Ch.13Festival (3)

The dim light rises and surrounds the area.

In that warm energy, cozy enough to melt even winter’s cold, my body grows languid. As my eyelids grow heavy, a sudden thought makes my eyes snap open.

“……”

What I saw upon opening my eyes was bright light filtering through the curtains.

It wasn’t the glow of magic stones I remembered, nor the flickering light of fireworks and torches rising from the streets.

Clearly, this was the radiance of the sun.

My drowsy mind slowly began to awaken. Frowning at the growing anxiety tightening my chest, I raised my head.

Busy sounds from beyond the door, and outside scenery brighter than I remembered.

“…Ah”

I had to admit it. I had fallen asleep while looking at documents.

Confirming this wasn’t a dream, I stared at the mountain of paperwork before me and gently closed my eyes with a sigh.

Swish,

“…This is.”

Seeing the blanket draped over my shoulders, a smile escaped my lips.

Probably the guard knight who had been by my side before I fell asleep had covered me with it.

Noticing my glasses carefully placed on the desk when I’d certainly been wearing them, I realized he must have been looking after me.

September, the season when leaves lose their luster and turn red. Perhaps he worried I might catch cold?

Though it was still quite warm for autumn’s arrival.

I rose from my seat and approached the window.

Beyond the drawn curtains, through the clear glass, I could see people crowding the streets, each holding a flag as they marched.

After watching that dark wave for a moment, I sighed and turned away.

I wouldn’t be joining that procession anyway. Wasn’t the pile of documents on that desk cursing me?

Ink and pulp had drawn their swords against me.

Just as I was about to begin this lonely war against paperwork, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

There was only one person who would enter my room now.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes, I woke up at dawn and ate already. Your meal is being prepared, so please come down shortly!”

“Alright, but where’s Evan?”

“Oh, he’s training. He should be back soon. He said he went out when it was still dark.”

“…When it was dark.”

Did he stay up all night? Remembering the blanket still on my shoulders made me uncomfortable.

As if that warmth was seeping from my shoulders throughout my body, I removed the blanket and brushed my shoulder.

But after removing it, what remained was an emptiness that chilled to the bone.

Even the outside that had seemed so warm now looked somehow cold.

“Miss?”

When I just stared out the window despite Ropena’s question, I soon heard the door quietly closing.

In the ensuing silence, I closed my eyes. Focusing only on the sounds reaching my ears, I calmly organized my chaotic thoughts.

Evan Fried. At the emerging name, my concentration broke, and my cooled gaze turned to empty space.

Over the past month, the guard knight and I had grown quite close.

To the surprise of other maids and Sir Chris, I had shown such a friendly attitude only to him.

Even I couldn’t understand why I softened this way.

Only that when I saw his face, my frozen heart seemed to melt, and warmth filled my voice.

His autumn-like golden hair swaying, and that bright smile like a boy his age was like a painting.

That face, which seemed to contain all the world’s purity when he smiled playfully, appeared to exist in a completely different world from mine.

Come to think of it, hadn’t he become quite friendly with my maids since becoming a guard knight?

I couldn’t help but admire how quickly he befriended maids he’d just met after exchanging a few words.

Was it his handsome appearance, or perhaps that brightness that always followed him?

That gentleness, which someone with iron blood couldn’t possess, now seemed to be affecting me too.

I stared at the blanket I had unconsciously clutched regretfully, then draped it over my shoulders again.

It was nothing but lingering attachment. Indulging in a sensation I couldn’t possess, only to regret it later.

Yet I couldn’t let go of that sweetness. The thorns of the rose I held had long since dug into my hand.

It entered so easily, yet now it clung like a hook embedded in flesh, refusing to leave.

Wasn’t I the one who couldn’t put down even this blanket covering my shoulders?

Despite pushing him away, telling him not to come near, it was always my guard knight who approached.

When those green eyes filled with deep emotion trembled, my heart would waver too, and my pushing hands would fall powerless.

But I needed to let go.

I needed to let go. I needed to abandon this attachment.

-It wasn’t that I cared. It was just uncomfortable.

I only resented myself for not being able to let go of that warmth that had come to me.

Despite being able to let go so easily if I wanted to. That’s how I had been accepting the guard knight who approached step by step.

I knew it was attachment. I knew that if I grew any more attached, I would eventually regret it.

And yet, despite knowing this.

Letting go of that attachment was truly not easy.

“May I come in?”

“……”

The voice from beyond the door broke my reverie.

That low voice echoed through the quiet room, and my lips, which had been standing there blankly, parted.

I wished he wouldn’t come in. I wished he had done something other than become my guard knight.

This place didn’t suit him. Cold, rough, with no trace of kindness. A place where people with molten iron instead of blood gathered.

Those who smile now will later come at you with swords.

Knights who I thought were loyal to me ultimately belonged to my father.

All I had was this room, a few personal maids, and one guard knight. And even that was hard to protect.

I wished he wouldn’t open the door and enter, that he would just disappear far away.

Contrary to those feelings, the words my mouth spoke were frustratingly affirmative.

“…Come in.”

With the sensation of thorns digging deeper, all I could do was smile bitterly.

#

“Did you stay up all night?”

As soon as I entered the room, I nodded awkwardly at her question.

Actually, I had tried to go back to my room to sleep, but couldn’t fall asleep at all. So I went out a bit early for training, which had become routine by now.

When I nodded, Aileen, who had been staring at me intently, spoke.

“It’s good to get enough sleep. I’ll hardly be sleeping during this festival period.”

“That’s what I should be saying. You should get enough sleep.”

She couldn’t properly handle mana. In other words, she couldn’t endure the fatigue accumulated in her body.

While I could stay up for days using mana, her body was only at the level of a trained ordinary person.

If she continued to work excessively, she would surely collapse and fall asleep again like this time.

Perhaps finding my firm tone quite curious, Aileen stared at me for a while before turning away and sitting at her desk.

What suddenly caught my attention was the blanket I had draped over her yesterday. Perhaps she was still half-asleep and didn’t realize the blanket was draped over her?

“By the way, are you cold?”

When I pointed to the blanket, Aileen looked at it and quickly gathered it up.

Watching that swift movement, I chuckled. Oh my, had she really not noticed until now?

“…I didn’t realize this was here.”

“You still seem drowsy. Have you eaten?”

“Did you eat anything? You seem to have just returned.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten anything today either. Perhaps it was because my body was so different from humans.

I didn’t even feel hunger like before, so I just ate when it was time.

The fortunate thing was that thanks to my position, I could eat food prepared by the chef here.

When I shook my head, Aileen, with her eyes half-open, rose from her seat and spoke.

“Let’s have a meal together. We need to talk about plans after this festival ends.”

“…Dine together?”

“That’s an order.”

An order? She knew that as a guard knight I couldn’t dine with her, so why was she doing this?

But since it was an order, when I agreed, Aileen immediately passed by me and continued speaking.

“I plan to process all those documents today. I’m thinking of skipping dinner, so it’s better to eat heartily now.”

“That’s not good for your health.”

“Having documents piled up like that is worse for my mental health. I wish you’d understand my feelings.”

“…If that’s how you feel.”

Why is she trying to process work so quickly?

Looking curiously at her as she tried to process documents like someone being chased, a thought crossed my mind and I smiled slightly.

Does she want to attend the festival?

Well, I thought she would participate despite saying otherwise when her eyes sparkled last time.

Hmm.

It seemed I needed to watch over Aileen carefully to prevent her from collapsing.

Should I force her to sleep if she tries to overwork herself like yesterday?

I knew she had to handle many things alone and carried a heavy burden, but.

That didn’t mean I would just watch her collapse into sleep like this time.

Being a guard knight meant not just protecting her from external threats, but also paying attention to her physical condition.

Besides, my heart wasn’t at ease either.

Her skin, already pale as snow, looked even paler today, so I sighed and spoke.

“…I wish you would take better care of yourself.”

“I don’t have time for that.”

Time, yes. Time was always the issue. She didn’t have time to move freely for anything.

Perhaps that’s why she harbored subtle expectations for this festival.

Clack-

Looking at the plates placed before me, I narrowed my eyes.

Actually, I didn’t want to leave Aileen like this. No matter how mature she was, she was still 15 years old.

It troubled me to see someone that age buried in paperwork, unable to sleep properly until collapsing.

Aileen was largely responsible for why I couldn’t sleep tonight.

“…Are you listening?”

When I looked up at the sound of a knife tapping on a plate, Aileen frowned at me.

“No, I was thinking about something else.”

“How shameless. Didn’t we dine together to discuss what happens after the festival?”

Festival. It would be good if she could participate.

She could go on the last day, but by then most festival events would be over with little to enjoy. At most, she’d see the closing ceremony fireworks.

Perhaps today, today would be best for enjoying most of the festival.

With a sudden thought occurring to me, I smiled and spoke to Aileen.

“How about going out today?”

“…Please make sense. Didn’t you see those documents earlier?”

“For example, patrolling to check security in the streets where the festival is taking place.”

Screech-

The knife cutting meat made a sound as it hit the plate.

Her eyes, staring at me intently as if asking if I was serious, were trembling slightly, so I smiled and shrugged.