Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 43: Attack (2)

Harad recalled the night in the boundary.

The night before the rabbit appeared.

‘If they and you were to fall into water, I would save them without a moment’s hesitation.’

Those words from Elaine were truly impressive.

There was probably no other phrase that described Elaine as well as that.

Elaine is a perfect heir, but in the end, her beginning and end is Serzila.

There are various types of vassals, but the vassals Serzila refers to are mostly knights.

It was the basic principle of the North, which prioritizes military force.

Serzila is the master of such a North.

As such, Elaine's scales are tilted towards military force.

It means Elaine's trust in her knights is beyond imagination.

The Elaine of his past life was also like that.

‘Though she never said it so blatantly.’

I should have asked her once.

Who she would save if they fell into water.

I might get a chance to ask someday, but in any case, the current Elaine chose the knights.

‘There’s still a long way to go.’

Elaine was influenced by the dream.

Even as the Grand Heir, she tried to believe in Harad, and as a result, she deviated from the scouting route as per Harad's suggestion.

And when she realized the knights were in danger, she ordered a retreat.

In the end, it meant Harad could not win against the knights.

‘It’s only natural, if you think about it.’

I’ve only just had the first spoonful.

I can’t be full already.

The sky was particularly clear today.

There were hardly any clouds, so the snowfall was also light.

In fact, it wasn't just today; it had been like that for the past four days.

Coincidentally, it had also been four days since he had last seen Ellen.

“Ellen. Have you seen her?”

“What? Yes. Did you not see her? She ate and left earlier.”

Ellen had been avoiding Harad.

“……Did you two have a fight?”

Kubel asked cautiously.

“Hmm. I think so.”

“You seem to fight often.”

As far as Kubel knew, this was already the third time.

“This is on the low side. It was worse before.”

“What?”

“It’s a long story.”

He had fought with the Elaine of his past life a lot.

-You, why are your eyes like that?

-I was born this way.

-A family problem, I see.

-You son of a bitch.

A lot.

-You, you’ve been drinking again.

-It’s the liquor the Grand Heir gave me.

-Do you drink everything you're given?

-Here we go again with the nagging.

……Looking back, the reasons for their fights were all trivial.

And most of them started with Elaine picking a fight.

And yet, she would always apologize first.

-I was sorry about yesterday.

Sometimes she would even bow her head, and he had once been curious about the reason she went that far.

-For a Grand Heir, your head is so light.

-Because it was my fault.

Elaine said, as if embarrassed.

It wasn't that she was embarrassed to apologize, but she was embarrassed by her actions from the previous day.

-As you know, my personality isn’t that great.

-It’s only not great to me.

-It’s definitely not because I dislike you.

Elaine only treated Harad roughly.

-It seems I’m very comfortable around you.

The Harad of his past life was indifferent to Serzila.

Though he was involved with Serzila, he had not intervened in Serzila's affairs.

The Elaine of his past life's values were the same.

Those values were achieved by Elaine, not Harad.

People change like this.

Harad wanted Ellen to change faster.

“May I ask what happened this time?”

“I crossed the line.”

“What?”

“I touched something precious to Ellen. It was intentional.”

Harad had touched the knights.

The most important and precious vassals to Serzila.

It was like compressing and delivering the time and anguish that Elaine had experienced in his past life.

There was no way there wouldn't be friction.

“Why did you do that?”

Kubel asked for the reason, even though he didn't know the inside story.

If it was trust, it was trust.

The belief that Harad would have a good reason.

“Because I want to become more precious than what is precious to Ellen.”

“What?”

“It’s a joke.”

Harad chuckled softly at Kubel's innocent eyes.

“Why. Why indeed.”

Harad repeated Kubel's question as if savoring it.

To erase Elaine's regrets.

To change the future.

He could give any number of reasons.

None of them were excuses; they were all facts.

Isn't that what regression is for?

He feels the worth of his regression every day.

The future is changing, and it will change even more.

But…… separate from that, he is impatient.

Harad was accurately aware of his own heart.

The current Elaine was only 20 years old.

In his past life, a rigid 20-year-old.

But the Elaine of this life is different.

She has already changed. The speed of that change is faster than he had anticipated.

So he could afford to take his time if he wanted.

But Harad did not. He was running as if being chased.

Why?

Ignorance of the Otherworld, an unknown creature called a rabbit, a changing future…… there are many reasons.

But in the end, Harad knew that the biggest reason was Elaine.

“I think it’s because I feel it’s unfair.”

“What?”

“I think it’s also because I feel resentful.”

Harad thought of Elaine.

The first thing that comes to mind is…… of course, the Elaine of his past life.

The Grand Duke who made him regress.

“I think it’s also because I want to fight.”

In his past life.

Harad was taken hostage at 20, and died at 40.

Of those years, he lived as a freeloader for 5.

For the next 5 years, he lived as Grand Heir Elaine's bad friend and good friend, and he spent his last 10 years as Grand Duke Elaine's escort before he died.

What if Elaine hadn't been there?

It was a life where such a ‘what if’ could not be assumed.

It was probably not just Harad's thought.

“I think it’s also because I feel empty.”

The Stone of Regression.

Harad only learned of that magical item's existence right before he died.

Elaine had had it for much longer.

-If I had the chance, I would want to tell my past self that I am greater than Serzila.

The dream Elaine had recently.

Perhaps those words from the past were not simply a regret.

-Still, I suppose I can play with you more.

No.

Back then, Harad had answered like that.

It was an answer he didn't mean.

“I think it’s because I miss her.”

That's why he's impatient.

“……Do you like Lady Ellen?”

Kubel, who had been listening quietly, asked with a suggestive expression.

“Ah. That’s not it.”

“……?”

“I don’t like anyone.”

That longing.

It was probably not in a romantic sense.

* * *

Harad recalled the last night he had seen Ellen.

The day they returned from scouting, Elaine was attacked, and Ellen smashed three tables at the Snow Leopard's Footprint.

‘Show me.’

At his words that Aura could be mimicked, Ellen had said that.

‘I can’t right now.’

It was impossible for the current Harad.

He had a big enough liver to disguise himself as a knight, but he didn't have the ability to mimic Aura.

Origins that can do that are as rare as they come.

The Harad of his past life had a magical item even rarer than such an Origin.

Of course, there were restrictions on such Origins and magical items.

Harad didn't bother to explain.

It was obvious she wouldn't believe him even if he told her. No, in fact, he didn't even have the chance to tell her.

‘Ha.’

Back then, Ellen had sneered at Harad and left.

That was already ten days ago.

The longer a cold war lasts, the deeper the rift becomes.

But Harad had no intention of raising the white flag first.

If anything, he hoped that even that rift would become a stimulus.

‘She probably hasn’t had a dream.’

A mage who can mimic a knight exists.

Harad had only explained that with words.

For those words to act as a stimulus, he had to prove them.

Just as he had revealed that the owner of the Flower Hall's underbelly was a mage.

‘Or she could question it herself.’

The most recent dream happened because of that.

He didn't know why, but Elaine had sought change.

‘It’s difficult to expect the latter.’

This time, it would have to be the former.

That's what knights were to Elaine.

It wasn't hopeless.

Hadn't he already taken the first spoonful?

“I’m here.”

In fact, for the past ten days, Ellen hadn't come, but Elaine had come from time to in time.

“How was yesterday?”

“……”

Instead of answering, Elaine showed him her scabbard.

There was blood on it.

“It was a mage again.”

For the past ten days, Elaine had met Harad four times and had four drinking sessions.

And she had been attacked four times.

The culprits were all mages.

“……It seems it really is your fault.”

In the end, Elaine believed Harad's words.

“I see.”

“But it’s probably not a knight.”

She didn't believe him completely.

For Harad, that much was enough.

“I tried to check secretly…… but it was impossible. After all, I am the Grand Heir.”

Elaine took out two letters from her bosom.

Both had the Grand Duke's seal, and they were for Elaine and Harad, respectively.

Even if the intention was a warning and not assassination, an attack was an attack.

Naturally, Grand Duke Aratus was worried and enraged.

“Mine is a confinement order.”

For the time being, Elaine would not be able to leave the Inner Fortress.

“This is your share. It’s an order from His Grace the Grand Duke to uncover the mastermind.”

The Grand Duke's anger was directed at Harad.

“It must be because the culprit is a mage. There is no one in the main fortress as knowledgeable about magic as you.”

Harad received the letter.

It said that if he couldn't handle it, he would be handled.

“Do I do it alone?”

“With the 2nd Knights. You can do it alone if you want.”

But if he really moved alone, Grand Duke Aratus would be disappointed.

In short, it was like the shadow of the Wall.

Just as he had uncovered the shadow last time, he was to uncover the mastermind this time, and in the process, earn the recognition of the 2nd Knights as well.

The Grand Duke, while enraged, had connected this matter with the 2nd Knights.

‘It’s probably not just because the 2nd Knights are on their rest period.’

The Grand Duke was smarter than he looked.

“You can use the Intelligence Bureau if you want. His Grace the Grand Duke didn't say so, but I will allow it.”

“Is that alright?”

“The relationships you’ve built are also part of your ability.”

Harad thought of Arika.

She, the future Director of the Intelligence Bureau, would always be helpful if he could use her.

“Be careful. The 2nd Knights are different from the 1st Knights.”

They aren't that different.

Knights are all the same.

“The knight order, or the knight commander?”

“……What are you asking, you already know.”

The 2nd Knights Commander, Cassion, was a vehement hater of mages.

“I can’t for the life of me picture Lord Cassion acknowledging you.”

That was the same for Harad.

* * *

Harad and Elaine had had four drinking sessions over the ten days.

They were all late at night, and took place in Harad's small annex.

It was Elaine's suggestion, and a crude one at that.

Ten days was a short time to judge something.

But it worked wonderfully.

The mastermind of this affair, like a naive child, had sent a mage every time Elaine had a drinking session with Harad.

‘He must really hate me.’

Also, the fact that Elaine had made a crude suggestion had meaning in itself.

It was a suggestion made to prove Harad's hypothesis wrong, but the Elaine of not long ago wouldn't have even made such a suggestion.

She would have ignored it, or gotten angry.

Like when she was enraged at the injuries of the three knights from the 1st Knights.

‘This too is a reward, I suppose.’

Elaine was changing.

The speed was beyond what he had anticipated.

It meant there was no reason to be impatient…… but the human heart rarely moves as one thinks.

Harad smiled without realizing it.

“Why are you so late?”

Ellen was waiting in front of the Inner Fortress.

“Why are you here?”

“Didn’t the Grand Heir tell you?”

Elaine had permitted the use of the Intelligence Bureau.

Harad had naturally thought of Arika.

“I didn’t know it would be you.”

Come to think of it, the confinement order was for Elaine.

‘Not Ellen.’

If it was a blind spot, it was a blind spot.

Harad knew Ellen's identity, but in fact, very few knew that identity.

Publicly, Ellen was a low-ranking agent of the Intelligence Bureau.

It meant that while Elaine might be attacked, Ellen would not.

“Why. Do you not like me?”

“That’s what I want to ask. Is your anger gone?”

“……I was never angry.”

“The owner of the Snow Leopard's Footprint sent me a bill for the tables.”

Harad had no choice but to pay.

It was the money Elaine had given him to drink with sometime ago.

“You said the Grand Heir gave it to you.”

“I did. But you were the one who broke them.”

“Wow.”

Ellen marveled with a look of disbelief on her face.

“So petty. I’ll pay you. Wait.”

Ellen turned her back.

She seemed to be going to get money.

Harad caught the turning Ellen.

“I want something else instead.”

“What is it.”

“If you don’t know, then forget it.”

This time, Harad turned his back.

Ellen caught the turning Harad.

“……I was sorry about yesterday.”

Ellen said.

“I guess I’m just comfortable around you.”

It was a nostalgic face.

“Me too.”

Harad couldn't help but smile.

“……”

Ellen's face turned red.

Just a little.