TRHK Chapter 17

New rumors about the red-haired knight had spread through the castle. He'd drunk an entire jug of wine and bested five men at once. He'd killed all five knights and drank their blood. The Count had offered him command of a second knight order...

Several of the rumors seemed excessive, frankly, but they'd already reached every corner of the castle and there was nothing to be done about it. More than a few people had watched a perfectly healthy knight lose his arm.

Ah—incidentally, that knight's arm had apparently been reattached. Landale and the other knights had rushed him to the temple quickly enough. What temples did that they could reattach severed limbs was entirely beyond my comprehension, but.

"There you are, Maylin."

Joel, who I'd fully expected to slink away after all of that, began hovering around me the very next day.

"...Lord Joel."

When he came to the elderly noblewoman's room like this, there was no escape. He closed the door behind him and approached with the studied care of someone handling a wild animal that might bolt in any direction.

"Working hard today. Unlike you."

Said with the ease of old friends sharing a private joke—which only made me want more distance between us. I bowed my head as deeply as I could, treating him as a complete stranger. Which he genuinely was.

"If I appeared neglectful before, I apologize. I will work harder from now on."

"Ah, that's not what I meant. Don't apologize."

He looked slightly thrown and closed the remaining distance by one step. I wanted to retreat by the same measure, but I was in the middle of reading to the elderly noblewoman, so I stayed where I was and held still.

More than anything, what bothered me was that he'd walked into this room without so much as acknowledging the elderly noblewoman. He made no pretense of caring whether she existed at all.

"Aren't you hungry? I brought some snacks—care to try them? Sweets from the capital. Quite pricey, too."

Joel held out a prettily wrapped box of confections. Had the original Maylin been won over by that kind of attention? Standing in her position, knowing nothing, with the lord's son—objectively handsome by any measure—being this solicitous, it probably wouldn't have been easy to resist.

Bringing food to win someone's goodwill. That was precisely what I'd been doing to Kahron on a regular basis, which gave me a small, uncomfortable pang of recognition.

I schooled my expression into that of a maid who knew her place and bowed lower still.

"I couldn't possibly."

"Don't say that. You're very special to me, Maylin. You don't realize it yet, which is why you're acting this way."

Continued refusals made him press harder, saying things that made no sense whatsoever. If she was so special, how had he looked away when his parents killed her? I very much wanted to ask him that.

"Lord Joel, I'll take my leave now. The head maid has tasks waiting for me."

I turned away from the confection box and rose from my seat. I did, in fact, need to get to other work soon.

Keeping my back to Joel, I straightened the bed so the elderly noblewoman could settle comfortably and laid her down with care. The book we hadn't finished—I memorized the page and slipped it back onto the shelf, to read to her tomorrow.

"My lady. I'll come again tomorrow."

I gave the elderly noblewoman a small smile and walked out briskly. Joel had clearly wanted to say more, but I'd left without meeting his eyes once and he'd missed his window. The moment the door shut behind me, I ran across the hall and ducked into the opposite room.

Click.

Sure enough, barely any time passed before Joel emerged from the elderly noblewoman's room and looked around for me—visible through the gap in the door. He clicked his tongue.

"Where did she go..."

The prickle of goosebumps rose along the back of my neck. I had no idea what that man actually wanted. The original novel had mentioned he'd pursued Maylin persistently, but I hadn't anticipated this level of persistence.

The Count and Countess said nothing—whether they knew or not. The Count in particular was said to be busy with some new venture these days.

Was it because I hadn't been going around announcing I'd marry Joel, the way the original Maylin had? If so, I was genuinely relieved, but I couldn't quite let my guard down. That was precisely why I'd made the deal with Kahron in the first place.

"Put that one over there!"

I moved the candlestick as the head maid directed. It hadn't even been long since the small party concluded in bloodshed, and preparations for a larger one had already begun. This time, not only retainers but nobles from other estates would be invited.

That was the real problem. With back-to-back party preparations consuming everyone's hours, I had no time to see Kahron, and even less chance of slipping away into the forest with him. I hadn't properly set eyes on him since the duel in the training grounds. That said everything.

The anxiety had me gnawing at my lower lip so badly that Eifel had started worrying about it aloud.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted..."

Work done, washed, Eifel and I collapsed onto our respective beds as though our legs had been cut out from under us.

I wanted nothing more than rest. After everything I'd been running around doing, this body's stamina was still woefully insufficient. Nevertheless, I hauled myself upright like a woman who'd been dead and freshly revived, lurching toward the door. Eifel, who I'd assumed was already asleep, lifted her head and asked:

"Maylin, where are you going?"

"Ah..."

It was probably fine to tell her. It was Eifel, after all.

"To Kahron's quarters."

"What?"

Eifel, who moments ago had been a portrait of complete exhaustion, sat bolt upright. She'd said it so loudly that I pressed a finger to my lips. She leaned in and asked in a whisper:

"That's why you asked where his room was?"

That I knew Kahron's room was located where it was went without saying—I'd found out through Eifel and Hwirozen. I nodded without any particular pretense, and Eifel's jaw dropped.

"You're really going to do something that bold... Wait. I thought you two weren't together?"

"We're not."

"..."

Eifel looked at me for a long moment with an expression that was difficult to categorize. Then she stood up herself.

"I'm coming with you."

"...To Kahron's?"

"What? I'm going to my own boyfriend. Watching you made me realize we've let things go cold. Can't have that."

I didn't entirely follow the logic, but if Eifel was going to walk me to the knights' quarters, I was glad to have her.

"I've been a few times, so I know the way. Just follow me."

I nodded vigorously. Eifel looked considerably more impressive than usual tonight.

The party preparations must have wrung out everyone, not just the maids. The castle at night was quiet as though every soul, save the sentries, had fallen into deep sleep.

We arrived at the knights' quarters without trouble and paused, whispering to each other.

"My boyfriend's room is that way. You need to go this direction."

Eifel said it with the gravity of a general deploying forces. Then she smiled—something mischievous moving behind her eyes.

"How surprised do you think he'll be? I can't wait."

...Just how surprised was she planning to make him? I was mildly concerned, but Eifel would handle herself.

"Thank you. Get back safely."

We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

And then I was standing alone in front of Kahron's door.

I swallowed hard. With the party preparations eating every available hour, it had become clear I wouldn't see him until they were over—which was why I'd come. But now that I was facing the closed door, I wondered if I'd acted too rashly.

Eifel was probably already inside Hwirozen's room by now. I hesitated for a long time before finally raising my hand and knocking softly.

Tap, tap.

I even tried whispering his name, but the room inside was silent. Was he asleep? He was always taking naps under that tree in the middle of the day, so I'd assumed he didn't sleep much at night.

"..."

Relief and disappointment arrived at the same time. Maybe I'd just wanted to see his face. Even without any particular business. Even if the deal could wait—

The deal was the most urgent thing I had. Even I could see how oddly at peace I was about that fact. What was the point of just seeing his face? What would looking at him accomplish? Though he was always, reliably, extraordinarily beautiful. And that did tend to make a person forget what she'd come to do.

Tap.

I knocked once more, more resignation than hope, and let my arm fall.

It was no use. I'd go back for tonight and try to find a moment during the day tomorrow.

That was what I'd decided.

"You think if we go for drinks at this hour, the Commander will hear about it?"

"Obviously he will. That's why we're being quiet about it."

Two male voices—knights, presumably—were trading low words as they walked this way. My heart dropped. Where could I— Where do I—

I spun around searching for somewhere to go and ended up grabbing the door handle directly in front of me. I turned it. The door swung open and I practically fell through, caught myself, and hauled it shut from the inside.

Thud.

"Did you hear something just now?"

"No. Nothing."

The knights, apparently not having noticed, passed the door and moved on.

Step, step, step. Their footsteps faded entirely. I let out a long, shaky breath.

I'd thought for certain they'd caught me.

"So you're not a rat after all."

"Oh—!"

The low voice arrived without warning. My entire body flinched, but I couldn't turn around—a solid wall of a body had me completely pinned between itself and the door behind me.

"Are you sure?"

Kahron spoke in a voice of complete unconcern, as though someone hadn't just broken into his room uninvited in the middle of the night. My heart was pounding harder now than it had when the knights almost found me. This time, I couldn't quite bring myself to deny the rat comparison.