Chapter 34
“Close Friends”
“Serdin Bibi! How does it feel being at Elche?”
“It’s amazing!”
Still full of energy, I answered loudly. The senior knights of Elche burst into laughter, clearly enjoying the mood.
While everyone was laughing and chatting, I kept glancing toward the entrance.
Dozens of people had come and gone at the party, but Roitz hadn’t shown up.
“Serdin, you’re seriously impressive.”
At that moment, a silver-haired knight sat down on the couch in front of me.
It was Aaron Dessein, who joined Elche at the same time I did.
I smiled and clinked glasses with him.
“I hear that a lot. You’re already on your fourth drink, huh?”
“I wasn’t talking about the drinks.”
“Then what?”
“Your sword skills, your physical ability—everything. I heard you got in early. Totally makes sense.”
Hearing such sudden praise made me feel a bit awkward. I stuffed some snacks into my mouth to hide my reaction.
Aaron had a soft expression and was a year older than me.
I already knew he would join Elche—he was a notable supporting character in the original story.
‘He was quite popular with his big frame and cute face.’
Now that I’d joined Elche, characters from the original were starting to appear one by one.
I sipped from my glass and looked around.
Even in my slightly tipsy state, seeing all the Elche knights brought a wave of nostalgia.
‘Senior knight Rigi Brown, the charismatic middle-aged vice-captain Yurien, the swordmaster from the Bennett family, Chief Knight Exus…’
The most important one, Lucike Ardelia—the heroine—probably wouldn’t appear for a while.
Anyway, all of these people were strong supporters of Roitz.
‘Where is Roitz, though…?’
Just then, a senior walking behind Aaron accidentally bumped into him.
“Whoa…”
Aaron stumbled forward quickly—straight toward me.
‘He’s going to crash into me!’
But in that exact moment, a strong arm reached out from behind me.
Big hands grabbed Aaron’s shoulders just before he fell onto me and pushed him upright like a spring.
“S-Sorry, Serdin. And thanks…”
Aaron turned to thank whoever had helped—and froze in surprise.
I turned around too.
Standing there was Roitz, suddenly appearing from who knows where.
And he looked like he’d just returned from hell.
“Roitz, senior?”
His expression was so fierce, for a second I thought I was looking at a demon like Necroquad.
Did something bad happen while he was away?
“You’re staggering. Seems like you’re pretty drunk.”
Roitz spoke to Aaron, standing behind me.
But Aaron didn’t actually seem drunk. Someone else had bumped into him—it looked like Roitz had misunderstood.
“I haven’t had much, I’m fin—”
Aaron started to answer but then slowly stood and said,
“Yeah… I think I might be drunk.”
“Then go get some rest.”
And with that, Aaron actually went to sleep.
‘He didn’t seem drunk to me…’
Maybe I’m the one who’s too drunk to notice.
You can usually only tell if someone’s drunk when you’re sober yourself.
As I watched Aaron walk away, I looked up at Roitz.
“Where did you go?”
Roitz looked down at me in silence.
His face was still blank, but not as scary as before.
He had that familiar scent again—like fresh leaves in mist.
“…”
Roitz sighed instead of replying, then suddenly reached out and messed up my hair.
“What was that for…”
I pouted and gave him a side glance.
His gaze moved to the pile of empty bottles in front of me.
His look said, Did you drink all of that?
“I didn’t drink them all by myself.”
“As long as you’re having fun.”
Roitz turned to leave.
I quickly reached back and grabbed the edge of his jacket.
“You’re just going to leave again?”
Worried he’d shake me off, I held on tight.
Roitz tried to pull away, but when he felt how firmly I was holding on, he stopped.
“Let go.”
“You’ll just leave if I do.”
“…I won’t leave.”
That’s what he said, but I hadn’t even gotten to look him in the eye properly for days.
And at the lake earlier, he just walked off again.
“Sit here.”
I didn’t let go until he sat down beside me.
Roitz looked at his jacket hem held tightly in my hand, then quietly sat down next to me.
“There, happy now?”
I let go only when I saw him pour himself a drink.
“That one’s good. It’s apple wine.”
Resting my chin on one hand, I stared at Roitz.
I could see his throat move as he swallowed from the glass.
Since he came back, every time we met he’d either walk off or look away.
Now, finally looking at him for a few seconds, it hit me:
Roitz really came back from that subjugation mission.
After two whole years.
As I quietly blinked, Roitz reached out and gently closed my eyes with his hand.
Right then—
“Roitz, when did you get back?”
Senior Knight Terrian and Vice-Captain Yurien walked over.
A few more knights followed behind them, eyes gleaming like party-hunting hyenas.
“You should’ve said something!”
Terrian dropped into the seat next to Roitz.
Now there were six people, but only four seats.
In the tight squeeze, Roitz suddenly got pushed closer to me.
“…”
His solid arm brushed against my shoulder, and his face looked annoyed.
He didn’t seem happy about sitting this close with plenty of space elsewhere.
“Vice-captain Yurien, by the way, about that time…”
The senior knights started chatting again. I glanced sideways at Roitz.
Should I move?
While I was thinking that, one of the seniors started talking to me.
“Rookie, you’re impressive.”
“Yeah, how did you learn to wrap aura around wood? That’s not easy.”
“I learned it during knight school!”
“As expected! Even in first year, I could tell you’d go far!”
Hearing their praise, I smiled—half from pride, half like a polite business smile.
“You said you’re three years below Roitz?”
“Yes.”
“So when Roitz was a senior at Yudelln, you were a first year?”
“Wow, really? Were you two close?”
One of the seniors looked at Roitz and asked with a cheerful face.
I kept my smile, waiting for Roitz’s answer.
It’s not that I wanted to brag about our relationship, but we had been pretty close back then.
‘Serdin, you said you went to Yudelln together. Were you close?’
‘Yeah.’
That’s why I told Manon that we were close too.
And since he came and sat next to me now, maybe Roitz was finally—
“Not at all.”
But Roitz just gave a dry laugh and shook his head.
I was about to say how he was the one who first taught me aura wrapping, but his reaction shut me up.
With him so casually denying we were close, the topic quickly changed.
‘Guess I’m still not making enough of an impression.’
Looks like holding my breath wasn’t enough.
If I want to revive the confidence I once had—that I was special to him—I’ll have to work harder.
With that resolve, I took another sip of wine.
Footsteps echoed in the dark hallway of the dorm mansion.
Erina, a second-year knight at Elche, kept glancing at Roitz, walking just ahead of her.
“Uh… Senior, was the monster subjugation mission hard?”
They were in the same order, but this was her first chance to talk to Roitz alone.
She had joined while he was away on that mission.
Even though she joined while he was technically still part of Elche, there hadn’t been a chance for a proper conversation.
“It was similar to here.”
“That’s… good to hear.”
This was a rare chance for Erina—someone she deeply admired.
But now that she was face-to-face with him, her mouth felt frozen.
Roitz had this aura that made him feel hard to approach.
The moonlight highlighted his sharp nose and strong jawline.
His striking appearance, which surely had stolen many hearts, also made him feel even more distant.
The sounds of the party faded into the distance.
Inside the mansion, only their footsteps—and the sound of one person’s gentle breathing—remained.
Erina looked at the rookie sleeping on Roitz’s back.
It was Serdin, with soft pink curls and pale skin.
She was completely out cold, not even realizing who was carrying her.
Her arms wrapped tightly around Roitz’s neck—even tighter than they should’ve been.
Roitz didn’t look happy.
“I-I’ll carry her, senior!”
Startled, Erina tried to take Serdin.
“It’s fine.”
But Roitz didn’t seem to have any intention of putting her down.
