"Ever since then, I had developed a deep apprehension for stairs. I was alright when going up, but it's hard whenever I go down the steps. I always needed to be close to the railing when descending. My eyes would spin and the steps would look like they're overlapping, so I often needed to stop in place and catch my breath."
Despite how calmly he spoke, the words he said didn't match his tone. Rosetta listened wordlessly as Cassion continued to speak.
"If someone were to pass by me, I got so frightened to the point of death, so I'd embrace the railing as though it's a lifeline and wait until that person would pass by. But…"
Rosetta could guess what his intention was.
What he's doing right now was to console her indirectly.
"But now, I can go down the stairs just fine. To be honest, I still feel like a newborn fawn needing to hang onto its mother whenever I look down, but at least I don't need to cling onto the balusters anymore. I'm satisfied enough with that."
He ended the story somewhat awkwardly.
'That's why you'll also be able to forget your bad memories of her.'
These words were left unsaid.
More than that, the story he spoke of was not far from what Rosetta had guessed.
It wasn't even because of Katie that Rosetta's complexion had turned pale.
Even so, in spite of this.
Rosetta felt a strange warmth filling one corner of her heart.
The corners of her lips tugged up slightly.
The lamp's illumination was still shining on her face, but the sense of danger it brought had somehow disappeared.
"Thank you. What you said brings me comfort."
No matter how much she thought about it, he wasn't suited for the role of a villain.
The words that her red lips murmured under her breath were too faint for Cassion to hear.
"Huh? What did you say just now?"
Cassion asked back, but Rosetta just shrugged as though she didn't have an idea.
He clearly heard something at that moment, but without prying further, the man simply nodded.
He asked something else instead.
"Then, what brings you here at this hour?"
To be exact, between during the day and their meeting now, what reason was there for her to visit him twice?
A while ago as he recalled, Rosetta went to talk to the Young Duke of Valentine before she had visited Cassion here the first time.
Not much time elapsed, so he surmised that she had come here to see him right after their conversation.
If that's the case, then was she here to talk about something regarding the young duke?
While thinking so, Cassion felt a little nervous.
The reason Rosetta had gone with Damian to talk to him was because she said, 'I want Maxwell to be my escort knight.'
Naturally, it's clear that she had talked to the Young Duke about Maxwell.
Rosetta had been looking at Cassion at this time, but she slowly turned away. She stared at nothing in particular for a moment.
Then, her red lips gently moved.
"Ah, right. I'm here for something."
Her tone was so casual that the tension in the air was overshadowed.
"What?"
"I forgot for a bit while we talked. Right, I forgot, I came here because there's something I need to do."
The voice that asked was incredulous, and the voice that answered back was nonchalant.
It seemed like Rosetta took a moment to organize her thoughts, pressing one fingernail against another finger. Then, she nodded and opened her lips to speak.
"Just as was planned, I told my brother about you—about Maxwell. After talking about our shared past, I asked him if we can take you in as my escort knight."
"Then?"
"He gave me permission. You'll be my escort knight."
"…Truly? He allowed it?"
At Cassion's question that's filled with suspicion, Rosetta nodded.
"However, there's a condition attached to it. I came to tell you about that condition."
Ah.
The man let out a small sigh. Rather than an expression of dismay, it was more like him saying, 'I knew it.'
"What's the condition?"
At first glance, it seemed as though resolution overflowed his eyes that were the color of the night sky.
At the satisfactory reaction, Rosetta smiled smoothly.
Right. If you're determined, naturally, you should be like that.
That kind of determination to overcome everything shouldn't be swayed by any kind of condition.
"There will be a test—it's to prove that you're at least someone who's capable of protecting me.
What Damian demanded was 'proof'.
As Rosetta asked, Damian would allow Cassion to be her 'escort knight', but he wouldn't accept everything about him just like that.
First of all, the duty of an 'escort knight' was just one thing—to protect their master.
And while protecting their master, this wouldn't be limited to just the act of falling down a set of stairs for the master.
He would need to defend against any sudden attacks and protect his master during any sudden threat.
It wasn't enough to just have the will to protect—a certain degree of 'competence' was needed.
If the escort knight was someone who didn't have even the basics of combat, then rather than an escort, he'd just be more like a companion.
Of course, Cassion knew that he was competent enough to be Rosetta's escort knight. But even if Damian were to give up everything else, he wouldn't be able to consider Rosetta's 'safety' as something trivial.
"You'll be put to test in two months, after your body recovers. You'll have a match against another knight, and of course, you have to win to pass this test."
"A match against a knight…"
It felt as though his lips had gone dry.
With one index finger, Cassion rubbed his lower lip.
It was decided this action would be one of Maxwell's habits that he usually did whenever he was nervous, so he constantly practiced this over the past two days.
This habit had settled on him faster than expected, and right now, he was rubbing his lower lip purely as an unconscious gesture.
Acknowledging this, Rosetta raised her brows eagerly.
"Since you're a commoner, they're going to select an easy opponent for you. It'll be a knight who's been appointed only two years ago."
That was all she could tell him about this condition.
As soon as Rosetta stopped the explanation there, Cassion nodded as though he noticed.
The heavy movement seemed stiff as he nodded, but that was all.
There was no sign of any complaint, dissatisfaction, or any other negative emotion pointing to grievance on his countenance at all—except that he was staring intently at something.
Rosetta glanced over to the spot where that dark gaze was fixed.
But there was nothing there.
Just the wall with one painting on it.
In a situation like this, he wouldn't just be looking at a painting so intently, so rather than that, it seemed like he was picking up his resolve as he stared into the air.
After lingering on that spot, Rosetta turned back, her gaze passing through Cassion and now settling out the window.
The unusually bright moonlight made her eyes shine.
As Rosetta stared at the quiet moonlight, an indirect question flowed out of her lips.
"You're much humbler than I thought, aren't you? You don't have even a single complaint."
He had still been staring into the air at that point, but only then did his gaze finally come upon Rosetta. At this moment, her eyes were intent on the moon, and so Cassion turned his head and also stared at the same moon.
"Just because I don't like something means that it will change. And frankly, I'm already surprised enough that I've been allowed to be an escort knight, even a 'conditional' one. Back in the hotel, when I heard the plan about me becoming an escort knight, I thought it was complete nonsense."
Rosetta blinked for a moment. No, was it like that?
She didn't notice at all.
No wonder. When he listened to Rosetta's plan the first time, his expression was stiff.
She thought he had frozen up because he was nervous, but in fact, he actually thought that it was all ridiculous.
With disbelief painted on her face, Rosetta looked at Cassion and smiled in vain.
"No… You really believe so?"
"Yeah, I did. If I'm having second thoughts like this, then it must not have been an easy decision for your older brother. He was convinced probably because of your efforts. So I'm not going to complain, I'll just do what I'm supposed to do."
In his calm declaration, his sincere determination could be felt.
Although the clenched fist he had there made him look as though he was making a terrible pledge.
Rosetta looked at that hateful fist, she held her hand up wordlessly.
They were both still facing out the window, so her movement was something he didn't see.
Whoosh. A small gust of air blew towards his neck.
Under the pressure that came in an instant, like a broken machine, Cassion moved his head.
As his head turned to her, Rosetta looked sideways and made eye contact with him.
Even in the darkness, those widened pupils could be seen.
With her eyes slowly curving, Rosetta relaxed her hand. The drooping fingers tapped on the middle of Cassion's neck.
"From now on, with these things that cause the blockage—I'll help you with them as well."
The hard tips of her fingernails could be felt on his skin.
Startled, his eyes turned towards her haphazardly as he grabbed her wrist.
"If you don't do it to this extent, will it still feel like thorns breaking out?"
"Yes, it will. That's why you have to get used to it. If you don't, let alone winning the spar, you'd only be humiliated."
At the rather straightforward statement, Cassion sighed.
It was sad, but he couldn't refute her.
Even Rosetta in front of him right now was much stronger than he was.
Was it because she was a daughter of a knight's family, or was it because she's a special case?
She was a woman who talked about the future as well.
Even if she were to do something strange, well, it's just like that.
There were many times when Cassion wanted to ask her, 'What are you?' but he never did.
Because regardless of what answers come out of her lips, nothing would change—in the end, they would both still be on the same boat.
"Will you keep holding on?"
"Huh?"
As Cassion was lost in thought, he replied foolishly. At that, Rosetta pointed a finger.
"Your hand, I mean. This."
The finger brushed past the man's wrist. Startled, Cassion flinched back as though he had gotten burned.
Rosetta rose from the bed right then, shrugging her shoulders with a playful expression on her face.
"Ah, this should be obvious, but don't get caught wielding magic by others. Maxwell doesn't even know anything about magic. And don't leave this room for about a week. Try not to run into other people for as long as possible."
"But won't that delay my training?"
There were only two months, so wouldn't that just be a waste of time?
However, Rosetta just shook her head firmly.
"This room is spacious enough if there's something you want to do. I'm sure your brother's still looking around for you anxiously. There's nothing bad about being more careful."
At the mention of Leo, Cassion quickly closed his mouth.
Just as Rosetta said, the Leo who Cassion knew very well would be quite persistent in trying to find any trace of him.
When it came to Leo, he's the kind of person who'd be more restless when he'd fail to get rid of something that annoyed him.
"That too, is that a future that you've foreseen?"
To answer Cassion's question, Rosetta nodded.
"Mm. That's why just lay low and stay inside the room."
"Alright."
Him being obedient like this made him look like a big puppy.
While thinking that she might not be weak against 'repentant' characters, Rosetta reached up to get something from her bosom.
As she searched through, her hand soon took out some frayed, folded pieces of paper, which she handed to Cassion.
"Here, take this."
"What's this?"
"Well, what else could it be?"
Answering his question with another question, Rosetta turned away from him.
She walked towards the door without hesitation. She didn't forget to bring with her the cloak and the lamp.
"Read it when you're alone later. And hide it well so that no one can find those. Then, good night."
After saying so, Rosetta went out the door.
Thud.
The sound of the door closing quietly echoed inside the room.
For a long time, Cassion looked towards the direction where Rosetta disappeared. Then slowly, he unfolded the papers in his hand.
"Ha."
A smirk lightly crossed his lips.
At the top of the paper, he unfolded were these words:
〈 Practical Magic Spells to Use During an Actual Fight That No One Would Notice 〉
Laughter rang out in that empty room.
Head tilted to the side while he looked at the notes, Cassion chuckled heartily as he wiped off the few tears that escaped his eyes.
And within the gaze that read through the notes, a pleasant light and a serious glimmer could be seen together.
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