Chapter 66

The Azure Knights had recently been breaking records, achieving the greatest success in their history.

“The knights are here!”

Public trust in the Azure Knights had reached its peak.

“We’re saved! We’re saved!”

Survivability for incident victims, which everyone thought couldn’t possibly improve further, had surprisingly increased.

“They didn’t even break anything?”

“Mom, we don’t have to move now, right?”

Even property damage had dropped to a level that surprised both the victims and the knights themselves.

The order was undergoing a complete transformation.

At the center of that change, of course, was Rodella.

She handled everything from combat control training and public service to financial management and paperwork—she was practically a walking, miniature version of the Azure Knights.

Naturally, she was exhausted.

[Aivert Royden, No Property Damage for Three Consecutive Missions — Celebration Party]

Tonight, she’d even attended a ridiculous drinking party to celebrate that absurd milestone. No wonder she was even more tired.

He had tried to decline, but—

“Really? Three in a row?”

Rodella, holding up both hands for a high-five and more excited than he was, had made it impossible for him to say no.

So, he’d ended up going to the knights’ party.

While Rodella, who had enjoyed the party even more than he did, now laid asleep—

Aivert, as always, was watching her.

He’d sleep better tomorrow if he just stopped staring and went to bed himself.

But he couldn’t stop.

He was addicted to watching her sleep, to seeing the version of her no one else ever saw.

Her peaceful, softly breathing face made him feel… content.

As usual, he planned to close his eyes once the sleepiness became too much.

“…?”

It was a bad habit, especially for someone who never slept deeply, but he had no intention of quitting.

It turned out that choice may have been the right one.

“….”

Somewhere between drowsy and alert, Aivert’s senses suddenly sharpened, and he glanced toward the window.

A soft rustling of cloth brushing against the wall.

Though the window was closed, his finely tuned senses picked up even more—movements against the wall, and the unusual sound of air bending around an unfamiliar shape instead of brushing cleanly past the wall.

He got up.

Uninvited guests.

Apparently, the reason he couldn’t sleep wasn’t just her face.

As he silently rose from the bed, he looked over at her.

Rodella slept deeply once she was out, but she wasn’t dull enough to sleep through the clash of weapons.

If she saw the aftermath of a fight—especially one with blood—it wouldn’t be good for her.

He made up his mind and carefully drew the bed canopy shut.

So she wouldn’t wake up. So no blood would splash onto the bed.

Silently, he picked up his sword—still in its scabbard.

The good thing about assassins: they also tried to make as little noise as possible.

―shff.

But his sharp hearing still caught the sound of the window opening.

As soon as someone began to climb inside—

―!

He closed the distance in an instant and rammed the scabbarded sword into the intruder’s solar plexus, infusing it with energy.

“……!”

The assassin who was climbing in died without a sound.

Without even turning to look at the body, Aivert moved to block the space between the door and the bed.

Then—

―……!

As the bedroom door burst open and another intruder charged in, Aivert drew his sword and threw it.

The assassin, unaware the blade had even been drawn, was struck and killed.

In that moment of hesitation, another slid in low—clearly a feint to open a path for the real attacker.

Unfazed, Aivert grabbed the sliding assassin’s wrist mid-motion and snapped it.

“Ah…!”

He stomped down on the assassin’s mouth before a scream could escape.

A quieter, more lethal sound filled the room.

Aivert then snatched the assassin’s weapon and thrust it at a fourth intruder.

“……!”

That one, seeing the previous three fall, must have realized subduing Aivert was impossible. Instead, he made a beeline for Rodella.

But the moment he extended his sword, his arm disappeared.

His vision filled with a flash of red.

―Pak!

Aivert kicked his shin, collapsing his balance, and in the next second drove a stolen blade through the assassin’s throat.

The entire sequence flowed like water.

Not a single moment of hesitation.

Moments later—

“Hmm.”

He looked down with an annoyed expression.

The assassins’ bodies were already beginning to dissolve into smoke.

Apparently, whoever sent them never intended for them to survive, success or not. No doubt a curse or poison to leave no evidence.

Clicking his tongue, Aivert waved his hand near the open window.

The smell wasn’t exactly pleasant.

And since the canopy wasn’t exactly scent-proof, he went to the door and quietly called someone.

“Denet.”

His personal attendant responded slower than usual.

Emerging from the shadows, Denet looked like he’d just come from a fight himself, blood spattered on his clothes.

“Four slipped past.”

“My apologies.”

Denet bowed his head.

“Forget it. Clean that up first.”

Even if the bodies were gone, the blood-stained blades, garments, and spattered walls were still there.

Denet quietly began to tidy up, careful not to wake Rodella.

As he glanced up at the canopy—

“…It splattered.”

Aivert clicked his tongue.

He’d tried to keep the blood from reaching the bed, but the last assassin had thrown himself in so recklessly that his calculations had been off.

He picked up a sword from the floor and—

*―shhhk!*

—sliced off the bloodied part of the canopy.

Then he rolled the cloth and handed it to Denet.

“Assign her a guard. One trained as a personal attendant.”

His voice was quiet, but Denet heard it clearly.

Denet hesitated.

“…Someone like me is an unofficial asset. If she’s not an insider, secrecy—”

“That won’t happen.”

Aivert cut him off coldly.

Denet quietly asked, “Does that mean you’ll… eliminate her if the secret gets out?”

Aivert looked straight at him.

Personal attendants weren’t assigned just because someone held the R-name.

In Rodella’s case, unless they married, she couldn’t be assigned a Royden personal attendant.

So the real question was: could he kill Rodella if she found out?

‘Me? Kill Rodella?’

Aivert’s lips curled.

“If I shut your mouth first, no one will ever know she found out, right?”

“…!”

Denet lowered his head, sensing the anger in his master’s voice.

A direct order from the head of the family could, at times, override protocol.

It was that flexibility that had kept the Royden family strong in the shadows all these years.

Shivering from the icy fury in Aivert’s tone, Denet silently acknowledged it.

“I don’t plan for failure,” Aivert said with a smile.

“Rodella’s already starting to see me.”

‘She’s the only one who doesn’t realize it yet—’  

‘—and it’s driving me mad.’

He pressed his lips together, remembering the strange silence and trembling eyes when he had kissed her.