The Camellia Tattoo - Chapter 110
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
this book is completely translated on luna kofi (advanced chapters for the website will follow)
Being abandoned is frightening and she hated it.
Madame Etoile often took children to the ruins of alleyways to show them the so-called ‘discarded women.’
To avoid such a fate, they were taught to be grateful for the clean food and water provided by Madame, and to always perform their duties well.
The shock of that experience was deeply engraved in Iona’s psyche, shaping her into an obedient child.
This fear still persists even now that she is older.
The fear of Madame Etoile’s power naturally transferred to a fear of Amber’s authority. From Iona’s perspective, Amber was even more terrifying than Madame.
“G-green eyes!”
“……”
“Green eyes. I couldn’t see the face properly because of the hood, but I remember the green eyes.”
When Iona bowed and stood up, she caught a brief glimpse of it.
Hoping this would be useful information, Iona clasped her hands tightly.
And Amber…
‘Green eyes! It must be Mikael.’
That means from now on, Iona is a witness who must be protected. At the same time, she must be monitored to ensure she does not flee.
With this conclusion, Amber smiled kindly and patted Iona on the shoulder.
Now, the question to consider is the reason.
Why did Mikael send Iona here?
* * *
Understanding this was challenging.
The church had pushed for their marriage, and Mikael received the oracle. So why was he trying to break them apart?
After much thought with no answers emerging, daily life continued.
Amber was currently attending a meeting where they were discussing specific strategies for dealing with Nidhogg.
“Everyone, take a look at this. This is a trebuchet designed specifically for fighting Nidhogg. You could call it a weapon exclusive for Nidhogg.”
At Amber’s explanation, the elite knights’ eyes widened with interest.
Amber had already had a small model of the trebuchet made by a craftsman, and when she displayed it, everyone gasped in amazement.
“Oh, so it operates automatically without needing people to move the stones manually?”
“That’s right.”
“Wow! How did our Madam come up with something like this?”
Gallard clapped and expressed his admiration.
In fact, this was one of the ideas she had considered in the past. She couldn’t realize it back then, but now she can.
Igmeyer had also been very impressed, believing it was an excellent idea. With this, they could even deal with flying monsters—quite a two-in-one solution.
“Oh, and… Igmeyer.”
As the meeting was ending, Amber called her husband over. Despite their strained relationship, she had to say what needed to be said. Especially since this was an important request.
“I want to learn self-defense.”
“Self-defense?”
“Yes. Jason is learning it too. I want to be able to protect myself.”
Igmeyer looked at his wife with a pained expression.
He remembered how she used to open up to him without such coldness. Knowing this made the current distance between them even more painful.
Scratching the back of his head, Igmeyer sighed deeply.
“Alright, it’s not a bad idea to learn. But the difference in strength is too great for me to teach you. The size difference would also make it dangerous.”
“Okay.”
“The instructor for Jason’s self-defense…”
Igmeyer hesitated before stopping abruptly.
He tried to recall who it was and remembered it was a very young, junior knight. Obviously unmarried and, as far as he could remember, somewhat attractive.
‘No way.’
The knight who would spend personal time with Amber must be burly, large, and, above all, married.
And only one person met all those criteria.
“… It’s Gallard, so you can learn from him.”
Gallard, who was just exiting the meeting room, stood tall and tilted his head in confusion at Igmeyer’s declaration.
Igmeyer quickly left before his colleague could say anything awkward.
“Let’s meet in the training grounds in an hour.”
“Got it.”
Gallard muttered something about not being the right size, but Igmeyer ignored it.
After all, young and handsome knights were out of the question.
If it was not suitable, it simply wasn’t.
* * *
Soon, Amber arrived at the training grounds dressed in comfortable attire, holding Jason’s hand tightly.
“Welcome, Madam.”
“Thank you in advance.”
“Hmm, for today, please just observe what Jason and I do.”
Amber was unfamiliar with such matters. So she simply nodded and stepped back to observe.
“Um… you’ve heard the news, haven’t you, young master?”
“Yes.”
“Then, shall we give it a try?”
Jason, who had briefly heard about what happened in the meeting room today, was torn between whether he should be pleased or unsettled.
It was certainly wonderful to be able to learn alongside Amber. They rarely had time together lately.
However, the fact that Sir Gallard would be the training instructor was a bit unsettling…..Gallard’s size and build were at least four times greater than Jason’s.
Of course, self-defense is about overcoming larger opponents or finding ways to escape, but the height difference was still significant.
‘He should know better.’
Gallard stood towering like a mountain up close. His presence was imposing enough to evoke a hint of fear, if not for his slightly awkward and embarrassed expression.
