ITBFL | Chapter 45

Episode 45

‘It’s real.’

I tried to doubt it, but it was hard to think that the person in front of me wasn’t Cassium.

‘For one, it’s not easy for knight attire to suit someone that well.’

Earlier this year, in a vote among imperial citizens for the knight who looked best in an Erne uniform, Cassium and I had tied for first place.

If there was any difference from before, it was that his arms looked thicker, as if he had undergone some intense muscle pumping in a short time.

I stared at him for a long moment before realizing that he, too, had been looking at me the entire time.

He had looked at me many times before, but it had been a while since he stared at me so intently… and yet, for some reason, it didn’t feel unfamiliar.

Regardless, the Cassium standing before me was undoubtedly the real Cassium.

Not a rock, not an illusion, not a dream, and not a fake—just the real, living Cassium.

“Lize.”

He called my name.

“What.”

I answered indifferently, then wondered if I should have responded differently.

Maybe I should have snapped at him outright, or perhaps I should have acknowledged whatever he had gone through and told him he’d been through a lot.

Cassium wore a complicated expression, as if he had countless things he wanted to say.

‘Come to think of it, he thanked me earlier. Did he see that I was trying to protect his position?’

Cassium took a step toward me.

If he wanted to talk, I was willing to listen.

It had been a while, and the truth was, I had wanted him to return as well.

“Vice Captain!!!”

But at that moment, a flood of Black Panther Knights rushed in, surrounding Cassium.

“Uuugh, Vice Captain!”

The knights bombarded Cassium with words.

Their words overlapped so much that it was impossible to make out exactly what they were saying, but one thing was clear—they were all pouring out their longing and sorrow for him.

“……”

I watched Cassium, encircled by his knights, for a moment before turning away.

It seemed only right to yield him to them for now.

“Thank you, Hedel.”

After the chaotic reunion with the Black Panther Knights, Cassium dismissed everyone except his adjutant, Hedel.

There was something he wanted to thank him for personally.

“You must have endured so much hardship.”

Hedel’s voice was steady and disciplined, but a slight tremor of genuine concern could be heard.

“You were stuck as a rabbit… and on top of that, with Vice Captain Artiel!”

“So what?”

“…Pardon?”

Hedel tilted his head at the unexpected response.

He couldn’t comprehend why Cassium’s expression seemed to genuinely question what was so difficult about it.

Lost in confusion, Hedel pondered for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh of realization.

Ah, he’s just pretending to be fine in front of his subordinate.

Cassium had always been a strong leader who never showed weakness, so it made sense.

“There’s no need to act tough.”

“I’m not acting.”

“You had to spend entire days with Vice Captain Artiel. Of course it was tough!”

“It really wasn’t.”

Seeing his deeply considerate commander pretend to be unaffected just to ease his worries, Hedel felt a pang in his heart.

“You can be honest with me. Just how difficult was it?”

“Hedel.”

“Vice Captain… you nearly ended up marrying Vice Captain Artiel!”

“Khff.”

“…‘Khff’?”

Hedel frowned in confusion.

Sure, at first glance, one might think Cassium was so horrified by the mere thought that he involuntarily made that sound.

But something about it felt… off.

“In the end, it’s a relief that the engagement fell through.”

He decided to throw out a test statement.

If things were as expected, Cassium should have replied indifferently with a simple, “Yes, it is.”

“……”

But he didn’t respond.

“Vice Captain… don’t tell me you’re actually disappointed or sad that it fell through…”

“……”

“…Did you actually want to marry Vice Captain Artiel?”

“Let’s not talk about this.”

Hedel stared intently at Cassium’s face.

His complexion seemed slightly flushed. Was it just because it had been a while since they last met, or was his face actually red?

“I should prepare for the afternoon training.”

“Vice Captain?”

“I wonder how much the unit has improved in my absence. Of course, I trust you’ve trained them well as their senior knight.”

“Y-yes, of course.”

As Cassium rose from his seat, Hedel followed behind him.

‘He’s changing the subject…’

He wanted to ask more, but something told him he’d get scolded if he did, so he decided to hold his tongue.

He had already kept the secret about their vice captain being turned into a rabbit from Milia and the others.

And now, it felt like he had another secret about Cassium to keep.

After the Elder Council meeting.

‘Well, at least it all worked out.’

Cassium had really returned.

The sight of him walking through the doors of the council chamber played in my mind. Honestly, I had thought I was hallucinating, but he was real.

‘I feel like I’ve already done enough for today.’

I wanted to hurry and tell Golden Bunny everything.

After all, he had been right beside me, watching as I searched for Cassium.

If I told him Cassium had returned, he would be just as surprised.

‘First, I should go to my office and prepare for the afternoon training.’

I walked down the corridor of the knights’ building and climbed the stairs.

But then, ahead of me, I saw someone walking toward my office.

‘Hmm?’

I quickly ran up and grabbed his shoulder.

“Sir Julius!”

“L-Lize?”

“What brings you here?”

“Oh, I came to see a close knight.”

“A close knight?”

I tilted my head. Was there a knight in Erne that Julius was particularly close with?

I didn’t know everything about Julius, but I had never seen him visit Erne before.

“You have a close knight in Erné?”

“Does it not seem that way? I do.”

I narrowed my eyes and thought for a moment.

‘Now that I think about it, Captain Denver and Sir Julius are both royals.’

In terms of lineage, Julius was technically the captain’s nephew.

“Did you come to see the captain?”

“I came to see a close knight, not a relative.”

Come to think of it, even though they were related, Julius had never once visited Erné to see the captain.

“Then who is it? I have no idea.”

Julius grinned and pointed at me.

“It’s right here.”

“…What?”

“I actually came to see you, Lize.”

“Me? Were we that close?”

“…So I was the only one who thought so…”

I unconsciously tilted my head, but when I thought about it, I supposed that was true.

We had taken imperial studies classes together, and he was one of the very few people who knew about my illness.

But before I could fully process that thought, Julius’s expression had already turned sullen.

“No, Sir Julius. You’re right—we are close, aren’t we? Please don’t look so down!”

“It’s fine. I’ll just keep my disappointment to myself.”

“No, really, I do think we’re close.”

Deciding to use a conversational redirection technique—a handy way to escape tricky situations—I quickly changed the subject.

“What did you come here to talk about?”

“I came to express my gratitude.”

“To me? Did I do something worthy of thanks?”

Julius nodded. His smiling face looked mischievous, but he didn’t seem to be lying.

“What exactly did I do?”

“Oh, just something.”

Julius didn’t explain any further, simply giving me one of his characteristic relaxed, knowing smiles.

“A lot of people are thanking me today.”

“Well, you’ve done a lot of good deeds, so it’s only natural.”

“Well… if you say so, Sir Julius. Since you’re here, would you like to have some tea before you go?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have time today. But let’s arrange something soon.”

Julius suddenly went, “Ah,” as if something had just occurred to him.

“It might be nice to invite Sir Balteire as well.”

Did Cassium and Julius have some kind of connection?

“Then, I’ll see you next time, Lize.”

“Ah… yes.”

Julius waved his hand and quickly turned away.

“Ow.”

“Are you all right, Sir Julius?”

As he hurried off, something heavy in his robe pocket seemed to hit his leg.

I couldn’t tell what it was, but Julius simply smiled as if to say he was fine, then disappeared down the corridor.

The hallway grew quiet. I entered my office alone and sank deeply into my chair.

‘For some reason… I feel exhausted.’

It was only natural—I had been on edge throughout the entire Elder Council meeting.

As I looked around my office, I noticed a pouch sitting on my desk.

It was the pouch Cassium had been in.

I stared at it for a moment before reaching out and swiftly opening it.

“…!”

As I peered inside, I blinked in surprise.