Solo Swordmaster

#568. you promised

I’d rather lie to myself

use it at will.

may be restrained

It doesn’t help.

Even if it feels like a hindrance sometimes.

A bird can rest to its heart’s content in such a cage.

But a bird that can already fly freely doesn’t need a balloon, and a doll that has no will of its own is just a hindrance.

An absolute being who has lived a long time.

Even if you could do anything.

As a sword master who has remained the protector of mankind up until now.

Hasneti, who was staring at Limon, who spoke calmly, opened his mouth quietly.

“Is that the qualification you were talking about?”

“Not some of them.”

“Right.”

Hasneti agreed.

Although Limon also has desires.

Why do you keep a bystander stance?

whether to remain as the guardian of the world.

And why did he ask to prove his qualifications if he wanted to become his bride?

Above all, what was the reason for accepting it without getting angry even though he was being ridiculed by himself?

Because I felt like I could now understand everything that I had only accepted before but couldn’t understand.

“Is it your wish that I decide the treatment of my subjects?”

“Because this is the country of the pharaohs.”

“What if I make the wrong decision?”

“Relax. At least I don’t intend to make Pharaoh alone bear the responsibility.”

“…”

The military’s job is to believe that the master will make the right decision, and the role of the concubine is to take responsibility together.

If it turns out that Hasneti’s decision was wrong, he’ll help to sort it out.

A calmer, more calming answer.

A deeper gaze for stillness.

So she felt

It’s heavy for trust.

Scary to expect.

Seeing the various emotions in his golden eyes, Hasneti closed his eyes.

I’d rather this be a test.

could have been patiently accepted.

But he understood that Limon wouldn’t interfere, not to test himself.

She couldn’t help but be nervous.

‘nervous?’

heavy shoulders.

throbbing heart.

Not to mention any wars you’ve been through all your life.

A feeling I had never felt even in a fight with Rose or Joan of Arc.

‘…is it.’

What is this feeling that is too reluctant and anxious to be called tension?

Hasneti quickly realized.

Because this was the familiar feeling that had visited her whenever she thought she might lose him.

‘Is it so scary that I must make the right decision?’

She is the Red Dragon Princess.

to seek only power.

Even if he made a wrong decision, he was a tyrant who overturned it with force and considered it lacking in strength if he failed.

but this moment.

She was feeling the pressure ahead of a problem that could never be solved by force alone and that could not be undone once a mistake was made.

That his choice might disappoint Limon.

And the thought that he would share the responsibility instead made my heart tremble.

Enough to want to run away from this choice.

But…

‘…and you’ve always made this choice.’

He is an absolute being who can do anything.

Because you can change the fate of the world.

He is the last sword master who has protected the world for hundreds of years even though he is always forced to make a choice that must never be wrong.

protector of mankind.

How heavy and frightening was the title, which he thought was only a bondage.

Hasneti, who had finally come to know the truth, opened her closed eyes and looked straight at Limon with bloody eyes.

I don’t know if anyone else

Because I could never show him giving up his choice and running away.

Therefore, Hasneti, who had been silently thinking, opened her mouth only after a long time had passed.

“decided.”

“What are you going to do?”

“To those who wish for freedom, I will give them wings as they please.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

As if a little unexpected.

Limon nodded.

she could tell

That her decision, while not wrong enough to cross his line, would not be good enough to prove her qualifications to him.

But I knew that fact from the beginning.

she continued.

“For those who need cages instead, we will put them in cages even if they don’t want to.”

“…?”

right after that.

Hasneti saw it.

One time as if I didn’t understand.

As you might suspect, once.

Surprisingly, once again.

It was only after Limon blinked three times that he understood what he meant and put on a very grotesque expression.

“…I’m serious. Pharaoh?”

“okay.”

“It must be a very difficult road?”

“I was determined.”

Until a little while ago, I put a distance that I wouldn’t intervene in the choice.

Hasneti said unwaveringly to Limon, who seemed hesitant to change his mind now.

“I can afford this much if I can make your wishes come true.”

More restraint than freedom.

If you want a cage, I’ll give it to you.

Instead, its own cage is harder and heavier than any other cage, and one day the bird will not be able to escape even if it wants to escape.

Of course, it will take a lot of effort, and you will have to make more difficult choices in the future.

Still, Hasneti did not hesitate.

Because…

“This is the path you have already walked and I must walk.”

Even if the road is difficult and rugged, I can walk as long as I want to be with him.

Like a red dragon princess who never avoids a fight.

However, at the end of being silent while watching her make a decision that was so unbecoming of a red dragon princess.

“under.”

with a light laugh.

Limon laughed.

no i was laughing

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

I never imagined that she would give such an answer.

As if he was hit by a glove protruding from the cake, he was dumbfounded, so he hoped for a cooler laugh.

At the end of holding the belly button and laughing.

Limon looked at Hasneti, wiping away tears.

“Although I said I would take responsibility, isn’t the strong sale a bit too much?”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t acknowledge me. Still, I will grant your wishes.”

“That’s called hard selling, Pharaoh.”

It’s like I can’t stop.

Shake your head for a while.

Limon put his hand in his bosom.

And put a small object on the edge of the bathtub.

“Pharaoh, do you know what this is?”

“…Is it a new piece?”

“I heard that the one I gave you before was burned this time. It’s a bit different to say instead, but I made it similar for now.”

I always carried it in my arms.

While absorbing the energy of the nuclear fusion reactor this time, it was burnt after bearing the heat instead.

To her staring blankly at the golden bird statue that resembles the first wooden bird sculpture she received from Limon.

he said.

“At the same time, it is the thousandth piece I give to Pharaoh.”

“…”

“You know what that means?”

“…know.”

What I made while staying at the royal palace.

Something secretly made in the garrison.

It was made to spread the gold rush of the eight gates of the stone bottle.

And even what I made in this large public bath in the past few days.

Recalling the 999 pieces he has carved for himself one by one.

Hasneti said.

“That means you are no longer my concubine.”

“Are you sorry?”

“…No, it doesn’t matter.”

If she had been afraid of losing him before, she might have been agitated and tried to deny it somehow.

But because I’ve already made up my mind.

Compete with other princesses.

Even if it is defeated and taken away again.

Instead, the princess decided to prove her qualifications by facing the challenge head-on.

“Because I’ve already decided to fight.”

“I guess so.”

Of course he seemed to know that.

Limon smiled and picked up the bird piece again.

“Then take it here.”

It seems like he’s definitely going to end the contract.

Hasneti silently approached Limon, who sat down on the edge of the bathtub and handed out a piece of bird himself.

The moment she reached out in front of him as if she was half-swimming through the baths still emitting hot steam, she reached out her hand.

Mouth open suddenly.

“By the way, Pharaoh. Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“…?”

what have you forgotten

With a cold face as always.

However, Limon did not bother to explain to Hasneti, who looked up at him with obvious doubt.

instead of suffocating

After grabbing her wrist.

I just tugged at it and bent my back.

When Hasneti’s eyes widen at the unexpected and unavoidable action.

I’m going to go to the middle of the day.

The two lips overlapped.

He didn’t really stick his tongue in, and he didn’t even breathe out or suck it in.

Quiet.

soft.

light.

That’s why, despite having tried dozens of times, she was still hardened by the rather unfamiliar feeling, and finally opened her mouth after he slightly parted her lips.

“why?”

In her ear, who could not hide her embarrassment.

he whispered.

“You promised. If you win the war, I will give you a ‘prize’.”

“…I haven’t qualified yet.”

“For my bride, yes.”

Hasneti is just now standing on the starting line.

It’s a bit too early to say that I’ve proven my qualifications, as long as I can’t show that the choice is right.

Dan…

“But the fact that this is the thousandth piece means that I am still the Pharaoh’s concubine until he gives it to me.”

“…”

“I thought it would be okay to give you a reward for your hard work, or even if you look at that resolution, at least one last time.”

“…”

“So Pharaoh.”

slowly.

Limon raised his hand.

After that, he put the new piece he was holding down next to him again.

said a little bit sarcastically.

“Is this a secret?”

Even as mischievous as a bad boy.

Looking at that strange smile that made my throat dry up.

Hasneti thought.

that you have to refuse

This is both temptation and poison.

It’s so sweet that in the future, no matter how hard it is, it will make me not give up my qualifications as a bride.

Best encouragement.

At the same time as a reward for victory.

That it was revenge for fooling him all along.

Because I could understand it instinctively.

But I know it in my head.

its covert.

hot whispers.

Above all, the orders given by the master.

Because I could never deny it.

The slave of love, who had already been deprived of both his heart and life, swallowed dryly as he looked at his master who had allowed him to serve.

* * *

“Ainsha, how are you and your brother?”

[…I want to know why you ask such an obvious thing.]

“I haven’t been able to meet you since the last meeting of the seven dragons. I don’t even get in touch often.”

[This is my job. I don’t care. Also turn off the wiretapping device.]

“You don’t know because you wiretap, you know because you planted a spy?”

[Anyway, it’s none of Yekathrice’s business. More than anything, I love you. There is no such thing as neglecting a relationship just because you can’t meet for a while.]

“Well, can I be relieved like that?”

[I’d like to know what that means.]

“Even if I don’t lose my relationship with you, I don’t know if I’ll have a strong relationship with Hasneti again.”

[This is nonsense. That Hasneti. It’s obvious that he was only interested in the war.]

“Hmm, is that so? No matter how hard it is, Hasneti’s personality isn’t easy enough to allow his heart to the opponent, even if it’s an older brother.”

Among the seven princesses, she is the most cold-hearted warmonger.

Recalling the tyrant who had no interest in men, let alone dating, Ekatriche could only nod her head like that.