Chapter 239

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 239
Chapter Title: The Letter
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Alfonso strode into the tent with long strides and set down his helmet.

As he began to unfasten his armor, Sir Elko immediately came to his side to help.

“...Elko.”

Alfonso called to him, his expression grim.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“You don’t have to help. I can do it myself.”

But Sir Elko shook his head.

“No knight removes his armor alone, without a squire.”

“But you are no squire.”

*You are my knight,* Alfonso started to say, but he bit his tongue.

Sir Elko was a knight who could never again wield a sword.

In his heart, Sir Elko was still a knight, but Alfonso couldn’t be sure how Sir Elko would feel hearing those words.

Instead, Alfonso tried to dissuade him.

“If I need a squire, I can hire one for the menial tasks. You shouldn’t be doing this kind of work.”

Sir Elko shook his head again, a complicated look on his face.

“...Your Highness. Please do not cast me aside.”

“Cast you aside!”

Alfonso vehemently denied it.

“That’s absurd! I’m saying there are more important things for you to do.”

“...What more important task could I possibly have than to attend to you, Your Highness?”

With Sir Elko putting it that way, Alfonso was at a loss for words. Sir Elko spoke firmly.

“You took me in when I had nowhere else to go. And you took me in again when I became useless.”

He emphasized it once more.

“My life is yours, Your Highness. Serving you, no matter how trivial the task, is my joy. Please, do not cast me aside.”

In the end, Alfonso silently allowed him to remove the armor.

With his one remaining hand, Sir Elko meticulously undid all the clasps on Alfonso’s armor, detaching each piece and carefully stacking them in a corner of the tent.

Freed from the heavy steel, Alfonso sat at his desk.

By the candlelight, he saw two letters on his desk.

Sir Elko did not leave the tent but remained behind Alfonso, holding his breath as he wiped down the armor with an oiled cloth.

The first letter Alfonso picked up was a certificate of funding from the Holy See.

“To think the local diocese of the Holy See would send something like this. Better than my father, at least.”

At Alfonso’s bitter smile, Sir Elko chimed in.

“The hearts of the parishioners are truly commendable.”

He added.

“They must have gone to such lengths because they know that Your Highness has the makings of a true monarch.”

There was not a single word about Ariadne.

Alfonso gave a slight smile but offered no other reaction to Sir Elko’s comment.

Alfonso picked up the second letter. Sir Elko tried to even his breathing.

Sweat beaded on his palm.

He could hardly tell if the slickness on the armor was from the oiled cloth or his own perspiration.

*Rustle.*

Alfonso tore open the unmarked envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

“...”

His face hardened as he read the first paragraph over and over.

“...Elko.”

“...Yes, Your Highness.”

“Would you leave me alone for a moment?”

Sir Elko felt a cold sweat run down his spine.

“Is something the matter...?”

“Leave me alone.”

It was rare for Alfonso to be so adamant. Sir Elko had no choice but to comply.

“...As you command. Rest well, Your Highness.”

He set down the armor he was cleaning and reluctantly exited the tent.

***

Left alone, Alfonso stared again at the letter in his hand.

「From Lariesa, who longs for her beloved Alfonso.」

The letter had a long, empty space after the salutation.

But while the paper was blank, the content was not. The first paragraph got straight to the point.

「I thought you might want to know, so I am telling you. Your former lover is now engaged to your half-brother.」

The greeting had been unsettling enough, but the first sentence made Alfonso’s breath catch in his throat.

「I told you, didn’t I? That she betrayed you and begged His Majesty the King to recognize your half-brother.

At the ball celebrating Count Cesare de Como’s official entry into the royal family, Miss Ariadne de Mare shared the first dance with him.

Now, it is certain. She has abandoned you.」

Alfonso’s face was pale and expressionless.

「The ‘Hall of the Sun’ was opened, and His Majesty the King himself presided over the engagement ceremony.

She was also granted the title of ‘Countess de Mare.’

In your absence, she has gone from being a nameless outsider in San Carlo’s high society to being formally accepted as a noble with her own title, and as the fiancée of a duke from a collateral branch of the royal family with a claim to the throne, she has become the highest-ranking unmarried woman in San Carlo.

I wonder what she did to earn such a reward.」

The rest of the letter was filled with useless chatter.

Princess Lariesa wrote of how much she loved Alfonso, shared details of her daily life, and praised his military achievements.

*How does she know of my accomplishments on the battlefield?*

The question arose, but there was no answer.

The Kingdom of Gallico was the largest sponsor of this crusade, and Duke Eudes was one of the most powerful figures in the Gallican royal court.

Reports on the war situation were likely being sent through both official and unofficial channels.

After a long passage extolling Alfonso’s greatness, the letter concluded with Lariesa’s advice.

「I am delighted to hear that your renown in the crusade is growing.

But it is time for you to return.

You, a man of noble blood, have a throne to inherit. You need not suffer through the blood and pus of the battlefield like the swine who left in search of a quick fortune.

The momentum your half-brother is gaining in San Carlo is not to be taken lightly.

You have heard that he has become the Commander-in-Chief of the Etruscan army, have you not? The time for letting a half-blooded bastard run rampant is over. Protect what is yours.

Return home, secure your position, and welcome me soon. It has been too long since I have seen you.

Your faithful wife, who looks only to you, Lariesa.」

*Ariadne betrayed me.*

Prince Alfonso repeated the sentence to himself several times.

*Ariadne betrayed Alfonso.*

He mulled it over once, twice, ten, twenty times, but it didn’t feel real.

He considered the possibility that Lariesa was telling a vicious lie.

But while Lariesa was a woman who lied as easily as she breathed to embellish her own image, she had never lied about basic facts concerning politics, military affairs, or the state of things.

She wouldn’t have the nerve to fabricate such a story in a letter, knowing the storm that would follow.

But for his Ariadne, of all people, to betray him—how could that be?

Alfonso, still in a daze, rephrased the sentence once more.

*Ariadne de Mare has become another man’s woman. And that man is none other than Cesare de Como.*

Alfonso’s lips began to tremble. The sentence twisted and reassembled itself in his mind.

*Ariadne de Mare no longer loves Alfonso de Carlo.*

*Thump.*

His heart pounded erratically.

Alfonso could endure all the rest.

Even if Ariadne were engaged to Cesare, even if she had sold him out for a title, it wouldn’t matter.

As he was now, he could shout that it was all right, that he could bear it, and embrace her again.

Others might call him a fool, an idiot, but what others thought was just that—what others thought.

She was the reason he endured each day on this desolate battlefield.

He dreamed of the day he would return in glory, hold her in his arms, and spin her around on the walls of San Carlo.

On the very wall where she had stood when he left. That day, he had truly wanted to take her hand, to embrace and kiss her.

It was a dream he couldn’t fulfill then. A dream he was determined to make a reality someday.

He planned to lead the crusade to victory and return to the Kingdom of Etruscan with his head held high, then use his military achievements to make a demand of his father.

‘I am not a chess piece in a political marriage. I will marry Ariadne de Mare.’

To break the forced marriage with Princess Lariesa—Alfonso was still unaware that the marriage contract he had signed was void—the Kingdom of Etruscan needed to have an overwhelming advantage over the Kingdom of Gallico.

That was why the Prince of Etruscan, who could have remained safely in the rear, was leading a special contingent, tearing through the front lines.

To become a knight-king of such overwhelming military might that the King of Gallico would not dare to challenge him.

But the fragmented sentences continued to reassemble themselves, surfacing in Alfonso’s mind.

*Ariadne de Mare never once loved Alfonso de Carlo.*

*Thud.*

Alfonso’s heart sank. The sentence danced again.

*Ariadne de Mare wanted a title and status.*

*Before, Alfonso de Carlo could give her that, but not anymore.*

*Cesare de Como gave her what she wanted.*

“No... that can’t be...”

He tried to voice his denial.

But a simple denial was powerless against the overwhelming tide of thoughts.

The words he spoke shattered and scattered, unable to withstand the onslaught.

Finally, his thoughts coalesced into one final, solid mass.

*Ariadne de Mare never loved Alfonso de Carlo.*

*No way. It can't be. It's not true. It can't be.*

Alfonso shook his head, denying it. Those lips, that smile, that warmth, that vitality—it couldn’t all have been fake.

Alfonso, who had returned unscathed after sweeping the battlefield for three days and nights, suddenly felt a wave of fatigue and buried his head in his arms on the wooden desk.

The weight was unbearable.

And outside Alfonso’s tent, Sir Elko anxiously monitored the situation within. The night deepened.

***

Having snuck into her sister’s study, Isabella looked around.

*She’s kept this place ridiculously organized.*

Not a speck of dust. It would be more fun to rummage through if there were a mountain of documents piled on the desk, but everything was neat and tidy.

The bookshelves were long, but they held only bound books. The ledgers, secret notebooks, jewels from men, and anything else that could be a weakness—all of which Isabella was looking for—were nowhere to be seen.

*Creak!*

Isabella roughly pulled open Ariadne’s drawer, but there was nothing of value there either.

Just inkwells and new, unused stationery, all neatly arranged.

“What kind of person is she?”

There should be some jewels tangled on the vanity, old makeup caked and dry, something to show she was human, Isabella muttered as she flung open a large wardrobe.

“Oh...”

Inside the wardrobe was a large safe. Isabella glared at the lock. It was a key lock, not a combination one.

*Everything I’m looking for must be in there.*

The "Heart of the Deep Blue Sea," that eyesore, various ledgers, ducat gold coins, and other valuables—they would all be in there.

Hoping for a lucky break, Isabella pulled on the safe door, but it was no use.

*Tsk.*

She meticulously searched Ariadne’s drawers again. Just in case, on the off chance, the key was there.

But Ariadne was not foolish enough to leave the key to a safe in a drawer right next to it, and Isabella’s search ended in failure.

*Ugh, so annoying.*

Muttering to herself, she continued to search Ariadne’s desk when her fingertips brushed against a heavy stack of parchment.

*What’s this?*

It was a stack of parchment on a pull-out desk shelf. It wasn’t new paper. It was a bundle of half-written letters.

*...?*

Isabella began to read the bundle of letters.

「To my dearest Alfonso,

It rained a lot in San Carlo today. I wished we could have walked together under one umbrella on a rainy day...」

“What is this?”

It was a collection of silly love letters.

Not letters Ariadne had received, but letters she had written to Prince Alfonso. Isabella clicked her tongue.

*So, she really was dating the prince.*

There was nothing in this that would benefit Isabella.

*If her lover had been some street thug and the letters detailed some intense physical contact, I could at least spread it around high society. What am I supposed to do with this?*

But this bundle of letters was the only thing she had found today.

Isabella quickly flipped through the letters, skimming them.

*...Wait a minute. Why didn’t she send them?*

Something was strange. Isabella went through the letters again.

The letters were all unfinished, though it seemed some had actually been sent. There were gaps in the dates, and some letters, though not in this bundle, mentioned a ‘letter sent previously.’

But there were no replies.

Not only were there no replies tucked between the letters, but Ariadne’s writing repeatedly mentioned that she ‘had not received a reply from Alfonso.’

*And the dates... they’re more recent than I thought?*

A thought sparked in Isabella’s mind that this might be useful after all, and she skipped to the very back of the bundle.

Just as she expected, the last letter was written very recently.

「December 22, 1123, your loving Ariadne.」

Isabella’s eyes widened.

*This... was written after her engagement to Duke Cesare!*

She quickly skimmed the contents of the last letter.

「As the weather grows colder, I worry about you even more. I know the climate in Yesak is milder than in San Carlo, but a soldier’s encampment can’t be comfortable.」

*Look at her, playing the part of the faithful wife.*

Isabella clicked her tongue and read on.

「...This weather reminds me of when you came to pay your respects at Arabella’s funeral. The ice, the snowflakes, the chill that wafted from your cloak, and that bittersweet kiss...」

Isabella grimaced.

*What, she was getting it on with a man at her sister’s funeral? Is she insane?*

It didn’t even occur to Isabella to consider why that funeral had taken place to begin with.

*And here I thought she was so prim and proper...*

Though she was cursing under her breath, Isabella’s eyes narrowed.

A small, malicious smile appeared on her lips. This letter would be useful, one way or another.

Isabella quickly tucked the letters into her dress.

She briefly considered what would happen if Ariadne raised hell upon discovering the letters were missing, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

*What’s she going to do if she finds out they’re gone? Search my belongings without a shred of proof?*

Still, it was better not to get caught if possible.

Isabella shut Ariadne’s drawers tightly and gave the room a quick once-over to make sure everything was in its place.

She went to the study entrance and listened for any sounds outside. She heard no one.

Isabella carefully stepped out of the study.