Translated by Bee🐝
Riesling is one of the four swords that protect the Shabli Kingdom, and Cassis is the son of the Riesling swordsman.
As the son of a nobleman, and even more so as the son of the Riesling swordsman, who is considered the best among the only four swordsmen in the kingdom, it was a pity. Of course, as a great noble family, the title and wealth that came with being the son of a duke were not insignificant, but humans are always beings who look up. Compared to what the eldest son would receive, it was pitifully meager. The difference was even more severe in such a great family.
To make matters worse, the eldest son of the Riesling swordsman was the culprit, and Cassis, the second son, was not an ordinary person. Although there was nothing wrong with his appearance, which could be described as handsome, and he was at least above average in everything he did, unlike his elder brother, Cassis was objectively a handsome man and the best swordsman in the kingdom, and even his personality was good. It was a setting that was obviously regrettable.
“Oh, that second son…”
“Well, if only he had been born a little earlier…”
“To be honest, he’s not really suitable for a duke…”
There aren’t many people who are brave enough to say it outright, but there are quite a few who make mistakes. The siblings of the Riesling swordsman heard the phrase “If only the two had switched places” hundreds of times and grew up with regretful eyes that sent such thoughts.
Thanks to that, the eldest son of the Riesling swordsman thought every day about “how to pass on the successor position to his younger brother without burdening him,” while Cassis, the second son, thought every day about “how to receive the successor position without burdening his older brother.”
That was the story of how the great Riesling swordsman’s second son, Cassis, became a royal guard. Family stability, friendship, and traffic control.
It was so concise and convincing that people soon lost interest in the topic because it was too ordinary and natural. And that was truly fortunate for Cassis. Thanks to that, he was able to keep his first love, which was as fleeting as a handful of primroses, as his own secret.
That’s right. There was actually another reason why Cassis became a royal guard, and that reason accounted for more than half, no, most of the cause.
So, what was that reason…?
“Please become my knight.”
Cassis stopped walking and looked out the window. The garden, bathed in the light of dawn, was unusually beautiful. It was enough to distract Cassis, who had no interest in gardens, for a moment.
But the reason wasn’t just because the garden was beautifully arranged. It wasn’t just because the flowers, trees, and decorations that filled the garden were of the highest quality.
The reason was Cassis himself.
“Cassis Riesling, I won’t forget.”
“….” It was fifteen years ago, when Cassis was eight years old. The nobles gathered to celebrate the birthday of the King of Shabli. Among them was the Riesling swordsman.
“Tedious…”
Although he was born and raised as a nobleman, he was only eight years old. He couldn’t sit in one place for hours, talking to strangers and listening to incomprehensible stories. Cassis secretly left the banquet hall while his parents were talking to others. Avoiding the eyes of the adults, Cassis wandered around the palace and suddenly found himself climbing a tree in a corner of the garden.
What was he so absorbed in that he climbed a tree? He wouldn’t have been interested in climbing a tree on a normal day. He wasn’t chasing anything.
It was a really strange day. For no reason at all, his heart was pounding and he felt frustrated. Cassis chose a moderately thick branch and sat on it.
But as he looked down, there was a cracking sound, and the branch he was sitting on broke with a snap. Cassis had no choice but to fall to the ground with a scream.
“Ow!”
Fortunately, he managed to land safely. He knelt down and examined his sore ankle, but suddenly felt an unmistakable presence. Cassis raised his head.
“Are you okay?”
She was a very pretty girl.
“There was a snake…”
A girl with a single-shot gun.
Cassis finally realized that the sound he heard when the branch broke was a gunshot, and his eyes widened.
“I thought I was going to get bitten… so I tried to shoot the snake, but I missed.”
“She broke the branch with a gunshot?”
He didn’t even have a dizzying thought that his leg could have flown off if he had aimed even slightly wrong. Instead, he was completely captivated by the girl in front of him.
The mature Cassis fell in love with the girl at first sight that day. As it turned out, the girl Cassis fell in love with was a princess. The only princess in the kingdom. The heir to the throne that the son of a duke like Cassis would never be able to reach. Cassis’s somewhat creepy first love, which he had thought of marrying at first sight, became a laughing stock and disappeared in just one day.
But the heart is not so easily settled. Cassis’s pitiful yet persistent first love continued for fifteen years, leading him to become a royal guard. Moreover, Cassis, who was recognized for his love and ability, finally became the guard of his first love…
“The heavens are so indifferent.”
One of the two stars of the Shabli Kingdom set two weeks ago. Cassis sighed, thinking of Joie, whom he had always been affectionate with as a guard.
“Is it really true that she was a witch? It’s hard to believe…”
It was a shocking incident in many ways, especially for Cassis, who had often encountered Joie.
But tomorrow the sun will rise and the world will continue to turn more or less as usual. People get hungry and need to eat, and to do that, they need to work.
Diligent Cassis worked hard. Today, too, Cassis was patrolling the palace where the nobles lived, looking for anything suspicious since dawn. He wasn’t asked to do it, and it wasn’t even during his working hours.
Perhaps it was fate that Cassis discovered Mercedes.
“What is that?”
When people think of royal guards, they usually imagine handsome knights dressed in fancy uniforms standing like decorations next to the glamorous royals.
But in reality, being a royal guard is not such a smooth job. All sorts of thugs who have not been officially allowed to enter the palace come and go. From infiltrators who simply gather basic information to assassins who possess bizarre assassination methods that could appear in legends. Cassis has seen all sorts of things as a royal guard and now he doesn’t even bat an eye at most things.
But this time, the situation was so surprising that it could even surprise someone like him.
“Her butt is sticking out of the wall?”
That was the only way to describe it. Cassis wanted to scream, but he held it in and cautiously observed the strange sight.
“….”
But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a butt sticking out of the wall, but a woman stuck in a hole in the wall, of course. However, it was understandable for Cassis to mistake it for a butt because the hole in the wall was exactly the size of a woman’s waist. Moreover, there was not a single piece of gold near the hole, as if it had been cut off with something very sharp.
“What is this?”
“Oops…!”
A voice that clearly showed surprise came from the other side of the wall. The other person seemed to realize that the current situation was not what they intended. Cassis was able to calm down a little.
However, Cassis didn’t fully regain his composure.
“Are you a thief?”
If someone asks if they are a thief, what thief would answer yes? However, Cassis didn’t have the luxury of finding errors in his actions.
Well, anyway, the other person wasn’t a thief.
“A thief! How dare you say that to anyone!”
A nervous voice came from the other side of the wall. However, her pronunciation was very accurate, her tone was higher than any instrument Cassis had ever heard, and there was an undeniable sense of intimidation in her speech.
But there was another reason why Cassis was surprised.
“This, this voice, could it be…?”
“….Princess?”
“Oops…”
“Princess Mercedes!”
“Kuk…”
Dumbfounded, Cassis accidentally let his gaze slip to his first love’s butt.
