CH 49

Snap. The tender stem broke weakly. Elusiana’s eyes turned to his hand.

…What? Is he mad just because of the flower language? What kind of man is this petty? It was a flower she picked out in the hope he would fix his ugly behavior of flirting with women. It meant to meet a person with sincerity. But when the man who always smiled, frowned now, she wondered if she crossed the line.

Ah, I’m crazy. Why am I messing around now? Elusiana secretly avoided his gaze.

“I’m sorry if I offended you, Noel.”

“…”

“If you don’t like the flowers, I will switch them to something el—”

She didn’t even finish talking. Noel’s fingertips briefly brushed Elusiana’s eyes.

“…!”

Surprised, Elusiana looked at him. At that moment, his hand naturally came down and grabbed her chin.

“If I really confess to Lusi… will you accept it?”

Noel’s dark purple eyes sank deeply with a strange light. It was something she had always heard, but why did this moment feel so different?

Noel’s face came closer. “Answer me, Lusi. I think I’d be fine with you. What do you think about doing it with me?”

For a moment, there was no sound as if time had stopped. She knew it was obviously a joke. She knew he didn’t mean it. However, she couldn’t stop her eyes quivering when they made eye contact.

Those purple eyes looked so gloomy. It felt like she could glimpse sentimental feelings hidden beyond them.

Elusiana held her breath, frozen in place. “…That’s enough of your jokes, Noel.”

“I’m not joking. Of course, it’s not a lie.”

“But why does it sound like a lie to me?” said Elusiana cooly, shaking his hand off her chin. “It doesn’t sound like a confession of love, but sounds like a confession struggling to die.”

At that moment, Noel’s fingertips, which were snapping the broken ornithogalum, stopped. However, he quickly touched the petals with a smiling face.

“That’s not wrong. If it’s love only for one person, you will have to sacrifice your life for another person. Don’t you think I should be prepared that much to win Lusi’s heart?”

“It sounds like you would risk your life for me.”

“There’s nothing I can’t do.”

Elusiana glanced at Noel, who was smiling. Somehow the tone of saying he would risk his life sounded vain as if he was hugging an empty shell. As if it didn’t matter what would happen to me.

What was bothering me so much? Again, she interfered with someone else’s business. 

“Love is not like that, Lord.”

“…”

“You promise to be with someone for the rest of your life. It’s not about dying on behalf of the other person.”

“…”

“No one loves to die. There may be people who will love you to death. But actually, it doesn’t mean anything. You can’t share your feelings alone. Don’t you think so?”

Noel flinched as if shocked. There was a crack in his smiling face. As if something sharp had penetrated his heart, Noel squeezed his throat and swallowed a groan that was about to pop out.

Haa… This is cheating, Lusi. Then she died in my place… What’s going on now? We can’t be together forever… Then what about me? Noel closed his eyes tightly as the deep-buried old wounds rushed in like waves.

Why now? He couldn’t help but remember memories of that time. Damn it.

“Don’t blame yourself, El. It’s not your fault.”

* * *

It was seven years ago in the personal training ground of the Marquis Klaus family.

Clang. Clang, clang.

Young Noel swung his sword. His arms were still half-grown, but he was already well-built with his tiny muscles, and he had no shortage of wielding a sword.

“I’ll speed up a little bit.”

“As you wish.”

Noel smiled and drew the sword diagonally. The woman in front of him moved to the side, gently drew her sword.

“As expected, this doesn’t work.”

“There is no reason to be fooled by an honest sword, Lord.”

“But, wouldn’t it hurt your pride if you fell for such a shallow trick?”

“Small talk later, focus.”

“I don’t know if it’s small talk or not.”

Fine wrinkles formed on the back of her nose, which had been expressionless. A beautiful smile formed on Noel’s lips, who managed to see it.

It was midday in the hot sun. Noel was in a good mood. He was already wet with sweat from swinging his sword for over an hour, but he was pleased. He smiled as he slowly escaped the sword that aimed at him.

“Edelvais, why don’t you give up?”

“If Lord gives up first, I will think about it.”

“You’re too much.”

Watching a chance, Edelvais sharply narrowed her eyes and thrust out her sword like lightning. The white sword went against her sword.

Claaang— The sword that was cutting through the space was blown away with a strong wind. Edelvais’s expression, who was sure of her victory, crumpled. Her purple hair, tied up in a ponytail, swayed wildly at that situation.

“…Your skills have improved a lot.”

“Really? I’m not sure.”

Edelvais pressed her lips and tightly gripped her sword.

“I will do it again.”

“Eva, don’t overdo it.”

“That’s what I want to say.”

Noel’s gaze glanced at Edelvais’s hand. The hand that barely endured the strong shock, was shaking.

Noel said with a laugh, wiping away his worries about her, “If I win, Eva.”

“…Tell me that after you win.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know how I feel.”

Clang. Clang, clang.

As if to refute Noe’s words, Edelvais swung her sword without waiting. Noel’s sword, surprised by the power that hit harder than before, was pushed back.

“Haa… I didn’t expect you to hate me this much.”

“…I never hated you.”

“Oho, really?”

At that moment, young Noel’s hand twisted strangely. Then his thin arm, which dug into the gap, stabbed her tenaciously as if he couldn’t miss the opportunity.

“There’s a gap, Lord.”

A faint smile rose across Edelvais’s expressionless face. But that was also true that Noel was caught off guard by her. Noel’s smile deepened for a moment.

“You’ve been tricked.”

Ting— Whiririk. Tuk.

Noel coolly removed the outstretched sword and wrapped his hand around Edelvais’s waist. Edelvais, who lost her balance, was dragged into Noel’s arms. On the other hand, her eyes lost their destination and didn’t know she would fall to the ground.

“…H-how…!”

Edelvais lifted her sweat-soaked face. She was sure of victory. It wasn’t just a surprise attack. It was because she pretended there was a gap, deceived her opponent, and went in at once, eliminating her opponent to counterattack. But why did this result come out? She looked at Noel in disbelief.

“How did you block my sword?”

Noel looked at Edelvais for a moment without speaking. Her light green eyes, which contain no selfishness at all, were looking at Noel as if they were obliging.

Noel said, carefully removing her wet hair from her cheek, “Because it was a bet I couldn’t lose from the beginning.”

“Pardon?” She couldn’t understand Noel at all for a moment. “It was a bet you couldn’t lose?”

“Yes.”

Edelvais was Noel’s sparring knight. She had already been knighted for several years and evaluated Noel’s achievement every certain period. So, of course, she was better than Noel.

But it was a bet he couldn’t lose from the start? Has he gone beyond me in the meantime?… No way. Beyond doubt, Edelvais’s eyes were filled with surprise.

“Lord!”

“That’s right, Eva. My achievements have already surpassed you a long time ago. So no matter what you did, I had no choice but to beat you.”

Light green eyes shivered like the first dew of dawn. Noel wanted to hug the pure light and kiss it right away. However, lights went out easily if you didn’t treat it carefully. Knowing that, Noel forcibly suppressed the rising heat. Even to prove the sweet feeling he felt wasn’t just a curiosity.

The first time Noel saw Edelvais was when she greeted him as the escort knight of Yeriel. She was only two years older than him, but she had skills comparable to those knights of Klaus.

His sister’s escort knight. She was just that when they met first. A rather small figure with a common appearance that was nothing special. If you hadn’t known that she was a knight, she was a small woman who would have stimulated your protective instincts.

Edelvais was the daughter of a local noble, but after the death of her parents and siblings, she entrusted herself to Marquis Klaus. To her, Marquis Klaus was her benefactor and lord whom she dedicated her loyalty to.  That’s why she tried hard to pretend not to know the attention Noel gave.

The daughter of a local noble who became a knight and a high-ranking noble who wore a mask. The 16-year-old boy’s heart burned like a fire, and the 18-year-old girl’s heart also ignited the same fire. Noel touched her trembling light green eyes, then kissed her gently on the lips.