ITBFL | Chapter 46

Episode 46

“As expected, it’s not here.”

The pocket where I had kept the petrified Cassium was empty.

It was only natural since Cassium had returned.

“Guess all that cursing I did had some effect after all.”

I thought maybe I should’ve gone all out with it while I was at it.

After all, I could just say it was all for him.

— Thank you.

— Was that why he said thank you earlier too?

Come to think of it, maybe it was.

I was the one who found Cassium, let him sleep on a cozy sofa, and tried hard to find a way to bring him back—and in the end, he did return.

‘There’s so much I want to ask.’

How he turned back into a person from stone, whether it really was Cassium who covered me with a blanket on the last full moon night.

‘But I need a chance to talk to him.’

We might run into each other in the Order quarters, but I had so many questions I’d need to carve out some time separately.

I wanted to sit somewhere and have a proper talk over a cup of tea or something, but I didn’t have a good excuse for that.

“Just going up to him and asking him to have tea would be weird.”

I closed my eyes and thought for a moment. I needed a natural excuse to talk to him…

“Wait, didn’t Cassium say thank you to me?”

My eyes snapped open.

“Then just saying thanks isn’t enough, right? He should at least buy a meal?”

I shouted as a moment of epiphany hit me.

Claiming repayment for a debt of gratitude seemed like a decent enough reason.

After the Council of Elders ended and both Orders had finished a round of training in the afternoon—

Spring was gradually deepening as leaves sprouted around Erne’s outdoor training grounds.

The knights of the Golden Lion were emerging from the second training ground, and those of the Black Panther from the third.

As the sky to the far west began to take on a reddish hue, the two squads ran into each other.

Deserus, Lize’s adjutant and a senior knight, flinched.

The two squads never got along.

But the worst relationship of all was between the two captains of the squads.

On days when those two faced each other like this, even the nearby knights would break out in cold sweat.

Things had been quiet recently since Captain Cassium had been absent from Erne—but now he was back…

‘If he was going to return, couldn’t he have waited a little longer?’

Deserus had that thought in his mind.

And in another corner of his mind, he was wondering when Captain Lize would bring The Golden Rabbit back again.

He wasn’t sure why that crossed his mind upon seeing Captain Cassium—but then again, The Golden Rabbit was cute, so it wasn’t strange for thoughts of her to pop up anytime.

“Lize.”

“Cassium.”

The two called each other’s names at the same time.

Sounds of dry swallowing echoed around them.

The knights’ subconscious remembered how things always turned hostile when these two met.

So it was a reflex reaction.

And truthfully, those instincts were never wrong.

The two would start with biting words, reach for their sword hilts.

When their adjutants intervened, they’d forego a physical fight and turn it into a competition fueled by their sense of duty.

That passionate competition would then trickle down to the knights below, leading them to rack up unnecessary achievements, thereby boosting Erne’s reputation even further…

While the knights were bracing themselves to raise Erne’s renown once again, the two exchanged fierce glances.

Watching this, the knights mentally prepared themselves on how best to stop them.

“You go first.”

“I’ll go first.”

But suddenly, the captain of the Black Panther squad, Cassium, backed down—no, yielded.

In the tense air, like the calm before a storm, the knights watched the two in suspense.

“Let’s eat.”

Eat? Deserus frowned slightly. What was that about food?

Captain Lize, are you planning to poison the Black Panther captain’s meal or something?

Cassium seemed to hesitate for a moment before replying. Then he finally said—

“Alright.”

Everyone flinched at his response.

It wasn’t because he accepted Lize’s suggestion. Meal invitations between captains were nothing unusual.

What surprised everyone was the word he used.

He could have said “Sure,” or “Alright,” something more neutral to show agreement.

But instead…

‘Did he just say “Alright”? Did he really say “Alright”?’

Deserus swallowed hard in disbelief.

That word implied more than mere acceptance—it held positivity.

Across the way, Hedel from the Black Panther squad had eyes even wider than his own.

Maybe it was part of a high-level strategy.

A tactic to lower Captain Lize’s guard, or perhaps to subtly irritate her.

“Shall we go now?”

Cassium asked. The knights held their breath in tension.

“Now?”

“If it’s fine with you.”

“Yeah, follow me.”

Lize gestured to Cassium and turned around first.

She signaled to Deserus with her eyes—it meant she was leaving the knights in his charge.

Deserus quickly adjusted his expression and bowed respectfully.

Cassium resumed his stride, following behind Lize’s bold steps.

Soon, the two were walking side by side, keeping a modest distance between them. They seemed to be talking, but the knights couldn’t hear anything.

Only the knights left behind remained in confusion, as evening began to fall.

The sunset glow in the western sky deepened.

The two long shadows of the captains walked ahead, side by side with a reasonable distance between them.

“What’s the occasion? You’re the one suggesting a meal.”

“Obviously, you’re the one paying, Cassium.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You must have something to thank me for, right? You said so yourself.”

Though it seemed like she was being unreasonable, Lize’s response was unexpectedly logical, making Cassium have to control the twitch at the corner of his lips.

It had been a long time since he saw Lize from this height.

He silently took in her face as she glanced sideways at him and looked up just a little.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Lize frowned and gave him a light hit for staring at her without realizing it.

It landed squarely between his ribs, but didn’t seem like she intended to actually hurt him.

‘Even being hit like this is only possible because I’m human again.’

Being able to get hit in the ribs—he was grateful for even that.

Cassium kept in step with her and held her face within his line of sight.

Like someone endlessly drinking water to quench thirst, he kept looking at Lize, grateful he could do so again.

Humans are foolish creatures—only after losing something do they realize its value. Cassium thought he was no different.

Lize glanced at him again, then gestured forward. They were at the entrance to a street lined with restaurants.

“You choose. What do you want to eat?”

“Shouldn’t the one asking to be treated be the one choosing?”

“Forget it. You choose. What did you want to eat the most all this time?”

Lize paused briefly, then said it casually.

“You couldn’t eat anything while you were a stone, right? So what did you miss the most?”

Ah, right.

From Lize’s point of view, I’d been a stone this whole time.

Cassium hesitated. Should he correct her misunderstanding?

But if he did, then what next?

Could he tell her he was the Golden Bunny?

“What are you doing? I told you to choose.”

Lize pressed him again. Cassium hesitated, then decided to postpone answering that question for now.

“Mushroom dish sounds good. Or maybe a salad.”

He’d eaten so much meat while staying at her house that now he felt like going vegetarian.

“Did you always like vegetarian food?”

“I do now.”

“Why not eat something more filling?”

“Are you worried about my health?”

“It’d be a problem for me if you collapsed right after coming back.”

“Thanks for the concern.”

“It’s not concern.”

There was a hint of indignation in Lize’s voice. She glared at Cassium and pointed at a restaurant in the distance.

“Then how about calzone? With mushrooms and egg on top. That’ll get you some carbs and protein too.”

“That sounds good.”

All the way to the restaurant, Lize kept glancing at him.

Cassium continued walking, barely holding back the urge to smile directly at her.

***

Cassium seemed a little off.

There had to be some kind of side effect from the dark magic.

‘Why is he smiling?’

Even now, he smiled at something that wasn’t remotely worth smiling about.

I had simply taken a bite of my calzone, and he looked at me like something wonderful had happened.

‘Don’t tell me there’s something weird in the food?’

I paused mid-bite of my calzone and looked toward him.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

Now that I think about it, he wasn’t really eating and just seemed to be observing me…?