Chapter 202

“Lloyd-nim.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re really diligent, Lloyd-nim.”

“Huh?”

Lloyd’s eyebrow twitched.

Javier’s cold eyes turned even colder.

“It’s not just diligence. You’re also sincere.”

“Hey?”

Lloyd tilted his head.

Why was Javier acting like this?

He told him to just swear if he wanted to.

Javier wasn’t the type to hand out compliments in a situation like this.

Did he eat something weird without Lloyd noticing?

Even as Lloyd stood there baffled, Javier kept going with his compliment relay, completely unfazed by Lloyd’s reaction.

“And you’re meticulous. You leave no gaps, and you always prepare for the aftermath. You’re also the type who rarely strays from the path you’ve set.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“Yes. Watching you can be quite endearing. Especially when I see you covered in dirt from working on the Qanat, you don’t look like a haughty noble—you look familiar and approachable.”

“Approachable? Familiar?”

“Yes.”

“For example?”

“A mole cricket.”

“……”

“The way you diligently dig into the ground, sincerely bore tunnels, and meticulously pack the soil is exactly like one. Especially when I see your unsightly, pathetic backside wiggling and groaning as you shovel, I can’t help thinking you’re a dead ringer for a mole cricket. And that’s not all. The smell coming from your rear end is similar, too.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with my smell?”

“I don’t think you realize this, but when mole crickets feel threatened, they squirt a foul-smelling brown liquid from their anus. Have you ever smelled it? It’s like dog poop mixed with thoroughly rotten mud. It’s eerily similar to your filthy rear end.”

“……Hey.”

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you say it was okay to swear?”

“Oh, I did.”

“So I did. I feel refreshed.”

“You should’ve just broken my bones instead.”

Lloyd could only give a wry smile.

Javier added, looking even pricklier.

“Someone who does such terrible things as you, Lloyd-nim, doesn’t deserve even this much cursing.”

“Well, would you hate me more if I said I had no choice?”

“……”

“Tsk. Don’t glare at me like that.”

“Should I try to come up with even worse insults?”

“No, spare me.”

Lloyd laughed, deliberately exaggerated.

Maybe Javier understood his intentions to some extent.

Despite the prickly abuse, his favorability rating hadn’t dropped even by one.

‘Honestly, I didn’t do anything completely terrible to Scheherazade.’

That was true.

He had deliberately shackled Scheherazade’s growth with the lullaby.

He could admit it was underhanded.

But if you looked at it another way?

He was her savior.

‘Because she didn’t die thanks to the Qanat I built. That counts for something.’

Lloyd shrugged.

The favor he’d done for Scheherazade was the kind none of them could ever know—Javier, Scheherazade herself, anyone.

‘Because I changed the future. I changed the fate where she dies in the rebellion.’

But no one would know that future had changed.

And Lloyd didn’t think that was so bad.

‘Saving one person is enough, right?’

Gratitude wasn’t necessary.

He didn’t particularly want it.

He could call it even, considering the shackles he’d put on her.

Just thinking that made him feel lighter.

Lloyd said, “Anyway, that’s why I’m looking forward to that woman’s reaction.”

“Reaction.”

“She was greatly affected by my lullaby, right? So she’ll probably show one of two reactions.”

“One of two. What are they?”

“Either she’ll come here, or she’ll stay in the Sultanate.”

“You don’t mean she’ll come all the way here because she can’t forget your lullaby, Lloyd-nim?”

“Yeah. But since she hasn’t shown up yet, I guess she’s choosing the latter.”

“She’ll overcome it on her own, then.”

“Yeah.”

“So, are you disappointed?”

“Hmm, not really.”

Lloyd grinned.

If Scheherazade didn’t come, it wasn’t a big deal.

Because she’d have a miserable time overcoming Swordmaster Syndrome after tasting the comfort of the lullaby. Thanks to that, she’d waste about ten more years before reaching the realm of Swordmaster.

That much later would the Sultanate grow strong.

“So I’m not really disappointed. Well, it’d be even better if she suddenly showed up one day.”

“Lloyd, don’t tell me.”

“Hmm. You already caught on? You’re smart. That’s right. The day she comes will be the day the engineering corps gets a new high-end construction equipment—no, personnel—added to it, right?”

“……”

“That’s why I even made an employment contract in advance. Meticulously.”

“……”

God.

Please, I pray, save that pitiful woman.

Javier was at a loss for words.

And he thought inwardly.

Scheherazade, who might end up sharing his fate of suffering.

If she was anywhere near the Frontera Estate…

He wanted to tell her to run away immediately.

In that stifling mood, rising higher and higher, Javier slightly furrowed his picturesque brow.

Lloyd just grinned at the silver-haired knight as they walked side by side.

Before they knew it, evening settled in.

And the next day, early in the morning.

The thing Javier had worried about really happened.

♣

“Bibeong-!”

Morning dawned over the Frontera Estate.

Sunlight sparkled as it pushed away the mountain fog that had bloomed overnight.

In the moist air, Baron Arcos Frontera stretched his shoulders.

“Hoo.”

It was hard.

Trying to do something unfamiliar was surprisingly exhausting.

But he couldn’t stop now that he’d started.

Thinking that, the Baron tightened his grip on the trowel and moved.

Rustle.

The soil cracked.

A weed came free.

Sweat trickled down his forehead.

“Hoo-oo.”

His legs hurt.

He wasn’t used to crouching like this.

He wasn’t used to tending the flower garden, either.

His knees already ached, and his shoulders felt stiff.

But the Baron endured.

Because he remembered his promise to his wife.

‘Oh dear, you have a fever. Do you have a cold? Please don’t overdo it tomorrow.’

It was the night before, just before bed.

His wife’s expression hadn’t been good.

At first, he’d thought something serious had happened.

Then, a moment later, it hit him.

He’d touched her forehead.

It was hotter than usual.

A slight fever.

That was why he’d asked her.

If her cold worsened, it would be a problem.

So please don’t overdo it for the time being.

Then his wife had looked troubled.

‘I can’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘There are a lot of weeds in the flower garden. I need to pull them out soon.’

‘But isn’t your health more important than the flower garden?’

‘But…….’

‘Then I’ll do it instead.’

‘Pardon?’

‘A few days is fine. I’ll take care of the flower garden. Would that put your mind at ease?’

‘You…….’

Taking care of the mansion’s flower garden was almost his wife’s only hobby.

She cherished it so much she rarely entrusted it to maids or servants.

And yet, when she heard his words, her eyes had been so grateful.

The way she’d held his hand so warmly.

‘Yes. I promised. So I can’t do it halfheartedly just because it’s a little hard.’

It was a promise he’d made to his wife.

He had to keep it even if the sky fell.

Even if his knees ached and his shoulders stiffened, he had to pull out every last weed.

With that resolve, Baron Arcos Frontera wielded the trowel again.

Rustle, rustle.

With slightly clumsy digging, the weeds in the flower garden gradually disappeared.

As he worked, distractions disappeared as well.

The ache in his knees.

The stiffness in his shoulders.

He forgot them little by little.

Instead, a sense of reward filled his heart.

‘Come to think of it, I’m truly happy.’

It really was true.

The financial difficulties that had suffocated the estate were gone.

The countless refugees who had flocked in had all settled down.

His days were free of worry.

And what about his two sons?

‘Lloyd.’

Whenever he thought of his eldest son—once a troublemaker—a pleased smile naturally came to his face.

He’d said he would make something called Ondol.

He’d said he would make money with it.

And he’d asked for support—permission to use some of the guards.

The Baron still remembered how serious Lloyd had looked when he asked.

‘That boy is still keeping the promise he made back then.’

He’d promised to quit drinking in exchange for support.

At first, the Baron hadn’t really believed it.

Because Lloyd was the kind of person who would leap out of bed even in his sleep if alcohol was involved.

But he’d kept that promise.

He was still keeping it.

And that wasn’t all.

Whenever the Baron saw how sincere and reliable his eldest son had become, he felt so proud he wondered if he’d been born into this world just to see that.

‘And Julian.’

His second son was the same.

Julian hadn’t caused as much trouble as Lloyd.

He’d always been sincere and wise.

But he had a weak side, too.

So the Baron had worried.

How would he endure the rough waves of the world?

What would he do for a living if he didn’t inherit the family?

Sometimes those worries would surface, and he’d sigh quietly.

But not anymore.

Julian had graduated from the academy in the royal capital as the vice-chief.

It was practically a highway to a high-ranking post.

‘This father…… is truly happy.’

That both his sons had grown so well.

That they’d grown up healthy, without pain.

That they now seemed ready to spread their wings and fly through the world without his protection.

It was admirable.

It was proud.

He was pleased.

He was happy.

The Baron’s digging grew more energetic.

He smiled among the early-summer flower buds.

Then, suddenly, he heard an unexpected sound.

“Stop there.”

“What business do you have here?”

Voices from the main gate.

The mansion guards.

Had a visitor come so early?

But who would come at this hour?

The main gate wasn’t far from the flower bed.

The Baron craned his neck while still crouched.

Unfortunately, the early-summer roses blooming thickly along the fence blocked his view.

All he could see were the backs of two guards.

The visitor standing beyond the closed gate was hidden behind the roses.

‘Judging by the guards’ attitude, they don’t seem to be a local.’

It was a small estate to begin with.

Cross a few bridges and everyone knew everyone.

So if the guards were this stiff, the visitor was either a refugee or an outsider.

‘Well, the guards will handle it.’

The Baron chuckled.

It wasn’t his job to deal with every unknown visitor one by one.

And what time was it?

He was tending his wife’s precious flower garden.

Besides, he’d finally started getting used to crouching; if he stood up and changed posture now, his legs would ache even more.

So the Baron kept moving the trowel.

He simply kept his ears open.

As the conversation went back and forth, it gradually became clearer.

“Is this Baron Frontera’s mansion?”

The visitor asked.

The Baron tilted his head.

The visitor sounded like a young woman.

And her pronunciation—her accent—was unusual.

No matter how he listened, it wasn’t anything like the local dialect.

While the Baron was thinking that, the guard replied.

“This is Baron Frontera’s mansion. State your identity and purpose of visit.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“I’m from the east. I came from the Sultanate.”

“The Sultanate…… you say?”

“Yes.”

“Then what is your purpose of visit?”

“I came to meet Lloyd Frontera, the eldest son of this family.”

“You mean Young Master Lloyd?”

“Yes.”

The woman’s answer was clear.

Baron Arcos Frontera’s digging had already stopped.

‘Lloyd? A woman from the Sultanate? Here for Lloyd?’

He frowned.

A woman from the Sultanate, coming to find Lloyd.

That wasn’t something ordinary.

A curiosity he could no longer ignore rose up.

‘What happened that she came all the way here to find our son?’

In the end, the Baron set the trowel down.

He braced his aching knees with both hands and stood.

His vision lifted, gradually opening up.

Beyond the roses blooming thickly along the fence, the visitor finally came into view.

Fairly tall.

Exotic Sultanate attire.

Even more exotic light-brown skin.

A confident nose, an unyielding expression.

Eyes that shone like black pearls as she spoke clearly to the guard.

“My name is Scheherazade from the eastern Sultanate. To state my purpose of visit, I came to meet Lloyd Frontera, the eldest son of this mansion.”

“Could you state the reason you’re trying to meet Young Master Lloyd?”

“Yes.”

Scheherazade nodded.

To reveal the reason she had come looking for Lloyd, she took a breath.

Baron Arcos Frontera’s ears perked up as well.

Then Scheherazade spoke, her voice confident.

“It’s because I’ve become someone who can’t fall asleep without that man.”