The flames leapt high, casting an orange hue not only across the darkened sky but also painting the faces of those gazing upon them.
In that fleeting moment when everything was consumed by the color of the flames, Alessia’s crimson eyes seemed to embrace that vermilion glow, shining even brighter.
Kaon stared at Alessia’s profile as if he was mesmerized. Compared to the brilliantly embroidered night sky, Alessia seemed to sparkle even more.
“Kaon, look at those flames. Aren’t they beautiful?” Alessia turned to him, catching his gaze as he looked up at the sky. His heart fluttered at her playful smile.
“Yeah, they are,” Kaon nodded, his gaze still fixed on Alessia. There was an inexplicable unease melting away in that smile of hers.
“Really? They’re beautiful?” Alessia’s question echoed in his mind. Ah, it must’ve been a tease.
Kaon quickly dismissed his distractions. As he looked at Alessia, his heart raced like a rabbit’s, her questioning gaze making it beat faster.
“Yeah, they’re beautiful,” Kaon replied shyly. Alessia had asked about the flames, but what he found beautiful was Alessia herself. And it was genuine. He couldn’t care less about the beauty of the flames; Alessia was the one who captivated him.
From her smooth, round forehead to her occasionally trembling long eyelashes, her moderately high, straight nose to her eyes that shone innocently like jewels, everything about Alessia was beautiful.
As Kaon couldn’t tear his eyes away from her face, Alessia, who had been silently staring at him for a while, smiled mischievously.
Then, she suddenly raised her hand.
“Even though it’s the flames created by this ring?”
“Huh?”
Her gaze pointing to the large ruby ring was piercing. Caught off guard and unknowingly wanting to join her smile, Kaon foolishly asked, and Alessia added a comment like a dart.
“Even though it’s not my magic that created those flames, do you really find them beautiful, Kaon Ferdinand?”
***
At that moment, Kaon gasped for air and sat up abruptly. Looking around frantically, everything that had been vivid moments ago had vanished.
“A dream?”
Kaon gulped down a glass of water and wiped his sweaty forehead in annoyance.
“Just a dream…”
How tense he must have been, his back and waist all damp with sweat, and his forehead dripping with cold sweat. Yet, it was just a dream. It was absurd, almost laughable.
Taking a long exhale, Kaon glanced at the curtain. There was no movement from the other side. He worried he might have inadvertently disturbed Alessia’s sleep, but she seemed to be sleeping soundly. That was a relief.
Kaon lay back down. Tomorrow was a day without morning training, so he could sleep for quite a while now. A good night’s sleep would make everything better when he woke up.
He envisioned tomorrow’s schedule vaguely in his mind. Resting in the morning and then going on an inspection with Alessia in the afternoon, evening would come quickly.
It would be a day no different from today. Useless dreams like that would soon be forgotten.
Assuring himself, Kaon closed his eyes, ready to drift into sleep, but abruptly snapped them open.
‘Which part is the dream?’
***
Kaon ended up spending the whole night awake. His mind was troubled, and he couldn’t possibly fall asleep.
Just until he had awakened from the dream, Kaon hadn’t given it much thought. Of course, he was greatly surprised and bewildered, but considering it was just a dream, he soon calmed down.
However, soon another memory surfaced. In that memory, Alessia changed completely, turning into a different person, threatening him, and ultimately using his weaknesses to silence him.
It felt excessively vivid to be a dream, yet too absurd to be reality.
‘Alessia wouldn’t do that.’
It seemed like he had dwelled too deeply on Alessia’s ring, leading it to extend into a dream. Twice, at that.
Haunted by an eerie dream, he wasn’t feeling too well, but at least he learned one thing. When bringing something up, he needed to be thoroughly prepared.
Based on the lesson learned from his dream, Kaon thought he should talk separately with Alessia after considering it thoroughly and stepped out of his room.
“Ah…”
Just as Kaon began to walk outside, he froze in his tracks. The creaking sound seemed to be coming from beside him, and indeed, Alessia was coming out of her room.
Alessia, too, seemed to have noticed Kaon and stopped in her tracks just like him. Perhaps feeling a bit awkward due to the violent dream, Kaon hesitated, but Alessia spoke first.
“Kaon, did you sleep well?”
“…Yeah. What about you, Alessia?”
“I slept fine.”
Alessia replied cheerfully, folding her arms lightly. She was just like usual. The girl with the fierce gaze from his memories was nowhere to be found.
Ah, it was indeed just a dream. Finally relieved, Kaon let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness. As Kaon was wiping away his worries, he heard unexpected words.
“But I didn’t expect you to sleep well either. If it were me, I’d have tossed and turned all night.”
The words sounded unexpected. Bewildered, Kaon raised his head, and Alessia stepped closer. She was still smiling.
“…Huh?”
“We made a deal, remember it well. Don’t just go off to find your sister for no reason. Got it, Kaon Ferdinand?”
The whisper was gentle, but what she said was anything but tender. The rift between them was so significant that Kaon’s mouth fell open.
“Surely you don’t think it’s all just a dream, do you?”
Alessia forcefully brought Kaon back to reality. Even though she asked as if to say there couldn’t possibly be, her expression revealed a hint of contempt.
Letting out an audible sigh, Alessia shrugged a couple of times before suddenly returning her sweet smile.
“Oh my, Lily! Are you on your way down? Let’s go together.”
Lost in thought, Kaon absentmindedly watched as Alessia, calling out to the maid with a joyful voice, gently nudged him aside and walked away.
With his jaw hanging open, Kaon watched Alessia’s retreating figure.
***
“Thank you for your hard work today, everyone.”
“Oh, don’t mention it! You’ve been working the hardest, Miss. Haven’t you been out here for over two months now?”
“I’m just following along from behind. It’s the knights, including Niels, who deserve the credit.”
“Nonsense. We’re all grateful to you. When you say such things, Miss, we don’t know what to do with ourselves.”
Niels, a middle-aged knight, seemed deeply moved by Alessia’s considerate words. His fellow knights under his command shared the sentiment. It was only natural, as they were the ones who had dealt most closely with the abuses of the dispatched mage.
“There’s still a lot lacking. We’ll continue to rely on you, Niels.”
“You’re doing more than enough.”
“Absolutely!”
“Thank you everyone.”
It was a heartwarming scene of knights and the mage expressing gratitude to each other. It was incredibly idealistic and beautiful, but Kaon couldn’t blend in with them and instead stood alone on the side, his expression contorted.
“Oh, I almost forgot about Kaon. He’s been with us every day.”
That’s because the most genuinely kind mage in the world was not a real mage but a fake pretending to be one.
“We should all encourage Kaon, too… Kaon, what’s wrong? You look upset.”
Just that made him feel dizzy and stuffed up his nose, and now she was pretending to be a caring fiancée, worriedly looking after him.
The reason for his sour expression was the pretentiousness he had witnessed all month. So if asked what’s wrong, he could answer that seeing that behavior made him feel unwell.
“Unfortunately, I think it might be better for everyone to disperse for today. You don’t seem well, and I’m worried.”
“Of course. Young Master must be pleased because you’re worrying this much! Anyway, you two, it’s a sight to see. Haha.”
But before Kaon could utter a word, Alessia took the lead. Everyone echoed Niels’ hearty laughter. The crowd erupted with various cheers of, “I’m envious!” and “He’s definitely a lucky man!”
‘Geez…’
Amidst the cheerful atmosphere, Kaon swallowed the curse he had already uttered hundreds of times once again.
At the same time, he pondered what could be more destitute than being destitute. Using such simple words alone couldn’t express his feelings. It would probably be better to roll around in a snowdrift with wet clothes and a broken nose than this.
One month had passed since the deal, that was not exactly a real deal, was struck. During that time, Kaon had completely revised all his thoughts about Alessia Ingelos.
First of all, Alessia wasn’t kind in the slightest. No, she was kind, but only when other people were around.
“Hey, are you even managing your expression?”
“What about it?”
She was still like that even now.
🍉🍉🍉
