Chapter 13
The first day or two had been manageable. But as time passed, Vendy’s group only grew nastier. They picked fights over every little thing, disrupted her training, and dumped menial cleanup tasks on her—on top of the usual post-training duties.
Aileen had just stepped into the training grounds, wondering what sort of childish stunt they’d prepared for today, when she noticed something strange.
There was a buzz of chatter all around her. Curious, she looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary—aside from a few familiar faces missing.
She took a spot off to the side and casually began stretching, all while quietly eavesdropping.
“They got hurt. Vendy and the others—someone attacked them outside a tavern last night. I heard the injuries were bad enough that they’ll be out for a couple of days…”
“No way. They’re some of the strongest in the Khan Order.”
“Right? I was shocked too.”
The first thought that crossed Aileen’s mind was: Whoever did it, I hope they never get caught.
The second: Serves them right.
She didn’t know who the culprit was, but she was deeply grateful. At least now, she could enjoy a few days of peace.
Aileen stifled the laugh that threatened to rise in her throat. Vendy and his gang had been the ones harassing her and stirring up other knights. And somehow, they were the only ones taken out of commission? How convenient.
Apparently, their influence ran deep—because training that day was smoother than it had been in weeks. Feeling lighter than she had in a long time, Aileen finished up and began walking home.
Today, she wanted to walk the same path where she had once run into Carlisle. Though their last meeting there had been anything but pleasant, it had always been her favorite path.
“There’s no way I’ll run into him again… right?”
She hesitated, torn between doubt and anticipation, then chose to take the path anyway.
It was strange. Every time she walked this road, her churning thoughts would settle, and her mind would grow clearer. It had always been like a sanctuary to her. Giving up this place out of fear of running into Carlisle seemed ridiculous now. Even if she did see him again—so what?
“I joined the Order. I’ll probably see him again and again. I can’t run away every time.”
If it happened, she decided, she’d treat it as practice for the future.
Aileen let out a bitter smile and kept walking.
She was halfway down the path when she heard footsteps ahead—soft but steady. And then, she locked eyes with a gaze as calm and still as the sea.
“Ah…”
Her heart sank. She hadn’t expected this to actually happen.
Carlisle knew this path just as well as she did. Her neck prickled with unease. Even though this was only her second time returning here since that day, both times they had crossed paths. The odds were too cruel to be coincidence.
Aileen quickly composed her face, hiding the swirl of emotions inside.
After all, Carlisle had come to love this path because of her—because she loved it first. He had wanted to walk beside her, to share what she loved.
But now that she knew his feelings had been a lie, she had assumed he’d never come here again.
“I love this path, Carlisle.”
“Why?”
“It’s quiet. Not many people come here. And there are lots of lavender flowers. It puts my mind at ease.”
“Then let’s come here often. If you love it, then I love it too.”
A memory surfaced, unbidden.
She remembered how her heart had raced at his calm, sincere voice. Carlisle had probably never realized it. But now…
Aileen shook the thought away and returned to the present. Carlisle stood before her, looking a little thinner than before. His uniform, once tailored perfectly to his frame, now hung a little loose.
She scolded herself for comparing the past and present, then moved to walk past him without a word. She could feel his gaze clinging to her, but she ignored it and kept walking.
Just as their shoulders brushed, she heard his voice behind her.
“Why are you just putting up with it?”
His voice was low and quiet, but it was clear he was speaking to her. No one else was there.
She wanted to ignore him. She didn’t know why he was speaking to someone he had treated like a ghost—but she didn’t want a confrontation.
Still, Carlisle didn’t let it go.
“The old you… wouldn’t have let guys like them get away with it.”
Aileen stopped.
Her feet froze in place, as if nailed to the ground.
A hot pressure rose from deep in her chest, nearly choking her. She turned around slowly, barely swallowing it down.
His blue eyes—so vivid they could cut—met hers again. He had been watching her the whole time.
Aileen forced herself to speak.
“And what does that have to do with you?”
“…Because I hear it.”
That answer was so unlike him, she let out a dry, humorless laugh.
Thinking back to their last meeting, she sharpened her tone deliberately.
“Whether you hear it or not—it’s none of your business. Shouldn’t you be worrying about your fiancée instead?”
“…”
“Who knows what kind of shock she’ll have if she finds out you were talking to your ex?”
Whether it was her focused training or having taken time to settle her emotions, it was much easier now than before to throw sharp words at him.
Despite her biting remarks, Carlisle didn’t flinch—not even a twitch of his brow. Instead, he calmly repeated himself with that same unchanging expression.
“If discipline in the Khan Order starts to fall apart, it could affect us too.”
“……”
“As a commander, I can’t just overlook it when a member of the Imperial Knights acts that way.”
So what? Was he seriously lecturing her for that reason alone—going out of his way to stop her when she clearly didn’t want to see him?
Aileen couldn’t understand it. This was the same man who had ignored her when she had clung to him, desperately trying to hold onto even the last bit of their connection. Why now?
She gave him a bitter smile.
“Your Order is your responsibility. And if the entire Sel Order’s discipline falls apart just because of one person like me, then I’d say that’s the real problem.”
“……”
“Maybe worry about your own image first. I imagine your knights are having a hard time looking up to a commander who can’t even keep his private life from becoming a disgrace.”
“……”
“I don’t need your advice.”
Her voice cracked slightly at the end—half anger, half plea.
But Carlisle, still showing no emotion, added one last remark—like pouring oil over the flames burning in her chest.
“Just be yourself. That’s the Aileen I know.”
That night, Aileen lay in bed, wide awake.
Her mind was a mess, tangled up in everything that had happened earlier.
“Why? Who does he think he is?”
Why did it matter to him what happened to her? Why pretend to care now, as if he had any right? What gave him the authority to meddle in her life?
She’d finally managed to calm her heart over the past few days—yet here it was again, trembling, no matter how slight.
Aileen was disgusted with herself. Was she really foolish enough to believe his words meant he cared? Was she really still letting Carlisle drag her around like this?
No matter how long she’d loved him, no matter how deeply, hadn’t she suffered enough? Humiliated, insulted—and yet one word from him still made her falter.
“Haa…”
She suddenly remembered the first day she met him.
No—more precisely, the day she first noticed Carlisle.
It had already been a while since she started at the academy. Aileen was gaining recognition as a promising talent.
“Aileen, you’re so lucky. You’re skipping that mountain training exercise, right?”
A fellow male student, someone she spoke to now and then, gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder as he passed by. Aileen gave a dry laugh. If only that were really something to be happy about.
It was true she wasn’t going, but not because of anything worth envying. No one else knew it, but she was in a terrible slump—a deep, suffocating one.
“If only I weren’t so stuck…”
She muttered to herself bitterly as she wandered through an empty training field, long after everyone else had gone.
Swish, swish.
The sound of something slicing through the air caught her attention.
Before she even realized it, Aileen had moved closer, her steps silent, her presence hidden.
“Hm?”
Through the tall grass, rising almost to her waist, she saw a boy.
His jet-black hair, soaked with sweat, clung to his forehead. The elegant line from his neck to his back, the movement of his waist—all of it flowed smoother than anything she had ever seen.
Who is that…?
Before she could finish the thought, he swung his sword in a wide arc.
A sharp crack split the air. Birds nearby scattered into the sky. Even the grass in front of her quivered from the force.
It was beautiful.
She had never seen a sword move like that—so fluid, so flawless.
She could only see the side of his face, but her heart thudded in her chest.
Who is he? Who could swing a sword that beautifully…?
Just as Aileen leaned forward, trying to get a better look, his hair shifted slightly—and then, finally, his face came into full view.
And then, his eyes met hers.
He looked directly at her, as if he had known she was there the whole time.
“Who are you?”
His voice was cold—chilling, like the frost she once touched out of curiosity in the dead of winter. It was nothing like the elegance of his swordsmanship. The sheer sharpness of it made her flinch.
Caught red-handed like a child doing something wrong, Aileen awkwardly stepped out of the brush.
“I’m… I’m Aileen. From the swordsmanship department.”
She couldn’t remember even her first academy introduction making her this nervous. Her lips trembled as she spoke.
The boy stared at her for a long time. Just as the bird that had flown off earlier returned to its perch on a branch, he finally opened his mouth.
“Carlisle.”
That was the first time Aileen met Carlisle.
