After the extended extermination mission, Liel was referred to as upon by the Emperor earlier than returning to the Academy.

Every step he took into the viewers corridor was adopted by the sound of rusty iron.

At Hemil’s urging, he eliminated his helmet, revealing his sweaty black hair and gleaming golden eyes.

He shook his head, and his black hair, which he hadn’t lower in over half a yr, fell to his shoulders.

A sullen voice stopped him in his tracks.

“The lifeless Arinel have to be weeping.”

So far as Liel knew, there was just one particular person on the earth who would converse his lifeless mom’s title.

Liel stared expressionlessly on the Duke of Marsen who stood in his method.

“Who instructed you you may simply stroll out of the Empire?”

The Duke’s voice carried the anger hidden beneath his stony face.

“I apologize.”

At nineteen, there was not a shred of the younger boy left in Liel anymore.

And he had grown mentally to the purpose the place he might supply an informal apology within the face of the Duke of Marsen’s quiet rage.

The Duke of Marsen, shrewdly noticing the change in Liel, frowned in displeasure.

“In my very own method, I satisfaction myself on preserving my promise to Arinel. Whether or not or not you die now has nothing to do with me.”

“I do know that.”

“And but you act like that. Did it ever happen to you that I might throw you out of the Duke’s home?”

There was no falsehood within the Duke’s murderous voice; he had the facility to take Liel out of the mansion at a second’s discover, to show him to mud in a single day.

“I do know.”

Liel affirmed.

Sweeping again the bangs that stung his eyes, Liel gave a smirk as he took a step ahead, closing the gap between him and the Duke.

When he was shut sufficient to the touch Diego’s shoulder, Liel whispered quietly, as if sharing a secret.

“I’m not your little one anyway, so you possibly can dismiss me at any time.”

The Duke’s eyes shifted to have a look at Liel’s sideways face beside his, his expression calm as if he wasn’t stunned by this.

Liel narrowed his eyes and spoke.

“Should you had been mad at me, you’d have executed it a very long time in the past, however you didn’t since you nonetheless love my mom.”

“…….”

“It’s not like I actually turn into your little one for those who do that.”

Lastly, the Duke of Marsen’s face cracked.

His complexion turned darkish, as if he had been caught in a grimy trick that he had thought would stay unnoticed.

The Duke’s jaw tightened on the humiliation of dropping Ariel to a different man.

Liel, who glanced sideways at Diego, snorted out a small snicker and closed the gap.

Then his eyes drooped, as if he had not simply laughed on the Duke, and spoke in a plaintive tone.

“I’ve executed an ideal deal for my household, so I’m starting to really feel a bit dissatisfied that you just don’t have a phrase of reward for me.”

Behind him, the Duke of Marsen felt a stirring. Diego circled to see who it was.

“I, I apologize. I believed nobody was right here…….”

It was a maid from the palace.

As if she had heard him, the maid spun on her heels and disappeared across the nook.

It was then that Liel spoke once more.

“Father.”

To the Duke of Marsen, it felt awkward and overseas to be referred to as by this title by Liel for the primary time.

Because the Duke checked out Liel as soon as extra, he noticed a person who seemed precisely like Arinel.

It was all he might see, so Diego’s anger disappeared, and instead was a sense as if he was dreaming.

A dream through which he felt as if he had been granted his most fervent want.

“I’ll proceed to be a son who does his finest to keep away from turning into a stain on my father’s, the Duke of Marsen’s, status.”

Liel bowed in respect. The Duke of Marsen, misplaced in his fantasy, lastly closed his eyes.

If solely Arinel was right here beside him, then he may not have wished to get up from this dream.

***

After proving his expertise on the extermination mission, Liel was provided a spot within the Imperial Knights after he graduated from the Academy.

He politely declined the supply, a lot to the Emperor’s dismay, however he wouldn’t power a reluctant man to affix.

After his assembly with the emperor, Liel returned to the academy. Passing by means of the Academy’s again gate, he dismounted his horse, grabbed the reins, and got here to a halt.

The horse stamped the bottom with its entrance hooves, as if it wished to get transferring. The sound of its hooves didn’t stir him.

He remained silent, holding his breath, ready for the little lady working towards him from a distance to meet up with him.

He puzzled how lengthy she had waited.

Lastly, Lucy got here, gasping for air. Wanting down at her mauve crown, Liel’s eyes lit up.

“You, you…! You, you…!”

Lucy straightened up abruptly and pointed a finger at Liel.

She in all probability had a number of issues she wished to say, however her head was in a jumble, and she or he couldn’t appear to get the phrases out.

Liel smiled wryly. Lucy’s face crumpled much more harshly.

“Are you damage?”

Nonetheless, Lucy picked and selected her phrases, and the very first thing she requested was if Liel was okay.

The white bandage round Liel’s neck bothered Lucy.

Realizing that Lucy was his neck, Liel slowly eliminated the bandage.

Lucy reached out and stroked Liel’s neck, simply in case.

Her hand was heat after all of the working she’d simply executed.

“You recognize, it heals quick.”

Have been you anxious?

He thought. As if he’d hoped she’d be anxious, Liel sounded considerably excited.

“Is that what you name it? As a result of each time you act so impulsively, I really feel like I’m going to fall down by the scruff of the neck.”

[Lucy’s POV]

He was so timid when he was youthful.

Lucy stamped her foot in annoyance as she spoke. Her footprints had been carved into the snow beneath her toes.

Lucy was so indignant that she briefly thought of punching Liel’s armor.

It might solely damage me, proper?

Lucy checked out Liel’s armor, which was dented right here and there, and lowered her fist.

“What in regards to the confession?”

“What?”

What confession?

It had been almost six months since Liel had left, so she didn’t instantly perceive his phrases.

Then she realized he was speaking about Pavon, so she raised her fist and swung it at his forearm.

“How might I settle for it!”

Liel took a step again, dodging Lucy’s indignant punch.

Lucy’s physique jerked barely as inertia overcame her. Lucy glared at Liel in exasperation.

“It’d damage.”

Liel calmed her down with a soothing voice.

“What?”

Lucy’s lips pouted in exasperation.

“Not me, however you.”

He was proper, nevertheless it was humiliating.

Simply then, a snowflake on the bridge of Lucy’s nostril melted and shaped a trickle.

Liel stared on the droplets, then gripped the reins tougher.

***

“……You’re not telling me you’re going to be following the instructors this trip, aren’t you?”

I stated, handing the unopened bread to Liel. Not like yesterday, Liel was dressed neatly.

His hair, which hadn’t been lower in six months and had grown to cowl his neck, had been neatly trimmed in a single day.

He will need to have hated the messy look of his hair, too.

“You don’t need me to go?”

“You name {that a} query?”

I shot Liel a glance that was meant to inform him to not take issues with no consideration, however he simply laughed nonchalantly.

Why had he gotten so smirky within the quick time I hadn’t seen him?

“Simply since you’ve been dwelling with adults doesn’t imply you’re already an grownup!”

“However I’ll be an grownup in one other yr, after which I’ll should slay demons in line with Imperial regulation, whether or not I prefer it or not.”

Sure, these rattling legal guidelines, certainly.

Why does he wish to be a knight so badly?

Within the authentic, Liel took swordsmanship lessons, identical to he does now, however that was it.

After commencement, I feel he gave up on turning into a knight and simply locked himself in his room and have become a hermit.

However my buddy Liel will not be a recluse. He’s too lively and doesn’t wish to turn into a shut-in.

In fact, if I had been him, I wouldn’t wish to return to the mansion with the duchess.

“Whenever you graduate, are you planning to work beneath the Duke?”

Liel chewed the bread in his mouth in silence, swallowed, and paused for a second. Then, his pink tongue flicked throughout his decrease lip and disappeared.

“No, I’m planning to start out my very own Knights.”

“Huh?”

I requested, shocked by his ambition. He’d labored so exhausting as a result of he was grasping in his personal method.

Solely then did I notice that I’d been attempting to carry Liel again simply because I used to be anxious about him.

“I wish to create Knights in Lucy’s household.”

Ah, he desires to create Knights in my household. That’s a beautiful ambition. I’m glad I learn about Liel’s goals now.

Actually, I don’t know if I might ever be assured that I wouldn’t fear about him each time he ventures out on a mission. Nonetheless, that’s what being a real buddy is all about.

Moreover, he’s considering of creating it in my household, not someplace else, huh?

“Huh?”

N, not beneath the Duke, however my household……?

I puzzled if I had misheard him, however he smiled at me. I will need to have heard him proper.

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