||T/N:
•Italics for thoughts (+apostrophes for the first one) and sound effects.
•Multiple "-" represents flashbacks and memories (unless dependant on time signatures like "* * *").
Enjoy reading!||
. . .
Knock, knock.
Kalia, who had been packing her luggage for a while, turned her head at the sound of a light knock on the door.
"Are you all set?"
Half of the double door opened wide, and a tall, slender black-haired man entered into her room with a gentle smile.3
When she saw the man with long hair tied behind him, Kalia nodded slightly and answered. "Almost."
Finally, today.
Kalia sighed and glanced at the bags that were piled up like mountains.
Finally, she was leaving the caste system of the place. Leaving that, the Imperial Family, and Simon, moving far away·
"All I have to do is move this."
Kalia, who lifted the last bag, looked up over the wagon where the bags were stacked, and Kalia nodded slightly.
A startled man came up and arranged the luggage for her.
"Kalia, don't lift anything heavy."
With the ensuing nagging, his voice was rather stern and full of worry.
"You'll be in big trouble if you lift anything this heavy and fall backwards. Your pregnancy should be at the top of your priority right now. Even if you've cut off the head of the enemy with a sword, keep in mind that things are very different now."
"Yes. I'll do so next time."
Kalia answered quickly, blocking any further nagging, before puffing her mouth as if wanting to say a few more words.
Looking into the man's eyes, Kalia laughed.
The man's name was Allen McEcker.
Although his tall, slender frame did not seem to be that of a person who spent the majority of his life studying, he was a fairly intelligent scholar and doctor.
Unlike his sophisticated appearance, he was a man full of affection and nagging.
"Please keep that in mind. You're not in the stable period yet, so you have to be very careful."
"Yes, sir."
He was also her new personal doctor.
Just two weeks ago, after finding out that she was pregnant, Kalia immediately visited Mrs. Arendi.
Medicine was top-tier knowledge that required a lot of patience and money to study.
What can be handled with magic or divine power was mainly about 'regeneration', while the rest were still from the field of medicine, so the social status of doctors was high.
Therefore, medicine was mostly studied by the well-off noble women, and even the aristocrats with very high intellectual desires sometimes jumped in.
As Allen said earlier, it was a costly field, so he used to be sponsored by rich families. He then studied, and qualified as a doctor, and became the doctor of the patron family.
Mrs. Arendi was also a doctor sponsored by Kalia more than seven years ago.
She was good, always neat, and most importantly, her words were reliable and hard to go against.
She was able to tell Kalia that she was pregnant, but the problem was that she couldn't leave with her.
Mrs. Arendi, who was married and now had a four-year-old child, was unable to leave the capital due to her family.
But a pregnant woman needed a doctor, hence Mrs. Arendi introduced her cousin, Allen.
"He's pretty good. He nags a lot, but he won't betray his loyalty. I think him being a male doctor might be a little awkward, but . . . Well, there aren't many female doctors in the country, so male doctors sometimes see to their wives. Furthermore, he has studied paediatrics a lot, and it will be a lot of help even after your pregnancy."
With that said, she introduced Allen as he had a lot of knowledge in pregnancy and childbirth.
She said it was because his wife had died while having a baby six years ago.11
With those remarks, Kalia accepted Mrs. Arendi's recommendation and made an appointment to meet him.
She had a lot of eyes on her inside her mansion, so she made an appointment to meet him downtown.
However, she had no choice but to bring him to the mansion because he fainted from the previous transgression.
As soon as he woke up, Kalia asked him to be the chief doctor.
He nodded, after thinking for a long time about her offer.
The reason he accepted being her doctor was because when he had seen her alone with no one taking care of her, he decided to be the one to nag her.4
Prior to Allen's acceptance of becoming her doctor, Kalia stated that she could now leave the capital.
If he was thinking of settling down in the capital, then it would have been a burden for him to be her personal doctor and leave with her.
However, Allen had stated that he could go anywhere shortly after entering the capital.
The truth was that it was hard for any outsider to respond to the chaos of the capital. It was a good thing for Kalia.
"Is this all you're supposed to be doing? I'll move it for you."
"It's all right. All you have to do is push."
"I'm afraid it's going to fall off if I move it, regardless of whether it's heavy or not. You should be giving orders and letting other people do these minor things for you instead of doing them yourself. At least only until you've had your child. Now that you're going to be a mother, you should always try to practice being more careful for your child. Do you understand?"
Mother.
It had always been a word that weakened Kalia.
At the same time, it was also a word that encouraged her to make new and better decisions.
'Yes, I'm a mother. A Mom.'
After a moment of thought, Kalia closed her mouth tightly and nodded vigorously.
Allen smiled unconsciously as if she were a good student.
'Unlike the vicious rumours of her being crazy for blood or having a monster-sized body, General Kalia was a much warmer person than I had imagined.'9
When he had first seen Kalia in a wide-brimmed hat and a gloomy dress, he had actually doubted that this woman was really the legendary Kalia.
But soon after seeing the calluses on her palms and the large blade slash across her solid stomach, he changed his mind.
There weren't many other scars on Kalia's white flesh, even though she had one on her belly.
She only had a deep cut on her waist, torn skin, and an arrowhead wound.
Trying not to look surprised, Allen had finished his first treatment pretending to be calm.
'Trying to judge a person by the first impression. As expected, I still have a long way to go.'
Allen once again treated her with humility, lamenting that he was still such a foolish, short-sighted person.
No matter how beautiful of a woman she was, and even as a prospective mother with a child in her belly, she was still a hero who brought peace to the Empire and was a symbol of victory.
It was only right to treat her with respect more than anyone else.
"Now, shall we go?"
Allen, who had headed down beforehand, moved the wagon carrying Kalia's luggage to the awaiting carriage first. He then awkwardly ran back to the stairs and reached his hand out to her.
"Hold onto my hand."
There were only a few steps remaining when he hurried over to escort her, Allen's overprotection eventually ended up making her laugh.
"Honestly, tell me, Allen. Am I not pregnant? Do I look like I am terminally ill?"
Allen smiled and slowly walked down the stairs, holding Kalia's hand.
"All pregnant women are as fragile as newborn babies. At least I think so."
Kalia shuddered at the overprotectiveness of the restless man, but on the other hand, she thought it would benefit her.
She thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a person who was sensitive next to her.25
The two people walked slowly and stood in front of the carriage prepared outside the lobby.
Next to the carriage stood a butler who remained alone in the mansion to say goodbye to Hemming, who was calming the horses.
First, Kalia, who approached Hemming, spoke with a genuine concern.
"Are you sure you're okay, Hemming? If you stay in the capital, you could go under a better master. I'll write a recommendation letter."
"No, once I became Kalia's squire, my only master was Kalia. And you promised. You'll be back in the capital. So, this opportunity is good. I've never been anywhere else."
"I'm going to the boring countryside. I might not even have a chance to wield a sword."
"I don't care! Just have me by your side!"
Responding to the strong desires of the young lady with sparkling eyes, Kalia eventually raised her hands to surrender.
Hemming had no family left.
Three years ago, the disease worsened, and not only her mom and dad, but also her younger brother passed away.
She said she didn't want to be left alone, so she grabbed Kalia's baggy pants as Kalia was firing the employees, and cried pleading to allow her to stay.
She even threatened to tell Simon everything if Kalia left her behind.11
Dumbfounded, Kalia burst into laughter, eventually deciding to take Hemming with her.
She needed someone to assist her in a foreign land anyway.
Thus, Kalia, Hemming and Allen decided to leave together.4
Kalia disposed of most of her properties except for the mansion in the capital.
So some of her new fortunes were spent to buy gold used as gifts for the soldiers and executives and to console the employees who were abruptly dismissed.
She also disposed of all her usual clothes and bought new clothing, including a comfortable dress that she had never worn before.
However, even with that, the money spent was less than 20% of the total amount.2
The most expensive items were transportation scrolls and scrolls that erased traces.1
She bought dozens of scrolls of only the finest quality.
The money spent for that alone exceeded another total of 15% of her wealth.
Nevertheless, her wealth, which was given as a reward for war, has so much remaining that it left quite a few nobles and their wealth in the dust.
Kalia looked back awkwardly, holding up the hem of the dress that fluttered around her ankles.
Jacob, the butler, stood there. He had slimy eyes and a few wrinkles and boasted a mustache that was trimmed into a nice shape, giving him a profound and sharp impression.
She was strangely relieved to see the usually organized and busy butler.
Kalia approached him and said, "I'll be back, Jacob."1
"Jacob, the butler, will happily wait for the day my master gets home."8
He folded his arms and wrists in a restrained manner, bowing to her to show the utmost respect for his master.
"On a fresh day, there is elegance and grace in every movement," she had said when she was in charge of miscreants amongst the Royal Knights.
Jacob did not question Kalia's words that day when he suddenly received an order to pack all her belongings.
Without asking anything nor making any guesses, Jacob followed her orders.
She was so grateful.1
Four years ago, Kalia rescued Jacob, who had to leave the capital after being expelled from the Dukedom of Terroan, who he devoted more than 30 years of his life for, due to 'some threat.' She then brought him to her mansion.
She praised herself for the best decision she had ever made in the last decade, as Jacob was the perfect butler, follower, and supporter.
Kalia hesitated for a moment, before taking out a letter and holding it out to Jacob.
"Tell him when he comes."1
Even if she didn't say the name, they both knew.
The person who would feel most betrayed by the fact that she had disappeared.
The very person who was the reason why she had to leave the capital city.
"Don't worry. The task I'm assigned to will be fulfilled no matter how trivial it may be."
The butler smiled kindly and put her letter into his inner pocket carefully.
Kalia looked for a moment at the empty mansion and soon got into the carriage.
Jacob stood there and saw Kalia off until the carriage turned around at the front gates of the mansion, not even the lingering and scattering dust nowhere to be seen anymore.3
. . .
T/N:
Whenever I or our editors leave a note, I won't be putting a "*1" because it would probably be distracting lol. I'll be doing so in previous chapters. I'm feeling a bit lazy though . . .
(These are by order of by appearance in chapter)
["Hold onto my hand."]
•Editor 2: Lol, sounds like a marriage proposal, Simon gonna be flaring jelly if he ever saw this xD
•Editor 1: Simon be like; "Hold my beer" lmao
•Editor 2: And then Simon be like *folding his sleeves up*4
["All pregnant women are as fragile as newborn babies. At least I think so."]
•Editor 2: KYAA~~ Get an Allen for yourself
["I don't care! Just have me by your side!"]
•Editor 2: KYAA~~ So many potential ships..1
[She even threatened to tell Simon everything if Kalia left her behind.]
•Editor 2: Lol, she is much more daring than I thought
[However, even with that, the money spent was less than 20% of the total amount.]
•Editor 1: Damnnn… Kalia's rich.. wish I had some of that money.. currently broke TT~TT6
[The most expensive items were transportation scrolls and scrolls that erased traces.]
•Editor 2: Well, I don't think there will be ever enough scrolls to escape Simon's radar, lol :V3
[Nevertheless, her wealth, which was given as a reward for war, has so much remaining that it left quite a few nobles and their wealth in the dust.]
•Editor 2: I am the charity, pls donate some :V
•Editor 1: Lmao.. yes pls, me too2
[Kalia approached him and said, "I'll be back, Jacob."]
•Editor 1: Kalia and the Terminator??? I feel a sense of similarity between them… xD Kalia the terminator
Chapter 16 – Finished||