Maxi was so distressed that it didn't immediately occur to her to run away.
Her ears were ringing, and she felt dizzy.
She staggered as dizziness hit her.
Was it provoked by fear or longing?
She managed to regain her balance by grabbing a rock.
“Weren’t you told not to disturb me?” his cold voice echoed.
Keeping her head down, Maxi swallowed.
She knew she had to say something, but she had a feeling he would recognize her immediately if she spoke.
After breaking into a cold sweat and remaining silent for a long time, Maxi gave in to the strange pressure emanating from him and managed to utter hoarsely, “P…please…forgive me.”
There was a heavy silence.
Maxi felt his piercing gaze like needles in her head.
“Raise your head,” he said suspiciously.
As Maxi grabbed her hood and started to back away, she heard the splash of water followed by the rustling of clothes.
Not daring to look up, Maxi desperately looked at the trees like a soldier searching for an escape route.
Before she could find a way out, however, a pair of large, wet feet entered her line of sight.
Riftan approached her wearing only pants.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
Maxi felt his temples throbbing.
His eyes moved desperately, his heart beat fast, and his entire body was covered in cold sweat.
She was shaking like a cornered beast when suddenly, Idsilla's urgent voice called out.
“I-I apologize, knight!”
The young noblewoman burst through the trees like the wind and positioned herself between Maxi and Riftan.
"We were busy tending to the injured...
we didn't know better than to approach the source.
Our sincerest apologies for disturbing your rest."
The soldiers must have informed Idsilla that Riftan was there, because the girl quickly understood the situation and hid Maxi behind her.
“If we have your forgiveness, sir… we will leave.”
Without waiting for his response, Idsilla slowly pushed Maxi towards the trees.
However, Riftan was not the type to give up easily.
“I haven't given them permission to leave yet,” he said, his voice sharp like a whip.
Idsilla stiffened, and Maxi moved closer to the girl's back to hide from the dark shadow looming over them.
Riftan's deep voice resonated near her.
"You, the one in the back.
How many times should I tell you to raise your head?"
“Knight… a cleric cannot reveal her face to a man.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
“We are clerics under the protection of the church,” Idsilla replied.
"We cannot violate the precepts of our faith, even if a knight commands us.
We ask for your understanding."
Surprisingly, the girl remained calm in the face of Riftan's intimidating presence.
If she hadn't been so terrified, Maxi would have admired her for it.
However, all of Maxi's attention was focused on Riftan.
After a suffocating silence, Riftan finally spoke.
"Very well.
You can go."
Maxi almost collapsed with relief.
Supporting Maxi, Idsilla turned them around and was about to retreat when a force abruptly pulled back Maxi's hood.
The attack came out of nowhere, and Maxi was so surprised that she couldn't stop it.
His hood was torn off, and another strong hand turned his body.
Maxi looked at Riftan with petrified eyes.
His gaze swept her from head to toe as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Water dripped from her wet hair and fell onto her cheeks.
Maxi felt a warm blush color his face.
While she looked no better than a beggar, Riftan was as beautiful as a water god who had just emerged from a lake.
His wet hair shone like dark blue satin, and his muscular torso gleamed in the setting sun.
Even in her nervous tension, Maxi couldn't look away from her husband's face, which she hadn't seen in months.
Riftan seemed equally mesmerized, and his eyes swept over her hungrily as he let out a choked moan.
“For God’s sake, why are you…”
His trembling fingers touched her cheek, and for a moment, Maxi foolishly thought he might be happy she was there.
However, his eyes soon hardened and burned with anger.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled ferociously, grabbing your shoulders.
"Who brought you here?!
What were you thinking coming to a place like that“"“D-Don’t be mad at her, Sir!” Idsilla intervened, stopping Riftan from screaming like a madman.
Her fierce gaze turned to Idsilla, and the girl desperately tried to defend Maxi despite shaking in fear.
"Lady Calypse is here because of me.
I told her about my intentions to join the support unit, and“"
"T-That's not true!
I-I… it was… my choice to come.
I just… couldn't sit still and w-wait any longer…"
“Did you choose to come here?”
His furious eyes returned to her, his entire body tense with barely contained rage.
Maxi closed his mouth.
Her handsome husband, whom she had been dying to see all the time, looked as wild as a lion from hell.
"Does the Duke know you're here?
What idiot allowed you to join the support unit?"
“N-No one knows… that I’m here,” Maxi replied weakly, moistening her dry lips.
“I-I hid my identity… and… secretly joined the group as a cleric.”
His anger seemed to exceed the limit that could be expressed in words.
More than once, he opened his mouth as if to scream, only to grit his teeth like a man who is about to lose control.
Soon, his face softened to an empty mask.
It wasn't a good sign.
Maxi knew that this calm and silence meant he was at the height of his anger.
After coldly staring at Maxi's pale face, Riftan turned back to Idsilla.
“Were you the one who helped her?”
"I-Idsilla...
didn't do anything wrong.
I chose..."
“Keep your mouth shut.”
Maxi helplessly hung his head like a criminal on trial.
After rubbing his face and taking a deep breath, Riftan looked back.
The soldiers who had come after Idsilla became entangled in the trees.
Riftan gestured to them.
“Take her back to the women’s tent.”
The men promptly approached Idsilla and led her away.
Maxi discreetly tried to accompany them when Riftan interfered.
“Don’t you dare even think about it,” he said in a soft voice that sent a shiver down her spine.
Maxi's shoulders slumped.
After grabbing his sword and the rest of his clothes, Riftan began walking in the opposite direction.
Maxi had no choice but to follow him like a colt being dragged by a rope.
There was no way out of this mess.
They emerged from the forest in a silence that felt like the calm before the storm.
As they entered the army barracks, the soldiers who had been eating around lit fires throughout the camp turned to look at them with interest.
One of the mercenaries whistled loudly.
“Enjoy a round somewhere, right?” He observed Riftan's half-naked state and sneered, "Behold the abilities of Wigrew's reincarnation!
Even in this cursed place, he found a woman to have fun with!"
The men laughed around them, but Riftan remained impassive.
He gave the mercenary a threatening look and didn't slow down.
Maxi almost had to run to keep up with him.
They came to a tent with the White Dragons' flag, and Riftan pushed it inside and closed the flap behind them.
Instinctively, Maxi moved as far away from him as possible.
Riftan's eyes sparkled before snapping, "Now speak!
Let's see what excuses you come up with."
He threw his sword and his clothes to the ground.
“I said, speak!”
Maxi opened and closed his mouth, unable to think of anything to say.
Riftan paced from one side of the tent to the other like a caged beast before he began to scold her.
"Was I making an unreasonable request by asking you to wait for me in Levan?
What the hell were you thinking coming to a place like that?!
Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?
How could you even think of coming here without a single“"
Riftan abruptly stopped in his rage and held his forehead as if struck by a throbbing headache.
"My God, what would you do if your group was attacked by an army on the way here?
Damn it!
Do I have to shake you upside down to make you come to your senses?!"
"N-Nothing serious happened!
The basilica's soldiers and knights...
protected the clerics...
so I was never harmed during the journey."
“You just got lucky, damn it!”
His anger boiled over, and he shook her as he spoke."If there had been a major clash, we don't know how many of them would have been killed!
Tell me, who among them would have protected you adequately?
You could have died if you had been less lucky.
Do you even realize how serious this is?"
Maxi was finally able to recover from the outburst of his anger.
“T-The same thing goes for everyone!” she replied warmly.
"Everyone in this camp… is risking their lives.
It's the same for you, Riftan.
You too could get hurt or even lose your life… if you're unlucky.
And yet… you're still here, aren't you?
I-Me too“"
“Do you have any idea what kind of comparison you’re making?” He huffed in exasperation.
"I've spent my entire life on the battlefield.
I've been doing this for over a decade!
How can you even compare to me?"
"I-It's not like...
I joined to fight with a sword!
There are soldiers here who are mere boys, and I'm not...
the only weak woman in this camp.
All the women...
are doing their best to take care of the injured men."
The bulging vein on Riftan's forehead looked like it was about to explode at her response.
"Everyone in the world can come and slave here for all I care.
But not you!"
"W-Why not?
How is that j-fair?"
"You are the daughter of a duke!
A noblewoman!
Why must you suffer here like everyone else?"
His illogical words made something inside Maxi snap.
She was tired of this.
She was not the haughty noblewoman he thought she was, but an ordinary person like everyone else.
It frustrated her that he was unable to see that.
"I-I'm not a duke's daughter!
I-I'm a knight's wife!
I-I'm no longer a Croyso… but a Calypse!"
Riftan seemed to be speechless as he looked at her.
Maxi, who was furious while staring at him, suddenly caught her breath.
Pain lurked behind his dark eyes.
“Is that why you’re here?” he murmured, his voice dark.
“You are here… because you are Maximilian Calypse?”
"T-That wasn't what I meant.
I-I just wanted to be close“"
“I apologize for the interruption, but you have a sizable audience out there.”
Maxi's head turned towards the owner of the unexpected voice and saw Ursuline Ricaydo standing at the entrance of the tent.
“If you don’t want to give the northern barbarians something to gossip about, I suggest you end your discussion here.”
Maxi's face was almost blue.
After giving Ursuline a cold look, Riftan picked up the robe hanging near the entrance and threw it over himself.
Turning to Ursuline, he ordered, "I want you to stand guard.
I need a minute."
Maxi grabbed his arm as he was about to leave without saying anything else.
"R-Riftan… please don't be mad.
Listen to me.
I was so worried about you… t-that I had to come.
I just couldn't… sit around and wait“"
“We’ll talk later.”
He coldly pushed her hands away, and Maxi stared at him in shock.
Riftan watched her darkly for a moment before turning away.
"I'll just end up saying something that I'll regret if I stay.
I'll be back as soon as I calm down, so wait for me."
Maxi looked devastated as she watched the tent flap flutter in the cold night wind.
Tears of anguish ran down her face, and she quickly wiped them away with her sleeve.
Ursuline, who had been watching her silently, opened her mouth awkwardly.
“I’ll send Ruth and Elliot to you.”
He called to one of the soldiers outside and added, “I’m sure you’ll feel better with them here.”
The knight seemed unsure of what to say after that.
He silently watched Maxi with an expression she couldn't understand.
It was as if he was looking at a stranger.