The Princess’s Final Wish Before Her Time Runs Out - Chapter 91

Tericia,

Today, we finally advanced deep into the heart of Membroux Mountain. Thankfully, we found a place to set up camp, so the soldiers were able to rest at last.

The weather’s turning. It looks like snow will fall soon. I want to return before winter sets in, but… it’s not looking likely.

You were worried about Heinz, but honestly, he’s the scariest one out here. He completely changes when he’s on the battlefield. If you’re going to worry about anyone, maybe it should be me instead…

Crrk. Thump.

Rashid Carlo Hespelt let out a frustrated breath and crumpled the letter in his hand, tossing it aside. All around him were balls of half-written, abandoned pages scattered across the tent floor.

“Fighting would be easier than this.”

His quiet mutter, carried on a sigh, held all the weight of his frustration.

Leaning forward, Rashid pressed his palm to his forehead.

He didn’t know when—or even if—he’d be able to send a letter to her. Still, he felt the desperate need to reach her, to send even the smallest message. But every time he tried, he found himself writing things he knew he shouldn’t.

“Duke, the scouts—”

Heinz entered but stopped in his tracks, taking in the wreckage of papers littering the ground.

“…You weren’t attacked, were you?” he murmured, stepping carefully around the scattered mess. There wasn’t a drop of blood, but the mood in the tent felt dangerous enough.

“What about the scouts?” Rashid asked, his voice low and sharp.

“Oh—right. Reports say the Eastern Kingdom’s troops are advancing. They’re moving through the canyon.”

“The canyon?”

Rashid let out a dry, disbelieving laugh.

“In this weather? Through that canyon? Don’t tell me there’s a hidden path I don’t know about.”

“There’s not. It’s the same canyon that was blocked during the last battle.”

“Who’s leading them? Surely, they didn’t skip proper terrain scouting.”

“Maybe it’s a feint. They might be drawing our attention that way while planning to circle behind us.”

Rashid leaned back in his chair, thinking.

“If that’s true, it means they know our current location.”

“That’s why you chose this spot, isn’t it?”

“Did I?” Rashid asked with a raised brow, as if hearing it for the first time.

“Would I really be that obvious?”

But the sly smile that curled his lips was anything but innocent.

“Well, if they’ve come all this way… it would be rude not to greet them.”

Heinz could only sigh and shake his head. The longer the war dragged on, the more twisted Rashid’s personality seemed to become. He hoped—truly hoped—that this wasn’t his master’s true nature.

Suddenly, Rashid stood, sensing movement outside. He carefully folded the draft letter—the one he hadn’t thrown—and placed it in a small box.

Right then, a soldier burst into the tent.

“Duke Hespelt! The enemy has arrived!”

“…Of course they have.”

Rashid let out a dark, crooked smile.

“Let’s go meet them, shall we?”

He masked his irritation with a half-joking tone, then grabbed his sword.

Please let me make it through this day again.

He double-checked the dagger hidden at his waist and stepped out of the tent. Outside, the sky had turned crimson with the light of fires, and the battlefield was already filled with shouting and chaos.

The supply delivery arrived today. Heinz and the elite knights are calling you a goddess now. Not once have the supplies been late, and morale is higher because of it. Of course, ‘Panarin’ is helping a lot too.

Still, the longer the war goes on, the harder it is to get what we need. We’re doing our best to ration everything, but that’s getting harder with time. I heard it was you who ordered the storage depot to be built in Alpen.

…Have I ever told you I love you? I’m in awe, honestly. How you planned all this—I still can’t understand it. Every time, I’m left speechless.

The clouds are heavy. It looks like snow will fall tomorrow. I’m worried about your health…

“Make sure the wounded get enough rest,” Rashid said, walking among the soldiers and checking their condition.

The medical tents had been set up in the safest part of camp, farthest from the front lines.

“How are the injured?” he asked, stopping near one of the tents.

A medic stood at attention. “We’ll be administering the medicine with dinner. Thanks to that medicine, we’ve saved so many lives.”

The loyalty—and near reverence—in the man’s eyes was intense, but Rashid simply nodded, unfazed.

Minor wounds healed quickly with Panarin. Serious injuries still took time, but it was a world of difference from before, when they’d lost soldiers helplessly.

“It’s all thanks to the young lady,” Heinz said from behind him, his voice even and filled with quiet respect.

Rashid agreed—but said nothing.

“If there’s anything else you need, just ask,” Rashid added.

“Yes, sir!”

The soldiers bowed deeply.

Rashid nodded in return, then turned to look at the woods beyond the tents. Thankfully, there were no signs of enemies approaching from that direction.

For now.

“Heinz.”

“Yes, Duke Hespelt!”

“Strengthen the watch along the forest side.”

“Right away!”

After bowing, Roben Heinz quickly moved to carry out the order.

Above, thick clouds had gathered in the distant sky. Rashid stared at them with displeasure. They looked like they were blocking the path that led to Tericia—and he hated them for it.

“…Tericia.”

He whispered her name.

The longing to see her again was overwhelming.

The incident began with one count’s foolish ambition.

As the young Duke Hespelt began turning the tide of war, the count grew anxious.

“I can’t let that boy take all the glory!”

His influence had been fading, and he was desperate to make a name for himself through this war.

So, he ignored Rashid’s orders and pursued the enemy on his own—only to fall right into a trap, suffering a humiliating defeat.

“Tell me… do you carry that head just for decoration? If it’s that useless, we might as well rip it off and load it into a catapult.”

Rashid’s voice was like ice, and the count’s face turned deathly pale.

Count Glen, who had also been furious, wanted to see the man court-martialed immediately. But since Rashid had spoken first, and with such fury, he had no choice but to hold back—for now.

“Tie him up and send him to the rear. His punishment can wait until the war is over.”

“Understood, sir!”

“You idiots! Do you even know who I am?!”

As the knights began to drag him away, the count flailed and screamed. Watching the scene unfold, Roben Heinz stepped forward.

“Roben Heinz… Of course it’s you—ugh!”

Before the count could say more, Heinz calmly punched him in the face with a gauntleted fist. The solid thud echoed as the man crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The knights immediately dragged him out. Silence fell over the camp.

“There’s always a fool like Count Clu wherever you go,” Heinz muttered.

Rashid let out a dry laugh.

“Heinz.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“Even if he’s a fool, he’s still a count. You can’t just hit nobility like that.”

“Well, he’s loud and useless. I figured knocking him out would make him a bit more tolerable.”

“You’re too violent.”

“I’ll try to work on that.”

The knights standing nearby looked around with pale faces, wondering who exactly was scolding whom.

Many had underestimated Rashid Carlo Hespelt when the campaign began. He was young and, to them, lacking battlefield experience. But in the very first battle, when they saw him clear the enemy ranks with a single sword, they were speechless.

The Hespelt knights, meanwhile, treated it like just another day. They understood his commands instantly and moved as one. Clearly, this wasn’t their first war.

“He seems incredibly skilled in battle,” someone had once said.

“I used to hunt beasts near Membroux Mountain,” Rashid had replied without blinking.

Beasts? In the Empire?

Count Glen had no idea what he meant, but decided not to ask. He chose instead to be satisfied with the fact that battles led by the young duke ended in overwhelming victory.

“For the next battle, we wait in ambush. No one charges ahead.”

Rashid spoke curtly to Heinz, clearly displeased.

“If we didn’t have idiots like that, there’d be no reason to,” Heinz replied, a faint smile flickering across his otherwise expressionless face.

Rashid gave him a dry look.

“You act like a different person out here.”

“You’re no different, my lord.”

It was a quiet jab—directed at Rashid’s scathing wit, which had often been likened to a blade sharper than his sword. Watching the two exchange blows in conversation, Count Glen could only shake his head.

The mad Hespelts, they were being called now.

Among the soldiers, anyone connected to the Hespelt name was whispered about with awe and dread. Morale surged whenever they appeared. In battle, they led from the front—and they won.

“It’s going to snow again.”

Rashid glanced in the direction where Tericia would be.

Right now, all he wanted was to run to her, wrap her in his arms, and breathe her in. Just the thought of her made his chest ache with heat.

He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again with a long, steady breath.

“I wish I could return before winter grows deeper.”

But deep down, he knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Tericia,

The fighting is growing fiercer.

Even after Heinz returned from patrol yesterday, we couldn’t fully let down our guard. The Kingdom’s army keeps trying to lure us into terrain that favors them, but none of us are foolish enough to fall for it.

Well… Most of us. There are still a few who charge into traps without a second thought. It’s not the academy out here, yet somehow, I’m stuck teaching them like it is.

Because of them, Heinz keeps grumbling. He’s frustrated with subordinates who don’t think before they act. But when I think about the chaos you’ve caused back home… it puts things in perspective. I can tolerate it a little more.

Yesterday, the first snow finally fell. Winter is here.

I miss you.

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