Chapter 14

Rodella looked up at the ceiling in disbelief.  

This wasn’t just a matter of improving the Azure Knights’ performance—they needed to fix their reputation first.  

She offered a silent prayer for the credibility the Azure Knights had thoroughly destroyed, then quickly started working through solutions in her head.  

Soon, she came up with one.  

“To reduce both material and personnel losses in the Azure Knights, we need to change public perception of the order first.”  

It was an obvious point. Latine nodded.  

“Everyone in the Azure Knights knows that. It’s just…not easy to do.”  

“If it were easy, the Commander’s wallet wouldn’t be completely empty by now.”  Aivert chimed in.   

“Watch it, Sir Royden. You are the top contributor to that mess.”  

They traded barbed words without even looking at each other, and in between their dry exchange, Rodella felt as if she could see the hundreds of thousands in damages flashing before her eyes.

Ignoring the vision of money growing wings and flying off, she spoke again.  

“For starters, we need to show the people of the Empire that the Azure Knights genuinely want to help them.”  

Her confident voice rang with the quiet authority of someone who had climbed the ranks of a noble-infested administration on skill alone.  

“How do you plan to do that?”  

Aivert looked at her, curiosity piqued.

Rodella smiled at him.  

“By winning back public support through community service!”

‘And you’re essential for improving the Azure Knights’ image, so don’t even think about backing out.’

As their eyes met, she gave him a dazzling smile.

* * *

“Community service? Sounds nice in theory, but do you even know when the Azure Knights last did that sort of thing?”  

At Latine’s question, Rodella answered without missing a beat.  

“1,047 days ago.”  

“…Thanks for the very precise answer.”  

Latine looked like he’d just been sucker punched.  

He clearly hadn’t expected that level of detail.

Rodella turned her gaze away from him and smiled again at Aivert.  

“You’re coming too. You know that, right?”  

“I know.”  

Of course—he knew whose order this was.

Watching Rodella turn away as soon as he responded, Aivert was struck again by a now-familiar realization:  

‘That smile means nothing.’

She smiled easily at everyone. He’d heard her laugh a dozen times a day.  

But it wasn’t the kind of smile he wanted from her.

’If you’re happy, then that’s good.’  

It was good—  But he hadn’t expected that same unchanging smile to drive someone insane after more than ten years.

When had he first seen that smile?  

The earliest memory was a blur. But the first clear moment?

When he’d confessed to liking her at age ten.  

“Thank you!”  

She smiled so brightly—as a friend.

When he tried again at twelve, handing her flowers and confessing once more.  

“Really, thank you!”  

Same sunny smile—as a friend.

On her thirteenth birthday, he’d given her a bouquet and asked her outright:  

I like you. What do you think of me?

Her answer:  

“I like you too!”  

That same bright, unchanged smile.

Even when he suggested a contract engagement:  

“Great. So starting tomorrow, we’re engaged?”  

She’d said it with that same smile—one maddeningly free of any shift.

‘Does it really mean nothing to you that we’re in a special relationship now?’

He had wanted to ask.  

But he hadn’t dared.  

Because her smile made the answer far too clear, too transparent.

And yet—

“It’s harvest season, so I’m sure there are people in desperate need of help. In a territory as big as ours, there has to be someone.”  

“The problem is that no one wants to trust the Azure Knights with anything. We’d probably just break it.”  

“Even so, there’ll be someone desperate enough to take that risk. And it’s our first time publicly announcing a community service initiative, isn’t it?”

Watching Rodella discuss plans with Latine, Aivert had to suppress a crooked smile.

A few months from now, after her birthday, she’d turn twenty-five.  

And in this empire, that meant marriage offers would stop even without the need for a contract engagement.  

Then she’d soar forward—without looking back—  

Never once seeing him as anything more than a friend.

He wanted the road ahead of her to be clear and smooth. Truly, he did.  

But at the same time…

He wanted her to feel a little restless—whenever she looked at him.

From that ridiculous contradiction bloomed one simple wish:  

‘Please… just turn around and see me.’

A wish that had gathered dust for over a decade, still unnoticed by the one person it was meant for.

* * *

The Empire was supported by two great military orders: the Azure Knights and the Red Knights.

Each order had an administrator dispatched from the Imperial Capital’s Central Administration Office, to ensure internal oversight and swift reporting to the royal family.

In the Red Knights, the position of administrator had long been filled by members from the traditional aristocratic cartel. Anyone outside that circle couldn’t last long under the Red Knights’ pressure and usually resigned quickly.

The Azure Knights, on the other hand… didn’t care whether you were part of the cartel or not. Administrators there simply ran away.

No one wanted the position of administrator for the Azure Knights. It was notorious—regarded as a career graveyard, a pit, a swamp of professional despair.

This time was no different. The last administrator had gone out into the field to make a name for himself, only to be hospitalized for reasons everyone was already whispering about. The story had spread far and wide.

So attention turned to one question: who would be the next administrator?

Naturally, this included two major noble houses—House Syveric and House Royden.

The news that their children would now be working together was more than enough reason to bring both families together.

“Sorry for asking you to come over again,” said the Lady of House Royden.

“Not at all, my Lady. Are you feeling well?” the Countess of House Syveric replied, shaking her head.

Due to Lady Royden’s poor health, meetings were typically hosted at House Royden. It was routine.

“I’m perfectly fine,” she replied with a delicate smile, motioning to the attendants.

“Right this way, please.”

The Royden attendants—dignified as one would expect from a long-established noble house—escorted the Syveric couple with graceful precision. Their refined bows and gestures left a lasting impression, as always.

“Rodella and Aivert should be arriving shortly,” said the lady of the house.

Those very attendants, who acted with such poise, bowed even more deeply to her, as if a blade was hidden beneath her soft-spoken gestures.

A few hours later, Rodella and Aivert arrived.

“So you two are working together now? That calls for a toast!”

Lady Royden raised her glass with a charming smile.  

Though she looked a bit pale, a healthy flush colored her cheeks—perhaps from the joy of the occasion.

She lifted her glass, and the Syveric couple clinked theirs in return.

Rodella and Aivert, seated a little further away, simply raised their glasses politely as the attention shifted to them.

“Thank you for the warm congratulations,” Rodella said with a smile.

“Don’t be silly. Your success is our joy. Come now, drink up!”

While the cheerful Lady Royden and Count and Countess Syveric chatted amiably, Rodella glanced around the room.

The atmosphere of House Royden, which she visited from time to time, was nothing like the occasionally mischievous and wildly unpredictable personality of Aivert.

Except for the rare occasions when someone familiar visited and Lady Royden would deliberately lighten the mood, the house was cold, austere, and every bit the image of noble refinement.

Among the attendants politely serving the meal, Rodella spotted someone she recognized.

Technically, he had been a classmate at the Academy, though they’d barely spoken even back then. She had only learned his name upon graduation—Denet.

“Hello, Denet.”

When Rodella gave him a little wave, he responded only with a formal bow, the kind given to a noble guest. It was as if their shared past as classmates had been entirely erased.

She had heard he now served as Aivert’s personal attendant. And considering that nearly everything Aivert touched ended up fractured or destroyed, Rodella still wondered if a bodyguard was even necessary—he hardly let anyone close enough to need one.

“There’ll be no more dashing between the Capital’s Central Administration and the Azure Knights’ headquarters just to go on dates, huh?”

Count Syveric suddenly spoke up.

“How romantic it must be to have nightly dates,” the Countess chimed in with a delighted face.

None of them had the faintest idea.

That the relationship between Aivert and Rodella was a contract engagement.  

That they hadn’t gone on any such dates at all.

Rodella’s eyes darted awkwardly while she kept her expression neutral.

“When Aivert was younger, he couldn’t control his strength, and I used to worry if he’d ever manage in society… but thanks to our sweet girl here, he’s come so far!” exclaimed the delighted Lady Royden.

“If it weren’t for her, Aivert wouldn’t have even made it through the gates of the Azure Knights.”