SBTMK Chapter 20

Loosely imagining it, Flora had pictured Kasin as something like a giant—huge in height and build, carrying a mace around like some brute of a man. But he looked cold, if anything, and looked like some highborn young lord—which threw her off.

The dark teardrop mole beneath his right eye, and the slight downward tilt at the corners of his eyes, did a lot to soften what would've otherwise been a sharp, cutting look.

"Skip the pleasantries and answer the question."

"I-it, it wasn't anything, sir."

"It wasn't anything?"

"……No, sir."

Her moment of studying Kasin like a statue set up in a temple was brief. At the nobleman's answer, Flora snapped back to herself, indignant.

'It wasn't anything…?'

Same question in her own head, word for word as Kasin's.

Wasn't enough to ruin someone's meal—had to try and knife her in the back too. And that's nothing?

Thought about it more, her eyes just kept going red.

If the commander weren't standing right there, she'd have already beaten the little lord half to death and felt good about it.

Beatings really are medicine sometimes. For this kind of arrogant prick, it's basically the cure.

"So it seems, my lord, that even when it's nothing, a sword is fair game against a person."

"…."

"Is that what they're teaching at the Academy these days."

Whether he'd caught the killing intent leaking out of her—Kasin's eyes found Flora the second he stopped talking.

At that cold, chilled stare, Flora had no choice but to look up at him.

And then Kasin let out a faint laugh.

'…Huh? He's laughing?'

She'd been radiating 'I wanna kill him' and 'wanna hit him just once,' and Kasin—who'd clearly caught every bit of it—was laughing.

But that laugh. It was familiar, somehow.

Endearing. Or… there, there.

Being treated like a pet.

Being used to it about herself was already absurd enough, but she had no idea at what point Kasin could possibly have picked up that particular feeling, and it left her thoroughly baffled.

Thanks to that, her killing intent lost all its steam and folded flat.

"What in the— Kien!"

While she was too busy failing to manage her own expression to notice, someone pushed through the crowd surrounding them.

This one was wearing a Black Knights uniform.

'Why is this thing just getting bigger and bigger.'

Anger or not, Flora just wanted to get out of there before things got any more complicated.

She didn't want to get branded a troublemaker any further than she already had been, and more than anything, she was hungry.

Getting worked up seemed to have burned through what little was left of her blood sugar even faster.

"Good afternoon, Commander Kasin."

The Black Knight spotted Kasin first and greeted him respectfully.

Then his eyes went from the young lord to Flora to the sword lying on the ground, and his brow furrowed faintly.

At least the brother had some sense left in his head—he glared at his own sibling first.

"This is my younger brother, Kyero Labeliu. If this trouble was in any way connected to him—"

"There are too many eyes around here. Take him and question him yourself, Kien. There's the young lord's face to think of."

"…."

"For the sake of House Labeliu, if nothing else, that lord could use some re-education."

Kasin looked coldly down at the nobleman's son, who had nothing left to say for himself, then turned his back.

Just as she thought he'd leave it at that, he stopped short and glanced back over his shoulder at Flora with a tilt of his head.

"Follow me."

Flora wanted to get away from this whole mess as fast as possible.

It felt like escaping a hunter's snare only to walk straight into a tiger's den, but in the end she had no choice but to follow Kasin.

Was she about to get scolded for the scene with the noble lord? Flora watched Kasin's face carefully as she walked behind him. But his mouth stayed shut, just as heavy as his solid, unhurried footsteps.

And then—

Growwwl.

"Ah."

'Just my luck.'

Of all times, the moment they'd cleared the crowd, her stomach made a loud, unmistakable noise. She grabbed at her stomach quickly, but going by the way Kasin's eyes met hers, he'd heard it.

"Impressive."

That was the first thing he said. Impressive. And then his gaze swept her from head to toe, thoroughly, and heat rushed to Flora's face.

"I, I didn't eat much for breakfast, that's all…"

"Right. No wonder you'd be hungry."

He clearly didn't believe her, which only made it more mortifying. Flora wanted to clamp her hand over her own mouth for offering up such a flimsy excuse in the first place.

"Here."

Kasin went and personally picked up one of the meals being handed out to the exam's passing candidates and offered it to Flora.

The plate was generously filled—roasted meat, bread, and a full salad besides. Just looking at it made her mouth water.

"Will you eat with me?"

"……Excuse me?"

The flash of anticipation in her eyes at the thought of finally eating gave way to sudden alarm.

What kind of nonsense was this. They say not even a dog gets bothered while it's eating!

"Please just scold me now instead."

"……Scold you for what?"

Flora lowered her eyes slightly and put on a suitably contrite face.

"Weren't you going to caution me for causing a disturbance with the young lord from House Labeliu?"

Kasin raised one eyebrow at Flora, who stood there with her shoulders drooping.

She seemed to have some solid misunderstanding lodged in her head, but Kasin couldn't come up with the right words to clear it up.

"Why would I care about some petty little squabble like that?"

"…."

"I just want to eat with you."

That's the scary part! Flora felt a genuine jolt of terror.

"Oh, now that won't do at all."

Just then, someone slung an arm over Kasin's shoulder and slid smoothly into the conversation.

Getting noticed by yet another person wasn't exactly welcome, but since he'd just handled the awkward refusal she'd been struggling to phrase in her head, she felt a fair bit of goodwill toward him for it.

That goodwill evaporated completely the moment she recognized who he was.

The man was wearing a black dress uniform.

Same long-coat-style top as Kasin's, and… gold embroidery worked into an elaborate epaulette…? Wait.

'Am I even going to get to eat today.'

Flora felt like she might genuinely cry a little.

"……Commander Hakra."

"Oh, no, no. This isn't happening. That's cheating."

Hakra, commander of the Black Knights, had a kind face. He also seemed to like decorating himself, going by how ornate he was dressed.

Flora's eyes flicked, briefly, to the large, deep navy jewel set in the center of the cravat at his throat.

"Take your hand off."

"Come on, between us? You're going to talk to me like that?"

"There's no 'between us.' Take your hand off."

Kasin shoved Hakra's arm off, irritated.

'Who am I, where am I…'

Whatever curiosity Flora had felt watching Hakra had completely evaporated by now.

She just stood there, both hands clutching her plate of food, watching the two commanders bicker back and forth like children.

"Recruiting's supposed to be fair and square—after both exams are done. This hair's not just yours to hog, y'know. I don't land her, my guys'll rag on me. So don't beat me to it. You know fair play? Fair play!"

"……Getting nagged by your own subordinates—and that's something to brag about?"

Kasin clicked his tongue.

"Sorry to interrupt, but…"

Flora had officially reached the edge of her patience.

"Hm? What's going on?"

At her voice, Kasin only shot her a cool glance, while Hakra answered in a friendly tone that suggested he'd do absolutely anything for her. Flora forced the corners of her mouth up.

"I'm really very hungry. If you're both finished with your business, I'd like to go eat now…"

She bowed, quick and proper, then turned and left. Behind her, she heard Kasin call out "Wait—" but she pretended not to hear and fled the scene as fast as she could.

"Ugh, my blood sugar."

Consequences, whatever. Don't care.

First, she needed to fill her stomach.

By the time Flora had found herself a good hiding spot and gotten her starving stomach reasonably satisfied, a man sat down beside her.

Before she'd even confirmed who it was, a sigh escaped her first.

What kind of day is this. Why's everyone swarming her like bugs.

Why's everyone such a pain in the ass—

"……Hm?"

Flora looked up, and the moment she saw who it was, she rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was simply too tired and seeing things.

Blinked slow, like a grub, or a sloth—opened her eyes again, and he was still there.

"Treating a man like a ghost. Bit much, isn't it? This face doesn't lose to any ghost."

"……Simen?"

Even the voice was identical, so it really was Simen.

He had on the white robe Eden usually wore, hood pulled up over his head.

Flora blinked blankly, then choked back a startled breath.

Wait, why's this guy here dressed like this?

"Simen, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing hiding out here? Took me a while to find you."

"As you can see, eating meat."

"That's not what I asked. Why hide."

"Because people just kept swarming me today, for some reason."

At Flora's answer, Simen let out a short laugh.

"Sounds like exam went well, huh."

"I did try hard."

"Then it'd be strange if you weren't swarmed, wouldn't it? You must have done a little too well."

"Lugaria told me there are cases where they cut people just for their status."

"That used to be true. It's changing these days, so you don't need to worry about that. It's mostly because Lady Lugaria's been a knight for so l—ah, damn."

Simen bit back the rest of it, throwing a quick glance at Flora's face. It seemed to be about the whole business of assigning Lugaria to watch her.

"You go and do something, and now you're worried about how I'll react?"

"Did the thing, got caught doing it—of course I'm worried."

"It's fine. I'm not angry. If Your Majesty trusted me completely, that would actually be more of a burden, and more suspicious."

"…."

"Put more people on me to watch, however many—I still won't get mad. I'm not exactly someone anyone could trust on sight, right now. It's already more than enough that you take care of me like this, even though you can't fully trust me yet."

Simen let out a helpless laugh, looking at Flora.

"Don't get it myself—why I keep saying shit around you I shouldn't."

"…."

"Feels like I've forgotten how to pick my words."

He reached out, brushed the strand of silver hair stuck to her cheek.

At the sudden touch of Simen's hand, Flora's gaze dropped slightly. Even a meaningless gesture felt like it meant something.

Tucking away a stray strand of hair, or brushing it back—it was something he did often enough, without much thought. But today, for some reason, a sudden rush of heat surged up and left her feelings in complete disarray.

'Been through too much earlier. Not thinking straight. Losing my mind…'

Flora hurried to change the subject, to get rid of this strange atmosphere before it went any further.

"Now it's your turn to answer my question. Why are you here?"

"Came to see you. What other reason would bring me all the way out here?"

"Don't say it like it's obvious. So why, exactly, did you want to see—"

"Wondered how the exam was going. Whether you'd gotten hurt, whether you were eating properly. Things like that. Wondered about all of it."

At Simen's words, Flora blinked.

What is this man even raised on, saying embarrassing shit without blinking.

When things got this awkward, pretending not to have heard was always the best option.

"What's with the outfit?"

"Ah. This. Call it a disguise, I suppose."

Calling this a disguise.

"Strange?"

"Not at all."

This time she answered with complete sincerity.

Damn that god Arzeka. Uniform wasn't enough—had to make the priest robe look this good on him too?

Simen in rags would still be flawless—of that, she was sure.