CH 34

“Adelio?”

The owner of the voice that I recognized was Adelio.

‘But why is Adelio here?’

I was curious, and getting out of here was more important, so I quickly approached him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard that there are documents that need to be sent to the Knight Order urgently, so I came to deliver them.”

“Oh, my God. My sister was heading to the temple a while ago.”

“If it’s your sister, do you mean Dame Viola? Hmm. We must have crossed paths.”

I felt sorry for Adelio as he sighed with his eyebrows drooping.

“What? Who are you talking to all of a sudden? Uh, why is a holy knight here?”

At this time, Theodore climbed over the window frame and crossed into the hallway, announcing his presence.

“I’m here to deliver the papers to the Knight Order.”

“Has the captain gone out?”

“Didn’t I already explain everything just now? More importantly, Adelio, what should we do, you ended up walking here for no reason.”

At my words, Adelio shook his head lightly and smiled.

“I don’t think it’s a waste of time. Because I met Daisy.”

Adelio’s smile seemed to shine more than the sunlight shining outside.

‘It’s like there’s a halo around.’

I covered my mouth and gave a small smile to hide these thoughts away.

“Huh?”

Then a voice of disapproval came from next to me.

I said, looking at Theodore who kept getting involved in the conversation without warning.

“Anyway, what happened a little while ago was Sir Theodore’s misunderstanding, so please don’t get me wrong.”

“You touched me too openly for it to be called a misunderstanding.”

“When did I touch you?”

“Without hesitation, like this, like this….”

“I-I was hitting you!”

I shouted in embarrassment at Theodore’s words, and he snickered at my reaction.

It was an expression that looked evil.

“What happened between you two?”

I couldn’t say anything as I puffed in resentment, so Theodore opened his mouth instead of me.

“The Lady was secretly spying on me while I was training.”

“It’s not true!”

“Why are you so red?”

“That’s because Sir Theodore keeps treating me like a weird person!”

I huffed at him.

“In the first place, people who take off their clothes and train next to the corridor where people pass by are strange!”

“Haha. Calm down, Daisy.”

I couldn’t calm down, so Adelio tried to mediate the situation.

“But this man keeps treating me like I am a weirdo! The first time I met you and now! I’m innocent!”

“Do you think I don’t feel wronged? If I have any sins, it’s only the sins of training hard!”

“Ha, really…”

Just when I couldn’t control my anger and tried to shout something, a loud noise passed between us.

Brr–

“…”

Silence fell between us at the sound of the stomach growling.

“I am not hungry at all. I don’t even have an appetite because I saw things I shouldn’t see.”

“I’ve just come back from eating.”

Adelio and I turned our heads as soon as we spoke.

Theodore’s face, which received our gazes, instantly turned red.

“I-I…”

The way he couldn’t manage his expression was embarrassing for me to watch.

‘Is it really true that Theodore did something to Viola’s sword?’

I had vowed to find out suspicious things about him while coming and going to the Knights, but when I met him in person, he turned out to be a guileless person.

‘Or is it someone else’s work? Ah, whatever.’

The train of thought didn’t continue anymore, I must have put too much heat into the argument with him.

I sighed in exhaustion, picked up the basket I had just dropped, and held it out to him.

“Here.”

“What’s this? No, what is this?”

“It’s the lunch I brought for Viola, so eat it there.”

“No, why do I…”

“Go eat before training. You’ll injure yourself.”

I pushed the basket forward and Theodore hurriedly accepted it.

“Then I’ll be going, so go eat or train, take care of yourself.”

I stepped out of the hallway with weary steps.

I could feel a gaze from behind, but I couldn’t afford to pay attention to that side anymore.

I was so tired that I wanted to lie in bed right away.

“…How annoying.”

“What’s annoying you?”

“Ah, you scared me!”

When I was surprised by the voice coming from next to me, Adelio was standing there. I wondered since when we had been walking together.

“When did you get here?”

“Hmm, from the beginning?”

I must be so distracted that I didn’t even know who was walking next to me.

“By the way, are you acquainted with the knight from before?”

“No.”

“Even if you say that, the topic of conversation is a little… That’s how I feel.”

I looked up at Adelio with frustrated eyes at the resentment that came over me again.

“I feel so wronged.”

From the first impression to the second meeting, how could there be such a terrible person?

I let out a heavy breath after talking about all the injustice of what had happened with Theodore.

“So, something like that happened.”

“Yes. He’s someone I really don’t like.”

“You gave him a lunch box, didn’t you?”

“Because being a knight is a job that requires a lot of physical movement. He shouldn’t be hungry.”

Adelio asked, tilting his head at my words.

“But isn’t there a restaurant just a short walk away?”

“He must have wanted to devote himself to training so much that going to the restaurant would be a waste of time. Sister can’t eat it anyway, so I might as well give it to him.”

I made an X mark with both hands and emphasized that I had absolutely no ulterior motive.

“I am being kind because he’s Sister’s subordinate.”

“I see.”

I thought I explained it well, but the answer that came back was puzzling.

‘Is he in a bad mood? Well. He came here during a busy schedule and it turned out to be a waste of time, so it’s understandable.’

Even in the midst of that, he walked at my pace out of consideration so I laughed out loud.

“Are you going back to the temple now?”

“I think I should.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Because you can’t be with me anymore?”

“Yes.”

Surprised by the sincerity that unknowingly came out of me, I covered my mouth.

“I also think it’s too bad.”

At my reaction, Adelio smiled softly, creaking the corners of his eyes as if he had never been in a bad mood.

‘Ah, seriously.’

I felt like I was blushing a lot today.

I cooled my face using my hand as a fan.

“By the way. Has the urgent matter been resolved?”

“Urgent matter?”

“Last time you said something happened, so you rushed back home. I was worried that something might have happened, but today, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

It was the day when I found out about the date of the knight competition and went back to persuade Viola, leaving Adelio behind.

“Haha. No.”

I laughed awkwardly and shook my head sullenly.

‘I couldn’t stop Viola from participating in the competition, and I couldn’t dig up suspicious things about Theodore.’

When I realized again that I was not making any progress, my shoulders felt weak.

“The truth is…”

“Yes, I’m listening.”

“I don’t want Sister to participate in the knight competition.”

“You mean Dame Viola?”

When I nodded, he asked, perhaps because he didn’t understand.

“Her victory is basically confirmed, isn’t it? Is there any reason to refuse such an honorable position?”

“She might lose.”

“May I ask why you’re so worried?”

I couldn’t give an exact answer to Adelio’s words.

‘How can I tell him I know the future?’

“I’m just worried.”

“Daisy doesn’t seem to trust Dame Viola.”

Hearing those words, unlike a little while ago, I became alert.

“What? That’s not true!”

“It seems to me that you’re certain of her defeat.”

Adelio’s words gave me goosebumps.

‘He completely caught me.’

No, anyone might think so if they saw my attitude.

‘Then Sister Viola might have been thinking like that, too.’

She would feel betrayed if she knew that on the outside I was going to cheer her on but on the inside, I was thinking this way.

“Daisy. Did Dame Viola say she’s not going to the competition?”

“No,”

“Then were you worried about her losing?”

“That’s not it.”

My voice was weak because of the feeling of shame that was creeping in.

“Then trust her. Do you remember what I said?”

“Which one?”

There were so many things Adelio had told me that I didn’t have a clue.

When I was puzzled, he lowered his head close to me.

“Anything Daisy wants will come true.”

Adelio whispered to me like a spell.

Strangely enough, I felt relieved in an instant.

‘It’s weird.’

Adelio’s words had power.

It was so powerful that I forgot who I was and felt swept away in an instant.

✲ ✲ ✲

I leaned against the window and looked down at Viola returning from evening training as usual.

‘Going to work after training in the morning and training in the evening after work, she’s really diligent.’

Viola said there was someone she wanted to beat down in this competition.

That’s why she was splitting her time and sweating so hard.

‘I was so cowardly.’

She tried to confront the competition directly, but I tried to make her run away because I saw the future of her losing.

‘Sister won’t run away. That’s why I need to be more alert.’

I decided to work hard on what I could do in my position.

“Sister Viola, you’ve worked hard today!”

I waved my hand to Viola, and she looked up and waved after me as she passed under my room.

‘Even if Sister loses, I just have to protect her from collapsing.’

Let’s not be afraid of failure.

If you don’t run away, you’ll find a way somehow.