Extra – Even though they may have missed each other, the two of them now
Kyelse loves her more than anyone else. She cherishes her. Having naturally taken such pride in her life with him, Mitina was completely shocked to see him smiling at another woman.
(Kyelse-san… did something like that outside of my presence…)
Stunned, Mitina looked away and started walking. With each step she took, her thoughts became darker and darker, until she felt like she was going to sink into the ground.
By the time she arrived at Zeffen’s office, she looked empty, as if her soul had left her body.
“Welcome back, Mitina. Did you meet Kyelse…?”
“…”
“M-Mitina?”
Zeffen’s smile faded as he saw Mitina sit down in silence with a blank look on her face that he had never seen before.
“Did something happen with Kyelse?”
“……it’s okay”
“You don’t look okay at all though…”
“it’s okay”
Seeing Mitina, who had always looked happy recently, looking sad, Zeffen’s face became serious. He then cast his sharp gaze down to the floor, frowned, and quietly got up from his seat and stormed out of the office.
Zeffen headed towards the Silver Knights’ camp. He charged forward, exuding an intimidating aura as if he was about to go to battle, and the Silver Knights looked on in fear.
And then, Zeffen arrived at Kyelse’s office, knocked on the door, and entered without giving any warning.
“What do you want, Zeffe–“
Kyelse, who was working there, frowned as soon as she saw the face of the person who had entered.
However, as Zeffen closed the distance without making a sound, he stood up in a panic. However, perhaps because it was a surprise attack, he was unable to react immediately and was quickly cornered against the wall.
“Wha…?!”
“I wonder what they did to Mitina. Depending on the answer…”
Zeffen slammed on the wall, making an unpleasant creaking sound. Hearing that sound so close by, Kyelse gasped and shook her head frantically.
“Wait! Wait, wait, I have no idea what you’re talking about!!”
“Just now, Mitina came back looking like an empty shell. Whenever she shows a side of herself that we’ve never seen before, it’s always because of Kyelse.”
“Just now…? I haven’t met Mitina yet, but…!”
Kyelse then looked as if she had just realized something. Her reaction indicated she had a hunch, which made Zeffen’s eyes sharpen even more.
“So you did something to Mitina after all. I told you, if she cries again…”
“Wha-was he crying!? He couldn’t have gone that far–“
Kyelse jumped to the wrong conclusion and thought Mitina was crying, her face turning pale. Then, in a trembling voice, as if the end of the world was approaching, she confessed her sins.
“I can’t believe he was upset that he forgot to give her an engagement ring!”
“…………yeah?”
The details were quite different from what he had imagined, and Zeffen’s hostility softened. However, in contrast to Zeffen, who was becoming calmer, Kyelse’s face was showing signs of impatience.
“Why did I never realize something so important…! I had caused Mitina so much grief… I can’t complain if you cut me down! I have committed a grave sin!”
“Umm…”
“It’s my fault for being able to spend every day with her and being so happy like an idiot. I’m sure Mitina has grown tired of me… No, no! I don’t want her to hate me, I don’t want to break up with her…!!”
“Oh, calm down, Kyelse. I’m sorry, Mitina wasn’t crying. It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Having somehow managed to calm Kyelse, who was on the verge of tears, Zeffen let out a deep sigh. At this point, he had begun to realize that some major misunderstanding had occurred.
“So… you just recently realized that you hadn’t given her an engagement ring.”
“That’s right.”
“So, Mitina is also worried about that…?”
“Of course!”
Zeffen tilted his head awkwardly to the sincere affirmation. The Mitina he knew was not the type to be upset about not receiving an engagement ring.
“I don’t think Mitina would care about an engagement ring though…”
“Don’t talk like you know everything! Despite how she looks, she’s quite delicate! Recently, she’s become so cute that she happily wears the accessories I give her!”
“Ornaments… then you gave her a ring, right? Then it’s not a problem…”
“There’s no way that a ring that wasn’t given to me as an engagement ring could become an engagement ring without my permission! I can’t believe how careless you are…!”
With a slightly disdainful look in her eyes, Kyelse stared at Zeffen as if she was seeing something impossible. This kind of carelessness, which could even be called outrageous, was something Kyelse didn’t like.
“Well… it’s not too late to give it to her now, right? We can start talking about marriage after we go to Mitina’s hometown, right? There’s still plenty of time.”
“Yes, that’s true, but… I’m sure Mitina is worried about it, isn’t she? It’s too late now…”
“I’m fine. I’m sure there’s another reason why you looked so serious.”
“Ugh, Mitina…”
Seeing that Kyelse was still thinking about Mitina sincerely, just like before, Zeffen sighed in relief.
“Anyway, let’s apologize honestly for forgetting. Then, I’m sure Mitina will forgive us.”
Considering Kyelse’s behavior, it was hard to imagine that he would have done anything to hurt Mitina. Surely Mitina’s expression was also just a misunderstanding.
Having come to that conclusion, Zeffen gave Kyelse some encouragement as she continued to feel depressed for a while.
Meanwhile, Mitina was…
“That’s definitely a misunderstanding on Mitina’s part.”
Once again, Istaria, who had come to visit the royal castle, listened to my story.
It seemed that Istaria had come all the way here to hear about Mitina’s recent situation. Today, she had captured Vite and had him search for Mitina, and she had come to the office.
He invited Istaria into the reception room and honestly told her what had happened earlier, and her reaction was the same as before.
“I thought so… that’s true.”
“That’s right. I bet he was grinning and bragging about it to his coworkers.”
“I don’t think you were grinning…?”
Remembering the smile Kyelse had given the Silver Knight, Mitina tilted her head slightly.
Immediately after that, Mitina was shocked and couldn’t do anything for a while. But when she thought about it, she realized that there was nothing strange about smiling at her colleague.
For a moment, Mitina had been worried that Kyelse’s affections had shifted to another woman, but now that she had calmed down, she had regained some of her composure.
“I’m so embarrassed. To have misunderstood something like this and become so upset…”
“Everyone makes mistakes. For me, it made me smile when I thought that Mitina could get jealous too!”
“…Eh, jealousy?”
“Huh?”
Even Istaria was taken aback by Mitina’s unexpected reaction, and stiffened. Then, with a fake smile on her face, she spoke as if to confirm.
“Mitina? What you’re feeling is called jealousy.”
“…I see, what is it? This is…?”
“As usual, you’re insensitive to your own feelings… After all, you felt bad when you saw Kyelse smiling at another woman, right?”
Mitina tried to recall that shocking moment, but it didn’t really resonate with her and she tilted her head slightly.
Seeing Mitina like that, Istaria frowned in a troubled manner and folded her arms in thought.
“Well, did you ever get annoyed seeing Kyelse being nice to other women?”
“Frustrated… Ah.”
Then Mitina remembered what Vite had said today. Kyelse had become gentler recently, which had led to the Silver Female Knights showering her with scolding.
When Mitina heard this, she felt a dark, uneasy feeling. Thinking back, it was certainly the jealousy she knew.
“envy……”
Aware of a gloomy emotion she had never felt before, Mitina involuntarily looked down, shocked at the fact that such aggressive and shady feelings had been harbored within her.
“It’s not good to be jealous, is it? Kyelse-dono, you care for me so much and love me so much.”
“Mitina”
She had been looking down, but when she heard Istaria’s voice lowering a little, she raised her eyes to see Istaria with her pretty face distorted in a sulky tone.
“Mitina, you’re being too reserved around Kyelse. It’s okay to be a little jealous. It’s normal to get jealous when you see your lover getting along well with someone else!”
“but……”
“Look at Kyelse! She was so jealous that I even approached her, let alone the commander of Mitina. Even so, she doesn’t think she did anything wrong.”
Now that he said it, Kyelse was particularly jealous compared to other people. The reason he often came to see Mitina while she was at work was probably to keep any unwanted insects away from his precious future wife.
“In fact, why don’t you just honestly tell her that you’re jealous? Kyelse will be happy.”
“is that so……?”
Perhaps because she was already used to seeing Kyelse get jealous, she didn’t find it particularly shameful. However, the thought of telling her the dark feelings deep in her heart made Mitina feel embarrassed and repulsed.
“Well, the talk of marriage hasn’t progressed yet, so it’s not surprising that Mitina is worried. Kyelse, if you could be a bit more considerate and give her something that’s easy to understand…”
“Something easy to understand?”
“Wait, just a moment.”
Realizing something, Istaria reached out and took Mitina’s left hand. She then stared intently at her hand, which had now been cleaned by Kyelse.
“Mitina, are you the type to take your ring off while at work?”
“A ring…? Of course, I don’t wear any jewelry at work…”
“That kid…”
Istaria let out a big sigh and held her head. Mitina, not understanding the reason for her reaction, was perplexed as Istaria held her hand.
Then there was a knock on the reception room door, and Zeffen appeared through the open door. With his usual gentle smile, he smiled at the friendly couple.
“Lady Istaria, please come–“
“Istaria!”
However, Zeffen’s greeting was quickly interrupted, as Kyelse, who had been invisible to him due to her tall stature, came rushing in. Then, he immediately snatched Mitina’s hand from Istaria.
“Don’t touch this guy so casually…!”
“I was just holding your hand for a bit, right? What’s with you acting so desperate? It’s so embarrassing!”
“Shut up! I can’t trust you…!!”
“Well well…”
As Zeffen tried to calm the two childhood friends who had begun glaring at each other, Istaria gave Mitina a wink, pleading for something. At first I didn’t understand what she meant, but it seemed that she wanted to say something after seeing Kyelse right now.
Just a touch from Istaria makes her react sensitively and show her jealousy. Compared to Kyelse, Mitina is a cute girl.
“Well, I’m going home now. Kyelse forgot to give me something important, so I’ll just have to get rejected by Mitina again and suffer the consequences!”
“Wha… I won’t be rejected again! Whatever, just go home now!”
Snorting, Istaria walked gracefully out of the Black Iron Knights compound. Seeing this, Zeffen called out to Kyelse, who was still glaring at Istaria, and Mitina, who was stunned.
“I’ll see Lady Istaria off to the outside of the castle. Well then.”
Zeffen gave Kyelse a gentle smile and chased after Istaria.
The two of them were left alone and slowly looked at each other. Usually, just holding hands and looking at each other would create a sweet atmosphere, but at that moment, it was strangely awkward.
For some reason, she remembered the scene where Kyelse was smiling at her female coworker, and Mitina quickly looked away from him. Seeing this, Kyelse gasped, her face turning pale, and looked down.
(I wonder why… I can’t look Kyelse straight in the eye…)
(Ugh, Mitina has looked away… How can I apologize about the engagement ring at this exact moment…!)
Both of them were left feeling anxious and distressed, but in the end they were unable to say anything at the time and returned to work.
◆
Time passed with the atmosphere remaining somewhat tense.
When they returned to the mansion in the evening, Mitina finished her bath as usual while having a harmless conversation with Kyelse. The awkward atmosphere continued to flow between the two at the dinner table afterwards, and there was almost no conversation after they finished eating.
Mitina was sitting on the sofa, deep in thought, listening to the sounds of Kyelse cleaning up after dinner.
(Kyelse noticed that something was wrong with me and was being considerate… but)
The current situation, where she felt a certain distance between them, made her heart ache. When she remembered the happy days up until yesterday, she clearly felt lonely and yearning.
(I want to be with Kyelse forever. To achieve that,)
–Why don’t you just honestly say that you’re jealous?
Istaria’s proposal makes my heart waver.
Jealousy was a much darker emotion than she had thought. She wanted him to look at her and only love her. Her feelings were so saturated with possessiveness that she felt she might end up causing trouble for Kyelse, and it scared her.
(But, Kyelse-dono, you will take good care of me…)
He always scolded Mitina for disregarding his own feelings and showed concern for her.
I’m sure he’ll accept it. In fact, he might be even more worried and wonder why you didn’t tell him sooner.
Remembering Kyelse’s appearance up until now, her cheeks gradually turned red, and she came to this realization.
(……Okay.)
Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself against the urge to run away. She took small steps towards the kitchen, but stopped when she saw Kyelse in her field of vision.
“Wh-what’s wrong, Mitina?”
“…”
Kyelse called out to him in a slightly high-pitched voice, but she couldn’t find the words to say. However, in an attempt to close the distance between them, she moved her foot and reached out to him.
“…Kyelse.”
“Ah… what’s wrong?”
“the……”
Her outstretched hand nearly cuts through the air, but she stretches her fingers just a little and weakly grabs onto his shirt. Just that simple touch was enough to make her feel a sudden longing for him, and she clung to Kyelse as if she was being spoiled.
“Really, what’s wrong, Mitina…”
Kyelse hurriedly wiped his hands from the sudden embrace and quickly hugged Mitina back. As he gradually realised that she had hugged him, his face turned red and his mouth relaxed.
“today”
Once Kyelse had hugged her back, and she was in the warm arms of her beloved, her mouth finally moved. However, her words and titles remained attached, as if to show her anxiety.
“I went to see her, but… I wasn’t able to meet Kyelse-dono.”
“That’s right. Did you come just when I was out? Sorry for making you waste your time.”
Kyelse gently stroked Mitina’s head and apologized. However, he didn’t tell her what he was doing when they were outside, and anxiety began to swirl inside her again.
For some reason, tears were beginning to come out. Mitina wondered if she had always been so easily moved to tears, but she managed to hold them back as she buried her face in his chest and spoke.
“On my way back… I saw Kyelse-dono in the garden.”
“Me?”
“And then, I saw Kyelse-dono… smiling at the Silver Knight.”
Mitina tightened her arms around Kyelse and raised her face, her eyes teary.
“Everything went dark in front of my eyes, and for some reason I was really shocked… I thought that Kyelse-dono would only laugh like that in front of me.”
“――――”
“Even after I found out that you laugh in front of other people, Kyelse-dono, I still didn’t like it… and when I heard that you were being nice to other people, I felt uneasy… and got jealous.”
Kyelse was frozen in shock as she listened to Mitina’s plea while trying to hold back tears.
“I’m sorry to tell you this story… but it’s painful…”
“Could that be the reason why you looked so gloomy…?”
As Mitina nodded her head, he once again remained silent.
Kyelse stared at her with teary eyes for a while, but then a grin slowly appeared on her face. Noticing the change in him, Mitina frowned and instinctively glared at him lightly.
“I’m being serious though…!”
“I, I know. But… I never thought you’d be jealous… Ugh, my wife is so cute! I’m so happy it hurts…!”
“Kyelse!”
“I can’t help it! I’m so happy that my face just melts!”
Kyelse had never imagined that Mitina was jealous, and was so happy that she couldn’t stop smiling. However, when she saw Mitina glaring at her, she coughed lightly and straightened her expression.
“I’m sorry for making you feel bad. I was in no way flirting with another woman back then. I just started laughing when I was talking about you, that’s all.”
“Why were you talking about me…?”
“it is……”
In response to Mitina’s question, which seemed to get straight to the point, Kyelse hesitated. Her mouth stopped moving completely in embarrassment, and her eyes darted meaningfully.
Seeing Kyelse’s reaction, Mitina was overcome with anxiety once again and frowned sadly. Naturally, seeing the sad expression on her beloved face, Kyelse decided that this was no time to be embarrassed, and made up her mind.
“I don’t mean to hurt you just to look cool. So I’ll be honest with you… that time.”
“What about back then?”
“I, I, I forgot to give you my engagement ring… so I was wondering how to make up for it… and what I should do to make you fall in love with me again, so I was asking someone who seemed to know more about it, and that’s how I could make you happy to receive it, and that’s when the conversation turned to you!”
“Tonight’s ring…?”
Mitina’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. Then, a few beats later, she remembered that, come to think of it, there was no engagement ring.
“You hadn’t noticed?”
“I had wondered if I would be given the ring just before Kyelse handed me the application to join the Silver Knights.”
“Guh…!”
Kyelse groaned, not expecting Mitina to have noticed so soon. She was probably regretting that she had been the only one in her excitement and completely forgotten to give her the ring.
“Not at all! I didn’t look down on you! It’s just, well, at that time, a lot of things happened…”
“Well, the timing of our engagement was just right, so it can’t be helped.”
“I really do love you…!”
“I know.”
We got engaged quite some time ago, and we both thought that if we didn’t like each other, we would eventually break up.
Even now, Mitina sometimes forgot that she was engaged to Kyelse, so the lack of an engagement ring didn’t seem strange at all.
“But… I feel relieved.”
“Mitina…”
“You’ve been thinking about me all this time. That alone makes me so happy.”
Her worries and jealousy were all unfounded. Kyelse still loved and cherished her as always. Mitina was so happy about this that she smiled gently.
However, seeing her like that, Kyelse once again let out a grin.
“But you’re jealous…”
“… Stop making that face. And while you’re at it, forget about this incident too…!”
“How could I forget?! You’re so stupid you’re jealous of other women, so I guess I have no choice but to make today a special anniversary.”
“Absolutely not…!”
Seeing Mitina pouting, Kyelse smiled happily. Then she lowered her eyes and embraced her gently, bringing her face closer to her. She stroked her cheeks, which quickly turned red, as if to tickle them, and whispered in a sweet voice.
“There’s no need to worry. No matter when or where, I’m yours alone, Mitina.”
“Ugh.”
“Is my love still not enough for you? If you want, I’ll tell you as much as you want, until you’re satisfied. How crazy I am about you, and how I only think about you…”
“hang on……!”
Mitina blushed at the sudden confession of love. Recently, Kyelse had been doing things like this without any resistance, so she had been confused.
“I’ll be careful not to laugh so thoughtlessly in front of anyone other than you from now on. That’s right, you’re the only one I’m nice to.”
“N-no, it’s fine, you don’t have to do that.”
“But if that happens, then I’ll no longer be able to see you get all jealous and spoiled… that’s a shame.”
Seeing Kyelse say that with a lonely look on her face, she felt even more embarrassed. It felt like she was being told in a roundabout way to be more dependent on him.
“From now on, I’ll depend on you more… Kyelse-dono.”
Hearing his words, Kyelse smiled in satisfaction. He caressed her cheek again, kissed her lightly, and rubbed his hips against her erotically.
“In that case, let’s hurry up and have you indulge in my kindness.”
“Uhh… yes.”
This time he pressed his lips deeply against hers, breathing a little heavily due to his excitement, and traced her wet lips with his fingers.
“I’ll spoil you so much that those stubborn honorifics and titles will come off easily.”
Suddenly, Mitina remembered how, upon seeing Kyelse looking lonely and clingy, she had thought about wanting to spoil her even more.
However, the exact opposite situation made her realize the gap between Kyelse during the day and at night.
“Come on, Mitina.”
His sweet voice tickled her eardrums, and he urged her. With ease, he picked up his beloved.
“Let’s love each other deeply tonight”
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