Chapter 93: |
The sudden amount of information gave him a headache. Ricardis frowned, rubbing his temples. The emergence of a strong mage that hadn’t appeared for several generations. It was a pity he couldn’t end this with a simple reaction like ‘Wow, that’s great’ or ‘Wow, that’s cool”.
After leaving the annex, he saw Shuten standing alone in the distance. Ricardis approached him and asked about Rosaline’s whereabouts.
“It’s been a while. She’s with His Highness Diech in the temple garden…”
Ricardis scratched the back of his head, and his lips twitched in response.
“Why did you leave your suffering colleague by herself?”
He scolded Shuten thoroughly. Ricardis grew furious and followed Shuten, who led the way and busily moved his feet.
In an unorganized, shabby garden, a man and a woman sat together under the shade of a large tree. There were red and yellow berries on the handkerchief spread out on the ground between them, making it look like they were playing house.
The space between them… isn’t it… isn’t it a little too close?
Something snapped in Ricardis’ head.
“Diech Reye Illavenia… With that angelic face, what a lewd…!”
The Knights of the White Night shook their heads. Lewon hesitated and carefully opened his mouth.
“…No, Your Highness. That’s not lewd at all… It’s just…”
“Can’t you see that hand is full of immorality, Lewon?”
“…Now that I look closely, it seems like that.”
A man’s jealousy is so unsightly.
“Lewon.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“What do you think is the most miserable way to break that intimacy? Maybe creating an extraordinarily unsightly scar on the fruit, to the point they won’t be able to look at round things the same again?”
“…I didn’t raise you like that.”
“Indeed you didn’t. I grew up like this by myself.”
How could you say something so harsh? Don’t you remember I could have even changed your diaper? We first met when you were seven years old. What nonsense are you talking about? While they traded banter, something broke the friendly atmosphere under the tree’s shade as Ricardis wished.
Rosaline, who had just recently been looking at the fruit with ecstasy, rapidly approached them with frightening momentum. Her posture lowered, fists contracting and releasing, and widened eyes that never blinked— she had a bloody atmosphere as if she wanted to hunt someone down.
As she walked past, Rosaline broke the statue of a woman holding pottery.
Bang!
A lot of dirt and dust blew into the air. Lewon briefly paused to appreciate her strength.
“I’m so glad she’s on our side.”
Rosaline robbed the statue woman of her vase and came closer with a more ferocious stride. She stopped before she reached Ricardis and the Knights of the White Night. She lifted one leg, posing to send the pottery flying. The Knights of the White Night quickly parted to the sides.
Rosaline threw the stone vase as fast as a whip.
Swish—
Ah, the sharp sound of a projectile slicing through the air. The final destination of the stone pottery was the head of a passing priest.
Bang. Crunch.
The vase, precisely hitting the priest’s head, shattered, and the man slumped over. Rosaline’s face, which perfectly resembled an angry tiger’s, returned to normal. Under their many astounded stares, she shrugged her shoulders.
“An assassin.”
“…I hope so.”
…Because Ricardis didn’t want to deal with her breaking the head of a good priest just passing by the garden.
He ordered the knights to resume their positions. Recalling that Diech was still there, Ricardis looked back, then saw the smashed state of the fruits on the handkerchief. Rosaline seemed to have stepped on them because she’d only been looking forward.
No, I didn’t mean it to be that miserable! How could you trample on a man’s innocence?!
Rosaline, seriously… that’s too… I seriously like it. I like it too much.
But strangely, Diech’s expression wasn’t heartbroken. On the contrary, his eyes twinkled. He’d always been a gentle, fragile child. How could he enjoy such a violent scene?
Ricardis didn’t notice Diech’s golden eyes focused on Rosaline.
***
Knock, knock.
As soon as a knock sounded out, an answer immediately came from inside.
“Come in.”
After Rosaline wrote a few reports with Hessa’s help, she stopped by the knight commander’s office. She’d written a battle report about the fight against the Black Moon. Although others had already recorded the battle details and passed them on to many people, it was a formal procedure she had to follow.
“Glory of Idelavhim who parts the black moon.”
“Glory of Idelavhim to you. Welcome, Sir Rosaline.”
As she entered the room, Rosaline’s gaze wandered away from Starz and onto the table in front of him. To be precise, her gaze went to the cat sitting on the table. It had glossy light brown and yellow-tinted fur: a common breed in Balta. The cat purred while enjoying the gentle touch of the knight commander.
The cat looked at Rosaline, and its eyes turned from yellow to green. In an instant, magical energy flowed over the beast.
…It’s Macaron.
Rosaline had been worried about not seeing the Macaron all day. She didn’t expect her to be in the knight commander’s office.
Starz let out an embarrassed laugh when he saw Rosaline’s eyes on the cat on the table.
“I’ve seen this guy often since the mission. I’m afraid it hid among the carriage’s luggage… I feed it once, and now it comes to see me sometimes. What a smart cat.”
Starz continued, ‘Our Mimi doesn’t eat what other people give…’ and ‘It bit Sir Pardict and Sir Shuten when they tried to touch…” He secretly boasted about how Mimi seemed to like him so much.
Mimi looked at Starz with a content look, like a full-fledged cat bathing in the sunshine. It’s strange to see a cat so enamored with a human, but it seemed like a good thing since they both looked happy.
Rosaline submitted her report along with applications to participate in various competitions. Starz looked through the papers several times and shook his head as if impressed to see Rosaline playing her part as a senior knight.
“Participating in competitions is hard for knights, but it’ll help strengthen your lord. People can assess the size and power of each faction at a glance. Please do your best.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“No, I change my mind. Don’t do your best.”
Rosaline left Mimi and Starz behind and exited the room.
***
Calyx had told her that from this month to next month, it would be busy. Starting with the first Shadowless Night festival Rosaline had enjoyed, the next month would hold a hunting competition, a martial arts competition, Illavenian Founding Day, a ball, etc. The month had all sorts of events scheduled. And between all those was a friend’s happy occasion: Raymond’s wedding.
Many Illavenians tried to get married during this time because there was a widespread story that a couple married in the month of Founding lived happily ever after. Raymond and his fiancee, Chloe Golgarten, decided to get married at this time as well.
Due to Ricardis’ safety constantly being imperiled, his subordinate, Raymond, had to delay his marriage several times. Raymond had left a pledge, more similar to a marriage proposal, about his plans if he returned safely from Balta. Fortunately, he was able to return alive to get married…
Raymond had handed Rosaline a handwritten wedding invitation. Rosaline, who got appointed as the groom’s best man, almost took over the congratulatory speech as well but was eventually dissuaded by all of the Knights of White Night.
***
Rosaline mentally drew a to-do list for the rest of the day. I finished the reports, and gave them to the commander…
Stomp, stomp.
Another sound joined the steady rhythm of her feet walking in the hallway. The other footsteps, a leisurely and calm gait, followed Rosaline closely. Maybe their destinations overlapped by coincidence. Rosaline didn’t look back.
The stride length of the person walking behind her was longer than hers, and the distance between them gradually narrowed. Within a few steps, the man was walking alongside Rosaline.
The person cast a large shadow over Rosaline. He was a man of large stature, comparable to Pardict or Shuten. As she glanced up, she saw black hair with the edges fading into the backlight, which also darkened the color even more.
Black hair, a scar on his left eye, and a fierce, sharp impression…
Count Radwiell. Fertan Esther. He was Rosaline’s father.
“Father.”
Fertan looked down at her once, then moved his gaze forward again. He seemed unwilling to talk, but his speed slowed. So he had been heading for Rosaline. And Rosaline also noticed that Fertan had come to see her.
“That’s a very friendly title for someone who’s a stranger. How did you recognize me?”
“Calyx and Raymond.”
“I see.”
“They once told me that Father has a brutal impression.”
“…I see.”
Rosaline hadn’t known what a brutal impression looked like, but she knew it the moment she saw Fertan. Fertan seemed to know his appearance well, given that he didn’t refute it.
He momentarily kept his mouth shut, then glanced down at Rosaline again. Her fine black hair, green eyes, and healthy complexion.
Fertan had thought he would be able to recognize her. Obviously, she must have at least one difference from my daughter. But the thing before him was Rosaline herself. The eyes, tone of voice, and facial expressions were the same— expressed naturally without a trace of false imitation. Fertan began to be confused about what to call ‘It’.