“Rosebelia, are you alright?”

Snapping out of my daze at Lucas’s question, I nodded.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.”

So, a unit member who was frantically fleeing bumped into my shoulder, and it just happened to be Raymond, who had the best physique in the Knight Order. The one who caught me as I stumbled was none other than Ian.

He seemed to be far away earlier, but when did he get here?

“Raymond, you should be more careful. Rose, is your arm okay? It didn’t dislocate, did it?”

As Ian helped me stand upright, Edwin, who had suddenly approached, gently shook my arm.

“D-Dislocate my arm? No way, did I do that?”

Raymond’s eyes, who had stopped in place after colliding with me, widened.

“I’m fine, Raymond. My shoulder hurts a little, but my arm isn’t dislocated or…”

“What? You’re saying your shoulder might be dislocated instead of your arm?”

As Edwin made a fuss, I could see Raymond’s face turning pale.

Despite his burly physique, Raymond had quite an innocent side to him.

“Edwin, stop it. Raymond really believes you.”

At my words, Raymond blinked with a bewildered expression.

Only then realizing it was Edwin’s joke, Raymond approached me, rubbing the back of his head.

“Rosebelia, so you’re really okay?”

“Yes. Your build is good, but my shoulder isn’t that weak.”

“Really?”

“That’s what I said.”

Raymond only left with a relieved expression after I rotated my shoulder three times.

“Are you really alright?”

Ian asked. Feeling his gaze examining my face, I shrugged my shoulders.

“Of course I’m fine. I was just startled for a moment.”

“That’s a relief, but…”

Wait, had I thanked Ian?

“Thanks, rookie.”

“I only did what I had to do. We can’t have you getting hurt, senior.”

Seeing the slight upturn of his lips, I immediately caught the hidden meaning in his words.

“Right, I shouldn’t get hurt.”

This was Ian, who said he couldn’t forget the moment our swords crossed.

If I were to get hurt, we wouldn’t be able to spar, so you used superhuman strength to get here?

I can see right through you. Crystal clear.

“You’re Klein, right?”

Edwin asked.

“Yes, senior.”

“That protective spirit of yours was very impressive.”

“Pardon?”

Edwin answered with a gentle smile, alternating his gaze between Ian and me.

That smile, why does it seem ominous?

“Lucas and I will excuse ourselves now. You two have a nice cozy chat.”

Cozy? Did I hear that wrong?

“Ed? The rookie and I don’t have anything more to talk about?”

“It seems like you two might have more to discuss? Well, we’ll be going then.”

What is he saying now?

Come to think of it, did I ever mention that what Ian did wasn’t a confession but a request for a duel?

Don’t tell me he still thinks Ian likes me…

“Hey, Edwin!”

It’s not what you think!

“Why is Senior Edwin suddenly excusing himself?”

“I wonder? I’m not sure either.”

“Perhaps…”

“I also have some urgent business, so I’ll be going now.”

Leaving Ian tilting his head as if something was odd, I fled to the library within the Knight Order.

As expected, there was no one in the library, the most deserted place in the Knight Order. Though small in scale, it was a fairly impressive library.

Orange lights hung at regular intervals on the high arched ceiling, and large arched windows were placed between the massive bookshelves.

Should I start looking for a book?

As I took a step towards the bookshelf closest to the library entrance, a breeze that had slipped through the window gap gently shook the lights.

The wind that enveloped the library interior brushed my nose, carrying the smell of old books and the somewhat musty scent from the carpet.

Having liked used bookstores and libraries in my previous life, a smile involuntarily formed at the familiar sensation.

“There should be a book about aura in here somewhere…”

Although I had high hopes since this was a library within the Knight Order, books about aura were not easily noticeable.

Well, I guess it’s hard enough to detect aura in the first place, and it’s even rarer for someone to properly utilize aura and become a Sword Master.

“The Great Knight of the Empire, Lawrence Glazer?”

I reached out for a book that particularly caught my eye. Hugging the book that was easily over a hand span thick to my chest, I immediately turned to the first page.

「Lawrence Glazer is the pride of the Glazer family and a great knight who remains in the history of the Fonnes Empire as a Sword Master. This book contains the biography of Lawrence Glazer.」

“Found it.”

My chest heaved with relief. Turning away from the bookshelf, I sat down at a spacious desk and examined the chapters.

“Aura, something about aura… Here it is!”

「This chapter is written based on the records about ‘aura’ left by ‘Lawrence Glazer’ during his lifetime.

Aura is a blessing. Only those who have reached the realm of swordsmanship can detect aura, and at the detection stage, the amount of aura flowing in the body is too small to use it.

Those who can properly utilize aura are called Sword Masters, those who have reached the highest realm of swordsmanship.

Pushing the aura flowing inside the body outward is called the manifestation of aura, and it is known that the light of the manifested aura differs for each swordsman.

It is said that once manifested, the color of the aura does not change until the swordsman dies.

A sword that has absorbed aura is said to increase its destructive power by at least tens of times and can cut through anything.

Aura enhances physical abilities, but the limits of this are unknown.

It is presumed that when one can utilize aura, a slight self-healing ability develops. This is only speculated based on ‘Lawrence Glazer’s’ record that the wounds and calluses on his hands disappeared after becoming a Sword Master, so it’s not certain.」

“Self-healing ability?”

Tilting my head, I glanced down. Like the knight Lawrence Glazer, Rosebelia’s hands also had no wounds or calluses. Her left hand merely lacked calluses, but her right hand was soft and delicate like someone who had never handled a sword.

Is it because Rosebelia sometimes uses both hands to wield a sword, but mostly uses her right hand? Is the aura manifesting more in her right hand?

“Aura really is a blessing…”

「If one cannot properly handle aura, it can become an existence that eats away at the swordsman’s life force.」

Blessing my foot. One moment it heals, and the next it eats away at life force?

I hurriedly turned to the next page. Surely there would be mention of how to handle aura.

“Regrettably, there is nothing known about how to handle aura? What kind of book is this?”

The beast subjugation I saw in Rosebelia’s memories was not easy. There were beasts that continuously regenerated even when cut with a sword, and those beasts could only be eliminated using aura.

During last year’s subjugation, Rosebelia tried to eliminate that beast and was caught by Gabriel having reached the realm of a Sword Master.

I need to handle aura somehow before going on the beast subjugation.

At this rate, I might lose my life during the beast subjugation even before reaching the ending of the original story.

As I closed the book with a momentary force, a faint dust rose.

Coughing and spluttering, I frantically waved my arms towards the air, but it was futile to stop the sneeze and cough that had already begun.

It’s not like anything will change by taking out my frustration on the innocent book.

Suppressing a sigh that had risen to the tip of my tongue, I immediately stood up from my seat.

*

Finally, the long-awaited day has dawned. The fateful day when Daisy and Ian meet for the first time, and Daisy’s one-sided love begins.

In the original story, the frail Daisy suddenly fell ill on the eve of the festival and couldn’t go out until the end of the festival due to the aftereffects.

Daisy’s father, Duke Eliazer, bought rare gemstones for the disappointed Daisy, and Daisy was allowed to go out for once under the pretext of entrusting a jeweler with the gem cutting.

The subsequent development followed a typical flow.

On her way back after entrusting the gemstone, Daisy gets momentarily separated from her maid and is surrounded by unsavory ruffians. Ian, who happens to be passing by, saves Daisy, and the two become entangled…

“Rose, what exactly are we doing in the square?”

“Stop whining and just stay put.”

“How long do I have to stay put?”

We’ve been loitering around the square since morning, even though we came out after lunch, so why can’t I see them? This is definitely the right area.

“Just a little longer… Edwin?”

Good heavens, Edwin has vanished without a trace.

That stupid Ed.

As I looked around with anger, a girl presumed to be Daisy finally entered my field of vision.

Perhaps because she was a character I had loved, I could recognize her at a glance. She looked exactly like the appearance I had imagined.

As expected, the original content was unfolding as it was. Three men who had been eyeing Daisy from across the street were approaching her now that she was alone.

Where on earth did he go without saying a word?

Did I think wrong? Was the dream I had of Ian and Rosebelia just a mere dream, and we can’t change the predetermined original story? Is that why Edwin couldn’t appear? Will Ian end up appearing here to save Daisy in the end?

My head was in chaos. Amidst the confusion and bewilderment, I nervously bit my lip.

Not only Edwin, but for some reason, Ian’s figure was nowhere to be seen either.

If Ian appears here now, the original story will repeat itself…

Daisy will fall for Ian, and Edwin for Daisy.

The heartbreaking one-sided love of the two will repeat itself.

“She’s a cute one.”

“If you knew who I am, you’d regret treating me so rudely right now.”

“Regret? Do you know who we are?”

“We’re the kind of people who only look forward. What could you do if we just took you and ran away right now?”

What are they saying now?

“I-If there’s something you want…”

“Something we want? If I ask you to buy me the imperial palace, will you buy it? Who can’t make such hollow promises?”

“If you lay even a finger on me, my family won’t stand idly by.”

“Just what family are you from? Let’s hear the name of this supposedly great family.”

At the man’s sarcasm, Daisy’s face reddened with shame.

Regardless of whether Ian or Edwin intervened, I judged that I couldn’t just stand by and watch anymore. I quietly approached them from behind.

“Living only looking forward, how admirable.”

Just as the most burly-looking man was about to grab Daisy’s wrist, I quickly approached and aimed the scabbard at the back of his neck.

As the man collapsed, the skinny man standing next to him turned around in a fluster.

“W-What’s going on.”

“From now on, it might be good to look back sometimes as you live.”

I struck the nape of the man who was frantically fumbling at his waist.

As the man collapsed, foaming at the mouth, the man with a long scar under his eye swung his sword at me.

“Who are you?”

“Is that important right now?”

Standing in front of Daisy to shield her, I drew my sword.

As I stood still, lowering the well-honed sword tip, the man twisted his grimy lips and charged at me with his sword leading.

Clang.

The man stared blankly at his own sword flying through the air helplessly after colliding with my sword.

“H-How…”

As I approached, shrugging my shoulders, the man backed away with a terrified face.

Just as the man, after gauging the situation, was about to flee in the opposite direction, I struck the back of his neck again with the scabbard.

“It would be troublesome if you ran away.”

As the three men collapsed in an instant, Daisy covered her mouth. As I looked down at Daisy, whose eyes had become like those of a rabbit, I felt my senses slowly returning.

So, what just happened?

Edwin couldn’t save Daisy as I wanted, but Ian, who was supposed to save Daisy in this place originally, didn’t appear, and I saved Daisy…

So, has the original story changed?

I couldn’t quite make sense of it. First, after getting away from this place, calmly…

Huh? Why can’t I move my body?

“Excuse me…”

As I lowered my gaze, I saw a hand gripping the cloak I was wearing.

Raising my gaze a little more from there, I saw light brown hair that looked soft and purple eyes.

Wow, it really is Daisy.

“Yes?”

“Thank you for helping me.”

Daisy is actually speaking to me!

“It’s nothing. Well then, I’ll be on my way…”

“If it’s not too rude, may I ask for your name, Sir Knight?”

“I’m just a passerby.”

“That wasn’t the swordsmanship of a mere passerby. Could you perhaps be a knight of the White Knight Order?”

Looking at the sparkling eyes that were almost burdensome, I sensed it.

Something had gone seriously wrong.