BSRF 08

Chapter 8

The happy holiday passed by in the blink of an eye. All I did was eat, sleep, lie around, and read novels, but before I knew it, today was the day of departure.

“Ugh…”

Groaning softly, I slowly got out of bed and changed clothes.

After fastening every button, I stood in front of the mirror and examined myself.

The knight order’s uniform, a blend of white and blue, looked quite stylish, but its practicality was terrible. It got dirty easily, and once blood stained it, the marks never came out, so I had already thrown away dozens of uniforms.

Even so, nobody suggested changing the design purely because it looked pretty. Besides, the white uniform suited me well.

After finishing my preparations, I gathered the luggage that had already been packed and carefully slipped out of the house.

I hadn’t told my family that I was departing today.

I didn’t have the energy to calm Pavel down when he inevitably tried to stop me from going. Instead, I left behind a short letter telling my family not to worry since I was going out for a while.

In front of the mansion, Marian was waiting to see me off.

I lightly hugged Marian and greeted her.

“I’ll be back soon. Please explain things well to Pavel too.”

“My lady, I made this for you. It’s an ornament for your sword.”

With moist eyes, Marian handed me an ornament woven from blue thread. The tassels flowing from the knot were tightly braided with several strands, making it easy to imagine how much effort Marian had put into it.

“Marian…”

I almost joked, You should give something like this to your lover… but stopped myself because it felt like it would only hurt both of us.

Neither of us had any dating experience whatsoever.

“Thank you. I’ll treasure it…”

Leaving behind words of gratitude instead, I forced my reluctant feet forward and left the house.

On the way to the departure site, I let out sigh after sigh.

No matter how much time passed, I could never get used to this damn knight order job.

I’m really going to quit one day! Ten years was more than enough for forcing myself into work that didn’t suit me. It was finally time for me to leave and find something I actually wanted to do.

Still, I planned to meet the person Commander Alonso wanted to introduce me to before quitting.

If he introduces me to some weirdo, I’ll never let him live it down.

Renewing my determination, I headed toward the departure site.

When I arrived outside the castle gates, the members of the knight order had already formed ranks and were waiting. Among them, I spotted Kiern and Ricardo.

I exchanged brief greetings with the members before standing at the front of the formation. Then I quickly inspected the condition of the people standing before me.

Excluding Ricardo, there were eight members total, with rookie knights and experienced knights evenly mixed together.

Since this subjugation was only targeting monsters near a small village, it was important to form a compact group and move quickly.

Some eyes held curiosity and excitement, while others reflected anxiety and nervousness.

On the first day especially, it was better to establish authority as the commander. In the past, I’d suffered enough trying to control troublemakers who constantly stepped out of line.

I straightened my posture and raised my chin.

Everyone’s attention focused on me.

“Welcome to this subjugation mission. Some of you standing here may already have plenty of experience, while for others, this may be your first time facing monsters. But if any of you plan to boast because you have more experience, or cower because you lack it, you may leave right now.”

I meant every word.

Someone here might have been forced into this by another person or pushed into coming against their will. Even those people deserved at least one chance to choose for themselves.

“Whether you have experience or not, what our knight order needs are proper knights capable of fulfilling the duties entrusted to them.”

I continued while making eye contact with each person one by one.

“So I’ll give you one last chance to run away. If you leave before I count to ten, I won’t hold you responsible.”

Inside my head, I slowly counted to ten.

But even while I counted, not a single person left.

There was always a possibility that casualties would emerge from among them again this time. Personally, I could never understand the knightly spirit of people willing to risk their lives fighting monsters.

“Those of you who remain here must act while carrying the full responsibility of being knights. If you regret not leaving, it’ll already be too late.”

Afterward, I briefly explained the schedule and immediately ordered everyone to prepare for departure.

Ricardo had already finished preparing by himself in a spot far away from the others. He really seemed intent on tagging along while acting like he wasn’t even there.

After glancing around briefly, I took the lead and spurred my horse forward.

I planned to complete the entire schedule within one month.

However, just reaching the destination village would take nearly two weeks.

Considering the time needed to locate and deal with the monsters, the schedule was tight. That meant we needed to move as efficiently and quickly as possible.

For years now, monster attacks near villages had become frequent enough that local soldiers alone could no longer handle them.

Because of that, Alonso Vargas established a knight order dedicated primarily to monster subjugation.

That order was the current Third Knight Order under my command.

In the Perunia Empire, dealing with monsters was considered honorable work entrusted only to skilled knights.

But because someone as absurdly young as me had become the commander of such a knight order, there had been plenty of opposition within the ranks.

Of course, by now, nobody openly questioned whether I lacked qualifications anymore.

Every time someone like that appeared, I thoroughly crushed them and proved through actual battles against monsters that my skills were more than sufficient.

If you’re dissatisfied, then you do it.

That had become my habitual response, and honestly, I truly wished someone would take over for me.

Unfortunately, very few people ever stepped forward, and even those quickly tucked their tails and ran away.

Once this monster subjugation ended safely, I really needed to seriously figure out a concrete plan for quitting the knight order.

No matter how I thought about it, this job simply didn’t suit someone soft-hearted like me at all.

Father had plenty of businesses running already, so even if I took charge of just one of them, I’d have no problem making a living.

Thinking over various plans for my future, I increased my speed.

Near midnight, we arrived at a small nearby village.

So far, we hadn’t strayed too far from the center of civilization, so villages still existed nearby. But once we passed through the forest, we’d have to camp outdoors on the road.

In other words, tomorrow marked the beginning of real hardship.

Planning to get proper rest tonight, I refused the drinks my subordinates offered and entered my room at the inn.

Inside was a single bed, along with a small desk and chair. Several small candles sat atop the desk, so the room wasn’t particularly dark.

I changed into lighter clothes and sat on the bed.

While looking over a map, I checked the route we needed to take tomorrow.

Knock knock.

The person knocking opened the door before even hearing my answer.

The door creaked loudly as it swung open.

Because the candlelight didn’t quite reach the entrance, I had to narrow my eyes to identify who it was.

As the man stepped into the light, golden hair appeared first, followed by a sharply shadowed face.

“Ricardo?”

“I came because I have something to tell you.”

I examined him suspiciously.

“At this hour?”

“There are too many eyes watching during the day.”

Something about the way he said that sounded strangely suggestive.

“And why exactly can’t people see it?”

“You hate even talking to me, so I was trying to be considerate in my own way. I guess it was unnecessary consideration.”

It’s not that I hate you — you’re the one who hates me, so I purposely avoided you, you bastard.

Dumbfounded, I let out a hollow laugh before getting up from the bed and sitting in the chair. Then I gestured toward the chair opposite me.

I asked Ricardo after he sat down.

“Skip the pointless talk and get to the point. What do you want to say?”

“You’re the one doing pointless things right now.”

…What exactly did I just hear?

Not understanding Ricardo’s words at all, I frowned.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Why did we stop at an inn? Why are you so desperate to treat me like some delicate young master?”

Well… technically, he was the precious young master of a ducal family.

But I had never treated Ricardo like one. Sure, I’d jokingly called him “young master” a few times before, but…

This time, if anything, I’d treated him like he barely existed. I had no idea why he’d gotten such a misunderstanding.

“So let me get this straight. You think I stopped at an inn and decided to sleep here for your sake?”

Ricardo looked completely confident, as though saying, Exactly.

Emphasizing each word, I asked again,

“Me? Specifically for you?”

“I know your knight order’s schedules well. Camping outdoors is standard, and there were times you rode nonstop for three days and nights without resting. So why stop at an inn from the very first day?”

The sheer absurdity of what he was saying left me speechless.

Resting my chin in my hand, I mulled over Ricardo’s words.

So what he’s saying is…

But without even giving me time to think, Ricardo continued.

“That’s what you call pointless consideration.”

“Hey, Ricardo.”

Scratching my eyebrow awkwardly, I wondered how exactly I should correct this misunderstanding.

Honestly, I didn’t really care whether he misunderstood or not, and I almost told him to get out because he was annoying.

But then I reconsidered for the sake of the knight order’s atmosphere afterward.

“This is exactly why I call you a young master. Do you realize how unbelievably self-centered you are?”

Even if he was the male lead… this was seriously too much.

“First of all, this wasn’t consideration for you. I’m not selfless enough to care for others that much. There just happened to be a village along the way, and since it’s the first day, I thought everyone should rest properly before reorganizing the formation tomorrow.”

“So it wasn’t consideration?”

“No. Why would I give you special treatment? I seriously don’t know where all that confidence comes from.”

“I know that you look at me differently from everyone else.”

What? Me?

My eyes widened at this revelation I hadn’t even known about myself.

Well… technically, I had looked at him differently.

Because he was the protagonist. Like, Ooh, the protagonist. I’d occasionally glanced at him with that kind of casual curiosity.

Actually… I’d looked quite a lot.

But to think he interpreted that as special treatment.

“Well… I guess I glanced over a few times because I was worried the heir of a ducal house might somehow get hurt.”

“I know. And I hate that more than anything.”

Ricardo’s blue eyes flickered coldly.

“The way you look at me like that… do you have any idea how much that…”

“Wait!”

I stopped Ricardo mid-sentence and thought carefully.

This… the flow here was weird.

As someone who had read hundreds of romance novels, I could guarantee it.

His wavering eyes, the soft candlelight illuminating the two of us…

The atmosphere flowing between Ricardo and me right now…

This was exactly the kind of scene that foreshadowed romance.

More specifically, it resembled the unconscious confession scene where the male lead begins realizing his feelings for the female lead.

This suddenly?

Could Ricardo’s feelings really have changed so abruptly that even I, a romance fanatic, hadn’t noticed?

But I had already completely thrown away any lingering attachment toward Ricardo long ago.

Honestly, “attachment” was too strong a word for something so light to begin with.

At this point, not even the slightest romantic feelings remained.

Resting my chin in my hand, I slowly studied Ricardo’s face.

His looks spoke for themselves.

After all, he was the male lead.

Beneath his neat forehead stretched a sharp nose bridge and firm jawline, while his deep-set eyes gained an even more profound charm under the candlelight.

Without realizing it, I spent quite a while admiring his appearance.

Unable to endure the silence any longer, Ricardo finally spoke first.

“What is it…?”

“Ah… i-it’s nothing. Go on, finish what you were saying.”

I gestured for him to continue.

For now, I intended to hear what he had to say.

Watching Ricardo’s Adam’s apple move up and down, I unconsciously swallowed.

“I just…”