My Strange Savior - Chapter 91

Chapter 91

“Kind and… good, but a bit?”

“A bit? What?”

“Do you know what adjective always sticks in front of the Commander?”

“What is it?”

Gia, who wanted to know anything about Kalion, focused on Spencer’s words.

“Cold-blooded.”

“Huh?”

“Cold-blooded, with no blood, tears, or emotions.”

“Cold-blooded?”

Gia’s mouth opened in surprise at the unexpected adjective. It was a term so distant from how Kalion treated her. How could Kalion, who was so kind and good, be described as cold-blooded? Without blood, tears, or emotions.

Unable to comprehend, Gia raised her eyebrows, and Spencer, seeming frustrated, thumped his chest as if to express the difficulty.

“Do you know how chilly the wind blows when the Commander deals with the ladies? Last time… Oh, please don’t mention I said that.”

In the secluded forest, Spencer looked around as if someone might be listening, then closely approached Gia’s side. Gia’s ears perked up at Spencer’s lowered voice.

“Oh, no. Never. I won’t say a word. I’ll keep it a secret.”

Even though it wasn’t a significant secret, Gia swallowed hard at the thought of revealing it.

“The Princess invited the Commander to the tea party. She’s in the marriageable age, so how urgent do you think it was?”

“Well… I guess so. So what?”

“Wouldn’t she be interested in the unmarried Commander, the most handsome man in the Empire?”

“Well… Is that so?”

Knowing that Gia was aware of the attractiveness that couldn’t be easily dismissed, Spencer continued the conversation as Gia played along.

“Moreover, it seems like she fell hard for the Commander at the last banquet, right? You know, that good feeling.”

“I know. I know. So what?”

Eager to hear Spencer’s continuation, Gia nodded calmly.

“Well, this isn’t a secret. It’s almost a public fact that the Princess has fallen for the Commander.”

“Oh, so. Quickly, tell me the next thing.”

Unable to wait, Gia urged, and just as Spencer was about to continue the story, a familiar voice came through.

“Gia? Spencer?”

“Oh? Kalion?”

“Commander?”

Startled by the unexpected appearance, Gia turned her head in surprise. It wasn’t just Gia; Spencer’s shoulders also tensed at the arrival of the unexpected guest. While it wasn’t something bad, the two of them couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.

“What… What are you doing here at this hour?”

At Kalion’s question, Spencer and Gia exchanged awkward glances.

‘Don’t say I asked.’

‘Oh, yes. I’ll keep my mouth shut even if it kills me.’

With a glance demanding silence from Gia, Spencer nodded, keeping his mouth tightly closed. Kalion, observing the meaningful exchange of glances between the two, narrowed his eyes.

“Well, um… There’s something to discuss.”

“So, what is this discussion that brought you into the deep forest at this late hour?”

“It’s nothing much. Let’s go!”

Ignoring Kalion’s uncharacteristically persistent question, Gia grabbed his sturdy arm.

“Isn’t Rey alone? What if he’s crying!”

Resisting being pulled, Kalion exerted force on his arm towards himself. With a frustrated look, Gia, dragging Kalion along, sent a meaningful glance to Spencer.

‘Don’t follow.’

‘Got it.’

With a clenched fist, Gia, leading Kalion like a captured prey, turned back towards the path they came from.

“He wasn’t crying. He even laughed when I gave him a cake…”

“What? How can you give him cake when he hasn’t eaten?”

Kalion, who came to find Gia and ended up getting a lecture, looked at Spencer with a skeptical gaze. Behind Spencer, standing still with an unwavering posture in the face of Kalion’s sharp eyes, sweat trickled down.

Spencer wasn’t sure why he got involved in the love quarrel between the two, but he knew exactly where he stood to gain the upper hand.

Watching Spencer convey his determination to endure until the end, Gia subtly winked without Kalion noticing.

Although it cut off at the most interesting part, they couldn’t continue the conversation with Kalion’s presence. Expecting the next move from Gia, they returned to the campsite with Kalion.

“But why did Kalion come all the way here?”

“Well, I…”

It felt awkward to say he came to find Gia. Since he hadn’t seen her all day, how could he put into words that he just wanted to see her? Feeling embarrassed, Kalion started to speak but stopped.

“Huh?”

“No… It’s just that Rey was alone, so…”

“Oh. I have something to attend to for a moment.”

“So, what is it that you need to attend to, and involve Spencer at that?”

Kalion brought up the matter again, perhaps still bothered by the fact that the two had come into the forest at such an ambitious hour.

“Oh, there is.”

“Is it something I shouldn’t know?”

As Kalion followed Gia’s lead, his steps abruptly stopped. Seeing Kalion’s pitiful expression, like a drenched puppy, Gia was about to offer an excuse out of habit but bit her lips instead.

‘Oh, it’s an attack on the face.’

Gia found herself speechless in the face of that delicate-looking face. To openly inquire about Spencer and what they talked about would make Gia seem too forward. It wouldn’t look good to delve into the private life of the man she liked.

Feeling the need to say the truth when faced with Kalion’s expression, even if she wanted to just gloss over it, Gia struggled to find the words.

“Well… Just, you know… This and that…”

“So, what is this ‘this and that’ talk?”

Gia, who saw the determination in Kalion’s face not to move an inch until she spoke, reluctantly closed her lips.

Thinking of an excuse, Gia turned her head forcefully. Eventually, she opened her lips with difficulty.

“Aren’t we going to the capital soon?”

“Yes.”

“There, there are ranks, and it’s different from where I used to live, so I need to follow etiquette… and I shouldn’t appear disrespectful to the Emperor you mentioned.”

The more she spoke, the stranger it sounded, but it was the best Gia could come up with. She couldn’t admit that she wanted to secretly inquire about the previous love affairs of the man she liked.

“You seem so out of place, and Spencer said he was a nobleman, too, so I thought I’d ask him for information.”

“Do you have to discuss this at this late hour and in this place?”

“I was in the carriage all day, and it was frustrating. Besides, it would be embarrassing if someone else saw us, wouldn’t it?”

Despite being someone who typically wouldn’t feel embarrassed about such matters, Gia reluctantly admitted to feeling embarrassed. While still gazing at Kalion, whose puzzled expression remained, Gia lightly tapped his well-built arm to avoid hurting herself.

“Well, it’s embarrassing in a way. I mean, you think I have no shame?”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! You know nothing about a woman’s heart.”

Feeling pricked, Gia, in a hurry, ran towards the campsite alone. 

As Kalion, left alone in the forest, stared blankly in the direction Gia disappeared into, he wasn’t sure why things had escalated like this. Nevertheless, Kalion hurriedly followed Gia.

“Gia, let’s go together.”

“Oh, I don’t know! I’m going alone.”

The last words Gia spat out towards Kalion were uttered in a moment of impulsiveness, but even she was unaware that emotions had slipped into her state of mind.

Why did she want to pry into Kalion’s private life? Because she liked him. Because she wanted to know. At that moment, Kalion, who knew nothing about her feelings, felt momentarily distasteful and resentful.

Even for Gia, who was experiencing the curiosity and desire to know about someone for the first time, she extended her lips without understanding why she was acting this way.

Suddenly, a passage she had read in a book came to mind. It said something about becoming a fool when falling in love. 

She felt like she was precisely that right now. Getting angry and sulking over trivial matters several times and then suddenly being relieved. 

It was absurd. While she found it challenging to catch up with her own emotions, having Kalion by her side must have been even more bewildering.

Ignoring Kalion, who was urgently calling her from behind, Gia hid her flushed cheeks as she rushed towards the campsite. She felt so embarrassed about her actions.

“Ugh… Seriously. I must be crazy! Yu Gia.”

Kalion, who had caught up to Gia with brisk steps, grabbed her shoulders as she attempted to distance herself.

“The forest path at night is dark and dangerous.”

Kalion’s face reflected concern, perhaps recalling Gia’s past when she had roamed the Hagria Mountains alone.

Even so, Gia, enjoying the attention, mumbled something incoherent, concealing her face within the collar of her combat uniform.

“What’s dangerous… it is dangerous.”

In reality, the most dangerous thing here might be herself, and Kalion, unaware of this, continued to wear a gentle expression.

“It’s dangerous.”

As they walked the remaining half of the distance together, Gia, outwardly complaining, found herself enjoying it inwardly.

“What am I… not a child.”

“I never said you were a child. I’m just worried…”

“Fine, fine. If we go together, it’s okay.”

“Yes.”

Only then did Gia’s face flush at Kalion’s relieved smile. To think she had never seen that kind of face on a man before. 

This should be a normal face. Would women be satisfied with such a face? Even in this situation, with the way Kalion was acting so kind, Gia sneakily glanced at him. Yet, she sighed inwardly.

She dared not even dream about it. Knowing her situation better than anyone else, Gia tightly grasped the emotions welling up inside her.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

While knowing Kalion was following behind, Gia deliberately walked on, pretending not to notice.

* * *

“Wow… it’s much bigger than Moretta?”

“Yes. It’s a city not far from the capital. With well-paved roads, it’s a city that is bound to develop commercially due to its proximity.”

Gia, gazing at the massive city gate, opened her mouth wide. The large city, compared to Moretta, was bustling with people. Many gazes from the crowd in front of the city gate turned toward Kalion’s group.

“Are you the commander who captured that dragon?”

“That’s right.”

“The one who captured the Red Dragon in the Hagria Mountains?”

“If you’re the commander of the knight order, are you the son of Duke Bowers?”

Voices from the crowd reached them, and the attention of people gathered on the approaching carriage.

The carriage, pulled by ten horses, was much larger than an ordinary carriage. A gray cloth covered the dragon’s carcass on top. People craned their necks to catch a glimpse, curious about what was inside.

Oscar, who had descended from the carriage, conveyed messages with gestures to his subordinates as they rode, and then a mistake seemed to occur as the cloth shifted.

“Hu, huhk.”

“A dra-dragon?”

“Is that…?”

People gasped in amazement as they caught a glimpse of the colossal Red Dragon lying seemingly asleep in the carriage.