Aen, having spotted him, muttered as if chewing on words.
"Jellach Mallid..."
"Haha, as the saying goes, enemies meet on a narrow bridge, and here we are, running into each other. Of course, Sir Lixus and I aren't enemies, and this isn't a narrow bridge."
He spoke with a cheerful laugh, but his words were full of thorns.
Aen stared at him expressionlessly, without a reply.
However, he smiled warmly as if he didn't care at all.
'It's him, for sure.'
I stared intently at him.
'It's Jellach Mallid.'
That day, it was night, but the moonlight was exceptionally bright, so I could see his face.
'I knew it, from the way that bastard pretended to be righteous and good. Disgusting.'
The face I saw in the darkness, and most of all, the voice was the same.
The emotions from that time resurfaced, making my stomach churn.
At that moment, he noticed me and smirked.
"It's the young lady. Our young master's match. I've heard a lot about you."
Where and what kind of stories had he heard?
One thing was for sure, they wouldn't be good.
"...Hello."
I didn't like him at all, but given the situation, I showed appropriate courtesy.
Jellach Mallid smiled deeply.
"I didn't know when I only heard rumors, but seeing you in person, you're a much more lovely young lady than I expected. I wish I had known sooner."
He spoke slyly and approached.
"Since we've met like this, it's fate, how about a handshake-"
"That's far enough. It would be best if you didn't approach the young lady any further."
However, Aen soon blocked him.
Jellach's grinning face instantly hardened.
"Is it because she's his first disciple that he's so overprotective? Isn't it a bit too much?"
He curled up the corner of his lips and whispered.
"Even so, he won't be able to protect her properly. Not this time either."
"......!!"
Aen's eyes widened.
He glared at Jellach as if to kill him.
If Aen's gaze were a blade, he would have slashed Jellach to pieces many times over.
I could tell for sure.
The two of them hated each other terribly.
'This time too, he said? What on earth is he talking about?'
Something exists between the two of them.
Anyway, I didn't want Aen to waste any more emotions because of this guy.
I was about to pull him away to get away from this place first.
"Sir Jellach? What are you doing over there..."
Suddenly, a voice rang out, and I turned my head sharply.
Bansis was approaching, and he paused when his eyes met mine.
"Ah, young master! You're here."
Jellach approached Bansis with a delighted expression.
"I was just exchanging greetings with Miss Lucia, the young master's opponent."
"Oh, yeah."
"Young master, why don't you go and greet her too?"
"No... way! With someone like that!"
Bansis scoffed and turned his head, entering the training ground first.
"Then, Sir Lixus, let's have a friendly competition. Hahaha!"
He laughed heartily and followed Bansis.
He said it was a friendly competition, but he sounded confident that his disciple would win.
I wasn't particularly offended by that.
Anyone would think Bansis would win.
But...
I turned my head to look at Aen.
"......"
His strongly clenched fist was trembling slightly.
Seeing him trying to suppress his anger, I...
"Captain."
I grabbed his trembling hand.
"......!"
Aen looked surprised and looked at me.
At the same time, he immediately took the strength out of his body.
"Ah, Miss, I'm sorry. Showing you this side of me-"
"I'll win."
"......Huh?"
Aen's eyes widened.
I calmly looked at his wavering sun-colored eyes.
'I don't know what happened between the two of them, but.'
I'm not even curious about that anymore.
"I will definitely win. So..."
What's important is.
"Don't hurt yourself."
"......"
I slowly unfolded Aen's clenched hand.
He had squeezed it so hard that his nails had dug into the skin inside, and blood was welling up.
Hoo.
I sighed softly and took out a handkerchief from my pocket.
It would be more accurate to call it a long strip of torn cloth than a handkerchief.
'I'm glad I brought an extra.'
"Ah, Miss?"
I wrapped the cloth around his bleeding hand.
I could feel Aen looking at me in embarrassment.
"You don't have to go this far..."
"Before."
"Yeah...?"
"You wrapped a bandage around my hand like this too, Captain."
"......Ah."
Aen's expression went blank.
I was reaffirmed by his reaction.
'It was Aen after all.'
On the first day of regular classes, I woke up surprised to find a bandage on my hand after falling asleep in his arms.
When I asked Marin if she had wrapped it-
'Yes? Ah, yes, yes. It was, it was me! I wrapped it. I wanted to tell you. Miss, aren't you pushing yourself too hard? Should I tell the lord to stop you even now...'
Watching Marin rambling on, I realized.
It wasn't Marin.
Then who?
Then there was only one person left.
'......Aen Lixus.'
But since he seemed to not want to reveal it, I purposely didn't say anything.
I took advantage of this moment to say slyly.
"Thank you for that time. It didn't hurt as much thanks to you. So."
Squeeze.
I tied the knot tightly.
Aen could only stare at me blankly, as if he had lost his words.
I smiled brightly at his orange eyes, which were shaking like reeds in the wind.
"I'll repay you for that time today. So, if I win, you say one word to Jellach-kyung."
"......One word? What should I say?"
"It's nothing much."
"Wh- what?"
He scoffed in disbelief.
"Let's go now."
I pulled on the hand wrapped in the cloth.
My hand, holding his hand tightly, was embarrassingly small.
As if Aen could easily shake it off and I would fall off without being able to use any strength.
But...
"......Okay."
Aen was obediently led by my small hand.
The indoor training hall was very large, but the space where Bansis and I would compete was limited.
I estimated the size and felt relieved.
'This is enough.'
I nodded to myself, and Bansis approached.
"Hey."
"......"
"Hey!"
"......"
"Hey!!"
When I didn't answer his call, Bansis, who was finally exasperated, shouted.
Haa.
I sighed inwardly.
I really don't understand.
Why does he keep lingering around me when he hates me so much?
If I were him, I wouldn't want to talk to him at all.
I couldn't understand his mental state at all.
I thought he would keep bothering me if I didn't answer, so I had no choice but to answer briefly.
"What."
My voice came out colder than I thought.
Bansis flinched, then quietly whispered to me.
"Give up now."
"What?"
What is he saying now?
What does he want me to do after coming all the way here?
When I glared at him coldly, Bansis quickly continued.
"Listen to me for a second! You heard that if you give up this match, they'll give you another knight instead of Captain Lixus, right?"
"......So."
"Anyway, your goal is to learn swordsmanship. So, if you give up the match, I'll recommend a new teacher to you."
"......"
"Of course, he won't be as good as Captain Lixus, but if your goal is to learn swordsmanship, another knight will be enough. How about it, it's not bad for you either."
It was a fluttering tone that was unlike Bansis.
His intention to seduce me was clear.
I stared at him quietly before parting my lips.
"Bansis."
The voice flowing out was gentle.
Bansis's eyes widened.
He answered blankly.
"Uh......"
I smiled brightly at him and asked.
"Are you perhaps afraid of losing?"
"......What?"
Bansis asked back with an absurd face.
I turned my gaze away from him and rummaged through the container with the weapons, muttering.
"Is that why you're trying to win me over? You're afraid of losing to me."
"You, are you crazy? Are you saying that I'm resorting to tricks because I'm afraid of losing to someone like you, right now?"
"Then is it not?"
"Of course not!"
He denied it, his face turning red and fluttering about.
"You seem to be mistaken about something because you're fighting me! You're just an insect to me. Like an insect that dies with a touch of a finger!"
Hiss...
He glared at me, breathing heavily as if he was very angry.
"Is that so?"
I'm not hurt by those words anymore.
He was originally a guy who didn't treat me like a human anyway.
"You're confident that you can beat me?"
"It's not confidence, it's obvious!"
"Then shall we bet?"
Comments
Post a Comment