Epilogue

Carlisle did not particularly like the people who visited the Imperial Knights’ Order.

The training grounds were open, and outsiders always came and went. Curious onlookers, apprentice knights imagining their future, and ladies using them as eye candy. Unfortunately for him, they were all distractions.

That day was no different. He tried to ignore the chatter of the ladies gossiping about them. He wasn’t sure if they thought he couldn’t hear them or if they wanted him to. Naturally disinclined to interact with others, he found their excessive attention tiresome and burdensome.

But that strange gaze was different.

A persistent, lingering gaze. Just knowing it was directed at him gave him an eerie sensation, like goosebumps all over his body. Carlisle looked around to find the source of the gaze. Surprisingly, the owner of the gaze was among the young ladies chatting away.

Long, flowing, lustrous white hair. Skin so pale it seemed untouched by sunlight. Rosy cheeks. Large, sparkling blue eyes set within delicate features.

And that strange gaze.

It couldn’t be a mistake. It felt like it was dissecting him from head to toe. Under its scrutiny, all his nerves focused on that gaze. It was uncomfortable and, at times, frightening. He couldn’t believe he was so conscious of the gaze of just one small lady.

Once he realized it, he knew. She came every day, always sitting in the same spot, watching only him. It wasn’t mere curiosity, nor was it the fleeting excitement of a young lady. It was a vivid desire sent towards his raw self, stripped of all pretense.

Carlisle gradually found that peculiar gaze intriguing. Somehow, within it, he felt he could let everything go.

Eventually, she became the person he was most conscious of in this place. He gradually learned more about her. Whenever he heard her story, he found himself listening intently, and when he sensed her movements, his nerves were on edge. Yet he didn’t know why. He just vaguely assumed it was because it was strange and thus caught his attention.

Until he saw it with his own eyes.

“C-Commander….”

In the lounge of the Knights’ Order building, a man was being intimately touched while naked. Although unacceptable, it wasn’t uncommon for people to fool around in the lounge. Even men  thrusting into each other’s backsides, rolling around together.

But it was rather startling to see a woman probing a man’s backside. Even more so if that woman was Erelia Sionel, the owner of the gaze that was always directed at him.

“Lady Sionel.”

He barely felt conscious as he chased the man away and spoke to her. His impassive face perfectly concealed his distracted mind.

All sorts of thoughts swept through his head. 

Why she was physically involved with that man? Why she was doing it in such a way? Why, if she was going to do that, she looked at me with that gaze?

Amidst the chaotic thoughts, he wasn’t fully aware of what conversation they were having. He was saying something instinctively.

Ultimately, what came out of his mouth was the rawest of instincts.

“Why didn’t you come to me?”

A feeling of not wanting to lose.

Take responsibility, Commander  -End-