Side Story 5

For practicing swordsmanship, especially the delicate handling of aura, a spacious and organized location was needed.

The problem was that all the large auditoriums that would have been suitable were either broken or in a state of disarray.

“So, we have no place to hold the lecture… Ah!”

Professor Shubian thankfully came up with a place in his mind.

“The area near the Likenin Cliff should be empty today as there are no magic classes. It’s also a place we don’t use often.”

At that, Rodella and Aivert’s faces slightly stiffened.

Professor Shubian, seeing their expressions, nodded reassuringly.

“If you are worried about the children falling, don’t be. I will call all the swordsmanship assistants to lead the children there, so you can be at ease.”

However, the reason for their stiff expressions was not just that.

“We’ll discuss it and let you know.”

Aivert, quick to notice her state, said that.

“Alright.”

Thanks to him, Professor Shubian turned and left without noticing the change in Rodella’s expression.

Once he had given them some space, Aivert looked at Rodella.

“…That cliff…”

Rodella couldn’t help but remember it, even if she didn’t want to.

How could she forget?

It was the very cliff where she had been taken captive with a sack placed over her head during her academy days.

But.

“…”

She wasn’t trembling as much as she expected.

That was probably because Aivert was by her side.

Unconsciously, she held onto Aivert’s hand tightly.

“Should we not go?”

Aivert asked.

But Rodella shook her head.

Her heart still raced because of the past, but she calmed herself down.

Such a thing wouldn’t happen again.

“It’s okay.”

She said.

“Are you sure?”

But Aivert asked again.

He didn’t say much, but his voice was filled with a lot of concern.

Rodella looked him straight in the eyes and nodded.

“I’m okay. Because you’re with me.”

At her resolute voice, Aivert met her gaze for a moment and then hugged her.

“If you feel uneasy, just say the word. I’ll get you out of there immediately.”

‘A person who always thinks of me, understands me without words, and worries about me.’

‘I’m truly okay because of you.’

Rodella smiled.

“I understand.”

Only after hearing her answer did Aivert approach Professor Shubian.

And soon after, the swordsmanship assistants came out in a rush, led the children to the cliff, and the class began.

***

The children couldn’t even get close to the dangerous-looking cliff.

The assistants were guarding it strictly.

“Think of your aura as always being bound near your heart. Unless you’re fighting for your life, there’s no need to scatter it throughout your entire body.”

Aivert taught the children how to precisely control their aura and focus on small movements.

In truth, there wasn’t much for Rodella to do regarding the method of moving aura, so she cheered on the children from a distance.

“…!”

Even when the children found it difficult, they would put in the effort and repeat the practice as if she was watching them with unwavering interest.

Rodella gave a faint smile.

“The Commander will be pleased.”

The reason the Azure Knights were abnormally strong was that Latine had brought people with innate aura or strength from all over the country.

Of course, he was a genius among geniuses, so he struggled to explain the method of controlling the flow of aura.

So, he only taught them enough not to destroy buildings.

And Aivert could teach aura control but couldn’t train them in strength control, so he couldn’t educate them properly.

That was until Rodella came.

And the result of Rodella’s strength control training and his aura control training being repeated was the current Azure Knights, whose skills and performance had noticeably changed.

It seemed Latine had been secretly finding such ‘talents’ all over the country while working as a mercenary.

But now that he could see a future where they would willingly come to him, Latine couldn’t help but be happy.

After all, their rival knight order, the Red Knights, was gone, so if these children chose the path of the sword, ten out of ten would want to join the Azure Knights.

Especially since Aivert was in the Azure Knights.

It was while Rodella was smiling.

—Bang!

A sudden explosion erupted from one side.

As the startled Rodella turned, Aivert had already reached the child.

The sword that the surprised child had dropped was caught in his hand.

The child’s hand was still trembling, as if they had used their aura incorrectly and the sword had flown out.

“If you use your aura incorrectly, the sword flies out like this.”

Aivert put the child’s sword down and examined the child’s hand.

“Looking at your hand, it doesn’t seem to be hurt, so you probably protected it with aura, but if you had used just a little more force, the sword itself would have exploded.”

At that, the child’s face turned ashen.

“Then you would have become a walking explosive artifact. Both you and those around you would get hurt.”

Aivert handed the sword back to the child, saying.

“Up until now, there probably haven’t been many opponents who could beat you with your aura, but that might not be the case once you leave the academy.”

His face was uncharacteristically serious.

“Remember that aura is not a panacea, and it’s like holding a blade without a handle.”

Not only you but also those around you whom you are trying to protect can get hurt.

The child was seen nodding with determination.

Rodella felt his usual thoughts in his words and gave a bittersweet smile.

‘The person he was always worried about was probably me.’

‘A person to be sorry for and grateful to.’

‘But there was no need for him to work alone like before.’

‘He had made it clear.’

‘He had never done anything he didn’t like because of me; on the contrary.’

“I was able to be happy because of you, I am happy, and I will be happy.”

That’s what he had told her.

Rodella felt pleased.

***

As Aivert was in the middle of teaching and taking a short break, Rodella was pulling her collar closer.

“Are you not feeling well?”

Aivert asked.

“No, I’m just cold.”

Rodella waved her hand to show him not to worry.

Aivert willingly took off his outer garment and put it over her.

Was it because he had just been moving around a lot, or was it because her body was cold?

His clothes were so warm that they felt hot.

“If we had this time free, we could’ve gone on another date.”

He grumbled as if the time was a waste.

It was clear that he was disappointed they didn’t have more time to be together.

Even though it was obvious that he was proud while teaching the children.

“We’re together right now.”

Rodella looked down at the academy.

It felt new to have come to the academy with Aivert, and not as friends, but as a couple about to get married.

She also didn’t know that the academy, which had seemed so big in her childhood, would look so small.

She also didn’t know that she could overcome the fears of her childhood like this.

Rodella took a few steps closer to the edge of the cliff.

“…?”

The assistants saw her and slightly made way for her.

She wasn’t a reckless child who might do something dangerous.

Crossing the “wall that wasn’t a wall” created by the assistants, the two of them approached a spot where they could see the bottom of the cliff.

“Rodella?”

Aivert called out to her.

Rodella held his hand tightly and looked down.

“So this is how high it was.”

It seemed lower than the Mirpol clock tower.

She couldn’t measure the exact height, but it wasn’t as dizzying as she had thought.

It just meant she wasn’t as scared as she used to be.

She liked windy places and high places but had always been afraid of cliffs.

But it seemed she didn’t need to be anymore.

“I think we can come here sometimes to get some fresh air.”

She laughed brightly and whispered to Aivert.

“Only when I’m with you.”

Because then, even if she fell, she would be safe.

It was just as Aivert was about to reply.

“Teacher—!”

A child was calling out to Aivert from among the assistants.

Soon, an assistant approached and conveyed the child’s words.

“They said thank you very much for teaching them and asked if they could ask just one more question.”

At that, Aivert narrowed his eyes.

“If they’re grateful—”

Rodella felt she knew what he was going to say and covered his mouth.

“Send him over.”

“Pardon? Yes.”

The assistant retreated with a bewildered expression, and Rodella, taking her hand off Aivert’s mouth, gently pressed his furrowed brow to smooth it out.

“You have to be a good one-day teacher.”

“A teacher has times when they don’t want to be disturbed, too.”

He grumbled.

Rodella spoke soothingly.

“We’ll be alone when we go back. We’ll be together forever, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for that child to learn from you. Please understand.”

At her words, Aivert’s expression cleared up.

The phrase “alone when we go back” seemed to particularly please him.

“I’ll be back.”

Rodella, who had saved several children, including the assistant who was nervously watching the two of them, stretched herself.

Watching her, the assistants and Professor Shubian were filled with admiration.

Only Rodella could persuade ‘that Aivert’ in such a gentle way.

Especially the professors from other departments who had come to watch the class all agreed.

They had seen Aivert’s ‘true’ self during his academy days.

“She’s completely changed him into a different person.”

One of the professors marveled.

Then another professor said.

“He’s probably a different person only in front of Lady Rodella.”

“That’s true…”

As everyone expressed their renewed admiration.

The class came to an end.

***

That night.

“Thank you so much.”

“Thank you, Teacher!”

“I’ll definitely become a great knight!”

“I’m going to become an Azure Knight!”

The professors and the headmaster, as well as the children who had taken the class, all rushed out to see the two of them off.

“It would have been great if you could have stayed the night.”

Professor Shubian had a genuinely regretful expression.

He was continuously marveling at how Aivert had become a real ‘person’ compared to his academy days.

That Aivert didn’t crack a pillar next to him just because Rodella looked at him, he didn’t half-kill people during sparring, and he didn’t glare at the assistants or professors?

Of course, the only ones who had received his fierce glares back then were the people who had given Rodella a disadvantage, and they had now naturally resigned from their teaching positions due to a strange ‘external pressure,’ but he had no way of knowing that.

“We want to go early to spend time alone.”

Aivert replied.

How could anyone hold them back after hearing that?

Above all, Rodella, who had been in class all day, looked very tired, so Shubian quickly said before Aivert’s personality reverted back to his academy days.

“Please go quickly. And congratulations to you both on your marriage.”

“Thank you.”

As Rodella replied to his words, Shubian saw it.

Aivert’s face, smiling radiantly as he looked at Rodella.

Was that really the same Aivert? He would have believed it if Lady Rodella had swapped him out with someone else.

“Let’s go.”

But Aivert, having sensed all that, had no intention of dealing with them.

He didn’t want to leave Rodella among the professors who knew about his rowdy academy days.

Most of all, from the carriage on, it would be just the two of them.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Rodella slowly blinked her eyes.

She was definitely tired.

As he escorted her to the carriage, Rodella spoke with a worried expression.

“…But what if I fall asleep in the carriage?”

She seemed very sorry.

She had persuaded him that they would have time alone starting from the carriage, so if she fell asleep, it would be breaking her promise.

But Aivert valued her more than any promise, so he shook his head.

“You’re not only by my side in the carriage.”

‘So I can wait.’

He had waited for more than a decade; he could wait for this.

He smiled and helped her into the carriage. And then he got in next to her.

Sure enough, Rodella said, “No, I’ll just close my eyes for a moment.”

And then she said she would keep her promise, but Aivert put his arm around her shoulder.

“Don’t hug me, it’s so warm…”

I feel like I’m going to fall asleep.

That was probably what she was going to say.

Feeling the small warmth resting on his shoulder, Aivert laughed softly.

Just sitting next to her, as the most special person in her life, was happiness for him.

This was the day she was his lovely liar.

That is the end of BCC, everyone! I hope you enjoyed Rodella and Aivert’s journey along with me. I thought these side stories were adorable personally.