Chapter 80

“You’re heading to the Administration Bureau, right?”

Instead of answering, Aivert asked a question in return.  

Rodella nodded.

“The Chancellor summoned me.”

That was Rodella’s post-academy plan.

At her reply, Aivert spoke casually.

“Then maybe I should join the Administration Bureau too.”

“Shouldn’t you be thinking about passing the entrance exam first?”

To that, Aivert replied with his usual nonchalance: “The exam’s no problem. The interview, though…”

He tilted his head.

“Do you think the Chancellor would reject me?”

His face radiated confidence.

Rodella was speechless.

‘His grades… were actually pretty good, come to think of it.’

And really, the Administration Bureau apparently attracted all sorts of troublesome types.  

Just having Aivert there might drive half of them away by sheer presence.

The rumors about him had already spread like wildfire—how he’d gone from a shy boy who couldn’t control his strength to a dangerously powerful free spirit.

‘…Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad,’ she thought. ‘Going to the Ministry together.’

Working alongside the Chancellor…

Just imagining it made her heart flutter.

“How about joining the Administration Bureau?”

Rodella’s eyes lit up as she recalled the day Chancellor Ameris had visited and said that to her.

Come to think of it, hadn’t she seen her again earlier at the graduation ceremony?

Rodella belatedly checked herself.

“I didn’t look weird earlier, right? During the speech?”

Surely she hadn’t messed anything up?

As if reading her mind, Aivert answered, “You looked amazing.”

A refreshingly simple reply.

“Really?”

Rodella’s eyes sparkled, and Aivert nodded.

“I don’t lie about things like that.”

Well, that was true.

This was the guy who once told his own mother that her home-cooked food was bad—to her face.

A compliment from that mouth really meant something.

“Have you thought about where to go for our graduation trip?”

Aivert’s question snapped her back.

Oh—right.

Rodella flinched slightly.

She’d completely forgotten about that, with everything going on.  

But Aivert seemed genuinely excited.

“Where do you want to go for our graduation trip?”

He had asked her that once, out of the blue, while they were studying before finals.

“Let’s talk after exams. Just thinking about it makes it impossible to focus.”

Just thinking about graduating made her excited!

She remembered how Aivert had paused for a moment, then asked—

“You’re going with me, right?”

Such a ridiculous question. She had actually looked up from her book in disbelief.

“Of course with you. Who else would I go with?”

Cecilia was being dragged into merchant business the moment she graduated—she couldn’t even attend the ceremony.

Rodella remembered the smile that had spread across Aivert’s face then.

—Clunk!

Suddenly, the carriage jolted violently.

Had a wheel hit a rock?

Rodella bit her tongue and nearly choked on her reply.

Only a beat later did she answer.

“A beach sounds nice. Somewhere wide open.”

It was the moment those words left her mouth that Aivert’s gaze snapped toward the window.

“Aivert?”

Rodella followed his gaze.

Outside, the weather was clear and peaceful, just as one would expect from the serene northern reaches of the empire.

At least, it had been.

—Ssssshhk!

Rodella thought she heard something outside the window.

“Huh?”

Before she could even grasp what was happening—

—HIIIIII!

A horse shrieked. The carriage came to a screeching halt.

Her body tilted, then lifted from the seat entirely.

“…!”

Rodella’s eyes widened.

—Thud!

Something struck the roof of the carriage hard.

—Fwoosh!

Flames erupted, heat rushing in like a wave.

‘What is this?’

It happened in the blink of an eye.

In the next breath, Aivert reached for her, shielding her body.

And then—

—BOOM!

With an explosion, the two of them were hurled out of the carriage.

“…!”

Rodella only realized a carriage shard had lodged into her side when she hit the ground, rolling alongside Aivert.

“Ah—”

She couldn’t breathe.

The once-clear sky looked hazy now.

Every breath brought stabbing pain; she could barely inhale, let alone exhale.

“Rodella!”

Aivert’s face had gone pale as he pushed himself up.

He knocked aside an incoming arrow with his arm.

‘It’s dangerous.’

She wanted to say something—anything—

“……!”

But no words came out.

In the distance, their carriage was a flaming wreck.  

The one they had just been riding.

And then—

—Screeech!

The horse, crazed from panic, let out a final cry and collapsed.

Red streaks spread across the side of the carriage like brushstrokes.

Under the bright blue sky, it was a jarring, surreal sight—seared into her memory.

‘What is this…?’

Before she could even register fear, figures rushed toward them—the ones who had killed the horse.

They moved so fast, at first Rodella thought they were shadows rising from the ground.

Frozen in place, she couldn’t move.

Aivert met them head-on.

—CRACK!

A sound like something heavy colliding with flesh.

Then—on the pristine white snow—blood sprayed.

“―!”

Rodella screamed.

She didn’t know if the red clouding her vision was from the pain or the blood splatter.

Everything she saw was red.

Warm and wet.

“Stay down, Rodella!”

She thought she heard Aivert shouting.

When she turned slightly, his face was soaked in blood, making her vision blur.

‘Dear gods.’

At some point, he had drawn his sword.

With swift, precise movements, he cut down the assassins.

—Slick!

In one clean stroke, his blade split a man in two.

His eyes, watching them fall—

Were utterly emotionless.

No reaction to the horse’s death.  

No fear at the attacking assassins.

It didn’t feel like she was watching her friend anymore.

“……!”

Each time blood sprayed, she wanted to close her eyes in fear.

But she couldn’t.

She was too afraid that something would happen to Aivert.

Unable to move, she lay helplessly as the snow around her bloomed red—like a field of flowers.

As the melted snow and blood pooled at her feet—

Rodella’s vision swam.

—Clang!

Screams, crashing sounds, the clashing of blades and armor rang in her ears.

The last thing she saw through the blood-hazed world—

Was Aivert turning toward her.

“……!”

He shouted her name and ran toward her—

And then, her consciousness went black.

 

***

 

Yes… that’s how it happened.

The next thing she saw upon waking—

Was an unfamiliar ceiling.

“Where… am I?”

“This is Lenaris Central Hospital.”

Ah.

Rodella barely managed to recall the name buried in her memory.

Yes… this was where they had brought her.

The memories she hadn’t wanted to recall overlapped with the white ceiling.

It looked just like the one she had seen then.

And when she had finally awoken after a long, deep sleep—

Aivert had already changed.

“Maybe I’ll go to the Administration Bureau too.”

The Aivert who had said that—

Had suddenly decided to join the Azure Knights instead.

As if he had resolved something deep within himself.

And before long, he had become the vice-commander of the Azure Knights…

Rodella slowly closed her eyes.

A distant pain.  

A blurred vision.  

A dream more vivid than reality.

Somewhere between all that—

She felt like she had seen so many things.

“…Move her!”  

“Careful!”  

“Watch the impact… …stabilize…!”

The voices she had heard blended together chaotically.

She couldn’t tell if they came from the real world or the dream.

They echoed faintly, then faded away.

Through her hazy vision, she saw people in various uniforms moving about.

“My lord!”

But one voice rang clearer than the rest.

She didn’t know whose it was.  

Or the full context.

But she knew one thing for certain—

That voice had been calling out to Aivert.