A knight had to be careful yet unwavering in the task of taking lives.

Rustica Gennes had been a knight who had wielded a sword since childhood, a veteran who had vanquished terrifying monsters.

At the same time, she now knew the truth that those monsters were, in fact, humans. Her hands were stained with blood. Without a sense of guilt, it would be a lie, but she had enough judgment not to be completely consumed by it. It wasn’t Rustica Gennes’ fault.

She had never failed to distinguish the moment when she had to kill.

“Loo.”

Hayden, whose complexion changed, immediately grasped both of her hands.

“Loo, look at me.”

His voice didn’t waver. It was just calm and gentle.

“Are you okay?”

For the first time, Loo felt a chill from her own actions. In about three seconds, or even less, she classified Hayden as someone she had to kill, checked where to stab for a quick end. It wasn’t something an engaged woman would do to her fiancé.

“Loo?”

“Uh, I’m okay…, I’m okay.”

Loo felt that her voice was trembling. But there was no way to recover. She pushed Hayden away slightly.

“I dropped the sword. It might hurt. Just a moment.”

There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation. He was just a target to be killed.

Judging as a knight, Hayden was not a target she could kill. It was impossible to kill him, and at the same time, anyone threatening him had to be prepared to die. Nevertheless, she tried to kill him. She tried to swing the sword without hesitation.

The tips of Loo’s fingers, extended with the sword she had dropped to the floor, trembled. Did Hayden see it? Did he feel it? There was no way he didn’t know.

So she hesitated, the one who had been close to the sword. If she picked up the sword, Hayden might think she would attack him with it. From the perspective of a knight, it made sense.

‘…Can I pick it up?’

It might be the first time for such a deep relationship, but aiming for each other’s weak points was rather familiar. A cold tension flowed down her spine. She definitely did something she shouldn’t have and crossed the line.

‘Ah, right, I should… apologize first…’

Her head turned slowly. Her hands and feet quickly grew cold, and her lips trembled unknowingly. What should she say about this? It was embarrassing, and beyond that, it was frightening. She was afraid of ruining her relationship with Hayden.

“It’s okay.”

His still gentle voice settled warmly.

“I didn’t scare you, did I?”

She didn’t want to lose him. Loo closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Then it’s okay. Since you’re not hurt, it’s okay.”

Hayden picked up the sword, then took Loo’s cold hand and pulled her close. She nestled into his arms.

“It’s okay, Loo. I love you.”

“I, I’m sorry.”

“No.”

He briefly let go of the embraced Loo and looked directly into her eyes. Then he raised his head firmly.
“You haven’t done anything wrong, so it’s okay.”

She knew everything. Loo tightly closed her eyes.

“Whatever you do to me, it’s not wrong. Do you understand?”

“I never said such a thing.”

“It’s right here. If you’re annoyed, you can strangle me. If you want to hit, go ahead.”

She opened her eyes again and looked at Hayden sadly. He was smiling faintly. Always unchanging, he smiled so affectionately. Loo reached out her hand and embraced him again. In his embrace, strong and broad, she was perfectly accepted without any gaps.

“No. What are you talking about? I won’t do such a thing. I’ll never do that.”

How could that be possible? Loo still didn’t understand. That indifferent killing was not something she belonged to. Yes, if it was her, it was something she could never do. Hayden slowly brushed away the goosebumps that had risen on her spine.

“I know.”

I know that what you did is not your fault.

“Is it you again?”

Cedric Lambert looked at Jane Tellot coldly, his face tired. She received his words with an expression that was not particularly welcoming.

“There’s no one else here in an appropriate position from the police department.”

Her vacation had flown away miserably like this. She couldn’t even watch the hunting competition and had to dig into the place she had jumped into among people who despised her. Dreadful paperwork was the cherry on top.

“I’ll probably see you four more times in the future.”

Cedric mumbled, recalling the investigation process when his brother died.

“That was because it was a murder case. If this incident is an accident, we’ll probably see a few more times at most.”

Jane couldn’t hide her expression of annoyance. It was the same as during the Elche Viscount murder case. Reporters were swarming, and just like last time, the viscountess fainted, and the servants working at the viscount’s house were crying.

The slightly better part was that this place was within the jurisdiction of the Imperial Guard, and Imperial Ale was tightly holding it. They were pulling all sorts of strings to somehow finish the case with less ‘disgrace.’ At least there was no nasty viscount who was determined to do that. Of course not. He’s dead.

“Am I a suspect again this time?”