The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

80 – Dancing at the Ball (13)

081.

“Yes! It’s true.”

“…What?”

“I said it’s true.”

Laris seemed a little flustered.

It was because he didn’t expect such a bright response when he whispered something that seemed like a great secret.

“…Is it okay to admit it so easily?”

“Why not?”

At the same time, Selasia also spoke as if it was nothing special.

Eliana quietly nodded.

Laris asked back as if he couldn’t understand their reaction.

“But it’s imagery! The fact that the same man is in such a great thing…!”

“But it’s true.”

Sinat leaned back with his hands behind him.

A bright smile was on his face, as if he had discovered something interesting.

“My memories, and the memories of the two ladies here, are all precious memories with Kallen. That cannot be denied. I won’t deny it either.”

“…”

“A great secret? It could be. But at least I have no intention of hiding it, and I don’t like others talking carelessly about my precious memories.”

Kallen, who had been quietly listening to those words, finally understood Sinat’s sharp reaction.

Sinat had just met Laris for the first time.

There was a reason why she, who was lively but not rude, used informal speech and spoke curtly from the beginning.

Sinat disliked it.

She disliked the situation where someone who didn’t know much about her memories spoke as if they were ‘facts that shouldn’t be known,’ like Laris did.

Indeed, in the social and magical circles, the memories of the three ladies were a shocking event.

There must have been many things happening in places Kallen didn’t know about.

In Sinat’s case, Blamia must have protected her.

The more beautiful the memories, the more awe-inspiring they were.

The memories that Eliana, Selacia, and Sinat had.

They were so beautiful that nothing in the world could compare.

The problem was the image of Kallen engraved in those memories.

Eliana and Selacia both disliked others seeing their precious memories with Kallen.

If they had used their memories for advancement, Kallen might have been kidnapped and used as a test subject in the magical world by now.

Of course, Blamia would have prevented that.

Anyway, Sinat treated Laris coldly for that reason.

Laris, as if understanding Sinat’s feelings, bowed her head and apologized.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”

“Then what was it?”

Laris, sensing the change in Sinat’s tone, lifted her head.

“I wanted to confirm. If you were really the one who appeared in the memories of the three ladies.”

“…Yes.”

Eliana said, hugging Kallen’s left arm.

Laris smiled apologetically.

Then, she straightened her posture again.

And spoke in a slightly more serious tone.

“Then, I have one request.”

The subject was not the three young ladies, but Kalen, who was placed between them.

Confirmation of the imagery.

Laris, who confirmed that the imagery of the three young ladies and Kalen were deeply intertwined, continued speaking in a much more polite tone.

“Could you also create an imagery for me?”

“No.”

“What?”

*

Laris almost stumbled in surprise.

Well, isn’t this the usual flow where one accepts?

A girl with some kind of story asks politely.

Laris, who liked third-rate street plays, thought Kalen would surely not refuse.

That was why he intervened when he saw Kalen talking to the three young ladies.

He seemed to be closer to the pure side.

The way he spoke to the three young ladies was incredibly warm.

And such people usually can’t refuse well.

So, like a scene from a third-rate play he loved so much, Laris thought Kalen wouldn’t be able to refuse his request.

But reality is different from plays.

Kalen refused Laris’s proposal without a moment’s hesitation.

And with that firm refusal, Laris almost despaired.

“Why, why? Isn’t this the flow where you agree… without even hearing me out?”

He urgently shouted towards Kalen.

Creating imagery was the most important thing for Laris.

He had just barely found the possibility.

Being refused outright, he couldn’t control himself.

Hearing Laris’s urgent voice, Kalen smiled bitterly.

Because she seemed to be mistaken.

It was true that Kalen had a deep relationship with Eliana, Selassie, and Sinat.

And it was true that he was related to their imagery in some way.

But he couldn’t grant Laris’s request.

Not that he wouldn’t, but that he couldn’t.

“It’s true that I am somehow connected to the imagery.”

“Then…!”

“But it wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t created to give you the imagery, it just naturally formed.”

“…”

Kallen doesn’t know how to create imagery.

He just happened to look at the breathtaking view together after surviving life-threatening situations with the young ladies.

It happened all three times, so maybe that could be the method.

But there were too many unclear causes to conclude that definitively.

Kallen didn’t want to make such an uncertain assertion.

Laris knew that he was sincere.

He was genuinely sorry.

It wasn’t something he could be blamed for, not being able to create the imagery.

The despair over the hope that seemed barely visible was entirely Laris’s burden to bear.

Her head gradually drooped.

Her shoulders slumped.

Just by looking at her, one could tell how desperate she was.

Even Sinat, who had been watching, felt pity for Laris’s dejected appearance.

It was at that moment.

“Then…”

Laris straightened her shoulders as if she had made a decision.

She took a step closer to Kallen and said confidently.

“Please stay with me.”

“…What?”

This time, it was Kallen who asked again.

Because the conclusion Laris had reached was not resignation, but lingering attachment.

There were several factors that contributed to the creation of the imagery.

The young lady of a powerful family.

A life-threatening situation.

Overcoming it and looking at the breathtaking view together.

That was the common point that had appeared so far.

Laris satisfies the first condition among them.

She is the young lady of the Plache family, one of the five great families.

But she cannot go any further.

It means there is a reason why Kallen didn’t bother to explain in detail.

It’s not easy to find something dangerous enough to risk one’s life.

And even if there is, it’s not sane to jump into it.

Doing so doesn’t necessarily create an image.

In a way, it’s akin to a suicidal act.

Because the look in Laris’s eyes was not one of someone who was about to give up.

Kallen explained a bit more.

There were all dangerous tasks, and even if you did them, it doesn’t necessarily create an image.

Laris’s expression did not change upon hearing those words.

“No. It’s okay. I don’t have a plan yet on how to create a dangerous task, but if there’s even a possibility, I want to seize it.”

The fact that it has to involve a dangerous task.

It means Kallen’s will is also important.

Who in the world would ask someone to risk their life for them?

For that reason, Laris approached Kallen closely.

She lifted her banquet dress and bowed politely.

“Please, my lord. I must create an image even if I have to risk my life.”

Kallen quietly looked down at her as she bowed politely.

What made her so desperate?

If he knew the reason, his heart would lean a little more.

But he could tell without hearing it.

It was something like a reverse scale that Laris had.

Since he was the one being asked, even if he forced her to say it, Laris had to speak.

And Kallen didn’t want to do that.

Everyone has a painful past.

And it’s not really right to stir it up.

“…For now.”

So, this much.

“Shall we have a proper conversation after the banquet?”

Kallen himself also needed to organize his thoughts.

Laris, too, only enough to show some of her wounds.

“Ah…”

At that positive response, Laris’s expression brightened.

Although hope was not certain, it was confirmed that it could continue.

Asking for anything more was impossible.

Laris was just grateful for the possibility that was opened.

Kallen received her gratitude politely.

At the time when Kallen and Laris were exchanging courtesies.

“…Kallen.”

The grip on his left arm from Eliana grew stronger.

Feeling something strange, Kallen turned to look beside him.

There was Eliana, with a hardened expression, looking at Kallen himself.

“…I hope you don’t do anything dangerous…”

Eliana’s worried words.

When he looked around, he saw that Selassie and Sinat were also looking at Kallen in the same way.

Kallen, pondering for a moment while receiving their concern.

Then he placed his hand over Eliana’s arm.

These girls know.

The tragedy entangled in the ecstasy that the mind paints.

They worry because they know better than anyone how hard and dangerous it was.

The decision is entirely Kallen’s.

They can’t say anything about it, so they send their deep concern.

Grateful for that concern.

Kallen, with his hand over Eliana’s, also looked at Selassie and Sinat.

“We’re just listening. It’s not something that can be made dangerous at will.”

“…”

Each had their own reasons for desperately needing help at that time, so they could never actively dissuade him.

Knowing how grateful she was to Kallen, who had been her strength at that time, she couldn’t easily judge Laris’s earnestness.

In the end, Eliana slowly relaxed her grip.

She met Kallen’s gaze and said,

“…Can you promise to listen and make a careful decision?”

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“I promise.”

“Okay…”

Selassie, who was watching, gently grabbed her right arm.

Sinat frowned slightly, as if displeased.