Ian lowered his eyes slightly and smiled. It was a smile that captured attention.

“I asked if you’re going to the commander’s office.”

“Yeah.”

Alex, who had descended from the altar, untied her hair. It spread out red, freed from its painfully tight binding. Though slightly dampened by the heavy snow, it still waved abundantly. 

Those waves were famous within the imperial capital. Some people had to painstakingly curl their hair every time they went to a ball, but Alex’s hair naturally curled in thick waves from birth, like someone had rolled it for her. 

She herself couldn’t care less about her hair. It was just functional hair for keeping her crown and neck warm.

Ian quietly followed behind Alex. The commander’s and vice commander’s offices were side by side anyway, so they were heading in the same direction regardless.

Whether he was there or not, Alex’s mind spun busily. She had already received the full handover long ago, and the Knight Order operation plan had been approved by the Emperor ages ago.

Plans were plans, but now that it was time for actual execution and she had become the top dog, there was so much to do she felt like throwing up. Her expression naturally turned sour, like she was chewing on something bitter.

The main duties of the Aiden Empire’s Knight Order were managing the imperial capital’s defense and guard forces, handling overall security of the capital, and protecting the imperial palace. 

On top of that, occasionally providing support as imperial regular forces when battles broke out at the borders.

Escorting the Emperor was the Saroi Knight Order’s job to handle on their own. The work of the Aiden Empire’s Knight Order she belonged to was simple if you called it simple. Just catch bad guys doing bad things and lock them up—a very simple job.

‘Easy to say.’

Alex ground her teeth. She had been with the Knight Order for twelve years now, from age eighteen to her current twenty-nine, and from all her experience rolling around in it, the Imperial Knight Order was always short-handed. 

The imperial capital Logia, the capital city located at the empire’s center, was vast, and there were plenty of bastards. The empire had entered an era of peace and prosperity more powerful and brilliant than ever before, but even in such times, trash always existed. 

Moreover, the standards for Knight Order admission were incredibly high, and thanks to the brutal rejection rate, knights were constantly overworked.

She knew it, but receiving the handover made her realize all over again how short-handed they were to the point of cursing. 

It was also why the former Knight Commander Viktor had retired at a young age. Something about wanting to spend his remaining years comfortably on his estate. 

All b*llshit. He ran away. Specifically recommending her as commander while dumping everything on her.

“Alex.”

The voice calling her name cut through her train of thought. Turning around, Ian, who had been following, spoke again.

“I asked if you know the afternoon schedule.”

“I know. It’s our meeting.”

A meeting with the vice commanders was scheduled. They had reorganized the newly appointed or promoted knights into their respective positions, but finishing work remained.

“You remember.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“You only remember what you want to remember.”

Alex let out a slight laugh. She muttered just barely audibly, “You know me too well.”

Her loosened hair flew bright red before her eyes, riding the rushing wind. She unconsciously grabbed at them roughly and swept them over her shoulder.

“Ah.”

It was an exclamation tinged with pain. 

Most of the abundantly flowing hair went over her shoulder, but a few strands caught on something, and the pain of her scalp being pulled taut struck instantly. 

Feeling tension below her neck, she waved her hand around, but each time, pain assaulted her.

Hearing the sound, Ian immediately approached. 

From one step away, he lowered his head slightly and peered at the area around her neck where the collarbone was, below her chin where she was fumbling with her hand. 

Red threads were painfully tangled in thin strands somewhere. Ian’s brow furrowed slightly.

“It’s caught on the armor decoration.”

The wind had blown so hard that even her tied hair had whipped around and gotten properly caught and tangled. Frowning, Alex roughly—really half-heartedly—yanked at the hair caught in the gap of the armor decoration’s edge. Before Ian could even stop her.

“Ow!”

Naturally, a sharper cry burst out than before. As Alex glared at the tangled hair she couldn’t see well with her head bowed deeply, Ian sighed. He was used to her personality, but every time he witnessed it so starkly, it felt fresh all over again.

“Let me do it.”

Ian stepped closer and reached out his hand. However, his long, straight fingers came all the way to her chin area and hesitated, stopping their movement.

Alex, who had been lowering her head as much as possible to see around her neck, raised her head. Their eyes met instantly. The moment she saw those deep blue eyes, Alex could easily read why he was hesitating.

Permission. The blue eyes were asking her opinion. Whether it was okay to approach close enough to see each other’s blue and golden irises clearly, whether it was fine to touch her body for a moment.

“Why?”

Alex asked back. She was puzzled. She didn’t understand why he needed permission for something like this. 

Besides all the times they’d knocked each other down and thrown each other during training, how many times had they grabbed each other by the collar? They’d even rolled around embracing each other plenty of times, so why hesitate over just this much?

Seeing the numerous question marks in her eyes, Ian paused for a moment before lowering his head.

“…Tell me if it hurts.”

His hand moved again. He gripped the armor firmly so the hair wouldn’t pull, very carefully gauged the tangled structure, and began cautiously untangling it. He’d said to tell him if it hurt, but his hand movements showed he’d make absolutely sure it wouldn’t hurt.

Alex watched his hands quietly, then soon raised her eyes as the back of her neck grew stiff. Under the still-falling white snow, his slightly dampened platinum hair color was simply clear and pure.

His lowered eyes were hidden by long, neat eyelashes so the blue wasn’t clearly visible. He was focused, barely blinking. A subtle fragrance faintly brushed her nose. 

It was probably from the soap she’d tossed to him saying it didn’t suit her. They say the same scent smells different on different people, and on him she sensed refreshing, cool wood and grass.

Thinking she might have been sniffing too much, she belatedly adjusted her breathing to be shallow. In contrast, Ian was quite close yet his breathing was barely audible.

“Are you even breathing?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t raise his eyes to meet her gaze, just concentrated on his task. However, he slightly raised one eyebrow to express his meaning—what are you talking about?

If he took his eyes off them, he felt he’d lose track of the red threads tangled together. They were properly wedged in the decoration because of the wind whipping in all directions. He was inwardly amazed at Alex’s thoughtlessness in trying to just yank and pull them out.

Alex observed Ian carefully and said.

“I can’t hear your breathing at all. Even though you’re this close.”

Ian slowly blinked a few times. Like refreshing his thoughts and attention. And only then did a low breath flow briefly. It was an attempt to control his emotions.

There was no answer. 

Just a slight tensing in his jaw, a minute movement of muscle. Alex, not understanding his reaction, tilted her head to the side. Just as she was about to ask why, she felt her hair become free.

“…Done.”

Ian raised his eyes. They met head-on with Alex’s, who had been staring at him. Alex saw a hint of tension color his deep blue eyes. 

Before she could figure out the reason for the tension, he immediately stepped back. Ian, who had suddenly moved far away, lowered his eyes again and fixed his gaze on the dozens of freed red hair strands.

Alex followed his gaze to her own hair. Though thoroughly crumpled from being caught, thanks to Ian there was no disaster of cutting or pulling it out. Alex picked them up, shook them, and grinned.

“Almost became real crazy b*tch hair. Anyway, thanks.”

He nodded lightly and soon turned around. Toward the office they had originally been heading to.

The moment Alex flung open the door to her new office, the commander’s office, she removed her ivory armor piece by piece. It was heavy since it was armor used in combat. 

It hung on the rack making heavy sounds, but from her fingertips it fell lightly with soft taps, seemingly weightless.

After removing all the solid metal armor, she put on light armor over a thick shirt-style black garment. 

The light armor that came down from shoulders to below the waist like a vest was also ivory-colored. The front was open, so there was no discomfort in movement. 

The thick beige belt around her waist was luxurious and elegant with the Aiden Empire Knight Order emblem densely embroidered in gold thread.

Once she put on black pants, gloves of the same color, and boots, psychological stability flooded in like a tide. The Knight Order light armor Alex had consistently worn since joining was her everyday wear and work clothes. 

The only difference from before was that the emblem color on the belt was gold. It signified the commander, but coincidentally it was also the color that symbolized her.

Knock knock.

“Yes.”

Ian opened the door and entered. He too had changed into the same light armor as her. She might have playfully teased him about the quick change of clothes, but not this time. 

Her gaze turned to someone standing beside Ian. Chief Chamberlain Klaus. For him to come all the way here meant… 

Ian, noticing Alex’s gaze, turned and stepped aside. Clear golden eyes carefully observed Klaus’s hands. An unusual envelope was held there.

An envelope stamped with the Emperor’s seal.

“It’s an imperial command.”