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chapter 73
After nearly two hours of training, Rubiana headed to the Knights’ Order office with Chad.
“Ruby, you really did well! I didn’t expect you to be this good for your first practice! I actually fell twice during my first session.”
“It’s all thanks to your careful guidance, senior. Thank you, Chad.”
“Yeah. You should be really grateful. But just with words?”
“Don’t tell me… words alone aren’t enough, senior?”
“Of course not. Shouldn’t you show your thanks with a meal or something?”
“Oh, I see. A meal, huh… I’ll think about it.”
They were chatting excitedly when Rubiana’s smile vanished the moment she noticed the faces of the knights approaching from the opposite direction.
‘Elion…!’
Elion’s expression mirrored hers. His already cold demeanor grew even colder.
“Greetings, Commander-in-Chief.”
“…Hello.”
Rubiana followed Chad, awkwardly bowing her head.
Elion, however, didn’t spare them a glance and just passed by with a slight nod.
“Carry on with your work.”
That was it.
Rubiana had expected a chilly response, but this was harsher than she anticipated.
Even the elite knights following Elion looked uneasy, their expressions tightening.
Rubiana felt a heavy pain in her chest as she turned away.
Chad, noticing her darkened expression, murmured in a low voice.
“Consider yourself lucky to have parted ways with someone that cold, Rubi.”
“….”
“It’s proof that the goddess of fortune is on your side.”
“…You’re right. I am lucky.”
Looking up at Chad as he tried to comfort her, Rubiana forced a smile, though her heart still ached.
She had thought she had moved on, but a lingering attachment stubbornly clung to her.
“This won’t do!”
Seeing Elion move further away, Chad raised his voice.
He looked at the still-sullen Rubiana, raising his eyebrows with a bright grin.
“C’mon, Ruby! Don’t you think you should treat this senior to a meal for giving it their all so you could finish your first training safely?”
“Yeah. I’ll buy today’s meal!”
“Perfect! Truly a junior with excellent sense!”
Chad patted Rubiana’s shoulder warmly and laughed heartily.
Rubiana felt grateful for Chad’s effort on her behalf.
After training, Rubiana and Chad headed to the restaurant.
It was the same restaurant where Rubiana’s induction celebration had been held.
Fried chicken, roasted vegetables, and beer were served one by one.
“Wow! Food after training tastes amazing! I haven’t felt this in ages.”
Rubiana’s hands moved busily with the fork.
Seeing her face brighten, Chad felt relieved. He had secretly worried she’d remain glum even in front of food.
Raising his beer glass, he said,
“Here’s to safely completing your first training!”
“Thank you, senior! I look forward to your guidance! Cheers!”
“This girl really knows how to behave properly!”
Chad laughed heartily and drained his beer in one gulp.
“Ah, this is the taste! Huh? Rubiana? Why aren’t you drinking?”
“I’m trying not to drink too much. I can’t afford to make mistakes like last time.”
“Huh? Mistakes… did you? What mistakes?”
“…Yeah. Something like that happened.”
In her drunken courage, she had grabbed Elion’s hand and begged him to stay with her.
A humiliating mistake.
It was a memory she wished she could erase entirely.
Turning her troubled face away, Rubiana focused again on the fried chicken.
Her mouth chewed diligently, but her mind replayed the memory of kissing Elion in the carriage last week, filling her with regret.
“Well… I don’t know what it is, but fine! I’ll be your Black Knight today too!”
Chad reached for Rubiana’s beer and started drinking it down in hearty gulps.
Seeing him finish his glass boldly, Rubiana smiled softly.
“Thanks.”
…And sorry.
She kept the rest of her thoughts to herself. She always felt a little guilty toward Chad.
Under normal circumstances, this should have been a time for them to be affectionate, building a mutual bond.
Yet strangely, Rubiana felt that her feelings for Chad hadn’t fully developed.
Of course, she appreciated his kindness. She felt affection as a childhood friend and as a comrade in the Knights’ Order.
But nothing deeper than that. No romantic feelings had grown.
‘Time will fix this.’
Yes, it would.
Once her feelings for Elion faded and her heart had room again… perhaps…
‘Then I could grow my feelings for Chad a bit more.’
Chad, feeling pleased at her gratitude, shrugged.
“Not a big deal.”
Rubiana, finding his confident smile a little cheeky, teased playfully.
“But you didn’t say you wouldn’t drink at all. You said you’d only have a little, right?”
“Ah…?”
“Answer me!”
For a moment, Chad’s face registered confusion.
Rubiana burst out laughing at his ridiculous expression.
Chad scratched his cheek, embarrassed, but laughed along with her.
The meal for the two childhood friends and comrades flowed joyfully and peacefully.
A dark shadow loomed around Elion.
‘So they met like that…’
Since briefly encountering Rubiana, Elion couldn’t focus on his work.
He left the Knights’ Order earlier than planned and headed to the Duke’s residence.
‘Looks like she’s gotten closer to Chad Preston.’
He couldn’t forget the image of Rubiana laughing and chattering with that man.
Clenching his jaw, the muscles tensed.
Everything was back to where it should be, yet nothing pleased him.
It would take time to get used to this. Much more than he expected.
‘Damn it.’
Roughly brushing his face, he dismounted, where Scott and Hailey greeted him with respectful bows.
“You’re back early, Your Highness.”
“Your Highness, we were waiting to speak with you. It’s important.”
It was unusual to see Hailey, who usually spent most of her time holed up in her office, standing with Scott.
The premonition was not good.
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s regarding the epidemic spreading in the southern regions.”
Elion frowned at Hailey.
Currently, all the empire’s attention was focused on the southern regions plagued by disease.
It had been two weeks since the medical support team led by the Crown Prince was dispatched. With significant manpower and resources deployed, the situation was gradually stabilizing.
“Go on.”
“Have you heard of the Kurmon Incident that occurred in the capital 50 years ago?”
“If it’s the Kurmon Incident… I believe it was the epidemic that spread in the capital, right?”
Elion recalled what he had read in history books.
“Yes, that’s correct. But that epidemic peculiarly started among the nobility and spread to commoners via their household staff.”
“….”
“Normally, naturally occurring epidemics start among commoners in poor living conditions and then spread to the nobility. But the Kurmon Incident was the opposite.”
Elion’s expression darkened as he listened to Hailey’s detailed account.
There had to be a reason she went into such historical detail—and it likely wasn’t a pleasant story.
Elion said nothing, staring at Hailey, silently urging her to get to the point. Hailey continued without hesitation.
“After several months and many deaths, the medical scholars of the time finally discovered the cause of the disease.”
“Poison… right?”
“You remember correctly, Your Highness. Yes. It was a poison created by someone named Kurmon. And Kurmon… belonged to the Mackinnon guild.”
“…What?”
Elion’s eyes widened in shock.
The person who spread the epidemic that had shaken the empire fifty years ago was a member of the dark mage guild Mackinnon.
And the news that the Mackinnon group had moved to the south came just before this epidemic broke out.
Hailey spoke in a subdued voice.
“I suspect this epidemic is also Mackinnon’s doing. I want to go directly to the south to investigate.”
“…It’ll be dangerous.”
Elion usually granted most of Hailey’s requests without question.
But this time, he couldn’t.
It was a region already afflicted by the epidemic.
