The dragon's knight. (5)

"You shouldn't be up yet."

The first thing Alice saw when she returned to her room after allowing Arioch to handle the two remaining spies was Gabriel, now sitting at the edge of the bed. He was trying to put on the shirt she had left on the nightstand, but his hands were still rather battered so he was having some trouble with it.

"I heard a commotion downstairs. I'd rather be there in case I'm needed than lie in bed."

Gabriel was frowning slightly as he tried to dress himself, the bandages on his knuckles were locking up his fingers so he felt like a helpless chimp as he sat there. There had been screams from downstairs, some even sounded like death rattles. Sure, they probably had it under control on their own. But just lying there… It was hard for him to stomach. But well, right now it didn't really matter whether he could stomach it or not.

"Tell me, Gabriel…"

Alice slowly walked over to the bed as she spoke, one hand snatching the shirt he was awkwardly trying to pull over his head. The other hand placed itself against his chest and gave a soft push so that he fell back onto the bed, a slight ache running through his torso.

"…If you went down in this state, what would you be able to do?"

Alice nailed it on the head as she looked down at him with a soft gaze. He couldn't even dress himself properly right now, much less hold a sword. If a fight really broke out downstairs, what could he do?

"…"

Gabriel tried to formulate an answer, but the words wouldn't leave his lips. He could still use magic, but breaking their cover completely because of something that didn't need him, probably no more than a small scuffle? Was he really considering something so inefficient?

"You're going to stay here, Gabriel, right here. A week, two, maybe three, however long it takes you to recuperate. I won't let you wander off and do something stupid, I'm not letting your wounds get worse than this."

Alice straddled him as she kept talking, a soft voice creeping into his ears. A slender finger applied a bit of pressure to his waist, pain flaring up thanks to the repeated hits his liver had suffered. Alice was making her point painfully clear while smiling.

"I have my limits, you know? I just watched when Leonardo first beat you, and I stood aside during the sparring matches because my lovable idiot had to learn his lesson."

Her finger continued to trace his wounds. The medicinal paste she recently applied was starting to wear off so he would be able to feel them much better now, each stroke bringing with it a light sting. She knew what was coming, she knew what would happen if she let him roam about freely during this time.

"But no more. Okay, Gabriel? No more."

Her finger left his wounds and landed beneath his chin, tilting his head slightly up. Her knight was fierce, a true beast, the sparring matches showed that. But he was meek like rabbit beneath her finger right now, even as she was prodding his wounds. Was it because he was just that weak right now or because he accepted her? She hoped that it was the latter, she enjoyed this position.

"If my only knight were to go out and get mistreated again… If he were to get beaten and battered again for me… I wouldn't sit still and take it. The magic we've been trying to hide, I'd bring them out one by one."

Was she threatening him to make sure he stayed there? Warning him what it would cost? Even she wasn't sure right now, she just wanted to finally say it, to speak of what she thought of that day when he first took a beating for her.

"There'd be no clever schemes, no tricky words, no assassination plots. I'd just kill them, Gabriel. One by one by one by one by one, until not a single one was left. I'd do it out in the open, Gabriel. I'd let the whole empire hear their screams so that people know what happens if they touch my knight. You don't want that, right?"

Forget placing the blame and doing it stealthily, like when Gabriel killed Leonardo. No, Alice would just strike them down there and then, in front of everyone. Nail them to the ground with metal skewers, crush them to a pulp with gravity, rip the blood from their veins while they squirmed. All the hiding they did, all the preparations they were taking care of, she'd throw it all away in a single moment.

"…Okay, I'll stay put. But if I feel like there could be a danger to your life…"

Alice's lips were slightly curved, an almost lopsided smile on her face. But he could see how serious she was by looking at her eyes. She wouldn't hesitate for even a moment.

"Then we'll just kill them all and blame it on the harsh northern lands."

She finished Gabriel's sentence for him. If things really reached a state where her, or rather their, lives were in danger then they may as well just kill them and do something about it later. Arioch would probably be willing to sign a few more deals with them just based on the fact that the Barong and Vritara duchies weren't on the best of terms, at least privately.

"But it won't come to that, Gabriel. Demeaning words, some verbal and public humiliation in front of the Barong men, a show of power. He doesn't dare to go further, Marion and the duke would never let him go further."

Alice changed her tune slightly, the finger moving up from Gabriel's chin and onto his cheek. It couldn't exactly be called assurance, she was basically admitting that she'd have to suffer a fair bit of discomfort while he was just hiding in bed. But she couldn't lie to him. No, she had to make sure that he knew what would happen, she needed him to be aware of what was going to happen.

"So Francis really is going to come here."

He had guessed it somewhat from her earlier words, how assured she was that he would get beaten again if he left the room. But now she practically confirmed it. Someone else from the Vritara duchy was going to come here for some reason, probably related to the commotion from downstairs.

"Yes. I had the men he tacked onto me kill the spies he and Marion had here in the estate, it's the perfect excuse for Arioch to demand reparations while shaming the Vritara family. The Duke and Marion will know who those two belonged to, they'll force Francis to come here in person to teach him a lesson for sending such inept people. He won't dare to do much to me because of my promised noble title and my spirits, but if he were to meet you he would be free to do as he pleased."

Even with everything said and done, even with the passage of years, Gabriel's position wasn't changed. Alice couldn't have the imperial family knight him because of how wary Abigail was, the duke of Vritara wouldn't grant her that gift simply because of his hatred for her existence, and she wasn't yet close enough with any of the other duchies to have them do it for her.

So in the end, Gabriel was still just a servant, not a knight. Well, at least he was no longer considered nonexistent, or a slave, like he was in the past. But still, if Francis wanted, he could beat him as much as he wanted and receive next to no official repercussions. Gabriel also knew this, and with Alice's earlier threat, he could only accept his situation. But still, he would still help however he could.

"Those men, you need to make sure…"

Gabriel could guess how Alice forced the men to kill the spies, Teresa really hadn't wasted her studying. But before he could finish his sentence, Alice finished it for him.

"I've already washed out the poison. Future blood tests will only react to the stimulants they've been forced to take. Their luggage has also already been tampered with to contain several hidden packets of stimulants, aphrodisiacs, and performance enhancers that jack up their testosterone. An unfortunate cocktail overdose that led to catastrophe. What shame it will be."

It wasn't just Teresa that had been studying well, Alice too made sure to learn everything she could. Some things she was taught by Gabriel, naturally, but other things she learned in other places. Why? Well, the answer was simple.

"Ah, that's good, really well done. With such a mixture it will be hard to shift the blame by saying that they were just drugged."

There it was. Praise. Those who studied wanted to be rewarded for it, and those words were the lowest level of reward that she was looking for. The other levels… Well they would have to wait until she properly trapped Gabriel.

"Exactly, they'll have no choice but to accept the blame."

She finally hopped off of Gabriel as she spoke, dropping the shirt she was still holding back on the nightstand. She would have to stop here for now, she felt her patience and willpower start to strain so she needed to take a breather.

"So just stay right here, Gabriel. You've always tended to me, but now I'll tend to you, so just rest easy. Once you've recuperated we'll start acting in force again. And don't forget, you can't do anything even when Francis is here, I won't be held accountable for what I do should anything happen."

A smile as she walked back to the door, sly but gentle. She knew Gabriel, that poor broken knight of hers. He would do nothing while Francis was here, he could do nothing while Francis was here. And he would be miserable because of it, especially when Francis started to display his power and position, both things that Alice 'lacked'.

"Huff…"

A heavy breath slipped out of Alice after she left the room, closing the door behind her. Yes, Gabriel would be miserable because they couldn't do anything. Did she want him to be miserable? No. Did she need him to be miserable? Yes.

Only when he was miserable because of their lack of 'power' would he start to change his mind on them hiding their magic at all times. There was merit to his strategy, keeping it secret until a good time and then revealing everything at once. But Alice… if you asked her it was fine to do it gradually. Abigail had already revealed two of the fused elements to the empire, Caine introducing a third during his own mana affinity test.

Those three elements, it would be fine to reveal that she could utilise them and use that to form another foundation for their position. After all, it was easier to attract subordinates if you had power to back things up. Gabriel's own position would also be easier to secure if she got him to reveal at least his water and strength magic, possibly also his demon magic if she got her hand on the thing in the northern lands.

Sure, others might feel more threatened and start to make more moves against them, but she was confident that they could handle it. The confidence Gabriel lacked, she would make up for it.

Sure, she could order him. She felt that if she ordered him right now to reveal that magic, and that she would reveal hers, that he would accept and go along with it. But she didn't want that. She wanted him to make the suggestion, she wanted him to form that desire for 'power'. She wanted him to grow, be it for herself or for him.

So what if she had to suffer some humiliation because of it? The one who had the last laugh was the winner. And she was confident that she was a bastard big enough to have the last laugh.

Thus, she was able to wait patiently as the days passed. And when the message was finally delivered, and the entourage arrived in front of the estate, she was able to greet their leader with a smile.

"Good morning, Francis."