🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter: 6
For a moment, Sia’s mind went blank at the sight of a fully exposed adult male body.
He must have just finished showering. Droplets of water slid from his damp hair, tracing the contours of his broad chest before dripping downward.
Without realizing it, Sia followed the movement with her eyes—then startled and quickly looked away.
There wasn’t an ounce of excess flesh on him. His body was impressive enough to draw admiration.
Even so, she wasn’t shameless enough to stare outright at the parts barely concealed by a towel.
“…You didn’t answer when I knocked,” she muttered.
Gilliard didn’t reply. He simply patted himself dry with the towel, then picked up his clothes and dressed.
Sia stole glances at him from the corner of her eye.
After their first meeting on Versilia Island, Gilliard had entrusted Sia to a commoner couple and gone off to fight in the war against the Astollia Empire.
The war, which had seemed like it would last forever, finally ended three years later with a peace treaty between the two nations.
That was when Gilliard reappeared before her.
The skin he normally kept tightly covered beneath his uniform was riddled with scars.
He had returned as a hero, but the marks on his body spoke clearly of how brutal the battlefield had been.
There must have been many moments when his life hung by a thread.
After throwing on a shirt, he sat down at his desk.
“…So? Why did you come looking for me at this hour?”
She needed to apologize. She knew that.
Yet when the moment came, the words refused to leave her mouth.
She stood there for a while, silently clenching and unclenching her hands, when Gilliard suddenly tore off the gauze still clinging to his face.
A red, freshly stitched wound was revealed beneath the lamplight.
“Did you come to apologize? There’s no need. Letting your guard down is a lack of skill.”
“If you get treatment now, the scar—”
“That’s not something the person who caused the wound should say.”
Sia swallowed her words. Gilliard picked up his pen and dipped it into the ink.
She hadn’t meant to, but her gaze drifted to the documents he was reviewing, and a familiar word caught her eye.
“…Are you going on reconnaissance in the Bestia region?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted it—but it was already too late. Gilliard’s expression subtly changed.
“Why do you ask?”
Bestia was territory belonging to Duke Riglerus—and in the future, it would become the site of a bandit uprising that Gilliard himself would suppress.
The bandits they had initially underestimated turned out to be far stronger than expected, and many people, including Kador, lost their lives in the process.
Right now, the bandits should still be operating in small, scattered groups. If that was the case…
“I’ve heard rumors that bandits in the capital are forming small guilds. I also heard in passing that they’re considering Bestia as a base. It might not be a bad idea to check it out.”
That should have sounded natural enough. Trying not to appear suspicious, Sia cautiously watched his reaction.
The black-haired instructor studied the papers on his desk with a grave expression, then slowly looked up.
“You really seem like a different person.”
“……”
“In the past, no matter how suspicious a rumor sounded, you would’ve forgotten it almost immediately if it had nothing to do with your revenge. You always said you didn’t care about anything else.”
“I’m no different than usual. If anyone’s strange, it’s you for thinking that way.”
“I’m including how you handled your sword today. Where did you hear about the letter of recommendation?”
“If I don’t answer, will you put me under disciplinary confinement again?”
“I have no intention of doing that. But whether you answer or not, the outcome won’t change. I never planned to write you a recommendation in the first place.”
“I believe I already told you. No matter how much you try to stop me, I will kill the Emperor.”
The Astollia Empire and the Kingdom of Rivendel had maintained friendly relations for several years.
And Sia knew very well that it was Duke Riglerus who had forged that peace.
But none of that mattered to her.
What she needed was revenge.
Revenge to soothe the souls of her destroyed homeland, her unjustly murdered family, and her friends.
There was nothing else she needed in her life.
“He’s not an opponent you can kill so easily.”
“I know.”
“As long as I’m your guardian, I won’t just stand by and watch. If you act recklessly, you won’t survive either.”
“Is that really the only reason? Aren’t you afraid that if I kill the Emperor, the peace between the two nations—the peace you fought so hard to achieve—will collapse?”
“……”
“If the title of ‘war hero’ matters more to you than I do, then don’t invoke the name of ‘guardian.’ Especially when you have no intention of fulfilling that role properly.”
The instructor continued to stare at her in silence.
The moment she noticed the change in his eyes, he slammed his pen down and stood up.
What happened next unfolded in an instant.
He struck the desk with one hand and grabbed Sia’s tie with the other, yanking her forward.
Caught off guard, her center of gravity pitched ahead.
Her breath hitched as her weight pressed against her throat.
Before she could even shout for him to let go, Gilliard pulled his face close.
Their tense lips stopped just short of touching, frozen at a dangerously close distance.
“Did you just say ‘the role of a guardian’?”
“……”
“You’re not seeing anything clearly, Ermodian. Do you truly believe you’re surviving here by your own strength alone? With that kind of arrogance, you’ll have your throat slit long before you ever lay eyes on the Emperor. Do you understand?”
“I’ve never been arrogant—!”
“Coming here at this hour to confront me like this is proof enough. And the fact that you came without a weapon means you were certain I’d let you leave unharmed.”
A chill ran down her spine.
Sia tore herself free from his grip and staggered backward.
Amused by his flustered student, the corner of Gilliard’s mouth curved slightly upward.
“There’s no need to go far, Ermodian. There’s one sure way for you to get that recommendation letter from me. You only need to do it.”
“What…?”
“Kneel down right now and propose to me.”
At the unbelievable words, Sia first doubted her own ears.
Honestly, it would’ve been more believable if he’d suggested they duel to the death right there in the room.
Just as she was about to pinch her cheek to see if she was hallucinating, Gilliard delivered the finishing blow.
“If you do, I’ll gladly write you the recommendation. After all, it would be a request from my beloved wife.”
In that instant, Sia became certain of one thing.
She might have regressed in time—but this bastard had completely lost his mind.
“You lunatic…”
She barely managed to restrain her trembling fists, but she couldn’t stop the insult from slipping out.
Unfazed, Gilliard spoke calmly.
The lamplight reflected in his eyes, making them shine with a cold, icy gleam.
“If you don’t have the resolve to propose to me, then trust no one. Not your comrades. Not your friends. Not this country—and certainly not me. That is the only way you’ll survive here. Remember that.”
Whether from disbelief or sheer shock, her throat tightened, and no words came out.
Sia glared at her guardian with all her strength, then turned and stormed out of the room.
* * *
Gilliard stared at the door his cursing student had fled through for a long time before collapsing back into his chair.
“…Lunatic.”
Yes. That reaction was about right.
That was Gilliard’s honest thought.
He glanced down and noticed his hand trembling faintly on the table.
The same hand that had grabbed the knight candidate by the collar moments ago.
“Ha…”
A hollow, deflated laugh escaped his lips.
His enraged ward would never imagine it.
That even touching her in such a violent manner had required immense courage.
When desperation grows too strong, one ends up acting even harsher to avoid being found out.
“I heard they might use Bestia as their base, so it might not be a bad idea to check it out.”
“Are you really only worried about me? Aren’t you afraid the peace between the two nations will collapse once I kill the Emperor?”
Gilliard carefully replayed her words and actions in his mind.
In the past, she would have quietly ignored matters that didn’t directly concern her revenge.
But today, she had actively voiced her opinions and stood her ground, as though she were an entirely different person.
How long had it been since he’d looked directly into those jewel-like eyes?
“…Has she really changed?”
Gilliard couldn’t tell whether she truly had changed—or whether he was simply seeing her that way.
He had always wished she’d widen her gaze, just a little, beyond herself.
He had spent his life in positions that demanded cold judgment, but when it came to her…
He touched the wound on his face with his fingertips, then opened a desk drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper.
At the top, written in neat, concise handwriting, were the words:
“Periodic Report on the Jewel Clan.”
Gilliard took a deep breath and began to fill in the page beneath it.
