Ch.41Inauguration Ceremony (1)

“Are you really okay now? Are your wounds all healed? You’re not hiding any pain somewhere, are you? If you are, I’ll tell the young lady to tie you up, so be honest.”

“I told you I’m fine now.”

Honestly, I wasn’t completely healed yet, but it was true that my physical condition had improved considerably.

How much had Rofena cried when she first saw me in that state?

She wasn’t crying anymore, but she still made a tearful face whenever she looked at me, which made me uncomfortable.

Rofena was still anxiously glancing at me.

Last time I had scratches all over, but the wound near my neck hadn’t fully healed yet, and whenever Rofena saw it, her expression would darken.

“I’m really fine.”

“…I know you’re fine. But there’s a difference between being fine yourself and looking fine to others.”

Perhaps I’m truly a blessed person.

To have two people who worry about me. If the situation were normal, I would have been overjoyed.

Of course, I can’t be completely happy now since there’s so much to worry about.

As I stared at Rofena and smiled, she sighed and pouted her lips.

“Ah, really. When someone worries about you, you should take care of yourself. I don’t understand why you always come back injured.”

“I don’t understand why you’re getting angry.”

“With your knighting ceremony right around the corner, huh? How can you be covered in wounds like that? What about the young lady’s reputation? Well, at least you don’t have scars on your face.”

“I can’t help it. Want to try fighting a troll yourself? See if you can do it without getting hurt.”

“W-what kind of unreasonable argument is that!”

I merely shrugged my shoulders at the angry Rofena.

I did my best, and still got injured, so what could I do?

It was fortunate if it ended with just scars.

That troll was so strong that even now, I doubt whether I could have had any chance of winning.

“It’s snowing.”

When I looked out the window and saw snow, I quietly muttered, and Rofena followed my gaze to the window.

I think they said this year had less snow than usual. Nevertheless, the snow that quickly piled up was slowly covering the world.

The exposed soil was once again covered with snow, turning white, and even the moon was hidden by the clouds dropping snow, darkening the surroundings.

But it would melt soon. This winter was almost over.

When all that snow melts, the knighting ceremony will be over, and I’ll become Aileen’s official knight.

It would probably be spring by then.

What reflected in Rofena’s eyes as she quietly gazed out the window was childlike wonder,

so I smiled faintly and watched the snow falling from the sky.

#

“…Haah.”

As the breath that had held hot tea escaped, it immediately turned white and dispersed outside the window.

In the garden full of snow, where it had been deliberately left uncleared and accumulated evenly, occasional small footprints were stamped here and there.

And following those footprints with my eyes, I could see the youngest child in this mansion.

“Rofena.”

“Ah, I’ve been caught.”

She’s turning 16 soon, yet why does she act like this?

Should I be grateful that she hasn’t lost her childlike innocence,

or should I feel sorry that she hasn’t matured yet?

She probably knows she’ll get scolded if caught.

I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Rofena making a snowman in the corner, blowing on her reddened hands.

As I rested my arms on the windowsill and stared at Rofena, she waved her hands in the air and looked around.

Her voice was soft as she put her finger to her lips.

Perhaps she was worried about being caught by others. If so, she shouldn’t have been doing this in the first place.

“What?”

“N-no. If you keep watching from there, it’ll draw attention to me. Go away. I’ll come in soon too.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Are you interested in the snowman? If you want to make one, come down here quickly. If you stay there, the gardener will come and scold us again.”

To be honest, I just found it amusing to watch Rofena doing such things.

As I narrowed my eyes and giggled, she frowned deeply and strode toward me.

“Close the window.”

“Can’t you see I’m enjoying the view? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“You’ve been staring at me the whole time. Are you, like, interested in young girls or something?”

“…Really, there’s nothing you won’t say.”

Smack-!

“Ah!”

When I lightly hit Rofena’s forehead, her head fell backward and she collapsed into the snow with a thud.

Did I hit her too hard? But she deserved it.

Liking young children? That’s the type of person I despise most in the world, so how could I?

Rofena was just Rofena. If I had to describe it, it was like looking at a doll in the room.

Cute, just that level of appreciation.

…And it reminded me a bit of my sister too.

Whenever I looked at Rofena, I always thought of my sister.

The only younger sister I had. Especially when she got flicked on the forehead, her reaction was surprisingly identical.

That look with her reddened forehead clutched in her hands, eyes narrowed as if about to cry.

“Why have you been like this to me since the snowball fight last time?”

-Why have you been like this to me since the snowball fight last time?

Strangely similar, so I couldn’t bring myself to scold Rofena.

Sir Chris occasionally said that Rofena was too disrespectful to me and that I should discipline her,

but I found it endearing when she got irritated and threw snow around like this.

“I’m sorry.”

“Saying sorry now doesn’t fix anything. Can’t you see my forehead is swollen? Even if you’re a knight-“

“Would you like some melted chocolate? I was thinking of asking the chef for some later.”

“Please do.”

For a moment, I stared blankly at Rofena, then burst into laughter.

It wasn’t shamelessness, but how could she change her attitude so drastically after being so angry just now?

“It’s cold, so come in now. If you get caught… well, I’ll say I did it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, want to come in through the window? I’ll help you up.”

“…Hmm, thank you.”

Her sulky expression was nowhere to be seen as she smiled brightly and took my hand to come inside.

I carefully brushed off the snow accumulated on her head, but shortly after,

she sneezed suddenly and looked at me while sniffling.

“I sometimes think that you’re especially nice to me, Sir. You’re not like that with Lady Lize or others.”

Nice, huh? Perhaps that’s true.

It was a fact that I was incredibly soft on Rofena, so it’s not unreasonable to see it that way.

As I quietly stroked her head, which was much smaller than mine, she looked up at me with her lips tightly closed.

“It’s just that you remind me of my sister.”

That was all. If there was a reason why I was soft on Rofena.

Since she was someone I could never see again even if I went back, I wanted to be nice to her while she was right in front of me.

I didn’t want to have regrets. That’s all it was.

When I removed my hand from Rofena’s head, she stared at me for a moment before turning her gaze away.

Her pouting lips had disappeared, returning to her usual face.

Her slightly wet hair, from rolling around in the snow, swayed back and forth.

“Let’s go. I want chocolate.”

“…Alright.”

I smiled bitterly. It was dangerous to dwell too much on past sentiments.

Even when I lived alone, I tried not to think about my sister, but whenever I saw Rofena, thoughts of my sister kept coming back.

I rubbed my eyes and looked at Rofena again. Rofena’s hair was brown.

A light brown that could almost be mistaken for orange. Different from my sister’s.

So I shouldn’t recall it; isn’t it time to forget the past?

After briefly massaging my tightly closed eyes, I exhaled heavily and moved my feet.

Seeing Rofena walking with light steps made my lips curl up again,

so I shrugged once and approached her side.

As if excited about something, her shoulders wiggled with each step, which seemed to lift my sunken mood a bit.

“Do you like chocolate that much?”

“Of course. It’s precious. Even though I’m the young lady’s personal maid, I can’t eat it often.”

“…I’ll bring you some from time to time.”

“Reaally?”

Her words stretched out, showing how surprised she was.

Why would she be so happy about mere chocolate?

Rofena’s birthday was coming up soon, so I should think about what to get her.

If she was this happy about chocolate, I wondered what her reaction would be to receiving a gift.

Her brown eyes, the same color as her hair, sparkled.

Her small hands were clasped at her chest, and I chuckled once and nodded.

“Yes. Why would I lie?”

Her small mouth opened with a “heh.” Rofena, clearly excited, stamped her feet and then

reached out to me, lightly tapping me.

“I didn’t know, but Sir, you seem to have a really good personality.”

“You’re just realizing that now?”

That’s a bit disappointing. When I narrowed my eyes playfully, Rofena hurriedly hugged my arm and smiled broadly.

I barely managed to suppress the twitching at the corners of my mouth.

My sister didn’t often show such behavior. Indeed, my sister and Rofena were different.

Just for that reason, my heart felt at ease, and I could smile comfortably, unlike before.

As if she finally realized I was joking, Rofena let go of my arm and poked my arm with her finger as she spoke.

“Don’t joke like that. You scared me.”

“…I wasn’t joking though?”

“Ah, really.”

Just as we were laughing, I raised my head at the sound of footsteps coming from afar. Weren’t those familiar footsteps?

Rofena, too, seemed to think someone was coming when I turned my head, and she followed my gaze before widening her eyes.

“Young lady?”

“…I was wondering where you were. So you were here.”

“Were you looking for me?”

“I have something to talk about.”

After I slightly bowed my head, Aileen raised her hand slightly and quietly spoke.

A blue dress instead of the black dress she usually wore. Was she going out somewhere?

Perhaps realizing that I was staring at her dress,

Aileen looked down at the dress she was wearing and then looked at me.

“…Does it look bad?”

“No. It suits you well.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I was just looking because it’s different from what you usually wear. Um, it looks refreshingly good. I think it matches your eye color well. But, about what you wanted to discuss…”

When I mentioned that the blue dress reminded me of her eye color, Aileen nodded and responded.

It was certainly different to see someone who always wore dark colors change a bit.

I wondered if I would be able to see her in dresses of other colors later.

But I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Didn’t she say she had something to talk about?

When I asked about it, Aileen slowly opened her mouth.

“It’s about the upcoming knighting ceremony. With less than a week left, there are things you need to know.”

“I understand. Rofena, if you go to the chef and tell him I asked for it, you should be able to get it.”

“I’ll enjoy it.”

After Rofena whispered those words and disappeared, Aileen, who had been staring at her, casually glanced at me.

Feeling like her gaze was demanding some sort of answer from me, I tilted my head, and Aileen frowned and spoke.

“Did you give something to Rofena?”

“Ah, I promised her melted chocolate. Since Rofena likes sweet things.”

“…Hmm.”

Was there something she was dissatisfied with?

Aileen, who had been looking in the direction Rofena disappeared for a moment, turned her head and headed back to her office.

Come to think of it, I wouldn’t have much time left to spend with Rofena like this.

The knighting ceremony meant I would officially become her knight,

and unlike now when I was an apprentice, I would have to be by her side all the time.

Of course, it would be different if I took a vacation, but how often would a knight get a vacation?

In fact, this knighting ceremony was quite exceptional compared to the ones that had been held so far.

Not only was a knight who hadn’t even had his coming-of-age ceremony being officially appointed, but he was becoming the knight of Aileen, the young mistress of the Yuris family.

It was a bit burdensome. I was prepared, but being prepared didn’t make others’ gazes any less burdensome.

The gazes of knights I occasionally met while walking through the duke’s residence contained envy.

Some would say I was lucky, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear. And there were those who agreed and snickered beside them.

If I were to argue and question, I could have done so.

But I deliberately didn’t because I knew it was better not to.

I had received such gazes many times before, so I was used to it by now.

No matter how hard you try, in the end, it’s overshadowed by luck and talent.

No matter how much I explained, in their eyes, it would only look like something achieved through luck and talent.

It was easiest to just ignore it.

“Come in.”

Thinking this way, after walking for quite some time, we finally reached Aileen’s office, and Aileen opened the door and spoke.

What I saw when the door opened was the familiar scene of the room I had always seen.

The neatly organized bookshelf was filled with books, and Aileen’s favorite teacup was placed on the large desk, filled with Darjeeling tea.

Whenever I smell Darjeeling, my mind always calms down.

Although it was such an awkward space at first, now it had become a part of my life. Looking at the room, Aileen nodded at me.

“Sit down, I have quite a lot to talk about.”

Was there something else to discuss besides the knighting ceremony?

As I sat in the chair, Aileen, who had been staring at me, lowered her head and turned her gaze toward the table.

On the table were the usual teacup and a plate of cookies made of sugar.

Aileen, who had been staring at the cookies for a moment, then opened her mouth toward me.

“You seem to have become quite close with Rofena. Even taking care of what she likes.”

“…Well, she just reminds me of my sister. She’s the kind of child I want to take care of.”

“A sister, huh.”

After muttering that for a moment, Aileen took a sip of Darjeeling and looked at me.

What resided in those blue eyes was anxiety, so I frowned and stared at Aileen.

What was there to suddenly be anxious about?

As I looked at her for a moment, my eyes widened at the words Aileen uttered after putting down her teacup.

“It seems the Crown Prince will be attending this knighting ceremony.”

“…What?”

“It seems he’s coming to meet you, so I think it would be best to prepare thoroughly.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I thought he was someone I wouldn’t encounter for years.

The unexpected mention of the Crown Prince felt quite irritating.