The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies - Chapter 126



125 – Zikawood (02)

126.

The inland of the Claire Empire is a collection of subordinate kingdoms.

Under the name of the Empire, the union of kingdoms was subdued and unified into lands belonging to the Empire.

Since it is the capital of such a Claire Empire, Mland is an enormous city.

You can tell just by looking at the multiple branches of what can be called streets.

So, the scale of Mland’s representative street is also considerable.

The street, which gives a lyrical feeling along the central river, makes you feel good just by strolling.

It is said that even a member of the royal family imitated this street of Mland for their residence.

The fact that it was bustling means just that.

And on such a large street, a boy and a girl were walking together.

*

“Chocolate dessert…?”

A reaction as if hearing something impossible.

Riche was quietly holding Kallen’s hand, her eyebrows trembling.

“Young master… you have a surprisingly childish taste…?”

“No…”

A dessert that has recently started trending in social circles.

Its sweet taste has garnered hot interest from noble young ladies.

Holding that sweetness in their mouths, time flies as they chat about the young master they fancy.

But preferences are bound to be divided.

Chocolate dessert drew a big reaction from the young ladies, but it didn’t captivate all of them.

Riche was one of those young ladies.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to go, Riche?”

“Did I?”

“Yes. Don’t you remember agreeing with Daphnis?”

“Ah…”

But Kallen felt wronged too.

Originally, it was Kallen and Daphnis who made the promise, and Riche had asked to join them.

So, the only thing that came to mind was chocolate dessert.

Kallen is confident in battles where his life is on the line, but he doesn’t know what to do in such a peaceful street.

Richeza thought of this and cleared her throat.

“…I was just checking if you remembered correctly, my lord.”

“Is that so?”

“Eek…! There’s no way I wouldn’t remember something like that…!”

Richeza fidgeted with the hand that was holding hers, seemingly displeased about something.

Feeling embarrassed, Richeza loosened her grip, and Kallen chuckled as he asked.

“Then, what do you like, Lady Richeza?”

“…Me?”

Richeza disliked chocolate desserts, so it was difficult to go to the chocolate dessert shop as originally planned.

It would also be strange to keep holding hands and walking down the street like this, so Kallen decided to accommodate her.

“…I…”

However, Richeza couldn’t readily say.

The reason was that she had just told Kallen that she had a childish palate.

Chocolate desserts were frowned upon by some young ladies who liked more mature things.

Liking something that was just sweet and not good for one’s figure or nutrition seemed immature to Richeza as well.

She had only kept quiet because Daphnis liked it.

The promise to go to the chocolate dessert shop together was also because Daphnis couldn’t stand seeing Kallen and Richeza alone together.

However, if you asked whether Richeza was one of those self-proclaimed mature young ladies, it would be absurd.

In Richeza’s view, those young ladies weren’t particularly mature either.

And, Richeza had her own reasons for disliking chocolate desserts.

Richeza…

“…I like milk desserts…”

“…”

She disliked the slight bitterness of chocolate and preferred the sweet taste of milk-based desserts.

Especially those made with honey milk.

The small hand fidgeting in his grasp.

Kallen quietly looked at Richeza’s hand and slowly wrapped his hand around it.

“Then, shall we go?”

“…Yes?”

“Milk dessert. You said you liked it.”

“Ah…”

Richeza unconsciously gripped Kallen’s hand tightly.

She had expected Kallen to say something.

To Richeza, men, males, were supposed to react that way.

Especially since she had said something first.

She thought she would at least hear something like, “What’s the difference between liking chocolate desserts?”

But Kallen simply said, “I like it, so let’s go.”

“You’re not… saying anything?”

“What should I say?”

“No… I told you that you have a child’s taste…”

“If I say something when you like it, it would just be picking a fight.”

“…”

She wasn’t moved or anything.

Just surprised.

The men she had known until now.

To Richeza, there was a certain reaction they were supposed to show.

They were eager to show off their trivial strengths and treated women like disposable items.

Even her father, the head of a fairly prestigious family, was like that, so Richeza disliked men.

Whenever she showed even a little affection towards Daphnis, everyone said it was wrong.

She remembered Kallen as the only man she could communicate with because he was the only one who understood her feelings.

If their pride was hurt, they would retaliate somehow.

Even if it was their daughter, they wouldn’t hide their base and dirty desires.

Clowns faithful to their instincts and desires.

The men Richeza had met so far fit that description perfectly.

It had never been wrong.

Until she met this boy.

Kallen tried hard to be considerate.

Surprised by this boy who deviated from the usual flow, Richeza silently stared at the boy’s hand that warmly enveloped hers for a while.

Wriggling.

From inside, I moved a little, and a large, rough hand wrapped around me even more warmly.

“…Hmph.”

I was just surprised.

Riche let out a faint nasal sound and withdrew her hand.

She felt that if she continued to feel that warmth, it would be vaguely difficult to pull her hand away.

“How long do you plan to hold a maiden’s hand like that, you pervert?”

“…”

“Well… you were very clumsy, but you barely passed. When a woman extends her hand, you should be considerate and careful. Understand?”

“…I understand.”

Riche held her hand behind her back and walked, feeling a bit pleased.

She headed to her favorite dessert shop, a place she had never gone to with anyone else and only she knew about.

*

“It’s quiet.”

“That’s because there’s a chocolate dessert shop right next door.”

“Are you saying they stole your customers?”

“No…! Please speak quietly…!”

Squeeze…

Riche hurriedly covered Kallen’s mouth, worried someone might hear.

With both hands covering his mouth, Kallen blinked and mumbled his lips.

Feeling the strange sensation on her palm, Riche quickly withdrew her hands.

“Eek…! What, what are you doing…!”

“I felt suffocated.”

“…Sir, excuse me, but don’t people often say you’re crazy?”

“That’s too rude, I don’t want to answer.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Then she rubbed her palms and glanced around.

As Kallen said, there were hardly any people in the shop.

It was a place only those who knew about it would come to.

It wasn’t for nothing that Riche had made it her regular spot.

She couldn’t just watch it go out of business, so she always secretly supported the shop.

There were only four people in the store, including themselves.

Considering what they saw when they came here a while ago, they were not new customers either.

The store was already struggling, and now a chocolate dessert shop had opened nearby.

Riche sighed deeply, as if she had many worries.

“There are hardly any shops that make desserts with honey milk.”

“A milk dessert shop…”

“That’s why I said honey milk. The basic cleanliness of milk, the sweetness of chocolate. There aren’t many young ladies looking for honey milk in between.”

When there were no chocolate desserts, honey milk took the place of chocolate.

It was sweeter than milk, so girls who liked sweet things looked for milk desserts.

But after chocolate desserts came out, there was no need for that anymore.

If you wanted something clean, you chose milk desserts.

If you wanted something sweet, you chose chocolate desserts.

The honey milk dessert shop, which had become mediocre, lost all its few customers to chocolate.

This store, too, would not have survived if it weren’t for the secret donations Riche sent.

“Here are your cake and drinks.”

“Thank you.”

Riche accepted the desserts from the store owner and took a sip of her drink.

“It’s so delicious…”

Kallen watched her and took a small bite of the cake.

Kallen didn’t like sweet things either.

The taste of honey milk, moderately clean and moderately sweet, pleasantly spread in his mouth.

“How is it? Do you… not like it either?”

“It’s delicious. I just don’t like sweet things.”

“…That’s a relief.”

Haap.

Riche, with her mouth full of cake, propped her chin and chewed.

Then she finished it off neatly with a drink, showing that her love for honey milk desserts was not a lie.

Riche ate a few more bites of the cake and finally nodded in satisfaction.

Kallen didn’t like desserts either, but since it was edible, he followed Riche and ate the cake.

The two of them quietly shared the dessert like that.

The sweetness of honey milk lingered longer than milk,

and had a cleaner finish than chocolate.