The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

108 – A Long-Held Wish (05)

109.

“Sister…”

“It’s alright, Laris. It’s alright.”

The eldest daughter of Plache, Runea Laris, was a strong person.

At least, that’s what Laris thought and believed.

She was incomparable to those young ladies who wasted time talking about men in high society.

Her older sister, Runea, was a much wiser and more intelligent woman than them.

Laris was proud of herself.

A father from one of the four great families.

A kind and gentle mother.

And even a wise and intelligent older sister.

She was proud to be their beloved daughter and cute younger sister.

Laris thought that moment would last forever.

And it didn’t take long for that sweet thought to crumble.

“Father will protect you…”

After Mother passed, Father was deeply disheartened.

He often drank the alcohol he’d rarely touched before, and his sighs grew more frequent.

Around the time nasty rumors started circulating among the families,

Father brought home a new mother.

He said she was the youngest daughter of the massive Lyle Merchant Guild.

Our stepmother wasn’t as kind and gentle as Mother, but she wasn’t a bad person either.

She often made us food, and you could feel she was trying in her own way.

My sister and I gradually opened our hearts to her.

I still missed Mother enough to dream of her, but I decided to believe she was a good person, good enough for Father to bring home.

At least, until that point.

I think I wasn’t that sad.

*

“Sister…!”

“…I’m sorry, Laris. Can you be strong and do well without me? Just a little… if you just hold on a little longer. I’ll work hard to earn money…”

My farewell with my sister was also sudden.

I know that Flavius Lyle mistreated my sister.

If he was like that even to me, whom she mostly shielded,

I often wondered how she endured being summoned for every small thing by that old man.

My sister left in a marriage that came together so suddenly.

I heard he was a good man, but judging by my sister’s expression, it didn’t seem quite true.

When my sister left and I was left alone, Flavius Lyle needed someone to take her place.

It was natural that I became that replacement.

Flavius Lyle criticized even the smallest things.

My table manners, the way I walked, even my clothes and way of speaking.

It would have been better if that was all he criticized.

-Tsk, tsk… after all, you can’t get rid of the slave mentality…

What hurt the most was the way Flavius Lyle would habitually curse at my mother.

Words that insulted my mother who was a slave.

That was harder to bear than any other words.

It was around that time, I think, that I began to understand my sister.

My sister, who had no thoughts of marriage, was forced to leave.

But even in that desperate situation.

It wasn’t like she had nowhere to turn.

Raris still had family left.

*

“…Huh?”

“They told her to leave.”

“B-but… Father…”

“I think you’re past the age for whining, Raris.”

When even that last remaining family vanished.

That was the most desperate, the saddest moment.

Maybe it was the influence of Flavour Lyle, but even my stepmother wasn’t trying as hard as before.

Instead, she was so focused on my newborn younger brother, that I received more criticism than praise.

You must be careful, so your brother can watch and learn.

Stay out of the way, so you don’t interfere with his education.

And little by little.

Little by little.

I stopped talking.

Because there was no one to talk to.

I began to eat quickly.

Because I was so busy watching my step, that I often choked.

I started using formal language with everyone.

Because I could sense that even the staff didn’t hold me in high regard.

There were many nights I spent crying.

Missing my mother and sister.

Feeling that my father loved my younger brother more than me.

Clutching the only necklace my mother left behind.

I sobbed quietly in my shabby room, a space that had somehow become familiar.

Because if they heard me crying, Flavour Lyle wouldn’t let it slide.

The family I was once so proud of, no one remained by my side anymore.

*

“Kallen…?”

When staying more in high society, because I hated my family, became no longer unfamiliar.

The name of a boy reached my ears.

Kallen, the center of an unbelievable rumor.

That the daughters of the great Four Houses wouldn’t leave his side.

That his face was absurdly handsome.

That he played a crucial role in rebuilding the Dranus family.

But among those, the most unbelievable were the words about *symbiosis*.

Even the social birds, so fond of gossip, laughed it off as nonsense.

That the ladies who were with him awakened to *symbiosis*.

A tale so ridiculous it made you scoff.

Yet even then, there are exceptions.

There was one lady who desperately wished that even that absurd rumor was true.

*Symbiosis.*

If only she had that, wouldn’t anything be possible?

Achieving her long-held wish, since her father told her to leave his room.

The judgment was brief, the action even faster.

A great topic of conversation arose in society.

That Dranus was holding a grand commemorative banquet.

They said that boy had contributed greatly to the rebuilding of Dranus, so surely she could meet him if she went there.

And so at the banquet she went, she was fortunate to meet a boy.

Kallen was a cold person.

He didn’t react much to anything, and his expression rarely changed.

The ladies around him were also unusual.

As if the rumors were true, girls from the prestigious families of Lacatus, Hiart, and Dranus filled his surroundings.

Indeed, his appearance stood out even in high society.

But to become close with those kinds of ladies, mere looks weren’t enough.

I had to know the boy better.

Approaching him, the boy was as cold as he appeared, for sure.

And the stares from the surrounding young ladies were so intense it was hard to bear, but I could endure that much easily.

Compared to the gazes from my own family at home, anyway.

But the boy was more cautious than I’d expected.

And the method to awaken his ‘heart-image’ was also unexpectedly treacherous.

Risking my life?

Of course, if I risked my life, it was surely possible, and as long as I was alive to see it, it was entirely achievable.

But the boy said it wasn’t even certain if he could obtain the heart-image.

Still, that wasn’t really a problem.

Originally, it was an outright impossible task.

I was in a position to be grateful for even the smallest chance.

What was more of a problem was that the boy would also have to be in danger.

No one cares for others.

Everyone puts themselves first, and no one jumps into such a thing without certain compensation.

…At least, that’s what I thought.

The boy didn’t immediately accept, but he didn’t refuse either.

The relationship extended past the party, to Ecclesia Salon.

Eventually, I was able to get a definitive answer there.

I felt like I could fly then.

Because the fact that even the slightest possibility had arisen was real.

And so, I returned with the boy, Kallen.

Kallen was genuine.

He listened to my past, and considered the direction I should take.

A situation where anyone could see he was genuine.

Something I’d only imagined vaguely while spending tearful nights might become a reality.

Kallen willingly became my escort knight.

It was probably then that I started to feel strange.

His earnestness made me believe in him without hesitation.

And I became more focused on his words.

Looking back now, it was a kind of turning point.

A turning point that made me understand Kalen better.

Made me *want* to understand him better.

Kalen wasn’t afraid.

Even when facing powerful enemies like the Lyle Merchants and the Plache family head, he seemed sure of himself.

Even after telling him about the dangers of Latia Falls, he didn’t hesitate much and headed there.

Even with the risk of being swept away by the rapids, piercing through the spray.

Even when I forced him to climb the dizzying cliffs.

Even when the explosion happened above the cliffs.

Kalen willingly played along with my stubbornness.

And each time, he made sure I was safe.

I came to trust his calm confidence.

I realized how reliable his strong body was.

I came to see how warm his cold expression could be.

When I leaned on him amidst the spray.

When he carried me on his back above the cliffs.

When I fell from above the falls and he saved me.

I kept trusting him, relying on him more and more.

I realized I couldn’t control these feelings when I met my mother.

That long-awaited wish come true.

Because the boy showed me something beyond that, a dream I hadn’t dared to imagine.

After reuniting with my mother, my mind was filled only with the memory of the falls I’d seen with a certain boy.

I’d felt then that it wasn’t as beautiful as I’d expected.

Now I know the reason.

Because there was something even more beautiful,

there with me.

Do you know the hidden story of Latia Falls?

A cheesy, predictable story like something from a third-rate play.

There was a woman who dreamt of a love that could never be.

Knowing it was impossible, she tried not to get hurt.

Because there was no way for them to ever connect.

The woman threw herself into Latia Falls.

To leave the man capable of daring to love.

When I first learned of this untold story, I couldn’t understand that woman, Latia.

Dying over mere love, a single emotion, just didn’t compute.

And then.

I understood her.

Why such great young ladies longed for one boy.

How all those women could love the same boy.

Now that a long-held wish has been granted.

I selfishly dream of another wish.

If it cannot be fulfilled, I feel like throwing myself into a waterfall like that stupid woman in the tale.

I remember his whisper.

A slave’s mark.

Even though the flaw I’d desperately tried to hide was revealed.

Even though I knew he’d lied about telling me everything in his heart.

Kalen readily took my side.

How could I not fall for him?

How could I not love him?

Thump. Thump. Thump.

My heartbeat, which had grown so loud I could no longer control it, had long since escaped my grasp.

I desperately denied it.

He has other young ladies, and I was just mistaking a deep gratitude, that’s all.

But now, I know.

I selfishly wish to become one of those blind women.

Like the love-blind female lead in a third-rate play, a tedious and predictable tale.

But also, a story of a happy ending, which is bound to happen someday.

The reason I liked third-rate plays was perhaps…

No.

It must be because I’d dreamt of stories like this, clearly.

*

“Haa… haa… haa…”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

My cheeks are hot.

Is it because of the outer garment Callen covered me with?

I don’t know.

Right now, I just want to let this feeling go for a while, think selfishly like this.

My heart is thumping like it’s about to burst.

My cheeks and head feel swollen and hot.

My breathless panting makes my head spin, but strangely, my vision sharpens.

Laris lifted her head.

To take in the sight of one boy.

The one who saved her life, who went along with her absurd demands.

Who willingly took her side, who granted her long-held wish, her guard.

Like a scene from a third-rate play, where the male lead saves the female lead.

It’s contrived, unbelievable.

It started when Vellen, as promised, shot out his ice spear.

Flavor Lyle was terribly surprised, but the mercenary captain of the Manu Dan blocked it.

Then Callen moved right away, and took down the Manu Dan in one strike.

Ice spears didn’t miss a single one of those who came near Laris.

The female lead being protected by the male lead.

What she had dreamt of, it had become reality.

“Callen…”

Since Callen had become the male lead for her.

It was only right for her to play along.

Laris decided to willingly dance to this third-rate play.

The male lead is Callen.

The female lead is Laris.

So obvious and cliché.

But for the sake of a play that would, someday, inevitably reach a happy ending.

Laris smiled faintly.

Through her outstretched hand, Kalen’s figure faintly shimmered.

A second-rate drama’s female lead began to dance.