Chapter 193
Lucy recalled what Janik had told her a few days earlier. He was curious to know who had inflicted such a critical wound on Prince Kyle.
At that time, Lucy was pretending to keep her distance, secretly watching as Lea was taken away.
From Lucy’s perspective, who had been trying to approach Calix for some time, it was more advantageous for her if Lea disappeared, so she didn’t bother stepping in. In fact, there was nothing to gain by getting in front of Kyle.
But then, a tremendous force caught up with them at incredible speed. She had always suspected that the Cantabrian Crown Prince was not ordinary, but seeing it with her own eyes was something else entirely.
With abilities that far exceeded her expectations, Calix drove Kyle into a corner without even seeming strained. Instead, Kyle, who had confronted everything so confidently at first, was gradually being pushed back.
Through her recent communications, Lucy became certain that Janik had truly set his sights on the Cantabrian Crown Prince. In that case, she needed to set things up in a way that would benefit him…
Lucy glared at Lea as she led the Guides out of the barracks. Because Calix only received guiding from Lea, there was no way for Lucy to get in between them.
She had never seen someone so obsessively receive guiding from just one Guide, so she couldn’t immediately come up with any method to intervene.
For now, since she couldn’t afford to be completely excluded by Lea, Lucy decided to quietly follow after her. Just then, the three Guides who had previously betrayed them, and who were still in the barracks, grabbed onto Lucy.
“What should we do?”
Since Lucy had sided with them before, they naturally thought she would tell them what to do now. Lucy coldly shook off the hand gripping her clothes and rebuked them harshly.
“Don’t fool yourselves into thinking I helped you.”
“But…”
“If you’re that anxious, why not just escape now? The Cantabrian soldiers don’t harm Guides anyway, so what are you so worried about?”
“Then… couldn’t you help us? The three of us are too scared to escape on our own.”
Lucy shot the Guides, who shamelessly asked for her help, a cold glare. She truly despised traitors. There were so many who had betrayed their men in just that way.
She slowly looked the three Guides up and down with eyes glinting like polished stones. The three, who were rabbit beastfolk—the weakest among the beastkin, and obviously Guides—shrunk under Lucy’s gaze, so different from her usual demeanor.
It was strange. Even though they were clearly rabbit beastfolk and Guides, she gave off an aura that simply couldn’t be defied.
“Well, shall I help you then?”
“Oh, thank you so much!”
Relieved by Lucy’s positive answer, the three let out sighs of relief.
“But there’s no such thing as a free favor in this world. If I help you, what will you give me in return?”
“……?”
With nothing to offer since they were essentially prisoners, their faces darkened. Lucy smirked coldly.
“Hm, don’t worry too much. I’ll just take what you can offer.”
She fiddled with the bracelet she was wearing, one corner of her mouth curving up.
* * *
After finishing a round of guiding, Lea went to find Zion and Derek. She had something to discuss regarding the newly joined Guides. And, incidentally, she wanted to give both of them guiding for the first time in a while.
“Excuse me, Sir Zion.”
“Lady Lea?”
As it happened, both Derek and Ilion were together in the Vice Commander’s barracks. They welcomed Lea’s arrival.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen you.”
Derek quickly approached, gently took Lea’s hand, and kissed the back of it. Zion, not to be outdone, took her other hand and kissed it as well.
Of the three, only Ilion stood by awkwardly, looking uncomfortable.
“It’s been a while, First Corps Commander.”
“Yes, Lady Haisley.”
At Ilion’s reply, Derek spoke with a note of surprise.
“You still call her Lady Haisley?”
“There’s no other title for me to use.”
Ilion actually wanted to call her ‘Lady Lea’ too, but it felt awkward and he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He hoped someone would tell him to just use ‘Lady Lea’, but Derek and Zion moved on to another topic.
“Come to think of it, Guides don’t have ranks, do they?”
“We only ever had Lady Lea in our unit, so there was never any need for ranks.”
“Then shouldn’t we create one now?”
“Hm…”
At Derek’s suggestion, Zion hesitated for a moment. Listening to their conversation, Lea thought it might be good to give Guides a rank so they would feel more responsible.
That way, even if she wasn’t there, the Guides would still do their duty and, if something happened in her absence, someone else would step up to lead.
“I think it’s a good idea. The northern war may be over, but for the future, we should use this opportunity to create ranks. Actually, it’s related to why I came to see you both today.”
“Yes, what brings you here?”
At Lea’s words, Zion asked a question. She thought that with the newly joined Guides, a new system was needed for everyone.
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