Chapter 104

The first thing Ares did after joining the Imperial Knights was to search for Kaen.

In truth, he had been searching since he escaped from the white mansion and returned to his family’s embrace. He had searched everywhere in that area, from houses to the marketplace, but couldn’t find even the smallest clue.

At that time, his poor health and his mother and Reilly’s insistence that he shouldn’t overexert himself had prevented him from searching personally, which he deeply regretted.

So he worked on building his strength and exercising, striving to develop a more masculine appearance.

Though this helped him join the Imperial Knights, not everything went according to Ares’s wishes.

Due to training, he couldn’t even search personally, let alone have any private time—he would often fall asleep in bed as soon as training ended.

Eventually, he had no choice but to hire someone to search for Kaen. However, all he knew was the name and appearance. The name Kaen was common, and without a family name, the search proved difficult. All that remained was the child’s distinctive appearance. But even that proved useless.

More than ten years had passed, and both height and appearance would have changed significantly, making even this detail unreliable.

Still, he couldn’t give up.

This person was his lifesaver. Someone who had given him strength when he was ready to give up on life.

“This is like searching for a needle in a wasteland—it will take considerable time and money. Are you sure about this?”

The difficulty of the request seemed to make it quite expensive.

But Ares didn’t care.

“I don’t care about the cost. Just find them.”

If only he could find that child.

“I’ll double your fee when you find them.”

***

After that, he never heard news of any clues being found.

Having anticipated this to some extent, Ares wasn’t particularly anxious or impatient.

However, one thing did worry him: the possibility of never finding that child. Perhaps because of this, he became more sensitive and sharp-edged than usual.

This led to frequent clashes with Kirine. But he didn’t dislike it.

When crossing swords with Kirine, he could momentarily escape those feelings.

He had even deliberately provoked Kirine several times. Thankfully, Kirine always responded sensitively, giving Ares a chance to clear his troubled mind.

Then one day, something began to change in his feelings.

“That person,” his colleague said.

“Who?”

“You know, the one you often fight with.”

As Ares tilted his head in confusion, his colleague looked at him as if exasperated.

Finally realizing who they meant, Ares nodded briefly with an “Ah.”

“Kirine Rozentian.”

“Yes, that’s right! What do you think of them?”

“What about them?”

“I mean, what kind of person do you think they are?”

Seeing his colleague’s expectant gaze, Ares blinked in confusion before responding dismissively.

“Nothing special.”

“Really? They seem quite nice.”

“Nice? Hardly.”

Though Ares made a face suggesting he was hearing nonsense, his colleague hummed softly before making an unexpected comment.

“They seem to have a good personality.”

“Them?”

“Of course. Looking at how they deal with you, they seem kind-hearted.”

“What nonsense.”

Having lost interest, Ares clicked his tongue and turned away.

But his colleague reproached him.

“Hey, even when you openly provoke them, they don’t even slap you.”

“Why would they slap me?”

“Most nobles would have. But look at Lady Rozentian. She just resolves things through words.”

“Didn’t you see us dueling in the training grounds just this morning?”

Talk about resolving things through words—it was laughable, as if they hadn’t seen one person fighting with killing intent.

But his colleague said something even more outrageous.

“Isn’t that even more impressive? Who else would take up a sword to fight? Especially against a knight.”

“What are you talking about?”

Unable to comprehend, Ares shook his head as if giving up.

However, that afternoon, when dueling with Kirine again in the training grounds, he couldn’t concentrate.

‘They are different from others, certainly.’

When words failed, the two would head to the training grounds and take up swords as if by mutual agreement. Though others had tried to stop them at first, worried about serious incidents, they had grown used to it over time and only warned them not to get hurt.

‘Their sword skills are quite advanced too.’

Though slightly awkward at first, their skills had definitely improved through facing him. For a mage, their stamina and technique weren’t bad at all.

‘They seemed to have natural talent for this.’

Thanks to this, Ares could feel his own skills improving as well.

[Isn’t that even more impressive? Who else would take up a sword to fight? Especially against a knight.]

At that moment, his colleague’s words echoed in his ears.

He hadn’t thought much of it then, but now he could see their point.

Usually, mages spent all their time sitting, experimenting, researching, and reading books, so they had poor stamina. Though Kirine was also a mage, he had never seen them tire quickly. Moreover, their swordsmanship was good enough to match him.

“Hey.”

Lost in thought, he suddenly found a sword pointed at his face.

Though he quickly turned his head in surprise, the blade had already cut him. When he rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, it came away covered in red blood.

“You’re not focusing,” Kirine reproached.

Looking up at the scolding voice, he found Kirine glaring at him with a disapproving expression. It felt like being caught with his mind elsewhere.

“I was going easy on you.”

“How ridiculous. I was the one going easy.”

Kirine looked Ares up and down, then lowered their sword with a long sigh.

“Let’s stop here.”

“Keep going.”

“No, I’m not in the mood anymore.”

Saying they had lost interest, Kirine carelessly threw their sword to the ground and turned away.

Though such disrespect for the sword should have angered him, strangely, at this moment it felt like they were being considerate of him.

From then on, he began to see them differently. Perhaps they could be different from others.

His colleague was right.

Kirine was different from ordinary people. In a very good way.

Without realizing it, he found himself spending more time watching Kirine, enjoying their time together, until they eventually became close enough to share their hearts.

Even now, it seemed unbelievable and surprising, but not in a bad way. Rather, it felt like happiness.

Then one day.

“I apologize. It seems impossible to continue the search.”

“Is it a matter of money?”

The person he had hired to find Kaen was offering to return all the money.

He had planned to persuade them to keep searching, offering as much money as needed.

But the next words made him fall silent.

“Given how little we’ve found after all this time, probably…”

“Probably?”

“…”

“There’s a high probability they’re dead.”

Unable to believe what he was hearing, Ares fled the place.

From the beginning, he had somewhat expected it would be difficult to find them.

But he didn’t want to think they were dead. No, he wanted to believe they weren’t dead.

So he went back to that place he had sworn never to return to.

And there.

“Why are you here?”

He met Kirine.