The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

123 – Needs Rest (05)

124.

“…Kal, Sister.”

“Yes, Milady.”

“Doesn’t it feel… closer somehow?”

“The morning service has always been this way. And if I don’t look closely, there’s no point in applying the medicine.”

“No… it’s like… something’s different…”

It wasn’t that long ago that the Dranus family regained its reputation.

Sina’s actions, from Ecclesia to the banquet, once again made the Dranus name known throughout the empire.

And the image Sina showed at that banquet made people anticipate a revived Dranus.

It wasn’t the image of a perfect head of the family.

It hadn’t been long since Sina had properly decided to undertake training as the head of the family.

Back then, Sina was too much of an innocent girl to be called the head.

But even so, those who enjoyed the banquet alongside her were not disappointed.

Sina was, quite simply, an innocent girl.

It would have been different if she had been completely ignorant, lacking the qualifications to take the position of head.

Sina did not cower even in front of all those adults of the empire.

Rather, she greeted them with a bright smile that was unique to her.

And that left a deep impression on the numerous family heads present.

The pressure of having to inherit the name of Dranus.

The banquet was, in effect, under Sina’s own name.

Anyone who knew even a little of the sincerity of those who showed their faces there, it was only natural to be nervous or stiff.

After all, she was still only a young noble lady of society.

But Sina was still innocent and bright.

Realizing that made it seem different.

A girl who doesn’t lose her color, even in a place like this, in front of such important people.

Someday, she will be the one to lead one of the greatest names in the empire’s history.

For that reason, the Dranus family grew rapidly.

It would be burdensome, but Sinat never frowned, except when she was scolded for running around the mansion during her etiquette lessons.

No one knew what made her so bright, but there was one thing Sinat never skipped in her morning routine.

And it was during her usual morning routine that Sinat spoke.

“What do you think? Cal?”

“…”

“Even an engaged prince and lady wouldn’t be this close…”

Inside Kallen’s room.

To be exact, in the Dranus family mansion, one of the finer ones, a room Sinat had given to Kallen.

Kallen, shirtless, was letting Selina tend to him.

It was a routine by now.

In the morning, Selina would carefully apply medicine to his scars, and Sinat, who came here to play before her heir lessons, was no stranger to this sight.

But for some reason, Sinat’s expression was bright today.

Her eyes, cute and drooping, pure and sparkling, were fixed on Kallen.

If a maid or a servant of the family saw her, they would ask what good news she had, her expression was so bright.

However, for Kallen, Sinat’s face as she looked at him like that felt a little chilling.

“Did something happen, you two?”

Kallen, letting Selina tend to him, and Selina, carefully applying medicine to the wound on his stomach.

And those deep blue eyes, seemingly directed at Kallen, but also subtly fixed on Selina’s hand, in a way that no one could understand.

Perhaps that subtle change of emotion that Sinat showed could only be discerned by Kallen.

Her eyes, which had been fixed on Kallen and Selina while leaning on her arms on the bed, moved just as Kallen was about to say something.

Then, they disappeared behind her cutely closed eyes.

“Cal.”

“…Yeah.”

“…You haven’t forgotten, have you? What happened… back then.”

Kallen was suddenly reminded of what Sinat had said, “back then.”

After rescuing Sinat from the spirit realm, there was the matter of her feelings, for which he hadn’t given an answer for several reasons.

Sinat watched Kallen think about it, and for some reason, she smiled, as if in a good mood.

Then, she stood up with a burst of energy, stretched her stiff body once, and with a small smile, turned toward the door.

“It’s enough that you remember. Play well with your sister, and play with me too, in the evening.”

“…Okay.”

“Um… how do you hold a teacup again…”

Shinatt finished that sentence and walked right out of the room.

A moment of silence passed, then Selina, having closed the medicine kit, smiled sweetly.

“All done, Master.”

“…Thank you.”

“But Master…”

Selina placed the medicine kit on the bedside table, then picked up Calen’s monocle, bringing it to his left eye.

“We had something happen, didn’t we?”

“…”

*Clink.*

Four sentences meshed together, and Selina neatly swept Calen’s side hair back.

“Hehe. Just kidding. Seeing you so flustered makes me want to tease you more.”

Selina chuckled, smiling sweetly.

Calen touched his side hair for no reason and looked away.

He wasn’t flustered, but did he look like he was?

The events of that day had been a great help to Calen.

It was a chance to quietly calm his somewhat tumultuous mind.

From the incident at Plache to the sudden commotion in the Imperial Palace, for Calen, that was precisely how significant it all was.

It wasn’t that he was troubled or anything, but it was enough to bother him.

How did Selina even realize that?

Calen had liked the street that night, too.

Selina seemed even more excited, but he liked that she felt different from her usual calm and gentle self.

After that, they went out to the streets together without any particular reason.

Buying monster meat or drinks together and strolling along, a cool breeze would blow, making it a luxurious rest in itself.

Selina would wander the streets like an excited child each time.

Now, that side of her was starting to show little by little even at the mansion.

“…I wasn’t flustered.”

“Hehe. Yes, Master.”

Even just looking at her teasing him now shows it.

She’s still the usual Selina in front of the other maids and staff…

Is it possible the lively side is Selina’s true self?

That gap, for some reason, wasn’t unpleasant, and Kallen decided to just let Selina be, smiling kindly and nodding.

In any case, that was the reason why the two of them grew close so quickly.

Before he knew it, Kallen had begun to naturally accept Selina’s service.

Selina, a faint smile playing on her lips, stepped off the bed and went to where Kallen’s clothes were hanging.

The room was so large that there was even a separate space for hanging clothes.

She examined the clothes carefully, as if she were choosing her own.

She was even humming a little tune, looking cheerful.

“Will you be going out right away, Master?”

Kallen confirmed that the medicine had been fully absorbed and put his pajamas back on.

Then, he sat at the edge of the bed.

Today was a day for an outing.

It was the day he had an appointment to meet the two young ladies, Daphne and Richesa.

Looking back, it was an appointment made quite a while ago.

It was made back when Shinat first entered Ecclesia, a promise made with them while they were separated.

They had clearly promised to eat chocolate desserts together.

They had agreed to meet once before going to the Spirit Realm, and they had set the exact date when he returned from the Plache incident.

That date was today.

Kallen watched Selina cheerfully choosing clothes and said,

“Yes. But I’ll have to be back by evening.”

“I understand. Hmm… then would this be better…”

In Selina’s hands, she held two sets of formal attire.

One was as dark as Kallen’s eyes, and the other was a brighter outfit that the young nobles of the social circles would often wear.

To Kallen’s eyes, they looked exactly the same.

Since Selina and Shinat had strongly insisted, Kallen couldn’t even choose his own clothes.

Even if he were told to choose, he would have left it to them, but seeing her ponder over clothes that looked identical was actually quite amusing.

“But still, this would be better. Master suits neat clothes rather than those old-fashioned ones.”

“…”

Are all the young nobles in the social circles old-fashioned people?

As he was thinking about that question, Selina placed the bright outfit back and returned.

“Shall I help you dress?”

“…I can dress myself.”

Selina, smiling brightly, held out the dark clothes.

Kalen took them and began to change.

*Being* dressed, as if she were tending to a little brother, that attitude irked Kalen.

Still, the clothes were carefully chosen by Selina, so he put them on without a word.

How long had passed?

It felt like a rather long time to be simply changing clothes, and Selina spoke hesitantly.

“…Master? Are you still not done?”

“…”

When Kalen didn’t reply, Selina opened her eyes in puzzlement.

And there, she found Kalen, sitting still with the open back of his clothing exposed.

“…”

“…”

Nobles cared about even the smallest details, so of course, dressing was not something they’d breeze through.

Unlike the clothes of commoners, which were simple to put on, the clothes nobles wore had many inconvenient aspects.

For instance, the open back had to be tied shut.

Since it had to be tied securely so it wouldn’t come undone, it was impossible to do alone.

Especially for Kalen, who rarely wore formal attire and had only recently started wearing noble’s clothing.

“Pfft… Didn’t you say you could do it yourself? Master?”

“…”

“Since Master said he could do it himself, I suppose I should just stand here…”

Selina, placing a hand over her chest, sighed dramatically.

Kalen was silent for a moment, then, lowering his head slightly, he muttered.

“…Sorry.”

“I don’t think that’s quite it~.”

“…”

Selina brought her hand from her chest to her mouth, covering it and chuckling softly.

Not because she found Kalen funny, but simply because she was enjoying the situation.

“Help…me…”

“Huh~?”

“…Please, help me put it on. Selina.”

“Puhuhu…”

Whether she liked the request or not, Selina slowly stepped behind Kallen and took hold of the ties.

*Rustle, rustle.*

With practiced ease, the difficult ties knotted in an instant, and a dark vest settled over the neatly arranged shirt.

“Master. Look at me.”

“…”

Kallen’s face didn’t seem much different than usual, but Selina could even perceive that subtle change, a slight bowing of his head.

Then, Selina gently brushed away the stray hairs that had fallen out while dressing him, smiling softly.

Their breaths mingling a little, their faces drawing close together.

“It suits you very well… Master.”

Kallen finally finished his preparations to go out after attaching even his staff to his waist.