episode_0042

Helena Grace.

A man’s wife and the mother of two daughters, she was a renowned knight.

At first, it was just a simple yearning. The parade of knights I encountered when I was a child walking down the street holding my father’s hand.

As he watched knights wearing shining armor and stylish swords walking with dignity, he dreamed of becoming a knight like them someday.

Of course, achieving your dreams doesn’t always happen as you wish. There were people who, even if they swung their swords with earnest heart, could not escape the third rank, let alone become knights.

Moreover, the Marquis of Hoern, who ruled the large city of Quien, did not rashly select knights to protect his family and city.

After all, it’s natural. Even in the empire, if a knight from a famous family had poor skills, there would be no such shame.

You had to prove your skills, or at least show potential, to pass a rigorous examination and become an apprentice engineer. I am now taking my first step as a knight.

It’s something to be proud of… . However, becoming a reviewer, which is what people commonly refer to as a knight, was another matter.

Normally, people did not distinguish between apprentices and rank knights, and in fact, there were many cases where they were sent to missions mixed together, but there was a clear level difference between the two.

Because of this reality, there was little chance that the child’s dream of becoming a knight would come true. As time passed, it would just degenerate into a childish emotion from my immature days.

But Helena had a talent for the sword. The moment she held a crude wooden sword in her hand and swung it with the desire to resemble a knight, even though she was young, she realized her talent.

After that, it was literally smooth sailing. His skills improved day by day, and he became a knight before he was twenty. The accomplishments she achieved at an early age were a source of great pride for her at the time.

Helena, who officially became a knight, married her former lover, had a child, and built her career smoothly.

His outstanding skills, honed through talent and effort, and his upright character, like a model for a knight, were the object of respect and admiration from other knights.

He was strict but not rigid, and competent but not bossy. Even those who were jealous of her knew that they were only forcing themselves to catch the pod. It was truly a flawless article.

Helena, who went on to success without any major problems, retired after turning 40. It wasn’t because I was involved in something dishonorable or anything.

It was just to spend time with my family.

The eldest daughter followed in her mother’s footsteps and held a sword. Helena was proud. The second child, Karen, had no talent for radish, but she was not disappointed.

Helena’s mother was not a knight either, and she had no intention of imposing her own path on her child. Since Karen was still young, I thought she could gradually find her own path.

Time with my family that I didn’t even pay attention to because I was so absorbed in my duties as a knight.

The time she spent with her husband, who always supported and supported her, and her two daughters, who were more precious than anything else, was always a meaningful moment.

Barring injury or disgrace, Helena retired earlier than others, but she had no regrets. I made enough money, and the joy of watching my two daughters grow into good people was greater than the joy of being recognized as a knight.

Helena was always proud of herself as a knight, but before she was a knight, she was a mother.

and… The leisurely life I was enjoying for the first time in a long time was also one of the reasons why I thought it was a good decision to retire.

At first, I wasn’t used to having too much time, but gradually I came to enjoy it. She thought it was quite nice to take a leisurely walk without any worries or concerns, or to stop where you felt like walking and spend as much time as you wanted.

One day, Helena, who had been enjoying a leisurely life for several years, coincidentally met a junior from her time on active duty.

“Senior Helena?”

“Hmm?”

Hearing a voice calling him, he turned around and saw a mischievous looking woman smiling and waving her hand. It was an old colleague.

Since they had been together for over ten years, Helena responded with joy.

“Ah, Sir Lia. It’s been a while.”

We’ve met since retirement, but it was a long time ago.

“What is Sir Leah? It’s been a long time since we met, so please feel free to call me by my first name.”

My junior, Lia, said as if she was disappointed. However, seeing as his eyes were smiling, it seemed like he didn’t mean it.

“No matter what, I can’t call you that.”

“Senior, you are still the same. That’s something I respect.”

Looking at her senior’s appearance, which had not changed much from when she was on active duty, Lia gave an expression of disbelief.

Although Lia was more than ten years younger than Helena, she had excellent talent and was a knight whose skills exceeded the average for her age. However, she was not a very sincere person and could not bring out all of her talents.

Helena also felt sorry that Leah was wasting her talent, but she was satisfied and did the work assigned to her properly, so she did not interfere much.

The two continued their conversation as they slowly walked down the street.

“How are you doing these days?”

Lia shrugged her shoulders and answered Helena’s question.

“It’s always the same. Nothing has changed much from before you retired.”

“I see. What about others? Are you still doing well?”

“What… Except for the occasional tearful night because I miss my senior, everyone is doing well.”

Helena laughed at Lia’s joke. Of course I’m exaggerating about the tears, but I didn’t feel bad. Missing the person who left meant that she was a great knight.

The two knights drank an invisible glass of wine while sharing past memories and current events.

“… … By the way, I think I’ve been holding on to too many busy people.”

Lia waved her hand at Helena’s words.

“Ayu, no. Since I came back on vacation, I have plenty of time.”

“But you must have something you wanted to do before meeting me.”

“That’s true, but it’s also true that I wanted to visit you in the first place. Of course, I’ve seen you before, but it’s been a while.”

“That’s right. It’s nice to see your face after a long time.”

“Haha, what good can there be in looking at a woman’s face? Of course, you have to look at the man’s face.”

Helena made a nervous expression as she looked at her junior who was talking jokingly.

“I’m sure you don’t want to go there again.”

Lia nodded sweetly and confirmed Helena’s guess.

“I have to go. How about you go with us?”

“What are you saying! You have a husband and children, so how can you stay in such a miserable place?”

“Ah, every woman should definitely go to Changgwan at least once.”

From a long time ago, Lia enjoyed going in and out of Changgwan. Since I didn’t have any men in particular to meet and there was no law prohibiting drivers from going to Changgwan, I met men at Changgwan whenever I had time and money.

Although she was not particularly interested in things like alcohol or gambling, she especially enjoyed going to Changgwan more than other knights.

Of course, I wasn’t so irresponsible as to neglect what I had to do because of that. If he hadn’t performed his duties because he was lounging around in the window, Helena wouldn’t have left him alone.

Lia sometimes suggested to Helena that they go to Changgwan together.

Of course, it ended in rejection every time. Helena already had a husband and children, and her natural inclination was far from entertainment.

She didn’t just pretend to be a strong and upright person on the outside; she was really that kind of person.

“Now that you’ve retired, wouldn’t it be okay at least once?”

“Uh huh. I’ll pretend you didn’t hear it, so stop.”

Lia whetted her appetite as she looked at her old boss who was still stubborn. But I hadn’t given up yet.

“There is no need to do something like that in Changgwan. It’s okay to just talk in moderation and come out. On the contrary, men like it that way. You don’t have to work hard at it.”

There was no other reason why Lia recommended Helena to visit Changgwan. It was simply in the hope that Helena would discover new joys.

It’s a problem because I have a husband and children.

“You’ve been giving me trouble with that problem for a long time.”

“Senior, haven’t you been living a very tight life for a long time? I don’t want anything else, so come with me just once. Only by experiencing this and that can a person become wiser. Let’s just go and have a conversation with the guy and then come out.”

Lia dragged her senior, who was as stubborn as ever, to the Changgwan.

“No, what are you doing now-”

Helena was embarrassed by Lia’s aggressive appearance, but was unable to strongly shake her off.

“You finally came… .”

“I believe you won’t just come this far and then pass away.”

Today was the first time Helena entered the Changgwan. I’ve passed by it on and off, but I’ve never been inside.

She had never been moved by the sight of beautiful men dressed in flashy clothes soliciting customers, but when she entered the store, she felt a strange feeling.

Of course, the embarrassment was much greater. This was especially true because it was not night and the sun was still brightly shining.

“It’s not a bad idea to experience something like this at least once. If you want, it’s okay if you just chat like I said, so don’t feel too pressured.”

Leah said that and left first, leaving Helena alone.

The faithful head of the household, with the only man she had ever experienced in her life was her husband, was left alone in an unknown world.

I felt like a child who lost his parents on the street. There was no interest in this area at all, so I couldn’t figure out what to do.

Helena vowed that she would punish the shameful junior who left her alone and went to hug the man.

“… … Um.”

It was a very uncomfortable time, but fortunately it wasn’t long.

A savior came to her as she stood in an awkward position.

His age is approximately mid-thirties. Her face value was similar to that of Helena, who appeared to be ten years younger than her original age.

A neatly dressed woman asked in a polite manner.

“Is this your first time at Changgwan?”

“Oh, um, that’s right.”

As if she understood, she bent her waist slightly and asked again.

“Is there a type you want? Just tell us and we will guide you to the most similar man.”

I didn’t particularly think about that. Helena fell silent, wondering what answer would be best.

The Changguan staff patiently waited for the customer’s response.

After much consideration, Helena’s answer was as follows.

“Make it the man with the lowest price… .”

In fact, I was forced to come here half of the time, and since I had no intention of doing such a thing with a prostitute in the first place, I liked his appearance no matter what.

Helena decided to spend as little money as possible in order to remain honorable.

The employee nodded and said.

“There is a new man who has just joined us. Since he is a newbie and has some flaws on his body, the price is the lowest.”

“… Please be that man.”

There is a blemish on the body. It was a statement that made me imagine various things. If you mention ‘body’, the face seems to be fine, but what on earth is wrong with the body?

Maybe he’s missing an arm or a leg, or he may have big burn marks.

It wasn’t the Changgwan that would accept such a man, but there was no way for Helena to know.

If that was really the case, she thought, she should show as little surprise or reluctance as possible.

“Please come this way.”

After paying the price, I waited for a while and then moved on following the staff’s instructions.

“Just go into the room at the far end.”

With a trembling heart, Helena walked to the front of the room the staff member had mentioned. This was the biggest deviation of her life.

No matter how much I had no intention of doing something like that, I couldn’t deny the fact that I bought a man from Changgwan.

My mouth went dry with tension, as if I was about to fight. I suddenly thought about going back now.

‘… … .’

However, at that moment, the spirit of someone who had lived as a knight for a long time was strangely activated, and

dripping.

“Please come in.”

After strengthening her will, Helena swallowed her dry saliva and opened the door.