By Zephyria 
When he descended to the ground where the allied forces had gathered alongside Theodore, the first thing thrust toward him was neither a canteen nor words of encouragement. It was Borgen’s razor-sharp blade. Leonardo, who had just stepped onto the soil and was expecting cheers, hurriedly raised both palms with startled eyes.
“Wh-why are you doing this?”
The defense forces welcoming him were equally bewildered. When they asked for the reason, not knowing the cause, Borgen snarled through clenched teeth.
“Not content with daring to utter His name, you throw explosives right beside His Highness? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Only then did Leonardo realize that he had called Theodore by his name in front of everyone. He had been in a rush, and the words had simply slipped out due to a sense of internal intimacy, but from the perspective of a knight serving the King, it must have been appalling.
Furthermore, since he wasn’t a bomb specialist, to others, it must have looked as if a time bomb was charging toward them.
“Ah, that is…”
The safety of the Monarch is the survival of the state, and his honor is the authority of Laina. Objectively speaking, a mere conscript from another country had nearly harmed him. Rolling his eyes, Leonardo hoped the owner of this body would quickly prostrate himself.
However, for some reason, the body—which normally would have moved on its own—didn’t budge. His mouth merely twitched, showing no sign of apology.
“What are you doing, refusing to answer!”
As Borgen pressed him with a stern voice, Leonardo barely managed to squeeze out a response.
“I am sorry. I… I deserve to die…”
“Enough. Stop it.”
While he was stuttering through an apology that didn’t suit his temperament, Theodore stepped in to stop the situation. When the King personally pushed the blade away with his hand, a startled Borgen immediately withdrew his sword.
“Your Highness—”
“Does calling a name wear it down? This is a battlefield where life and death hang in the balance; there was likely no time to observe etiquette.”
At Theodore’s protection, Borgen’s expression crumpled visibly. He seemed reluctant to accept it. Since the menacing aura didn’t subside easily, Theodore reasoned with him again.
“We have a long way to go. Let it be.”
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
Borgen bowed his head and reluctantly sheathed his sword. However, the glares directed toward Leonardo remained stinging.
Leonardo wanted to glare back just as fiercely, but he remained silent, fearing he might crack the harmony between the two nations. And if he thought about it, that man was like the Dark Silver 11th Squad to Theodore. If Theodore was truly one with him, he couldn’t simply view the actions of a loyal subordinate who cared for his superior as hateful.
“I understand your concern, but he acted to help me, so do not blame his intentions. In the end, did he not lead our army to victory? Rather than dwelling on faults, let us commend the achievement.”
“He’s right! Nomon fought bravely!”
“Exactly!”
The defense forces, who had been reading the room, chimed in one by one as if they had been waiting. The effort of winning them over by sharing biscuits was finally paying off. Of course, they quickly fell silent under Borgen’s piercing gaze.
Once the situation calmed down, Theodore’s subordinates tactfully reorganized the ranks. Some pushed the soldiers forward to move on, while others followed Borgen and silently patted his shoulder. After staring in that direction for a moment, Theodore turned his eyes back to this body and spoke softly.
“In terms of loyalty, he is second to none. He is a rigid general who would rather break than bend. I shall apologize on his behalf, so please forgive the rudeness.”
“Ah, no, it’s fine.”
As Leonardo answered dazed, Theodore personally lowered the body’s lost arms that had been hanging in the air. Then, he brushed the nape of the neck where the blade had touched. There was no wound, but the chilly sensation still remained.
Startled by the touching hand, Leonardo instinctively lowered his eyes and pulled his neck back. Then, realizing it was a breach of etiquette, he hurriedly lifted his eyelids. In that moment, Leonardo found himself staring into the Gold Eyes that had suddenly come close to his face.
“And while I’ll let it slide this time, bear in mind there won’t be a second time.”
“…Pardon?”
When he asked back with a puzzled expression at the sudden warning, the narrowed golden eyes gazed steadily into his.
“There is only one person in this world whom I allow to call me by that name. It is his sole privilege, so do not cross the line any further.”
After passing through the cliff path, the allied forces traveled for another half day and safely exited Santrea. There were a significant number of casualties, but that was something they had always experienced while surviving on the peninsula. The reality they had to face was too urgent to mourn every single death, and having overcome a major crisis, they needed to arm themselves with strong mental fortitude.
Buoyed by their momentum, the column easily dispatched the enemies that appeared occasionally and searched for a campsite based on the scouts’ reports. Eventually, they found a flat area with a river flowing in front and a gentle rocky ridge surrounding the back.
Before entering the heart of the peninsula, Theodore ordered the unit to reorganize and gather all information obtained so far.
“We shall establish a defensive perimeter before the sun sets.”
Immediately, the soldiers cut down nearby trees to drive stakes and built temporary warehouses to move the weapons and food they had carried. In one area, they cleared stones and laid reeds to level the ground for tents.
Of the two springs flowing down the rocks, the larger one became the communal drinking spot, and the smaller one was fenced off with cloth, with Theodore’s private tent pitched in front of it.
He had taken the best spot, but no one expressed dissatisfaction. After all, the opponent was royalty, whom it was difficult to even face, and there was a sizable river flowing in front.
And Theodore was more skilled at managing public sentiment than expected.
“From today, provide Nomon with half a goose every day for three days.”
At the King’s command, the eyes of two men widened. One was Logistics Chief Edgard, and the other was his loyal subordinate, Borgen.
“Your Highness, why only that man—!”
“Half a goose could feed five more soldiers. Your Highness, although we have passed a great crisis, we must save food especially at times like this!”
Borgen tried to protest but fell silent, overwhelmed by Edgard’s momentum. Perhaps he was wondering if he should just go along since they shared the same opinion, or perhaps he was debating whether to restrain the one showing such an impudent attitude toward His Highness. However, Theodore, who had just removed his helmet, brushed back his sweat-soaked hair and asked calmly.
“Is my life not worth that much?”
In short, he was telling them to reward this body using the price of his own life.
The sight of him smiling with his head slightly tilted was enough to completely silence his two most enthusiastic subordinates. And Theodore himself seemed to know this very well. He curved his eyes softly and handed his helmet to another subordinate, Derek. Then, he draped an arm around Borgen’s shoulder like a friend and led him toward the tent, whispering intimately.
“You should share a table with me.”
Borgen, melting instantly at those words, suddenly became a well-behaved youth and matched the King’s pace. Theodore bumped his head against Borgen’s, then glanced back this way with a lingering smile.
“Every day for three days. You may share it with your comrades.”
Those were the only words left, but Leonardo could vaguely—no, quite firmly—understand his intention.
‘Does he mean I must share it?’
Only Edgard, who remained behind, muttered while stamping her feet in frustration.
“What on earth is he planning?”
Still, it seemed she intended to carry out the order. Looking at this body with disapproval, she unfailingly provided half a roasted goose as soon as mealtime arrived. Once again, a knight of Laina delivered it personally in front of everyone. She didn’t forget to issue a warning so that no one would dare try to steal it.
Leonardo realized that this was the reward Theodore was giving him, and the method by which he was using him.
“He’s giving us this precious goose again?”
“Of course! He saved the King’s life, so he deserves it!”
“I thought they were a bunch of ungrateful people since a knight tried to slit his throat first…”
“Shh, you’ll be in trouble if you say that. Didn’t you see earlier? The mountain flew away and those guys couldn’t even keep their bones intact…”
“Nomon, how about one piece today? In exchange, I’ll give you a piece of sausage. Please?”
As the saying goes, blood is thicker than water; the sentiment of the defense forces shifted slightly due to Borgen’s actions immediately after the battle. Of course, the effect of the goose in such a situation was substantial. Two facts remained in the soldiers’ minds: that those who achieve merit receive appropriate rewards, and that those who dare to act rashly might lose their heads.
‘In the end, Borgen’s threat was also a kind of show…’
Regardless of the reason, it ended in praise for Theodore, who had annihilated hundreds with a single strike. This body—that is, Leonardo, who had become able to speak for himself since some point—decided to ride the momentum and support his other self.
“Instead of trading for sausage today, let’s just share one piece each. His Highness gave it to me because everyone worked hard.”
“Is that true?”
He kept the words ‘because today it’s not biscuits that can be stored for a long time’ tightly hidden under his tongue. Thanks to this, the mealtime became harmonious, and the heroic tales of the little warriors reflecting on the day were exchanged boisterously.
From the riverbank, the sound of splashing water could be heard as people washed bodies that had been soaked in foul smells for a long time. After finishing his meal, Leonardo headed to the water’s edge with the soldiers, including Bram. He had no desire to personally wash some stranger’s limbs, but the smell had become so severe that he had reached his limit.
Come to think of it, he had hugged Theodore tightly with this body… He suddenly felt sorry.
“Nomon, get in here!”
“W-wait a second! Aaaah!”
“Two, three—!”
Since Leonardo had an inherent aversion to cold water, he was hesitating in front. The soldiers swarmed him as a group, grabbed his arms and legs, and flung him into the river. With a splash, he flailed about and poked his head out of the water in disgust, only to be met with the laughter of his comrades at his drowned-rat appearance.
Looking at them with a scowl, Leonardo rubbed his wet face vigorously with his palms. After sniffling for a moment because water had gone up his nose, he eventually let out a hollow laugh despite himself. It was because he had a brief memory of the past.
He, too, used to find such small joys on bleak battlefields. It was its own kind of pleasure to scoop up handfuls of water and splash the soldiers, claiming he wouldn’t be the only one to suffer. He couldn’t have been happier when those who only wanted to watch ended up with tearful faces because their only set of clothes got wet.
Leonardo, feeling smug that another fellow had become the target, roughly washed his already drenched face and neck. Then, he suddenly paused upon seeing a silhouette reflected on the river surface under the moonlight.
“…Eh?”
Blades, shields—all metal edges were rusted and warped, leaving no chance to reflect his face.
But looking closely, the features of this body were faintly appearing above the flowing ripples.