Doctor Resignation

“Are you all right?”

He whispered softly in my ear, and I nodded because there wasn’t really a part of me that got hurt at all.

It was a beat later than Erhan, but I also felt others’ presence.

I never thought anyone would come to the arsenal in the middle of the night. It was because I thought it wasn’t time for Kane to make a move yet.

We lay on the floor holding our breath, giving each other nervous glances.

“No one’s coming, right?”

It was a group of knights.

“Kane said it’ll be fine today, but not tomorrow.”

“Why not tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he has a maid he meets secretly?”

“It’s the day before the succession ceremony, so we’d better lay low for the meantime.”

Erhan seemed to be embarrassed by the unexpected situation. He was also holding his breath, with his hands wrapped around my waist.

Our faces were so close that I could hear Erhan’s every breath with my ears.

I turned my head for a moment and our noses bumped into each other, making my body freeze.

“It was the right choice to keep Zickel in check.”

“Yes, the fact that they’re always with Master Erhan feels rather stiff.”

“We’ve been guarding the castle of Cerseus all this time, it’s impossible to get along so easily.”

“Sir Berkin says everyone is a part of the same Order…Then that’ll put our position in even more danger.”

Calm anger fluttered in Erhan’s eyes.

In a nutshell, they were behaving like territorial gangs.

Kane provided a place for people to talk as they please, and it must have been this group of knights.

Erhan whispered in a pathetic tone in my ears.

“It seems that he has a lot of free time. He’s even doing useless politics inside the Knights Order.”

His lips touched my earlobe and it tickled.

“You have to be patient.”

I also whispered a little.

“If you get caught here, our ambush will be ruined.”

“…I know.”

It meant that the two of them had to stay like this until they left. Even when I was young, I had never been so close to someone where our bodies touch like this. Erhan’s frame was so huge that it almost looked like he was giving me a big hug.

“Lise, are you uncomfortable?”

“It’s okay.”

Erhan brushed my hair and bit his lower lip. Even the lifting up of skin under his eyes couldn’t hide the playful glint in his eyes.

I unknowingly swallowed my dried saliva.

While the knights were heating up with useless arguments, the two of us looked into each other’s eyes and fell into silence for a while.

My eyes swept his sharp jawline, his neck, and his exposed collarbone.

“Do I look good?”

“…Yes.”

I replied hesitantly and Erhan smiled with his eyes, tightening his hand around my waist even more.

“Then it was worth it being shirtless while training every morning.”

When he said those words, I realized the reason why he takes off his top every time he practices his sword.

“Did you take it off when you were training on purpose?!” 

“I was afraid you would stare at other guys.”

He carefully hugged me. As our legs got tangled, I felt like his body was locking me up.

“Seeing you glaring at me with those hazy eyes just makes me want to hug you even tighter.”

“…I also didn’t know myself that I’m weak to someone’s looks and touch.”

I mumbled with a sigh.

“Anyway, we’re very different from when we were children, so we should refrain from this much physical contact unless it’s inevitable….”

“Why, do you want someone even more handsome and fitter than me?”

“Of course, the nicer the better, but anyway, that’s not my point.”

“Lise.”

He lifted his long finger and swept my eyes. His black eyes seemed to be holding back a lot of emotions. In the distance, the voices of the knights droned down.

I was embarrassed to feel my heart pounding from the chest that was overlapping with each other. It was difficult to avoid eye contact, making breathing difficult.

“There were days when I wished you were already 19 years old….”

As his slow touch swept the nape of my neck, my body temperature seemed to rise instantly.

“…I can’t wait for you to be nineteen.”

His deep breathing was also clear in my ear.

“I don’t hate being hugged, but I think you can now let me go.”

“Let go?”

Erhan said leisurely but in a deeply locked voice.

“…It’ll be difficult.” (Erhan)

I swallowed hard.

“Well….”

He whispered in a situation where he couldn’t even move in case the shields collapsed on the floor.

“You’re right, Lise.”

“What?”

“I think we’re a little different now compared to when we were children.”

His whispering voice was as sweet as it used to be, but an extreme tension that I’d never experienced in my life was winding between us.

“I’m much more desperate than I thought.”

I didn’t answer. 

I wanted to immediately end this conversation because my heart was pounding as if it was going to burst. The time in which I felt his trembling breath was both insanely long and short.

His red lips were touching my skin and my nerves were all on that spot.

In the midst of that, the knights who were making noise went out, and the weird midnight lurking ended just like that. It was a bit embarrassing that something didn’t happen, and even though I and Diel always stayed up all night for six hours, it just happened so quickly with Erhan.

I came out of the armory, regained my reason, and said.

“Do you think it will be tomorrow?”

It was just a stakeout, and I was stuck in an unavoidable situation. In the past, there were times when we went to sleep in the same bed, so I was able to let the events that happened tonight just pass.

“It is also the day before the succession ceremony.”

Tomorrow was the day before the ceremony. The Castle was going to be busy with various events, including preparations for guests.

It doesn’t matter to me since there was nothing important to do with work anyway, however, Kane will move that day.

I’m sure the knights said earlier that Kane couldn’t tomorrow, and if I was him, I would aim for a confrontation on the morning of the ceremony.

Even if Joaquin was to be seriously injured by Erhan, it was a day that the entire Castle was busy, and it would be difficult to provide first aid. Not only that, but it would also prove difficult to investigate in detail because there were going to be a lot of people.

Moreover, since it was an unpleasant thing that happened on the day of the ceremony, it was highly likely that Joaquin himself would cover the case.

If he is seriously injured, Joaquin, who is already old, will naturally announce his retirement, and the knights, who already had a bad atmosphere, will easily weaken and collapse.

Erhan also nodded in agreement.

⊱⋅ ──────────── ⋅⊰

The castle was busy preparing for the succession ceremony.

Late at night, Kane sneaked to the armory. He was a blacksmith in Baron Ishid’s fief. 

Observations over the past few days have shown that Erhan couldn’t really control the strength on his right side. In addition, Joaquin did not attack with all his might, just in case Erhan gets hurt.

‘How lucky.’

Erhan’s skills were already excellent, but he couldn’t control his strength, it couldn’t have been an even better chance. Moreover, if Joaquin gets seriously injured by Erhan, the investigation would not be carried out properly.

He even encouraged people who were trying to provoke internal strife in the Knights’ Order to form a gathering.

After living on a low profile for several years, he could finally fulfill his orders from Wederick.

‘If only Aaron Krillso wasn’t there….’

Things were going well, but Aaron was annoying these days. He was from a fallen aristocratic family, but even so, he kept looking down at him.

He felt like he was going to die every time he told him to do the task Lise gave him, and he made him do it whenever he had the chance.

He thought it was urgent because the time and place were written on the secret note hidden under the meat pie.

‘I’ll do this job well, so I’ll be more recognized than him.’

Not to mention that Wederick and Baron Ishid had his family held hostage.

There was a good reason why the maids, who had been spies so far, took their own lives. The families of those two maids who died quietly were now living well-off.

If they said as much as one word, every single member of their family was going to be killed.

‘On the other hand, that guy is stuck in a greenhouse because he can’t even handle a little girl properly….’

He was also well aware of the little brown-haired girl who had appeared at the training grounds for the last few days. 

Wederick has long been annoyed with that girl, and also because since she ends up sitting in the frequently changed assistant position, contact with Baron Ishid has also become difficult.

It was said that they tried to kill her before Erhan came back, but only Esther ended up dying.

‘I don’t know why they’re making everything so difficult.’

Baron Ishid was extremely cautious.

‘She doesn’t seem like she has any power. We can just go after her and kill her straight away.’

From his point of view, it would be enough if he just broke her neck and ran away, but the view of the higher-ups was another thing.

It was when he carefully damaged the left side of Joaquin’s armor and tweaked the durability of his sword.

“What are you doing right now?”

Kane almost dropped the tool for a moment due to the sudden voice.

He didn’t know for how long, but Lise was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.