SS #38 Two Years Later, A Day in Each of Their Lives (4)

#6 The Black-Hearted Maid and the Shameless Knight

The sky, once clear and blue with the wind from the east, was now tinged with vermilion.

A knight with long, light brown hair stood in the middle of the garden, gazing up at the sky.

Her name was Dahlia Aile. The Angel of Protection who guarded the Yudelria Holy Nation.

As befitting the head of the Royal Knights, she looked up at the sky with a solemn face. Passing maids and apprentice knights blushed and let out small gasps of admiration.

‘What could Lady Dahlia be thinking about right now?’

‘I don’t know, but it must be something incredibly serious and important, right?’

‘I know. Look at that solemn and noble expression.’

‘Lady Dahlia is so cool.’

‘She’s the model of a knight.’

Our commander, who is cool, gentle, and kind, yet serious and solemn when necessary.

What kind of worries did our commander usually have?

What could she be thinking about to have such a melancholic expression?

They weren’t sure, but it had to be a truly serious matter.

The apprentice knights and maids who admired Dahlia suppressed their desire to keep watching and hurried on their way. For some reason, they felt they shouldn’t disturb her.

And at that moment.

Dahlia was, in fact, having a very serious thought.

‘I want to eat apple pie.’

Maia’s homemade apple pie.

Crispy on the outside, moist on the inside. The kind where a sweet flavor spreads throughout your mouth when you take a bite.

For a soldier, meals were an important part of their duties.

Moreover, Dahlia wasn’t just lightly thinking she wanted apple pie.

Her desire for apple pie was steeped in sincerity.

I want apple pie.

I really, really want it.

For some reason, I’m craving apple pie today.

She had been suppressing the craving since morning, and now it had reached the point where even the clouds in the sky looked like apple pie.

“Apple pie…”

Dahlia, having muttered it unconsciously, was startled by her own voice and quickly came to her senses.

She had a social standing and a reputation to uphold, after all.

‘Think of something else, something else.’

Right, like when the new volume of I Became the Nanny of the World’s Strongest Villain was coming out—

‘No, no! Get a grip, Dahlia!’

It was true she desperately wanted to read the next volume, but that wasn’t the right thought either.

Letting out a dry cough as if to soothe her slightly flushed face, Dahlia tried to think of something befitting a Royal Knight of the Holy Nation and a guardian angel of the royal family.

‘I wonder if the young lady is doing well…’

Yuria August Bayer.

The one and only princess of the Yudelria Holy Nation, who was probably playing with the fairies in the royal family’s exclusive hot spring in the capital right now.

Was the secret weapon of a swimsuit, which took three nights and four days to choose, truly having a tremendous effect?

Was Maia’s theory—that layering a cute and lovely image on top of the young lady’s mature and noble one would create a shocking synergy effect—correct?

Our young lady was really, really pretty, though.

With the young lady’s beauty, wouldn’t the fairies flock to her even if she just dipped a toe in the hot spring?

Come to think of it, those fairies have ridiculously high standards.

And their tastes are incredibly picky.

Unconsciously recalling the “Fairy Challenge” she had attempted last year, Dahlia’s expression became complicated with a fresh wave of embarrassment, shame, and disappointment.

She had even gone to the trouble of styling her hair beautifully before singing her heart out.

Was the problem, as the young lady had said, that she sang a military anthem?

But when it was Maia’s turn, they came out even though she didn’t sing at all.

Even now, if she closed her eyes, the memory came back vividly.

The sight of Maia, wrapped in a single towel without any particular adornment, stepping into the hot pool.

A slender, willowy figure without a single flaw, and smooth, soft skin that looked even whiter amidst the steam.

Her silver hair, glistening with water, and her eyes, just as moist.

Dahlia bit her pouting lips and admitted it.

Maia that day had been even prettier than Lady Cordelia.

It was only natural that the fairies had come swarming in a chaotic rush.

‘Ah, anyway, I’m sure the young lady is doing fine.’

She was Lady Cordelia’s daughter, and also the daughter of His Holiness the Pope.

Having sorted her thoughts to some extent, Dahlia coughed again instead of resuming her thoughts about apple pie, then turned to one side of the garden and spoke.

“How long have you been watching?”

To her question, which was mixed with an undisguisable embarrassment despite her attempt to act nonchalant, the silver-haired maid hiding behind a large tree blinked once, then tilted her head slightly and said,

“Well now? How long has it been?”

At that devastatingly beautiful yet black-hearted smile, the knight thought.

Maia really is like a little demon.

Maia must have been the one who raised His Holiness the Pope.

“Your smile is wicked. Everyone is being deceived.”

Dahlia said, pointing to the copy of this month’s scripture she happened to be holding—or more accurately, to the photo of Maia’s face that adorned its cover.

It was understandable, as the Maia on the cover had a blank expression brimming with a noble and elegant aura.

Maia was usually called the Ice Queen for maintaining such a blank face or offering only the smallest of smiles, but Dahlia knew her true nature better than anyone.

Maia smiled more often than one would think.

And she smiled wickedly.

A smile that was black-hearted, bewitching, and full of mischief, just like now.

Furthermore, Maia’s unexpectedness wasn’t just limited to her smiling.

“But… my smiles are only for the young master and you, Dahlia.”

Maia, who had approached without her noticing, put on a display of affection that wasn’t quite affection, and Dahlia bit her lip with a “Hmph.”

The sight of Maia acting cute was both truly lovely and annoying.

‘She knows she’s pretty.’

That was right.

Maia was well aware that she was a beauty, and she knew how to use that fact all too well.

Annoyingly so.

“Alright, I’ll stop. And I’ve baked an apple pie, so please forgive me. Hmm?”

Despite her words, Maia acted cute again at the end, but Dahlia could only pout and nod.

She really, really wanted apple pie today.

“By the way, Dahlia, the young master and the young lady will both be late today, right?”

Maia’s question was serious, as if she had suddenly switched back to her role as the head lady-in-waiting of the royal palace. Dahlia, in turn, nodded with a serious face.

“They should be in the Forest of Eternity by now. So… I don’t think they’ll be back today. It will probably take a few days for Lady Yuria to return from the capital, too. Of course, the story might change if they decide to elope again.”

Yuria had eloped thirty-two times in the past two years, so the probability of her doing it again was close to seventy percent, but according to her schedule, she was supposed to return in a week.

“The Forest of Eternity…”

A vast forest located between the central and southern regions of the Sailun Kingdom.

The forbidden land where the elves resided.

Maia, who knew full well why Yuder and Cordelia had gone to the Forest of Eternity, let out a long breath and then smiled faintly.

“I hope it goes well.”

“Yeah, I hope it goes well.”

Dahlia nodded and looked in the direction of the Forest of Eternity.

#7 The Goddess, the Pope, and the Artificial Spirit

Every time he visited the Forest of Eternity, Yuder thought.

‘How about visiting the Forest of Eternity regularly?’

If he had his way, he’d want to visit about once a week, but that was impossible with his schedule, so how about once a month?

The reason for Yuder’s thoughts was simple.

Whenever they visited the Forest of Eternity, Cordelia’s attitude changed from her usual self.

‘Cute.’

Yuder could list the reasons why Cordelia was cute and lovely as naturally as breathing, and he genuinely thought even Cordelia’s toes were cute, but today’s cuteness had a special quality that was different from usual.

Cordelia, clinging tightly to Yuder’s arm, looked around with fierce eyes as if on high alert.

Her tightly sealed lips and wary gaze were dead serious, but Yuder couldn’t stop the smile that kept trying to escape.

It was because Cordelia strangely reminded him of a hamster.

A hamster on guard to protect its sunflower seeds, perhaps?

And in fact, Yuder’s thought wasn’t entirely wrong.

Right now, Cordelia’s mind was completely filled with the thought of protecting Yuder.

‘As I thought, they’re watching from all sides.’

The elves.

No, the Erophs who were crazy for Yuder.

From the moment they entered the Forest of Eternity, Cordelia could feel it.

The gazes of the Erophs, waiting for a chance to get their hands on Yuder.

Their hot and intense stares.

‘Yuder is a father now!’

Of course, these were the same Erophs who, even when he had a fiancée, would say things like, “Your fiancé looks like he’d be amazing,” right in front of said fiancée. They probably couldn’t care less if he was a father or whatever, but anyway, Yuder was a father.

The father of her own child, Yuria.

That was why Cordelia hugged Yuder’s arm even tighter, her aura sharpening like an angry cat with its fur on end. Yuder, watching her, wore a pleased smile.

And facing the two of them, the queen of the Forest of Eternity—Laika Prime—narrowed her eyes and said,

“You two really haven’t changed.”

Cordelia, already in beast mode, didn’t bother to respond to the words, which were laden with various meanings. Yuder just smiled faintly.

A few minutes later.

While Yuder was alone in his happiness, an elf knight approached Queen Laika and whispered in a low voice.

“Ah, it seems they’ve finally arrived.”

Her face brightening at the knight’s whisper, Queen Laika looked back at Yuder, and Yuder nodded.

There was only one reason they had been waiting while facing Queen Laika in the first place.

“She says she’s waiting with Elun. What should we do? Shall I call them here… or would it be better for us to go to them?”

The beautiful sword that the Argon Empire prided itself on.

The reason Grand Sword Master Elun herself had stepped forward was that this matter had been personally requested by the incarnation and the pope of the Yudelria Holy Nation.

At Queen Laika’s question, Yuder looked at Cordelia. Cordelia, still clinging to Yuder’s arm, raised the bracelet on her left wrist.

A magic bracelet implanted with the core of the Holy Staff Moonlight.

“Yes, I understand.”

Cordelia whispered softly to the bracelet, which twinkled faintly as if in reply, and then stood up with Yuder.

The guest, found by Kirara and protected by Elun, had arrived in this land.

A survivor of the Magic Kingdom Magellan was waiting for Melissa.

#8 The Girl, the Master, and the Warrior of the Sun

By the time the sunset that had covered the sky was turning into a violet twilight.

Natasha and Kamael’s blind date was proceeding better than expected.

“Ah, I think I get it. When people say things like, ‘Can’t you just write that stuff in advance?’ it makes you angry, right?”

“…I won’t deny it.”

In response to Natasha’s words, Kamael didn’t scoff or remain silent, but answered, albeit stiffly. Natasha nodded as if she completely understood.

“Being a writer isn’t a profession that’s easily understood by those around you.”

“Hmm… I won’t deny that either.”

It was still a stiff reply, but anyone who knew the usual Kamael would surely be surprised by the very fact that he was having such a smooth conversation with someone he’d met for the first time today—a woman who had no connection whatsoever to Bildwein’s Heroic Saga, no less.

It wasn’t that Kamael was particularly awkward.

It was because he was fundamentally cold to others, especially women.

The reason the conversation was flowing so well despite this was simple.

[Gramps, I think that woman is a pro at listening to people.]

[She might work as some kind of counselor.]

That was right.

For Natasha, who had been wrangling(?) a multitude of viewers for over a decade, Kamael wasn’t a particularly difficult opponent.

In fact, once you opened the floodgates a little, he was an incredibly easy opponent, you could say.

‘He’s the same type as Jinho.’

Difficult at first, but very easy after that.

And while Natasha was wrangling(?) Kamael.

Lena, who had stepped out onto the balcony for some fresh air, pouted.

‘How could that Yuria girl think of introducing a woman to Master, of all people?’

A master was like a parent, so in Lena’s common sense, the current situation was similar to a child setting up their own father on a date.

If Fran had heard, she would have said, “So what?” but for Lena, who was surprisingly old-fashioned—and became even more so when it came to Landius and Kamael—it was a truly difficult situation to accept.

But Lena was still Lena.

In the end, the incurably kind Holy Angel drooped her shoulders instead of blaming the innocent Yuria.

She also felt a bit ridiculous for grumbling to herself.

‘But… it’s Kamael.’

If she had to rank them, he was the most precious person to her after Landius and Elwin.

‘And…’

Perhaps her thoughts were as chaotic as her heart.

Lena unconsciously thought of her master.

The last image of her master, who had become a lich, whom she had faced in the Paragon Kingdom that had become a den of demons.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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