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Chapter 12
The morning after I met Aldeheid, I received word that I was to report for duty at the Imperial Palace.
It was sooner than I expected, but still within the range of what I had anticipated.
However, on the very day I reported for work as a stabilization mage,
I was confronted with a rather bizarre sight.
“Oooh, ooohhh!”
“…?”
“Are you the great Lillie Simon?!”
A strangely tall man with his head covered in flowers stood in front of me.
With blue hair and blue eyes, he looked as though he had been molded from water itself.
He had a fairly handsome face, but the way he was grinning ear to ear completely ruined it.
I looked at him with suspicion.
“…Who are you?”
“Ah, I’m Paul, adjutant to Lord Aldeheid and vice–captain of the knight order. Thank you, truly, truly for saving my subordinate, Sir Rend!”
A vice–captain? This man, who looked so scatterbrained?
Still, as if to prove his rank, his uniform shoulders were covered with numerous insignia.
Since his gratitude was more or less expected, I answered cautiously.
“Y-yes, well… I did my best.”
“Right! Welcome! You’ve been assigned directly to the Knight Order’s Special Abilities Stabilization Office!”
Paul beamed and held out his hand as if to escort me.
He then gave me a tour of the knight order’s building.
The training wing housed a drill yard, an armory, and a small infirmary, while the knights’ quarters and the civil servants’ administrative offices were arranged side by side.
The place where I would be working was the command wing, where the captain and vice–captain stayed—more specifically…
“This is the Special Abilities Stabilization Office, where you’ll be working. You’ll be helping maintain the mental stability of all the knights, so do your best!”
I was told that only two people, myself included, were permanently assigned to the office.
Most of those previously stationed with the knight order had gone to war, and many were now on leave, treating trauma outside.
Since Aldeheid had only recently returned, most of the personnel were still being reassigned or replenished by the palace.
I thought everyone would be brimming with pride, serving the strongest man in the world…
“Hello.”
“Oh, a newbie?”
What was with this panda whose dark circles hung heavily under his eyes?
“Nice to meet you. My name is Pendidda.”
“That name suits you well.”
“I hear that a lot.”
“I’m Lillie. I’m a mid-level mage, assigned to help stabilize the knights.”
Pendi let out a gloomy chuckle.
“Looking forward to working with you. Well… though you’ll probably leave soon anyway.”
He pointed at a massive trolley beside the filing cabinets. On it were stacks of documents piled as high as a ten-year-old child.
“Do you handle all of these by yourself? On top of casting stabilization magic for so many knights?”
“That’s why they were in such a rush to hire someone.”
…Mm. I’m starting to regret joining already.
Well, fine. Let’s let that slide too.
Once the introductions were over, Vice–Captain Paul suddenly handed me a sword.
I stared uneasily at the blade, its scabbard glittering with embedded jewels.
“Um… what is this?”
“Oh, don’t worry too much about it. It’s a family heirloom. I brought it to give to the benefactor who saved Rend’s life.”
How am I not supposed to worry if it’s a family heirloom?
“The knight order has high expectations for you. But don’t feel pressured.”
If everyone has such high expectations, how could I not feel pressured?
“Ahaha, just take it in stride.”
What is this? It’s only my first day in the Special Abilities Stabilization Office.
There are already so many things I don’t understand but am expected to accept anyway—but fine, let’s let this go too.
Then Paul clapped his hands sharply, changing the mood.
“Alright! We’ll start work immediately today. Just today alone, Lord Aldeheid has already dealt with more than ten minor rifts.”
Aldeheid… isn’t he pushing himself too hard? This is really suspicious.
Why go that far?
What kind of goal could make him so obsessed with sealing rifts?
On my very first day at the Imperial Palace, I had already noticed something suspicious about Aldeheid.
Seeing me standing there in confusion, Paul whispered darkly.
“You could say Lord Aldeheid is obsessed with rifts. He hates every single rift in this world.”
Oh, so that’s how it is?
Then maybe I should start by digging into the reason why.
My eyes sparkled.
Perhaps I’d be able to understand Aldeheid’s psyche much sooner than expected.
Meanwhile, inside the Knight Commander’s office at the Imperial Palace.
The sight of a decadent-looking handsome man gnawing on a quill pen was far too dangerous.
Yet if one were to summarize the psyche of the handsome man, Aldeheid, into keywords, they would be as follows:
Depression. Worry. Extreme anxiety.
His first concern—how to observe “Lillie Simon”—had been resolved rather easily by keeping her close to him.
Thus, that problem was settled.
The second concern, however, was not so easily solved.
Because…
“What should the next sentence be?”
He had been struck by the agony of creation.
With dark shadows under his eyes lending him a strangely ascetic air, he muttered to himself.
“How do I make it cute? I seriously don’t know.”
“I miss you soooo much, big sis.”
“No. That’s not it. It’s not cute at all.”
One must never waste a precious opportunity by whining.
After all, Aldeheid could only send a letter to his noona once at the start of each season, when the messenger birds arrived.
That was why he was being painstakingly careful with every single letter he wrote.
“I went to the sea and met a c-cute squid!”
And at that very moment, a dangerous foreign element appeared to ruin his precious letter-writing time.
“Lord Aldeheid!”
It was his adjutant, Paul. Oblivious but energetic, Paul rushed up to him.
“What is it? Get out.”
Paul, who had peeked at the letter over his shoulder, muttered darkly.
“I came to report something. But… are you writing a diary?”
“Hey. Get out.”
“But why are you lying in your diary? You didn’t meet a squid at the sea—you used your authority to instantly reduce a kraken-type monster to ashes.”
“What.”
“And not just one. A hundred of them.”
“I have to manage my image. A man who slaughters krakens? That’s disgusting.”
After swiftly criticizing himself, Aldeheid added curtly,
“Not attractive.”
“…I think the way you write your diary is even less attractive.”
Aldeheid was about to snap back that his noona liked cute men, but stopped himself.
No. I’m not telling anyone about noona.
What if that idiot fell for her too…?
Absolutely not.
Enduring the agony of creation, he checked the D-day button on his desk.
[D-10]
Only ten days remained until the day he could send his “heart-fluttering letter” to noona.
Filled with anticipation, he slipped the letter into a drawer and asked,
“You said you had a report. What is it?”
The man who had been pouring affection into a letter addressed to “My beloved big sis♥” vanished in an instant. Cold, indifferent crimson eyes turned toward Paul.
Startled by the sudden change in demeanor, Paul shuddered as he replied.
“Ah! As you instructed, we assigned Lillie to the knight order’s Special Abilities Stabilization Office.”
“Good. Well done.”
Normally, stabilization mages were scattered throughout the palace after being hired—some assigned directly to support the imperial family’s powers, others placed in infirmaries for public service.
But Aldeheid had quite literally plugged Lillie into the knight order’s Special Abilities Stabilization Office.
That office was directly under his command within the knight order—meaning he could observe Lillie closely.
Keeping his true intentions tightly hidden, Aldeheid let out a small laugh.
“I’ll be keeping her with me.”
“Pardon me, but… does that mean you’re planning to destroy her?”
Aldeheid smiled faintly.
“Of course not. I’ll treat her well.”
He meant it.
If there was even the slightest chance that she was his noona, he intended to do his absolute best.
But at his words, Paul’s face turned pale.
“J-just how exactly are you planning to… treat her well?”
