Fabian smiled confidently. Then he asked as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Axion Flama, not Meyer Knox?”
“Yes. Rumors are going around.”
Fabian’s top friend and right arm, Archer Deca, nodded.
April, the priestess of the expedition who was knitting next to him, smiled faintly and heard Deca’s words.
“They’re a couple of wizards.”
“Otherwise, I hear those two are always talking about magic.”
“You have to be very academic to be an elite member of the Black Knights. I really respect that.”
“What’s respectable?”
Fabian was furious.
All the members of Fabian’s expedition who were in the common room looked at him in surprise at his unusual appearance.
The young ice wizard Jeanne, who had been watching April knit, was also surprised.
Deca stealthily glanced at the other members. The members excused themselves.
Only Fabian, Deca, and April remained in the break room.
Deca turned to Fabian and asked softly.
“What’s wrong?”
“What.”
“You’ve been nervous lately when it comes to the Black Knights. Especially the Vice Commander.”
Fabian’s face twisted as Jun was addressed once more.
Fabian did not show his emotions in order to save face as the leader of the others, but he was still quite open about his true feelings to his two childhood friends.
However, Fabian had never revealed to them that this was the second round.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his friends, but he was careful. Fabian believed that.
But since he had kept the second round a secret, he could not divulge the reason for his displeasure. Fabian answered pensively.
“It’s no big deal.”
“‘ It’s not a big deal.’ You’re acting unlike yourself. Did you have a crush on the Vice Commander of the Black Knights? Is that why you’re so sensitive?”
“What bullshit is that?”
Fabian asked back annoyingly.
“You think I like Jun? You’re talking out of your ass.”
“Even Jun. No matter how much we say it’s just us, calling the Vice Commander of the Black Knights by her name…”
Deca frowned.
If other people had said that, he would have thought it was a false attempt to close his gap with the celebrities…
Even taking into account that they were childhood friends, it was beyond degree.
Fabian was like a stranger to him now…
However, whether he knew of Deca’s concern or not, Fabian continued to speak in an even more brusque manner than usual.
“Jun is lying about dating Axion Flama. It’s just for show. So don’t get me started on those rumors.”
April, who had been listening intently to them, couldn’t resist interrupting.
“How could you possibly know that?”
“I know everything there is to know.”
Fabian replied, not hiding his annoyance.
April, however, was not to be underestimated.
She had built up such a good image that she was called the angel of the expedition, but she said it so sharply that the rest of the expedition would be surprised to see her.
“Are you paranoid? From what you say, it sounds like you know the Vice Commander of the Black Knights.”
“Are you jealous? Because I seem to have an interest in Jun?”
“What do you mean, “jealousy”? Don’t joke about that. I’m just worried that you, the expedition leader, will do something stupid and destroy our expedition.”
Fabian snickered at April’s reply. He didn’t seem to be listening to anything April had to say.
Fabian mumbled to himself.
“The girl was mine to begin with.”
“What?”
“…”
Fabian fell silent.
They didn’t know of the second round, and no amount of words would be able to convey his frustration and disappointment.
Fabian thought of the crimson eyes of Jun, who was gazing at him as if adoring him. The heartfelt enthusiasm in her gaze…
On the one hand, Fabian knew Jun’s true feelings, but on the other hand, the way Jun was looking at Axion, he didn’t see that same fever in her eyes.
Rather, he was suspicious of her relationship with Meyer.
But when she said she had nothing to do with Meyer… Fabian’s honest feelings were that he wanted to believe her words, even though he thought they were a lie.
‘What are you up to? I don’t know if you’re pretending to be dating Axion, but… Why Axion of all people?’
If Fabian was jealous of Meyer Knox as expedition leader and prosecutor, he felt deeply inferior to Axion, another fire wizard.
If you were trying to hurt my feelings, you were accurate, Jun.
Fabian gritted his teeth and stared at the sky. In the midst of all this, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘No way… Is she putting on a show because she wants me to look at her?’
Otherwise, there was no compelling reason to choose Axion. It was obvious that she had deliberately chosen the same red hair to irritate him.
She was swayed by him. He knew she still had feelings for him, even if she pretended otherwise.
Thinking about it made Jun’s behavior seem cute. Fabian chuckled.
Fabian’s face was glowing with madness as he smiled to himself.
At the ominous sight, Deca and April only exchanged uneasy glances and stopped the conversation.
***
As I was walking down the corridor, a familiar green doll approached me in the sky. It was Sevi.
His face was pale. From the looks of it, he had unexpectedly discovered a secret.
Sevi told me exactly what he had seen.
“… Really? Countess Nerus?”
“Yes. Countess Nerus is Tragula’s mother, isn’t she? But the conversation was a little strange. They don’t seem to have an intimate relationship.”
“…”
I put Sevi on him, thinking that perhaps it would be an inside job on Fabian…
It wasn’t a situation that worried me, but it was certainly fishy.
Except in cases like Julieta’s, the expedition members from the nobility were quite recognizable from their attitude.
In addition, the Nerus household was a very powerful family. Tragula, who I had been watching so far, was insidious, but there was no arrogance unique to the nobility.
‘Come to think of it, I don’t know anything about Tragula’s past.’
I was not close to Tragula, and Tragula was not one to talk about me, so I had very little information available to me.
Sevi glanced at me and asked as if he noticed my suspicion.
“Should I dig more?”
“No.”
I shook my head. As long as he didn’t meet Fabian. I could ask Meyer to deliver the information on Tragula.
“Anyway, thank you for investigating him.”
“What do you mean? This is nothing. If you have anything else to order, please feel free to call me.”
Sevi smiled at me. He looked happy to have been useful to me, even if it was in this way.
I smiled at him and tucked his green hair around his head.
At that moment, I felt someone approaching me from afar. As the corridor was open to all, I casually turned my head away to see who it was.
However, the person they embraced was unexpected.
It was none other than April and Jeanne, members of the Fabian Expedition.
The Fabian Expedition? If it was a coincidence, it was indeed a strange one.
I waited for them to pass by, but April’s gaze was subtle as she walked toward me.
It was obvious that she recognized me… That kind of feeling.
It may sound a bit conceited, but there was an instinctive feeling that could not be explained simply by the fact that she recognized me as a celebrity in the Imperial Palace.
There was no way that Sevi, the wind wizard, who was acutely aware of the presence that I also sensed, did not know.
Sevi was wary of the approaching expeditionary strangers and was about to harshly criticize them for it.
I quietly put my hand on his shoulder.
April was a priestess with no offensive powers, and Jeanne was a child who was a wizard of ice but not yet used to attacking. They were not dangerous opponents, so there was no need to be nervous.
Sevi, having sensed my intentions, slowed his momentum.
April was getting closer and closer.
A hint of concern over how to address me flashed across her face.
I made light of her troubles and I spoke to her first.
“Oh my, it’s my first time meeting a young expedition member other than Sevi.”
“H-hello.”
“I’m Jun Karentia of the Black Knights. Which expedition is your healer?”
“The Fabian… The Fabian Expeditionary Force. My name is April, and I’m a healer.”
April stammered as if she didn’t think I’d speak to her first.
I smiled and chattered away.
‘Um, if you’re not in a hurry to get going, do you mind if Sevi and that little wizard over there, have a little chat? He’s probably never had a friend his own age before.”
It was so natural that it could have been a conversation between owners that met while walking their dogs.
When I finished, I quickly pushed Sevi back.
Sevi narrowed his eyes as if to make sense of what I meant, and then, as if immediately realizing my intentions, he took a step forward and held out his hand to Jeanne.
“Hello. I’m Sevi Ventus. As you can see, I’m a wind wizard.”
Sevi charmed Jeanne with his gorgeous smile that lured the people of the Nokentoria castle.
But it seemed to be a little too much for the introverted Jeanne.
Jeanne remained nervous and only held out her hand, awkwardly grasping Sevi’s hand.
However, Sevi, who was familiar with Julieta, did not give in.
“You’re an ice wizard, aren’t you? It’s my first time seeing an ice wizard. Shall we talk about magic over there?”
Sevi pointed to a chair in the garden by the cloister.
I couldn’t hear what was being said, but it was a good place to get a view.
Jeanne hesitated and looked at April’s face.
April nodded quickly, and Jeanne gave a small nod to Sevi.
Sevi took Jeanne’s hand and headed for the garden. April and I smiled as we watched them go.
‘Anyway, Sevi also… When in conversation, he talks about magic.’
Sevi used to hate Axion, but when I saw that, I thought he looked just like him.
Soon after the children moved away, April asked.
“… How did the Vice Commander know that I had something to say?”
