Became the Escort Knight of the Villain in the Romance Novel

34 – Before it snows (5)

After that, the only conversation I had with the duke was about the warlock.

The fact that the borders of the empire will rise one level higher with the advent of the warlock this time,

And that warlocks may continue to appear in the future.

Of course, I had already thought about that part, and extinction would appear in the next few years, so of course it was something I had to prepare for.

-Be careful with this hunting festival.

The duke said that there is a high possibility that one of the five major families is related to the warlock.

The appearance of warlocks in the empire was not because they were hiding their power.

It was quite plausible to say that there was a high possibility that some family was conniving at their existence.

The black magician who brought the empire to the brink of destruction.

How could it be possible that such forces were not found just because 30 years had passed?

However, since the family related to extinction did not appear in the original work, we had no choice but to leave it as a guess.

The only thing that bothers me is the words the duke left for me. “Beware the Huntsman”

Did something get caught in this hunting festival?

I tried asking again, but the duke just told me to be careful and he didn’t say anything.

All I know is what happened after Irene became the head of the house of Julis. Only when it becomes a hunting game will I know what that word means.

I turned my head for a moment and looked at the door of the duke’s office, which was already closed.

The door is still dark and dull in color.

Even the space beyond the black-painted door was dark, so somehow it seemed to calm me down.

What is the feeling of a person who calls himself a shadow?

I haven’t decided yet what to say to him who chose a nobleman over a father.

What is the name Iron Blood, why is it so hard on oneself?

Even while abandoning his only flesh and blood and confining himself to the shadows, he did not know if it was a name he had to protect.

However, I could understand his heart well.

The fact that what he wanted was not the destruction of Irene was truly touching.

I pass through the creaking hallway, past the window where no light comes in, and reach the stairs going down to the second floor again.

As if the darkness until now was a lie, the surroundings suddenly brightened,

The pure white sunlight suddenly felt dazzling. I stared at the scenery through the window with my eyes closed for a moment.

The dense birch tree, a tree said to grow only in the north, was blocking the sunlight toward the Duke’s room that had just come out.

…Someday, will the day come when that light will reach the duke?

It’s an agent, but it was something I wanted to achieve. At least before he dies.

#

A cold breath touches you.

When the sky sometimes brought a north wind, everyone would curl up in the chill that stung their hearts.

He raised his head with his pure white face dyed red from the cold that neither thick clothes nor a furry cloak could cover.

Winter was like that.

It was the cold that made people suffer like this, but the solitude that the scenery brought was so beautiful.

The bare tree without a single leaf, the frozen ground turned black,

A small sprout sprouting from the ground where everything has withered away and no greenery can be found.

It was a way to make people infinitely emotional.

Things you can feel only in winter.

The warm tea that warms a cold body, the scent of fruit eaten under the blanket covering the body,

The pure white snow that sometimes falls from the sky can only be seen in one season out of a year divided into four.

The wind that touched my cheeks was mixed with water. Water not yet frozen,

I feel the wind heading toward the sky for a moment, and then I turn my head.

Actually, there was no particular reason for why I came to the Iri Garden instead of going straight to Irene.

It just came out. I was drawn to the scenery I saw while looking out the window.

Somehow, it seems that my body came out to this place on its own.

For no particular reason, maybe he just wanted to step on these fallen leaves.

My mind becomes calm when the sound of the fluttering comes into my ears.

Fallen leaves that have been stepped on lose their shape and crumble, and fallen tree branches break and roll sideways.

It was summer when I first came here, but before I knew it, the sky was calling for snow.

My eyes narrowed at the thought of the first snow, the first snow I saw after coming to this world.

Before, I didn’t attach much importance to the first sight. What is the reason why my feelings are so deep today?

I thought I was doing well.

Even when I first met Irene, she was embarrassed by the position of an escort driver,

She was just anxious at the thought of not knowing when she would be kicked out in the future.

Now, her ordination ceremony is right around the corner. Still, I wasn’t blind.

I didn’t know if I would have to leave this world someday.

When you return to a world filled with stark concrete, escaping from this familiar medieval life,

Will I be after I have achieved the future I am currently envisioning?

Lophena, Sir Chris, Rize, Irene. It was a rare relationship.

Now I know that it is a relationship that cannot be easily abandoned.

A stranger belonging to two worlds. Will I be able to leave this world without them?

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past my cheek, and my eyes followed the wind.

And where that gaze landed.

Looking at the woman standing there, he smiled.

“My lady.”

Let’s talk to Irene, who is wearing the black dress she always wears,

Hearing my voice, Irene immediately turned her head towards me.

I wonder if he was out in the garden.

Perhaps I was walking in the opposite direction from where I started walking, but the situation I met right in the middle of the garden made me laugh.

“Did you meet her father?”

“Yes, it just came out.”

Irene then took one look at me, then she let out a light sigh and pursed her lips.

I stared blankly at her at the sight of her swaying eyes.

Do you have anything to say?

“…Don’t you like the position of an escort driver?”

She opened her mouth small for a moment at those words.

I thought I might have something to say, but I never thought it would be like this.

Why do you think I don’t like escort articles?

I thought about it for a while, but nothing came to mind clearly.

“What do you think?”

“…I wonder if I might be complaining to you. It wouldn’t be strange if you rose to the rank of knight commander right away if it was a feat you made. Wasn’t it a burden that I asked you to remain as an escort knight…”

“If you ask me if I feel burdened, of course I feel burdened.”

When I answered, Irene looked at me and bit her lip.

Anxiety spreads in his blue eyes. She knew what she was afraid of.

What the duke said came to mind, so I shrugged my shoulders and continued.

“I’m still not sure if I’m the right person to be around you. Because I am still immature and lacking.”

A person you can lean on. That was the kind of escort knight the duke wanted.

Open Irene’s closed heart, someone she can lean on her heart.

Can I say that the Irene of the first time and Irene of today are really different?

I had a question. The duke asked me so, but I wonder if I will be able to open Irene’s heart like he said.

Her eyes weren’t as cold as when we first met,

Like the words I heard when we first met, her words weren’t harsh. That was all.

She didn’t smile very much yet, and her expression would darken when she still looked at the duchess’ others.

Tired of work, he often fell asleep as if collapsing at dawn.

Even if she has changed now, if you ask if she is really happy, would she be able to answer yes?

As time passed, the weight on my shoulders only grew.

At first, the light idea of just trying to prevent a tragedy has now grown like a snowball to the point where the duke is asked to remain as her escort knight.

I could have abandoned this responsibility and left somewhere.

With my power, I might be able to find a way to escape the pursuit of the knights and return to the original world.

However, because I couldn’t do that, a smile leaked out without me knowing.

If it was the first time, it might have been possible, but now how can I just leave?

When she answered what I had said, I smiled lightly.

“…Not so.”

When I see those blue eyes looking at me like this.

My heart shakes so much when I face those sparkling eyes that resemble a Duke but still contain emotions.

As her calm voice reached her ears, I looked at her gently.

It bothers me that he is not wearing a cape even though it is such a cold day.

Even though the wind is so cold, why did it just come out like this?

As I wrapped the cape she was wearing around her body, Irene flinched and put her hand on my arm.

“Evan, I’m fine-“

“I’m not okay.”

I stared at Irene for a while as she hesitated and tried to fall on me, then wrapped a cloak around her body.

Although it is not thick, it can block the cold wind.

I didn’t even feel the cold when I used mana anyway.

Irene, who was fixing her cloak, stared at me immediately. Do you want to hear what I said earlier?

However, it was as if the answer had already been decided.

“It’s burdensome, and to be honest, I don’t even know if I’m doing well as an escort driver, and I’m still not sure if I’m the right person to stand next to the lady.”

“……”

“So, thank you in advance.”

As she said that, she slightly lowered her head, and Irene’s eyes widened.

The pupils in the eyes that had spread from surprise and bewilderment also widened. I looked at her with a light smile, then turned her gaze to her sky.

“You asked if you didn’t like the job as escort driver.”

“…Yes.”

“I like it. It is very good.”

It cannot be denied that it is an attractive place.

The benefits given to me simply for being her escort knight were overflowing.

Although the responsibility was great, it can be said that the given is also great.

“Is that so?”

Irene looked at me like that, then she followed me and looked into the air.

Her blue eyes contain the grey-white sky.

What is she thinking right now as she stares at the empty space where the light shines white as if it will snow at any moment?

But that’s all I know. The anxiety in her eyes was gone.

I don’t know what her existence as a country is to her, but

At least if she doesn’t get anxious when I’m around her.

That should have been enough for now.

The corners of his mouth, which were always drawn horizontally, move and draw an arc.

“…That’s good.”

She is amazed at the smile she has never seen before and the tenderness it brings.

When her lips, which had always been beautiful crimson, curled up.

When the blue eyes no longer contained the chill and shone brightly.

Surprised that she could smile so beautifully, she stared blankly at Irene.

It snows.

The white flowers that fell from the sky began to bloom splendidly, sitting on top of a desolate tree.

A garden dyed white, this pure white green that can only be seen in winter.

Even so, my eyes were still on Irene.

Just as her moth only followed a bigger light, so did my gaze.

I looked at her with such a small wish so that her smile, which disappeared in an instant, would last a little longer.

Normally, when I think about her appearance, I always think she is beautiful.

Seeing her smile like this made it seem like it was something new.

Those blue eyes, white skin, and blood-red lips.

It only looks beautiful as if it was crafted by a sculptor. I muttered blankly, remembering what I had said before.

“…Your wish has been granted.”

When Irene looked at me with those words, she somehow thought that her white cheeks had turned red.

Is it embarrassing that she found out that she laughed? However, her appearance was just new to her.

I hoped that she would smile brightly at least once, but I never thought that it would come true.

Her sinking mood seemed to rise again.

I thought the sky I saw when I opened my eyes in the morning was just overcast, but doesn’t it look very beautiful now that it’s snowing like this?

After looking at the sky for a while, Irene slowly opened her mouth as she stared at the melting snow on the floor.

“It’s your birthday.”

I see.

When I heard her say that, I involuntarily burst into laughter.

Still less than a day has passed, today is still my birthday.

The fact that she was still paying attention to it somehow made her heart tickle.

It was my birthday that no one cared about, but Irene remembers and listens to even the smallest wish.

It seemed to be engraved in my heart more intensely than anything I had ever seen in my life.

I thought it was strange that people valued the first sight so much.

Just like rain, isn’t it snow when moisture in the sky freezes?

I thought there was nothing special about it.

Seeing the first snow falling like this, I somehow felt her heart thump and thump.

On her birthday. The first day I met people who remembered and congratulated me on my birthday.

The day it’s been half a year since I met Irene, and the day she smiled brightly for the first time.

It may be trivial if we consider each one individually, but those trivial things felt more precious to me than anything else.

She glanced at Irene, who was calm again, then she looked up at the sky where her eyes were falling.

Close your eyes gently.

When her first snow comes, I recall the memory that people said to make a wish.

Next year, and the year after that.

May I be by her side. She begged inwardly.