Chapter 8.1

‘Damn it, Leonida!’

Kaon wrestled the door that still didn’t open, cursing to himself. Of course, the locked door didn’t budge.

“…”

“…”

As the clinking sounds faded, silence filled the hallway.

Kaon, closing his eyes tightly and suppressing his anger, bit his lip and turned around. “…There seems to be something wrong,” he said, hating how ridiculous this was.

“Come in first, Kaon. It’s already a bit late.”

Fortunately, Alessia didn’t seem to have the slightest desire to mock him. She just smiled quietly and pointed to her open door.

He felt compelled to obey.

***

Alessia’s room had exactly the same structure as his, although it was totally bare of her personal belongings because she hadn’t had the time to unpack her belongings yet. Kaon instinctively relaxed at the familiar atmosphere.

Although it would have been better if he had gone through the door leading to his part of the suite, but, as was often the case, realization was slower than action.

“Um, I’m prepared to share a room, but…”

Kaon didn’t say anything. It was obvious that she was considering him.

“If staying with me is unpleasant…”

“No, that’s not it,” he immediately denied.

And it was true. He really hadn’t thought of it as something unpleasant exactly. Yes, he was uncomfortable since he had never shared a room with anyone before. But would his discomfort even be comparable to what she would feel? It probably wouldn’t even compare.

How would anyone like to be in an unfamiliar—even enemy—territory for the first time and have no personal space? And to be with a boy who was much bigger than her?

On his end, this development was inconvenient, but on hers, it was downright scary.

“If that’s the case, then I’m fine with it. After the engagement period, we will have to get married anyway…” Alessia paused in front of the unnecessarily delicate lace curtain, looking a little shy.

Engagement. Marriage.

As sixteen-year-old boy, those words always seemed so far away, but the girl in front of him seemed to have accepted it.

Her appearance made him shy as well, probably because the reality of their relationship was only now sinking in to his unwilling mind.

“Oh, is it too early to say that?”

“No, well… It’s true… It seems that there’s no other way to do this…” Kaon rubbed his nape in embarrassment.

Alessia laughed and it was so charming that it made his ears burn.

Kaon drew the curtains aside and walked briskly to his side of the suite, basically running away.

“Sleep well, Kaon.”

“…You too, Alessia.”

Of course, he didn’t forget to respond.

***

He answered really confidently, but he couldn’t sleep well at all. By the time he finally fell asleep, dawn had already broken, and even then he was woken up by rustling sounds.

‘Oh, damn it. Field training today.’

He despaired, clutching his head for lack of sleep. The thought of doing physical training under the scorching sun while he was feeling like that made him want to die.

Normally, he would have tried to force himself to go back to sleep, but that wouldn’t work today. A faint silhouette was visible from behind the lace, and the sounds were from her folding her blankets and making her bed.

Alessia, the cause of his inability to sleep and early waking, seemed to be an early bird.

The soft fabric sounds stopped, and not long after, the sound of running water followed, the thing that had contributed to him staying up the entire night. It was only a faint sound, so he didn’t know why he was so concerned about it in the first place.

‘She is also diligent.’

Forcefully shifting his attention away, Kaon learned one more thing about Alessia.

It was her first day in a new place, and she might not have slept well. If she was lazy, she wouldn’t have woken up early. That trait was very good, because the Ferdinand estate’s inhabitants all rose early. Laziness was a sin because their duchy’s pride was in producing the best knights in the kingdom.

He had never seen the mages of Ingelos himself, but he had observed the tendencies of the mages who had visited their territory in the past. Their habits were generally irregular and unpredictable, so they were at odds with the knights. He never could understand why the couldn’t seem to stick to a schedule.

‘…Will Alessia go out for an inspection?’