Malek looked at Jade gazing out the window. He thought standing still was a waste of time. Every minute and second was precious, so he moved. 

Jade had once said that standing around doing nothing in a daze was enough during childhood. Malek had watched Jade since his childhood. Even when he became a monster and was locked in the tower.

Unlike the past when he worried about the Diovaha Empire, concerned about Monster invasions, and fretted about his unpredictable physical condition, things were different now. 

The impatience surrounding him had vanished. Though they’d won the war, that didn’t mean the sources of anxiety had disappeared. The Monster’s blood, the Monsters, the kingdoms—all still remained.

“Isn’t it good? Everyone needs a sanctuary.”

“I suppose……”

Jade let out a deflating laugh. The sound escaping through his teeth scattered into the air. Before he knew it, his heart had filled with worry about Rosana rather than national security.

How troublesome.

“Shall I work to ease the head chamberlain’s concerns?”

“It’s not for my concerns, but for national security.”

“Right, do you have something to report?”

“It’s a proposal regarding the Ales Kingdom.”

Jade’s gaze instantly sharpened.

* * *

“Hey! Big news! Big news!!”

“More useless gossip, I’m sure.”

Cart, who’d been silently maintaining his sword, replied. At his indifferent attitude bordering on apathy, Louis shouted not to compare this to other news.

“We’re taking on Lady Arcadi’s guard duty! The First Imperial Knights will be guarding the palace where Lady Arcadi resides!”

“That’s it?”

“Would I be making this fuss if that were all? You know who was chosen as her guard knight?”

“Who?”

“The Commander!”

Only then did Cart and the other knights react.

“The Commander…?”

The First Imperial Knights’ commander was Fel, Jade’s right-hand man. Assigning Fel as a guard knight could be interpreted politically in various ways.

Nobles thought Jade resolved most matters through force, but surprisingly he understood political machinations well. Otherwise, it would’ve been impossible for a prince abandoned even by the king to rise to the highest position from rock-bottom royal authority.

The First Imperial Knights were the Emperor’s direct knights, but in reality their main duty was Monster extermination. That’s why they consisted of highly skilled knights. 

Among them, Fel possessed unparalleled ability. Though compared to Jade, it was nothing.

“Isn’t it strange? Honestly, we guard the imperial palace, but Monster extermination is our main job. His Majesty never assigns too few or too many personnel! Yet using manpower useful for Monster extermination for guard duty? It doesn’t make sense.”

Cart quietly listened to Louis’s words. After thinking carefully, Louis continued triumphantly.

“Didn’t the Princess know the Raven Knights’ reputation and request them as guards?! That would give her standing within the imperial palace!”

“……Do you want to brag about yourself?”

“Why not? What’s great is great.”

“Raven Knights isn’t a compliment.”

The reason the First Imperial Knights were called the Raven Knights was simple. They’d been a ragtag bunch. That’s why nobles initially called them that mockingly.

Few nobles trusted the prince who suddenly appeared after being locked in a tower. Jade needed comrades to watch his back. He had to show the nobles.

Though called a knight order now, the former First Imperial Knights’ members were no different from mercenaries. Highly skilled but all different. 

Jade gathered them and built his knight order through his own power alone. Most knights followed him, captivated by the man. Commoners and nobles mixed regardless of status.

“Now it’s widely known as a prestigious knight order. I actually like it. Ragtag bunch. Isn’t that cool? So what’s your opinion?”

“……I don’t think so.”

“Surprisingly, many knights think that way. You escorted Lady Arcadi on her way to the palace, right?”

Louis hadn’t joined Rosana’s escort due to Monster extermination duties.

“What does it matter to us which rumor is true? We just need to silently do our jobs. You’re too interested in the Lady.”

Some were wary, but knights who had no particular reason to clash with Rosana didn’t care about her. With life and death hanging in the balance during Monster extermination, they had no energy to worry about her.

“There were rumors His Majesty was devoted to the Lady.”

“His Majesty himself denied it.”

“Hey, you believe that?”

“……Well. Fifty-fifty.”

The knights were more interested in Rosana and Jade’s relationship than her misdeeds. They were even betting on whether their good relationship was true or not.

Since he who’d shown no interest in women now ate breakfast with her daily and continued gift offensives, naturally they became curious.

Knights had asked Jade several times, but he mostly casually avoided conversation or scolded them, asking what kind of manners they had toward someone they’d serve in the future.

“So let’s find out this time.”

“Find out what?”

“Huh……!”

At the ominous presence felt from behind, Louis’s body flinched. There stood Baron emitting a dark aura. Cart, who’d been sitting and leisurely polishing his sword, jumped up.

“I didn’t say anything! Louis was the one babbling alone!”

At Cart’s tattling, Louis grabbed his neck. It was a quick and clean betrayal. Abandoning a comrade who’d been chattering together.

“You……! W-well, I started it, but…… Aren’t you curious too, Vice Commander? About why His Majesty does that. Didn’t he switch his attitude cleanly like flipping a palm?”

“……Don’t question orders. We just need to follow His Majesty’s commands as we always have.”

Baron shook his head while holding his forehead. Nevertheless, the knights’ murmuring didn’t stop. Adding more words would clearly cause more chaos.

“Also, the Commander becoming a guard knight fell through.”

“What? Did His Majesty withdraw it?”

“No, the Lady declined.”

Knights who’d been secretly perking up their ears murmured. So the Lady didn’t request it? Did His Majesty initiate it?

However, it wasn’t strange. 

Jade’s 180-degree changed attitude toward Rosana was controversial enough. Moreover, since they’d offered various opinions and even bet on it, it ignited further. Baron restrained the noisy knights.

“Everyone, be quiet. Lady Arcadi is coming this way, so be respectful.”

As soon as Baron finished speaking, the atmosphere turned cold.

“Lady Arcadi is coming?”

“Won’t she dislike the smell of sweat? Why is she coming?”

Many had seen her from afar, but few had directly conversed with her. Naturally, focus shifted to stories about Rosana.

“Let’s ask what she thinks of His Majesty this time!”

“Didn’t we ask His Majesty the same thing? You heard then. That they’re nothing to each other. And you stay still! Don’t step forward and mess things up!”

Cart’s fist came down on the chattering Louis’s head. Louis pouted. He believed the rumor that Jade and Rosana’s relationship had improved.

No matter how much people around said it was baseless rumor, he was certain. Jade wasn’t someone who’d listen to threats, nor someone who’d readily comply with demands. 

The story that he’d tried to assign Fel, his right-hand man, as Rosana’s guard knight was significant.

“Vice Commander. Is the Lady coming to select a guard?”

“Yes, those who’ll volunteer should prepare mentally.”

Baron subtly gauged the atmosphere. Then he let out a low sigh. No knight seemed willing to volunteer.

Rather than setting aside the guard knight selection, they were fired up about definitively clarifying their relationship. Especially,

“Louis, you keep your mouth shut for a while.”

“What? Why? I have so many questions to ask the Lady!”

“Keep your mouth shut.”

Controlling the curious Louis was burdensome. Especially since Louis was a troublemaker.

“Even you can’t stop me, Vice Commander! Today I’ll ask the Lady if she’s on good terms with His Majesty……!”

“Your mouth’s still working fine.”

“……Huh?”

Louis creaked as he turned his head. Behind him stood Jade, who’d approached at some point. Beside him, Fel glared with cold eyes.

Receiving sharp energy from both simultaneously, Louis gulped. He trembled like a shaking squirrel. From behind, Cart sneered that it served him right.

“However…… it’s not wrong either.”

“Hey, just now……”

“You heard it too?”

Suddenly chatter increased among the knights. At Jade’s remark, Louis approached in one step, acting like he hadn’t been trembling.

“Really?! Last time you said no……”

Jade smirked, meeting the suspicious gazes of the knights. The knights looked at each other in surprise.

“Imagine whatever you want.”

Is it really true? Listening to His Majesty’s words……

He who often trained at the training grounds now visited significantly less to make time to meet Rosana. His priorities were clear. All knight order members who clearly knew Jade’s sword-obsessed nature nodded reluctantly with an “Aha!”

Fel glanced at Jade with a stunned expression.

“Someone who so detested it……”

How did he change his mind? He swallowed the rest. Jade replied nonchalantly.

“The more I see her, the cuter she is.”

“……”

Fel fell silent and the knights’ mouths dropped open. Shrill screams crawled up their throats.

He who called Rosana cute wore the face of someone in love. At the naturally formed smile on his lips, the knights got goosebumps.

His Majesty said cute? The knights huddled together and murmured.

“Is that really our Majesty?”

“Someone who treated women like stones rolling on the street……”

“He said his standards were too high to deal with women.”

“Hey, speak properly. He does deal with them. As knights, that is.”

“When we asked his ideal type, didn’t he say someone equal to himself?”

There was no way it didn’t reach Jade’s ears. When they received his piercing gaze, the knights flinched and scattered while whistling.

Jade remembered it clearly. When asked about his ideal type, he had once said it was a woman who could rival him. He had even joked that no such woman existed, so everyone might as well remain single.

The reason he said strong women were his ideal type was simple.

He thought only someone who could subdue him when he went berserk wouldn’t get hurt. The terrible blood could turn him into a Monster anytime.

So if he married, he’d thought to marry a strong woman. Yet he ended up marrying someone completely opposite.

The world truly…… is unpredictable.

Jade gazed intently at his palm. He recalled Rosana’s slender wrist that looked like it would struggle to lift a heavy sword. Thinking of Rosana naturally made him sigh.

It was because he remembered the previous kiss. Though acting nonchalant, inwardly he was anxious.

His arms and hands beyond his will had repeatedly reached out toward Rosana. Perhaps due to their suddenly closer distance, Rosana looked at him with surprised eyes.

Ah, doing it again.

He had to cover his lips with his palm because the corners kept rising.

“Troublesome indeed.”

He’d felt reassured having Fel as a guard knight by her side, but she’d firmly opposed with proper reasoning.

“……Is His Majesty smiling?”

“No, more accurately, seems embarrassed?”

While some let out hollow laughs saying the world had turned upside down, others asked honestly.

“Are you happy?”

Fel stared at Jade before asking.

“Yes. You should hurry and make a lover too.”

He hated Jade speaking with that grin. Though it was funny that Jade, who’d been in the same situation just a month ago, said such things, he congratulated him.

“Congratulations. You’ve met a woman who understands Your Majesty.”

“Right.”

Then Jade’s head whipped around. He narrowed his eyes, staring at one spot.

The knights also looked that way but saw nothing. But Jade was different. A warm breeze blew across his expression.

“She’s here.”

The knight order members’ fingers curled.

It was unsettling now. Jade, who had once spoken harshly with an icy expression, was now smiling warmly, like someone greeting the arrival of spring. The knights could already guess which way the betting results were leaning.

In the distance, blonde hair fluttered and swayed gently in the wind. Jade quietly murmured to the knights.

“Straighten up.”

At his command, the knights uniformly maintained attention posture.