Turning Chapter 1042

Chapter 1042

'...What.'

It seemed that all the hard thinking he had done up until now was meaningless. Although he felt a bit dumbfounded, the closed door showed no sign of opening again. Yuder let out a small sigh and gauged the position of the moon through the window beyond the corridor.

The day had not yet passed. So it would be best to hurry to the Commander's office where Kishiar would be.

However, not everything goes as planned. While leaping up the stairs, Yuder encountered Nathan Zuckerman, who was coming down from the opposite direction.

"Sir Aile. Are you perhaps heading to the office now?"

"Yes, I am."

"His Grace is not there at the moment."

"What do you mean... I wasn't informed of any plans for him to go somewhere."

Hadn't Kishiar said he would go straight to the office when they returned to the Cavalry just a while ago? Yuder couldn't fathom where he could have gone alone without his adjutant when there were no other scheduled tasks.

After a brief silence, Nathan Zuckerman slowly opened his mouth.

"To be more precise, His Grace tidied up the office and packed his belongings as soon as he returned. He then told me that I could return and rest once I finished checking the final arrangements. Afterward, he seemed to be waiting for something while looking towards the door, and then he left just like that."

"..."

"He didn't put on an outer coat and didn't disclose his destination, so I don't think he went far. From experience, I believe... he might still be inside this building."

Inside the Cavalry building.

The part about him looking towards the door as if waiting for something before leaving, and the words that he might still be inside here, swirled greatly in Yuder's mind before stopping at one point.

'Could it be...'

"...I understand. Thanks to you, I've avoided a wasted effort. Thank you."

"I heard that the departure for Peletta will be after you return from tomorrow's outing. I'll see you again then."

Nathan Zuckerman passed by. Yuder immediately turned around and ran towards the stairs on the other side.

The Cavalry building was utterly quiet in the deep of the night. Only the faint light flowing from the night stones embedded along the corridor flickered dimly. It was dark without a trace of Kishiar to be found, and the golden connection that usually appeared when anxiously searching for the other person did not appear either. However, Yuder was convinced that the path he was taking was definitely correct, so he paid no heed to it.

As the Commander of the Cavalry, Kishiar could go anywhere here. But if he had wanted to wait for Yuder's return, there was only one place he would have wanted to go in advance.

It was the place where he had once stood with his hand bleeding on a certain night long ago.

In front of Yuder's room.

"..."

In the dim light of the night stones, a familiar back came into view.

It was the moment when Yuder's intense conviction finally became a reality.

"Commander."

The man turned his head at Yuder's call. A gentle smile graced his face, which had been hidden by the darkness.

"Did you accomplish all the purposes of your trip?"

No matter how much they were inside the Cavalry, it was still winter, and the corridor was particularly chilly. Yet, seeing him standing there in light attire without an outer coat made Yuder feel uneasy. Without answering, Yuder first grabbed his arm, opened the door, and pulled him inside.

"Please sit there for now."

Sparks ignited wherever Yuder's gaze passed. The lamps were swiftly lit, magic stones flew into the small magic stone stove on their own, and steam rose from the kettle. Seeing this, Kishiar burst into laughter.

"You're really fast."

"I don't usually do it this hastily."

"So it's because of me this time? There's no need to go that far."

"Isn't the night air cold?"

Yuder knew that Kishiar was a person who wouldn't catch a cold even if he entered the much colder deep sea. He was well aware of the inhuman physical strength of a swordmaster.

However, that was a separate matter. Even though he knew Kishiar would be fine, the wrist that had been waiting for him and had become cold was too concerning to ignore.

Fortunately, Kishiar didn't say anything more to Yuder and let him do as he pleased. Whether it was the blanket flying over from the corner of the room and covering his head on its own, or the magic stone stove floating up with sparks and landing with a thud nearby while still burning, he just laughed.

Finally, when Yuder found some tea leaves in the corner, roughly scooped a spoonful into a cup, poured water, and placed it in front of him, Kishiar spoke.

"I see things that weren't here the last time I came."

"..."

"There are a lot more items. Above all... these flowers."

Yuder looked at the pile of dried flowers stuck in a small cup on the table. There were quite a few similar ones in his room. To be exact, there were eleven cups containing flowers and one large jar containing only separated petals. The jar was as large as a human arm and had small night stones attached inside, emitting a light similar to starlight at night. It was a gift from Gakein, who had seen Yuder looking for cups to put the flowers in. He had given it, saying that if it was for decoration, it would be better to use something like this rather than dining cups. As a result, it had been quite helpful.

‘Still, the room has become quite cramped, and I was thinking of organizing it a bit more soon...?’

Strangely, the room didn't seem so messy when looking at the man sitting among the cups of dried flowers like the largest flower. No, it looked better than expected. To an absurd extent.

Kishiar, with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders like wrapping paper, reached out and tapped the cup containing the dried flowers with his fingertips, smiling. The shadows of his long eyelashes flickered above his downcast eyes.

"...I didn't know you were still keeping the flowers from that time like this. Don't others say anything about it?"

"I didn't let anyone in, so it didn't matter."

"I see..."

Kishiar's smile deepened a little more.

Since these flowers appeared, Yuder had informed the cleaners that they didn't need to come to his room. If he was away for a long time, there might be a bit of a dusty smell, but he could quickly take care of that, so it wasn't much of a hassle.

Yuder looked down at the tea in front of him and opened his mouth.

"I asked Enon what others usually do on their birthdays. He got quite angry at me. He's like that even on normal days, though."

"I already said it was enough and that it was okay."

"Yes. But for me, it wasn't enough."

The voice was so resolute that even Yuder himself felt it was unfamiliar when he heard it, and at the same time, it carried an unfamiliar weight that couldn't be hidden.

"The moment I heard you say it was enough, I thought I didn't want to end it like that. That's why I went to see Enon. He must have met and seen many more people than me for a long time."

"So, what did he answer?"

Yuder's brows furrowed slightly.

"...We did talk about this and that, but... in the end, I'm not sure."

"Why? Was it not helpful?"

"No."

The methods Enon suggested were logical. As he said, if Yuder could return one of the many things Kishiar had given him, it might be the best solution in the current situation. But...

"In the end, he said that all the words we shared there would be useless, and it might be better to go and tell you what we talked about. Then he closed the door and went inside. That's the end of it."

"..."

The fingers of Kishiar, who had been touching the cup containing the dried flowers as if tracing it while Yuder spoke, stopped. The red eyes, sparkling in the light of the magic stone stove, looked at Yuder.

He whispered in a low voice.

"Hearing you say that makes me curious about what else you talked about. Can you tell me?"

It was a bit awkward to tell the person who had made him worry, but there was no reason not to. Yuder looked into those eyes and moved his lips.

"First, I realized that what others give and receive for birthdays wasn't really helpful for me. Enon asked what gifts I had received from others before, but I couldn't remember anything noteworthy. So, I decided to focus solely on what I had received from you and think again..."

"And then?"

The voice, which had become so low that it was almost inaudible, slowly drew closer. Yuder didn't avoid it and continued speaking.

"...This time, on the contrary, there was too much, and it seemed like there was nothing I could give back."

"Haha. Was there really that much that I gave?"

"Yes. Really, it was too much."

So much that it was difficult to list them one by one, truly too many things.

The eyes that had come so close that they almost overlapped melted into a smile, carrying a multitude of emotions.

"...It seems the pharmacist was right after all."