Chapter 45

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Witten Took the Bait
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#45

With the year's end just around the corner, the command headquarters was bustling all day with cleaning and preparations for leave. Clotheslines stretched across the training grounds, hung with rows of blankets.

The sight of the washed-out blankets flapping in the wind, creating a wave of gray, filled the soldiers with a mix of emptiness and pride that the year was over.

Zen watched with a complex expression before throwing his arms up in the air.

“Laundry’s done!”

Having finished the laundry with his men, Zen got on all fours and shook himself dry. Droplets embroidered the air before succumbing to gravity and pattering to the ground.

The other Lycans shaking themselves dry grumbled at each other to keep their distance. As he was putting away the laundry baskets, feeling much lighter, his direct superior approached and spoke to him.

“I was looking for you. Seems you were cleaning. If you don’t mind, walk with me.”

Walter, apparently just out of a meeting, had his arms full of documents and parchment. Zen wrung the water from his ears and tail, then took the load and followed him.

Despite the bitter cold, Walter wore only a single shirt.

He had always been insensitive to heat and cold and dressed casually, but since he started staying by the queen’s side, his official duties had increased, and he was always in uniform. Today, however, he seemed to have no official business and was dressed loosely.

Even if he didn't feel the cold much, wasn't he freezing in this weather with no fur?

Zen’s ears twitched as he spoke.

“Grand General, aren’t you cold?”

“Hmm. It is a bit chilly for autumn.”

It was December, the heart of winter, not autumn. Wondering if Walter had lost his mind, Zen craned his neck to study his expression.

His voice was as monotone as ever, but he trailed off, staring blankly ahead, looking somewhat dazed. A little concerned, Zen asked in a sympathetic voice.

“You’ve seemed very busy lately, but I see you’ve lost track of the date. It’s December.”

“December 22nd… Right. The new year is almost here. I should go see the first sunrise….”

The first sunrise of the new year.

Mulling over the words, Zen finally understood why his superior had become so listless.

No matter how busy he was or if he hadn’t slept for three days, he was a man who went about his routine as steadfastly as a wind-up doll. But when there was just one thing he couldn't have, he would often become dispirited like this.

“It must have been a long time since you last went to the mountains…?”

At the word ‘mountains,’ Walter let out a deep sigh as if he had been waiting for it.

“I haven’t been once since the late king fell ill.”

“Wow… Isn’t this the first time you’ve been unable to go for so long? A new record.”

“I really wanted to climb to the summit of the Twin Mountains this year… but it seems that’s not happening. I’ll just have to run laps around the training grounds later.”

Walter grimaced, crinkling one eyebrow as he rolled his neck from side to side. With a series of cracks, the pectoralis major muscles connecting his chest and shoulders pushed against his shirt, revealing their shape.

As Zen stared at the well-defined muscles with envy, a good idea suddenly struck him.

“Come to think of it, doesn’t Her Majesty stay inside the command office all day too?”

“Given the circumstances, she’s refraining from going out. Why do you ask?”

“They say a healthy body makes a healthy mind, don’t they? Her Majesty seemed to have poor stamina even back in her cadet days. How about you take her to the Twin Mountains with you?”

Walter’s eyes gradually widened. But he soon shook his head, rejecting the idea.

“I’ve heard from my mother that most women dislike mountain climbing. They say it’s dangerous and so difficult that they’re reluctant. Besides, Her Majesty despises moving. I doubt she would agree to go….”

“Oh, that’s not always true. Once she gets up the mountain, she’ll love the spectacular view. It’s a bit forward of me to say, but my father told me he won my mother over by running through the mountains together and building their bond.”

Walter looked at Zen doubtfully.

That might work for Lycans, who love to run and have superior stamina, but would it apply to humans?

Sensing his gaze, Zen straightened his tail and tried to dispel the doubt.

“It’s true! You know how they say people fall in love during wartime.”

“Fall in love?”

“I heard it’s because they mistake their pounding hearts for love. Isn’t mountain climbing the same? Your heart pounds from the effort of the climb, and then you and Her Majesty might, you know… get together.”

Walter furrowed his brow slightly, a bewildered expression on his face.

“Get together?”

“Yes.”

“…I don’t understand what you mean. Her Majesty and I are not romantically involved.”

“Huh?”

Zen’s ears shot up, his mouth agape in disbelief. Walter stopped walking, glanced at him with an indifferent expression, and pushed his slack jaw closed.

“I’d like to ask why you would think that. How could I view my sovereign, whom I must serve with utmost loyalty, as a romantic interest?”

“But… if you don’t like her, then why… all that… you know….”

Walter chided the stammering Zen to speak clearly if he had something to say.

Zen cleared his throat and looked at Walter with a more composed expression.

“No, I just assumed you supported Arsinoe becoming queen from the start because you liked her. I mean, she’s smart, and the human soldiers say she’s pretty and all that.”

“A regrettable misunderstanding.”

“So there’s really nothing between you two?”

Walter shot him a look that said, ‘What on earth are you talking about?’ Zen, who had thought it a reasonable question, was suddenly overcome with awkwardness. He clicked his teeth and averted his gaze.

As if by silent agreement, the two of them fell quiet and walked on. The lively noises faded behind them, and as they entered the corridor connecting the training grounds to the main building, the heavy silence unique to the main building weighed on Zen’s shoulders.

The sound of their boots on the corridor floor slowed slightly.

Walter slowed his pace, mulling over what Zen had just said.

He had no interest in talk of liking someone or ‘getting together,’ but what Zen had said before that kept bothering him.

“Her Majesty seemed to have poor stamina even back in her cadet days. How about you take her to the Twin Mountains with you?”

…The queen’s stamina.

Having unintentionally ended up living with Lucy in the command office, Walter had discovered a few peculiar things about her.

That she liked messy surroundings, that she would flop down and lie anywhere, and that she was fanatically fond of sleeping and bathing, among other things.

It wasn’t that she disliked tidiness, but she seemed to feel at ease in a cluttered environment, so he had instructed the maids not to clean up.

He nagged her every time he saw her sprawled out in random places, but the habit didn't change. Well, liking to sleep and bathe couldn’t exactly be called flaws….

But her biggest flaw was her extreme aversion to movement.

Unless there was something special, Lucy spent most of her day in the library of the command office.

She ate in the library, held meetings in the library, and slept there too. At least she would walk a little when there were meetings, but since Whees was assigned as her guard, it was as if she had given up on moving altogether, flying even the shortest distances with his help.

“This is a problem.”

Of course, whether to move or not was a personal choice, but he couldn’t help but worry that she would ruin her health.

Lucy was not just an individual; she was the symbol of the nation and Walter’s sovereign. As the one he himself had placed on the throne, she needed to remain there, healthy, for as long as possible.

“Mountain climbing….”

Personally, he considered mountain climbing to be a very healthy hobby.

It was a hobby full of benefits—it disturbed no one, consumed nothing, required no exploitation of others’ labor, and yet it improved one’s health and allowed one to appreciate the beauty of nature.

For a lazy, sloth-like woman like Lucy who hated to move, there could be no better hobby. Seeing the merit in Zen’s suggestion, Walter resolved to recommend mountain climbing to her.

“Ah, perfect timing.”

As they entered the command office, Lucy, who was sitting cross-legged on the edge of a table, waved and greeted them.

Facing her, with her sharp yet delicate features, Walter quickly erased the image of a sloth from his mind.

Wondering why she was in the outer room instead of her usual library, Walter looked around with a surprised expression. And sure enough, he saw Marquess Rutherford emerging from the library, holding something.

“It’s been a while, Sir Hyverge.”

“Marquess, what brings you here?”

“I summoned her. Something has come up that requires the Marquess’s help.”

Lucy answered for her, gesturing to the seat in front of her. Marquess Rutherford, having shed her usual composure, sat before Lucy with a flushed face.

Sensing the serious atmosphere, Walter and Zen also took their seats as if mesmerized. Lucy took the old letter from Marquess Rutherford and tapped her knee with her fingertips.

“Witten took the bait.”

The gazes of the three people, which had been scattered around the room, instantly snapped to Lucy. Walter asked, his expression unchanging and dry.

“Bait? What do you mean?”

“We’ve confirmed that a merchant who frequented Duke Witten’s estate is an Imperial informant. And yesterday, a galley ship owned by the Witten family, disguised as a merchant vessel, docked at Portmeier Harbor.”

“…”

“Isn’t it obvious who they’re trying to meet?”

Duke Witten’s domain has no sea route to the Empire.

To make contact with the Empire, one must inevitably pass through Portmeier. Furthermore, for an Imperial spy to be visiting his home, and for him to go to the trouble of disguising a family ship as a merchant vessel to enter Portmeier Harbor….

It was suspicious from every angle. However, Walter showed a hint of concern.

“Isn’t the core of this operation to confirm that Duke Witten is an Imperial spy?”

“It is.”

“But we have no certainty that the party he is contacting is actually from the Empire.”

The moment he pointed out the crucial detail, Lucy’s eyes curved into slender crescents, brimming with amusement.