In the end, Adilot successfully suppressed the rebellion of Count Celestial. Although he didn't capture the count himself, he seized his daughter and occupied the lands, so it was essentially a victory. Rumor had it that Count Celestial fled without even taking his luggage. Despite that, he managed to grab a box of gold, which naturally irritated Mia.
‘He must have left me behind on purpose. So I wouldn’t chase him, but rather focus on myself.’ How could someone be so infuriatingly meticulous? ‘Honestly, it’s probably better crawling under the male lead than making money for that kind of guy!’
As they headed to the Imperial Palace of Leventor with Mia as a hostage, Adilot had her walk beside his horse. Mia asked seriously, "On all fours?" "...On two legs!" Adilot replied, clearly irritated.
‘Adil must really like creatures that walk on two legs!’ It was fortunate for Mia. Thanks to this, she could maintain some dignity as she walked next to Adilot. ‘Although, I thought they’d at least tie my hands, but they didn’t even do that?’ Mia clenched and unclenched her hands, pondering. It was clear that Adilot had correctly judged that there wasn’t much she could do even if she tried to escape. ‘And if I did escape, he’s confident he could catch me. Or maybe it would be even better for him if I ran to Count Celestial.’
She was alive, with her limbs free. Adilot clearly cared about animal welfare. ‘Everything seems to be going better than expected!’
However, there was one problem. "Your Majesty, the law dictates that rebels’ families must be annihilated." The one speaking was Marquis Ferdinand Kito. He had long black hair tied back and gray eyes. Though handsome, he was known for being ruthless on the battlefield and was Adilot’s closest aide. ‘He’s also the stoic secondary male character who eventually falls for Len!’
Returning after searching for Count Celestial, he drew his sword with a menacing look as soon as he saw Mia. Adilot stepped in front of him, and the two began a heated argument. "For Your Majesty’s safety, Mia Celestial must be killed immediately." "I’ve only postponed it for now." "This is unprecedented, Your Majesty." "When have I ever concerned myself with precedent in ruling?" "This will give the Empress’s faction an opportunity to criticize." "They’ve always found something to criticize. They’d probably even blame me for the day being 24 hours long."
"Even so, she funded Celestial’s rebellion. We don’t know what her intentions are in staying by your side." "If things go wrong, I can kill her then." "In that case, why not kill her now?" Ferdinand’s gray eyes shifted to Mia as he spoke. "If you command it, Your Majesty, I will do it right now…." At the same time, his hand naturally moved to the hilt of his sword. Mia felt a sharp chill, as if her hair stood on end from the murderous intent.
"...Hiccup." In that moment, Mia instinctively grabbed onto Adilot’s sleeve. Both Adilot and Ferdinand froze. "Hiccup... Hiccup!" "..." In their eyes, all they saw was a small, insignificant woman hiccuping. Her face was pale, her fingers trembling, and her shoulders hunched as she trembled in fear. Without even realizing it, she edged closer to Adilot. Oddly, it didn’t seem like she was doing it on purpose, more like it was an instinctive reaction. Realizing this, both Adilot and Ferdinand had strange expressions.
"...?" Seeing them both stare at her in silence, Mia nervously glanced around and spoke quietly. "P-Please spare me…?" Adilot let out a short sigh. He said just one thing. "Let’s leave it at that for today, Marquis." "…Understood." Ferdinand immediately straightened up and returned to his place, not glancing at Mia again.
Once Ferdinand backed down, the march resumed. From afar, the massive army looked like a great dragon. The flag with the red lion flapped in the wind, and the trumpeters announced the emperor’s victory with high notes as they advanced.
