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Chapter 27
‘Cylian Heraith.’
Gasps escaped the students’ mouths, wide as washbasins. Everyone, including Rune, could not take their eyes off him as he stood on the stage.
Jet-black hair like obsidian, and eyes so deep their depths were unknowable. The sole heir of the mighty Duke of Heraith—a man as beautiful and strong as his name suggested.
Even without the immense backing of the ducal house—whose political and military influence rivaled that of foreign kings—Cylian was someone everyone admired.
After all, he had already earned the title of Sword Master before even reaching adulthood, and his influence in politics rivaled that of his father, Duke Carlo himself.
Scholars and warriors alike longed for a connection with him. Many dreamed of joining the Heraith Knights, the infamous Dark Knights, with him at their head.
‘Wasn’t it said he had already reached the realm of the Sword Emperor?’
…He felt so far away.
Not long ago, Rune had walked beside him and spoken with him, but now it all felt like a fleeting dream.
When Cylian reached the center of the stage and bowed slightly, Headmaster Gregory smiled broadly and patted his shoulder.
Activating the sound-amplifying mana stone, Cylian bowed politely to the cadets.
“May the blessing of light be with you.”
Unlike the long string of titles that followed his name, his deep, smooth voice ended the greeting simply.
At that moment, intense sunlight streamed into the hall, as though it shone only for him.
In the peak of summer, when the sun made the world more vivid, the red gleam beneath his dark eyes shone even brighter.
Among the crowd, Rune felt as though his eyes had met hers.
Her mouth went dry, her burning yearning solidifying even further. She had asked him to wait, but in truth… perhaps the one who could not wait was herself.
Her deep blue eyes trembled as she looked up at Cylian. She bit her lip and whispered softly.
“…I want to reach you.”
To him—she longed to reach him soon.
“Guess it’s not just the sword you’re crazy about.”
“Hm?”
Rune tilted her head at Ellon’s muttered words. He immediately looked forward again, feigning innocence.
The priests present at the entrance ceremony handed out brooches sprinkled with holy water to the new students.
Rune held up the rose brooch, symbol of the academy, and lifted it toward the sunlight. The intricately carved rose design sparkled white.
“This year it’s white, huh.”
Each year, the Rephium Academy gave brooches in the color of that year’s rose.
It was a tradition that began when King Leonard I once pinned a rose to the chest of his loyal knight and friend, Hessen.
Following tradition, the freshmen now stood facing one another. The high priest, standing at the center of the stage, drew the holy sign and began to pray.
“With words of healing and lips of understanding, with the breath of life, grant us salvation. O Cloud, our holy sun.”
Then, he recited the words left by Hessen to King Leonard I.
“My eternal friend and companion, I shall gladly follow your will and become the glorious light of the Empire. Luz Sagrado.”
The students joined in, their hands folded at their lips.
“Luz Sagrado.”
Glorious light. Eternal light. The name of the Leonal Empire.
The students pinned their rose brooches onto one another’s collars.
Rune reached out and fastened Ellon’s brooch onto his collar. Over his gray uniform stretched a black leather holster, straight across his chest. Seeing Ellon free of his mercenary garb, she felt strangely moved.
“You look pretty decent dressed like this.”
She chuckled softly. Ellon frowned and glared at her sidelong.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you look good. But… what are you doing?”
Ellon’s hand fumbled clumsily near her neck. How could someone who swung a greatsword with ease struggle so much with a tiny brooch?
“Didn’t know you were this clumsy, Ellon.”
“Hold still. Just… stop moving.”
Seeing his hand tremble slightly, Rune finally burst into laughter.
“At this rate you’ll stab a hole in my neck. Here—go on, pin it properly.”
She pushed back her jacket and stretched out her neck. Her pale, slender throat was exposed.
Ellon froze briefly, then hastily pinned the brooch and waved his hand dismissively.
“Done. Now get away from me.”
“So cold,” Rune muttered with a pout, touching the rose brooch on her jacket.
She remembered the rose Cylian had tucked behind her ear last night.
“So this is what he meant… that he wanted to give it to me first.”
That must have been the meaning. The rose’s layered petals seemed more beautiful than ever.
Her heart bloomed with its color.
“It’s really pretty, don’t you think?”
“…Not really.”
Despite Ellon’s stiff answer, Rune kept smiling brightly.
Meanwhile, Cylian sat with one leg crossed, leaning his chin on his hand as he gazed down at the ceremony. For him, it was boring, even tedious.
“You look happy,” he murmured.
As he expected, Rune couldn’t hide the blush on her cheeks during the ceremony. More satisfying than he had hoped.
And yet, the inexplicable twist in his chest was something even he couldn’t understand.
“…An eternal friend and companion, huh.”
He muttered lowly. At his side, Ethan tilted his head. Cylian had seemed unusually cheerful this morning, yet now he appeared unsettled.
“Ethan.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Seeing the furrow deepening in Cylian’s brow, Ethan stepped closer.
“Didn’t you say your brother enrolled again this year?”
Ethan blinked in surprise. For someone who usually showed no interest in others, why was his lord suddenly asking about Ellon?
“Ah, you remember. Ellon Grimaldi. He’s standing back there, next to Lady Este.”
He discreetly pointed at Ellon beside Rune.
“He’s not good at making friends… but strangely, he seems close to her.”
“So, the boy had an interest in the sword after all, and reapplied to the military academy.”
“Yes. He’s as stubborn as Father, wasted a whole year for it.”
When Ethan heard the news, he’d been shocked.
As the firstborn, Ethan had entered the Dark Knights to serve Cylian. Count Grimaldi had hoped his younger son Ellon would instead become an administrator in the Imperial Palace.
But last year, when the Count submitted Ellon’s enrollment to the general faculty, the boy left home entirely. His whereabouts had been unknown until he quietly returned this year with a recommendation letter from Guildmaster Godam, reapplying to the military academy.
“The Count must be deeply disappointed.”
“At least he came back safe. Though I never imagined he’d earn Guildmaster Godam’s recommendation… he must have been working as a mercenary under him.”
Cylian drummed his fingers lightly on the chair’s armrest.
Count Grimaldi was a man loyal to the ducal house to the point of stubbornness.
‘For his son to defy him like that… If Ellon has the skill to match such obstinacy, he may be useful indeed.’
For Rune, who had always been isolated, this was not a bad thing. Forming allies in the academy would be an important stepping stone for her future.
‘I’ll watch for now.’
Above all… because you smile like this.
The ceremony neared its end.
“As proud students of Rephium, as intellectuals of the Leonal Empire, I ask all of you freshmen to strive so as not to bring shame upon our academy’s name.”
With the headmaster’s closing words, a sharp crack sounded from above.
From the ceiling, a rain of red roses fell upon the hall.
Rune widened her eyes in awe before bursting into laughter, patting Ellon’s shoulder lightly.
The fragrance of summer roses filled the air. Perhaps because of this, Cylian could not tear his gaze away from her.
His hand clenched tightly against the armrest.
How laughable. To think his patience was this pitifully thin.
Indeed, waiting was nothing but a tedious, unbearable thing.
Gregory Graham’s Headmaster’s Office.
“Hmm…”
Gregory slowly set down the recommendation letter he had finished reading. He closed his dim eyes and pressed his lids.
“A recommendation from Lord Cylian… how should I interpret this?”
“It’s obvious.”
Lankersk Hannon crossed his arms and snapped harshly.
“After delaying admission with a so-called illness, now she sneaks in with a letter of recommendation? I can’t believe Cylian Heraith endorsed such a shabby scheme.”
He threw himself into the sofa opposite and glared at the letter.
“When did this academy become a stepping stone into the Imperial Court?”
The academy’s true purpose was to educate talents who would one day become pillars of the Empire. Yet nobles had come to see it merely as a shortcut to the palace.
For poor nobles, the situation was even more desperate. They would even pledge their children into vassalage just for sponsorship.
The greater problem lay in the high nobles themselves. Many used illness as an excuse, caring only to graduate with a certificate while neglecting true study.
Runadeluze Este was surely one of the latter.
From the looks of things, she sought only the prestige of a knightly family through the military academy, and would likely retire early citing personal reasons.
“Edmund Este—pretended he had no interest in politics, yet he’s just another noble after all. To think he abandoned the Royal Knights, only to do this…!”
“Lankersk.”
Gregory’s calm but stern rebuke silenced him. Taking a sip of tea, Gregory continued slowly.
“There’s no use speaking of the past. I too dislike those who cloud the true purpose of study.”
Beneath his snowy eyebrows, his eyes gleamed with clarity long hidden by age.
“But after all, this is Edmund Este. Stubborn to a fault. If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that he would never stoop to such tricks. And you, who knew him closely, should know that better than anyone.”
“…As you say, it’s already in the past.”
Lankersk sneered coldly, the long scar across his cheek twitching.
