chapter 6

“Why don’t you try asking Master Lockherd? It wouldn’t be bad to go to the training ground because he is part of the Imperial Guard.”

What?! Taken aback by her suggestion, I shook my head. I’d rather go to the Imperial Palace by myself than to ask him.

“Ask him? You are not actually telling me to go talk to that guy, are you? No thank you, I’d rather kill myself. I guess I’m sticking to this hopeless and desperate situation of mine then…”

Daisy then chuckled and kissed my forehead before leaving. The room quickly dimmed as the door lightly shut. I turned towards the window and began racking my brain.

To get along with women, I needed to talk about men, but I did not know any man. Imperial Guards was a popular subject among women. And Lockherd was an Imperial Guard. Albeit I hated to admit it, but it was my best chance to go to him. It felt as if I fell into a fiery hellish pit, I could not escape no matter how hard I search for a way out.

“All right. Let’s just make up some temporary excuses. Either that or I can tell him the truth…”

❇❇❇

As I had decided the previous night, I headed towards Lockherd’s room once the sun rose. I hovered back and forth in front of his door early in the morning while the employees were busy moving around. I ended up coming here even though having said that I would never ask for a favour from him until the day my coffin closed its lid. I was not sure about what would happen but…

Knock knock.

I knocked on his door with a trembling hand. I reckoned kneeling in front of a dog would be less humiliating.

Shortly after, the door opened, and Lockherd, dressed in his uniform, walked out. When he looked down and made eye contact with me, he was so surprised that his eyes widen. Then, he drew a bright smile on his face. In all honesty, it was an unsightly expression that made me sick.

“Our cute little tomboy is looking for me so early in the morning. Did the sun rise from the west today?”

Lockherd’s voice was so cheesy that goosebumps popped up all over my arms. I swore that of all the faces I had encountered in the 15 years of my life, the smile before me right now was the most disgusting thing.

I wanted to turn my back and return right away, but in the end, my will prevailed. I knew that my heavy heart would not be relieved unless I opened up to him, so I mustered up the courage.

“Wh-when are you going to work today?”

“Right now.”

I’m in trouble.

I thought I had 30 minutes to spare, so instead of getting ready to go out, I came to him wearing light indoor clothes. When he saw a perplexed expression on my face, Lockherd leaned against the door frame and raised his chin with suspicion.

“Do you have any problem? If you have something to say, then spill it right now, Kate. As I said, your brother has to go to the Imperial Palace right now.”

The territory where the Imperial castle was located was three hours away from the Ezellot estate. However, since the Imperial Guards were in charge of both inside and outside the Imperial Fortress, Lockherd was only able to return to Ezellot about once every four days. In other words, it meant that if I did not speak up today, I would not be able to see him again until four days later.

“Take me to the Imperial Palace too.”

In a hurry, the main subject pop out without any explanation. However, Lockherd turned his back against me and grasped the doorknob. He then said over his shoulders as he shut the door.

“FIne. I’ll give you 10 minutes to get ready and come down. I can’t wait any longer, so you’d better hurry.”

Oh? He allows it that easily?

When he saw that I was not moving, he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me along.

“Did you not hear me? There are only 10 minutes left. Go to your room quickly and get ready. You don’t want to go looking like this, do you?”

“Aren’t you going to ask why?”

“Don’t worry. Even if you don’t say it, I am well aware. Now, are you getting ready or not? Or can I just take you like this?”

Lockherd held my waist and tossed me over his shoulder. My abruptly floating in the air was not the problem, it was that my body was being swayed so much that the beef soup I had for breakfast wanted to come back up. I hit his back with my balled fists as he strode. It was a given that he was stronger than me but how could it be that he was not affected one bit?

“Put me down this instant! Didn’t I tell you to stop treating me like a child?!”

“Yesterday, you made a fuss about becoming a lady, but today you’re back to being your original tomboy self? Was that simply a momentary whim?”

“It’s not a whim! I’ll be quiet, so put me down!”

When Lockherd laughed, his shoulders shook, sending the vibration to my stomach.

Urgh, I feel so nauseous.

Despite my squirming, he walked steadfastly. How can he be like this? I gritted my teeth and huffed angrily. When he heard me, he laughed again. It was not until we walked down to the floor with my room that he put me down in the hallway.

“Nezar has some work this morning, so he will only be able to see you late in the afternoon. It will be boring to wait, so take along the thick liberal arts books that you were reading yesterday. The garden in the palace will get boring after 10 minutes.”

Nezar?

I opened the door of my room and looked up at him with puzzled eyes.

“I’m not going to see Nezar though.”

His expression crumpled at my words.

“No? Then why do you want to come along?”