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Clang!

Vivian put her fork down on the plate with a bit of annoyance.

I glanced over at her with a nonchalant expression, but deep down, I felt it was about time things got heated.

“Why have you been following me around lately?”

She let out a sigh mixed with annoyance and shot the question at me. Her sharp gaze pierced right through me.

“…”

I struggled to respond. Talking about the note would just complicate everything.

Furthermore, I couldn’t mention that there might still be unknown enemies out to get her. That would only make her more anxious.

So, I replied instead.

“You think I’m following you? Not at all.”

Then I took a big bite of bread to shut my mouth.

When I played dumb, Vivian seemed genuinely provoked. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and continued.

“Do you think I’ve been acting like this for just a day or two? You’ve been following me for almost a month…! You barged into my class today too!”

I shrugged and chewed away at the bread, making a point of my full mouth to avoid responding.

But she wasn’t wrong.

It had been a month since I received that note. It was true I had been tailing her for almost a month now.

We usually ate together, so that wasn’t a big deal, but I also poked my head into her class whenever I could, and even followed her during her walks, keeping my distance.

At night, I idly loitered outside her room.

Sometimes I tried not to get too close, and at other times I made sure not to drift too far away.

Vivian often caught on to my presence, and each time, she shot me a glare filled with annoyance.

In those moments, I would act oblivious and ignore her gaze.

“So you’re just going to play dumb?”

She narrowed her eyes at me and asked.

Realizing it was getting hard to keep up the act, I came up with another excuse.

I didn’t even look directly into her eyes as I said,

“I’m just bored. I wanted a look at your ridiculous self.”

“…”

“I heard you’ve been learning some weird dance lately, and you really can’t dance at all.”

I tried to make a joke, forcing a grin to change the subject.

Well, it was true that Vivian’s dancing was laughable— her clumsy beginner moves were worth a chuckle.

Vivian’s face flushed red at my mockery.

Her fists clenched tightly as she seemed to grind her teeth.

It looked like I had really gotten on her nerves this time.

…Maybe that’s why she told me to stop following her.

“…”

Contrary to my expectations of her getting angry, Vivian’s gaze wavered for a moment.

She blinked and looked down at the floor, and I could see her eyes reddening.

“Huh?”

Realizing that she was about to cry, I quickly got up and approached her.

“Hey, it was just a joke. Don’t cry over something like this.”

“…I’m not crying!”

-Smack!

Vivian stubbornly swatted my arm away as she protested.

But of course, she always held a fierce pride when it came to me.

Sniffling, she wiped her eyes harshly and stared at me.

“Anyway, stop following me. Just seeing your face annoys the hell out of me.”

“…What I do is up to me.”

“Shoving your face into my business makes it hard to focus at all! Why do I have to show you my ridiculous self every time I learn something?”

“…”

Vivian, huffing angrily, shot up from her seat.

With heavy steps, she quickly exited the hall.

A few maids hastily followed after her.

I sat there for a moment, staring blankly in the direction she had left before taking a seat where she had been.

“…Sigh.”

A deep breath escaped me involuntarily.

I hadn’t realized it, but now I could see that she might not want to show her clumsy attempts at learning anything.

From her perspective, I must have looked like I was teasing her.

In worrying too much about her safety, I had overlooked this aspect completely.

But then again, how could I not care?

The note advised me to stick close to her, and Vivian was taking a lot of new classes.

She had started dance lessons and was also learning new conversation techniques. Some of those classes, I had no clue what she was being taught.

She had firmly refused to let me in on some of those lessons.

It seemed like Lady Linne had started teaching some strange things.

And among these new teachers, there could be someone looking to harm her.

This uncertainty forced me to stick around her.

But right now, everything was falling apart.

I expected something to happen at any moment, but after a month had passed, nothing had occurred. As time went on, it became increasingly hard for me to stay close to her.

Was the person who handed me the note wrong this time?

Had they disrupted the next plot against Vivian?

A month had passed— should I consider it all over by now?

And I was starting to grow weary.

It wasn’t easy to linger next to someone who threw such hostile glares at me.

I clicked my tongue, thinking alone.

I mean, if she doesn’t want me around, why should I bother protecting her?

“…”

Even though I thought that, a lingering discomfort hung in my chest.

But I shook my head again.

It had been a month… I should think of it as no problem.

I couldn’t keep spying on her like this forever. Considering our relationship, it was a miracle we had stuck near each other for a month.

I got up from my seat. The maids left behind began to clear the table.

If it were a normal day, I would chase after Vivian, but today, I took a turn towards the Punishment Unit instead.

…

The Punishment Unit had a new command structure in place.

Some young soldiers were appointed to serve as officers among the boy soldiers.

As Burgor had requested of Vivian, the boy soldiers who had slain the hobgoblins became that officer.

Thus, under the name “Kyle’s Unit,” I had 50 boy soldiers to oversee.

Though they called it management, they lived essentially as they always had, so there were no major changes in their lives.

Maybe it would take on a meaning when we went off to fight next.

In a few months, I would have been here for a year.

Perhaps because of that, or maybe because I had received a lot of recognition from the last excursion, or due to the fact that I had become a middle manager, the boys didn’t look at me with hostility like before.

“Hey, Kyle! Wanna come gamble with us?”

Yanes, who had also become a middle manager just like me, shouted at me.

Yanes was an 18-year-old lad, just shy of becoming an adult himself. His physique was more manly than boyish, with a scruffy brown beard just starting to form.

I waved my hands dismissively and walked past them.

Then I headed straight to my room.

As expected, Balron, Willas, and Martin were already there.

At 17, they were two years older than me and displayed a mature demeanor.

It was clear I had grown taller lately, but it still seemed far off for me to catch up to them.

Recently, the formerly chubby Balron now looked pleased with himself.

“Kyle, why are you back so early?”

“I wanted a break today.”

After greeting them, I collapsed onto the bed immediately.

The conversation I had with Vivian had left my head spinning.

Balron, Willas, and Martin went back to their usual chatter, looking lighthearted.

“I’m telling you, it was real! It’s totally true!” Willas said with a dirty grin.

“Nah, you just want it to be true. It seems pretty vague for me to call it a signal.” Martin clicked his tongue.

“If you’re a guy and you get a signal like that, you gotta jump on it, right?” Balron poked Willas in the back as he said this.

As I listened in, it seemed they were in a debate about whether a maid was indeed flirting with Willas or not.

They kept saying they caught glances from afar and smiled at each other when they met up close, and Willas argued that was some sort of signal.

“Hey, Kyle. What do you think? Let’s hear the opinion of a nobleman.” Willas, frustrated at Martin, turned to me.

Having only Vivian to draw experience from, I had very little to say.

Lost in thoughts of Vivian, I mindlessly responded.

“…If she doesn’t hate you, there’s a chance, right?”

Martin muttered, “Well, that’s true…” nodding along.

As Martin’s confidence waned, Willas basked triumphantly in his victory.

“See! I told you I was right! This could actually happen! Whoa… Am I really becoming like Yanes?”

When Willas made that ‘like Yanes’ face, I couldn’t help but ask,

“…What does becoming like Yanes mean?”

Willas’ expression flipped back to normal instantly. He smirked right after.

“Ah, I guess you wouldn’t know because you’ve been out and about lately? Haven’t you heard about Yanes?”

“What about it?”

“That guy Yanes… supposedly got it on with a maid in the stable. She was six years older than him, right?”

“…”

I was left speechless after hearing that. I simply laid on the bed, chewing the fact over.

It seemed everyone was doing pretty well in their own way.

But for me, it all felt like a distant dream.

I wasn’t completely uninterested, but… it wasn’t exactly a topic I wanted to dive into right now.

Excited Willas received a teasing remark from Martin.

“…Well, good luck with that.”

Willas shot back, even more excited.

“Are you jealous? Why’s your voice like that?”

“Jealous? Nah, it’s just ridiculous the way you talk about it. You know how to woo a girl?”

“What do you mean woo? She’s practically throwing signals at me. I just have to go and pick her up.”

“That’s why you’re going to fail. Do you think it’s that easy? Girls throw signals and then act coy. If you don’t know how to approach, they’ll push you away first.”

Martin’s words struck something in me, and before I even realized it, I asked.

“What if the other person doesn’t want you approaching?”

“…”

“…”

Suddenly, silence enveloped the room. They hadn’t expected me to ask that.

Breaking the awkward silence was Balron.

He smirked at me, then asked in a playful tone.

“…Hey, our noble Allen family seems to have someone caught their fancy?”

“Not like that.”

“You could glare but maybe say it out loud too? You don’t wanna be doing this forever.”

-“I told you it’s not like that!”

As I denied it, Balron chuckled, along with Willas and Martin, who joined in the laughter.

The room quickly filled with laughter. I tried my best to ignore their teasing.

However, after their laughter ebbed away, Balron spoke in a serious tone.

“…You shouldn’t approach if the other person doesn’t want you.”

That overly rational statement felt oddly awkward.

Martin nodded along, adding,

“That’s obvious.”

“Give it up, unless you’re just going to be forceful.” Willas echoed that sentiment.

“…”

Somehow, their replies unsettled me.

Quietly turning to face the wall, I mulled over their words.

Something strangely prickly seeped inside me. My desire to just rest and my tangled thoughts only grew more complicated.

I simply closed my eyes.

I cut off my thoughts that way.

…

…

‘Everyone, get up!!!’

In the dead of night, a booming shout shook the Punishment Unit.

I jolted awake at the sound and propped myself up.

In the faint moonlight, I could see Balron, Willas, and Martin, just as hurriedly sitting upright as I was.

“Wha… what’s going on?”

Balron asked, still bewildered.

But before we could find an answer, we all jumped out of bed and rushed outside.

The Punishment Unit was abuzz with chaos.

The boy soldiers were hurrying out of their dorms, and the main doors were flung wide open.

Soldiers and maids were running about frantically.

My heart started pounding. Something big was clearly going down. Anxiety pressed down on me.

Corporal Coleman, the deputy of the Punishment Unit, shouted over the crowd of boy soldiers surging in.

His voice was filled with urgency.

“We’re heading to the castle!! Hurry!! Grab some water and run!!”

That sent the troops into even more of a frenzy.

Everyone hurriedly began gathering their water canteens.

Amidst all that, Yanes, now a middle manager, asked in a mix of surprise and responsibility.

“Wh-what’s happening?!”

Coleman yelled back.

“The castle is on fire!”

“…Oh.”

It finally dawned on me.

The one targeting Vivian hadn’t disappeared after all.

It was just that, with me being by her side all this time, nothing had been done about it.

 

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