“Because of him, you were able to smile, like it’s normal…… I even thought his appearance was a blessing for you. But I was wrong. I’m so messed up. Even though you acted excited… you weren’t actually…….”
His voice cracked midway.
The veins on the back of his hand protruded as he clenched his fist tightly.
I barely gathered my senses back and gently put my hand on top of his hand.
Ah, this fool…….
No, I am the fool.
We were truly a match made in heaven.
“Don’t say that. You gave me the flower of glory. You knew about everything, and could have misunderstood me, especially when I lied to you.”
Indeed.
What I had wasn’t just the flower of glory.
The golden wreath held so much meaning to him, it was the reason why he decided to participate in the game, and a proof of all he had gone through.
“I’ve… believed that no one ever wanted me. And if something good happens, there would be bad things that follow suit. Because I’ve been living like that all my life…… Would you believe it if I say that I have lived with a mask all this time?”
While talking, I felt like my tongue was moving on its own.
I wasn’t even thinking of expressing my emotions in words, but it felt like the thoughts I’d buried deep inside were overflowing out today.
“I’m selfish because I always doubt everyone, and can’t help but be full of prejudice. I don’t have the will– misunderstandings never get cleared because I believe that no one would trust me. There’s nothing more I’m afraid of than being abandoned, but I’m selfish enough to push that fear back, and try my best to survive.”
“…….”
“I’m the one who is really messed up, Iz. Even if you did everything to prove yourself to me… I couldn’t trust you until the end. As a result, I hurt you.”
Izek finally dropped the hand covering his face and looked at me again.
Perhaps I was just imagining things, but it seemed that his glowing sharp eyes had gotten slightly wet.
Tears also welled up in my eyes.
“I… I really wanted to see you smile.”
“Iz…….”
“I wanted to see you happy……. I believed that one day, you wouldn’t cry anymore and only have a smile on your face… ”
His rough palm gently stroked my cheek.
As I leaned on him, clutching his arms tightly with both my hands, the sound of something cracking rang faintly.
“I was trapped in the walls that I built up. And I’m the only one who is able to break it.”
“…….”
“I’ve believed for a long time that the villain in the fairy tale who killed all of his wives could become a knight. There are two sides of a coin, their circumstances may change.”
“…….”
“But you’re the one who made me realize that waiting won’t lead me anywhere. I have to break my walls and get out now. You made me feel like I was reborn. And I sincerely want you, having said that. You’ve been imprinted on me, so there’s nothing you can do even if one day you get tired of me.”
As his forehead touched mine, his arms slowly wrapped around my body.
His movements were careful, almost hesitant, but I felt warm and safe.
At that moment, I realized how afraid I was at the thought that I would not be able to hold this arm again.
What should I do? I found myself acting like the stupid one here.
I said to myself, ‘I’m stuck with him from now on.…’
No more words were exchanged between us.
We just hugged each other closely and looked at each other.
We remained like that until my eyelids felt heavy again and my body drooped down like wet cotton helplessly.
* * *
If there was only one person that the Longinus Knights, who could even battle the dead, were scared of, it would be none other than the Knight Commander whose whole body was screaming ‘I’m about to explode in anger!’, his thick eyebrows tensed, arms crossed while gritting his teeth.
The fear instilled in them was doubled as the Kingwatched with a quiet smile from his seat
Moreover,with the addition of the retired senior knight, a former comrade, noble general, and the brother-in-law of the King, Izek’s father, the fear was enough to break through the sky.
“So gentlemen, how long have you been hiding this fact?”
In most cases, it was extremely rare for the Commander to refer to the knights under his command as ‘gentleman’.
To make matters worse, he was raising his hands and rubbing the back of his head?
It was that posture that brought goosebumps to everyone.
If they gave the wrong answer, they would see something as scary as the frost dragon.
They didn’t know what kind of situation they were in, but for some reason, no one dared to answer.
And of course, the atmosphere naturally grew even more chilly because none of the men, who had committed mistakes, answered.
“Sir Ivan.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“What do you think you are doing by pouting like that?”
“What? I never did that…”
“How dare you talk back in the presence of His Majesty without any proper manners! It’s all about reflecting on your irrational deeds, gentlemen!”
Ka-boom!
In the end, the lightning struck down on them.
As a result, the minority elite, who might not be entitled as minority elite anymore, were surprised and hurriedly straightened up.
Everybody, starting from Ivan, who was holding back his tears like a sorrowful flower, to Galar who looked like a brown bear that resembled an angry bull, a seemingly haggard Camu, Ruve who was fixing his eye patch, and Ezekiel, who scratched hard on his mask.
In such a serious situation, only one person, the shameless one, who was also the culprit of this entire situation, stood comfortably in his spot while appreciating the unseemly sights of his fellow knights.
To make matters worse, he even looked like he was having fun in this situation.
There was no person who had a brass neck like him.
However, it was impossible for them to swear at the King’s beloved nephew and son of a respectable noble.
Ivan, who felt sad due to being unjustly scolded for nothing, sent thousands of swear words by just glaring resentfully at his unrepentant friend.
His demeanor gave him away.
At last, the respectable noble decided to step up as he couldn’t stand seeing this disrespectful behaviour by his juniors.
Duke Omerta spoke sternly to his son, taking an equivocal attitude toward the rest of the men with a ferocious gaze.
“We should plan a subjugation for the frost dragon.”
“Who says that?”
Sure enough. Only then Izek opened his mouth, as if he had been waiting, all the people in the room had the same look on their faces.
In short, they began to glare at the current troublemaker at once, who was probably already out of his mind.
Even the King had a frown on his face, replacing the warm smile that he usually showed .
It was understandable because this was a situation where his beloved nephew pulled out an attitude of challenging the throne’s authority in his presence. He knew his beloved nephew had finally grown up a bit.
“It seems like Sir Izek wishes to take off his Paladin cape here.”
“Don’t say things that you don’t really mean, Your Majesty.”
“…..How certain are you by saying that I don’t really mean the words that escape my mouth?”
“If you suddenly expel someone who had widely promoted the status of the country as a recent champion and remove his title as a Paladin, what would the commoners and the neighboring countries think of us? Just so you know, I’m not going to help. I will do everything in my power to grieve and mourn.”
Then, King Feanol started to rub his temple while muttering a lament that sounded like, ‘I absolutely can’t exchange any words with him’.
Under this kind of pressure, Duke Omerta and the Knight Commander exchanged grim looks to each other for a while, and proceeded to yell simultaneously.
“You idiot!”
“I believed in you, Sir Izek! How can you do this to me? How could you betray the trust that I offered to you?”
“I apologize greatly, but it was Sir Varons who told me to do this.”
Now it was Sir Varons’s turn to receive the harsh gaze from everyone who had gathered in the meeting hall.
For a moment, he was surprised by this unexpected turn of events, but the Commander skillfully hid his bewilderment and shouted back.
“Call me ‘Commander’, Sir Izek! And when did I do that? Did you get a fatal blow from the frost dragon on your head?”
“You told me to find out what my sensitive and delicate wife wanted and that I should have listened to all of it. So what more can I say? After all, I was supposed to follow the advice of a senior who knew life better than me.”
“……Did your delicate wife ask you to hide such an important issue regarding the country? Or did she also ask you to be so brazen like this?”
“You’re crossing the line a bit too much. Why would my wife ask me to do that? My wife is a mature person, she didn’t cling or even nag me about anything. Don’t speak carelessly if you don’t know her that well. Would you also like it if I judged your wife the same way?”
At this point, it was hard to tell whether he said and did this on purpose or it really came from the bottom of his heart.
Camu, who was about to sneak quietly to cover the catastrophic mouth of his fellow, decided to back off as soon as he saw the stunned expression of the Knight Commander.
This was because he felt like his senior nearly burst into laughter.
The Knight Commander, who was well-respected by his Paladin subordinates, said nothing in return.
Instead, he looked back at Duke Omerta while rubbing his beard grimly.
The Duke let out a sigh as he looked upon the face of his former comrade who turned pale to the point that the traces of colors disappeared from his face.
“Are you done?”
“From my perspective, I acknowledge the fact that all of these events happened because we couldn’t handle the situation properly. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”
The King, who was holding the back of his head, only ignored this statement by showing a courteous smile.
“Because of him, you were able to smile, like it’s normal…… I even thought his appearance was a blessing for you. But I was wrong. I’m so messed up. Even though you acted excited… you weren’t actually…….”
His voice cracked midway.
The veins on the back of his hand protruded as he clenched his fist tightly.
I barely gathered my senses back and gently put my hand on top of his hand.
Ah, this fool…….
No, I am the fool.
We were truly a match made in heaven.
“Don’t say that. You gave me the flower of glory. You knew about everything, and could have misunderstood me, especially when I lied to you.”
Indeed.
What I had wasn’t just the flower of glory.
The golden wreath held so much meaning to him, it was the reason why he decided to participate in the game, and a proof of all he had gone through.
“I’ve… believed that no one ever wanted me. And if something good happens, there would be bad things that follow suit. Because I’ve been living like that all my life…… Would you believe it if I say that I have lived with a mask all this time?”
While talking, I felt like my tongue was moving on its own.
I wasn’t even thinking of expressing my emotions in words, but it felt like the thoughts I’d buried deep inside were overflowing out today.
“I’m selfish because I always doubt everyone, and can’t help but be full of prejudice. I don’t have the will– misunderstandings never get cleared because I believe that no one would trust me. There’s nothing more I’m afraid of than being abandoned, but I’m selfish enough to push that fear back, and try my best to survive.”
“…….”
“I’m the one who is really messed up, Iz. Even if you did everything to prove yourself to me… I couldn’t trust you until the end. As a result, I hurt you.”
Izek finally dropped the hand covering his face and looked at me again.
Perhaps I was just imagining things, but it seemed that his glowing sharp eyes had gotten slightly wet.
Tears also welled up in my eyes.
“I… I really wanted to see you smile.”
“Iz…….”
“I wanted to see you happy……. I believed that one day, you wouldn’t cry anymore and only have a smile on your face… ”
His rough palm gently stroked my cheek.
As I leaned on him, clutching his arms tightly with both my hands, the sound of something cracking rang faintly.
“I was trapped in the walls that I built up. And I’m the only one who is able to break it.”
“…….”
“I’ve believed for a long time that the villain in the fairy tale who killed all of his wives could become a knight. There are two sides of a coin, their circumstances may change.”
“…….”
“But you’re the one who made me realize that waiting won’t lead me anywhere. I have to break my walls and get out now. You made me feel like I was reborn. And I sincerely want you, having said that. You’ve been imprinted on me, so there’s nothing you can do even if one day you get tired of me.”
As his forehead touched mine, his arms slowly wrapped around my body.
His movements were careful, almost hesitant, but I felt warm and safe.
At that moment, I realized how afraid I was at the thought that I would not be able to hold this arm again.
What should I do? I found myself acting like the stupid one here.
I said to myself, ‘I’m stuck with him from now on.…’
No more words were exchanged between us.
We just hugged each other closely and looked at each other.
We remained like that until my eyelids felt heavy again and my body drooped down like wet cotton helplessly.
* * *
If there was only one person that the Longinus Knights, who could even battle the dead, were scared of, it would be none other than the Knight Commander whose whole body was screaming ‘I’m about to explode in anger!’, his thick eyebrows tensed, arms crossed while gritting his teeth.
The fear instilled in them was doubled as the Kingwatched with a quiet smile from his seat
Moreover,with the addition of the retired senior knight, a former comrade, noble general, and the brother-in-law of the King, Izek’s father, the fear was enough to break through the sky.
“So gentlemen, how long have you been hiding this fact?”
In most cases, it was extremely rare for the Commander to refer to the knights under his command as ‘gentleman’.
To make matters worse, he was raising his hands and rubbing the back of his head?
It was that posture that brought goosebumps to everyone.
If they gave the wrong answer, they would see something as scary as the frost dragon.
They didn’t know what kind of situation they were in, but for some reason, no one dared to answer.
And of course, the atmosphere naturally grew even more chilly because none of the men, who had committed mistakes, answered.
“Sir Ivan.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“What do you think you are doing by pouting like that?”
“What? I never did that…”
“How dare you talk back in the presence of His Majesty without any proper manners! It’s all about reflecting on your irrational deeds, gentlemen!”
Ka-boom!
In the end, the lightning struck down on them.
As a result, the minority elite, who might not be entitled as minority elite anymore, were surprised and hurriedly straightened up.
Everybody, starting from Ivan, who was holding back his tears like a sorrowful flower, to Galar who looked like a brown bear that resembled an angry bull, a seemingly haggard Camu, Ruve who was fixing his eye patch, and Ezekiel, who scratched hard on his mask.
In such a serious situation, only one person, the shameless one, who was also the culprit of this entire situation, stood comfortably in his spot while appreciating the unseemly sights of his fellow knights.
To make matters worse, he even looked like he was having fun in this situation.
There was no person who had a brass neck like him.
However, it was impossible for them to swear at the King’s beloved nephew and son of a respectable noble.
Ivan, who felt sad due to being unjustly scolded for nothing, sent thousands of swear words by just glaring resentfully at his unrepentant friend.
His demeanor gave him away.
At last, the respectable noble decided to step up as he couldn’t stand seeing this disrespectful behaviour by his juniors.
Duke Omerta spoke sternly to his son, taking an equivocal attitude toward the rest of the men with a ferocious gaze.
“We should plan a subjugation for the frost dragon.”
“Who says that?”
Sure enough. Only then Izek opened his mouth, as if he had been waiting, all the people in the room had the same look on their faces.
In short, they began to glare at the current troublemaker at once, who was probably already out of his mind.
Even the King had a frown on his face, replacing the warm smile that he usually showed .
It was understandable because this was a situation where his beloved nephew pulled out an attitude of challenging the throne’s authority in his presence. He knew his beloved nephew had finally grown up a bit.
“It seems like Sir Izek wishes to take off his Paladin cape here.”
“Don’t say things that you don’t really mean, Your Majesty.”
“…..How certain are you by saying that I don’t really mean the words that escape my mouth?”
“If you suddenly expel someone who had widely promoted the status of the country as a recent champion and remove his title as a Paladin, what would the commoners and the neighboring countries think of us? Just so you know, I’m not going to help. I will do everything in my power to grieve and mourn.”
Then, King Feanol started to rub his temple while muttering a lament that sounded like, ‘I absolutely can’t exchange any words with him’.
Under this kind of pressure, Duke Omerta and the Knight Commander exchanged grim looks to each other for a while, and proceeded to yell simultaneously.
“You idiot!”
“I believed in you, Sir Izek! How can you do this to me? How could you betray the trust that I offered to you?”
“I apologize greatly, but it was Sir Varons who told me to do this.”
Now it was Sir Varons’s turn to receive the harsh gaze from everyone who had gathered in the meeting hall.
For a moment, he was surprised by this unexpected turn of events, but the Commander skillfully hid his bewilderment and shouted back.
“Call me ‘Commander’, Sir Izek! And when did I do that? Did you get a fatal blow from the frost dragon on your head?”
“You told me to find out what my sensitive and delicate wife wanted and that I should have listened to all of it. So what more can I say? After all, I was supposed to follow the advice of a senior who knew life better than me.”
“……Did your delicate wife ask you to hide such an important issue regarding the country? Or did she also ask you to be so brazen like this?”
“You’re crossing the line a bit too much. Why would my wife ask me to do that? My wife is a mature person, she didn’t cling or even nag me about anything. Don’t speak carelessly if you don’t know her that well. Would you also like it if I judged your wife the same way?”
At this point, it was hard to tell whether he said and did this on purpose or it really came from the bottom of his heart.
Camu, who was about to sneak quietly to cover the catastrophic mouth of his fellow, decided to back off as soon as he saw the stunned expression of the Knight Commander.
This was because he felt like his senior nearly burst into laughter.
The Knight Commander, who was well-respected by his Paladin subordinates, said nothing in return.
Instead, he looked back at Duke Omerta while rubbing his beard grimly.
The Duke let out a sigh as he looked upon the face of his former comrade who turned pale to the point that the traces of colors disappeared from his face.
“Are you done?”
“From my perspective, I acknowledge the fact that all of these events happened because we couldn’t handle the situation properly. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”
The King, who was holding the back of his head, only ignored this statement by showing a courteous smile.
