesty.”
“……?”
It seemed like he murmured something.
But his voice was so low that I couldn’t hear him clearly.
Just then, Leonard pointed toward the shade of a tree as we walked through the forest.
“We’re here.”
What he pointed to was an old cabin under a large tree.
It was so shabby it could easily be mistaken for an abandoned shed.
As soon as I saw the cabin, a thought occurred to me.
“Is this where secret deals take place?”
Deals that couldn’t be conducted in the open.
Rare or illegal items exchanged in the black market.
“The black market? Why would you think that?”
“Well…”
Because you’re the villain.
The one who controls the Empire’s shadows.
But I couldn’t say that to his face.
After all, his true identity isn’t revealed until much later.
“I heard from Alfredo on the way here. He said you’ve built up your family’s business with remarkable skills. Someone like that might dabble in illegal trades too…”
At my words, Leonard’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Hmm, that’s quite an intriguing assumption.”
“Am I wrong?”
“I was just admiring Your Majesty’s sharp intuition.”
“So, it’s true? If I had known we’d come to a place like this, I would’ve brought a black velvet mask with a butterfly design.”
“Rest assured, everything necessary for entry is already prepared.”
A black market, huh.
What kind of items would there be?
Surely, it couldn’t be anything terrible or illegal.
No, it can’t be.
Even if the original Leonard was like that, the one I’ve experienced so far doesn’t seem so bad.
He’s a bit extreme and rough around the edges, but he hasn’t crossed any serious lines.
Though that precariousness makes him feel dangerous…
Half-worried and half-curious, I followed Leonard into the cabin.
The interior was dark.
There were holes of various sizes in the ceiling, letting in enough sunlight to make the space barely visible.
“Watch your step. I’ll light a lamp.”
Leonard lit a lantern hanging on the wall.
The soft, yellow light filled the cabin.
An old desk.
Wooden utensils.
A toy sword and a broken shield leaning against the wall.
Knife scratches carved into the surface of the desk.
A few books placed on a dusty bookshelf.
At first glance, it felt like a cabin used by children.
Specifically, mischievous boys.
“What do you think?”
“If this is meant to deceive onlookers, I must commend the creator. It’s incredibly convincing.”
I spoke with genuine admiration.
It looked exactly like an abandoned cabin, steeped in childhood memories from a decade ago.
A place no one visits anymore.
Alright, now show me the real deal.
Where is it? The entrance to the hidden basement?
Could it be under the floor?
The precarious bookshelf also seemed suspicious.
For instance, pulling a book might reveal a hidden space…
I began fiddling with the books on the shelf.
“Hahaha.”
At that moment, Leonard burst into cheerful laughter.
“It seems I’ve unintentionally disappointed Your Majesty.”
“You’re not about to tell me you can’t show me the secret deal after all, are you?”
“Of course not.”
Leonard shook his head.
He scratched his chin with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“There was no such thing to begin with.”
“What?”
My eyes widened.
I looked around again and asked him.
“Then what was it you wanted to show me…?”
“Yes. This place. A place filled with my memories.”
“……!”
So, this was what he had wanted to show me after such a long journey.
I was surprised, as it was entirely different from what I had expected.
No, I was somewhat shocked.
“This is a place of childhood memories for me. Specifically…”
His eyes, lost in reminiscence, held emotions entirely different from anything I’d seen in him before.
“…A place filled with memories of me and my younger sibling.”
A sibling?
Was there such a detail in the original story?
I don’t recall it ever being mentioned…
I looked at him for a moment before asking.
“Why show this place to me?”
The familiar smile returned to his face.
“I vowed to show this place first to someone I like.”
I let out a small, scoffing laugh at his playful remark.
“How many times have you used that line?”
“What if I told you this is the first?”
“You’ve said something similar before.”
“Well, it seems I cannot win against Your Majesty.”
Still, seeing how much he cherished this place, it was clear that Leonard cared deeply for his sibling.
I glanced around the cabin.
It felt as though the memories of two brothers were imprinted in every corner.
Then, I noticed something peculiar.
A long, slanted line stretched from the dining table to the desk and the bookshelf.
The line ended at a wooden toy sword leaning against a corner of the wall.
The sword was battered, and the shield next to it was half-broken.
“Did you often have sword fights?”
“We were brothers. Like most brothers, we played and fought often.”
“It must have been intense to break a shield.”
“Well, that…”
“That?”
Once again, I felt a strange sense of unease from him.
Leonard gazed at the broken shield with a pained expression before pulling out a book from the bookshelf.
“Have you read this book? It was my favorite.”
He flipped through the pages, stopping at a well-worn section.
“Ah, this part. I especially liked this scene. Whenever I read this part to my sibling, they always…”
Mid-sentence, he took a deep breath.
There was something.
Something related to his sibling.
“You must have really loved your sibling.”
Snap!
He closed the book abruptly.
“Well.”
Leonard let out a low sigh.
At the same time, the melancholy glimmer in his eyes faded like a mirage.
“It seems time has flown. If we want to return to the palace before sunset, we should leave now.”
His face had returned to its usual polite smile as he spoke of leaving.
When I looked outside the cabin, the sun was indeed beginning to set.
“Shall we go?”
Leonard extended his arm.
I brushed past him as I exited the cabin.
Then, turning back to him, I asked.
“Aren’t you coming?”
Leonard gestured to his arm with his eyes.
“Would it hurt to allow me this once?”
“If I allow it once, I’m sure you’ll start asking naturally from the next time.”
“My, you’ve seen right through me.”
“You really…”
Were you always this transparent?
In the original story, Leonard seamlessly shifted between being a serious Knight Commander and a dangerous villain.
But the radiant smile he was showing me now…
This wasn’t something I had ever seen from him.
He used to have a heavier, darker smile—one that felt weighed down by destiny.
What happens later to make him that dark?
While I was lost in thought, Leonard and I left the cabin and began walking down the forest path.
“Wait a moment.”
Leonard suddenly stopped.
His expression became incredibly serious.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shh.”
Leonard raised a finger to his lips.
Then, he whispered softly near my ear.
“I sense the presence of people.”
“Could it be people out for a stroll?”
“Few would choose to stroll in a place this remote. Perhaps some herbalists at most.”
Leonard shook his head slightly.
“However, the movements I’m sensing… it’s not just one or two people.”
Hiding behind a tree, his expression grew even graver.
By then, I could also hear footsteps.
There was the sound of rustling bushes and clinking metal.
“This doesn’t seem like ordinary people. Stay hidden,” he whispered again.
I nodded in agreement.
“This way.”
Following Leonard’s lead, I quietly moved into the shadows of the forest.
But then—
“I hear something strange.”
“What? What do you hear?”
“Maybe it’s just an animal.”
“No, there’s definitely something. Hey, didn’t you see something suspicious over there?”
We’d been discovered.
“I think we should run,” Leonard said.
We started to push through the bushes, ready to flee.
Or, at least, we tried.
“See? I told you there was something.”
“Wait… that’s a woman?”
Unfortunately, the place we’d chosen to hide was right in the middle of a group of unfamiliar men.
We were surrounded before we could even begin our escape.
“Well, look at this.”
The rough-looking men smirked as they looked at me and Leonard.
Their dark, sunburned skin bore numerous scars, large and small.
Standing beside me, Leonard spoke in a calm voice.
“It seems we’ve encountered bandits.”
Bandits.
The kind of villains you only read about in fairy tales, robbing people in the mountains.
The real bandits before me looked far more menacing.
Leonard drew a sword.
It was, to be exact, the wooden sword from the cabin.
“Do not worry, Your Majesty. I will protect you with my life.”
Seeing him stand before me, sword in hand, was honestly a little impressive.
The problem was…
“Well, look at this guy.”
“He seems quite brave.”
“But I wonder if his skills are as good as his words.”
Nearly twenty bandits emerged from all directions in the forest.
This…
Isn’t this a bit dangerous?
—
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