"Why haven't you come yet?"
Alicia wrapped her head in her hands and leaned over the desk, emitting laments of distress.
"It's been a month today since I sent the letter, and there hasn't even been any message, let alone an envoy."
To this day, more than a month has passed since Count Gaidar sent an unpleasant communication.
They must have gathered people and set out, so they will arrive here sooner or later.
"Let's wait a little more patiently."
Old Knight Duncan looked at Alicia, who sobbed at the desk, with sad eyes.
Because there is an imminent threat, it can be confusing.
However, Duncan knew well that this was the time when vassals like him had to correct their lord.
"You should always prepare for the worst. Only then can you face everything with humility."
"…Should I marry there?"
Alicia, who had been grumbling with pursed lips, began to laugh emptily, as if it were funny even after hearing what she had said.
"It's a ridiculous story."
"...Indeed."
Sigmund, Count Gaidar, sent a letter to Alicia asking if she would marry his eldest son.
The Gaidar family was one of the most prominent families in recent times, and especially being a border with Deirmar, so it was a proposal worthy of consideration at least once from Alicia's point of view.
However, the problem was that there was no sign of respect toward the Hainal family in the letter.
If Sigmund truly wanted Gaidar and Hainal to unite, he would not have sent a marriage proposal that seemed like a warning like this.
The sweet words written in the letter were sweet, but they did not actually promise Hainal's future, and the relentless war that Count Sigmund had waged so far was a good example of his greedy nature.
In other words, the proposal sent by Count Sigmund was like poison that should not be drunk.
"There are only thieves around here."
"...Lady Alicia."
Alicia knew better.
Bayezid also does not treat them with a simple favor.
There was no unconditional ally for the powerless.
"If we had time, we would have a chance to defend ourselves."
Listening to Duncan's words, who tried to give her some strength, Hainal, who had been lying powerless on the desk, adjusted her posture.
"That's right. You have to try until you try."
It was no shame to cower when you had no strength.
If you don't have something at hand right now, you'll have to borrow it somehow, and Alicia was willing to pay the full price.
"But is it so hard to borrow from a squire who isn't even a knight?"
However, the boy she had asked Bayezid for still had no contact and hadn't even been seen.
"...He's just a squire."
He wasn't an ordinary boy.
The boy who upheld Hainal's honor in that day's duel.
And he was the boy who cleaned his parents' tombstones with both hands, holding his handkerchief.
"Lady Alicia. It is said that people from the Gaidar family have already arrived in the territory."
When everyone around revealed their dark intentions about the territory called Deirmar, there was only one person who could help Alicia out of pure duty.
"It's okay."
And Alicia kept waiting for the boy.
***
There were men entering through the entrance of Deirmar.
The men, about ten of them, were all well-armed knights.
"It's a rural area."
The man at the front of the group looked around with wide eyes and opened his mouth.
"And it's very quiet."
Thick, unkempt eyebrows, broad shoulders.
And though he smiles, he seems belligerent.
The young man, who proudly flaunted himself without any composure, furrowed his brow as if unsatisfied with the spirit that had caught his attention.
"So this is Deirmar. It's a territory based more on diplomacy than war, and on agriculture rather than trade and industry."
"Sounds like it's not much fun."
The burly man scratched his head as if he had lost interest in the explanation about Deirmar coming from his side.
"I just need to stand still. Right, Godin?"
"You should greet."
"All I have to do is greet, right?"
"Pretend you're interested and talk about various things."
"Yeah."
Stephen, the eldest son of the Gaidar family.
He was someone who didn't hesitate to do what he wanted, and he was also someone who was born with the natural ability to refuse to do what he didn't want to do.
"I don't want to do that kind of troublesome work."
The knights behind him naturally grew nervous at Stephen's sudden fierceness, as if he was warming up just with the idea of being annoying.
"You must fulfill your duty to the blood you were born into."
However, Godin, who bore the brunt of the force, simply smiled calmly.
A knight who always hides a sharp sword behind a smiling face.
That's why he's the kind of man you can't smile at face to face.
"...I understand."
Seeing Godin unwavering in his own strength, Stephen could only sigh as if there was nothing he could do.
The fact that Godin was sent as his right hand also meant that his father was taking this matter seriously.
"They said she has a beautiful appearance."
Godin knew well that Stephen was a man who couldn't be appeased just by restraining him.
"They say there's no noblewoman in this area who can compare to her."
"...Is that so?"
A person of Western blood who is honest about his desires and doesn't hesitate to do what he wants.
Stephen, who inherited Sigmund's personality, nodded as if understanding the carrot Godin had openly bitten into.
"I feel a little motivated."
It was a boring and unpleasant mission, but he was glad that at least there was one thing that interested him.
At the end of Stephen's field of vision, knights carrying the banner of the Hainal family ran.
***
"Oh oh."
The first thing Stephen said as he looked at the woman with aquamarine hair sitting atop him was an exclamation.
"I knew it from rumors, but rumors were just rumors. Now I have before me a beauty that cannot be contained in mere words."
"…."
Despite his rough appearance, Stephen was quite a sophisticated horseman, but Alicia already felt uncomfortable with him.
This was because Stephen's attitude towards a feudal lord was too light.
"I'm glad to see you, Lady. I am Stephen of the Gaidar family."
"…Welcome, Stephen of Gaidar."
Stephen dared to address Alicia by the mere title of Lady, even though she held the official title of Baroness.
Duncan, who was beside her, pressed Istvan with a sharp force, but Istvan, who was actually involved, simply laughed.
"You worked hard to get here. It would have been better if you had given me a message in advance."
First and foremost, these were people who couldn't be pushed with impulse. However, Alicia Hainal was the rightful owner of Deirmar. As a lord, the owner had the duty to honor himself.
"Wouldn't it have been necessary to coordinate in advance this marriage proposal? I think it was a bit hasty to come here so suddenly."
Her hair was the color of aquamarine, but the color of the words flowing from the tip of her tongue was icy blue.
Alicia managed to display the colors of nobility, at least on the outside.
"I am a little disappointed with the attitude shown to me by Gaidar."
As Alicia said, sending a letter would naturally not establish a marriage or engagement between nobles. However, Gaidar had already sent the involved party, Stephen, to Deirmar without even hearing Alicia's intentions, so no matter how kindly she saw it, it could only be seen as a lack of respect towards Alicia.
"Our Count said that there would be relationships that would start through a meeting."
"Are you saying that a meeting between noble families would take place so hastily?"
Duncan, who felt offended by Godin's cunning words, felt like cursing.
To the old knight, Lady Alicia was someone he cherished, nothing less than his own daughter.
"Don't be like that. If the Count cared so much about Alicia, he would have sent his son directly to avoid losing her to someone else."
However, you shouldn't get angry out of carelessness.
It must have been an intentional act on his part to enter so recklessly, and that intention would have been to gain his own justification.
"We apologize for any degree of disregard for etiquette and procedure. However, Stephen here is the eldest son and heir of the Gaidar family. He is someone who can already carry out procedures that are not usual just by existing."
As Godin said, sending the eldest son of the family to this event also meant that Count Sigmund gave it great significance.
If Alicia treated him carelessly here, it would be no different from a public criticism of the Gaidar family.
"Don't get so angry. We are the ones bringing good news."
Seeing Stephen's malicious smile, Alicia gripped her skirt tightly.
Uninvited guests who came with a difficult and tricky motive to propose marriage.
Alicia did her best to be patient as she watched the men who clearly had what they wanted and were very unpleasant in what they wanted to do.
"We welcome your visit. For now, rest in the shelter provided..."
"Instead of taking a break, I would like to have a close conversation with Alicia first."
Trailblazers are unstoppable.
If there's something you want, you say you want it without hesitation.
"I would like to greet my parents first, but that's not possible."
And to have it, no means or methods are chosen.
Alicia's aqua-colored eyes caused huge ripples as she looked at Stephen, who even talked about her now deceased parents.
"How dare you..."
Patience is a valuable virtue for everyone, but it's also a good thing.
If you persevere even after crossing the line, it's just an act of humiliation.
"Where I am..."
Lord of Deirmar, the sole Hainal.
He stood up to vent his anger at the insult he should not have endured.
"The knights of Bayezid have arrived!"
Just as Alicia was about to lose her balance, which she had managed to maintain with patience, the butler crossed the hall shouting loudly.
From the employer's point of view, it was no different from tying the master's mouth shut, but the butler was already allowed to do this and had to do it.
"They have just arrived at the mansion."
The butler had a pale complexion and was cold sweating due to the force of the knights glaring at him from behind, but he was doing his best to do his job.
"Come in!"
Duncan's preparations were successful, and the poor butler did his best to complete his task.
With Duncan's urgent cry, the hall of Deirmae opened on its own.
There were men visible through the door slowly opening.
An exclusive dark cloak from the North.
The knights from the North exuded a cold and sharp aura like their place of origin.
"It's been a long time. Baron Hainal."
And the one-eyed knight standing before them and courteously bowing his head.
"The knights of Bayezid meet with the Lord of Deirmar."
Unlike the Western knights, the Northern knights treated the Lord of Deirmar with courtesy.
"…"
Alicia looked at the boy who made eye contact with her without bowing his head.
The blue eyes looked at Alicia with the same unwavering gaze as before.
When she renounced everything, it was the boy who entered the battlefield alone carrying his honor.
"Forgive me for the delay."
The boy standing in front of the hall with a slightly different status from the knights here late bowed his head slightly and greeted.
"I have come here now to respond to your call, Lady Alicia."
Stephen has no right to call Alicia Lady.
But the boy who now entered the hall had the right to call her Lady.
Because he was the only one she allowed.
"Welcome. Knights of Bayezid."
With Alicia's nod, the door of the hall closed.
Now all those who need to enter are here.
They looked at each other—those who came for a cause and those who came with a cause in hand.