Ch-96: Leslie (7)

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Katarina glared at me with narrowed eyes. I held out a pacifying hand forward.

"Katarina, let's calm down and let me do this talkin—"

"Talking to her?"

Her cold voice cut off my words.

For some nagging reason, I felt the talk I was meaning wasn't going to be the same as hers.

"Cloud?"

After hesitating for a while, Katarina called my name as if urging me on.

"Yes. Talk."

"Right? As you said, if it's a misunderstanding, will it be resolved through dialogue?"

"Of course. Yes. I mean, we can always try."

I replied with a quick nod of my head. In my experience, if you hesitate at this point, you're screwed. And there is no need to hesitate because now there is nothing to hold back.

Katarina's expression relaxed a little, as if well satisfied with my quick response.

""

"I see now that you are a very jealous woman. They say one gets frustrated of jealous women quickly… I would recommend fixing it quick."

Oh. Shit.

I hurriedly covered Katarina's ears, but judging from the frown deepening between her eyebrows, it was already too late. She slipped out of my arms and trudged towards Leslie.

"What did you just say?"

"A concubine getting jealous is honestly ugly, so I advised her to fix it quickly, well?

"Wh..? Concubine? Concubine!?"

Katarina's voice contained suppressed anger, like a balloon about to burst at the slightest touch.

"Yeah. Concubine."

Leslie didn't care and poked her with a needle.

"Who told you I'm a concubine?!"

Katarina, who finally exploded, shouted out loud. Leslie replied with an expression asking as to why she was being made to say such an obvious thing.

"Well, I am an aristocrat, and you are a commoner, no? Surely, if the original wife is a commoner, then a noble cannot marry as a concubine under her, now, can she? That is an act that will disregard the authority of the whole noble community."

""

"That…"

Katarina couldn't bear the accusation of undermining the authority of the nobility. She bit her lip tightly in resentment, then pursed her lips. However, it wasn't long that she remained unresponsive.

She instead turned her head and glanced at me.

Huh? What, me? I had to rebut? Me?

…yeah. She surely meant me. Yeah, why not.

"Katarina is not a commoner. She is the only daughter of a Count family of the Kingdom of Alitia."

"Oh, are you? Sorry. I did make an error."

Leslie's apology did not improve Katarina's expression. Maybe because of internal conflict? Because now she had to use her enemy's family name just to win a verbal fight. And she couldn't refuse the win either.

After taking a few deep breaths, her expression improved a little. Recovering her composure, she said to Leslie.

"Do you hear? I am not a concubine."

"Yeah?"

Leslie tilted her head.

Then she said, 'Ah', before smiling with an audible sound as if she had realized something.

"I think you misunderstand something. Even if you are the daughter of a Count, nothing changes."

"What?"

"Why are you making that puzzled face? No way… do you put a Count of a kingdom on the same level as the Archduchess of the only Principality who can very well match the Empire's Duke in status?"

"…"

Once again, Katarina was speechless.

As she rolled her eyes on me to come up with a new counter, she suddenly narrowed her brows and put on a bewildered expression.

"Wait a minute. A concubine or anything, why does it even matter when you have no relation with Cloud? It hasn't been long since you met Cloud, either, right?"

"Because my father wants me to be with Cloud."

"… Is that all?"

Leslie shook her head.

"Of course, that's not all. Cloud-sama has a status that cannot be replaced by anything else: a hero, and he is braver and stronger than anyone else. In addition, he has an excellent appearance and is even very kind."

Leslie touched the top of her head for a moment, then cleared her throat as she spoke.

"Isn't it enough to want him as a prospective spouse?"

"What the hell. So, you want Cloud because of conditions, not love."

"I like Cloud."

"Like? Then it is not love."

"I love him too."

"Are you trying to play synonyms with me!?"

"It's not a synonym, it's the truth. And who are you to arbitrarily judge my love?"

"Huh? Okay, that was not nice of…"

"Apologize for the offense."

"I'm sorry… no, I'm not. Why should I apologize? You are the thieving cat who covets another lady's man!"

"Isn't he mine now as well?"

"Our conversation ends here!"

The tone of their voices, mostly Katarina's to be exact, rose, and the atmosphere also became stern.

I'd wondered if there was a possibility of them talking down the situation, but it appears that my expectations were placed too high.

So, I quickly intervened between the two.

"Both of you, calm down. This will be a real fight."

"It's Katarina who needs to calm down, not me…"

"Duchess."

"…yeah?"

"Quiet down."

"…yes."

Leslie blinked her eyes and then bowed her head in response. With a wronged expression. Sorry, Leslie. I need to do this hard to ease Katarina's mood.

I turned to look at Katarina.

""

As I thought, she was hoisting her chest up with a triumphant face. I smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"I must apologize, but I have to step out and talk to Leslie for a while."

Katarina's expression, which was cheering bright, hardened.

"…just the two of you? You are serious?"

"It will really take only a moment. I won't do anything weird. Promise."

I held out my pinky finger.

But Katarina only had her eyes quivering, with betrayal on her face.

"Do whatever you want! Whether it's the two of you making rice cakes [1] or jumping into a river, do whatever you want!"

She huffed and went back to bed and laid down on her face.

I scratched my head and motioned Leslie out of the room.

* * *

"You bastard… you really left me alone just because I said you to…"

Katarina muttered, voice weak. Tears streamed down her pillow.

"It's been a while since we met, when our eyes meet…"

He had been with her for months. And had he even known that girl for over a month?

So why?

Did he really get sick of her jealous nature, like that woman said?

Jealousy, or nagging?

Just when Katarina, whose sadness exploded, was crying alone.

There was a knock and the sound of the door opening.

'What, how?'

How was he back so soon?

Embarrassed, she took a deep breath and stopped crying. Simultaneously, the sound of footfalls came closer, and she felt the bed shake and him lying down.

"Dear?"

Cloud asked, placing a hand on her waist. She pondered dozens of times whether she should answer. As his hand gently stroked his waist, weight tipped to one side.

"…sit down."

"I see."

Cloud snuck next to her.

Her heart pounded at the familiar male touch that hadn't taken hold of her waist in days.

Not same for the troubled mind.

[1] Korean idiom for seggs.

'…wh, why doesn't he say anything?'

Hugging her, he didn't speak, but instead kept stroking along her waist. Finally, just when she was about to break the silence, he opened his mouth.

"Are you mad?"

"Are you just asking or you don't know?"

"Sorry."

Silence followed again.

Katarina hated this silence.

It looked as if the silence were to continue, a crack would occur in the relationship.

And she didn't want that.

Even though something hard to skim over had happened just a moment ago, she still loved him very much.

He was already a part of her life.

There was no way she could just rip him off of her and throw him away, out of her life.

So Katarina, as a sign of reconciliation in her own way, put her hand on the back of his hand, which was stroking her waist.

He stopped moving.

Instead, he kissed the nape of her neck. Katarina flinched, but luckily she didn't make any strange noises, or more embarrassingly, moan. Stroking along her back again, he spoke.

"I sent Leslie back to her room after pacifying her. In the process, nothing you need to worry about happened."

"What would I be worried about?"

"Do I have to put it into words?"

"…no. Don't. I feel like my stomach will churn upside down."

"Right."

After that, Cloud said nothing more. Instead, he continued peppering Katarina on the nape of her neck.

He at times whispered how he loved her.

To which, Katarina realized that the corners of her mouth were trying to unravel.

'No, Katarina, no. If you forgive him so easily, something similar will happen next time.'

She needed to get angry properly so that this would never happen again.

Definitely no halfway forgiveness!

However, that promise was shaken every time she felt tingles on her neck, and in the end, the promise seemed to be crumbling. Katarina let out a sigh.

"Is it true that you two only had a conversation?"

"It is."

"Really?"

Katarina swung and turned her body around. Before Cloud could respond, she grabbed onto his hair, sinking her fingers into the locks, and kissed him on the lips. She licked his lips slowly, savoring them.

There was no sweet taste or sticky feeling.

Her tongue crept in between his lips before sneaking back.

After parting their lips, she buried her face in the nape of his neck and sniffed.

It was his unadulterated scent, not mixed with that of another woman. She had lived as a dancer and her sensitive nose could tell it apart.

Apparently, what he said was true.

""

'But just in case.'

Katarina removed her face from the nape of his neck and met Cloud's eyes.

In a coercive voice, she said.

"Take it off."

"…Yes, ma'am."

Cloud swallowed his saliva and pulled off his clothes.

Before long, two forms of flesh were coalescing as coquettish voices echoed through the room.

When the bed stopped creaking, Katarina looked contentedly as she cradled herself in his arms.

"Really."

Really.

* * *

"…I believe you comforted her well enough?"

"Yes. I did."

"So why is she here?"

Katarina pointed a finger at Leslie, who was tethering her rucksack to her white stallion.

"Because now she's a colleague on the quest of subjugating the Demon King together with us?"

"…"

"Don't look at me like that, listen to me. I am a hero, and the duty of a hero is to defeat the demon king and his minions who disturb the continent, ain't it? Of course, the journey is very dangerous. We'll probably end up in a life-or-death battle several times. In that case, what you need is a colleague, a reliable one."

"So, since she's useful, we are taking her along?"

Cloud nodded his head.

As on the cue, Katarina let out a deep sigh. In her head, Katarina wanted to shout out loud to get rid of her immediately, but the fight between the former Archduke and Cloud, which she saw a while ago, stalled her.

She couldn't do anything in that fight.

Leslie, on the other hand, could have been involved in some way or other.

Because she possessed the ability to.

""

Rationally and figuratively, she was a well-thought out choice.

"…I don't trust her."

But that didn't mean her intentions were rational too.

Katarina whined, and Leslie lowered her head slightly, pulling up the sides of her dress.

"I'm sorry about what happened last night. Please forgive my rudeness."

"Huh..?"

Leslie's sudden countenance imbalanced Katarina on her heels.

Who had swapped the witch?

Leslie spoke again as Katarina could only stupidly open her mouth wide.

"Please forgive me."

"Uh? Ah, yes… yes. It's okay. Just… don't do it next time."

"Thank you. Miss Katarina has a big heart."

""

"Yes…"

"Then, in exchange for your forgiveness, would you allow me to become Cloud-sama's wife?"

"Ah, alright… wait what!?"

Katarina's hand, which had been awkwardly scratching her cheek, froze. Leslie clicked her tongue.

"Here I thought it would be easy."

"Wh, What?! What are you talking about?"

Leslie answered her question without hiding the intensive regret on her face.

"Last night, Cloud-sama offered me a place in his team. The benefits offered under the vocation are quite appetizing. However, it is nothing compared to the fact that I'll have to leave behind the Principality. I set our engagement as an add-on benefit, but Cloud-sama said it wouldn't work. So what I came up with as a compromise was the condition that I had to get permission from you."

"…"

Katarina looked at Cloud in silence. He let out an awkward laugh.

"And now I miss a chance. Unfortunate."

Katarina sighed as she wiped a hand at her face.

"Shedia."

At her call, Shedia poked her face out of the shadows.

"Yes, sis."

"Can you not kill these two b!tches?"

"Mmm…"

Shedia looked back and forth between Leslie and Cloud, assessing; and shook her head.

"I'm sure about scoring one but two… and if I don't kill Cloud on my first attempt, I don't think he will give me the moonstone."

"Yes… I see…"

Katarina licked her lips and got off her horse. She patted Cloud on the thigh, prompting him to shift back, then she sat on the seat, positioning herself before him and spoke as she leaned on his chest.

"I won't allow it, no matter what."

"It won't happen, so don't worry."

"Wasn't telling you…"

""

Leslie smirked. "I'll make you blurt out one day."

"Damn it—"

Looking at the two women quarreling, Cloud smiled bitterly. It was a little far from the harmonious party he had imagined.

It was okay though.

This was a problem that could be solved if he coordinated well. While making plans for the future, he suddenly thought of another problem.

'I'm going back to Prona now, what if they fight with those three?'

And what should he do if those three get territorial and bully their new colleagues?

"Your locution is as weak as can be. Are you really a noblewoman?"

"Then why do you covet other women's men if you are a so called noble aristocrat? Isn't that the behavior of a prostitute?"

"…I have got it all wrong. After you're gone, there's no need for me to seek permission, hmm?"

"You're threatening me? Then, shoot. If you have the courage to be hated by Cloud, shoot your magic!"

Mulling over his thoughts, Cloud immediately shook his head. A scuffle or two wasn't unexpected but they deepened bonds instead of triggering an all-out war.

Cloud, whose worries disappeared, began to plan the route back to the Kingdom of Prona.

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02