During the past few days of travel, Erwin would always initially eat together with Lanyon and the others at mealtimes, then instruct Lanyon to prepare a separate meal, which he would then carry to a certain horse-drawn carriage in person.

Lanyon was rather curious to see this. Who could possibly be in that carriage that warrants food being delivered to them by the deputy commander in person?

He asked Erwin about this on several occasions, but Erwin only told him that it was a distant relative of his who was suffering from an illness, which was why they were constantly staying in the horse-drawn carriage.

Lanyon was quite suspicious of this, but it wasn't in his place to dig any deeper.

Similarly, Larwood and the others were also quite perplexed. During these past few days, Erwin had always been having his meals at the back of the contingent instead of eating with them, and he wasn't sleeping with them at night, either.

Larwood and the others also asked Erwin about this a few times, but Erwin placated them each time, telling them that their supplies were very important and had to be looked after with care. They could see that they were going to be able to get anything out of Erwin, so they decided to interrogate Lanyon instead.

"Lanyon, have you noticed anything strange about Erwin these past few days?" Larwood asked.

"Not anything super out of the ordinary," Lanyon replied. "But I have noticed that Master Erwin spends a lot of time beside a certain carriage."

"Which carriage is that? Why would he just stand by a carriage for no reason? Do you know why he's doing that?" Chase immediately raised a rapid string of questions.

"You didn't know about this? I thought Master Erwin would've already told all of you," Lanyon said with a surprised expression.

"What is it?" Kaiba asked with a curious expression.

Lanyon was placed in a rather difficult situation. It was clear that Erwin hadn't mentioned his distant relative to Larwood and the others, and he didn't know if it would be right for him to reveal this information.

"Er... Master Erwin says he has a distant relative who's ill and can't be exposed to cold conditions, so they've been staying in this entire time, and Master Erwin is looking after them," Lanyon revealed. As he did so, he was carefully watching the expressions of Larwood and the others, trying to gauge their reaction to this news.

"What? A distant relative? Is there a distant relative of his that's going into battle together with us?" Chase asked as he turned to Larwood with a perplexed expression.

"Don't look at me! I haven't heard him say anything about this, either," Larwood said.

"So there's supposed to be some distant relative of his coming with us? How have we never heard about this before?" Kaiba was just as perplexed.

Lanyon could see that he had screwed up here, and he could only pray that Erwin would be able to weather the storm.

"Alright, thanks for telling us that. You can go now," Larwood said as he turned to Lanyon.

However, right as Lanyon turned to leave, Chase suddenly grabbed him by the arm. "By the way, make sure you don't tell Erwin about what we discussed here, you hear me? Otherwise, we're gonna make you regret it!"

Lanyon hurriedly nodded in response, promising Chase that he wouldn't spill the beans.

However, Lanyon never planned to stick to his promise to begin with, and he told Erwin what had happened right after parting with Larwood and the others.

Erwin didn't display much of a reaction to this, only thanking Lanyon for informing him of the situation.

...

"It's over! Larwood and the others are beginning to suspect me for acting strange these past few days. They're definitely going to check what's in this carriage sooner or later," Erwin said with a wry smile as he looked at Onean, who was reclining on her bed. "I don't think we'll be able to keep this a secret for much longer."

"Why're you getting so worked up? You're such a coward," she chuckled with a mocking expression, only to erupt into a coughing fit again, after which all of the color faded from her lips.

"Be quiet and save your energy," Erwin said as he looked at her with a concerned expression.

As expected, the past few days of travel by carriage had been a very torturous experience for Onean. She still hadn't recovered from her injuries yet, and the wounds that had just only recently been sewn shut were beginning to open up again, while the wounds inside her body were also being reaggravated.

"I already told you that you're going to have to think of a way to keep this a secret," Onean said in a calm manner. Erwin was feeling quite frustrated to hear this, but he couldn't bear to get angry at the princess when she was already in such terrible physical condition.

He was terrified that Onean's body wouldn't be able to last the journey. If she were to perish during the trip, then he wouldn't be able to atone for his crimes even if he were executed 100 times over.

"Is it time to change your bandages?" Erwin asked.

A faint blush immediately appeared on Onean's face upon hearing this.

On the day that they had set off, Onean had been able to change her own bandages, but during the past few days of travel, she had become so feeble that she didn't even have the energy to change her own badges anymore. Thus, Erwin was the one who had changed her bandages for her the last few times.

Erwin picked up a medicine box from the desk, then ducked under the quilt before expertly slicing open the bandages from last time and removing the gauze from Onean's wounds. 

As soon as the open wounds came into contact with the air, Onean gave a muffled groan of pain, and cold sweat began to pour down her face, but she still didn't pass up this opportunity to tease Erwin as a faint smile appeared on her face. "You've become much more proficient since the first time you did this."

"Stop talking!" Erwin scolded with his head buried under the quilt.

To his surprise, Onean actually obeyed his request and stopped talking as she bit down onto her own lower lip.

Erwin opened a small vial of magic potion, then tipped the contents of the entire vial onto a new piece of gauze. He stared at the two terrifying wounds on Onean's body with his brows tightly furrowed as he warned, "Brace yourself, this is going to hurt."

After that, he gently pressed the piece of gauze onto Onean's wounds. Despite his gentle touch, Onean was immediately put in such excruciating pain that she had to grit her teeth tightly. Her neck was trembling, her fingers were intertwined together in a white-knuckled grip, and her legs had completely straightened out in agony. Erwin knew that Onean was in a lot of pain, but there was nothing that he could do for her. He gently turned her body over slightly, then applied a piece of gauze onto the wound on her back as well. After that, he wrapped some bandages around her slender waist in an efficient manner, and only after he was done did he allow himself a faint sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, I think I should take you back to the palace," Erwin said as he picked up a silken handkerchief to dab at the cold sweat on Onean's forehead and face.

"You promised to take me to the front lines in Burmen! Are you going back on that promise?" Onean asked as she turned to him with a cold expression.

"I'm worried that you won't even last until we make it to Burmen!" Erwin sighed in a concerned voice. He knew just how terrible her condition was. The bandages and gauze that he had just removed from her body were still stained with large amounts of blood.

"You don't need to worry about me. All you need to do is take me there," Onean said in a stubborn voice.

Erwin knew that there was no getting through to her, so he didn't argue with her any further. "Is the magic potion even doing anything? Why do I feel like it's not even able to stop your bleeding?"

"It's working, it's just not very effective. On top of that, my body is very feeble at the moment, so I'm unable to absorb the magic potion very well," Onean said in a resigned manner.

"Why is it that healing spells have no effect at all on your wounds?" Erwin initially thought about using advanced healing spells to treat her injuries, but Master Piro and Onean had naturally already thought of that. The problem was that healing spells proved to be completely ineffective on these injuries.

"That's most likely due to the effect of his weapon," Onean replied in a feeble voice. "That sword of his has been modified using runes so that any wounds that it inflicts will be extremely resistant to treatment. Magic treatment will be completely ineffective, and normal magic potions will also have a minimal effect. The only way to suppress the effect of those runes would be to use magic potions refined using certain special ingredients."

Erwin nodded in response with a concerned expression. "Alright, stop talking and save your energy."

All of a sudden, Onean turned to glare at him with a dangerous look in her golden eyes. If she were in peak physical condition at the moment, Erwin would've already been reduced to a piece of charcoal by her.

The reason for this was that Erwin's hands were beginning to grow restless again. Taking advantage of Onean's feeble state, Erwin had reached his hands under the quilt to wind his arm around her slender waist. She wanted to raise a hand to resist, but Erwin grabbed onto her hand as well, thereby seizing both her hand and her waist.

"Don't move! You're going to open up your wounds even further," Erwin said with a stern and justified expression.

It was incredible to think that one could be so brazen and shameless.

"Hmph, I bet you're praying that I'll never be able to get up again so you can do whatever you want to me!" Onean scoffed as she glared at him one last time, then turned away and allowed her hand to drop back down onto the quilt as if she had given up all resistance.

Erwin was beginning to grow a little excited, and his throat and mouth were suddenly feeling parched. However, he was immediately left to rue his actions. A sly smile appeared on Onean's face, and all of a sudden, Erwin felt an aggressive burst of magic energy flow through his hand and along his body before reaching his head.

His vision immediately darkened, and he was struck by a splitting headache as he tumbled down from the bed.

"You think you have what it takes to lay your hands on me? Think again!" Onean scoffed as she looked down at Erwin with a disdainful expression.

Erwin was patting his own head in an attempt to regain his bearings, and even though he was too dizzy to get up from the ground, he was still feeling extremely satisfied, having thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of Onean's smooth and delicate waist on his hands.

"Quit playing dead and get up!" Onean said in a cold voice. "Go and take a look at where we are right now. Have we made it out of the province yet?"

"Even if I get up, I still won't have any idea where we are right now." Erwin rose to his feet in an unsteady manner, and he was about to dust himself off, only to discover that the carriage was incredibly clean. "I've never gone on such a far journey before, how am I supposed to know where we are right now?"

"That makes sense, considering you're far more into women than traveling. Why go out to explore the world when you can just stay in mansions with hostesses, right?" Onean said in a disdainful voice. "No wonder Miss Lana calls you promiscuous. Looks like she's done her homework when it comes to you!"

"Yes, yes, I'm a promiscuous piece of scum, please forgive me." Erwin accepted his own crimes with a resigned expression, then lifted the curtain in the carriage before taking a look outside.

All of a sudden, he found himself rooted to the spot by the sight of the scenery outside the carriage.

He could see a pair of vast mountains that extended all the way up into the clouds, with snow covering all of their ridges and peaks. In the face of such a stunning piece of natural scenery, one couldn't help but realize just how tiny and insignificant they were. It seemed that there really was a lot to see out in the world, after all.

Erwin was dragged back to reality by the sound of Onean's fingers gently tapping the desk in front of her.

"Help me up," Onean instructed. Even though her voice was very feeble, there was an implacable tone to it.

Erwin turned to her with a bewildered expression, and she looked right back at him with an unyielding look in her eyes.

Thus, Erwin could only heave a resigned sigh as he carefully helped Onean up into a seated position. "Why do this to yourself, Your Highness?"