Return

“You’re late.”

That was the first thing Aurora, who was looking at me with subtle eyes, said.

She was not wearing the uniform she had worn to have an audience with the Emperor, but rather that usual new city ‘missy look’ she wore around the mansion, and the dress was white.

Naturally, she wasn’t wearing underwear. Because of that, a faint pink protrusion seemed to show through the gently rising hill.

A little distance away, Iris, Erica, and Claudia were exchanging glances with Rije, wearing complex and subtle expressions. Rije waved her hand casually, not caring in the slightest.

Perhaps the rumor of our relationship had spread throughout the Silver Dawn Knights as well, as the knights’ faces held contented smiles. Their gaze was closer to a father looking at his daughter than a knight looking at their commander.

I wondered what kind of actions Rije usually took to be treated like that.

The 55 people who should now be called members of the Jet Black Holy Night Knights also had strange gazes, as if they had noticed the relationship between Rije and me. I tried to ignore those gazes and replied.

“I am sorry for being late, Lady-nim. There were circumstances.”

“Of course there were circumstances. The important thing is how many times there were, isn’t it?”

I pondered for a moment what Aurora had just said, then soon realized its meaning and made an absurd expression.

Seeing my expression sour, Aurora let out a small laugh.

“It’s a joke. I was going to tell you I wasn’t angry about you being late, so lighten up your expression.”

“If that’s the case, you could have just said so normally.”

“It’s no fun if I just say ‘it’s okay’ normally. I have to get something for making all these people stand here. Don’t you think?”

“……Did you wait that long?”

I thought I had arrived earlier than the appointed time. Should I have hurried a bit more?

“No. I only arrived here 5 minutes ago? I came around the same time as them. And there’s still about 30 minutes left until the appointed time, so no matter how long they waited, it’s the responsibility of those who came out early.”

Aurora pointed at the Silver Dawn Knights and the Jet Black Holy Night Knights with her finger. If there were still 30 minutes left until the appointed time, it was a mystery why they were already outside waiting.

As if reading my thoughts, Aurora added.

“I thought you, Delta, would come out earlier than the appointed time. So I came out even earlier than that.”

She predicted that.

“Well, let’s stop the small talk here. Have you finished saying your goodbyes to the Knight Commanders? If you have more to say, you can. We have plenty of time anyway.”

“I finished everything yesterday, so there’s nothing particul-“

“I am here.”

As a chillingly cold yet domineering voice was heard, everyone present stiffened.

Not only Aurora, but also the Knight Commanders and knights of the Silver Dawn Knights, the Vice Knight Commanders and knights of the Jet Black Holy Night Knights, and even myself. Everyone was visibly tense.

It was natural.

“Therefore, would I not have personally arrived here?”

Because the owner of that voice was Kaikilia.

Kaikilia, dressed in her usual uniform, was walking towards us alone. Just her presence made the surroundings feel as if they were freezing.

The first person to recover from the shock was Aurora. Aurora quickly knelt, appearing not to care in the slightest that her dress would be dirtied by the soil and grass.

As soon as we saw that action, our minds returned, and we too, a step late, hastily knelt and bowed our heads.

‘Why is Kaikilia here?’

My thoughts were complicated. Was there any reason for the Emperor to specifically come all the way here? Especially after telling us just yesterday that we could return to our territory?

“Aurora.”

“Yes. Please speak, Your Majesty.”

“Call me Aunt-nim. I have come here not as Libanus, but as Kaikilia.”

“……I understand, Aunt-nim. What is the matter?”

Kaikilia approached Aurora. Her high-heeled leather boots moved unhesitatingly, trampling the garden grass.

Seeing the two of them together, it struck me anew how much Aurora and Kaikilia resembled each other. The reason was probably that the same modeling was reused when creating the mod.

Except for Aurora having a slightly more immature feel, they had such similar faces and body types that one would believe them to be identical twins. There was no part of them that didn’t resemble the other.

“Farewell.”

“I understand.”

As that brief conversation ended, Kaikilia immediately turned away, as if she had no further business with Aurora.

‘That’s it?’

Did she come all the way here just for a single ‘farewell’?

While I was inwardly dumbfounded, Kaikilia, who had turned around, gave me her characteristic arrogant and domineering smile. And then, she slowly began to walk towards me.

As expected, it couldn’t have been just for those words. It seemed her real purpose was me. Greeting Aurora was probably just something she did while she was already here.

Kaikilia stopped only after approaching right in front of my nose.

“Look at me.”

I slowly raised my head.

It was an angle where the black lingerie, too small to even cover a single palm, which I had seen during the first audience, was clearly visible. Kaikilia had approached that close to me.

Kaikilia, whose face somehow seemed to show a hint of excitement, slowly opened her mouth.

“I have heard the news. The Knight Commander of the ‘Jet Black Holy Night Knights’.”

“……Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You decided the name of the knight order, but what was the reason you did not report it directly to your Emperor and instead sent a subordinate?”

“……”

It was an action born from the desire to avoid meeting Kaikilia alone if possible, but I couldn’t give such an answer in my right mind. I remained silent.

As I tried to avoid her gaze, my eyes naturally fell between her legs. The black lingerie, whose outline was clearly visible through its extremely thin material, was gradually becoming more saturated with moisture.

In proportion to that, the chilling smile and blush on Kaikilia’s cheeks also deepened. Her expression seemed to contain a hint of ecstasy.

After a long time, when I vaguely began to smell a peach scent, Kaikilia took a step back. Her thighs were subtly trembling.

“If you will not answer, then so be it. This once, I shall bestow mercy upon you.”

For some reason, it seemed she was going to let it slide.

“Therefore, you must never disappoint me. Do you understand?”

“I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”

“Good. Keep that loyalty of yours forever, until the day your life ends.”

As the conversation seemed to be ending like this, I felt relieved inwardly.

But just as I felt relieved, Kaikilia, who had slightly bent her waist, grabbed my chin and pulled it upwards. I straightened my upper body and raised my head in an awkward posture.

Kaikilia pulled my face up close to meet her eye level, then slightly bent her waist and brought her lips to my ear. Minerva was on the left, and Kaikilia was on the right.

“That name, I liked it. Is my discernment not quite excellent?”

This time, it was truly the last. Kaikilia, releasing her hand, wore her characteristic arrogant smile, and leaving only a faint peach scent behind, turned and entered the imperial palace.

It was finally truly over. Since it was a name the Emperor herself had chosen in the game, it seemed Kaikilia was quite pleased with it. It was a relief that I could get through it somehow.

As her uniformed back disappeared beyond the imperial palace gate, we cautiously rose. The harmonious atmosphere that had been present just before the Emperor’s visit had vanished without a trace.

In the end, we awkwardly finished our greetings and gathered in one place to use a teleportation scroll, while the Knight Commanders and members, led by Iris, awkwardly saw us off.

I held the teleportation scroll in my hand, drew a circle encompassing Aurora and the knights by channeling mana, and then tore the scroll. A pillar of blue light shot up into the sky. A floating sensation enveloped my body.

Now it was truly time to be separated from the four of them for a while. I had never imagined such a day would come.

As always, the floating sensation soon subsided. I opened my eyes. We were already back in the garden of the Lord-nim’s mansion. Aurora, who had been looking around, stretched herself out.

“Welcome back, Aurora-nim.”

Perhaps having seen the pillar of blue light, the mansion’s door burst open and all the maids, including Lana, rushed out. The maids, lined up neatly before Aurora, bowed deeply.

“Any unusual occurrences?”

“There were none…… Ah, there was one.”

“Oh? Tell me.”

“A woman with hair that was half purple and half green was looking for Lady-nim.”

It was an unfamiliar hair color.

Anyway, since all the appearances had been completely revamped, it would have been impossible to even guess who she was from the original game just by looking at her face, let alone her hair, so knowing wouldn’t have been of much use.

“Hair that’s half purple and half green, I’ve never heard of that before.”

It seemed Aurora also didn’t know the woman’s identity.

“She didn’t reveal who she was?”

“No.”

“What did you say?”

“I replied that Lady-nim was absent. After hearing that, she muttered, ‘She’s still not back?’, then left while conversing with someone. However, I could not identify the person she was talking to.”

“Hmm… Since we don’t know her identity, that was certainly the best you could do. Good work, Lana.”

“I merely did what was naturally required of me.”

After finishing the brief conversation, Aurora gave us the order that we could return to the castle. Along with that, she told me to come to the mansion alone, even late at night, once the castle was somewhat organized.

I led the knights under my command towards the castle, which no longer belonged to the Silver Dawn Knights. Being in a position to lead someone felt quite awkward.

As we entered the castle, which had now become an ordinary building after the magic had worn off, the knights were slightly surprised by its scale, then even more surprised by the fact that only five people had used this enormous place.

I briefly explained facilities like the stables, training grounds, and underground dining hall, then told them to pick a room each, and moved my own room to the top floor of the castle. It was originally the floor used by the other Knight Commanders.

Because they probably wouldn’t be okay with sharing the same floor as the Knight Commander.

Finally, I tidied up the meat soup and bread that had been cooling in the underground dining hall, jotted down a list of supplies to request from Aurora, and then gathered all the Vice Knight Commanders.

“Laxcia, this is my first order as Knight Commander.”

“Yes. Please speak.”

“How do you want the uniforms to be?”

And, my first order as Knight Commander was to choose uniforms.

Not for me to wear, but for them to wear.

At first, the Vice Knight Commanders seemed inclined to leave it entirely to me, saying anything was fine, but when I pushed them, they left, saying they would discuss it with the members.

Honestly, I wanted to choose them myself. Because if I left it to those people, who knows what kind of outrageously lewd scraps of cloth they’d bring back and call uniforms.

However, considering past precedents, the clothes I chose might be uncomfortable for those knights. Aren’t my sensibilities completely different from those of the people in this world?

Nothing restricts movement as much as uncomfortable clothes and shoes. This was especially true for knights, who had to wear armor over their uniforms and wield weapons.

All I could do was inwardly pray that they would choose normal clothes.

However, my prayers were in vain.

“……”

The clothes the Vice Knight Commanders brought, claiming they were uniforms, were truly a sight to behold.