“Since I showed this to the maid, I think she understood my business.”
He lifted the white paper slightly.
Written in the Kingdom language was The Princess’s escort mercenary.
She didn’t want to recognize it, but it was King Liz’s handwriting.
A long time ago, when Rieta went to the Empire, he wrote down a few words, so she remembered it.
Well, if her father had decided on it, there was nothing she could do about it.
Rieta turned, entered the room, and sat down on the sofa.
“You’re quite dressed up, Princess.”
The mercenary gave his compliments and sat down on a nearby sofa without permission.
And the maid who saw such a cheeky appearance immediately cried out.
“How dare a mercenary sit in front of the Princess without permission! Stand up immediately!”
“What did she say?”
The mercenary asked Rieta to translate, and Rieta answered bluntly this time as well.
“As it is.”
“Ah, she must be angry.”
He waved his hand to the maid, and gestured like drinking tea.
It meant to bring him something to drink.
The maid’s eyebrows twitched.
“Be polite. I don’t like things that hurt the image of people from the Empire.”
Calming the maid with a look, Rieta glared at the mercenary.
It was a sharp tone she would never use in a usual way, but somehow she was more comfortable using it with that man.
Maybe it was because their first meeting was awful. Why would she be kind to her kidnapper?
“Polite?”
“If you even know what it means?”
“I know, somewhat.”
The mercenary shook his head once at Rieta’s stern appearance and got up from his seat. Then he bowed in front of Rieta.
“I’ve been entrusted with escorting the Princess. I’m but a lacking foreign mercenary, so I ask for your kind cooperation?”
His attitude was still vulgar, but compared to a moment ago, it was a lot better.
So, Rieta decided to accept his greeting.
“Yes, thank you. What’s your name?”
Asking for a name was a very natural thing to do during greeting.
However, the mercenary frowned as if he had been stabbed in a sore spot.
“You can just call me ‘you’ right? High-ranking people usually do that.”
“Does King Liz call you that too?”
“He calls me ‘money-crazed mercenary’ in the Imperial language. The Princess can do the same.”
Money-crazed mercenary.
For a moment, Rieta got the feeling that he was somehow reluctant to reveal his name.
Forcing people to do something they didn’t like…
“No, I’m going to call you by name.”
…What was wrong with forcing her kidnappers?
Rieta didn’t want to let him do as he pleased. She wouldn’t forgive anyone who dared trespass the lands of Duchy Mayer!
“Damn it! They all say it’s bad luck to get entangled with those stubborn Mayers!”
Seeing the mercenary’s grumpiness made Rieta’s mood slightly better.
The mercenary naturally treated Rieta as a member of the ‘Mayer family.’ Of course, that didn’t mean she was willing to forgive him.
“Don’t make me ask the same question again.”
Rieta held out her hand, asking, “What’s your name?”
The mercenary pursed his lips and eventually responded by taking Rieta’s hand.
“Bloody Emile.”
“Bloody Emile?”
“…It’s, just go with Emile!”
The mercenary all but screamed and roughly shoved her hand away. His face had turned red.
“Damn, that’s why I didn’t want to say it! It feels like a rich old woman’s name. I know that too.”
Rieta’s gaze turned to her hand, which was suddenly swatted away. Red blood seeped through the white gauze again. It looked like the wound had reopened.
The maid who noticed it rushed to her and applied medicine to Rieta and changed the gauze to a new one.
“…Oh.”
Emily turned his gaze to Rieta, who had just finished the treatment, and her gaze met his who had a sullen face.
“What is it?”
He hesitated for a while longer, then muttered ‘Damn it’ and looked at Rieta again.
“Is it…because of me?”
Rieta was a little taken aback by the way he asked, looking quite apologetic. When she was first kidnapped, he also gave her a bunch of strange herbal water.
“Then?”
“Uh… then I should say, I’m sorry.”
Emily scratched his head and spoke carefully.
“They’re fine, so you don’t have to worry.”
“They’re fine?”
“The Princes. I heard it was a big deal yesterday.”
Rieta jumped up.
“Is that… true?”
“I saw them on my way to get the money a while ago. They both looked fine.”
Even as Rieta muttered, ‘Thank God,’ she continued to ask him questions as if she was still uneasy.
“They really didn’t seem hurt at all? Not at all?”
“At least not in my eyes? They were pretty handsome. Their white cheeks were even sparkling.”
“Are you sure they’re not tied up somewhere?”
“Yes, their limbs were free. Well, if there’s something bothersome…”
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