Allen looked at him with a frown.
He couldn't understand why Simon was so edgy1 towards him.
Simon smiled and leaned back relaxedly.
On the inside, his heart had long torn into thousands, no hundreds of thousands, of shreds and his nervousness grew with every passing second, but he didn't show any outward signs of his inner emotional state. His golden eyes looked unwaveringly at the opponent like an arrogant king. The way those golden eyes shone in the gloomy, dreary darkness were both grotesque and beautiful.
But the funny thing was, as time went by, the other side looked more nervous than he was. The two were so anxious and impatient that they could not hide their nervousness. Especially that black-haired man who introduced himself as Allen.
'…He looked very sweet. If I touch her, she will break. If she falls, she will get hurt. His eyes were practically saying that as he held her hand like he was holding something very precious. They were a good-looking couple.'
It was definitely this guy.
The man with black hair.
The same man who held Kalia's hand affectionately.
'Who the hell are you? If you had been acquainted with Kalia before, then I didn't know.'
Simon stared at Allen's hand, squinting his eyes and clenching his fist.
A chill lingered in his narrowed eyes.
With a single word, he could have removed that hand. No, he didn't even need an incantation. If Simon was determined to do so, he could have made that hand disappear as if it had never existed. In fact, apart from that hand, he could just make the whole person disappear from this place without leaving a trace. The desire to do so was burning like crazy, but Simon struggled to hold it in. If it was a person involved or related to Kalia, he couldn't kill them.2
After all…
It was a horrible assumption3, but if he was the one she loved, Simon couldn't do anything to him now.
'Am I afraid that Kalia will be sad?'
Simon scoffed at himself.
It wasn't like that.
It's because there's no need to kill him in this situation where it's too obvious that he is the one who killed this guy. If there was really a situation where it was really necessary to get rid of him, he would be eliminated neatly and thoroughly without anyone being able to connect it to Simon. In a way that the disappearance of his existence from Kalia's life would occur very naturally…
But everything is still unclear, so Simon suppressed his boiling jealousy with desperate patience. The Kalia he knew wasn't one who easily fell in love. Even if she was in love, she was not one to abandon the Crown Prince or her position and run away. So there must be a reason for Kalia to leave for this far place and be with this man.
Yeah… There must be another reason.
It was then.
Humming, who had been silently immersed in her thoughts, opened her mouth. "I have something I want to ask you."
Humming's voice was trembling, but the fear in her eyes faded as she looked at him.
Simon replied in a relaxed voice, "Ask away."
Biting hard on her parched lips, Humming cleared her throat to stabilize her trembling voice. "I heard that Miss wrote you a letter saying that she would definitely go back to you. Then…. Why would you be searching so hard for Miss?" 4
Simon gave Humming a look as if he were wondering why she was asking him that. But this was a very important question to Humming.
Continuing Humming's trip down memory lane from a little while ago, her desire for vengeance at that time was dissipated due to the death of the lord and the downfall of his family. What was left instead was the stunning back of a certain "common knight" she had seen then. That image was branded into her mind. She was not swayed by an arrogant noble, and her firmness and her confidence that remained unfazed by the gossip that demeaned and tried to undermine her. Her sense of righteousness that saved the people who were robbed and extorted. Even her strength of being able to easily bear the hatred, resentment, jealousy and anger directed at her….. It all fascinated Humming.
That day, Humming packed up all her returned possessions, went up to the Capital and immediately put in an application for admission to the Military Academy.
Humming was only 15 years old at the time. Truthfully, that age was already a bit late to start at the Academy, but it didn't matter. After all, there was nowhere for Humming to retreat to. Rather, because she had lost her family and all her hope once already, she needed something to hang on to.
Fortunately for her, military academies were more tolerant of one's social class than magical or administrative academies. This allowed Humming to gain admission to the academy relatively easily.
As a result of her hard work over three years, she was always able to maintain top scores in her grade with the exception of her first year. Thanks to that, she was qualified to apply to be a knight's squire and one day, a miracle came to Humming.
'Congratulations on your appointment as the squire of General Kalia.'
Each year, only the top 10 students are given the right to be chosen as squires through a lottery lucky draw. Right before that, she was only able to get a lottery ticket because the student in the rank above her quit the academy.
'Oh my god.'
Humming bawled all night that day. She didn't know why but that day, she cried for the first time in three years.
Perhaps her draw that day was fate…. (To prevent squire candidates from flocking to a specific knight, the selection of squires was done by drawing lots).5
She believed her family was helping her from the heavens. Recalling her forgotten mother, father and two older brothers, she cried her eyes out that night and went to greet Kalia for the first time the next day with raw eyes. 6
Yes, the plague may be attributed to a cruel fate. But it was the lord and his son who drove her family to death and robbed Humming of all hope and happiness. It was definitely Kalia who saved Humming that day. So, to Humming, Kalia was her saving grace.
If she hadn't passed by there that day, no, if she had ignored the horrors of what was happening, Humming would have fallen into even greater misery and depravity. She was sure she would have had to continue cleaning the castle of the nobleman who killed her family just to survive.
'But that future didn't come. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am today.'
Kalia was obviously a strong person, but she was also a person of many deficiencies.
'So, it's right for me to live for Miss now. I have to be her strength.'
Growing up in poverty, it was only after tragedy struck and she entered the academy that she swung a sword for the first time.
'No…I'll definitely be her strength.'
For example, natural things like being loved by someone or being in love with someone or obvious things like the importance of a mother and father's affection to a child7. Of course, if the father is trash, then her affection was better than his.
In any case, Humming had made her decision a long time ago. She won't be Kalia's hands or feet. Kalia was an active person anyway, so she didn't need anyone else to act as her hands or feet. So, after some thought, Humming decided it would be better to be a part that Kalia didn't have. It's being flexible according to the situation or… having wits!8 Humming resolutely glanced at Simon in front of her, her shining eyes glowing with determination.
A man who could be Shasha's father.
That alone was of great importance, but there was something even more important than that.
'Is Simon someone who can cherish Miss, even after she becomes a mother, more than anyone else in the world?' 9
She wanted to know if he was a man who could love Miss no matter what.
And it seemed like she was about to find out.
Humming knew how terrifying the person was staring at her like he was going to eat her up. The man could hear the answer he was looking for in various ways without waiting for Humming to open her mouth if he so wished. There's no way someone with the title of Archmage wouldn't know mind-manipulation magic. The fact that he didn't do that was him trying to respect Humming. 10
By now, even Allen was staring him down like he was a mortal enemy.
Why was he, the Duke of Mado, being so respectful towards them?
There could only be one reason…
He was self-conscious11 of Kalia.
And he was trying not to harm the people who were clearly involved with her.
That was the only answer.
'Seuuu. Huu12.' Humming took a short but deep breath and lifted her head stiffly.
'Maybe this is something I can't decide on my own. But… The answer was right in front of her and it wasn't right to back off now.'
Simon's golden eyes were fierce, looking like he was going to dig up her heart, but she wasn't afraid. Because there was no reason to be afraid.
'Humming,' Allen whispered her name out of concern.
However, the clashing eye contact between Humming and Simmon did not break. Neither of them backed down even an inch. Frozen, they held each other's gaze like that for a few seconds.
With a soft smile, Simon asked while rubbing his chin with one hand, "Why am I looking for her?"
His voice was soft and calm. A shadow of Kalia flickered in his golden eyes and they glossed over with a far-off look, like his mind had wandered far off.
"…Because I feel like I'm going to die without her." His soft voice turned despondent.