BTSRF 07

Chapter 7

After Kiern left, I wandered around my room for a long while, lost in thought.

When I really thought about it, it wasn’t that embarrassing.

“We’re both adults—what’s the big deal? And it’s not like I showed it to him on purpose.”

In the first place, he was the one who barged into my room without permission.

Honestly, it was nothing.

I bent down and picked up the book that had been lying open. The moment I did, the illustration of two indecently posed figures jumped straight into my eyes. No matter how I looked at it, it was blatantly obscene.

I hugged the book to my chest and closed my eyes.

“Damn it…”

Then, without hesitation, I flung the book aside and started getting ready to leave.

This was a matter of honor—for me as the commander. And I couldn’t afford to be awkward with someone I’d have to work closely with for the next month.

I had a personal rule of not moving around on my days off if I could help it… but this time, it couldn’t be avoided.

I dressed as lightly as possible and left the house.

He couldn’t have gone far. He must have gone home, right?

Kiern was the second son of the Count Dua family. Since he couldn’t inherit the title, he’d naturally taken up the sword.

If that was the case, then the place Kiern would go was—

Hah. I let out a short sigh. It was somewhere I really didn’t want to go.

I murmured the name that had crossed my mind.

“Emilia Dua…”

The Count Dua estate I was heading to was the home of Kiern’s younger sibling—in other words, the place where the female lead lived.

If Emilia had already regressed at this point, she would be on edge, desperately searching for the person who killed her.

Meeting Emilia had been pure coincidence. I’d never encountered her before, but a few days ago, when she came to see Kiern, I ended up crossing paths with her.

‘No… maybe “crossing paths” isn’t quite right. I just saw her.’

We hadn’t even exchanged greetings. Still, our eyes had met for quite some time, and I’d gotten the strange feeling that she was observing me.

Seeing her made the realization hit me again—that this was a world inside a novel. A chill ran down my spine.

I hadn’t even been able to speak to Emilia. I’d simply avoided her and fled.

The cold sensation I’d felt back then lingered, unpleasantly vivid.

It had only been three days since I’d sworn to avoid Emilia as much as possible.

And now, here I was, walking straight into the Dua estate of my own accord.

Truthfully, I had no concrete reason to avoid Emilia. Pavel hadn’t committed any grave mistake yet, and it wasn’t even certain whether Emilia had regressed at all.

But if she had—

Then everything changed.

I was one of the people whose existence differed most from Emilia’s past. Someone who had died was now alive. If that were the case, then I might very well be the person she suspected the most.

‘Of all things, Kiern had to be from the Dua family…’

When I arrived at the estate and entered the mansion, the butler greeted me first.

“Sir Shiona, what brings you here today?”

“I’m sorry for coming without notice. I came to see Kiern—could you pass the message along?”

“Young master Kiern went out to see you earlier, sir… Didn’t you meet him? Perhaps you passed each other on the way?”

“He didn’t come home?”

“He left in the afternoon and hasn’t returned yet.”

Damn it. I’d guessed wrong. After leaving my estate, he must have gone somewhere else.

If that was the case, there was only one place he’d go.

‘That training maniac probably went to the practice grounds.’

I hurriedly excused myself and prepared to leave. There was nothing to gain from staying any longer.

Just as I was about to tell the butler I’d return another time—

“Sir Shiona?”

The voice behind me made my body stiffen.

Slowly, I turned around and forced an awkward smile at the owner of the voice.

“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Emilia Dua, the third child of the Count Dua family.”

With a radiant smile, Emilia bent her knees slightly in greeting.

“Ah, I’m Shi—”

“Shiona Rodriz. How could I not know you?”

She cut me off and stepped closer.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you. You’re not planning on leaving right after coming all this way, are you? I wouldn’t want to be accused of failing to properly host Sir Shiona.”

“Haha… I’m the one being rude, showing up without notice. I’ll contact you properly next time and visit again.”

I had absolutely no intention of coming back.

Meeting the female lead again made one thing very clear—I was extremely uncomfortable around her.

“That won’t do.”

Emilia’s eyes curved into crescents. She was clearly smiling, yet her gaze gleamed sharply.

“Nothing Sir Shiona does could ever be considered rude to us.”

She lightly covered her mouth and smiled shyly.

“It’s almost time for dinner. Won’t you stay a little longer? If you leave like this, my parents will surely scold me…”

As she lowered her eyes sadly, a lonely air clung to her beautiful face.

Her pale skin, her soft pink hair cascading to her waist, and her sparkling green eyes—like jewels set in place.

Wow. She really was the protagonist.

I admired her sincerely. If I’d been the male lead, I’d have handed over my heart, liver, and soul without hesitation.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t the protagonist—or anything close to it—so her beauty had no effect on me.

“I’d like to, but I have something I must attend to. If anyone scolds you, please tell them it was entirely my fault.”

Emilia reached out as if to stop me. I blocked her hand and continued.

“I really must be going now. I apologize for the intrusion.”

I bowed lightly and quickly turned away.

The gaze boring into my back was intense all the way to the door, but I ignored it.

Only after leaving the estate on horseback did I finally relax. I’d almost forgotten why I’d come here in the first place.

“Kiern, you bastard…”

I immediately turned my horse toward the training grounds in the castle.

When I arrived, I scanned the faces of the knights training, looking for Kiern. One of them greeted me and spoke up.

“Commander, what brings you here?”

“Nothing in particular. Have you seen Kiern?”

“Sir Kiern? He’s at his usual training spot. But… it might be better not to go over right now.”

I asked, puzzled.

“Why?”

“His sword form is unusually aggressive today… It looks like something’s bothering him.”

‘Something bothering him…? Over that?’

I was dumbfounded. No—this was absurd.

Was he really making this big of a deal over a book?

My intention to calmly talk things through vanished instantly.

I strode toward the secluded corner of the training grounds—Kiern’s usual spot.

He was completely absorbed, swinging his sword at empty air.

I watched him for a moment. His grip was tighter than usual, his body rigid.

With a bitter smile, I picked up a sword lying nearby and struck at his back.

Clang!

As Kiern spun around, our blades collided.

“What the—ah?”

Frowning at the sudden attack, he widened his eyes when he recognized me.

“Commander?”

I clicked my tongue and attacked again. Kiern blocked, unable to meet my gaze.

‘You’re the one making a big deal out of this!’

I was the one who’d read the book. I should be the embarrassed one.

I stared at his face in disbelief. His ears were bright red.

I understood, though.

Since joining the knight order, he’d never really rested. Any free time he had was spent training here.

There was no way he’d ever dated. No way he’d read novels like that.

So what—he was going to treat me like a pervert and avoid me?

Annoyed, I kicked his right shin hard.

“Ugh!”

Kiern grabbed his leg and looked up indignantly.

“Why…?!”

“Kiern, how about a spar for once?”

“All of a sudden? Don’t tell me this is because of earlier—”

I pressed my sword to the side of his neck.

“Why don’t you shut up and draw your sword?”

He glanced at the blade at his throat, then picked up the sword on the ground.

“Sparring with the commander is always welcome, but…”

He looked down and laughed helplessly.

“No, this is… I mean…”

“You talk too much. What, are you scared? If you are, I’ll go easy on you.”

He snorted.

“Don’t. That’s better.”

The moment he finished speaking, he charged.

I twisted aside, dodging his blade, and struck his abdomen with my free hand. He endured it and counterattacked.

Our swords clashed again and again.

He swung wide—good form, but too much range.

I slipped inside, struck his abdomen again, then smashed my elbow into his chin.

As he staggered, I kicked his wrist, sending his sword flying.

The blade spun high in the air before embedding itself in the ground.

I pointed my sword at him.

“I win, right?”

He raised both hands and shrugged.

“As if that was ever in doubt.”

I crouched down to meet his eyes. He turned his head away.

Annoyed, I grabbed his face and forced him to look at me.

“Kiern, why are you avoiding my eyes?”

“……”

After blinking at me in silence for a long moment, he finally spoke.

“You… maybe—”

“Because it’s embarrassing.”

He dragged a hand down his face.

I stared at him in disbelief.

“If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s me! Why are you acting like this?”

“I just thought you might tease me, Commander. But honestly, you shouldn’t act like this either. Shouldn’t you be persuading me? Trying to win me over? You should be trying to stay on my good side.”

His smug expression made me laugh despite myself.

“And why would I do that?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Wow. That’s pretty shameless, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong. So why should I try to persuade you or win your favor? Give me a reason.”

“No… you’re right. You didn’t do anything wrong. Which means you have no reason to try to please me. So you didn’t really need to come looking for me like this.”

“Over reading a stupid novel? I’m not embarrassed at all. I’m proud.”

I wasn’t. I was mortified—especially because the subordinate who followed me most had seen it.

But this was exactly why I had to act confident.

I lifted my chin.

“So why did I come looking for you? You said it yourself—you want to be my right hand.”

He tilted his head, confused.

“I needed to check your capabilities. Kiern… you’ve grown a lot. Your reaction speed is faster than before, and your swordsmanship is more refined.”

It was complete nonsense.

And yet, he listened with utter seriousness.

“I think I’ve seen enough.”

I stood and held out my hand to him.

“You’re more than qualified to stand at my right side.”

In truth, my mind was already full of plans to hand the commander position over to him someday. Right side or left—it didn’t matter. I intended to place him wherever he wanted to stand.

Kiern stared blankly at my hand before lightly touching it—more placing his hand there than grasping it. His hand was stiff.

Probably the aftereffect of me hitting his wrist earlier.

‘Was I too rough…?’

Feeling guilty, I grabbed both his arms and helped him up.

Then, brushing dust off my clothes, I gave him advice.

“You need to use your hands and feet more in a fight. Combat is real. A sword alone isn’t everything.”

“How am I supposed to hit you, Commander?”

He laughed playfully.

“You’d obviously retaliate. That’s terrifying.”

I hadn’t expected anything sweet like ‘How could I ever strike the commander?’ anyway.

I snorted lightly and gathered the scattered swords.

Standing beside me, Kiern asked,