“I just thought it was weird that Nocton suddenly bled out, did you do something that ordinary people don’t know about?”

“Um …. No, I’m ashamed to say that I was unilaterally beaten. It seems like I was lacking in training.”

“You lacked in training, but you’re training daily.”

“Yes, but it’s a little slack. I had to calm myself down, but as you know, I haven’t been able to relax lately. I know that’s an excuse.”

There was something harsh about Aaron’s words, which he said to himself, not to anyone else. His reflective eyes became ambiguous in both rebuttal and consolation.

As I was looking for something to talk about, I frowned on the parts I couldn’t understand.

“Then, why is Nocton bleeding?”

“Well, maybe he has never been feeling well. At least not because of me. Unfortunately.”

“The question of whether you vomited blood was over a while ago. I don’t know if it’s self-reflection or self-condemnation, but in moderation—”

As soon as I spoke a little harshly, Aaron vomited blood again.

Is it my fault?

My heart became nervous at Aaron’s painfully throwing up the red liquid, so I jumped up.

This was not the time to argue who was to blame.

“Please wait, I’ll call a priest, or even a wizard!”

I didn’t know what should I say as an excuse, but he got an internal injury while training, and he was worried about his fiancée, so he had to visit her before the hospital.

As I was about to run out of the room, I was caught off guard by the shelft. When Aaron entered the drawing room, Sadie put it away from the display.

Above it is a bottle of blue liquid, the liquid Nocton called holy water. God’s gifts that have excellent effects on trauma, internal injuries, diseases, and even severed bodies.

“What a holy water. I’ve never seen such a big bottle.”

“If it’s real, it’s good to get you treated right away, but I don’t know if it’s genuine. It’s… it’s from Nocton. It’s not real, is it?”

“If you allow me, I’ll check.”

“Is there a way? I was thinking of throwing it away anyway, so you can try it if you have a way.”

“Then excuse me for a moment.”

Aaron staggered a little and headed for the shelf.

The lid of a large bottle opened and the bottle tilted immediately.

“Aaron!”

A few drops of blue liquid went into his mouth.

“You, are you crazy? Why do you drink that?”

“I was just going to check a little bit, but I failed to adjust. I’m sorry to waste your precious resources.”

“No, that’s not … I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’m not saying that it’s a waste!”

While talking with Nocton, there was no special gibberish about the logic of everything that came out of the mouth.

But the more I say it, when I heard that the holy water was so precious that I felt like I hit Aaron, I felt as if I had a cold sweat on my hands.

Then, Aaron burst into laughter.

Only then I realized that I had been teased.

God, I didn’t expect Aaron Claymore to tease me.

When I sighed in relief, my legs relaxed and fell.

Surprised Aaron stretched out his hand to hold me, but he was the same with no strength, so there were only two people collapsing.

What is this.

Aaron and I giggled for a long time because it was funny to see us sitting there like a newborn baby giraffe.

Like a lie, what happened a while ago was light and funny.

By the time the laughter had gone by, we sat down, leaning appropriately back on the legs and chairs of the table.

A little silence flowed, and Aaron devoured the laughter with a light sigh.

“Actually, Roa, I owe you an apology.”

“The one you failed to catch?”

“About Duke Edgar.”

I also lost my laughter at the words that came out of his mouth. It was ominous just to hear that there was something to apologize for Nocton.

“I didn’t fully believe what you said. It’s changed a bit lately when I think you’re afraid of him. I’m sorry for distorting your words, Roa.”

“Oh, if it’s like that, it’s okay. It’s great. I’m sorry too, so you don’t have to apologize.”

“You’re sorry?”

“I’m sorry I used you as a shield.”

Aaron blinked slowly, as if asking what I meant.

“I encouraged myself because I thought it was something I need to resolve, but in the end, I trusted Aaron and made a scene. I couldn’t say anything when it was just the two of us. I only hurt you.”

“It’s not because of you that I was injured. Like I said earlier, it’s because of lack of training. I wouldn’t have vomited that much blood by the time I finished my knight training.”

“If you weren’t involved in my problem, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt, whether you have enough training or not.”

“I just wanted to protect you.”

Aaron breathed lightly and spoke.

“And not only today but also in the future. I want to protect you. I wasn’t reliable at all a little while ago, so it’s fine even if you don’t believe it.”

“You will continue to … protect me? Forever? That sounds very … like a proposal.”

“Yes?”

I asked myself because I was embarrassed, but when I saw the embarrassment in the man’s eyes, a sense of playfulness rose.

I bent up and smiled playfully.

“Then will you marry me? Marry me and keep me safe for the rest of my life, Aaron.”

Aaron’s eyes widened.

What an honest reaction.

Looking at that surprised face, I laughed and tried to confess that it was a joke.

But soon.

“If you want to.”

Aaron put down an unexpected answer.

At the moment, I doubted my ears. I couldn’t help but doubt it. The answer to the lightly thrown joke was likewise too serious to dismiss as a joke. There was no playfulness or embarrassment, and there was even a glimpse of will in his eyes.

With eyes so clear that I don’t know where the embarrassment just went, I avoided my eyes without realizing it.

“Well, it’s been only half a year since we got engaged. According to the tradition, it’s only a year and a half left….”

“Tradition is not a law. It doesn’t have to be followed.”

“Sir, you have someone else you love. It’s an engagement that I promised to break up, and I’m not writing a contract, of course.”

“I know.”

“You know, I know it’s a crazy sound of excessive self-consciousness, but do you like me? Do you like it?”

It was strange to say this to someone who proposed, but it was impossible to do. The someone was my fiance, who said he couldn’t get married for life because his loved one was dead.

He was able to share his engagement ring only when I said I would break up the marriage later.

But suddenly he’s saying he will marry me….

It’s probably one of those things that’s drunk or crazy person do that make him changed his mind, but all he drank was the holy water and his eyes were too clear for a madman.

I thought it couldn’t be the case with my head, so I said it downwards, but I couldn’t help but feel nervous inside.

I thought it was a very natural reaction, but Aaron opened his eyes wide and answered soon, as if my reaction was unexpected.

“I like it. As a friend.”

The pulse came to a halt.

Then it is, what were you thinking.

As I relaxed my stiff shoulders, I sighed for a long time.

“Your joke is so weird, Aaron. I knew about your first love, so I let it go, but if you make such a joke to other lady, you’ll be sued for proposing.”

“I’m afraid I’m not joking.”

“….I’m just kidding, I’m talking about everything that’s not true.”

“I’m serious.”

Is this also a joke?

I couldn’t believe it, so I looked up and stared at Aaron.

But instead of making eye contact with me, he was still looking ahead.

No, it wasn’t looking ahead. Aaron was recalling the past.

His eyes were sunken with emotions that were not known exactly whether it was a memory or a longing.

Even looking at him, I couldn’t dismiss Aaron’s words as jokes.

I turned my head at his side face.

“It seems like the day before yesterday that I came back after seeing the tombstone of my beloved, but half a year has passed already. I’m ashamed, but at the time I felt like I was dying. I couldn’t think of having an engagement with someone else, nor would I accept it. Roa, this may not be understandable to you, but I thought marriage was the final form of love. “

It’s been half a year since Alice came to Limorand. It was a little bit earlier than when I met Aaron.

“I couldn’t love anyone else. Therefore, I’m sorry I can’t confess my love as a lover to you. Even if I try and try, it may be impossible for a lifetime. However, it’s probably also possible.”

There was a sudden rustling sound in the space where only his words could be heard.

It was the sound of Aaron, who was sitting leaning back, changing his posture.

I sat leaning against the table legs, and Aaron, who was next to me, was now in front of me.

A platinum-haired knight stood at one knee and stared at me.

Aaron, who is taller than me and has a bigger physique, was kneeling but he can’t seem smaller than me sitting down.

But Aaron’s consideration, with his back and shoulders lowered, made him feel no less threatening.

There were bloodstains around his mouth and no swords in hisy waist, but the man on his knees seemed more reverent than anyone else.

“Roa, I’m absolutely serious that I want to protect you. I didn’t know I’d feel that way again, even though I thought it would be impossible all my life.”

“Love as a lover … I don’t need it. My parents were also married through a political marriage. But they respect each other, care for each other, and love each other as a family. I’ve never thought that love between friends is inferior to lover’s love, it’s harder to protect if it’s such a true love.”

Yes, it’s not a situation that can be treated as a joke.

I sighed for a long time, hoping that the stuffy energy that had gathered inside would go away, but the lump in my chest remained.

“I don’t intend to make that kind of love, but I do. Even if you are engaged in a political marriage, you can always be a precious partner in life if you’re okay with the other person.”

“Does that mean you’ll accept it?”

“But, Aaron, I have a story to tell you before I answer.”

It is not something to be dismissed as a joke, nor something to be ignored.

To endure the unreasonable fear of being killed by Nocton, I need someone to protect me.

I need Aaron Claymore. At least until the last minute of Nocton.

That’s why I wanted to bury Alice and Aaron’s story.

Aaron’s desperate situation, even if I know in detail Alice’s secret love, I had to come to the same conclusion,  and I would only inflate my guilt.

However, after hearing such words from Aaron Claymore, I can’t bury even the most cowardly person.