Chapter 126
“First Date”
I changed into the outfit I had chosen, still half in shock.
“It suits you even better than I imagined, Serdin!”
“Our Serdin has grown up so much…”
“Why are you crying, Mina?”
“Our Serdin…”
At that moment, Raicher, sitting in the corner with his arms crossed, spoke up again.
“Serdin, I want to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
He looked at me seriously.
Since Mina and Herel had both already shocked me with unexpected words, I felt tense, wondering what Raicher might say.
“Well… what is it?”
Then Raicher finally opened his mouth.
“Can I follow you?”
“…?”
“I’ll only watch from a distance. I’m too curious.”
Mina scolded him, telling him to say something that actually made sense, while I stood there flustered. Before I knew it, I was already climbing into the carriage.
“Serdin, have a good time!”
I waved at my friends with slightly nervous excitement.
‘If I leave now, I’ll arrive about an hour and a half early.’
Roitz wouldn’t be there yet, but waiting somewhere else would probably make me even more nervous.
‘First date…’
I exhaled deeply.
Why was I so nervous over something like this?
But it was a good kind of nervous.
‘I need to do well.’
Like a cadet preparing for an important assignment, I steeled myself, watching the pink-tinted world outside the carriage window.
* * *
Roitz was already walking his 362nd lap around the park.
He had come early to scout out the date spot in advance.
So early, in fact, that he had arrived seven hours before the appointed time.
Thanks to that, he had walked every path in the park, carefully planning which direction to stroll in for the most perfect walk together.
‘Serdin…’
He whispered her name in his heart.
Just calling it made him flutter with excitement.
What had happened between them a few days ago still felt like a dream.
‘It’s not a dream… right?’
He stopped himself from pinching his cheek.
If it really was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up.
‘Date, date, first date…’
The lyrics of the song his attendant Eshule had recommended the night before—set on repeat—kept circling through his head.
Finally, the promised time arrived.
But Serdin did not appear.
* * *
On the way to the park where I would meet Roitz.
‘What should I say first when I see him?’
It was ridiculous—like I hadn’t seen him in years. In truth, it had only been a few days.
The carriage slowed as it entered a crowded street. Since it was still a holiday after the festival, traffic had piled up.
But I had left early, so it didn’t matter.
Besides, I was too busy choosing what to say to feel bored in the carriage.
“The weather’s so nice today.”
I smiled at the clear blue sky.
Now I understood why books about “mindset” always sold well at the bookstore.
The world really did look different depending on how you felt inside.
Just realizing my feelings for Roitz—and knowing he felt the same—made the world seem completely transformed.
I kept smiling at the world beyond the window. Even the festive air outside felt fresher than usual.
The carriage rolled slowly past an apothecary. At that moment, a conversation between two men standing in front of it drifted toward me on the wind.
“Why do you think young master’s hair ended up like that?”
“I was shocked too. Looked like a rat chewed it up.”
The instant I heard those words, my smile froze.
“….”
Hair chewed up by a rat?
“Where on earth did he go in the middle of the night to end up with hair like that?”
“Exactly. He’s been acting strange lately too. Even took leave from the Knights.”
“A man who loved the sword so much taking leave—unusual indeed.”
Love for the sword had nothing to do with wanting a vacation, but that wasn’t the important part.
My eyes shifted toward the park—the direction the carriage was headed. My first date was waiting.
But in the end, I slammed the carriage door open and jumped out.
“Excuse me, may I ask which family you serve?”
The two men flinched, realizing I had overheard them. They exchanged nervous glances, then firmly shook their heads.
“We cannot say!”
At that moment, the apothecary’s owner stepped outside.
“There you are. Young master of House Belzer still owes me for this!”
He held up a bottle labeled “Hair Growth Tonic.”
The servants’ faces fell in despair.
The shopkeeper tilted his head in confusion, but before long, the Belzer men tried to grab me.
I leapt back into the carriage, slammed the door shut.
‘Right. That night—I didn’t only cut golden hair.’
At Mansion Eona, I had slashed at the masked man. His hair too had been cut jaggedly by my blade.
If someone now walked around with such hair—there was a high chance he was that masked man.
“To the Belzer estate! Quickly!”
“Yes, milady!”
But despite our urgency, the carriage rolled along at its usual lazy pace.
“….”
It felt like taking a taxi to save time, only to arrive later than the bus.
Finally, I jumped out halfway and started running.
Thankfully, I was dressed simply. Running to the Belzer estate wasn’t too hard.
* * *
The reception room of Belzer estate was filled with the fragrance of tea leaves.
About twenty minutes later, the Belzer Swordmaster finally appeared.
“Thank you for meeting me, Sir Belzer. I am Serdin Vivi.”
“Iasen Belzer. A pleasure, Sir Vivi.”
But as soon as I saw him, my eyes narrowed.
His hair was neatly trimmed, not ragged like a rat had chewed it.
He sat without fluster, calmly savoring his tea.
“Please, have some as well.”
He raised his brows at me, as though urging me to get to the point.
“What brings a knight of the Imperial Order here?”
“…I need to confirm something.”
“Ask anything.”
His calm face and words carried no hint of guilt.
“A few days ago…”
I almost jumped straight to Mansion Eona, but stopped. Before I could confront him, I had to confirm something else.
Because—
‘Is this man really the Belzer Swordmaster?’
I stared at him closely.
It wasn’t just because his hair was neat again.
My eyes fell to his hands holding the teacup.
‘Those aren’t the hands of a swordsman.’
They weren’t rough. There were no calluses, no scars from years of gripping a blade.
It was as if someone else was here in his place.
“Sir Vivi, what is it you wish to say?”
So first—I had to confirm whether he was really the Swordmaster.
“I want to see Belzer’s sword aura.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I’ve heard your aura takes the shape of beautiful flowers. Could you show me?”
The man chuckled slyly.
“Forgive me, but it is forbidden to display sword aura inside the estate. I cannot.”
A polite refusal. But I pressed on.
“I know there is a training ground here.”
“It is currently in use by our cadets. Impossible.”
“Then I will wait until they finish.”
“I have another engagement afterward.”
“Then I will wait until that engagement ends.”
“…Sir Vivi.”
He gave a strained laugh, tinged with mockery.
“No matter that you’re an Imperial Knight, such behavior in my house is rude. Is this the will of the Imperial Order—or the Vivi family?”
The longer he spoke, the clearer it became.
This man was not the Belzer Swordmaster.
He was clever, though—trying to turn my suspicion into a clash between families, or even the Order and Belzer itself.
“….”
I finally stood.
“Now that I think about it, I’ve been rude.”
“…What?”
“I simply grew excited hearing about Belzer’s famous sword aura. I apologize for my discourtesy.”
He looked briefly surprised, but soon smiled pleasantly and rose.
“My servant will see you out.”
He left first. I followed with the servant.
Step by step…
After about ten paces, I spoke.
“Excuse me, may I use the restroom?”
* * *
‘I can’t just leave like this.’
My instincts as a reincarnator screamed at me.
The real Belzer Swordmaster was the masked man from Mansion Eona.
Why else send a substitute, even at the risk of suspicion?
‘I counted over forty steps on the staircase.’
One floor had about twenty steps. That meant the real Swordmaster had gone up two floors.
I slipped out of the restroom beside the reception hall and climbed two flights of stairs.
Carefully, I scanned the corridor.
At the far right, faint voices reached my ears.
‘…There.’
Silently, I crept closer.
In front of a firmly closed dark-brown door, I stopped.
Pressing my ear against it—
“…I think she already suspects.”
It was the voice of the man from before.
“You should hide yourself immediately.”
A long sigh followed.
