I Will Seduce The Northern Duke
chapter-156

“Everything is ready.”

Even without a speech or ceremony, there was a sense of grandeur that made the heart swell just seeing Kalcion on horseback amongst all the lined-up soldiers. Selina also climbed on the beast’s back, now used to it, and approached Kalcion.

As their eyes met, the two nodded at the same time.

“Depart.”

With his short command, the riders started running without a sound.

The two also sped up.

Due to the structure of Silenza Castle, the entire army could not be stationed in the fortress. Departing from the inner castle together were some soldiers, including members of the special guards, the rest waited at the training ground on the way to the outer castle.

It was quite a long time from inside to the outer castle.

By the time the gate of the outer castle was visible, the march had filled the street.

While it looked like they were just driving horses without speaking, it was the first time that the people of Renbird had seen so many soldiers moving.

Whether the lord goes to battle or not, they would become indifferent unless they or the person next to them were involved. Still, the march that filled the road was a spectacle that the people had no choice but to flock out.

“Long live the lord! Long live, Renbird! Long live the goddess!”

People saw them off while chanting.

The guards, including Kalcion, only moved with expressionless faces since this was as natural to them as air—as meaningless as a transparent color.

At the same time, Selina was just as expressionless as they were, moving forward without giving a glance. The actress Selina would have struggled to get just one more attention, to hear more cheers, but now she didn’t have to.

‘Ah…’

The changed reality had awoken her sense like swallowing hot water.

“Long live the goddess! The goddess’s blessings!”

It wasn’t her who they clung to.

When she realized that people’s cheers were no longer a means to survive, she was rather free from them. Human generosity started to lift itself up inside her. She knew that the cheers were not out of joy and delight but a tangled hand to shake off anxiety.

Knowing that she could alleviate that anxiety, she didn’t want to pass it without doing something she could.

Selina stopped the beast.

When she stopped, Kalcion, the guards, and the entire procession stopped all at once.

“Selina?”

Selina pulled out the bow, which had been hung from the saddle.

Although it was for emergency use, it was mostly decorative. However, the performance was like an average bow. Regardless that she didn’t know if it would work or not, there were moments when she was sure it would happen somehow… like now.

Then, as she placed the arrow on the string and pulled it, all eyes were focused on her and the cheers that had soared with enthusiasm died down.

As the string was pulled taut, Selina’s arm and the arrow strained at the same time.

The tension came to the eyes of the people who had become silent, and all the air inside Silenza shrank with tension.

“Hup.”

The moment she broke the tension and took a small breath, the arrow escaped her hand and cut through the sky.

Schwip!

The moment that the arrow that flew hit the Aclion flag hanging on top of the outer gate of Silenza, the fluttering flag was torn in half by the arrow. Renbird’s flag that was hung next to it fluttered even more splendidly.

“Wooooo!”

The cheers that had been overwhelmed with tension exploded with Aclion’s half-flag. In the meanwhile, Kalcion and the guards also looked back at her with mouths wide open. Selina had the same expression as them.

Coincidence was the best directing.

Meeting Kalcion’s eyes, she hurriedly moved her facial muscles to create a triumphant goddess look while cheers erupted once more as she let her bow down.

Long words were not necessary for directing.

As Selina immediately rode out again, the cheers continued long after the troops had left and the gates of Renbird’s outer castle had been firmly shut.

“It’s wonderful, my goddess.”

Kalcion praised her with a proud look.

While she wondered if she shouldn’t have stepped out, she could finally smile at the compliment.

“No, why don’t you tell me that you had prepared something like this in advance! I was so moved that I almost cried…!”

Even Dion made a fuss. He was so moved that his cheeks and ears were all red. She only prepared luck. In addition, she felt sorry to break his impression, so Selina just laughed.

“Ahaha…”

Myths usually begin with accidental events.

The founding myth of the Kingdom of Selinia was just beginning.

* * *

Perhaps thanks to Selina boosting morale, the procession moved fast. They were all highly trained cavalrymen, so they rode non-stop just like when they escaped Mion.

At least she was able to take a breather by riding the beast, not a horse. The beast walked more lightly than a horse, and the stride was much wider. She had a harder time calming it down because it ran out excitedly at the wonder of the southern plains.

So, when Selina reached the front line at once, she muttered a word without realizing it.

“Gosh.”

It wasn’t that there was no strict atmosphere on the battlefield, but the size of the Crown Prince’s army was not as great as expected. The flag fluttering endlessly, the barracks covering the whole field, and the black smoke rising from all sides, she had imagined things like this that it became simple in Selina’s eyes.

“Did he just come in with that?”

“It’s a trap.”

Kalcion took a quick glance at the whole thing and gave a brief evaluation.

“Ah?”

“This is the only basin terrain in the southern plains. That one in the middle is the bait, and the main force will be hiding over that hill.”

Looking around the fields at his explanation, it was indeed so.

“You seemed to know it well.”

“Because this is my land.”

“Yes. Well. Did the Crown Prince think that the owner of the land would not know about it and come up with that strategy?”

“It’s like that if you only learn about war through books.”

Even though Kalcion spoke seriously, Selina laughed.

“It’s true. If you learn only in theory, no matter how well you learn, you will never be good at reading the situation. The Crown Prince has never had any real combat experience, so he must have decided the strategy based on the topography alone.”

He eagerly explained, misunderstanding that she did not believe him.

“I understood. It’s funny that the Crown Prince studied with books. He looks like a guy who jumps out with a sword and starts a war instead of a book.”

“He caused a lot of war. He made it just by ordering it from the castle.”

That certainly is. It would have been nobles who had to rush to that many wars. Kalcion would have been included as well.

“Why did he come running this time?”

“Well, maybe he’s that angry… or there must have been no nobles willing to cooperate with the attack on Renbird.”

Despite being swayed by the tyrannical Crown Prince’s order, even in the other nobles’ eyes, attacking Kalcion was a path to self-destruction.

“Then, is there a way to break that obvious trap?”

“We have to wait for now. We aren’t outnumbered either, so don’t be caught off guard…”

After completing the reconnaissance, Kalcion’s feet, which turned around, stopped at the shouts from the Crown Prince’s side.

“The Wh*re of the North!”

Her feet stopped at the vivid curse she heard after a long time.

“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve heard such raw curses.”

Still, she didn’t even budge.

There were varieties of curses—a metaphorical curse, like a savory taste that came out after simmering in low heat and chewed for a long time, and a straightforward curse that seemed just to make the lips spat fire like rubbing the lips with capsaicin.

When she was an actress, she ate both types and patted her stomach in full. So, Selina had a strong immunity to tantalizing curses in society and was able to laugh lightly at direct curses.

“Looks like the other side must have seen this, too. How do they know I’m here?”

In the meantime, the swearing continued endlessly. As the level went up, it was not just a swear word but instead evolved into a sentence type such as ‘That XX was rumored to have blah blah’ or ‘That something-something was born after doing this and that.’

It was a new aspect of this world that she had not seen because she had only been talking in society.

“There are a lot of people who are good at swearing. By the way, is that a provocation?”

“It is a provocation.”

Kalcion glared at the Crown Prince with cold eyes and answered briefly. Most of the swearing was about her, but there was also something about him mixed in it.

“Is he doing that because he thought he set up a trap then provoked us like this, so we’ll come over and let ourselves get caught? This is a strategy that even I, who have not learned any of it, will not fall for it.”

Once again, the harsh curses at Selina flew and Kalcion squeezed the hilt of his sword. Although he was expressionless, a roar of anger seeped through him.

“…It’s not, right?”

“What?”

Still, he turned his head when she spoke to him. Selina, who saw the bright burning eyes that met hers, laughed dejectedly.

“I think you just fell for that provocation.”

“This isn’t a provocation, it’s legitimate outrage.”

“Is it right to get caught in the outrage?”

“If you get caught in the trap and don’t lose, it’s hard to say you’ve been caught.”

Selina shouted ‘No way’ once again.

“Are you seriously going to fight right now?”

It was because it was within Renbird’s land, so the movement was easier and relieved Kalcion’s fatigue. The supply route was clear, and he had reserve troops to dispatch additionally if necessary… though could he just fight like that?

Selina’s worries were unfounded.

“You don’t have to put up with things you don’t have to put up with. Does it make a difference if you play tomorrow morning, or you play now and rest tomorrow?”

Kalcion was a strong man, after all.