Chapter 86
Whoa.
Karha took a bite of the scone.
He chewed it for a while and swallowed, then, seeming to find the taste acceptable, held it out toward Chesha.
Chomp.
Chesha naturally nibbled at the corner of the scone that Karha offered.
On the roundish scone, a large bite mark and a small bite mark appeared side by side.
“How is it?”
“It’s yummy!”
“Want some cream on it?”
“And jam too.”
“Sure.”
Karha slathered apple jam and clotted cream messily onto the scone and held it out to Chesha again.
Chesha didn’t lift a finger, simply eating whatever Karha prepared for her.
He even promptly dabbed at her lips with a napkin if even a single crumb stuck to them.
Thanks to that, Chesha truly had nothing to do.
‘He’s doing it on purpose.’
Of course, Karha usually took attentive care of Chesha.
But right now, it seemed like a bit of competitive psychology was at play as well.
With her small mouth diligently nibbling at the scone, Chesha glanced across the table.
There sat Hailon, sipping his tea in a dignified posture.
The uniform he had torn in the carriage was already neatly straightened.
As always, his attire was impeccable, without a single petal’s worth of space for imperfection.
He had been drinking his tea with downcast eyes, but now he slightly lifted his gaze.
When his eyes met Chesha’s, a faint smile spread across his otherwise icy face.
Seeing Hailon’s smile, Karha acted like a horned colt ready to charge.
“Stop smiling, would you?”
His attitude was as if he might leap forward to bite at any moment.
Hailon set down his teacup and replied indifferently.
“Even the Supreme Sun Emperor of the Palen Empire doesn’t have the right to force others to withhold their smiles.”
Meaning, who are you to command me?
Karha, his face growing even more heated, shouted.
“I’m saying that because you keep smiling at someone else’s baby!”
“Why are you like this, Sir Karha? He’s probably smiling because the young miss is cute.”
Unaware of the complicated incident between the Basilian County family and the Holy Empire’s heretic inquisitor, Theo naively played the innocent one.
Theo held a teacup that looked comically small in his hand and smiled broadly.
“I smile too whenever my eyes meet the young miss’s. Isn’t she just too adorable?”
“……”
Karha covered his eyes with his hand for a moment.
Every time Theo acted like that, Karha lost his fighting spirit.
Karha, his already sharp eyes slanting upward into diagonal lines, tightly hugged Chesha, whom he had seated on his lap.
“I’m grateful for the help.”
“I didn’t help you.”
Hailon drew a firm line.
“I merely fulfilled my duty as the child’s escort knight.”
When would he stop milking that temporary escort knight role?
‘Since he’s convinced there’s a connection to Lichesia, he won’t ever let go of me from now on.’
She wondered what excuse he’d use to stick around after the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly ended.
Karha glared at Hailon.
Perhaps because nothing was going his way today, he seemed a bit on edge.
The round and cuddly bear, Theo, stepped in to mediate the atmosphere.
He brought up another topic.
“I had no idea the Basilian family had connections with a holy knight. And one from the First Order of the Holy Knights, no less— that’s impressive.”
Theo looked at Hailon with eyes full of admiration.
“When I was a kid, my dream was to become a holy knight. The uniform is so cool. I even imagined receiving a holy relic from the Holy King.”
He shyly added that he wanted the Spear of Rubeus.
It was a decent move, casually complimenting the host.
The only problem was that the compliment didn’t sit well with the host.
Hailon had received a holy relic and become bound to the Holy Empire.
Bound, but it was no different from being a collared dog.
Recalling the scar on his back, she glanced at him, and sure enough, his gaze had slightly darkened.
He didn’t show it outwardly, but he clearly didn’t want to talk about it.
Only the oblivious Theo continued chatting with a beaming smile.
“If it’s not rude, could I request a spar sometime? Sir Karha, have you ever sparred with the holy knight…?”
“I haven’t. We’re not close.”
It was while Karha was diligently sabotaging Theo’s efforts to lighten the mood.
Hailon, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.
“You do need training.”
At the abrupt remark, Theo, Chesha, and even Karha froze for a moment.
With an expressionless face, Hailon trampled on Karha’s pride.
“You’re weak, Karha Basilian.”
He asked.
“How long are you going to keep running away?”
Karha’s twin brother was different from him from head to toe.
The only thing they shared was the color of their red eyes.
Their appearances and tastes were so opposite that it was embarrassing to call them twins.
Even so, there had never been a time when he couldn’t understand Ishuel.
He could always grasp what Ishuel was feeling and thinking.
Just from a look in his eyes, he could roughly figure it out.
Karha always knew what Ishuel wanted.
It was an intuition connected through their twin bond.
But lately, Ishuel…
Karha kept thinking he didn’t understand him anymore.
The peak was when he suddenly started actively learning magic, despite insisting he’d only do noble pursuits and throwing fits about never wanting to learn it.
Karha thought his twin brother had gone mad.
When he asked why, Ishuel replied curtly.
“Because I’m desperate.”
It was utterly incomprehensible.
But watching Ishuel steadily walk the path of a mage made him feel strange.
After a new sibling entered the Basilian family.
Kierne, Belzeon, Ishuel…
Each began advancing toward their own clear goals.
He felt like he was the only one left behind.
So, for starters, Karha trained in swordsmanship even harder than before.
Because it was what he liked most.
But he kept feeling insufficient.
Swordsmanship was Karha’s escape.
Whenever he felt emotional turmoil he couldn’t handle, he swung his sword.
He charged into the Black Forest, slaughtered all the monsters, and rampaged as an executioner in the underworld.
Then, his turbulent heart would calm down.
Thanks to that, Karha could become a boy indifferent to most things.
It was a relatively peaceful life.
Until a baby entered Karha’s life, that is.
After meeting the baby, strangely, he kept feeling regretful.
He found himself thinking things he’d never considered before.
‘It would be good if I were stronger.’
Karha was overwhelmingly strong and had never felt defeat against anyone.
But after starting to live with the baby, he kept hitting limits.
Incidents where he was rendered powerless right before his eyes kept happening.
Sometimes it was due to differences in power and authority.
But there were definitely times when it was clearly because of Karha’s lack of strength.
The moment he had to watch the Holy Empire’s heretic inquisitor battle Kierne was still unpleasantly stuck in his mind.
Since then, Karha had devoted himself even more to swordsmanship.
However, emotions that he would normally shake off with a few sword swings grew increasingly intense.
They kept tormenting him darkly.
It wasn’t just a desire to become stronger.
An dissatisfaction whose reason he couldn’t identify was slowly pushing Karha to the edge of a cliff.
Days of wandering without finding answers continued.
And today, too, Karha felt an unpleasant mood.
Even if it was because the opponent was royalty.
Relying on his young sibling to escape and hiding under the protection of the heretic inquisitor he despised was an extremely distasteful affair.
It was anger that wouldn’t be resolved even by swinging his sword.
What was he supposed to do in times like this?
Karha was tormented because he didn’t know the solution.
“How long are you going to keep running away?”
Until the heretic inquisitor’s question pierced his heart.
