IYAMD 146

IYAMD 146

Just a few days. It hadn’t even been a full week since they had last been together, yet heat flared up inside him.

All Marsilia had done was fumble over his clothes a few times and exchange a few deep kisses, and yet—

The suffocating kiss made his side ache. Jaha pushed against Marsilia’s broad chest, gasping for air.

“W-Wait, huff, just a sec…”

“Why?”

Marsilia continued to press kisses all over Jaha’s face, his hot breath trailing after each one. Jaha squirmed beneath him as he felt the man’s arousal already hard against his thigh.

“I… can’t… breathe….”

Marsilia halted for a moment, his gaze curving in amusement.

“How strange. Even with a body that has surpassed its limits, you still find yourself breathless in times like these. Your heart races, your body burns unbearably.”

His whisper echoed Jaha’s own thoughts, and Jaha nodded in agreement.

“That’s because you’re heavy. You’re crushing me, so get off.”

At Jaha’s grumbling, Marsilia reluctantly lifted his upper body, as if he had been wronged. Finally able to breathe freely, Jaha let out a satisfied exhale.

“You can be so cold sometimes.”

This man had a peculiar side. What was the right word for it? Sensitive? Perceptive? Were those the same thing?

While Jaha pondered, Marsilia leaned in again. This time, however, he didn’t press his weight down.

But just before their lips met, Marsilia grumbled,

“You know, when you’re usually sweet but suddenly act indifferent, it hurts even more. You realize that?”

“Nope.”

Getting hurt over something like this? Jaha couldn’t comprehend it. How could the word “heavy” possibly be hurtful?

The moment he finished speaking, Marsilia’s eyes narrowed. But when Jaha grinned at his disgruntled stolen content expression, his face softened slightly.

“You really think you can just smile your way out of anything.”

“Yes.”

Jaha shamelessly retorted, a skill he had picked up from Marsilia himself.

Marsilia hesitated for a beat, blinking a few times before letting out a breathless chuckle.

“I think I finally understand why you call me infuriating.”

His tone was so self-deprecating that Jaha burst into laughter, his eyes curving in mirth.

Marsilia looked briefly more exasperated but soon chuckled himself. When he leaned in again, his kiss was as gentle and tender as ever.

As they kissed slowly, a sound from outside caught their attention.

“This is Odette Hill, Your Majesty. I apologize for disturbing you while you’re resting, but… the knights wish to formally pay their respects.”

Odette’s voice was faint, muffled by the extra door between them. Still, Marsilia sighed in frustratunauthorized copyion and rolled onto his side.

“I’ll send them away.”

As Jaha hurriedly sat up, Marsilia waved him off, eyes still closed.

“Go. It wouldn’t do any good to disappoint the knights. The lord and his knights should have a close bond. I expected you’d be busy with this and that—it is your first visit, after all.”

Even so, Jaha hesitated, prompting Marsilia to sit up and press a kiss to his forehead.

“I’ll wait patiently. Just don’t forget that I’m waiting.”

“…Alright.”

Dragging his reluctant feet, Jaha finally stepped outside.

Odette Hill, who had been lingering by the door, looked startled upon seeing Jaha’s flushed face.

“I… I apologize for interrupting your rest.”

“It’s fine. Where are the knights?”

“They’re waiting in the training grounds.”

As he followed Odette, Jaha focused on memorizing the complex paths of the castle. The imperial palace was intricate, but this castle was even worse. The elevation of each building varied, and the paths between them were winding and confusing.

“Why are the roads here so complicated?”

“Before the Empire was founded, this region was the border between kingdoms. As you know, it’s a fertile, wealthy area, so enemy invasions were frequent. Moreover, monsters often attacked, so the castle had to be built on high ground for defense. The maze-like layout was designed to confuse invaders.”

Odette explained the history of the castle and briefly covered events after the empire’s founding.

“Even after the surrounding nations were annexed into the empire, this territory remained under the imperial family’s ownership. There is no other granary region in the empire that compares to this one, and the ore deposits in the western mountains are too significant to ignore.”

Though the presence of monsters made mining difficult, this land still accounted for a substantial portion of the imperial finances.

Yet, the reason the late emperor granted this territory to Archduke Exion was to console him for not becoming the crown prince.

Jaha quietly listened to the explanation before suddenly turning to Odette.

“You once swore loyalty to the Archduke, didn’t you? I’ve heard that knights can never forget the lord they have served. Even so, you chose to remain here. Was it because the Archduke had already died?”

Odette hesitated for a moment as if caught off guard. Lowering his gaze, he seemed to ponder the meaning behind Jaha’s words.

“Your Majesty is asking if I can serve another lord now that my previous one is gone? And whether that aligns with the ideals of knighthood?”

“Yes.”

“When a lord dies of illness or old age, loyalty naturally passes down to the next generation. However, death due to treason is a different matter. A knight’s life is meant to end alongside his lord’s. Most would have perished on the battlefield with him. So no, my situation does not align with the traditional code of knighthood.”

Jaha tilted his head slightly at the man’s calm admission.

“Then why did you stay?”

“Because I wanted to live.”

Odette Hill furrowed his thick brows in an awkward grimace, as if embarrassed.

“Fighting alongside Your Majesty made me realize many things. Normally, a ruler expects his knights to die for him—to sacrifice themselves for honor. But Your Majesty always said we must return alive. I suppose… I found that quite memorable.”

The man, who had spent his life believing that a knight’s purpose was to die for his lord’s cause, confessed that the battle against the ​unauthorized copy​enemy knights had made him want to live.

Suppressing the tremor in his lips within his thick beard, he continued,

“I was already well aware of the imperial knights’ reputation, but the Crimson Knights’ way of fighting was completely different from that of ordinary knights. Their sheer determination to survive, even if it meant looking desperate, even swarming in like insects… It left a strong impression.”

As they conversed, they arrived at the training grounds where the knights were waiting. Since the emblem of Dandelion Territory had not yet been created, they were still wearing cloaks bearing the insignia of House Doton.

Standing stiffly at attention, the knights appeared to be waiting for Jaha, and there was a faint trace of warmth in their gazes. Perhaps it was a camaraderie forged through over a month of battle.

As soon as Jaha stepped onto the small platform, the knights struck their heels together sharply and placed their arms across their chests in salute. Their perfectly synchronized greeting left quite an impression.

Jaha slowly scanned their faces.

Since all other knights had been swept up in the Archduke’s rebellion, only around two hundred remained—the ones who had participated in the dragon subjugation.

Standing before them, Jaha suddenly felt like sighing.

Could he be certain that these knights harbored only goodwill toward him and Marsilia?

He had heard Odette’s thoughts on the way here, but he wasn’t visit our sitesure the other knights shared the same sentiments.

After a moment of contemplation, Jaha finally spoke.

“Thank you for welcoming me. But I’m not yet convinced that you are truly on my side.”

He observed the knights’ expressions harden but continued undeterred.

“So, if anyone is here against their will, I want you to leave now. I don’t know why you chose to become knights, and I don’t know why you’ve remained here.”

Jaha licked his lips lightly. Speaking smoothly in front of a crowd was difficult. Thinking about how effortlessly Marsilia did it made him seem all the more shameless.

Taking a long, deep breath to clear his mind, he exhaled so heavily that his shoulders slumped. Only then could he continue.

“I don’t know what you expect from me. And I don’t know if I can give you what you want. So if there’s anyone here unwilling, leave now. I don’t want people who aren’t truly on my side remaining behind me.”

Marsilia had effortlessly gained the support of the Doton knights, but Jaha couldn’t do the same.

The thought of someone driving a blade into his back, of someone holding different loyalties, was something he refused to accept.

He didn’t want to turn his back on potential enemies with a composed face.

So he only wanted to take with him those he could trust—those he and Marsilia could entrust their backs to.

“When the Archduke rebelled, I swore to become the Emperor’s sword. Every time I draw my blade, it will be for him. Only those who agree with that should remain.”

Had he spoken well?

As Jaha fell silent, he once again scanned the knights standing in formation. Their hardened expressions made it difficult to read their thoughts, but one thing became clear—no one moved.

The sound of someone swallowing echoed in the stillness of the training grounds.

They were just as tense as he was.

Just as he was still unfamiliar to them, they, too, were still unfamiliar to him.

A sense of tension dissipated, and a slightly awkward smile formed on Jaha’s lips.