Chapter 8

“You shouldn’t hit anyone with a reckless attitude…You shouldn’t kill a person recklessly…… repeat after me…”

“You shouldn’t hit people recklessly. Don’t kill people recklessly.”

“Good job. The one you knocked down earlier is Lord Raymond, from the Marquis of Big Horn. Like you, he is a comrade serving under the Knights of the White Night, and you both are friends in private.”

“Can I hit him?”

“No.”

“I got it.”

Roselyn nodded. Calyx made a painful sound, rubbing his face several times with his hands. Calyx added that if someone raises a weapon or shows intent to kill someone, they can be beaten or killed. If he didn’t say this, he thought she would end up gently receiving arrows, even on the battlefield. Roselyn nodded her head.

“If you hit a person recklessly, you go to a very, very scary place. There’s a really scary man.”

“Scary place…” Roselyn swallowed quickly.

Calyx felt like he was putting together a made-up stories of a scary place with a scary man—though he was lacking imagination. Soon, the servant notified him that Raymond had woken up. Upon arrival in the guest room, he saw Raymond sitting up in an awkward daze. His hair, which was neat upon entering the house, was now scattered. Calyx was already feeling tired. Roselyn opened her mouth first, as she had previously thought about what to say in her head.

“Sorry.”

“….”

Roselyn expressed regret with a completely unapologetic face. Calyx felt a throbbing headache coming on. Raymond sat on the bed and stared at her with a blank face. Then he looked around the room slowly and finally picked up the hem of his clothes to see the traces of the violence inflicted on his stomach. It seemed hard to tell whether everything that had occurred was a dream or reality.

“Roselyn?”

“Yeah.”

“Roselyn Ester of Red Wheel?”

“Yes.”

“It was you who beat up this brother of yours, earlier?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Uh… uh… um… your fast apology is great… that’s good… but no, that’s not the problem…..”

He felt embarrassed by his own gaze. Roselyn pulled out a chair next to his bed and started eating the refreshments prepared for Raymond. Raymond gaped at the sight and shifted his gaze towards Calyx, standing behind her.

“Lord Calyx… by any chance… our Roselyn…”

Raymond chose to make an interesting gesture to Calyx. His fingers were spinning around the side of his head, indicating that he understood Roselyn’s condition correctly. But apart from the outlandish gesture, he thoughtfully spoke out:

“Roselyn’s not in the same shape she used to be.…?”

It was the most polite expression Calyx had ever heard. Why bother ask such a troublesome question? Calyx nodded his head trying to clear up his dismal mood.

“Yes… my sister’s… her condition… is a little… she’s not like how she used to be…”

Raymond mused for a moment with a complex face. He made a mess of his already messy hair and jumped out of bed. He took Roselyn’s hand and made her stand up as she moved her gaze away from the food.

“You shouldn’t hit me this time, Roselyn.”

“Yes.”

Then he hugged her. Roselyn frowned a little, but the education was effective and she didn’t beat him. Calyx was looking at the scene from behind and clicked his tongue. He thought to himself that he shouldn’t have said she couldn’t hit him…it was all for nothing. He can’t believe he allowed this happen; he didn’t like it. But, in the end, he decided to close his eyes and look away just once

“You came back alive.”

Raymond’s expression, and within his voice, there were deep emotions melting away as relief flooded his mind. She did not know how he felt.

* * *

“As expected, it was the Black Moon.”

Raymond lifted his clothes as he spoke, staring at the damage done. He was surprised to see a dark bruise forming, but soon he lowered his clothes again as if nothing was wrong.

“Black Moon?”

Roselyn’s voice was low, so it was hard to understand exactly what she was questioning. Raymond looked at her with pity.

“Did you forget all this…… well, the Black Moon. A black magic organization from Balta, the kingdom which has always been at odds with the country we live in, the Holy Empire of Illavenia.”

“Black Magic?”

“It’s considered the opposite of divine energy, a more sinister power. They’re a cult-like organization of fanatics who think Crean Tidanion, the god of darkness and chaos, is the true God, and Idelavheim, the god of light and order, is a false being. The Second Prince has more power than any other Prince, so his enemies are always looking for him. When the assassination attempts passed 21 times, a special escort group known as the White Night was established. And that’s us. Lady Roselyn of the Knights of the White Night.”

Roselyn responded with a rare look. She was sitting with her arms folded and her legs spread out, Calyx reprimanded…

“Sister..please, your legs…”

When asked to change her posture, she crossed her legs. One of her legs was bouncing up and down while crossed. She was incorrigible. Raymond laughed at Calyx’s deep sigh.

“Unfortunately, many Knights of the White Night have died in this hunting contest. Even… um…the Vice-Captain has passed on too. He’s gone. You followed under the leadership of him and were quite close, Rosalyn, do you remember?”

“No.”

“…Maybe it’s a good thing you don’t remember. You would have been very sad. Well, anyway, Sir Nathan, the former lieutenant, has been appointed as the new vice-captain, and he’s, well…… I have become his lieutenant.” Raymond put his hands on his hips and boasted confidently.

Roselyn looked at him and asked, “Do you like it?”

Raymond collapsed at the question. “No … it’s not so good … some say they envy those who are promoted … but I’m already dreading the thought of running around under the new vice-captain… oh, by the way, you were promoted to a senior knight. Your previous test scores were good, and many of our colleagues had passed away, and so you are now a senior. This means you’re now part of the group directly escorting the Second Prince.”

“Really?”

Instead of Roselyn, it was Calyx who answered in surprise. It was because he remembered the conversation he had with her in the past.

[I came to protect him.]

[The Master of the White Night]

It was just as she wanted. It was surprising that she was placed right under the Second Prince’s command, but it was even more surprising that the Vice-Captain promoted her to senior officer.

Does this mean that the situation is so serious that even those, who know her family belongs under the First Prince’s faction, but chooses not to guard him, have a chance? Calyx’s expression hardened.

“Worse off than I thought…”

“That’s how it is, Sir Calyx.”

“…I see. No, just a moment. Sir Raymond. That’s not the problem.”

“Ah.”

“….”

Calyx and Raymond have turned their heads. At the end of the pair’s gaze sat Roseline, still bouncing her feet with her legs crossed. The two felt a cold sweat wash over them. Before the matter of promotion to senior knight, before even thinking of returning to the imperial family in Illavenia’s Capital, a very urgent matter was needing their attention.

They quickly got out of their seats and dragged Roselyn out of the room, heading toward the training grounds. Roselyn held their hands and trailed along. When a maid came and tied up Roselyn’s long hair, Raymond approached her with a sword.

“This sword, pick it up, Roselyn.”

Raymond thought his heart was beating so hard that it would jump right out of his chest. Please, please…You remember the sword? His hands trembled with nerves.

Calyx also gulped at the scene. Under the hot gaze of the two men, she pulled out the long blade.

Srrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

“………………….”

“…….”

Calyx lifted his hands to cover his eyes, as if he couldn’t see. Raymond crumbled into a miserable heap, falling down to the floor. Before using the sword, even the method of pulling it out was a mess. It was like the sword was held by a person who had never seen it before. Roselyn examined the blade everywhere with her eyes shining. It was a child-like response to a gift or a toy.

“…Rosalyn… You like being cute, but…Sigh…”

“Is this mine?”

“No… that’s my sword… It’s heavy so you can’t really use this… wait, huh? No, is it not heavy?”

Roselyn shrugged and held the Bastard Sword with her fingertips. When Raymond opened his mouth wide, Calyx hurriedly spoke.

“My sister focused on physical training while recovering! She lost her memory and she decided that working would be dangerous, so she trained herself two times—no, three times as much as usual.”

“I did?”

“Yes! My sister said so!”

During her medical leave, she only ate, slept and played all day. While Roselyn’s memory reflected a whole different story, showing a face full of wonder, Calyx continued on delivering a lengthy speech about how passionately she had trained. Raymond nodded in embarrassment.

“ That’s great? Roselyn, your poor strength was one of your weaknesses, but you did a good job during your rest. No wonder I was hit with such force earlier, it was certainly out of the ordinary. My grandfather, who died five years ago, almost told me to come cross the river into the light.”

“But, no, Roselyn… She’ll be in big trouble if she goes back.…..”

After his jokes, Raymond then returned to a serious face. Roselyn was an objectively good knight. Among the female knights who put forth skills and resourcefulness rather than raw strength there was no one better than her. She was also highly regarded for her strong sense of integrity and was immediately promoted to a junior officer after a short probationary period. However, many of the junior knights were proven to be skilled, unlike the probationary knights. So, having a little bit of skill alone could not outperform them.