IBWMD 105

~Chapter 105~

“Lady Elaine?”

“…Let’s talk later.”

The moment I saw his hand signal, I went straight to the Captain without even looking back.

Because I recognized that signal.

Urgent. Confidential. Just the two of us?

We used it during monster-hunting missions. The recognition warmed me for a moment.
If the Captain was signaling like this, he must have something important to say.

And I had plenty of questions for him too.

I stood before him as naturally as I could. Still, I worried a little.

He must have seen the Grand Duke and Reina dancing… If the person you like dances with another man, it has to sting.

“Welcome.”

But up close, he didn’t look as shaken as I’d feared.

“I didn’t greet you properly earlier. Have you been well?”
“Yes. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“…For me?”

His eyes showed he had been looking for me all along.

So this really is urgent.

I took his hand nervously, and he led me into the steps of a waltz…

Flinch.

“What is it?”
“…Nothing.”

He had flinched, looking behind me. But the unease vanished quickly.

His face returned to its usual composure—calm, disciplined.
The face I’d known for years.

Ah… guilt again.

I remembered that I’d been suspecting him. Not because I wanted to, but I couldn’t help it.

Meanwhile, the music played on.

We shifted subtly toward a quieter corner while exchanging light conversation.

“You look like a tomboy even in a dress.”
“Bear with it. I was raised by you, Captain.”
“You’re not a Vice-Captain anymore.”
“True. Strictly speaking, I’m the Grand Duchess now.”

At that, a bitter smile tugged at his lips.

“Yeah… Even I find it strange that you’re a married woman now.”
“…The Grand Duke doesn’t mistreat you, does he?”
“As if I’d just endure it quietly.”
“That’s a relief, then.”

His hand pressed gently against my back, almost like a pat.

It felt strange. I’d been hit during training plenty of times, but such careful contact was a first.

Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve danced with him too.

Contrary to my worries, our dance wasn’t bad.
Probably because we’d practiced coordination in combat before.

“I’ve felt lonely without you around.”
“Captain, you get lonely?”
“I realized it only recently.”
“I knew it long before you did.”
“…You knew I was lonely?”

Not for any deep reason.
It was just obvious when he gazed at Reina with wistful eyes, keeping everyone else away.
Pretending not to be lonely would’ve been stranger.

He must feel it even more now that Reina is dancing with the Grand Duke.

I brushed away the same unease stirring in me, patting his arm lightly.

“Don’t worry, Captain. That loneliness will end soon.”
“You sound certain.”
“Of course. A good man like you will meet a good match.”

Once the heroine Saint appears, your one-sided love will be over.

She was kind enough to persuade even the Emperor.
So warm-hearted she was accused of being a witch who bewitched people, and persecuted for it.

And in the original story, she met the Captain.

The timeline was a little off now, but he was fated to meet her during a mission.
It wouldn’t be long.

Once you meet her, your loneliness will vanish.

“Anyway…”

We had created enough distance from the crowd.

“So what is it?”

I turned lightly with the music.

“I saw your signal.”
“……”
“Better tell me before the music ends.”

He pulled me gently with the turn, lowering his voice to my ear.
He had been waiting for the chance to speak plainly.

“You must have heard from Miss Reina. I…”
“Left early. Without even attending the send-off.”

I was about to ask who had ordered it when he said,

“That was my own decision.”

My step faltered at those words.

But he smoothly supported me into the next step, lowering his voice.

“Even His Holiness doesn’t know I left early. The 3rd Division is being led by the Secretary in my place.”
“……”
“I deliberately took only new recruits—people not yet influenced by the old Temple.”

I looked up at him, startled.
Not even the Pope knew?

The Captain knows how to break rules?

While I was still reeling, he added something unexpected.

“Honestly, I didn’t want to say this, but…”
“But?”
“…Something is off with the Temple’s movements.”

I blinked.

“How would you know that?”

I hadn’t expected that at all. But the answer came quickly.

“You already knew, didn’t you? Well, Zeon…”
“Zeon contacted you?”
“Yes. Said strange things were happening in Saint-Ports.”

He told me the clues Zeon had shared.
I nodded as he went on.

“All true. Except for the Chief Priest part—I just heard that now.”

Suspicious indeed.
And the Captain had less information than I did.

“You came here just on that?”
“No. Not just that.”

He looked more serious, which made me tense up too.
Without thinking, I squeezed his hand.

He continued with a grave expression.

“Shortly after I got Zeon’s letter, His Holiness summoned me. He said…”
“……”
“‘Soon, Saint-Ports will need a Holy Knight.’”

My face grew grim.

This is too much…

Memories flashed—
The severe monster assault that injured the Grand Duke.
The poor people poisoned after eating Temple food, their symptoms like the assassins who had targeted me.
The missing dragon’s scale and the vanished Holy Knights. The armor found there.
And above all, the Pope’s eerily accurate foresight…

The puzzle pieces clicked together.

Don’t tell me…

Just as the conclusion formed in my mind—

Stop.

We halted.
The music had ended without my noticing.

The Captain whispered one last thing.

“I don’t know the details. But the signs are bad. I came early to warn you.”
“…Warn me?”

I looked up at him, bewildered.

“But you’re the Captain of the Holy Knights.”

The words sounded as obvious as ice is cold, but he understood perfectly.

“Of course. I am sworn to the Temple above all else.”
“……”
“But I’m also your former superior. And I couldn’t ignore my concern for you.”

My chest warmed unexpectedly.
From a man like him—upright, faithful, by-the-book—those words meant a lot.

“…I always caused trouble. Fought with other orders…”
“Which kept our recruits safe from bullying.”
“I couldn’t even interrogate properly, or teach well…”
“Your harsh interrogations got us crucial confessions. And your trainees gained real combat skill.”

He smiled wryly and shook his head.

“…I even broke the ceremonial chalice for the Emperor’s festival, fighting with another knight.”
“…Yes. That was a big mess.”

He let go of me, patting my shoulder lightly.

“You were a good Vice-Captain, Elaine.”
“……”
“I couldn’t let a subordinate like that fall into danger.”

For a moment, I almost dropped to my knees and called him Master.

“And if the Temple strays down the wrong path, it’s the duty of Holy Knights to set it right.”

What is this? A line straight out of a hero’s tale.

With the light behind him, he almost seemed radiant. My chest tightened.

“And one more thing. After Zeon’s letter, I searched the central archives of the Temple…”
“And?”

It sounded important.
I quickly leaned in closer.

“This next piece—”

“Hm?”

Thump.

Before I realized what happened, I was pulled firmly into someone’s arms.

“I’d like this dance.”

“……”

“My wife.”

The Grand Duke’s masked face loomed above me, cold and unyielding.