Wierd Feeling

A forest that extended to the base of the hill surrounded Rad as he stood on the edge of the field. Rad stood still, not moving, while his eyes gazed into the darkness. One thing he did was take a deep breath, as deep as he could.

The scent of fresh leaves and the forest entered his nose. Being far from the sea, Rad could no longer detect the salty air. The sea breeze did not reach this area. And certainly, there was no annoying Bree scent. With Bree inside the tent, her scent no longer mingled with the outside air.

Rad officially declared Bree's scent a disturbance. The scent might be pleasant and intoxicating, but it was clearly a disturbance because it made him unable to breathe normally. The scent was now spreading invitingly, and Rad still didn't know why.

Rad took another deep breath, simultaneously clearing his mind.

"Your Grace, I have emptied the knight's tent. You can sleep there later." Edmond approached from behind Rad and bowed.

"And what about you and the others?" Rad asked.

"We will sleep near the bonfire."

Rad shook his head.

"No need," he said. "You can't sleep outside. The air is already cold enough. And judging by my body strength, I can withstand the cold better than you, right? Just use that tent."

And he indeed didn't ask anything of Edmond; the man acted on his own initiative.

"But where will you sleep? It wouldn't be proper if you slept near the bonfire." Edmond also shook his head in disagreement with Rad's plan.

"No need to worry about that. I can sleep anywhere." Rad then frowned and turned to look at Edmond.

"Do you know I won't sleep in the main tent tonight?" Rad was surprised because he hadn't said anything to him since earlier.

"Oh, Duchess voice was loud enough to hear from outside." Edmond was awkward because he heard something he shouldn't have.

"Only you heard it?"

"Y-yes. Hmm... That... The Duchess was screaming." Edmond initially wanted to lie, but then chose to be honest.

"Hoo, so all the knights. Great!" Rad grumbled to calm his annoyance. "To hell with everything!"

But then Rad became puzzled. The annoyance wasn't because Edmond and the others heard Bree's insults. Rad was irritated and restless because Bree's words had disturbed him so much. Rad wasn't just bothered by her scent, but for some reason, Bree's words from earlier echoed and repeated in his ears.

Rad typically wouldn't take offense at simple words because he never thought others were important. Rad never cared about other people's opinions because they were not important to him.

Before this, Rad would get angry when someone was wrong, but he never felt hurt by the words of everyone around him, whether praising or criticizing.

In essence, Rad felt different this time. He didn't understand why Bree's opinion about him felt so important. It made Rad want to change her opinion, even though it seemed impossible.

"Can't you tell the Duchess the truth?" Edmond suggested slowly.

"Don't be reckless, Ed! You know, I can't just reveal that fact. Besides, it's not important whether she knows or not. It should..."

Rad didn't finish the sentence because he knew his words wouldn't become a reality. The success of his mission was already very difficult.

Previously, Rad was reluctant to carry out this task because, according to him, duties and obligations did not align with his principles. But now, that's not the only problem. If he continues to be with Bree, it seems like the task and obligation will never be fulfilled.

"What I don't understand is why Donovan? Why that family? Nox said the family is easy to approach and kind. But what's the reality? Everything is troublesome!" Rad complained, feeling that the task he hated was far from easy. Not in line with the information he received at the beginning of the task.

"You don't know why the choice has to be from Donovan?" Edmond summarized Rad's complaint.

Rad shook his head.

"I don't know, and Nox doesn't want to give an answer. The others won't give an answer without Nox's permission. That means my chance to know is only by directly asking Nox, and I don't want to do that!" Rad sighed.

His encounters with Nox never went smoothly. Not because they fought or anything, but Rad rarely agreed with some of Nox's plans, which were sometimes too cruel. This made Rad even more hesitant to carry out tasks for him.

"Are you still going to continue with this plan?" Edmond asked.

"Do you think I have a choice?" Rad replied roughly. As Campy said, his life was at stake if Rad tried to shirk from this task. Nox would not forgive him.

Rad didn't intend to shirk, but to carry out the task, Rad wanted to wait until he knew more clearly what Nox's goal was, until he understood why he had to marry Donovan. But without a waiting plan, Rad felt the success of this task was still very far away.

Because clearly, the Donovan girl who married Rad did not want to get close to him, and Rad had just crossed out the possibility of any other Donovan girl being with him. Amber was easier, as he had said to Campy before, but now it was no longer an option because Rad himself rejected it.

Rad considered it yesterday, but his desire to approach Amber quickly vanished after realizing the girl rejected him. His pride refused to allow him to approach Amber.

Rad took a deep breath again. Thinking about the hated task always made his head feel heavy.

"Ed!"

Rad raised his hand and sniffed the air again. Inhaling the wind, he searched for a scent that disturbed him. His nose caught an unusual aroma.

"Get Auclair and Durant ready! Spread out among the camps! I'll check who's coming!" Rad quickly gave orders to Edmond. The casual tone in his voice had now changed to firm.

"Is someone coming?" Edmond was surprised.

Rad nodded.

"We brought many people; they will surely be suspicious and check. For now, just be on guard. I don't know who's coming, but they might not be friendly."

Edmond nodded and quickly ran to find Auclair and Durant.

Rad walked towards his tent. He was hesitating for a moment before entering, but he had to grab the sword inside. After taking another long breath, Rad entered the tent.

Bree was sitting, with Aima behind her, tidying Bree's long hair.

Unfortunately, even though he was holding his breath, Rad could now imagine what kind of scent might emanate from those long, untangled strands. An image that made Rad stare at Bree for a while without speaking.

Bree, seeing Rad enter, was initially surprised but then turned and pulled her robe tighter.

Bree was clearly only wearing a nightgown under the robe. The action of tightening the robe when she saw Rad clearly meant Bree was cautious and didn't want Rad to approach.

It wasn't hard to read that intention because Bree's suspicious and angry gaze at Rad was evident.

"I want to get the sword."

Rad pointed to the sword, conveniently leaning against the pole behind the box Bree was using.

Aima, knowing for sure there was a quarrel between them, hurriedly took the sword. It was a bit difficult to carry because of its weight. Rad finally approached after seeing Aima dragging the sword with difficulty.

Bree turned away again when Rad approached, and it was clear Rad didn't want to say anything. He saved his breath.

Only the sound of the rustling wind was heard as Rad went out, carrying his sword.