"What! Mmf!"
Diana, her face buried in Roderick's wet shirt, struggled in his embrace. He tightened his hold on her.
"Roderick?"
"...."
Diana glanced up at him and, getting no response, rested her head on his chest, deciding to replenish the curse. "What's this mean? I wake up, and you've changed like this? You hated it when I clung to you."
"So?"
His voice, raspy and split at the end, sounded pleasing to the ear.
"Do you hate it?"
"No. Who said I hated it?"
Diana clung tighter, eliciting a soft chuckle from Roderick.
An exasperating woman, but not entirely unpleasant.
The weight pressing against him felt surprisingly comforting.
Was this shared warmth always so peaceful?
Even wandering the battlefield, screaming, unable to find this serenity amidst the urge to kill.
It was a tranquility he had never felt before in his life.
"...."
Absorbed in the moment, Roderick gazed at the bright moon, then frowned, sensing something off.
"Lady?"
"...."
Diana, who had been chattering just moments ago, fell silent. Roderick sat up to check on her.
Her soaked body was cooling down, feverish.
Shivering in her sleep, Diana's face flushed red.
Tch. He clicked his tongue, removing the pendant she wore on her wrist. Roderick quickly broke the location-tracking pendant.
It was a signal for emergencies. His men would arrive soon.
Roderick lit a fire after placing Diana against a safe tree corner.
Lighting a fire in a monster-infested forest at night was suicidal, but to him, monsters were no threat.
His shirt and sword were gone. Even unarmed, he remained calm.
He took off his thin shirt, wrung it out, and covered Diana with it.
How she got out of the castle with an unconscious man was a mystery. No one would believe it, considering her frail appearance.
Unwittingly, he owed her a debt.
Roderick turned his deep blue eyes, as blue as the lake, towards the water.
Deep and unfathomable. Was the lake connected to the castle?
Considering their wet state and her words, it was an easy deduction. In water, he could move freely.
"Commander!"
Lost in thought, he was interrupted by a familiar voice. His men arrived, clanking in their armor.
They stopped abruptly at the sight before them.
"Uh, that. Uh."
One man stuttered, only to be pushed aside as another spoke.
"Did we interrupt you?"
Roderick swept back his dark hair, lit blue in the moonlight. His eyes were more menacing than ever.
His look said it all: 'What nonsense are you talking about?'
"No! It's just… seeing the Commander like that, anyone would misunderstand!"
The scene of a man with bare chest and a woman covered with his shirt, lying beside the fire, looked like intimate lovers.
But the problem was, that man was their commander.
The head of the Duvall Knights, Roderick Schwartz!
And he had given the woman his lap as a pillow.
The men were in shock. This was a huge event.
"Wow, even our commander has a spring."
The sight of their commander, known for his coldness, offering his thigh as a pillow to a woman was astonishing.
"I thought he'd be single for life."
"Ugh. Damn it. I'm jealous."
"I can't even see my own wife."
"Quiet."
A low voice silenced all noise instantly.
Roderick dismissed his men with a single word and raised his hand. The deputy commander stepped forward, followed by Noel, who came running.
"Nuna!"
Before the child could reach Diana, his small head was caught in a large hand.
"Be quiet. Who are you?"
"…Nuna's brother?"
The child's face, pale from seeing Diana unconscious, quickly turned sullen as he looked up at Roderick.
Red eyes shimmered menacingly, though his plump cheeks and small stature were not threatening.
"The Beatus family only has the lady as the youngest. Is there a bastard?"
The deputy commander, who had been standing quietly, added softly.
"The Beatus family's bastard. Our previous investigation indicated that upon entering the family, the bastard disappeared without any record. Seems he was trapped here."
"Was the lady of the Beatus family also missing?"
"Was this woman from the Beatus family?"
"Yes."
"There was no unusual report just before we left."
The Beatus siblings were famous in the empire. Contrary to the three brothers' renown, the youngest lady was equally well-known.
Despite being from a prominent family, rumors said she secluded herself, never leaving her estate.
She was rumored to be extremely unattractive or suffering from an incurable disease, even disabled.
Various rumors circulated, but they were ignored, only fueling more speculation.
Contrary to the rumors, she was a stunning beauty. Perhaps she was always locked up here, not in her estate.
"We'll need to investigate this."
"Uncle."
Roderick, sorting his thoughts, twitched his eyebrows at this unfamiliar address.
"Let go of my head."
He hadn't realized he was still holding the child's head. Roderick's brow furrowed irritably.
"Darren."
Thinking he was unarmed, the deputy commander quickly handed him a pair of black gloves. Roderick disliked touching anything with his bare hands.
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