The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies - Chapter 129



128 – Zikaud (05)

129.

The next day.

Kallen waited for Richeza in the same spot as yesterday.

When he told Selina and Sinat that he was meeting her again today, they didn’t seem pleased.

He managed to escape their sharp gazes by playing with Sinat until late in the evening and buying Selina her favorite snacks.

Perhaps it was the etiquette lessons from the head of the family that gave him this newfound composure.

Sinat seemed less dependent on Kallen than before.

Of course, that was just Kallen’s misconception.

Kallen, unfortunately, didn’t realize that there was a reason behind all of Sinat’s apparent composure.

In any case, it was a relief.

He would respond to Sinat’s sudden confession after returning from the Spirit Realm.

Once he learned the truth about his own secrets, he would finally be able to answer.

So, while it was good that Sinat was becoming less reliant on him, Kallen couldn’t help but feel that it might not be entirely positive.

Though he couldn’t pinpoint the reason, he vaguely realized it through his experiences with Selina and Richeza.

He found that spending his days with the young ladies suited his tastes quite well.

In any case, everything would be resolved after his visit to the Spirit Realm.

So for now…

“What are you thinking about?”

“Ah.”

Kallen was lost in thought, chasing clouds.

A pleasant voice flowed beside him.

When he turned to look, Richeza was standing there with her arms crossed, looking at him.

He should be grateful she wasn’t glaring at him; her eyes were a bit softer than yesterday.

“It’s nothing.”

“…Hmph. If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t.”

…Her tone was still sharp, though.

As Kallen wondered if he had done something wrong, Richeza poked his arm with her fan.

“Are you going to stay here?”

“…Let’s go.”

Still, did she like it?

Looking at Richeza, who had brought out the fan he gifted her yesterday, Kallen thought it suited her better than he expected.

This should be enough to repay the honey milk.

Kallen roughly gathered his thoughts and extended his hand.

“…”

When Richeza looked at him as if asking what he was doing, Kallen tilted his head.

“Won’t you give me your hand?”

“Ah…”

Richeza recalled that it was basic etiquette for a man to lead a woman with care.

She had never received such courtesy before.

She had never let other men touch her hand; it was just to see if Kallen suited Daphnis.

But she couldn’t tell Kallen that.

Hiding her embarrassment, Richeza spoke in a trembling voice.

“Ah, I knew that…! I was just checking if you remembered, my lord…”

Hmph…!

Richeza snorted out of habit.

But this time, it had a slightly different meaning.

She stared blankly at Kallen’s large, warm hand before gently placing her own on top of it.

When Kallen finally wrapped his hand around hers, she wriggled a little.

“…Why is your hand so unnecessarily warm?”

Still, she didn’t think it was bad.

With that thought, Richeza took a step forward.

Matching her pace, Kallen led Richeza as he did yesterday.

Having experienced it once, Kallen’s consideration had become quite skillful.

“Are we going to the honey milk shop again today?”

“Hmm…”

Now that we’ve met, it’s time to decide what to do.

Kallen asked Richesa, and Richesa brought the fan to her chin as if pondering.

It seems she likes it.

Kallen watched her, waiting for Richesa to speak.

“Sir, have you had breakfast?”

“Not yet. I usually don’t eat breakfast.”

“That’s good. Then let’s go have a meal first. The honey milk dessert… we’ll have it afterward.”

A meal, huh.

There are few places on this street where you can have a proper meal.

Even if there are, they charge a lot compared to the taste.

“Who said we should eat here? Of course, we have to go to another street.”

Mulland is a city of immense scale, befitting a capital.

This street is the main street of Mulland, so it’s the largest among the other streets.

But that doesn’t mean the other streets are small.

So it doesn’t matter if we go to another street.

If we can’t find anything fun there, we can always come back to this main street.

Kallen agreed, and Richesa shook her head slightly, saying, “Really…”

“Then let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Richeza’s hand, somehow tense.

Kallen carefully held it, considering Richesa.

*

It’s not a grand meal.

If you want a luxurious and neat meal, you shouldn’t come out.

A meal outside is just enough to replace breakfast.

Even so, the place Richesa introduced was sufficient to replace breakfast.

Warm bread and fresh fruit.

…Sweet honey milk and a simple egg dish.

“…Honey milk here too…”

“Shh, be quiet! In the morning, you should eat something comfortable…!”

Nevertheless, Kallen enjoyed that breakfast.

The atmosphere of the shop was quiet, and the distance between tables was far enough that it seemed possible to fully concentrate on the meal.

Watching Richeza take a bite of the egg dish, Kallen brought a piece of fresh-looking fruit to his mouth.

The sweet and sour taste was highly addictive.

After eating the fruit a few more times, Kallen propped his chin and watched Richeza continue her meal with enthusiasm.

“…Sir, aren’t you eating?”

“I usually dislike breakfast.”

“…”

Then, something caught his eye—it was Richeza’s gaze.

It seemed she wasn’t particularly curious about his dislike for breakfast.

Richeza’s eyes were fixed on the honey milk that Kallen hadn’t touched.

Trying to act indifferent but with a rather blatant gaze, Kallen chuckled softly.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“Here, you can have this, Richeza.”

He then slid the honey milk towards Richeza.

Richeza, with her cheeks full of egg dish, stared blankly at Kallen who had given her the honey milk.

Gulp.

After swallowing her food, Richeza politely wiped her mouth and accepted Kallen’s honey milk.

“Thank you, I’ll take it.”

“Aren’t you going to refuse?”

“…You’re really mean, sir.”

As Richeza glared at him while holding the glass full of honey milk, Kallen closed his eyes.

Richeza, who had been looking at Kallen with a sullen expression, soon focused on the honey milk.

Kallen squinted with one eye, watching Richeza gulp down the honey milk with both hands.

“You seem to know a lot of good places.”

“…I just happened to find them by chance.”

The two, who had stopped by the honey milk dessert shop, came out to the street.

Since they had met at a reasonably early hour, the street was bright, and many young ladies were laughing and chatting just like the day before.

The breakfast and honey milk dessert were satisfying.

If mornings were like this, it wouldn’t be bad to have them often.

Even the maid Kallen knew would widen her eyes at the sight of monster meat from that street.

Do all women like delicious things?

Nodding in understanding, Kallen asked.

“Then where shall we go now?”

“…”

They had breakfast, and they had honey milk dessert.

The day was still bright, so there was plenty of time left.

Richeza shaded her eyes from the sunlight and looked up at the sky, then lowered her head and looked at Kallen.

“I want to go to the central square and rest.”

Going to the auction house like yesterday wasn’t a bad idea.

Enjoying the sights of various streets was also a good choice.

But for some reason, Richeza just wanted to rest quietly.

Because the current situation was quite good, she wanted to go to the shelter in the central square and just sit quietly.

Something she had always wanted to do someday.

Wouldn’t it be nice to take this opportunity to do it?

“Don’t you like it?”

Richeza looked at Kallen intently.

She still couldn’t be sure what kind of person this boy was, but at least one thing was certain.

The boy’s answer was,

“I like it.”

“Then let’s go.”

It would be in a form that suited her heart.

Hearing Kallen’s answer, Richeza started walking ahead.

This time, without holding hands.

The boy had an unknown, very faint and slight smile.

The reason he felt good was simply because he liked the boy’s answer.

*

“Um… Young Master… May I, perhaps, hear the name of your family…?”

“…”

Richeza was not in a good mood.

To be precise, I was feeling good until just a moment ago.

I had a delicious breakfast, and the honey milk dessert was tasty too.

Sitting in the central square of Mland, watching the flowing river, was better than I had imagined.

The boy next to me, though somewhat clumsy, was genuinely engaged in this moment, which felt nice.

But Richeza was not in a good mood.

The reason was the two young ladies who suddenly approached Kallen.

Without any effort to hide their shy expressions.

The two young ladies hesitated for a while before approaching Kallen.

And then they said they wanted to hear the name of his family.

Asking for a family name among nobles is almost the same as openly showing interest in that person.

Once they know the family name, they can naturally send letters.

Is Kallen that kind of man?

No, he is not.

It’s just… there were more young ladies here.

This is the central square, not the main street.

Richeza, who tried hard to ignore the young lords around, let out a faint nasal sound.

“Hmph.”

She thought this might actually be an opportunity.

A suitable chance to see if Kallen was different from other men, who were clowns driven by desire.

For some reason, Richeza felt extremely uncomfortable, but she decided to watch how Kallen would react.

If he left his contact information with a blank expression, that would be the end.

She could prevent him from meeting Daphnis, achieving the result she wanted from the beginning.

Richeza gripped her fan tightly with a strength she didn’t realize she had.

Kallen, who heard the young ladies’ words, slowly opened his mouth.

“Family name. I don’t have one.”

“…Pardon?”

“Kallen. That’s my name.”

Kallen.

A name given by a peculiar great wizard.

Kallen has no family name.

Born between a father I unexpectedly learned about not long ago and a mother whose face I don’t even remember, abandoned.

No matter how fine the clothes I wear, no matter how much I converse with the noble ladies brimming with grace, that fact does not change.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no… I apologize…”

Having no surname means being a commoner.

The noble ladies who realized its meaning apologized and left.

Seeing them apologize in such a situation, they probably weren’t ill-natured, but Kallen quietly watched their retreating figures.

It was at that moment.

Poke.

Poke.

Something hard was poking my arm.

When Kallen turned to look, Richeza was poking his arm with a fan.

“…What are you doing?”

As he looked at her silently poking his arm with the fan, she was smiling with her chin resting on her knee.

“Cold-hearted person.”

“…”

“But it’s not bad… No, you did well. This is also borderline, but I’ll give you a pass.”

Poke.

Poke.

What on earth was she passing him for?

Richeza, who seemed to be in a good mood for some reason, continued to poke Kallen’s body with the fan for a while.