A woman whose virtue is honesty
“Commander Zeffen. There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Hmm? I wonder what’s wrong.”
As Zeffen was scribbling down a document in handwriting that could hardly be called neat, she asked him a question. Naturally, the subject of her question was about the narcissistic knight who was unwillingly occupying her thoughts at the moment.
“What do you think of Kyelse-dono, from your perspective?”
“Kyelse, huh…”
Mitina didn’t really understand why she had wanted to ask Zeffen about Kyelse.
However, the image of Kyelse she had in her mind at first was quite different from the real him. And she felt that she needed to understand that difference.
“Kyelse is an outstanding individual worthy of being called a knight among knights. It’s true that he has some flaws in his personality, but the pride he holds as a knight is genuine.”
“…Hmm.”
“And your abilities are the same as mine, senpai… No, I’d even say they’re even greater than mine.”
She frowned at the shocking statement that had come out so casually. For Mitina, who knew the horror of the Zeffen battlefield, it was impossible to take those words so readily.
“You’ve got to be kidding me… I can’t imagine you being stronger than Commander Zeffen. In fact, I can’t imagine Commander Zeffen losing to you.”
“It’s not good to judge people by their appearances. I guess that’s my bad habit again.”
“…”
Mitina had a bad habit of easily underestimating her opponents, and when she joined the army, she was thoroughly crushed by Zeffen, and had to be corrected by force. A flashback of that time came over her, and she shrugged, her face turning pale.
“I won’t flatter you, Mitina. Kyelse has talent that more than makes up for her shortcomings. She is an excellent knight with higher aspirations than anyone else. This is who I see Kyelse.”
“I see……”
Surprisingly, Zeffen can be quite strict when it comes to judging people, but he is also good at giving praise. And naturally, his assessment of people is not at all biased towards others. There is no doubt that Kyelse is an excellent person, recognized by the feared Zeffen, known as the Steel Knight.
He smiled slightly as he saw Mitina deep in thought after listening to the story. Then he asked in a gentle voice.
“Did something happen with Kyelse?”
“…Well, I suppose so.”
Although she had no intention of explaining the situation in detail to Zeffen, she still wanted him to listen. It was a kind of confession.
“To be honest, I think I may have said a bit too much.”
“yes”
Although Zeffen couldn’t help but give a forced smile at his short reply, he lowered his eyes to the documents and continued.
“Even if it’s your job to be disliked, you shouldn’t do things that hurt people.”
“That’s true, but… that’s quite difficult.”
But Mitina had the same idea.
It was true that her goal was for Kyelse to dislike her. However, if Kyelse really started to dislike and avoid Mitina, she might run away from living together with him. If that happened, it would be far from the point of pushing him towards marriage.
“It’ll be fine, Mitina. You can be quick to fight, and you can easily become complacent though.”
She frowned, looking a little embarrassed at the assessment of herself that she had heard countless times.
“Being honest with everyone is one of your virtues.”
“I agree”
“You should do your best. I’m sure living with Kyelse will be a good experience for Mitina, who is too selfless when it comes to work.”
“I guess so.”
While finding it difficult to agree with that, Mitina thanked Zeffen and left the office.
Mitina finished work a little early and returned to the mansion, where she took a bath. She then went to join Kyelse, who was elegantly enjoying dinner alone in the living room.
By the way, there was no dinner for Mitina.
“I’m back.”
“…”
As expected, when she called out to him, he ignored her as if Mitina didn’t exist. After this incident, Kyelse’s opinion of Mitina had turned to that of a commoner not worthy of conversation.
However, without any reaction from that response, Mitina continued speaking.
“It’s about today.”
“Don’t talk while eating”
“I’m going to talk on my own, so Kyelse-dono, please listen while eating your meal.”
Mitina said, ignoring the aura that was telling her not to talk to her. As long as she wasn’t in imminent danger, she had an abnormally high resistance to pressure from others.
“I’ve come to understand after living with you for the past few days.”
Although she didn’t look at Mitina, Kyelse didn’t leave the living room, instead just sat there in silence. This was also something that she found surprising to her.
“I thought he had a fatally bad personality.”
“I thought you’d come to apologize, but you’ve come back to pick a fight again…!”
“Well, please listen to the end.”
She probably noticed that Mitina had come to apologize. No, given Kyelse’s personality, she might have thought that it was only natural that she should apologize.
“He swears like it’s second nature, he has a habit of looking down on people, and he’s a narcissist, so frankly, we don’t get along at all.”
“I also think that I’m a perfect match for you.”
“Oh, I’m glad you agree with me. So please hurry up and find a new partner and get married. I’m the one who got dragged into this, and unless you do something about it, Kyelse-dono, I won’t be able to escape from this ridiculous cohabitation.”
As soon as he spoke his sarcastic remark, Kyelse gave him a harsh look.
However, even though I told him not to talk to me during the meal, I found it somewhat amusing that he continued to talk to me.
“But, I have changed my views on him since living with him. At first, I thought he was an unpleasant narcissist, just like the arrogant and all-talking Silver Knights.”
“Hey”
“Kyelse-dono, you have ridiculously high ideals, but you are also someone who puts in the effort to live up to them. I think that kind of attitude is certainly beautiful.”
As soon as she spoke what she was honestly thinking, Kyelse’s hand stopped moving. Then she awkwardly averted her gaze from Mitina.
She sees it but ignores it and continues on.
“Also, he surprisingly doesn’t hesitate to help people, and he doesn’t easily approve of using violence… but that may be because he’s from a good family.”
“Do you want to praise me or belittle me? Which is it…?”
“Both.”
Honestly, I can’t praise Kyelse without reservation. His arrogant and self-righteous attitude is not something I can respect very much, both as a knight and as a person.
But Mitina, who had been brought up strictly under Zeffen, had learned that merit and faults should be evaluated separately. So she spoke her mind with a soft smile.
“I’m not particularly attached to the pride of a knight, but I think that your nobility is worthy of respect as a fellow knight.”
“…!”
Hearing Mitina’s frank words, Kyelse raised her gaze slightly. Her expression became even more stern, but there was something about it that was starting to relax.
“No, even if you flatter me now, nothing will come of it.”
“I’m not trying to flatter you or anything. I don’t flatter you, Kyelse-dono, because I don’t want you to get cocky.”
“This guy…”
Although he seemed annoyed by her response, Kyelse seemed surprisingly pleased.
He had thought for sure that Mitina would just brush off his compliments, saying they were of no use. Still, he didn’t really mind, but seeing her express her joy so openly made him feel troubled and unsure of how to respond.
“So, I’m sorry about today.”
“…”
“I don’t think it’s right for someone with such confidence to still be a virgin.”
“Hey!”
“Kyelse-dono has a tendency towards cleanliness, so it can’t be helped.”
“…That’s right, there’s nothing I can do.”
“So let’s correct your obsession with cleanliness along with your shitty personality.”
“you……!”
Mitina smiled with satisfaction, having lowered her favorability rating without cutting corners. Recently, she had begun to find Kyelse amusing, as she responded to her provocations in an amusing way.
Her stomach growled at this. Perhaps it was because she had been smelling the delicious aroma for a while now, but her body was hungry and was telling her to hurry up and eat.
“Hmph! You rude person, I have no food for you!”
“It’s fine. I’ll just eat whatever comes to mind. And the leftovers…”
“Hey, don’t go rummaging through the kitchen without permission! Don’t act like a nasty rat!”
“Oh, you’re so annoying…”
It’s annoying that he keeps interfering in the smallest of details. Mitina scratched her head as she thought this. It might be more troublesome to eat at the mansion.
“Then I’ll go out and eat something.”
“…When you get back, give me another bath.”
“Huh? Why do I have to go in again when I just went in?”
“Because it’s dirty, of course!”
“It’s not dirty. Please fix your obsession with cleanliness, it’s too much of a hassle.”
“What do you mean, bother?! What’s wrong with trying to keep me, the most beautiful man in the world, looking good all the time?”
How on earth had this guy managed to survive this long? Mitina found herself seriously thinking that and let out a heavy sigh.
“That’s fine, it’s too much hassle so I’m going to go to bed without eating.”
“Hey, you’re too lazy! You need to do something about your lack of attachment, you’ll end up ruined one day…!”
“There are times when we can’t replenish supplies if we are fighting demonic beasts for a long time, and it’s not like I’m so unattached to life that I’m ruined.”
While I was dodging Kyelse’s words, he seemed to have grown tired of me and stood up from his seat.
“Just sit down! I’ll make it for you!”
(They’ll make it for me…)
“Instead, please continue praising me like before. I’ll call you the beautiful Kyelse-sama who worries about your selfishness, cares for your body and mind, and does all the housework perfectly, including cooking!”
“Ah… Good night.”
“Hey!!”
I thought Kyelse was an interesting guy, but I’ll take that back. Mitina thought with dead eyes.
But Kyelse was not just a mean, handsome man. If she could find someone who could appreciate his nobility and his hard-to-understand kindness, then she was sure things would go well with him.
(If I could find someone like that… I hope that Lady Istaria is that person.)
While ignoring Kyelse who was still making a fuss, she muttered to herself.
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