The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

35 – Selassia (03)

036.

When he opened his eyes, what he saw were two eyes resembling rubies.

Two figures sitting side by side in the corner of the cave.

Kallen stared blankly with his eyes open, looking at Selassia who was sound asleep beside him.

The distance where their even breaths touched.

Despite the great ordeal, the faintly touching breaths were not unpleasant.

One side asleep, the other watching that side.

Kallen calmly assessed the situation.

Even in the urgent situation where his life was at stake, he calmly assessed the situation.

That’s why people say Kallen is not like a boy of his age.

He gets excited about bets and never wins, but when it comes to life-threatening gambles, he has never failed.

Kallen shifted his gaze from the ruby to the cave.

The pitch-black monster had disappeared without a trace.

Was it a demon?

Personally, Kallen thought it was something closer to a spirit than a demon.

He thought so after seeing the pattern and appearance at the entrance of the cave.

The pattern of the spirit that Sinat had formed a pact with.

It was similar to that pattern, and it had also thrown itself for Sinat.

The appearance of the monster he met then was exactly the same.

It was for that reason that he found a breakthrough at the very end.

If it was a similar creature, he intended to sever the connection to the spirit realm using his mind.

Just like that time.

As if his thought was not wrong, the altar in the middle of the cave had collapsed.

In the end, this gamble was also a success.

Kallen chuckled softly and turned his gaze again.

His body was in such a pitiful state that it was embarrassing to call it a rag.

His right arm and body were tattered, covered in all sorts of large and small wounds.

Yet, strangely enough, he felt no pain at all.

The condition visible on the outside was extremely serious, but that was all.

He remained in a perfectly calm state.

Just before he lost consciousness, he felt a chill at the back of his neck.

After that, Kallen felt his body relax.

He didn’t know why, but it was a good thing anyway.

It was much better than being unable to move, like a half-dead corpse.

There were still many things he was curious about, but he shouldn’t push himself any further now.

Kallen carefully carried the still-unconscious Selacia on his back and began to walk.

Outside the cave, the moon was just setting, and it was the time just before the sun rose.

As Kallen looked up at the sky, he suddenly became curious about the summit of Mount Hiatt.

Since the appearance of the monsters, the scenery at the summit had become unknown.

He was newly curious about that scenery.

There was still fog around.

Although it had become very faint compared to before, it still seemed difficult to descend safely.

Moreover, the summit was close from his current position, so there was no reason to refuse.

He knew that the sunrise scenery was quite beautiful from anywhere.

The only two times the blazing sun held warmth were when it began to rise and just before it set.

He would now look at that beautifully crimson-stained scene from the summit of Mount Hiatt, which no one knew anymore.

Resolute, Kallen began to head silently towards the summit with Selacia on his back.

Looking at the sunset over the ridge behind the cabin and Sinat.

He had experienced the spectacle with Eliana on Winter Island under the cold sunlight.

Would it be the same this time?

Thinking that it would be hard to have such an experience again.

Kallen took another small gamble.

Would the summit be beautiful?

If it wasn’t a matter of life and death, he always lost.

So, he didn’t expect much.

*

“…Kallen.”

“Ah. You’re awake.”

Selassie blinked her dazed eyes, trying to clear her still blurry vision.

As her retinas gradually began to return, an awe-inspiring spectacle of breathtaking beauty, unlike anything she had ever seen before, was etched into her vision.

“Where… is this…?”

“This is Mount Hiatt.”

“Mount…?”

“The summit.”

Her whole body still ached.

It was only natural, given that she had been soaked in extreme fatigue, and the tension had suddenly released.

Selassie forced her head, which wouldn’t move on its own, to turn towards Kallen beside her.

“Why are we here…?”

“Because I was curious.”

Kallen was calm.

His body was completely covered in fatigue, looking utterly dreadful.

Yet he was calm, as if he didn’t feel any pain.

Just like when she first saw him.

Back then, she thought he was just a cold man.

But now she knew.

Behind that coldness, there was a warmth of its own.

Didn’t they say that cold men were unpopular in the North?

In that sense, Kallen wouldn’t be unpopular.

A small warmth hidden in the cold is more dramatic than an overt warmth.

Selassie quietly turned her head, feeling that warmth on her cheek.

Her index finger tapped her chin, tap, tap.

For some reason, the mask wouldn’t fit properly.

It was definitely when he fainted, caressing Kallen’s cheek in the cave.

It was certain that his mask had crumbled then.

“The sun seems to be rising soon.”

“…Huh?”

“I just… wanted to see a beautiful scenery.”

Selassier tried to put the mask back on, but it didn’t work well, so he just rolled his eyes furtively.

Kallen, who was glimpsed like that, was looking beyond the horizon that was elegantly draped.

It was certainly beautiful.

Even now, when the light barely reached, it was so mesmerizing.

The scenery at this peak, which began to take on color as the crimson light spread, was unimaginable.

If I had to compare it…

Yes, Winter Island.

Though I’ve never been there, it couldn’t be more beautiful than Winter Island.

Comparing it to a place I’ve never been to is certainly impossible.

However, Selassier, who recalled the image of the Lady of Rakatus in his subconscious.

He didn’t realize that he was comforting himself out of jealousy and a bit of envy.

No.

It would have been better if that was all.

Selassier’s nerves were not only focused on the scenery.

In the image of the Lady of Rakatus, there was Winter Island and a boy.

It was Kallen, who was right next to him.

The feeling that the scenery he was seeing with Kallen should not be inferior to Winter Island,

He couldn’t understand why he felt that way.

Was he intoxicated by the feeling?

The words that followed were not much different.

“Kallen.”

“Yes.”

“I have a favor to ask.”

Selassier secretly gauged where Kallen was looking.

So that we could look at the same place.

It was not that strange fog, but the horizon thickly covered with calm clouds.

“If we return safely.”

The index finger that had been tapping my chin also lowered.

For some reason, even without wearing a mask.

Because I didn’t want to wear it.

“If we return safely, I mean.”

Instead, I covered it.

Because I couldn’t think of any way to hide my expression other than with a mask.

I covered my nose and mouth with both hands.

I left my eyes to observe Kallen.

Realizing that without the mask, I am so weak and helpless.

Just a young girl.

“Kallen, can you catch Makbel and bring him to me?”

Thump, thump.

Is my heart also in my cheeks and head?

It feels like my whole body is pulsating.

My cheeks were burning, and my head felt like it was swelling.

The sound of my heartbeat was loud enough to be heard.

Makbel betrayed us.

At the moment when I had no choice but to accept that fact, I was out of my mind.

But now, it’s okay.

Because there is someone by my side who keeps promises that will never change.

The person I trusted the longest but betrayed me.

I cut off the person I spent the least time with but trusted the most.

It will be a kind of shackle.

A shackle I put on myself.

And at the same time, it will be a promise.

A promise that will never change forever.

A shackle that I can’t trust anyone but Kallen, and a promise that Kallen will never abandon me.

Selassie quietly waited for an answer and regretted it.

She should have covered her eyes.

She didn’t have the courage to look at Kallen.

“Understood.”

Only Selassie thought it took a long time.

Hearing Kallen’s answer, she let out a very small sigh, which she released from the hand that had covered her face.

As expected, Kallen did not betray her trust this time either.

“Ah…”

The low exclamation came from Selassie.

Without any further conversation, the two of them looked beyond the horizon for a while, facing the rising sun.

They just didn’t voice their admiration.

Kallen’s feelings were not much different from Selassie’s.

As if painting light onto a colorless world.

The horizon, which began to be faintly tinged with crimson, was thrilling in itself.

The clouds gathered just below the mountain top, and the distant view below them.

The thrill of them gradually being dyed crimson was indescribable.

Kallen thought of Winter Island.

The Lakatus estate, which was warm if it was warm.

With Eliana, the lady of such a family, he experienced a world of blue and white.

On the contrary, with Selassie, the eldest daughter of the northern family of Hiatt.

He was facing a crimson world.

In conclusion, this gamble was a success.

The joy of that alone was indescribable, and the fact that he faced such a spectacle again made him even happier.

The lights of the two worlds were opposite.

But beauty could not be ranked.

Kallen nodded in satisfaction and then turned his gaze to the side.

“It’s similar.”

“…Huh?”

“Your eye color, miss.”

“…”

Although he was a little surprised, as Selassie had been looking this way even before he turned around.

He looked at Selassie’s ruby, which had begun to be tinged with a crimson hue, and said.

“…Thank you.”

At the same time, Selassie, who had been blinking as if surprised, spoke.

Kallen, flustered by the sudden expression of gratitude, inadvertently asked back.

“Pardon?”

“I said, thank you.”

Selassie giggled with a bright smile.

The ruby embedded between his gracefully curved eyes held Kallen just as it did the first time. It was warmer than when they first met.

“Thank you for showing me that such a world exists.”

A sweet breath reached a short distance.

Was the face blushing shyly because of the rising sun?

Only that smile,

was telling that the reason for the tears on his chin was not sadness.