Became the Escort Knight of the Villain in the Romance Novel

35 – When the snow turns red (1)

How much time has passed since the first snow fell.

Snowflakes falling from the sky began to color the world in white, as much as the first snow was colorless.

Tree branches that could not bear the weight of the snow broke and fallen leaves disappeared buried in the snow.

Located in the northern part of the empire, Yuris was familiar with the snow, and people naturally took out and wore fur clothes.

Puddeuk-

I think I’ve seen snow that was always black because it was trampled on by cars and people’s shoes, but here the snow was only white.

Occasionally there is dirty snow mixed with soil and fallen leaves, but even that was rare.

All I could do was gaze at the pure white snow that came up to my knees when I stepped on it.

“It is fortunate that there is little snow this year. Last year, it was faster to just crawl.”

“…Is that so?”

I, Lawson, who had no memory of what happened before this year, just tilted her head.

The snow was piled up to my knees, but this is too little. Should I think of Russia in terms of the world I originally lived in?

Since this was also in the north, it might be similar.

Puck-

A snowball suddenly flew in and hit my face.

The touch of the cold snow flowed into my face and I closed my eyes for a while,

As I wiped the water from her face and narrowed her eyes, the figure of Roh Pena came into view, giggling and laughing mischievously.

“Can’t you avoid that too? Hi-Hi.”

“… Ha.”

Come to think of it, Lopena was still 15 years old. I’m 16 now, so she’s older than Lopena,

She wondered if she should show a little of her dignity as her brother.

After staring at Pena for a moment, he lightly closed her eyes and held her in her hand.

Should I put some mana in it?

“Hmm.”

Anyway, a 15-year-old would have been a lot of playfulness.

Of course, it wouldn’t be bad to be generous at times like this, but why does Lopena’s smiling face in front of me look so mean?

She threw the snowball she held in her hand with all her might, and it landed right on Pena’s head.

She must have been hit a little hard, it was funny how her head fell backwards from being hit by a snowball.

“Oh, no. Why are you throwing it so hard!”

“You started first.”

“Can’t you be a little aware of being a knight? It hurts, it hurts!”

“Yeah, I don’t know.”

She shouted when Lopena, who was hit in the eye and her face was dyed red, pulled out, but,

She shrugged once and started throwing snowballs at her again.

When was the last time she had a snowball fight? I think the last thing she did was in elementary school.

Lo Pena also said she was angry, but judging from the way her mouth went up, she seemed less hit by her eyes.

Should I wet her body with her eyes?

She didn’t cast her eyes like that before she suddenly turned her head to the presence she felt in the distance.

Perhaps the flag rising high into the sky near the entrance of the duke’s mansion was a feathered sword, the symbol of Roman.

“Roman?”

As I muttered, Lopena parted her lips small as she clapped her hands as if she had remembered something.

Could she have forgotten something? When I questioned that thought, before long, Pena moved back to her mansion and answered.

“I think we should go see the lady. She must have come because of the hunting agent.”

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, tomorrow was a hunting festival.

After staring at the snowball in her hand for a moment, she put it down and moved on.

Since it’s a hunting festival, I thought I should go to Irene.

#

“Are you here?”

When I went to the place where Irene was, she looked at me and opened her mouth as if Irene had been waiting.

Her But her What came before her was her Her flags placed beside her,

As I stared at them, Irene looked at me after sipping tea for a while.

“Tomorrow is hunting now, so I prepared some things for you to bring. Because you are the knight who represents Julis. I can’t give you shabby things, can you?”

“…Isn’t that a bit excessive?”

Aren’t there five flags alone?

From flags with the coat of arms of Yuris to flags with the coat of arms of the knights of Yuris,

Looking at the splendid swords and uniforms, especially those studded with jewels, the burden seemed to increase for no reason.

Was the hunting festival a more important event than I knew?

I thought it would be just a nobleman’s play,

Looking at the preparations like this, I thought it might be a more important event than I knew.

“It’s not too much. These are the things you will take with you.”

“If you are holding these things, which hand should you use to hold the sword?”

“…Ah.”

Irene opened her mouth small and let out a sigh.

As if feeling quite regretful, Irene looked at the flag placed on one side of her and cautiously opened her mouth as she looked at me.

“I see. I can’t lift my sword.”

Swords and uniforms, to be honest, it would have been quite uncomfortable to move while wearing those things.

She seemed to miss Irene quite a bit, but she couldn’t move around in uncomfortable things.

She shook her head at Irene, who glanced at her at me. Irene smiled bitterly and then she opened her mouth at Lopena.

“Lopena, call the people to put them away. I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.”

“It looks quite expensive, but can’t we use it later? I think I can wear the sword or uniform at the ceremony.”

“…Come to think of it, it’s not long before your appointment ceremony.”

“Because the hunting festival is over.”

It was the season when her eyes were piled up and her breath was crushed by the cold wind.

Wasn’t it purely the black mage’s fault that the ordination ceremony, which should have been held before the snow came, was delayed like this?

She, Irene, also frowned at her for a moment, as if she remembered the warlock, but then she let out her breath and opened her mouth.

“Did you see the Roman flag outside? This hunting festival will be held near here. The entire Mount Verdun will be the stage for this hunting festival.”

At that, I nodded. I knew right away that a hunting festival would be held at Mount Verdun.

The only thing I was worried about was that there were rumors that monsters often appeared on Mount Verdun.

If I had to point out a completely different point between this world and the real world I lived in, there would be mana, but

Other than that, there was a thing called a monster.

Monsters, monstrous creatures that have existed since the beginning of this world.

It was clearly different from humans, but it had intelligence,

The creature living with its own society naturally coexisted with humans.

Most of the monsters were friendly with humans, but there were also some that were hostile, and the most representative of them was the troll.

Protruding tusks, curved back like an overturned bow,

I heard that trolls with blue or green skin sometimes appear on Mount Verdun.

I wondered if it was okay to continue the hunting festival.

Of course, this time it was opened by Roman himself, so there shouldn’t be a big problem, but it was true that I was worried.

Perhaps recognizing my thoughts, Irene looked at me and quietly opened her mouth.

“The trolls of Mount Verdun are rather quiet. There won’t be any attacks from that side unless you ambush first. And since the hunting festival is held only at the foot of the mountain, not in the depths of the mountain, in fact, the horse is more of a hunting festival.”

“I was thinking that.”

“But don’t push yourself too hard. No matter how you are, if you get hit by a bear, you might get hurt.”

At most, is it necessary to go too far to catch a bear or a tiger?

Originally, I was only thinking of going lightly. However, after meeting the duke, there was a slight change in my thoughts.

I just couldn’t take it lightly. What the duke said while talking about the black magician,

It was because the words “Beware of the Huntsman” Still lingered in my head.

It must be said that the Warlock and the Huntsman are related.

However, I couldn’t have predicted how it would appear.

What the duke mentioned was just a possibility, so we can’t hastily judge that a black magician will appear.

Possibility, what was the Duke’s prediction based on?

Am I already convinced that some of the 5 families have colluded with the warlock?

However, those thoughts slowly began to dissipate.

When my gaze met her blue eyes, which were quietly looking at me, I took her gaze away from her void and looked at Irene.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind.”

“…Well.”

As if dissatisfied, a chill lingered in her eyes for a moment as she frowned slightly.

As I bowed her head with a shy smile, she let out a sigh and twisted the corners of her mouth.

“I know that all five families are participating in the hunting festival this time. And maybe the family that wins the hunting festival will proudly brag about it for a while.”

A cold wind seeped in through the open windows.

The smoke rising over the warm tea slowly drifted, and Irene, who was looking at it, opened her mouth again.

“I don’t know about my father, but I don’t really want to win. Of course, there is a lot of pressure from being the representative of Julis… But, don’t be too burdened. After all, the hunting festival is held several times.”

“……”

A moment of laughter leaked out. Maybe the fact that I was thinking differently made me look like I was burdened with hunting.

Hey, he must have looked serious because he was thinking of a warlock.

When Irene’s eyes narrowed as if she was wondering why I was laughing, I smiled lightly and opened her mouth.

“Are you worried?”

What would Irene have said in the past? She might have told me to leave if she was going to do that look.

Didn’t you actually do that once?

When I playfully asked, Irene glanced at me and ignored my words as she quietly raised her teacup.

As the scent wafting from the tea filled this space, somehow my heart seemed to calm down.

At the thought of the black magician, the anxiety that arose, albeit weakly,

As the strange feeling of nervousness about going out as representative of Julis disappeared, her body became relaxed and she slowly closed her eyes.

Like calmly flowing water, all sides of her are immersed in silence.

All that could be heard in the silence that enveloped her room was the sound of Irene setting her teacup down on the table.

It was Irene’s voice that pierced her silence for a while before that clear sound reached her ears.

When I opened my eyes to the soft, yet uniquely cool voice, I realized that Irene’s gaze was reaching me.

“Has your injury healed?”

“…As for the shoulder, it’s all healed.”

Two weeks have passed since I fought the warlock.

It’s been a while since the bandages were removed, but Irene was looking at me with a slightly darker expression than before, as if that thought came to her mind when she saw me.

Do you think that you are to blame for getting hurt like this?

It was quite embarrassing to see his face darken every time he saw me bandaged up.

She knows because she also wields her sword.

At the point of handling mana, the human body has already surpassed its limits.

It wasn’t a problem with such a wound.

It was only a single serious injury, and it was a wound that did not endanger life in the first place.

When she makes that expression, why does it make me uncomfortable too?

I wish I could always smile brightly like the smile I showed you last time.

At first, I just wanted to see it once, but now I want it to be like that all the time, so I thought that people are very cunning beings.

“You won’t get hurt this time.”

“…Of course it should.”

“At best, it’s about catching a bear, and even if you try to hurt it, it won’t be easy.”

After hearing my words, Irene looked at me blankly for a moment, then she nodded her head.

Although it struck me that she cared about me,

She had previously asked me not to get hurt when fighting warlocks. Maybe it was her hidden personality.

There’s no need to hide it. It felt like the story I had with the duke kept ringing in my head.

Eyes that contain nothing but emptiness because they have lost their mind.

Later, Irene also frowns at the thought that the day may come when she has Duke eyes.

Will she be able to prevent that from happening?

The only thing ahead of me was a foggy future.

No matter how well a country knows the future, it still remains that people’s minds cannot be easily changed.

She knew, however, that she would have to bump into it nonetheless. Didn’t she promise that she wouldn’t run away?

She already made up her mind that she would be by her side, at least until she left this world, as she had promised deep down in her heart.

“Evan.”

When I heard Irene’s voice again, I realized that I was staring at her, and I turned my gaze away from her.

However, Irene looked at me like that and then let out a sigh.

“Don’t be burdened.”

I wasn’t burdened, I was thinking of you.

However, she couldn’t answer that, so she just laughed awkwardly.

Looking at me like that, Irene immediately took out a handkerchief from her bosom and opened her mouth.

“… I heard her somewhere, and she says that when there is a war, she gives her handkerchief she had to her knight.”

“My lady?”

She didn’t even have time to ask what the handkerchief was or why she said that.

Her wrist is caught before I know it, and she is attracted like a magnet and her hands touch.

Every time the thin fingers of her tiny hand brushed her wrist, a thrilling sensation came through, as if being electrocuted.

Her face was stained with embarrassment, and her lips parted slightly for a moment.

It was her first time doing something like this, and the way she hung her handkerchief on her wrist looked awkward.

Her cold wind touches her extremely cold skin.

When her hand, which is quite small compared to others, comes into view, why does her heart tickle for no reason?

Maybe the fact that she hangs a handkerchief on her wrist like this makes me feel this way.

Giving a handkerchief to a knight,

As she said, it often happened. Wasn’t she giving it to someone she loved.

When she remembered that fact, she raised her head, as her face seemed to heat up for no reason.

Seeing her face as she hung a handkerchief around her wrist with an ignorant expression, I couldn’t correct it.

She just kept her mouth shut and waited until Irene hung up her handkerchief.

It was a very short time, but why did this time feel so long?

I felt like I now know why being in contact with one another’s body temperature can shake people’s hearts so much.

36.5 Degrees, everyone had the same body temperature, but Irene’s skin seemed to be a little colder than that,

The touch of her skin was not easily erased.

When her hand was removed from my wrist, I was finally able to breathe.

My face grew hot at the lingering touch, and I ran my dry hand over her face,

Irene pursed her lips before she cautiously opened her mouth.

“…I gave it to you because you looked so anxious. You have to get it back, so don’t dirty the handkerchief.”

“Did you know what this meant?”

“Isn’t that what you’re giving to pray for a safe return?”

“…I see. I’m glad you know.”

I laughed out loud at the fact that I really didn’t know the original meaning.

I guess I can just think of it as my own illusion.

I hope she realizes the meaning later and doesn’t feel ashamed.

Looking at the white handkerchief wrapped around her wrist, the corners of her mouth twitched involuntarily.

What should I do? It felt like my wrists were tickling.

Since I look anxious, I felt glad that they cared about me like this.

Turning her gaze to look out of her window, she saw a round moon rising on the other side of the twilight setting sun.

The sky dyed red, snow piled up white beneath it.

Looking at the beautiful winter scenery, I was lost in thought.

When the sun rose again, it was the beginning of the hunting festival.