“That’s enough, Herman. The kids are here…”

Olivia’s voice trailed off. The way she lowered her gaze, looking lost as to what to do, was like a tragic heroine.

With such acting skills, who could possibly resist?

Just as I was about to swallow a hollow laugh, Vivian’s face came into view. Unlike Cayden, who seemed relatively unfazed as if he was used to this situation, Vivian was looking at Herman with eyes that seemed on the verge of tears at any moment.

“I’ll take my leave first.”

“It’s about time you accepted Olivia as your mother. With a face that looks just like Liliana’s, how can your personality be so rough?”

I was about to get up, but the name Herman suddenly brought up grabbed my ankle.

Liliana was Rosebelia’s birth mother. How dare he mention her name when he didn’t even properly stay by Liliana’s side as she suffered from an unknown illness.

Ill Liliana and young Rosebelia who couldn’t leave such Liliana’s side. Herman was absent from their side.

Not long after Liliana passed away, when Herman remarried Olivia, Rosebelia emptied Herman’s existence from her heart.

A husband who couldn’t properly protect his wife, a father only in name.

That was exactly how Rosebelia defined her thoughts about Herman.

“Herman, your words are going too far.”

Herman’s lips quivered before he tossed back the wine in his glass.

That she had a face just like Liliana’s but how could her personality be so rough?

The words “Fortunately, my appearance takes after my mother, who was considered the empire’s greatest beauty, but I guess my rough personality takes after my father” rose to the tip of my tongue, but I held it back and left the dining room.

“What a perfect pair they make.”

I immediately left the mansion and headed to the stable. As I spotted Roy dozing off while leaning against a haystack piled near the fence, I slowly slowed my steps.

Not wanting to wake Roy up, I carefully tried to pass by him, but the hay rustled under my feet at that moment.

It was a very small sound, but Roy, who had suddenly woken up, rubbed his eyes and looked up at me.

“Young Lady?”

“Sorry, Roy. You were sleeping so soundly that I was trying to take only Emily…”

“No worries, Young Lady. I’ll hurry and bring out Emily.”

Seeing him dash into the stable, I felt a bit apologetic.

Taking the reins of Emily from Roy, who quickly came out, I headed straight to the knights’ order.

My mind was solely fixated on the idea of climbing up the city wall.

If I faced the endless sea, perhaps this heavy feeling pressing down on my chest would somewhat disappear.

*

As the dusky evening light descended, the boundary of the horizon gradually crumbled.

When I first climbed up the city wall, the sun was slowly setting, so it wasn’t a short stay, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the view, feeling a sense of lingering regret.

“But somehow managed not to get caught by anyone…”

Before I could finish my monologue, I sensed a presence nearby.

“Senior?”

I hurriedly tried to come down, but seeing that the approaching person was Ian, I let out a sigh of relief.

“So it was you, Rookie.”

“I heard you didn’t come to the knights’ order today.”

“I wasn’t going to come, but this was the only place I could go.”

As my voice, close to a mumble, faded in the wind, a worried look appeared on Ian’s face.

“Did something happen?”

“Do you want to come up too?”

Instead of answering, Ian lightly touched the city wall with one hand and nimbly climbed up.

“…What happened?”

“It’s not something worth discussing in front of this scenery.”

I pointed forward with my eyes, and Ian’s head slowly turned, following my gaze.

Soon, as Ian faced the scene unfolding before his eyes, I felt him take in a short breath.

“So this was the view.”

“It’s really amazing, right?”

If the daytime scenery captivated my eyes with the endless sea, the evening scenery stole my gaze with the vast night sky.

“I can see why you climbed up here at the risk of being scolded by the Commander.”

A refreshing breeze blew by, swaying my hair. The comfortable sensation made my eyes close on their own.

“It’s refreshing.”

I repeated the action of inhaling and exhaling deeply. Occasionally, laughter escaped and dispersed in the wind.

How long had I been doing that?

Slowly lifting my eyelids, I saw Ian staring intently at me while clutching his chest.

“What’s wrong?”

“Pardon?”

Ian furrowed his eyebrows as if he didn’t immediately understand the meaning of my question.

“Are you in pain somewhere?”

I pointed my chin at Ian’s hand clutching his uniform and asked. Ian glanced down and hastily removed his hand in surprise.

“It’s nothing.”

“Right, how’s your injury? Did you treat it properly?”

As I tried to raise my hand to Ian’s face, he gently grabbed my hand.

“I told you it doesn’t bother me.”

“…”

Was it because I was facing his eyes shimmering under the moonlight? Or was it because of Ian’s unusually low voice?

The two lips that clung together like magnets didn’t seem to want to part easily.

“You can touch it as much as you want. The wound has completely healed.”

“It’s already healed? In one day?”

“The wound was very minor, and I applied a good ointment. You can check for yourself.”

Ian pulled my hand and placed it on his face. As I gently caressed it, I felt his cheek twitch under my touch.

I was sure there was a scratch around here, but the sensation of his cheek against my fingertips was only soft.

“So I’ll spar with you today as well.”

I was wondering why he hadn’t said that.

Today, he’s not even wearing his uniform, but he wants to spar.

Of course, Rosebelia’s skills aren’t swayed by her attire, but should I say he’s unexpectedly free of prejudice? Or should I see it as all his attention being focused on sparring?

I unintentionally tried to laugh but bit my lower lip. Facing Ian directly, I spoke calmly with effort.

“No, I think it’s better not to spar from now on.”

“Why all of a sudden… If it’s because of my injury…”

“You know it too. The reason I haven’t sparred with the members for a while.”

At my resolute voice, Ian’s expression darkened.

“It was my fault for being careless. It’s not your fault, Senior.”

“I couldn’t concentrate either. That’s why I injured you.”

Ian’s lips quivered as if to say something, but after a moment of hesitation, he opened his mouth.

“…Actually, I lost interest in the sword for a while. But there was a reason I couldn’t let go, so I was forcibly holding onto it.”

I wanted to ask what that reason was, but Ian’s face looked so pitiful that I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

As if reading my mind, he continued with a somewhat sad smile.

“My mother passed away when I was young. She had been sick for quite a long time, but on the day I first learned the sword and came home, I showed her my clumsy swordsmanship in front of my ill mother, and she was really happy.”

Ian’s mother was the empress, right? She gave birth to Ian and died a few years later after being ill.

“That image remained as an afterimage and I couldn’t forget it. So the sword was the only thing I held onto until the end, and I didn’t want to let go of it until the very last. That’s why I joined the White Knights.”

So he needed motivation.

“…”

“What led me here was Commander Gabriel’s reputation. But by chance, I crossed swords with you at the eve festival, and I couldn’t forget that feeling.”

The original story was from Daisy’s perspective, so there was no way to even guess why Ian joined the White Knights while hiding his identity, but now that I knew the details, my heart ached.

In the original story, Ian left the White Knights before long. If what I saw in my dream was something outside the original story…

Rosebelia ultimately refused to spar, and Ian, unable to find any particular motivation, may have left the White Knights.

“And when I sparred with you again with real swords yesterday, it reminded me of that initial determination when I first learned the sword. It even sparked the will to train harder, so I stayed late to train today as well. I’ll work even harder. If you could reconsider, even with wooden swords for the time being…”

I abruptly raised my hand, and Ian stopped speaking. I couldn’t bear to turn him down when he was speaking in such an earnest voice.

“Alright. If wooden swords are fine, I’ll spar with you.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

“…Actually, I also lost interest in fencing, no, swordsmanship at one point, just like you.”

“You did, Senior?”

After my mother and maternal grandmother passed away, I fell into a slump for a while. It was a time when not only fencing but everything felt futile.

“There was a time I wanted to give up, but I somehow held on thinking of my deceased mother. I felt like if I easily let go, my mother would be disappointed in me.”

I managed to pull myself together, but in the end, I had to give up fencing due to an injury. Still, I didn’t want to completely let go of fencing, so I secretly practiced alone.

“…”

“But no matter how much I think about it, I feel like this kind of physical activity really suits me. It’s fun too.”

Unlike fencing where only victory or defeat was at stake, the swords drawn here could determine life and death, which was a bit frightening, but I was happy to hold a sword again, even with Rosebelia’s body.

“So you had such concerns as well, Senior.”

“And your skills are truly outstanding even now. I’m just slightly better, that’s all.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Ian laughed out loud. I quietly looked up at Ian’s face.

Had Ian ever laughed so comfortably like this before?

“Then shall I give you this today?”

What he took out of his pocket was the candy I had received from him in the square last time.

“You’ve been holding onto this without eating it? You’re really…”

What a strange kid.

I quietly looked down at the candy and burst into laughter. That’s when Ian suddenly grasped the hem of my cloak.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s bland.”

“Let’s go down now.”

Even when landing below the city wall, Ian didn’t let go of the hem of my cloak from his hand.

It was a stubborn touch, like a child tightly grasping their mother’s clothes for fear of losing her in a crowd.

“But you know what?”

Ian followed my call and responded.

“Please speak.”

“Rookie, how old are you?”

The original story didn’t mention Ian and Edwin’s ages. So I only speculated that the two were older than Daisy.

“I’ll be turning twenty-two on my upcoming birthday.”

Turning twenty-two? As far as I know, Rosebelia will be turning twenty on her upcoming birthday…

Ian was older?

I firmly closed my lips that were about to open slightly and quickened my steps towards the stable.

“You are…”

“Then let’s meet tomorrow, Rookie.”

*

The peaceful daily life continued for several days to the point where I wondered if it was okay. It was thanks to the routine of leaving the mansion early and returning late to avoid encountering Herman or Olivia.

It was a bit unfortunate that I couldn’t see Vivian and Cayden, but my mind and body were much more at ease.

“Edwin.”

As I stopped in place, Edwin raised his eyebrows as if asking what was going on.

“Are you sure your leg is okay? I saw during class that you still seemed uncomfortable.”

“It’s just a sprain. It’ll heal quickly…”

“Wait, be quiet for a moment.”

It was a brief moment, but I was certain the bushes beyond Edwin were moving. The movement was a bit unnatural to be caused by the wind.

“Why?”

“I think something is moving over there.”

Thinking it might be a kitten, I approached closer and was about to bring the scabbard to the bushes when someone let out a short scream.

It wasn’t a cat, but a person?

The first thing that entered my sight as I faltered in place was the hem of a dress.

Wait, a dress in the knights’ order?

There are a few female knights in the order, but except for Rosebelia, they are all commoners, so unless I wear it, there’s no chance of seeing a dress here…

With a doubtful face, I examined the back of the bushes. Soon, what filled my vision was,

“Hello.”

The original female lead, Daisy, getting up with an embarrassed look.