Even If You Tear Me Apart - Chapter 2
The woman’s younger brother glared up at the Marquis disapprovingly, but the Marquis merely chuckled and patted the boy on the shoulder.
“Henri, was it? I heard you’re not in the best health. I’ve prepared a comfortable carriage for you. Why not try it out?”
“R-Really?”
The boy was only thirteen years old.
The Marquis had brought not just one, but two carriages—one was a four-horse carriage for himself, and the other, a six-horse carriage, was for the boy and the bride.
The moment the boy saw the six-horse carriage, his eyes lit up.
“Wow! The horses look amazing!”
“Haha, I selected only the finest.”
This time, it wasn’t Shanka who spoke, but Milena, standing beside him.
“F**k. Dragging along ten horses, and he’s thrilled. Who the hell’s supposed to guard all this?”
Milena, a knight who rarely spoke in such situations, couldn’t hide her dissatisfaction with the Marquis’s decision to bring two carriages.
And rightfully so—having just twelve knights guarding two carriages was an unwelcome burden for anyone.
Shanka muttered softly, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
“This must be a beggar’s life. A beggar’s life, I say. O, almighty Udal, grant your poor paladins the means to survive.”
“Even if we bleed ourselves dry earning money, the priests will just take it all.”
“Well, we can’t exactly pray for Udal to kill off all the priests, now can we?”
Ezekiel, unable to take any more, glared sharply at the two. Flinching under his gaze, they both fell silent.
But in truth, Ezekiel was just as troubled as they were.
The paladins dispatched by the Temple of Udal numbered only twelve. Even when combined with the ten temple guards and six squires, they had only twenty-eight people in total.
Could they really guard two carriages properly with such a small force? The mistake had been assuming that the Marquis would only bring a single four-horse carriage.
‘No wonder their side kept the scale of the procession a secret until the last moment.’
But it was too late now to complain about the excessive number of carriages and call off the departure.
In the meantime, the Marquis had helped the boy into the carriage and was now approaching the young woman who would be his bride.
The Marquis had the typical overbearing demeanor of mages. He extended his wrinkled hand for a handshake.
“We’ll be in your care, Sir Ezekiel.”
In truth, this mage was someone who wouldn’t normally dare to call Ezekiel by name so casually. But Ezekiel simply bowed his head without a word.
“Yes.”
“They say you are the almighty Udal’s most treasured knight. I hope you’ll make the journey to my bride’s wedding a happy one.”
“I will do my best, though it may be lacking.”
At Ezekiel’s formal tone, the Marquis withdrew with a faint smile on his face. Then, he gestured to the silver-haired woman standing next to him—Iris Quilluxia.
The woman had been staring blankly at Ezekiel, only to be startled and hurriedly bow in greeting.
“I’ll… be in your care. Uh…”
Her voice trembled excessively. From afar, she had seemed poised, but up close, it was clear she still carried the traces of a young girl.
“You may call me Sir Ezekiel.”
“…Sir Ezekiel.”
The young bride forced a smile. Her eyes, as deep and dark as a winter lake, seemed to flicker with a momentary sadness.
There had been a time when those eyes had once sparkled more brilliantly than anything.
“Thank you.”
“Yes.”
The old man’s expression turned sour. Perhaps he didn’t like the idea of his young fiancée smiling at the young knight.
But when Ezekiel overheard the Marquis scolding the woman after turning away, he realized that wasn’t the reason.
“You are about to become Kazakov’s wife, so don’t carelessly say thank you to others. Understood?”
“Ah…”
“Since becoming a mage, I’ve never said thank you to anyone. Not even to His Majesty the Emperor, mind you.”
“I apologize. I didn’t know.”
The old man scolding the young woman so publicly was embarrassing to watch, and Milena couldn’t help but scoff.
“What a great, amazing mage we have here.”
It was obvious why the Marquis was acting this way—he wanted to flaunt his pride in front of the knights who served a god.
Shanka let out a loud sniff and stuffed his handkerchief back into his belt.
“I’d love to see him refuse to say thank you even if the fairies of Aspel Mountain came down to greet him.”
“No way,” Milena snickered. “What if the Marquis actually manages to capture the Fairy Queen?”
“No mage could possibly pull that off though,” Shanka replied.
Ezekiel silenced their bickering with a simple hand gesture.
“Stop talking. We don’t have time. Since the Marquis brought two carriages, we’ll reduce our luggage to the bare minimum.”
“Got it. What else should we do?”
“Send one of the two supply wagons back to the temple, and minimize the food supplies. Also…”
Shanka’s earlier arrogance vanished as he adjusted his attitude. Milena shrugged and ordered one of the squires to organize and reduce their cargo. Soon, the squires and temple guards bustled around the carriages.
Ezekiel glanced toward the Marquis. The man had already boarded his grand carriage and was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the young woman was struggling to lift her heavy gown as she tried to board her carriage.
A maid rushed over and helped lift the woman’s dress. The woman smiled brightly and seemed to thank the maid.
Ezekiel turned his head away.
The mage and the woman who would only be traveling together for a few months.
Whether they looked like a father and daughter, or whether the mage scolded her harshly—it was none of his concern.
It couldn’t be his concern.
In the distance, the woman’s nanny was watching him. When their eyes met, she silently bowed. Ezekiel returned the gesture.
“Let us depart.”
There was no need for grand words when it came to leaving.
