Home/I confined you, but I have no ill will/ch 19

19.

"For now, I won't ask the Imperial House for help."

Originally, he had considered requesting military aid from the Imperial House—but after receiving the note, his thinking had changed. Kite had made many enemies by causing trouble everywhere, but there was only one force that could systematically threaten him. That was why he made this decision.

He knew it was extremely difficult to force a message out of Kite. But the one who had delivered it was unsettling, so his anxiety lingered.

"Are you sure that's alright?"

Alex asked.

"For now, that seems right."

"Huh—so you're saying the current situation might involve the Imperial House."

Lucen grasped the situation quickly and spoke.

"Lucen!"

Alex warned him, but Lucen didn't stop.

"After all, we're the only ones here."

"Remember what just happened."

Only then did Lucen fall silent.

"I need to move them."

Aside from those publicly known, Kite had other forces—ones he had built while drifting through the northern battlefields. They had sworn absolute loyalty to him.

"Are you sure?"

Both Alex and Lucen knew of that force. They held important positions in the knight order and had the skill to match.

"I don't intend to bring them into the capital. I'll have them wait nearby."

"But we don't have Lord Kite's permission, do we?"

At that, Seren crumpled the note in his hand.

"What matters most to me is Lord Kite."

In other words—even if he had to disobey Kite, he would protect him.

---

At the very moment Seren made that decision, Kite stopped what he was doing and stared into space.

"Somehow I have a bad feeling."

Just then, the door opened and a familiar face peeked in—Ibelin.

"What's worrying you?"

"Lady."

"Please just call me by name."

Ibelin sighed softly. Whenever Kite called her Lady, it felt oddly like wearing ill-fitting clothes—perhaps because he was so famous for all the wrong reasons.

"Fine. That's not bad. Ibelin."

"Yes."

"Did you deliver the note?"

At that, Ibelin, who had been slipping inside, puffed out her chest.

"I delivered it!"

From her attitude, it seemed the note had indeed reached Seren.

"Oh? That must not have been easy."

"It really wasn't. When I delivered it, someone chased me. I had to run around the city to shake them off."

"...May I ask how you delivered it?"

Ibelin blinked, then explained the method.

"You shot it with a bow?"

"Yes. I thought that would be safest."

"Your safety?"

"Yes."

Her expression asked why that was even a question. Ibelin had a gentle, cute appearance, and having grown up in a remote area, she had a naive side—but the common sense she possessed often deviated from the norm.

Kite rubbed his forehead. He himself acted irrationally to lower the Imperial House's guard—but Ibelin was even worse. What kind of education had Baron Frillie given his granddaughter?

"Ibelin."

"Yes?"

"I have a few questions. Do you mind?"

"Ask away."

"How did you grow up?"

Ibelin seemed to think it wasn't something to hide. She spoke freely about her childhood—but the stories she told with a nostalgic face were all bizarre.

"So you went to the mountains once a week and slept there? Where did you sleep—in a cabin?"

"No. Usually I slept in a tree. If you brace yourself on a thick branch, you won't fall. And I set traps around the area for safety, too."

Ordinary noble ladies didn't do such things.

"Right—you also hunted?"

"Yes. Grandfather loved hunting."

"What's the biggest thing you've caught?"

"A grizzly bear."

A grey bear said to carry the blood of monsters that once existed. Large and ferocious, even seasoned hunters avoided it—and she had caught one?

"When did you catch it?"

"When I was ten."

There was a noble lady before him who had caught a grizzly bear at age ten. No—was that even possible in the first place? If she told others, they'd tell her not to talk nonsense.

"It was hard. It was so tough it wouldn't die easily."

"Weren't you scared?"

"I was—but Grandfather said I had to do it."

Baron Frillie—Kite had always thought he was eccentric. So that was why she had immediately shot a bow when told to deliver a note.

"Ibelin. I think you lack common sense."

"I learned everything I needed to learn."

Ibelin narrowed her eyes and protested.

"No—I don't mean noble lady's etiquette. Ordinary people don't think of shooting a note with a bow when asked to deliver it."

After all, such an act was difficult to pull off.

"Why not? It's dangerous to just deliver it normally."

"That's not wrong, but ordinary people can't do that. Ibelin—what kind of man was your grandfather?"

Kite asked plainly.

"I don't know."

Ibelin was aware that her grandfather had some peculiarities. But having it pointed out by someone else felt strange.

And it troubled her that there were things she didn't know about him. So she changed the subject.

"Still, I delivered the note properly. Is there anything else you want?"

"Hmm."

Kite thought for a moment, then spoke.

"Because of how you delivered it, I may need to prepare differently."

"Excuse me?"

"Seren isn't the type to stay quiet just because he got my note."

Though he received the note, it had come in that manner—so Seren was likely thinking of all sorts of things. He might even move Kite's other forces. Just in case, Kite needed to set up protection for Ibelin.

"Ibelin."

Ibelin looked at him with uneasy eyes, without answering.

"From now on, you're my lover."

Thus Kite made his explosive declaration.

Ibelin didn't seem to understand his words immediately. Her eyes darted around before she managed to speak.

"By lover, do you mean...?"

"Yes. A romantic couple."

Kite smiled brightly.

"Wh-why would we do that?!"

"Because it seems safer. I owe quite a bit to Baron Frillie. So it's only right to protect his granddaughter's life, isn't it?"

"But—"

"Why a lover? Because unless we're madly in love, I wouldn't listen to someone else and stay hidden, would I?"

Ibelin's face flushed tomato-red.

"So I look forward to working with you."

Even in this situation, Kite remained shameless. He sat on the bed, crossed his legs, and smiled with wide eyes. His remarkable beauty naturally drew the eye—but soon enough, reality clouded Ibelin's vision.

She had never imagined such a situation! To have to pretend to be lovers with that famous man of the capital! She felt as if the world had gone dark. But there was no room to retreat.

Later, if anyone discovered what she had done, the lover relationship Kite proposed could serve as a shield. For now, accepting his arrangement was the right choice.

Ibelin opened and closed her mouth several times before finally squeezing out her voice.

"...H-have you gone mad?"

No—that wasn't what she had meant to say.

Hearing her words, Kite twisted his lips into a look of pure malice.

"Yes, I've been called a madman many times."

Only then did Ibelin cover her mouth with both hands.

"But I never thought I'd hear it from my lover."

This man was overwhelmingly strong. His will to push through the lover arrangement was unmistakable.

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