Chapter 78

By the time Leasis came to her senses, Hizen had come back to the bench. However, his blond hair was very messy, and sweat was dripping on his cheeks.

Surprised, Leasis jumped up and stood in front of him. She looked at Hizen and asked anxiously.

“Count-nim, are you all right?”

While breathing hard, Hizen slightly knelt on one knee. Then, he took out a pretty bouquet of a hundred roses hidden behind his back.

Ah. Surprised, Leasis opened her eyes wide. His deep voice scattered in the night air.

“I love you.”

“…What?”

She first thought it was a joke. So she asked back like a fool, but Hizen’s eyes were very serious.

Only then was she certain. Hizen was serious now. She could tell from his red ears, his trembling voice, and his eyes looking at her entirely.

I love you. You’re precious, more than anything.

Her heart was overwhelmed. Leasis gave strength to her burning eyes and received the roses.

The blooming roses seemed to shine beautifully even in the middle of the night. She smiled while smelling the flowers.

“Pretty.”

Hizen reached out and stroke her cheek when Leasis spoke to herself.

“You’re prettier.”

“Lies…”

“Can you be compared to just a flower? I’m risking my heart to say it. There is no woman prettier than you in the world.”

“If you say so, I’I… How should I answer…”

“What should I do?”

You don’t have to answer. Hizen whispered low, then wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her.

Leasis clenched the bouquet of flowers at the deep kiss. While still kissing her, Hizen reached out and put the bouquet on the floor.

Then, he took off his jacket and put it on the wooden bench. And he laid Leasis on his jacket, staring down at her.

Hizen slowly lowered his head and kissed her from her forehead to her nose, cheeks, lips and neck.

*

*

*

Today’s morning was a bit special for the Imperial Elite Knights. There was a big smile on their faces, as they had gathered early on at the indoor training ground.

That was because today was the day when a new member would join them. And she was very beautiful, nice, sincere, and talented.

“Hello, I’m the new member, Leasis!”

The Imperial Elite Knights were in a frenzy. They raised their hands and shouted Leasis’ name. It looked like she had won something.

The knights could not stop their admiration. In their eyes, Leasis was a reliable colleague who could do anything. They were even more proud of her because they had cheered for her in the meantime, seeing the hardships she had had to endure.

In particular, it was amazing when she said in front of Hizen that she would not skip the hard training and do everything. There was no preferential treatment.

The knights really liked Leasis’ hard-working and friendly personality. They wanted to be with her in every training session.

Max laughed loudly while watching beside her.

“I can’t believe the legendary maid joined our Knights. Isn’t this an honor?”

“Vice Commander-nim, please stop.”

The legendary maid. It was a nickname Leasis had recently received. Even Netsche, the capital’s newspaper, had featured her on their front page. She was very embarrassed by the excessive attention, but it had no sign of stopping.

Jason, who was watching from afar, turned his head away with a bitter smile. Bern quickly noticed and patted him on the shoulder, telling him to cheer up.

Meanwhile, Kerian had no intention of leaving Leasis alone. He was very fond of her because she had protected him during the snow field mission.

In addition, she was very kind when teaching swordsmanship. Kerian wanted to learn swordsmanship from her for various reasons.

“Sir Leasis, will you be my training partner this time?”

“Sure.”

There was no reason to refuse because it was just time for combat training. Kerian pulled out a wooden sword in consideration of Leasis.

The two knights happily engaged in training, clashing their wooden swords. However, at that time, Kerian’s foot slipped and he stumbled.

“Oh!”

Kerian fell unknowingly on Leasis. Hizen’s eyebrows wiggled subtly at the sight.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.”

The two raised themselves and swung their swords again. But Kerian’s foot slipped once more. He fell back on Leasis again. However, it was too frequent to be a coincidence. Twice, three times, four times… At that moment, Hizen could not stand it anymore and pulled out a sword.

Bang!

Hizen’s sword hit the floor between Kerian and Leasis. Kerian stepped back immediately and fell on the floor, trembling.

“I-I… I almost died…”

“Kerian-nim, are you all right?”

“Yes, yes….”

That tactless bastard. Jason sighed while watching the scene and approached them. He offered Kerian to be his next opponent.

But Kerian persisted, insisting that he wanted to train with Leasis.

“What’s the matter?”

Hizen approached them and asked as if he knew nothing. Then Leasis asked, pulling out his sword from the floor.

“Commander-nim, why did you suddenly…”

“Why?”

Everyone focused on Hizen’s words. He spoke in a dull way as usual.

“There was a bug there.”

It was the first time he acted like that, so the knights were puzzled. Max turned around, covering his mouth with his hand. His shoulders were greatly shaking.

Hizen received his sword from Leasis and put it back in its scabbard. Then he glanced at Kerian and said.

“Kerian.”

“Yes?”

“Your basic stamina is terrible. I can’t believe you’ve been knocked down four times in a fight with wooden swords.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry!”

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

Hizen pointed at the huge training ground with his chin.

“Let’s improve your physical strength.”

“…What?”

And after the physical training, you’ll have a personal training session.”

Kerian’s face turned pale at the words that sounded like he was going to be dragged to hell. Hizen looked at him and smiled like a reaper.

“I’ll teach you myself.”

Hizen made Kerian panic. When the two walked away, Leasis scratched her head, embarrassed,

At that time, fortunately, Max appeared and became her new opponent. The other knights looked away and went back to training.

Except for Taker, of course. Taker was looking alternately at Hizen and Leasis with his arms folded like a famous detective.

Suspicious. It was truly suspicious. He could not help but think that there was something between those two.

“Taker, what are you doing?”

Taker smiled insidiously at Jason’s call. At least Jason was the one who knew the most about Leasis among the Imperial Elite Knights.

Taker went to Jason to spar, and began to ask him a lot of questions. He asked him whether Leasis and Hizen were suspicious.

However, unlike usual, Jason was only swinging his sword silently. Jason, who liked to goof around, wanted to train. Taker became a little puzzled.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Jason shook his head and silently lifted his sword again.

Iddahak had regained his freedom thanks to Hizen. At the group affairs meeting, Hizen had said that he would take responsibility for him, and the black chain that was tightening his neck disappeared.

But the problem was where he would be staying. Iddahak wanted to share Leasis’ room. Hizen had taken out his sword, refusing it, but Iddahak was stubborn. In addition, the Imperial Family had added their greedy claims, making a bigger mess.

Amid the tension, Max had laughed helplessly. If he had done something wrong, a wave of blood would have submerged the group affairs meeting.

The situation had only calmed down after a few words from Leasis. Max sighed as he recalled it.

After that, Iddahak was allowed to stay in Leasis’ room as he wished. Sometimes when he was bored, he morphed into a human and went around the Imperial Palace, and thanks to that, Leasis’ room was full of men’s clothes.

“It feels good.’

Iddahak, looking like a human boy, sniffed and smiled. Leasis’ bed smelled particularly strong. It was a very sweet and nostalgic smell.

“Iddahak.”

After finishing training, Leasis opened the door and came in. Surprised, Iddahak hurriedly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

Iddahak liked to be woken up by Leasis. As expected, she approached the bedside.

“What are you doing? Are you sleeping?”

When Leasis brushed his sleek nose, Iddahak failed to manage his facial expression. A low laugh came out of his mouth.

Iddahak liked Leasis. Although she was not his dead friend, she smelled the same. She had the sweet scent of a good human.

However, there was something that Iddahak did not like about Leasis. It was Hizen’s presence hovering around her.

Iddahak hated evil humans. Evil humans had a rotten smell, and his smell was especially severe.

But Hizen did not smell like that. Rather, he had a sweet scent like Leasis. Nevertheless, it was unacceptable because of a man in the past who looked very much like Hizen.

‘That Dratius’ name was Calibaut. Calibaut Ben Dratius…’

Iddahak blinked his golden eyes, lost in thought. Dratius, looking at him with a mean face. The image was still vivid in his mind.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. But, uh… Berman.”

“Huh?”

Berman will not like it if I say this. Iddahak was scared, but he plucked up courage. It was important to tell her because he cared for her.

“Don’t stay with Dratius. You and he are not meant to be together.”

Leasis could not hide her embarrassed look. Iddahak often said unknown things.

Leasis liked to listen to him, but sometimes it hurt. She mumbled, poking his cheek.

“Iddahak. I don’t know why you hate the Commander-nim so much.”

“It’s not that I hate him. But…”

Leasis listened to him and answered very politely. So he was even more worried. He thought that her pretty face would be covered by tears.

“You can never be at peace.”

“Why?”

“That’s… I can’t say it myself. Because someone put a seal on me.”

Iddahak stuck out his tongue. There was an unknown pattern engraved on his red tongue, but somehow it felt familiar.

Ah. Leasis searched in her memories and spit out a small exclamation. It was similar to what she had seen in Hizen’s mansion.

“Anyway, this Imperial Palace is sinister. Some humans here are from the Yvette family… You’d better leave with me.”

“No, I can’t.”

She spit out her words in a determined rejection, even surprising herself. Iddahak asked Leasis, as she was questioning herself.

“Why?”

Hizen smiling at her came to her mind. She said with all her heart fluttering.

“I like the Commander-nim. Even if I die, I want to close my eyes next to him.”

Iddahak could not say anything more at Leasis’ sincerity. Turning toward the wall, he slowly closed his golden eyes and went back to sleep. He was upset.

“I’m sorry.”

She whispered while stroking Iddahak’s hair. Iddahak’s eyes opened at the touch.

He clenched his teeth and made up his mind.

‘Berman. I will protect you this time.’

Even at the risk of my life.