The next day at noon, 300 elite knights of the Holy Knights gathered at the assembly point on the outskirts of the capital, standing in line with tense faces.

“Attention! The Grand Master will soon give a speech before departure!”

Leon’s deputy, Karim, shouted loudly.

Leon stood silently beside him, listening to the resounding speech begun by Grand Master Alex. No, he pretended to listen.

His mind was still constantly reviewing the situation from last night, leaving no room for rest.

‘Leon. Actually, I was the one who broke the seal on that cursed stone. The cursed stone that cursed you.’

‘You were used by me.’

Leon heard everything Kasha said.

He wasn’t awake from the beginning. He had fallen asleep while watching Kasha, who was immersed in her research. And at one point, he found himself looking at himself in a dream.

The him in the dream seemed to be around eleven years old.

Leon had just returned home after attending classes at the academy all day. It was dinner time, but he first went and sat in front of the piano.

He had to finish playing before his mother and father returned home. They would surely be angry if they saw him playing the piano.

The time to play the piano before dinner was his only rest. He didn’t want to be disturbed by anyone.

Academy classes weren’t difficult, but the young him was always tired.

The girls who always flocked around him, sending looks of admiration, and the boys who glared at him with jealous eyes and challenged him to duels at the drop of a hat, only to lose and cry, all made him weary.

His cousins, Nigel and Melissa, also attended the academy with him.

However, as they entered their teens, they began to treat Leon indifferently. Especially Nigel, who sometimes checked on him more than necessary, creating an ambiguous atmosphere at every turn.

‘I’m not taking anything away from you.’

Leon wanted to say that, but he knew well that he could no longer do so.

‘From now on, everything will continue to change.’

Leon’s face was gloomy as he opened the piano lid.

At that moment, the door opened slightly and a small silver-haired boy poked his head in.

‘Big brother… you’re here? You’re late today.’

Leon hugged the approaching seven-year-old Anthony tightly. His younger brother, who was bedridden for three out of seven days a week, was still small and frail compared to his peers.

However, Anthony twisted his body as if uncomfortable with the hug, escaping from Leon’s embrace. The sensitive Anthony wasn’t fond of skinship. The child looked up at Leon’s face with a blank gaze.

‘Big brother. What did you learn at the academy today?’

‘I learned swordsmanship, mathematics, and astronomy.’

‘…That must have been fun.’

Leon smiled and ruffled his younger brother’s silver hair.

‘A seven-year-old is already eager to go to the academy. How great of a person do you want to become when you grow up?’

Even after hearing Leon’s words of praise and encouragement, Anthony only looked at him with smooth eyes.

He had a fever for a few days, so maybe he’s feeling weak. Leon placed his hand on his younger brother’s forehead.

Feeling the spiritual power flowing into his own forehead, Anthony glanced up at his hand.

‘You’re lucky, big brother.’

‘Why?’

‘You’re healthy, smart, and even have spiritual power.’

‘You’re much smarter than me, and even prettier.’

Leon jokingly replied, focusing on pouring spiritual power into Anthony’s forehead.

However, the returning voice was even more serious.

‘Big brother.’

‘Yes?’

‘Give me at least one thing.’

‘…What?’

The golden energy flowing from Leon’s hand suddenly subsided. Leon looked curiously into the green eyes of his younger brother looking up at him.

‘What did you just say, Anthony?’

‘You have everything, big brother. So, can’t you give that woman to me?’

A chilling sensation suddenly ran down his spine.

‘What… are you talking about, Anthony?’

Leon asked, but Anthony gave no answer.

His younger brother’s pale and small face seemed to be changing little by little. Eventually, the face of the child who had looked at Kasha with intense eyes at the picnic a few days ago overlapped with it.

Wait. A few days ago?

‘Just one thing is fine, big brother.’

Dreams and reality became a complete mess. Even Anthony’s face in front of him was crushed like plaster, becoming an unrecognizable form.

‘Anthony!’

He tried to call out his younger brother’s name loudly, but nothing came out as if his throat was completely blocked. He tried to struggle, but he couldn’t move as if he was tied up by something.

That’s when it happened.

Something cool touched his forehead. The scent of someone, colorless and odorless, yet infinitely soft, flowed into his nostrils, relaxing him.

‘Kasha…?’

At the same time as recalling that name, he woke up from the nightmare.

However, he couldn’t open his eyes right away. He felt a careful touch stroking his hair and forehead.

Even this felt like a dream, her presence that made his heart ache.

In the aftermath of emotions left by the nightmare and the hazy drowsiness, he thought,

‘If this is also a dream, I wish this side would never end.’

However, contrary to that wish, sleep quickly receded like the ebb tide.

In fact, it was impossible for him not to wake up while feeling Kasha’s cool and soft hand touching his skin. He pondered how to let her know he was awake without startling her.

That’s when he heard Kasha’s voice in his ear.

‘Leon. Actually, I was the one who broke the seal on that cursed stone. The cursed stone that cursed you.’

It wasn’t something he couldn’t have guessed at all.

It was clear from the beginning that Kasha was deeply involved with the cursed stone in some way. Nevertheless, hearing that confession directly from her mouth was different.

Leon felt the remaining drowsiness completely leave him.

What she wanted to confess was clear. She broke the seal on the cursed stone and approached him from the beginning to use him. So, it was a warning not to be swayed by her anymore.

But could it really be called a warning? Those trembling words, that desperate tone.

‘Don’t be in danger. Don’t get hurt.’

Her voice was infinitely earnest and affectionate. So much so that even the listener’s heart ached.

It was definitely not simple sympathy or hypocrisy. She was genuinely afraid of something and worried.

As if she foresaw that he would be in danger and get hurt.

But above all, what was most difficult to understand were the words that followed.

‘And… never, ever die. Not in this life, never.’

Not in this life.

As Leon muttered to himself, his deputy Karim, who was standing next to him, glanced at him with a puzzled expression. However, Leon was still deep in thought, ignoring such gazes.

‘What did she mean by that? Never die in this life.’

It was too much to dismiss as a misheard statement, the purity and weight of the emotions entangled in Kasha’s voice at that moment.

Her voice was imbued with deep sorrow.

‘That was, as if.’

The day he first saw Kasha. The emotion that seeped from her gaze as she looked at him at the ball at the Tyrot ducal house.

That heavy and sorrowful gaze that couldn’t possibly be directed at someone you just met for the first time.

‘Kasha, just who are you.’

Even though he finally heard her confession, his mind felt even more complicated.

However, apart from that, his feelings became clearer.

‘Don’t be in danger. Don’t get hurt… never, ever die.’

Whatever the reason she had, at that moment, her voice wishing for his well-being was definitely sincere.

‘Whether it’s sympathy or guilt, it doesn’t matter.’

Leon thought. At least as long as you worry about me, I have a reason to survive no matter what. I will definitely come back and protect you. So don’t worry about anything and be safe…

“Sir Leon! Can’t you hear what I’m saying now?”

The shout of Grand Master Alex suddenly broke his concentration. He raised his head with a somewhat annoyed expression.

And at that moment, all the members of the Holy Knights simultaneously witnessed it. The sight of their perfect Deputy Knight Commander Leon Aranias opening his mouth with the most dumbfounded expression since joining the order.

“Why are you here?”

He even stumbled over his words.

However, Leon had sufficient reason to do so.

Kasha Lyuschino. She was standing in front of him as he was about to depart.

She was wearing black travel clothes that fit her slender figure perfectly and had pulled the hood of her unadorned cape over her head, but it was definitely her.

The very person who had completely occupied his mind until just now.

As if guessing his confusion, Kasha approached with a calm face. And she held out one hand to him.

Just seeing that hand, soft and supple, that had stroked his forehead, made him flinch.

At that moment, Grand Master Alex shouted again.

“She will accompany the expedition as a magical tool maker. She will also be in charge of training in the use of magical tools until we reach our destination. Hurry up and exchange greetings, what are you doing?”

Was it his imagination that the shout seemed to have a teasing tone?

Leon, unable to hide his embarrassment, took Kasha’s small hand in his.

Her vivid pink eyes, hidden under the hood, looked at him clearly. As soon as her cool and refreshing skin touched his hand, he finally came to his senses.

“Wait. You’re accompanying the expedition? You, Kasha?”

“…I look forward to working with you, Deputy Commander Leon.”

As if to tease him, Kasha quickly finished her greeting and stepped back.

And before Leon could grasp the situation further, the thunderous voice of Grand Master Alex immediately echoed through the assembly area.

“I order an immediate departure! Make sure to uplift the name of God and return! God’s glory to the earth!”

“God’s glory to the earth!”

The shouts of the knights shook the earth.