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Chapter 12
Aiden was troubled.
“Everyone was curious about why Olivia transferred departments.”
“Exactly! That’s what I’ve been saying! Why would she suddenly quit Monster Classification and decide to become a knight?”
“U-Um…”
“If you waste my time with nonsense one more time, tomorrow’s training will let you meet your ancestors personally.”
“I-I heard she transferred because she wanted to track down the fiancé who left behind a broken engagement letter and ran away, then kill— I mean, punish him!”
Because he had learned that Olivia’s transfer was truly, entirely because of him.
After punching Bennett and sending him away for asking,
“Assistant Instructor, aren’t you really Olivia’s fiancé?”
Aiden had spent the last few days deep in thought.
Three days.
Only three days.
He had never imagined that such a brief engagement could mean so much to Olivia.
After all, Olivia was his beloved friend’s younger sister.
Someone who was practically family.
That was precisely why he had believed the engagement made no sense.
“Mother, do you love Father?”
“Of course I do. Very much.”
“Then why does Father—”
“Now then, Aiden. What did you learn today? Tell your mother.”
The Oblivion family was what people commonly called a complete disaster.
Family bonding time was practically nonexistent.
To make matters worse, the Duke had even brought a mistress into the household.
Aiden could still vividly remember his father—a noble of the Laurenthian Empire, where monogamy was written into law—shamelessly referring to the woman as his “second wife.”
He had no family.
From the moment his mother died in battle protecting the Guardian Stone, the Oblivion estate had ceased to be his home.
“Marriage is worthless.”
Aiden genuinely believed that.
His parents had once been the closest of friends.
Their relationship had completely fallen apart only after they entered into the contract known as marriage.
When you grew up overhearing servants whispering in every corner, it wasn’t difficult to piece together the truth.
Aiden didn’t want to lose Olivia.
The two of them were already closer than family.
Stronger.
More tightly bound.
A fragile contract like marriage would only become the spark that destroyed what they already had.
He had truly believed that.
“You threw her a cancellation letter and immediately left on deployment? Why?”
“…Because my family would’ve objected.”
“What nonsense. Think about it carefully. That’s obviously not the real reason.”
Lady Renier Windler, a knight of the Lux Knights who had almost become engaged to Aiden due to a complicated series of circumstances, had questioned him extensively after learning the engagement had fallen through.
After hearing the whole story, Renier had bestowed upon him the nickname:
“Stupid Trash.”
At the time, Aiden had found the insult irritating.
Yet somehow he hadn’t been able to argue against it.
Now…
Looking at Olivia’s current behavior, Renier’s words felt painfully accurate.
Lost in complicated thoughts, Aiden absently rubbed the engagement ring on his left ring finger.
At that moment, he heard some trainees talking in the distance.
“What are you doing tomorrow? It’s our day off.”
“Not sure. Still deciding.”
Break time was nearly over.
Rising to his feet, Aiden glanced across the training grounds where the students were gathered.
“…Again.”
There they were.
Together again.
A sight immediately caught his attention.
Olivia and Bennett.
After his lengthy “conversation” with Bennett yesterday, Aiden knew there wasn’t anything going on between them.
But just because there wasn’t anything now didn’t mean there never would be.
Objectively speaking, Olivia was an extremely cute beauty.
Her calm brown hair.
Her round eyes.
Those deep green irises that looked like they held an entire forest.
And the dimples that appeared whenever she smiled.
She’s incredibly cute.
And that wasn’t all.
She worked hard at everything she did.
She was kind.
Even after enduring two straight months of Aiden tormenting her with every training method imaginable, she had never sought revenge.
At least not real revenge.
The worst she’d done was show up carrying a sword and challenge him to a duel a few times.
That passion!
Turning even anger into training!
It was so perfectly Olivia that Aiden had to suppress a smile.
In any case…
Anyone who got to know Olivia would inevitably fall for her.
It was only a matter of time.
Soon enough, idiots would be crowding around her, confessing their love and affection.
As her “older brother figure,” it was his duty to protect her from that.
Did that bastard just smile at Olivia?
The audacity!
Aiden immediately burst into silent outrage.
It was the kind of conclusion only someone completely unaware that Olivia had already spent three years in the Knight Department—and had received exactly zero confessions in the past year—could possibly reach.
There were still five minutes left in break.
Plenty of time for a quick conversation.
Aiden strode directly toward Olivia and Bennett.
“Assistant Instructor! You’re here!”
Olivia greeted him with a bright smile.
For a split second, Aiden nearly smiled back on instinct.
He bit the inside of his cheek and forced his expression under control.
The area around the scratch Olivia had left on his neck felt strangely itchy.
“The wound is still there.”
Olivia’s eyes sparkled with amusement as she said it.
Aiden immediately pulled up the collar of his shirt to cover the mark.
Then he casually asked,
“Do either of you have any special plans tomorrow?”
“Huh?”
The response was immediate confusion.
Only then did Aiden remember that he was standing here as their training instructor.
A training instructor asking students personal questions?
That was disciplinary-action material.
Quickly, he corrected himself.
“I’m asking because training shouldn’t stop just because it’s a day off. If you relax too much, Olivia, you’ll end up doing basic drills with those idiots over there. You won’t be able to beat me in our next duel.”
“Don’t worry, Assistant Instructor. Next time I’ll defeat you even more impressively.”
“So… you’re saying you’ll be training tomorrow?”
“Huh? No? I’m going out with some classmates tomorrow. We’re heading to Surt Square.”
Going out?
With classmates?
Aiden’s gaze instantly shifted to Bennett.
Bennett quietly nodded, confirming the story.
So not only were they attached at the hip during training…
Now they were spending their day off together too?
Every instinct in Aiden’s body started blaring an emergency alarm.
“So the two of you… together.”
“Of course. We’re classmates.”
“What about your fiancé?”
“…What?”
No.
Have I lost my mind?
Aiden bit his lip again before any more nonsense could escape.
This time he bit hard enough to taste blood.
“It’s nothing.”
“Break time’s over! Everyone assemble!”
He immediately turned around and walked away at a rapid pace.
Completely oblivious to the strange expressions Olivia and Bennett exchanged behind him.
Soon, the sounds of suffering trainees once again filled the training grounds.
As Aiden watched them, he sank into thought.
Why am I in such a bad mood?
Was it because Olivia was spending time with other people despite having a fiancé?
No.
That couldn’t be it.
If that sort of thing bothered him, he never would’ve handed her a cancellation letter and left in the first place.
So there had to be another reason.
Having lots of friends was a good thing for Olivia.
Meeting a decent person among them and getting engaged—
No, breaking an engagement—
No, getting married—
Whatever.
That was fine too.
Society still believed marriage was essential for noble ladies.
Of course, any man who wanted to stand beside Olivia would first need Aiden’s approval.
He couldn’t allow just any random fool near her.
Olivia would always be his little Olive.
His precious younger sister.
“…Ah.”
That’s it.
There simply wasn’t a single worthwhile man at Veritas who was good enough for her.
“My goodness. So that’s what it was.”
Suddenly, he felt much better.
That was the reason.
He simply didn’t want worthless men swarming around someone precious to him.
Aiden carefully examined the trainees rolling around on the ground.
As expected.
Not a single one was worthy of Olivia.
A smile spread across his face.
“Haah. And here I thought…”
“Sir?”
“I thought I might actually be losing my mind.”
“…”
“Since I’m in such a good mood, let’s add one hundred extra push-ups! The last person to finish starts today’s sparring matches first.”
You’re definitely insane. Why are you denying it?
Every trainee stared at him with that exact thought written across their faces.
Unfortunately, Aiden had already reached a conclusion that satisfied him completely.
Granted, it was a spectacularly incorrect conclusion.
But Aiden was extremely pleased with himself.
Had Olivia heard his reasoning, she probably would’ve flipped over a table and started chugging cold water in sheer frustration.
