Comfort
At night, Mitina returned to the mansion and, as expected, found herself face to face with a sulky Kyelse.
Normally, he would have said he was going to take a bath as soon as he got home, but that day he remained silent and averted his eyes from Mitina. What bothered him the most was that after all that boasting and challenging Zeffen to a fight, he ended up losing miserably.
So Mitina, who had recently taken a bath by herself, called out to Kyelse, who was still sulking, while drying her wet hair.
“Thank you for your hard work in today’s duel. I never knew that you, Kyelse, were strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Commander Zeffen.”
“…”
“The commander also said that Kyelse-dono would have won if she had used magic. I also think that in terms of simple sword skills, the commander and Kyelse-dono are roughly equal in ability.”
“…………”
No matter what she said, Kyelse showed no reaction, so Mitina scratched her head a little. Then, looking into the air, she poked her.
“I didn’t know that you originally wanted to join the Black Iron Knights, Kyelse-dono.”
“!?”
“Also, Commander Zeffen said that he respects me a lot, is that true?”
“Wh-w-w-why are you telling me that…!”
Seeing Kyelse obviously shaken up, Mitina smiled. As always, he was an interesting man, it was easy to tell just what to strike to get her to cry in the right voice.
“I heard a lot from Commander Zeffen. I understand why you wanted to join the Black Iron Knights.”
“What…?”
“If you were forced to join the Silver Knights and then had to endure that for nearly ten years, it’s only natural that you would feel resentful.”
“…”
Given Kyelse’s personality, there was no way she would have been able to accept such treatment. Mitina could easily imagine how angry he must have been at the time, and she couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Furthermore, when Kyelse said she would join the Black Iron Knights after her argument with Mitina, it wasn’t because of the incident in the past, but she had mistakenly thought so.
And Kyelse seemed to have grown tired of it, so instead of pointing out her mistake, she just kept quiet and listened to what she had to say.
“When we first started living together, I honestly thought that Kyelse-dono was a hopeless, selfish narcissist, but now I think it’s amazing that I was able to end up like that.”
“What is that, is it sarcastic?”
“No, no. I simply thought it was amazing.”
Not understanding what Mitina had said, Kyelse tilted her head to the side, and Mitina gave her a gentle smile. Seeing this, Kyelse’s face gradually turned red, and he hurriedly turned his back on her and looked away.
“Normally, it would be unpleasant to have your feelings ignored and have other work forced upon you just because it’s convenient for you. I would demand a fair wage if I had to do that.”
“You are driven by money…”
“That’s right. The only thing I care about is how much money I can make. But, Kyelse-dono is different.”
She wanted to be the most noble, beautiful, and powerful knight of all. With that wish, Kyelse found her own value in the Black Iron Knights, who placed great importance on strength.
His magical talents were unmatched. His sword skills were on par with even Zeffen’s. If his command skills lived up to his reputation, then his powers would have been truly displayed in the Black Iron Knights.
But in the end, he chose to respect the desires of those around him above his own ideals.
I believe that this is the pride of a knight.
“In order to protect her pride as a knight, she bent her own will and continued to answer the wishes of those around her for ten years… That was Kyelse, the one with high ideals and a strong will.”
“…………”
“Honestly, I think it must be a difficult life for you. But I still think your nobility is your greatest virtue.”
Mitina conveyed this to the best of her ability. That Kyelse’s way of being was beautiful, and that she felt attracted to her.
“Even if it’s frustrating or you don’t accept it, you have served as the captain of the Silver Knights better than anyone else up until now. I truly respect you, Kyelse, not just as a knight, but as a person as well.”
“…”
“Oh, I’m sorry if that sounded nasty. I’m not very good at giving people compliments.”
”I’m sorry,” she said to Kyelse, who had her back to Mitina and was looking down. Since she’d managed to get across what she wanted to say, she decided it would be best to leave her alone for a while, and headed out of the living room.
At this, Kyelse sighed deeply.
“…This is really the worst. I’m much stronger and more capable than Zeffen.”
“I agree”
“Why should I be treated like this just because I have great powers? I just wanted to become a great knight.”
Mitina quietly replied to Kyelse’s monologue, which almost felt lonely. She listened carefully to Kyelse’s complaints, which no one had probably ever heard before.
“Kyelse, why did you want to become a knight?”
“Don’t get carried away. Don’t think I’ll just talk that easily.”
“Is that so? I’ll go and dry my hair then.”
“Wait! Why do you give up so easily? Don’t you care? Don’t you want to know more about me?”
“Hmm…”
It’s not that I’m not particularly interested, but I don’t feel like forcing myself to ask if she doesn’t want to tell me. That was all, but it seemed Kyelse wasn’t happy with Mitina’s attitude. He glared at her with a solemn look in his eyes.
“I’ll take care of your hair. Come here!”
“Yes.”
As Kyelse moved to the sofa, Mitina sat down next to him.
With my back to him, I let him carefully dry my hair with a towel, and after a short silence he began to speak:
“I thought that if I became the best knight, even ordinary people would understand my greatness.”
“Have you been looked down upon before?”
Putting his personality aside, Kyelse’s talent was unquestionable. It was hard to imagine that such a person was not appreciated by those around him.
“Hmmph. It’s true that I was the most outstanding student in the history of the Magic Academy. However, during my time there, I was constantly told not to do anything because it would discourage the other students.”
“Haa… that’s pretty cruel treatment.”
“Isn’t that so? Even if I protested, they would just preface it by saying that they knew how excellent you were, but that as long as you had vital activity there was no need for an evaluation, and that you wouldn’t be a problem in the future either, so they wouldn’t take me seriously.”
It seems that the academy was overwhelmed by Kyelse, a rare genius. However, it also seemed that the reason she was treated like this was due to Kyelse’s excessive desire for self-expression.
While Mitina was thinking about such things, Kyelse muttered in an even more depressed voice than before.
“Since then, I’ve become nothing more than a decoration.”
“Ornaments?”
“That’s right. They didn’t even look at my true abilities, they just treated me like I didn’t need any effort or other talent as long as I had the power of miracles, like I was fine just existing without doing anything.”
Now I understand why he rebelled against King Regula.
Possessing the miraculous power of life activation, he had been highly esteemed until now for that reason. However, this treatment was extremely restrictive for Kyelse, who was filled with other talents and wanted to make the most of them.
My will is ignored and they decide what things should be like.
That’s why it’s treated as a decoration.
“Well, even as a child, it wasn’t much…”
“Your childhood, Kyelse-dono? Did something happen then too?”
“…”
Kyelse responded to Mitina’s question with silence.
Speaking of his childhood, it was probably when his parents were still alive. She had a vague idea, but talking about his parents was almost taboo for Kyelse.
“Anyway, it was during that time that I saw the way the kingdom’s knights were, and I intuitively thought that the reason I was born with so many talents, was to become a more excellent and noble knight than anyone else and support the country.”
“Is that the Black Iron Knight?”
“That’s right. Although I hate it, the catalyst for me to change was Zeffen, who had just become a commanding officer at the time. You know that too.”
Mitina was honestly surprised to learn that it was Zeffen that inspired Kyelse to aspire to become a knight.
The reason why Kyelse hates Zeffen so much right now may be because her respect for him had been reversed due to his refusal to join the Black Iron Knights.
“Until he became the captain of the Black Iron Knights, the group hadn’t had a proper leader at the time. The organization was also on the verge of an internal split, and the number of problematic behaviors around the castle was only increasing.”
“That seems to be the case. I don’t know the details, but I heard that this is the reason why there is still a tendency among not only the Silver Knights, but the people of the royal castle to shun the Black Iron Knights.”
The knights are quasi-mercenaries who operate on power and reward. Because they often do physically demanding jobs, the organization tends to attract a lot of oddballs, and it’s said that even past kings had a hard time dealing with them.
“That’s when King Regula brought Zeffen to the area. He united the Black Iron Knights with his overwhelming military power and charisma, and earned a lot of praise for his many achievements. Seeing that, I just had an idea for how to use my power.”
“You saw what Commander Zeffen did and thought you could do it too, Kyelse-dono.”
“It’s not that I saw Zeffen and thought I could do it too! I was convinced that I would be an even better knight than him because I am so talented!”
“Ah, I see.”
Seeing Kyelse being as overconfident as ever, Mitina gave a bitter smile. It seemed she wanted to keep it in mind that she aspired to become a knight not because she admired Zeffen, but because she felt a sense of rivalry with him.
But deep in her heart, she must still have some respect for Zeffen. The reason Kyelse wanted to become a Black Iron Knight was probably because Zeffen had seemed so brilliant to her at the time.
“And so, you tried to become a knight who could surpass Captain Zeffen.”
“Of course. At that time, I already possessed the talent, beauty, and nobility of a knight. I thought that if I could achieve more than Zeffen and earn the title of strongest, I could become the greatest knight in the world.”
(That’s a bit of a childish way of thinking…)
There’s something about Kyelse who was serious about becoming the strongest knight I had ever imagined, and I found it endearing. The fact that she was so talented that she was actually able to aim for it might also be the reason for her purity.
As I was absentmindedly thinking about this, Kyelse’s hand, which had been stroking my hair, stopped.
“But in the end, it didn’t turn out that way. Now I can understand the feelings and reasoning of the King who made me a Silver Knight. But even so, at first, I didn’t want to do it.”
Kyelse had clearly said that she didn’t like it. The reason she was able to express it so frankly was probably because she trusted Mitina.
“Being prepared for emergencies that may come at any time, being kept away from crises for the country, and just being there… I didn’t want that, so I tried to become a knight, but it’s pointless.”
“surely”
“Even though I pleaded like that, no one agreed with me. In the end, my lord bowed to me and I gave up everything.”
It must have been quite a shock for Kyelse to have her master, King Regula, bow to her.
He couldn’t accept his own feelings, and realized that his actions of being selfish and causing trouble to his lord, to whom he should have sworn loyalty, were unbecoming of a knight.
“Even when my lord asked you to find a husband, you must have been quite patient, right?”
“Hmph. It’s too late now.”
Mitina had once commented that the king’s actions of meddling in Kyelse’s marriage were like treating her like a farm animal.
However, this wasn’t the first time that his engagement to Mitina had happened.
For a long time, his life, which should have been his alone, had been controlled by the convenience of others. When I think about this, I feel a deep sadness and emptiness.
“…Well, about the engagement…”
“What about the engagement?”
“…………Nothing.”
Kyelse tilted her head in confusion as she strangely paused to explain her situation. As she spoke, he seemed to have returned to his usual state and muttered under his breath.
“I, I have no respect for you. Of course. But… I thought you were a woman with guts.”
“Is that so?”
“Most new recruits who are sent to Zeffen for training either end up being well behaved or quit being Black Iron Knights. But you’re still an assistant captain, despite being rebellious and cocky.”
“Well, I suppose so.”
Mitina endured Zeffen’s hellish discipline. However, the reason she was treated as a problem child when she enlisted was because all the manners she had learned before coming to the royal capital to avoid being looked down upon by others had backfired.
“He may be foul-mouthed, but he does his job perfectly and has improved Zeffen’s devastating political skills to a more than satisfactory level… I just thought he had some merit. I don’t particularly respect him, that’s why!”
“Uh, yes. I think it’s enough to receive such a compliment from Kyelse-dono.”
Kyelse stubbornly refused to admit that she respected him, which made her laugh without realizing. It almost sounded as if she was trying to say that she really did respect him, but that she just couldn’t be honest about it.
“I hope that one day, Kyelse-dono will be able to live as she wishes, in her own way.”
“…………”
“Let’s think about what we should do. Hmm… the reason is that we need to consider the secret art of vitality and the balance of our fighting power…”
Staring at Mitina who was beginning to become seriously troubled, Kyelse blushed and looked down. Gently stroking her hair, which had now mostly dried, she let out a small sigh.
“I guess it would be most practical to switch affiliations with Captain Zeffen. He is also a noble after all. As for the captain’s political skills, we’ll have to rely on the abilities of the other knights.”
“…Even if that happens, I don’t think I’ll be allowed to leave the royal castle.”
“That’s true…”
That was probably the problem. It would be best for Kyelse, who possessed the secret art of vitality, not to stray from the center of the royal capital as much as possible.
If that was the case, the problem might be solved if there was another person with a different secret art.
“……yeah?”
Mitina then remembers the time she received this secret mission.
–Our king would like to see his talent passed down to future generations.
(Could that be King Regula’s aim…?)
For a moment, Mitina thought she had seen the true reason behind this secret mission, but she quickly admonished herself for overthinking it. At the point when they were forcing her to have a child, she didn’t want to believe that it was for Kyelse’s sake.
However, it might be a viable method. And if he presented it to Kyelse, there was a good chance that it would encourage him to decide to marry Istaria.
“It might be a good idea to have children and hope that they will inherit the secret art of vitality.”
“A-a child…?! What are you suddenly saying?!”
“Well, it’s a bit of a questionable idea ethically… but if someone else who can use the secret art of vitality appears, then there will be no reason for you to stay in the royal castle, Kyelse.”
I casually suggested that it was a surprisingly good idea, but when I turned around, Kyelse was in a panic, her face bright red for some reason.
“You don’t have to be so shaken up… you’re surprisingly innocent.”
“It’s because you say weird things!”
“I’m sorry about that. But you will get married someday and have to do things like that, so you’ll have to get used to it.”
“Well, you get used to it…”
“I’m sure if your future wife knew how hard you’ve been working, she’d work hard for you.”
“…”
Kyelse was silent as she looked at Mitina with a heated gaze, as if she wanted to say something. Then, as if she had just realized something, she muttered softly.
“I, I see, to remove him from his duties as a Black Iron Knight…”
“picture?”
As she tilted her head at the ominous words, Kyelse, with a determined look on her face despite her bright red face, touched Mitina’s shoulder. Then she took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes.
“You, have sex with me tonight.”
Mitina was stunned by that extremely far-fetched statement. She was so shocked that her thoughts stopped, and all she could manage to say was one word.
“teeth?”
Leave a Reply