The voices from behind the flowers caught Beric's attention and he looked up only to see Yeon Jin being led out like a criminal. His eyebrows furrowed.
"Nemari, what is going on there?" The fair delicate lady asked. She had this calm yet authoritative tone that Yeon Jin immediately blushed to. But that wasn't the only reason why he blushed.
She was over the roof beautiful. From afar he couldn't see clearly but now that they were closer… He understood Beric was handsome and all but he was a terrible person. Just how did he land his hands on such a delicate beauty?
"Greetings, your majesty." Nemari greeted the lady. "Greetings, your highness." She greeted Beric before going straight to the point. "I was summoned here and as soon as I entered the garden, I found this spy. He was keeping a close eye on you and I would like to interrogate him on his intentions."
"Wow, get in line." Yeon Jin muttered and Nemari pushed her sword closer to his neck, it grazed his skin and he bled. "Hey, hey, I wasn't spying." He immediately said,
"And you expect me to believe that?"
"Hey, I was just doing my job." He said. "Besides, how can you just assume I was spying? I got this blindfold on, I might be blind you know."
"Don't spout nonsense. Are you now going to say you walked in here by accident because you're blind?" Nemari asked and Yeon Jin thought about it.
"Hm, that's a pretty good excuse, can I use that?"
"Son of a..."
"Nemari." The lady called and Nemari ceased her tongue. "I apologize for my rude aggressiveness, your majesty."
"He's bleeding." The lady said and turned to Beric. "I guess our meeting ends here. I apologize for showing you such an unsightly scene."
"It's this guy's fault." Beric said which confused them.
"Pardon?"
"Hey, take that away. You're really cutting into my flesh." Yeon Jin protested, trying to get away from the blade.
"Hold still or you'll really die." Nemari seriously pressed it against his skin and he stopped struggling. "Tell the truth, what did you plan to do by coming here?"
"Okay, I admit I came in here on my own but I didn't know it was a prohibited area. It just looked really pretty so I walked in." Yeon Jin explained. "I would've gone back if I hadn't seen him here." He pointed at Beric. "Hey, tell them I mean no harm."
The both of them blankly turned to Beric who was very close to palming his face.
"Tch, are you going to stay quiet now?" Yeon Jin asked but Beric was silent. "Pretty lady," he turned to the lady and Nemari's eyes widened. "...a good look at me and you'll know I'm not a bad person, right?"
"How dare you? Show some respect?"
Nemari pushed his head down, trying to make him bow, but reflexes caused Yeon Jin to react quite badly and he held Nemari's hand, flipped it backwards and pinned her in that position.
"Okay, this is a mistake." He said and at that moment, numerous female guards appeared out of nowhere and pointed their swords at him. "This is definitely a mistake."
Nemari gritted her teeth and tried to free herself but Yeon Jin's grip was freakishly strong. Too strong for his own appearance so she had underestimated him.
Yeon Jin quickly let go of Nemari before creating a big problem for himself.
"This isn't a nice sight, is it?" The lady asked and Beric's eyes turned dark. "Please, can you try to not stain my garden?" She requested, referring to Beric's constant habit of shedding blood at the least displeasure.
"I'm already leaving." Beric said and turned around to leave.
"Hey, where are you going? Aren't you going to tell them it's a misunderstanding?" Yeon Jin yelled at him and he paused before looking over his shoulder to grin evilly.
Yeon Jin gasped and watched him leave. He really left him to handle this issue alone? Was this his form of revenge? How childish?
"Please, there seems to be some sort of misunderstanding. I'm Beric's… I mean, his highness's personal guard. I was following him around and that's how you found me here."
"That can't be true." Nemari immediately said. "His highness does not need a personal guard to go with him. He despises the idea."
'And yet he decided that to be the best position to give me. Bravo.' Yeon Jin rolled his eyeballs. "I don't know about that but I have two people who can testify for me. Their names are... " He paused having realized that he didn't know the name of the two who were with them at the time. "... Anyway, I went to the training ground and made a big show so you can ask around and... Eek." He shrieked as Nemari's blade found its way to his neck.
"Your majesty, allow me to take this one away and force him to disclose his true purpose of spying on you." She said but the lady simply stared at Yeon Jin.
Just like Tristan had a bird singing to him the happenings in Beric's palace, she also had a few worms lurking around. And she heard about a certain spy that survived Beric's interrogation and was even given special treatment.
Was this the spy? How did he end up here?
"Nemari, leave him." She said, shocking Nemari. "He's speaking the truth."
Nemari, though doubtful, obeyed instructions and released Yeon Jin and the rest of the guards dropped their pointed blades.
Yeon Jin looked at the lady in admiration and grabbed her hands, alerting the guards once more but they stood down with her light gesture.
"Thank you so much." Yeon Jin thanked her. "It's been so difficult since I got here and that guy... I mean, his highness, just wants to exploit my abilities and make my life a hundred times more difficult. I'll have to find him now. Thank you once more." He ended up bowing his head and ran after Beric in the direction he went.
The lady watched him leave and then Nemari spoke up.
"Your majesty, did you really believe the words he said?"
"Nemari, you need to think outside the box sometimes." She said, and finally tore her gaze away from the fleeting Yeon Jin. "Are there many people who can overpower you?" She asked Nemari. "And he talked to the tyrant like that, do you think he would've survived if he was a common spy and had no connection with him?"
Nemari thought about it and nodded. She wasn't the brightest mind but she trusted her capabilities the lady's judgement.
"Anyway," the lady smiled at Nemari. "How have you been? How was training?"
Nemari looked at her and felt warm. This lady was named Alice. Queen Alice Rodolph. She was Tristan's wife and the queen, or should I say, empress of the empire.
Alice and Nemari grew up as close friends but unlike her, Nemari was a commoner. A commoner working in their mansion.
When Nemari heard that Alice had been chosen by Tristan to be his bride, she was shattered but it did not break her will to protect her. She trained hard and joined the palace guards. She rose in rank pretty quickly and finally became the captain of the second knight division under Beric's division.
And as the Knights captain, she was able to spend time with Alice, not frequently but enough to engrave her smile in her heart over and over again.
"Now, should we have some tea?" Alice smiled and she smiled back.
"Of course, your majesty."