“I’m the court wizard, Lohas. It’s nice of you to have an Aether Master with us.”
“…Nice to meet you, Court Wizard. Please take good care of me.”
“That’s what I want to say.”
Once, she had stabbed his heart with a dagger.
A corner of her chest throbbed. On the other side of the calm greeting, it seemed that misfortune had once again looked at her and smiled.
“Dame Judith, have you greeted everyone?”
Eden, who finished his conversation, turned his head and came close.
Judith, Ilnuk, and Rojas all straightened their backs.
“Everyone, please take good care of my brother and wife, especially His highness, take care of them so that they do not feel uncomfortable.”
“Leave it to me. Nothing will happen.”
Judith answered before anyone else. It was a tone with a sense of duty.
Eden nodded satisfactorily.
“Here you are, Your Highness.”
It was then.
When she turned her head, Giryu was there.
His red hair contrasted with the white uniform, making it stand out even more. His hair, which was often messed up, was also very neat today.
His usual drowsy-looking face was missing, instead today his mouth was tightly closed, his forehead stiff and nose sharp.
Today’s impression was…
‘The captain is nervous, too.’
She felt a little more energetic than usual.
He was still wearing two swords around his waist.
His uniform, even equipped with a cloak, felt differently on him.
“It’s time to depart. The carriage… Dame Judith.”
“Captain.”
Judith felt slightly glad to see Giryu.
Giryu’s eyes scanned the carriage behind him.
He quickly grasped the situation.
“It’s a lot of work.”
“No, sir.”
“……”
“……”
“Then… Good luck.”
“Yes.”
For a moment, a look of pity flashed in Eden’s eyes. He looked at Giryu with cold eyes.
Giryu, who turned away his gaze, hastened the schedule.
“It’s time for us to go. Give the order.”
“…. Right. Let’s go!”
Eden sat on the saddle and gave the order.
The leading escort knights left the main gate first. It was followed by Giryu and Eden.
“…..See you later.”
Giryu’s voice was so low that Judith could hardly hear it.
Eden and Giryu left first before Judith could even talk about meeting him safely at the Duke’s Castle.
After that, a four-wheeled carriage with the third prince and the consort princess followed them.
Six or seven knights, including Ilnuk, followed the carriage.
Judith also drove her horse close to the carriage.
As expected, the escort went smoothly.
The Duchy of Noscana had a well-maintained road all the way to their territory.
Sometimes wild animals pop out, but when this large group moved, they read the signs and seemed to hide.
Merchants who were coming and going also quickly turned away when they saw the gold and blue flags of the imperial family.
“I heard the story. You suffered a lot in the Knights Order.”
“Yes?”
“I mean Peon.”
“Ah.”
Judith, looking around, gave a weak reply.
It has been a week since Peon Grand escaped.
It’s not enough to assault a new knight, so he broke out of jail. She remembered the conversations of the seniors in their later years who said they had never seen something so crazy.
Thanks to this, the Red Knights are more strict than ever before.
Be considerate of your juniors. Disregard for discipline, assault, and minor harassment are also detected and immediately followed by a warning.
The obvious things seemed to have been re-engraved not only in senior knights but also throughout the Knights Order.
Judith shrugged.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
“It wasn’t nothing. It seems he doesn’t have a lot of pride left.”
“Did you know each other?”
“When I was in the Red Knights, we fought in the Western front together a few times.”
Ilnuk looked at her.
“I apologize on his behalf. Not everyone who is an imperial knight does their part. All I wish for is that a talented young lady such as yourself doesn’t lose heart over what happened.”
“…No, don’t worry. There’s no need for an apology.”
Judith waved her hand.
She was surprised because Ilnuk really lowered his head toward her. She jumped internally.
“I’m not discouraged by that. Raise your head, Sir Ilnuk.”
Judith had been sweating for some time.
She can’t believe he bowed his head to her, a foreign junior, because of what others, not him, had done.
Nevertheless, Ilnuk raised his head after a while.
‘Are all those close to the third prince like this?’
The procession left the city center and picked up on the uphill road.
“Is it worth working for the Knights? I was supposed to serve His Highness the Prince, so the Knights came out quickly, but I have a short but good memory.”1
“There’s nothing short of it. I don’t wish for anything else.”
“You’re a modest person.”
“No, I’m rather greedy, so I don’t have the right to serve someone.”
Judith answered lightly.
As if it was an interesting answer, Ilnuk’s eyes twinkled.
“Do you have any intention of following His Majesty the Third Prince?”
“…I’m still thinking of going wherever the imperial family needs me.”
It was a flat refusal.
Ilnuk smiled broadly.
“You speak very well. I want my daughter to learn like you.”
“You have a daughter?”
“She’s 13 this year. I can’t eat anymore. Would you like some?”
“No.”
“My daughter made it.”
“……then I won’t decline.”
Judith took out a twisted doughnut from the bag handed by Ilnuk and thought.
Eating bread while on duty was unimaginable when she was a black knight…
‘It’s so relaxed compared to what I’d prepared for.’
It was too leisurely for escorting four wagons.
‘If this is the case, nothing will happen.’
Everything seemed peaceful.
Until then it was.
***
At the same time, Eden, who was in the lead, grinned and looked at Giryu.
Playful eyes shone through his dark hair.
“Have you been working too hard? Why? Cheer up.”
“……”
“Oh, I should have told you to eat porridge with all your might.”
“…Your Highness Eden.”
Giryu’s hands trembled. There was a limit to pretending to be calm.
Eden hit the decisive blow.
“You indifferent friend, you should have told me that you are suffering from hard work.”
Stop it, you punk!
Giryu changed his expression.
Eventually, Eden settled on his saddle.
When he burst out laughing excitedly, the horse he was riding got angry.
“Ha… I’m dying. I’ll laugh all the way to the duchy.”
“Please don’t.”
“Don’t clench your teeth, Giryu. I’m scared.”
Contrary to the deadly air, Eden was on the verge of dying from laughter.
It’s not anyone else, but Giryu. He can’t believe Giryu Lwalchmei’s tongue twisted in front of his own subordinates!
“I’m going to laugh until next year. What happened with Sir Judith?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It seems it was.”
He’s so witty.
Giryu was silent with a brooding face.
It was exactly a week since he met Judith.
He wasn’t really avoiding her. The captain and new recruits don’t have the opportunity to meet that often.
So he was even more sad and nervous.
“Is it my illusion? She seemed to have gotten a little thinner…”
Giryu sighed with a complex look.
Judith was at the center of the unprecedented case in which Peon Grand escaped from prison after assaulting a new knight.
It would have been nice if he had moved out quietly, but Peon turned his back on him until the end.
‘It would be nice for the soldiers to care for her while they are on their way to the Duchy of Noscana…’
Judith seems to have taken the Peon incident lightly.
But Giryu couldn’t do that.
The knights, who knew the whole story, were on high alert over Peon’s jailbreak.
Giryu’s heart was still stricken.
“Giryu. Seriously, tell me. What happened to you? I’m curious and I’m going to collapse before we get there.”
“……Your Highness.”
“Ugh, I feel like I’m getting sick…”
“You’re healthy”
“If you don’t solve my curiosity, I will have a chronic disease of falling off the horse……”
Please stop.
Giryu, who had to endure barely squeezing the harsh words that reached the end of his neck, looked at him, but Eden covered his eyes and grinned.
Even without looking at how Eden, who can’t hold back his questions, would tease him in the future, it was clear he would do so.
It was clear he would tease and ask him non-stop all the way to the Duchy.
Eventually, Giryu surrendered.
“It’s not that great… Haa, it’s not…”
Giryu spoke briefly of the whole story.
New knights were torn down by the Demonic weeds training. Peon’s one-sided assault to two-way assault. Even giving Judith a pay cut, and Peon’s escape.
When he finished talking, Eden tilted his head.
“The prisoner should be caught, and Sir Judith’s problem seems to have ended well… Why did you trip over your own words then? Is it awkward because of the disciplinary action?”
“It’s a little different. Rather than that…”
Giryu corrected Eden’s words.
“This happened, but I wondered why you didn’t say a word to me. I still don’t understand, though. Do you not have much faith in Dame Judith?”
Giryu sighed and stroked the nape of his neck.
If he had talked to Judith in this state, he thought he would ask the same question no matter what he talked about.
‘Dame, why didn’t you tell me?’
It’s better to keep your mouth shut if you’re asking such a question out loud.
Eden couldn’t hide his curiosity anymore.
“You’re worried Judith won’t confide in you, right?”
“Yeah! Though I’m her captain, Dame Judith is an Aether master. Maybe she doesn’t trust me as her captain.”
“……”
A smile crossed Eden’s face for a moment.
‘This gap.. it can’t be helped.’
Giryu grew up as an aristocrat and has lived in a world where people and circumstances change with just one word.
As a member of the royal family, I cannot say that I did not think like Giryu.
So, he just needs to break that form of thought a bit.
Very subtly.
“Yeah, you’re going through a lot. It’s hard to be a leader, right? Take care of your subordinates, and look at your superiors. Then how about this?”
Eden’s words were smooth.
“Giryu, why don’t you go to His Majesty and tell him, “Your Majesty, being the captain is eating away at my soul, I can’t take it anymore!”
Giryu frowned at him.
“You have to be joking, how can I say that…”
“Why not? Giryu, you’re the type of person who can talk like that.”
“……”
“Your Majesty cares about you, doesn’t he?”
“……”
“Can’t you be open with him?”
Giryu’s mouth opened up in an instant.
Eden recalled a conversation he had with Deschamps a long time ago.
He asked why a man with his status would insist on being under Giryu.
At that moment, Deschamps smiled slightly and said:
‘There are all kinds of knights, such as a knight who is praised by the Empire, or an Aether master, but it’s a good deal because Giryu has a bit of a stupid taste in the end, so he’s a good boss to choose.’3
I feel like I understood that a little bit today.
Giryu’s face, which had turned white and then turned red, was now blue.
——————
TL Notes ( ´ ▿ ` )
“기사단 생활은 할 만한가? 나야 황자 전하를 모시기로 해서 기사 단은 금방 나왔네만, 짧지만 좋은 기억이있어.” Idk if he means “gap” as “gap moe” or if “gap” means “guy” so like “this guy… I guess it can’t be helped” sort of thing. The word used was literally gap/crack/space etc. ‘제국에서 칭송받는 적량의 기사 니 에테르 마스터니 온갖 수식어 가 다 붙지만, 기류는 결국 약간 멍청한 맛이 있어서 골리기 좋은 상관이거든요.’ Not exactly sure what he meant by “stupid taste”. It could be “He’s a bit of both yet kind” (??) no idea, sorry!
“I’m the court wizard, Lohas. It’s nice of you to have an Aether Master with us.”
“…Nice to meet you, Court Wizard. Please take good care of me.”
“That’s what I want to say.”
Once, she had stabbed his heart with a dagger.
A corner of her chest throbbed. On the other side of the calm greeting, it seemed that misfortune had once again looked at her and smiled.
“Dame Judith, have you greeted everyone?”
Eden, who finished his conversation, turned his head and came close.
Judith, Ilnuk, and Rojas all straightened their backs.
“Everyone, please take good care of my brother and wife, especially His highness, take care of them so that they do not feel uncomfortable.”
“Leave it to me. Nothing will happen.”
Judith answered before anyone else. It was a tone with a sense of duty.
Eden nodded satisfactorily.
“Here you are, Your Highness.”
It was then.
When she turned her head, Giryu was there.
His red hair contrasted with the white uniform, making it stand out even more. His hair, which was often messed up, was also very neat today.
His usual drowsy-looking face was missing, instead today his mouth was tightly closed, his forehead stiff and nose sharp.
Today’s impression was…
‘The captain is nervous, too.’
She felt a little more energetic than usual.
He was still wearing two swords around his waist.
His uniform, even equipped with a cloak, felt differently on him.
“It’s time to depart. The carriage… Dame Judith.”
“Captain.”
Judith felt slightly glad to see Giryu.
Giryu’s eyes scanned the carriage behind him.
He quickly grasped the situation.
“It’s a lot of work.”
“No, sir.”
“……”
“……”
“Then… Good luck.”
“Yes.”
For a moment, a look of pity flashed in Eden’s eyes. He looked at Giryu with cold eyes.
Giryu, who turned away his gaze, hastened the schedule.
“It’s time for us to go. Give the order.”
“…. Right. Let’s go!”
Eden sat on the saddle and gave the order.
The leading escort knights left the main gate first. It was followed by Giryu and Eden.
“…..See you later.”
Giryu’s voice was so low that Judith could hardly hear it.
Eden and Giryu left first before Judith could even talk about meeting him safely at the Duke’s Castle.
After that, a four-wheeled carriage with the third prince and the consort princess followed them.
Six or seven knights, including Ilnuk, followed the carriage.
Judith also drove her horse close to the carriage.
As expected, the escort went smoothly.
The Duchy of Noscana had a well-maintained road all the way to their territory.
Sometimes wild animals pop out, but when this large group moved, they read the signs and seemed to hide.
Merchants who were coming and going also quickly turned away when they saw the gold and blue flags of the imperial family.
“I heard the story. You suffered a lot in the Knights Order.”
“Yes?”
“I mean Peon.”
“Ah.”
Judith, looking around, gave a weak reply.
It has been a week since Peon Grand escaped.
It’s not enough to assault a new knight, so he broke out of jail. She remembered the conversations of the seniors in their later years who said they had never seen something so crazy.
Thanks to this, the Red Knights are more strict than ever before.
Be considerate of your juniors. Disregard for discipline, assault, and minor harassment are also detected and immediately followed by a warning.
The obvious things seemed to have been re-engraved not only in senior knights but also throughout the Knights Order.
Judith shrugged.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
“It wasn’t nothing. It seems he doesn’t have a lot of pride left.”
“Did you know each other?”
“When I was in the Red Knights, we fought in the Western front together a few times.”
Ilnuk looked at her.
“I apologize on his behalf. Not everyone who is an imperial knight does their part. All I wish for is that a talented young lady such as yourself doesn’t lose heart over what happened.”
“…No, don’t worry. There’s no need for an apology.”
Judith waved her hand.
She was surprised because Ilnuk really lowered his head toward her. She jumped internally.
“I’m not discouraged by that. Raise your head, Sir Ilnuk.”
Judith had been sweating for some time.
She can’t believe he bowed his head to her, a foreign junior, because of what others, not him, had done.
Nevertheless, Ilnuk raised his head after a while.
‘Are all those close to the third prince like this?’
The procession left the city center and picked up on the uphill road.
“Is it worth working for the Knights? I was supposed to serve His Highness the Prince, so the Knights came out quickly, but I have a short but good memory.”1
“There’s nothing short of it. I don’t wish for anything else.”
“You’re a modest person.”
“No, I’m rather greedy, so I don’t have the right to serve someone.”
Judith answered lightly.
As if it was an interesting answer, Ilnuk’s eyes twinkled.
“Do you have any intention of following His Majesty the Third Prince?”
“…I’m still thinking of going wherever the imperial family needs me.”
It was a flat refusal.
Ilnuk smiled broadly.
“You speak very well. I want my daughter to learn like you.”
“You have a daughter?”
“She’s 13 this year. I can’t eat anymore. Would you like some?”
“No.”
“My daughter made it.”
“……then I won’t decline.”
Judith took out a twisted doughnut from the bag handed by Ilnuk and thought.
Eating bread while on duty was unimaginable when she was a black knight…
‘It’s so relaxed compared to what I’d prepared for.’
It was too leisurely for escorting four wagons.
‘If this is the case, nothing will happen.’
Everything seemed peaceful.
Until then it was.
***
At the same time, Eden, who was in the lead, grinned and looked at Giryu.
Playful eyes shone through his dark hair.
“Have you been working too hard? Why? Cheer up.”
“……”
“Oh, I should have told you to eat porridge with all your might.”
“…Your Highness Eden.”
Giryu’s hands trembled. There was a limit to pretending to be calm.
Eden hit the decisive blow.
“You indifferent friend, you should have told me that you are suffering from hard work.”
Stop it, you punk!
Giryu changed his expression.
Eventually, Eden settled on his saddle.
When he burst out laughing excitedly, the horse he was riding got angry.
“Ha… I’m dying. I’ll laugh all the way to the duchy.”
“Please don’t.”
“Don’t clench your teeth, Giryu. I’m scared.”
Contrary to the deadly air, Eden was on the verge of dying from laughter.
It’s not anyone else, but Giryu. He can’t believe Giryu Lwalchmei’s tongue twisted in front of his own subordinates!
“I’m going to laugh until next year. What happened with Sir Judith?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It seems it was.”
He’s so witty.
Giryu was silent with a brooding face.
It was exactly a week since he met Judith.
He wasn’t really avoiding her. The captain and new recruits don’t have the opportunity to meet that often.
So he was even more sad and nervous.
“Is it my illusion? She seemed to have gotten a little thinner…”
Giryu sighed with a complex look.
Judith was at the center of the unprecedented case in which Peon Grand escaped from prison after assaulting a new knight.
It would have been nice if he had moved out quietly, but Peon turned his back on him until the end.
‘It would be nice for the soldiers to care for her while they are on their way to the Duchy of Noscana…’
Judith seems to have taken the Peon incident lightly.
But Giryu couldn’t do that.
The knights, who knew the whole story, were on high alert over Peon’s jailbreak.
Giryu’s heart was still stricken.
“Giryu. Seriously, tell me. What happened to you? I’m curious and I’m going to collapse before we get there.”
“……Your Highness.”
“Ugh, I feel like I’m getting sick…”
“You’re healthy”
“If you don’t solve my curiosity, I will have a chronic disease of falling off the horse……”
Please stop.
Giryu, who had to endure barely squeezing the harsh words that reached the end of his neck, looked at him, but Eden covered his eyes and grinned.
Even without looking at how Eden, who can’t hold back his questions, would tease him in the future, it was clear he would do so.
It was clear he would tease and ask him non-stop all the way to the Duchy.
Eventually, Giryu surrendered.
“It’s not that great… Haa, it’s not…”
Giryu spoke briefly of the whole story.
New knights were torn down by the Demonic weeds training. Peon’s one-sided assault to two-way assault. Even giving Judith a pay cut, and Peon’s escape.
When he finished talking, Eden tilted his head.
“The prisoner should be caught, and Sir Judith’s problem seems to have ended well… Why did you trip over your own words then? Is it awkward because of the disciplinary action?”
“It’s a little different. Rather than that…”
Giryu corrected Eden’s words.
“This happened, but I wondered why you didn’t say a word to me. I still don’t understand, though. Do you not have much faith in Dame Judith?”
Giryu sighed and stroked the nape of his neck.
If he had talked to Judith in this state, he thought he would ask the same question no matter what he talked about.
‘Dame, why didn’t you tell me?’
It’s better to keep your mouth shut if you’re asking such a question out loud.
Eden couldn’t hide his curiosity anymore.
“You’re worried Judith won’t confide in you, right?”
“Yeah! Though I’m her captain, Dame Judith is an Aether master. Maybe she doesn’t trust me as her captain.”
“……”
A smile crossed Eden’s face for a moment.
‘This gap.. it can’t be helped.’
Giryu grew up as an aristocrat and has lived in a world where people and circumstances change with just one word.
As a member of the royal family, I cannot say that I did not think like Giryu.
So, he just needs to break that form of thought a bit.
Very subtly.
“Yeah, you’re going through a lot. It’s hard to be a leader, right? Take care of your subordinates, and look at your superiors. Then how about this?”
Eden’s words were smooth.
“Giryu, why don’t you go to His Majesty and tell him, “Your Majesty, being the captain is eating away at my soul, I can’t take it anymore!”
Giryu frowned at him.
“You have to be joking, how can I say that…”
“Why not? Giryu, you’re the type of person who can talk like that.”
“……”
“Your Majesty cares about you, doesn’t he?”
“……”
“Can’t you be open with him?”
Giryu’s mouth opened up in an instant.
Eden recalled a conversation he had with Deschamps a long time ago.
He asked why a man with his status would insist on being under Giryu.
At that moment, Deschamps smiled slightly and said:
‘There are all kinds of knights, such as a knight who is praised by the Empire, or an Aether master, but it’s a good deal because Giryu has a bit of a stupid taste in the end, so he’s a good boss to choose.’3
I feel like I understood that a little bit today.
Giryu’s face, which had turned white and then turned red, was now blue.
——————
TL Notes ( ´ ▿ ` )
“기사단 생활은 할 만한가? 나야 황자 전하를 모시기로 해서 기사 단은 금방 나왔네만, 짧지만 좋은 기억이있어.” Idk if he means “gap” as “gap moe” or if “gap” means “guy” so like “this guy… I guess it can’t be helped” sort of thing. The word used was literally gap/crack/space etc. ‘제국에서 칭송받는 적량의 기사 니 에테르 마스터니 온갖 수식어 가 다 붙지만, 기류는 결국 약간 멍청한 맛이 있어서 골리기 좋은 상관이거든요.’ Not exactly sure what he meant by “stupid taste”. It could be “He’s a bit of both yet kind” (??) no idea, sorry!