Chapter 64

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At Filina’s question, Leon lowered his black eyes and said.

“….I did not avoid you.”

At Leon’s soft voice, Filina squinted her eyes and smiled.

“Really?”

Leon furrowed his eyebrows as Filina answered with a smile.

Just a moment ago, he tried not to sit next to her, but now he answered he wasn’t avoiding her.

“I’m just… I’m just trying to keep a certain distance.”

Leon replied in a low voice.

Filina asked with a puzzled face.

“A certain distance?”

Leon glanced at her and said calmly.

“Isn’t it necessary to keep a reasonable distance between people?”

Filina nodded her head as if in agreement with his words.

“That’s true. I didn’t mean to reproach Sir Leon either.”

When she answered in a plain voice, Leon lifted his gaze and looked at Filina.

She met his gaze and raised her lips smoothly.

“I found it a little difficult. A certain distance means that if you are a little careless, you will go over that range in an instant……”

Filina, who was looking at Leon dryly, blurted out her words.

She swore she wouldn’t get involved with Leon, but when she woke up, she was where she was now. In this case, it might have been better for her  to step out and avoid him.

Filina met Leon’s gaze once more and then she turned her head away.

The loud shouts of the people spread from the hall.

At some point, the competition completely turned the tide.

The cadet, who was being pushed by the monster, suddenly fixed his sword, and, without giving up even a small gap, he launched a series of attacks on the monster.

It could be said that it was the standard of swordsmanship.

At first, he was not swinging his sword properly to read the opponent’s movements and attack patterns.

And now, that cadet had fully grasped the entire range of the monster’s actions.

The cadet, who stepped on the monster’s huge leg and jumped high into the sky, swung the sword down over the monster’s head while changing the direction of the blade to the bottom.

The monstrous cries of the monster resounded throughout the auditorium.

The match was over in an instant.

“Wow, as Sir Filina said, that senior won!”

Bessie exclaimed with excitement. Filina nodded her head and looked at the cadet leaving the auditorium.

The instructors came out and moved in a hurry. After cleaning up the mess hall with monster blood, another cadet walked out shortly thereafter.

Filina’s gaze went out of the auditorium. She stared at the building that stretched diagonally from her seat.

Hugh broke the breeding ground door, and not long after that, the hard iron door reappeared filled the empty space.

She couldn’t see it in detail, but she thought it probably had a more complicated barrier than before.

Hugh disappeared again after the last day she saw him in the infirmary.

He irresponsibly disappeared after he told Filina about her nonsensical power that she had divine power.

He may have been joking when he asked her to help.

There’s no reason why a tower lord would need her.

A large bell rang through the vast hall.

It was the sound of a break.

The cadets who walked out to the auditorium were given a 10 minutes break according to the instructor’s instructions, and the people watching the promotion test dispersed one by one.

“I’ll go to the office for a moment.”

Filina got up from her seat.

Bessie waved her hand to say goodbye, and Leon looked at Filina silently.

After leaving them behind, she walked away.

Her expression as she walked into the office wasn’t very good. Because she had to see someone she didn’t want to meet very much.

She stood in front of the office building, knocked and opened the door. Then Carmen was seen working alone at his desk.

She bowed her head to him, and went straight to Weaver’s office. It was already impossible to know how many times these visits were made.

Filina reached out to knock with a reluctant face when she heard a voice calling her from behind.

“Sir Debussy.”

Filina turned her head to look at Carmen. Then she slowly parted her lips as he put the papers he was holding on the desk.

“Don’t you think that you should behave more properly?”

At his words, Filina asked, wrinkling her eyes.

“What kind of behavior are you talking about?”

“Isn’t that the one you know better?”

Carmen looked at her with sharp eyes. Filina, who was facing him, answered with a calm face.

“I am living a very righteous life. Deputy commander.”

At her words, Carmen raised an eyebrow and sarcastically as if it wasn’t funny. The person he spoke to was Ian.

“Isn’t the person who said that is meeting a man who already had a fiancée?”

The man Carmen mentioned was Ian, the Crown Prince.

For some time now, Ian has been visiting Filina regularly. The place he requested to meet changed every time, and today was Weaver’s office.

Although this fact was not well known among the cadets, it was difficult to avoid Lawrence, Carmen, and Weaver, who greeted him every time.

Filina looked at Carmen with a dry face, then drew a simple smile.

“What the deputy commander just said, I won’t miss a single word, and I’ll deliver it to the Crown Prince.”

At her words, Carmen wrinkled his face grimly. But Filina spoke calmly without a care in the world.

“So you meant that the Crown Prince, who has a fiancée, is not behaving properly because he’s meeting another woman?”

“…it looks like you’re deaf. I did not say that about His Highness, but about Sir Debussy.”

“Is it possible? Nothing that deputy commander Carmen just said has anything to do with me.”

Filina said with a clever expression on her face, and Carmen snorted at her. As Filina knocked on Weaver’s office, she turned her head to look at Carmen leisurely.

“Our noble Crown Prince Ian has a very grumpy personality and will not show mercy. I wish you good luck. Respected deputy commander Carmen.”

When she heard Ian’s voice telling her to come in from inside Weaver’s office, Filina immediately opened the door and disappeared inside.

Only the sound of her opening and closing the door spread through the quiet space.

Carmen, who was staring fiercely at Filina’s empty place, slammed his fist on the desk.

A black band was draped over his hand as he held it. There was an X-shaped mark that was slightly reflected on the side. 

****

“Who has a grumpy personality?”

Ian, who was sitting on the sofa on the other side of the office, asked in a low voice with his legs crossed.

After closing the door, Filina approached him and said her respectful greetings.

“I see the little sun of the empire.”

“……So, who is being mean?”

At Ian’s voice, Filina raised her gaze.

“Did you hear the conversation?”

In response to her small voice, Ian gently raised his lips in response.

“If you dared to say something like that in front of the door, would I need to listen on purpose?”

“You are misunderstood.”

Filina said with a bright smile. Then, Ian looked at her with an absurd laugh.

“Sit first.”

As he said, pointing to the seat across from him, Filina slowly moved over and sat down on the sofa.

“Is tomorrow the promotion test for freshmen?”

Ian asked, bringing the teacup to his lips.

“Yes.”

Filina gave a formal answer and looked at the two teacups on the table.

Who brought it?

Filina raised her gaze and glanced at the escort knight standing behind Ian.

There’s no way that person got the tea….

It’s only Carmen outside, so maybe he brought it?

A small laugh escaped Filina’s lips as she imagined Carmen making tea.

With that dissatisfied face, it would have been quite interesting to watch him angrily prepare the tea.

“Do you have anything to ask me for?”

At Ian’s soft voice, Filina wrinkled her eyebrows slightly and looked at him.

“What kind of favor are you talking about?”

When Filina asked with a puzzled face, Ian wrinkled hid expression.

“Are you really clueless, or are you pretending you don’t know?”

“Of course I’m asking because I don’t know.”

Ian sighed at her bewildered voice.

“Filina.”

His beautiful golden eyes stared straight at Filina.

“I am the Crown Prince. No matter how great the swordsmanship academy is, with one order from me now, it can be shut down without a hitch.”

At Ian’s elaborate voice, Filina just looked at him quietly. Ian drew a charming smile and opened his mouth once more.

“Likewise, just one word from me, I can decide your promotions as you please.”

He added his words with an arrogant face.

“You don’t even have to take the exam hard.”

Then Filina smiled slightly as she took her teacup from the table into her hand.

“It’s a great benefit.”

It was an indifferent voice, as if talking to someone else. Ian frowned and opened his mouth.

“I can give you that great benefit, Filina.”

“I am not satisfied with being just a regular knight.”

Filina, taking a sip of her tea, answered with a relaxed face. Then Ian said with a slightly stiff expression.

“You’re greedy.”

At Ian’s words, she asked, smiling softly.

“Is that impossible?”

It was a bold question. He didn’t know Filina was like that.

Unlike other women who always had a beautiful smile, she was a person who always spit out everything she had to say with a blunt face as if she was bored.

Then, when the other person was vigilant, her gentle smile once in a while made his heart flutter.

“…if you wish, I can raise you to the highest rank of knight.”

Ian’s tenacious eyes stared intently into Filina’s eyes. Filina, who was quietly accepting his gaze, suddenly frowned.

“No.”

She raised her eyes fiercely and muttered in a noble voice.

“I am not satisfied with that, Your Highness.”

A slight smile spread across Filina’s lips.

“Wouldn’t it be better if it was Andra Weaver’s seat?”

***