Chapter 18

Joseph looked at Kaon dumbfoundedly, pushing his glasses up and gaping. “Excuse me, but…”

“Don’t say it.”

“Have you gone mad?”

Kaon, who was looking into a mirror, frowned. “Why did you even excuse yourself if you were going to say it anyway?”

“I work for you, so it would be a bit odd if I just asked you that right away, wouldn’t it?”

He stopped trying to point out that changing the order of the words wouldn’t change the meaning. With a serious mission ahead, he couldn’t be hung up on these trivial things.

Instead, he stared at himself in the mirror. Kaon’s appearance was indeed unusual, with the combination of a red cloak, a pure white doublet, a hat full of red feathers, an overly chunky ruby necklace, and a red diamond ring.

To borrow Joseph’s words, he did indeed look like he’d gone mad.

“Why didn’t you get any earrings?”

“Ah, shall I?”

“What?” Joseph, who had been sarcastic, nearly fainted when Kaon picked up pairs to choose from.

Unfortunately, none of them had rubies or were red. Kaon decided to just be satisfied with what he had already found. He was already conspicuous enough.

In the first place, his purpose was to catch people’s attention. Judging from Joseph’s reaction, it was clear that the goal would be easily achieved.

“Let’s go.”

“…In that outfit? I don’t want to go…”

“I’ll go out first.”

Joseph reluctantly and helplessly behind his needlessly determined master.

***

Kaon walked around the mansion as if on pilgrimage. As he passed by, the people who greeted him by habit took double takes.

“Ah, sorry!”

“No problem. Go on ahead with what you’re doing.”

Those who couldn’t control their surprise bowed their heads in apology. It had happened around six or seven times already, so he was already used to it.

“Can we stop now?” Joseph suggested uncomfortably.

“No.” Kaon suddenly looked up at the clock tower, whose hands pointed to noon.

It was the time he had been waiting for.

“Let’s go, Joseph.”

“Yes!”

“To the dining hall in the barracks.”

“…Yes?”

Joseph’s hopeful face darkened instantly, expression bordering on disgust. “Young Master? It’s the busiest time there right now.”

“That’s the point.”

True to the aide’s words, the dining hall at this time was the most crowded place in the estate. The knights who had completed their morning training rushed in to sate their hunger, and the servants also prepared to welcome them, so it was very noisy.

Kaon entered the packed hall without hesitation. Alone among the people in armor or training clothes, the red-and-white-clad figure stood out ridiculously.

“What? It’s just because I’m not using my full strength. You won by a hair, Henri.”

“You went down easily!”

“I was distracted!”

“You have too many excuses… Isn’t that Sir Kaon?” The knight, who had been wrestling with his colleague while they ate near the entrance, stared at their master’s unusual appearance. “Look, there!”

“Sir Kaon? Maybe he’ll have lunch with us.”

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“No, that’s not it…”

“Then what…” The other knight looked half-heartedly over his shoulder.

Starting with that, all eyes gradually turned to the same place. As they chatted and murmured, even those who weren’t very interested at first began to turn their heads.

And saw the prince of Ferdinand, an elite knight and their source of pride and the one whom they swore allegiance to, currently looking like an actor in a traveling troupe.

The noisy dining hall became quiet, as if cold water had been poured over the entire area.

Suddenly, someone whistled. “Sir Kaon! You look so passionate today!” It was Maurice, cheering alone.

Kaon looked at the rest of the room, noting their distorted expression. The knights all seemed to be thinking the same thing. Most likely, they were probably wondering what they were looking at and if their master had gone crazy.

“Are you attending a banquet? Do you have to wear red to go? Looks fun, I want to go too!” Maurice yelled, waving his fists over his head as if begging Kaon to take him too.

It was weird, but it did shift the knights’ focus from the oddly garish attire to its color. Kaon took the opportunity and opened his mouth, “Well, I really like red.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

“There must have been a lot of people that didn’t know that until now. Well, I never mentioned it before, so I understand.”

‘Obviously, they might have wondered who made my sword, but not what color I like.’

He didn’t really want them to be too interested in his personal preferences.

“But please remember it from now on.” Kaon looked at the knights one by one. “I really like this color.”

At this point, even a tactless fool would understand what he meant. His actions today would be passed on from word of mouth, and eventually, the whole estate would know of them.

‘I’m going to be nagged.’

It was only a matter of time before Baroness Robert gave him a stern warning. Still, he was prepared for that happening, so it didn’t matter. It was fine. Now, no one would dare gossip about Alessia.

Kaon turned around, satisfied. He’d accomplished his goal, so now he just had to let Joseph return his mother’s things back where they were stored and that was it.

“Jo…” He stopped in his tracks.

She was right there outside the dining hall.

“Alessia.”

She was frozen, her expression stiff with surprise and something more. Her shaky red eyes met his for a long moment, then she stepped away and sprinted out of the building.

“Alessia!”

Kaon immediately chased after her.

***

She was a surprisingly fast runner. But he couldn’t just let her go, so he continued to follow her up to their suite. He supposed it was only a matter of course since it was the only place in Ferdinand that could conceivably be her private space.

‘Am I being presumptuous?’

Kaon paced in front of their curtain.

He didn’t want Alessia to suffer alone, and he didn’t want to pretend that he didn’t know what she was experiencing. He hoped that she wouldn’t feel so alone in this remote land, that no one would be rude to her, and that she knew that there was someone who cared about her.

Kaon wanted her to want to stay in Ferdinand, but he might have made a huge mistake just now. His actions might have been too embarrassing for her.

“Alessia, I…”

At that moment, the curtain was suddenly pulled open. Alessia glared at him, biting her lip.

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Kaon rushed to get the words out of his mouth, “I can explain—”

She threw her body into his and hugged him tightly.

He froze. His mind went blank. He had no idea what was happening, but he did notice that the small body in his arms was trembling.

Pat. Pat.

Kaon clumsily comforted Alessia for a long, long time.