Chapter 13

||T/N:

Hi guys! I finally have a helper and they're amazing! All people working on this novel are credited in the summary. By the way, people keep saying Kalia is top . . . ? Is this some straight people thing I don't understand? Because I generally think the top is the one who inserts the ding dong into the you-know-what, as do my friends. Edit: Got it. I think 'dom' and 'sub' would be better to describe it lol2

•Italics for thoughts (+apostrophes for the first one) and sound effects.

•Multiple "-" represents flashbacks and memories (unless dependant on time signatures like "* * *").

Enjoy reading!||

. . .

In the time when Simon was away, every moment for Kalia was going by quickly.

This was because it was not easy to organize her surroundings in a short time.

Her status within the Empire was higher than she thought.

Starting the Crown Prince's escort, the achievements she has accumulated since the war was written in the texts had been piled up.

In fact, she was defeated in the war.

There have been many times when she felt threatened due to assassinations and poisoning, and it was difficult to lead soldiers who did not follow the prosecutors from Vienna. But each time, she never surrendered or complained.

Once defeated, she got up and faced the challenge again, pushing until she finally won, and with that, she brought victory.

She'd always thought about how to minimize the doubtful thoughts of the soldiers who didn't follow her, and always overdid herself.

She never hesitated to.

So eventually, she came back victorious. The more she gained the trust of the soldiers, the more she became enslaved to her duty.

At one point, entering her division became the greatest honour and pride for the soldiers, and that was when Kalia became General.

Now it was difficult to find a soldier who didn't follow her, and since she was the pride of the knights, it was natural that her men opposed her decision to retire.

First of all, her direct subordinate, the deputy general manager, had been on his knees since morning.2

He banged the marble floor with his forehead and shouted desperately: "I can never be the successor to General! If you want to retire, put the right person in your position!"

With his swollen red forehead, Brick cried this resolutely. ||*1||1

It had already been three days.

Oh, I don't have time for this.

Kalia called him in a slightly tiring voice.

"Brick Ukraine. Get up."

"If the knights know, they'll be disoriented! No, if the enemy knows of your absence, General, they might attack us right away!"

"Just because I'm not here, doesn't mean the Empire's troops are all gone. And you know that they can't afford to fight anymore because they've already been defeated."

"Other countries will invade!"2

"War requires causes and time, it can't be decided so easily."

With Kalia's calm retort, Brick's face turned as red as his forehead.

"Oh. Please come back . . . ! No way! Not a chance! I can't let you leave! If you're going to retire, General, at least tell me the reason!"

Now he rolled over on the floor with nearly bare feet.1 He was three times as big as she was, a 170-kilogram planet, and it was an unpleasant sight to see him pricking his feet.4

"Did you forget that you are a giant who only wields with his hands?"1

Kalia said coldly, looking at Brick, who was grovelling on the ground as if he were a pathetic being, "I had said it was a personal matter."1

"Isn't the excuse of personal circumstances on a National Day quite reasonable?"

He stood up and spoke so passionately that it felt like he was spitting at her.

Kalia was tired.

At the same time, she'd been feeling drowsy lately because she had been exhausted.

I was told that I would fall asleep often in the early days of pregnancy, but I didn't know that I would sleep so much that my head hurts.

She pressed her thrumming forehead strongly and grabbed the armrest of her chair as Brick was still shouting.

She overworked.

The oak armrest, the most durable tree in the Empires, crumpled and crushed like fragments of a golden bell in her hand.2

'Oh dear.'

As she lightly brushed off the debris of the collapsing wood, she pressed her forehead.

She stared at Brick quietly.

". . . Sorry, what did you say, Brick?"

"Exactly."

Brick, who was still rolling around the spot, sprang to his feet.

Even if a 170 kilogram-planet fought only with his hands, he couldn't possibly have the ability to break an oak armrest with just a few fingers.

He stared at Kalia, trembling as if the pieces of wood from the armrest that had fallen to the ground were to be his head.

General Kalia was usually serious.

He was mostly a quiet aide, but he was a fiery man who once destroyed the orcs' heads. He would be silent, but once he got heated, the oak-hard head seemed like it was on fire.

". . . I mean, I don't want General to retire."1

"Then you'll be the temporary commander until I get back. It's like a paid leave."

"So, are you coming back a year later?"

". . . Well, it depends on the situation." Kalia mumbled languidly, rubbing her forehead.

I was so sleepy that my head went blank.

I shouldn't have done this, but it was hard for me to come to my senses because I was so dumbfounded.

'Phew. What's wrong with you guys?'

Kalia managed to send Brick out, pressing hard on the corners of her eyes that were having a hard time opening.

She did not forget to threaten Brick, who was limping his shoulders, saying, "If you tell them this, I'll blow your head off."

For Brick, who had a strong survival instinct, he'd feel that her threats weren't a bluff, so he wouldn't just go around and harass her.

Kalia, resting in her fluffy chair, woke up as soon as she felt a little better.

I didn't have time to do this. There was only a week left until Simon returned.1

I have to move fast.

". . . Didn't you say you'd give me an answer today?"

A doctor introduced by Mrs. Arendi to me. It was time to meet Allen McEcker.

* * *

Kalia's casual clothes were mostly pants and shirts. She would also wear a military uniform given by the knights.

She was a prosecutor who always wore men's clothing because the pants were much more comfortable than the usual draping dress.

Today, however, Kalia was awkwardly wearing a dress.

Her appearance was known throughout the Empire.

This was also because it was difficult to walk outside with the clothes she usually wore.

If her moves were known and Simon or Louismond were to pursue her, it would have been a headache.

So Kalia changed into a "normal dress," wore silver glasses that didn't match, and her conspicuous lemon-coloured hair was hidden under an exceptionally wide silver hat.

'. . . . . . A dress is uncomfortable, as expected.'

She didn't even wear a corset that was fashionable and high heels.

I wasn't even there yet, but just standing was exhausting.

The only good thing was that the skirt was, generously, cool inside.

"Wow, how does Lady Kalia even look so good in a dress!"

Said Hemming, who was helping her with the dress, with her eyes glistening at Kalia's appearance.

Hemming around her, standing awkwardly, looked like a mother sparrow and was proud.

"Hmm—hmmmm."

Kalia spat out a fake cough in the middle of their awkwardness and greeted her briefly.

"Thanks for your help, Hemming. If it wasn't for you, it would have taken hours to put on a dress."

After unfolding the dress that had been difficult to get out, I was in trouble because I didn't know how to wear it.

I was trying to sneak out, so I couldn't even call people to wait on my clothes.

I put my legs in and tried hard to lift the zipper, but it was out of my reach.

I had to zip it up somehow.

She was spinning round and round, breaking and sending back, and, just in time, Hemming came around.

Kalia was supposed to have gone out of the estate as an alibi.

Hemming, who thought the room was empty, opened the door without knocking and ran into Kalia.

If it was someone else's, she would have concealed it properly, but when she realized that it was Hemming, she didn't hide and watched her come in.

Just in time when I needed anyone, I thought I could trust Hemming.

And just as good, Hemming wasn't embarrassed when she encountered such a situation.

It was not that she wasn't surprised, but she quickly closed the door and came inside and said, after she finished figuring out the situation very quickly, "Let me help you!"

Then she zipped up the dress with her skilful hands, kept her in shape, and other added details she didn't ask for.

She tended to her and was careful the entire process.

"It's my job to help you."

Hemming smiled sweetly and looked at Kalia as if she was a child waiting for praise.

When Kalia reached out and stroked Hemming's head, Hemming smiled with a flushed face.

She was a lovely child.2

Three years ago, she did not lose her bright personality even though she suffered from the loss of both her parents and brothers due to a plague.

Kalia was extremely proud of Hemming.

'I must find a particularly good master for Hemming before leaving. Brick had already forged this mini-me squire, so I'd rather have her handle a delicate sword than a rough one like Brick.' ||*3||

It was even more time-consuming to think about finding Hemming's new master. Looking at Hemming who stared at her with her inquisitive eyes, Kalia quietly ordered, "Don't speak of what you saw today, Hemming. The Emperor will arrive . . . . . . What do you mean 'okay'?"

" 'Yes,' of course! I serve you, not His Majesty, the Emperor! You, Kalia Tacskate!"

That was lovely and clever of Hemming.

"If you're going out like this, can I go with you?"

Kalia, who saw Hemming politely asking with sparkling eyes, agonized.

The current situation that had already been discovered, the unexpected one, and the quick-witted character of Hemming.

The agonizing didn't last long, and Kalia nodded her head.

"Yes, seems like I will need you." Kalia snuck out of the mansion with a happy smile.

. . .

||T/N:

Thank you to Translator #2, DefinitelyChaos, for translating this chapter! For this chapter and the next few I just added notes, read, and edited so the sentences were better before sending them through to the editors.

1. [With his swollen red forehead, Brick cried this resolutely.]

•I can't take this guy seriously, his name is Brick, both the building material and that character from Powerpuff Girls.1

2. [Hemming, who was helping her with the dress, said, with eyes glistening at Kalia's appearance.]

•Hemming's a girl! I guess that was obvious from Episode 2 when she wished to be as good-looking as Kalia?

3. ['I must find a particularly good master for Hemming before leaving. Brick had already forged this mini-me squire, so I'd rather have her handle a delicate sword than a rough one like Brick.']

•Rather tricky sentence to make sense of, especially the metaphor at the end. I hope I got the message across?

Chapter 13 – Finished||