The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

21 – The Boy and Winter Island (05)

022.

The mansion of the Rakatus family was busy from the morning.

They were preparing to say goodbye to a boy who had become so familiar that he broke down the prejudices caused by differences in status.

A strange relationship that started with Evam, Brussel, and the squire Deuce.

The boy who spoke his mind confidently even in front of the head of the family.

He had incurred a great debt to the name of Lakatus.

Among those who bore the name of Lakatus, there was no one who did not know the adventures of the boy and the girl.

As the time to leave approached, the gap became palpable.

Amidst the bustling servants of the mansion.

In the still quiet room, there were the boy and the girl.

The scenery that had not changed since they first arrived.

The young maids, including Emma, pricked up their ears and tried to gauge what was beyond the door.

Wouldn’t any sound leak out?

What words were exchanged between the two?

The girls, each spreading their wings of imagination, squealed with excitement.

The best among them was undoubtedly Emma.

Behind the closed door was a story of a world they did not know.

To the girls in their prime, it was an incredibly stimulating story.

*

Eliana could not bring herself to part from Kalen’s embrace.

She had always been like that, but it became even more so as the farewell became certain.

But now, even that was impossible.

“You will come back, right…?”

“Yes.”

“Mm… If you don’t come back, I’ll come find you…”

“…”

She asked this every time she felt anxious.

Kalen was getting a bit dizzy.

Even so, Eliana, who had been isolated for years.

She would soon be able to shake it off and stand up, so there was nothing she couldn’t endure now.

How much time had passed like that?

Sensing it was time to go, Kalen stood up.

Eliana no longer looked at him.

Through the window set into the wall, he saw the carriage that Everchan had prepared finishing its preparations.

Kalen conveyed various instructions and encouragements and then tried to leave the room.

“Kallen.”

It was Eliana’s voice that stopped him in his tracks.

Her tone was slightly different from usual, giving off a somewhat serious feeling.

Eliana, who had stopped Kallen, walked quietly.

With clumsy steps, one step at a time.

Finally, Eliana reached Kallen, her cheeks tinged with red.

“Kallen.”

“Yes, Lady Eliana.”

Her hands were gathered behind her back, as if hiding something.

It was something he hadn’t noticed when they were sitting together on the bed.

The thought crossed his mind that it might be a farewell gift.

“Kallen, you’re my guard, right?”

To be precise, no.

That arrangement had ended when they returned from Winter Island.

Kallen wondered if he should tell the truth.

“It’s okay. For now, I’m satisfied with that.”

Eliana spoke slowly.

Very slowly.

He didn’t know if she was trying to buy time.

Kallen wasn’t an omnipotent god.

But he knew that she was doing her best not to drag out her words.

Eliana’s tendency to trail off or hesitate was her way of trying to be as precise as possible.

To eliminate that, her speaking pace had to slow down.

Kallen waited patiently, as always.

“This. It’s a thank you gift.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever expressed it as a gift before…”

Kallen spoke softly.

What Eliana held out was quite unexpected.

In her small, cupped hands,

Eliana received a brooch engraved with the words of Lacatus from her mother on her birthday, early in her illness.

“Why this…”

“Because my world is no longer there.”

Eliana shyly smiled and took another step closer, holding the brooch again.

She grabbed the eyeglass chain connecting Kalen’s left eye and ear from a close distance.

The chain was neither too long nor too short.

Eliana opened the pin loop of the brooch and attached it to the chain.

Since the brooch was already small, it didn’t feel strange.

Rather, the somewhat ordinary eyeglasses now had a unique color.

“Yes. For now, with this… So, you must keep the promise to return…?”

Kalen, recalling the time Eliana explained the meaning of the brooch…

Soon stopped.

“This is a letter requested by a boy named Deus… This is a letter requested by maid Emma… I don’t know why I’m running errands for the servants.”

“Thank you.”

Decaum Lacatus took on the task of seeing off the carriage.

He volunteered because he had something to say.

“Did you say goodbye to your father?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

Decaum handed over all the things he had been asked to deliver and then paused.

“No, this is something you should hear directly from the elder.”

“The elder?”

“Yes. You’ll understand when you return.”

Decaum said this and showed an awkward smile.

It was the utmost courtesy to a guest and benefactor.

“Safe travels. Once again, thank you for saving Eliana.”

“Yes.”

With that brief farewell, Kalen boarded the carriage.

Decaum Lacatus watched the carriage move away and soon shifted his gaze to his own hands.

“I hope we meet again.”

The words he muttered to himself rode the wind and flew far, far away.

*

Certainly, Blamia seemed far from the grandeur of a great wizard.

Having stayed at the mansion of Rakatus for a while, Kallen felt the difference even more keenly.

Though he lived alone with Sinat, it was just a cabin.

There were no attendants before Kallen arrived.

He used to live as the head of a grand duke’s family.

There must be more than a few inconveniences.

But it was just a cabin.

Nobles, as a rule,

are close to things that are bright and splendid.

They fill their homes with numerous artistic decorations and leave the dirty work to their servants.

If he had stayed at a top noble family like Rakatus, it would have been even more so.

Recalling the scenery inside the mansion, Kallen quietly walked across the field towards the secluded cabin.

The sight was familiar yet somewhat strange, causing him to let out a small laugh.

He had lived a life wandering the streets, not even remembering his parents’ faces.

Shaking his head, saying he was full, Kallen soon arrived at the cabin.

“Kal…? Is it Kallen?”

It was at that moment that a fresh young girl’s voice was heard from behind.

Before Kallen could reflexively turn around,

Wham-

“Kal!!”

Though fresh, it was not the voice but the scent of flesh that tickled his nose.

In his arms was a girl with a familiar figure.

“How long are you going to stay like that?”

“It’s my heart~ Right, Kal?”

“…Yeah.”

The formal speech stuck to his mouth.

Feeling a bit awkward, Kallen slowly lowered his head.

The environment over several months was like wind made of blood and flesh.

He had somewhat washed away the habits from the cabin he had brought for years.

The formal speech he used with Eliana had stuck to his tongue, and he almost used it with Sinat.

It wasn’t particularly strange, but Sinat disliked formal speech.

“Ah, this is it. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for my friend?”

“Sorry. Things got a bit tangled up.”

“At least you know you’re sorry. In that sense, I’ll add two more hours?”

“…Alright.”

If Eliana’s appearance was like a clear sky,

Sinat’s appearance could be compared to the night sky.

Kallen felt that anew.

Hair neatly down in indigo blue.

A girl with a fresh yet somehow peculiar charm.

Especially if you remember the smile on that sunset hill, it was hard to evaluate her as lively.

“But Kal, what’s this?”

At the question heard from the chin, Kallen lowered his gaze again.

Sinat was touching the brooch attached to the eyeglass string.

“I was going to compliment you for wearing glasses and a cane well, but isn’t this the emblem of the Lakatus family? Why do you have this?”

“The lady gave it to me as a thank you.”

“What?”

Sinat wriggled out of his arms and leaned his upper body towards Kallen.

“Why did she give that to you? The family emblem?”

“It’s just a thank you gift.”

“Kal, no one just hands over a brooch with the family emblem as a thank you. Besides, this looks quite high-end-“

“You gave me a cane too. You even made it yourself.”

“…”

Sinat stopped trying to say something,

then leaned his head back against Kallen.

“Hmph, well, you know it well.”

“Can’t you see me?”

As Sinat awkwardly stepped back.

From the side, Blamia’s grumbling voice was heard.

“I’m sorry, Master.”

“Enough. Raising both my granddaughter and my disciple was useless. Just go out and start a household together.”

Even while grumbling like that, there was no edge in his voice.

Kallen knew this well, so he just felt good with the familiar feeling.

He must be really tired.

His ears were tired, but on the contrary, his heart was relaxing.

Home.

Kallen had always thought that he didn’t really have a place he could call home.

Usually, the place where one is born and raised is called home.

But that place didn’t really feel like home.

Rather, this place.

Being beside Blamia and Sinat felt more like home.

Not a place, but people.

Kallen’s home was with people.

“Ouch.”

Still, as if he really didn’t want to stay for another two hours, Sinat quickly withdrew his hand as he tried to get up.

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh? It’s nothing.”

When Kallen sensed something strange and asked, Sinat hurriedly hid his hand behind his back and made an excuse.

But Kallen saw it.

The nails of the hand hastily hidden behind were almost touching the flesh, and there was a red scab.

Did he get hurt while studying magic?

Considering Sinat’s personality, it was likely that he had clumsily hurt himself again.

Seeing him hide it like that, it seemed he was embarrassed.

Kallen decided not to stir up any unnecessary dark history.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re back, Kal! Finally, I can play with my friend!”

Sinat stretched once.

Smiling brightly, he hugged Kallen, who was still sitting.

It was an expression of affection, according to what Sinat often said before.

Then, a prick.

Kallen turned his head at the sudden prickling sensation on his neck.

“Why?”

“Something pricked me. What did you do?”

“Huh? No? Isn’t it static electricity?”

Kallen accepted the plausible explanation.

When he turned his head, Sinat’s expression was still beaming, so if he had made a mistake, he would have been flustered.

It seems that it was indeed static electricity, as Sinat said.

Kallen stopped worrying about it.

He didn’t want to think deeply about it anymore.

He felt a bit tired of paying attention to the details.

Kallen quietly closed his eyes.

He savored the feeling of having received so much affection.

Unfortunately,

because they were in an embrace,

Kallen couldn’t see what expression Sinat had now.