TLFKCT 05

Chapter 5

The Male Lead Went Crazy for the Incompetent Villainess

At the Emperor’s gesture, Kael stepped forward.

When he raised his sword, golden aura began to rise along the blade.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

The enormous cheer that shook the square instantly lifted the morale of the knights.

Kael knew that, which was why he deliberately built up his momentum.

It was all a performance meant to encourage the knights.

“Do not be afraid! We will definitely return victorious!”

Following Kael’s lead, the elite members lined up at the front also raised their weapons.

Spears, bows, swords, axes.

Golden aura rose from each of the various weapons.

They weren’t as brilliant as Kael’s, but they still shone like rays of sunlight, lighting up the hope of those watching.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Another tremendous cheer rang out.

The noble lady beside me also raised the sword she had been given for the expedition with her bony hands, tears streaming down her face.

I watched everyone else for a moment before raising my own sword as well.

The other expedition members raised their weapons, too.

“Golden Lily Expedition! Hope of the Empire! Set forth!”

After the Emperor’s declaration, the expedition party began marching in formation.

They left the square and headed toward the gates of the Imperial Palace.

The crowd scattered flower petals along their path as they saw them off.

I walked along with the formation.

Every time I moved, the hidden pouches beneath my dress jingled.

Oops.

I quickly grabbed them.

Actually, I had also helped myself to the duke’s safe.

The lock had been much weaker than I expected. After applying a little force a few times, the metal had bent.

I had been terrified it would make a noise in the middle of the night.

There was no way I could get caught here.

Just as we were passing through the city gates, an old woman cried out through her tears.

“Please come back alive!”

The crowd continued throwing flowers along our path.

They were golden petals.

The Golden Lily, a flower that bloomed all year round.

It was the symbol of the Empire and a symbol of hope.

I stepped on the petals and smiled brightly.

Gold coins and jewels clinked against one another inside my pouches.

That was my only hope right now.

Ah, what a shame.

I could have brought more.

It was the second day since the expedition had departed.

After arriving at Rainford Village, our first stop for the night, we set up camp in a wide open area near the village.

Many of the people here had never walked such a long distance before.

Even the noble lady who had raised a sword with her bony arms was dragging her feet, drenched in sweat.

“Huff, huff!”

“Are you okay?”

“I-I-I’m fine.”

She definitely didn’t look fine.

Her face was deathly pale, and it looked like she might collapse forward at any moment.

I handed her some water, and she gulped it down.

Judging by the fact that I didn’t recognize her from Rosana’s memories, she was probably from a distant region.

“What’s your name?”

“M-My… I-I’m Vanessa. I came here representing the Count of Keston’s family.”

Ah, the Keston family.

So they had brought her here with money after all.

It seemed they had paid to bring in the daughter of a fallen minor noble family.

She still had the speech and manners of a noble, but her rough hands and repeatedly mended clothes clearly showed the poverty she had lived through.

As far as I remembered, the Count of Keston’s family only had one son.

They had obviously adopted her into the family as a replacement sacrifice.

Vanessa rubbed her forehead with trembling hands.

Then she gave me a faint smile.

“A-Are you okay, Lady Rosana?”

“Me? I’m fine.”

Other than this ridiculous dress getting in the way, I really was fine.

All those days of eating nothing but chicken breast and building muscle had definitely paid off.

“Still, we’re staying here tonight, so get some rest while you can. Hmm, your muscles must be really sore. If you take this before you sleep, it should help.”

I hadn’t only raided the safe and dressing rooms before leaving.

A noble family as powerful as the duke’s would naturally have its own personal physician.

And, of course, I wasn’t about to leave the medicine cabinet untouched.

I had taken every medicine I could find.

Among them was something that worked well for muscle soreness.

I untied one of the pouches hanging beneath my skirt and handed her the medicine.

Vanessa looked surprised.

“Thank you.”

I smiled faintly as she accepted the medicine without hesitation and swallowed it.

‘You’ll sleep well tonight.’

Since we were sharing the same tent, I needed her to be deeply asleep if I wanted to sneak out without being noticed.

There was somewhere I absolutely had to go before dawn.

‘Sleep well.’

The next morning, before dawn.

Kael entered Rainford Village with two escort knights.

A market was held in Rainford every morning at dawn, and it had just opened.

The black market.

A market where they sold almost anything except the things they didn’t have.

Kael had heard a rumor that an item he was looking for would be available there.

Since the black market mainly catered to mercenaries, he had heard that dangerous people tended to gather there.

And in times like these, forbidden goods and stolen items of questionable origin often found their way onto the market.

The sword rumored to be appearing this time was no exception.

The expedition was a complete mess.

Most of its members couldn’t even march properly.

And among them was a woman wearing a dress that looked like a wedding cake.

His former fiancée, whom Duke Ardena had forced into the expedition.

Kael didn’t want to look at her.

He didn’t even want to think about her.

Yet she kept drawing his attention with that extravagant dress that was completely unsuitable for marching.

But was Rosana the only problem?

The expedition party was practically a disorganized mob.

He had to succeed in this expedition while dragging along people who couldn’t even properly hold a sword.

They weren’t useful fighting forces.

They were burdens he had to protect.

Before reaching their first destination, Kael intended to find a way to send roughly half of them to the rear as support personnel.

Once he reduced the number of unnecessary people, he would be able to clearly determine which of those remaining were actually useful.

Kael planned to use the resources saved by cutting down the unnecessary personnel on good weapons and equipment.

In times this chaotic, all sorts of items poured into the black market.

Among them were even legendary weapons.

There were plenty of people trying to sell everything valuable they owned so they could leave for somewhere safe.

Kael was on his way to obtain some of those treasures that had once been hidden away in deep vaults and were now being brought out into the world.

Just as Kael reached the entrance to the market and was about to go inside—

He spotted a familiar hem of a dress.

‘Rosana?’

Kael frowned.

Why on earth was that woman here?

Had she come to buy jewelry?

At a time like this?

With everything going on?

He couldn’t believe it.

Kael clenched his teeth.

That woman was one of the burdens he absolutely had to protect.

Damn it, he was the Crown Prince of the Empire.

He had a duty to protect every citizen of the Empire.

Kael slowly closed the distance between them.

At this rate, he would catch up to her soon.

But the moment he turned down an alley, Rosana disappeared from sight.

Completely.

Kael stopped and looked around.

She had definitely come this way, yet there wasn’t even a trace of her.

He blinked as he reached out and grabbed at empty air.

‘What just happened?’

A pretty little decorative dagger wouldn’t even stop a monster’s claws.

I needed a weapon that could actually be used in battle.

Pulling my hood low over my face, I headed toward the back alleys of the village.

According to the information I had seen in the original novel, Rainford was near the border, so smuggled goods were traded here in large quantities.

Naturally, I should be able to find some good weapons as well.

Besides, this was where Kael would encounter the greatest weapon of his life.

That weapon had to remain for Kael since he needed it to save the world.

So I needed to find another decent weapon for myself.

Even though it was still dawn, the black market was already crowded with visitors.

‘They haven’t bought up all the good stuff yet, have they?’

After buying a weapon, I also needed to get some clothes suitable for the expedition.

I had left in such a hurry that I hadn’t even prepared enough proper spare clothes.

The expedition would leave immediately after breakfast, so I had to return before then.

I went through alley after alley until I reached the deepest part of the market.

I remembered how the original novel described it:

‘Hersen Weapons Shop, located in a dead-end alley at the very back of the black market.’

Could it really be here?

It was.

At the end of an alley where no one seemed to come, there stood a shabby forge without even a sign.

A tiny sword emblem was faintly carved into the doorpost of the tightly closed entrance.

Hersen Weapons Shop.

According to the original novel, every weapon sold at Hersen Weapons Shop was of excellent quality.

Kael had purchased several weapons here as well.

I remembered that he had kept one for himself and given the rest to his closest subordinates.

From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a closed-down forge.

In reality, however, it secretly dealt in weapons of unknown origin and military equipment that was banned from being traded in the Empire.

“Looking for something, customer?”

The shabby shopkeeper asked.

I lowered my voice as much as possible and answered.

“Something for actual combat. Strong and lightweight. I’m mainly looking for daggers.”

I had mostly used guns or daggers in my previous life, so daggers felt more natural to me.

I told him what I wanted and showed him some gold coins.

It was enough to prove that I could afford even the expensive items.

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up.

“In troubled times like these, you need a dagger more than a dress. This way.”

I followed him farther into the shop.

Various weapons hanging on the walls immediately came into view.

I slowly looked them over.

Then I stopped in front of one particular dagger.

‘This is it.’

It was about the length of my forearm, but its balance was perfect.

The beautiful blade had a faint bluish tint and looked sharp enough to cut through even a monster’s hide.

I swallowed hard.

My soul was telling me one thing.

I had to buy this.