He had already been thinking of checking in on Kiole’s condition at least once.

‘Might as well pick up some information while I’m at it.’

But he hadn’t expected the guy to come find him on his own like this. Should he say it was convenient? After thanking Gakein for the tip, Yuder headed toward the main gate.

At first, there was no one in sight. But when he crossed his arms and quietly closed his eyes, he sensed a faint presence not far away. Whoever it was seemed to be trying to approach quietly, but their nervous, rapid breathing gave them away—they couldn’t fully mask their fear.

Step, gasp. Another few steps, more heavy breaths. Judging by the pace, Yuder figured he’d die of old age waiting for the idiot to make it all the way over.

Without opening his eyes or moving, he spoke.

“Stop sneaking around and just get out here.”

“......”

The panicked breathing suddenly halted.

Realizing that Kiole might be too dense to realize he was being called out, Yuder kindly added his name.

“Kiole la Diarca.”

“H-Heuuk!”

With a gasping shriek, Kiole sprang out from behind a bush—only to trip and fall violently.

“Argh!”

Yuder slowly approached the tumbling figure clutching his nose. Kiole wasn’t wearing his usual Imperial Guard uniform but a different set of clothes.

“Ugh... uuuugh...”

“Did you break your nose?”

“No, I didn’t!”

Yuder had been ready to take him to Priest Lusan if he was seriously hurt, but it seemed Kiole had misunderstood and thought he was about to get scolded. He shot to his feet—only for blood to gush down in two streams from his already-reddened nose bridge.

Anyone else would’ve laughed at the sight, but Yuder’s face remained cold.

“Nosebleed like that and you think it’s not broken?”

“It just happened on its own! It’ll stop soon!”

Kiole stubbornly wiped under his nose, but the blood only doubled.

“Ugh! Why, why is it doing this?!”

‘What a pain in the ass...’

Without a word, Yuder flicked his hand lightly. Kiole flinched and shut his eyes, but all Yuder did was pluck a leaf from a nearby tree using wind magic. He rolled it up casually and held it out.

“Here. Use this.”

“How can I use something so filthy...! If you’re going to give me something, at least offer a handkerchief!”

“You’ve got some nerve. Commoners who can’t afford to carry handkerchiefs use this. It has clotting properties, so a nosebleed stops quickly—and it’s not dirty. If you don’t like it, use your own damn handkerchief.”

“If I had one, would I be...!”

Kiole cut himself off mid-shout, lips ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) pressed tight as something occurred to him. He sullenly accepted the offered leaf and stuffed it into his nostril. As he fiddled with the protruding tip below both nostrils, he sniffled and grumbled in a nasal voice.

“......My nose feels weird. It stings.”

“I told you it has clotting properties.”

“......”

“So? Why are you here?”

Now getting to the point, Yuder saw Kiole snap out of it. He looked around quickly, confirmed they were alone, and shouted in protest.

“Because you didn’t come, that’s why I’m here!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Everyone said the Cavalry returned after their vacation, but... you didn’t show your face for almost two weeks...!”

Yuder half-listened to the flurry of complaints and summed them up.

Apparently, Kiole had assumed Yuder knew about everything that had happened to him and would show up to extract information like usual. But when Yuder failed to appear nearly two weeks after the official Cavalry leave ended, Kiole couldn’t take it anymore and came himself.

‘To feel wronged because I didn’t come to take information from him... If the Duke of Diarca found out, he’d weep blood.’

As Yuder quietly watched, Kiole’s rant continued unabated.

“Do you even realize how anxious and dangerous it’s been for me?! No one helped me, my father abandoned me! You must’ve known something but didn’t show up...! If I’m not okay, that would be a problem for you too, since you’re bound to me by oath!”

Surprisingly, the logic wasn’t wrong.

In any case, the core of it seemed to be that Kiole had grown anxious because, based on experience, Yuder should have shown up by now, but hadn’t. So Yuder kindly explained.

“After the vacation, His Majesty the Emperor personally ordered me into disciplinary confinement.”

“What?!”

“Two weeks. I returned today.”

“......”

“Now do you get it?”

Kiole stood dumbfounded, mouth open, chewing over the words.

After a moment, the indignation on his face softened halfway.

“...Then you should’ve said that right away!”

“Since when have we been the type to kindly inform each other of our schedules?”

Realizing he couldn’t argue with that, Kiole bit his lip and trembled before quietly asking:

“Then... why were you disciplined? You’re one of the Cavalry’s top guys.”

“What does it matter? None of your business.”

“I wasn’t curious or anything! Just asking casually! Since I’ve had my fair share of discipline too, I thought maybe I could give you some friendly advice or something!”

Apparently, in Kiole’s head, “disciplinary action” only happened when someone seriously screwed up. Rather than explaining the nuances and strategic uses of discipline, Yuder just sighed and jerked his head.

“Follow me.”

“Huh?”

“We can’t just stand here and talk. There’s a space inside the Cavalry grounds where visitors can speak privately. Come on.”

“Oh...”

Yuder strode off with Kiole shuffling awkwardly behind.

“Kiole.”

“I didn’t look!”

He had only called his name to say something that came to mind, but the guilty fool shouted in panic. Yuder didn’t even bother reacting to that kind of idiocy anymore and simply continued.

“I don’t care what you saw or didn’t. Do what you want. Anyway, you couldn’t have known I’d return today. You got the timing weirdly right. What were you going to do if I wasn’t here?”

“Ah, that’s...”

Kiole hesitated, then lowered his voice and muttered solemnly.

“Lately, I’ve had this weird feeling like someone was watching me... but today, that feeling was gone!”

“......”

“It’s got to be Kiorne’s doing. So I figured it was my chance to slip away...”

Wasn’t that the Cavalry?

Earlier, Ever said the Emperor had decreed that once Kishiar returned, they could stop monitoring and protecting Kiole la Diarca. Since the Commander was back today, they had returned to the Cavalry base—so of course, the eyes watching Kiole had disappeared.

‘...So in the end, he really came because he sensed my return.’

Should he call it keen intuition or just sheer idiocy?

He had enough perception to feel the gaze but completely misread its source. That was so typically Kiole. Remembering how Ever had once suspected that Kiole might actually have something hidden, Yuder just stared silently at Kiole’s serious face.

“If I hadn’t run into you today, I would’ve just waited until the surveillance was gone again! I’m persistent, you know— Why, why are you looking at me like that?!”

“Whatever. Let’s just say you got lucky.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! Don’t say it like it’s some ominous fate!”

They arrived at one of the Cavalry’s guest lounges set up for private conversations. Yuder stepped in first, closed the door, and locked every bolt. It was a standard precaution against eavesdropping or interruptions—but Kiole, predictably, misunderstood it as a prelude to being imprisoned. That caused a minor, irritating delay. Still, they eventually got down to talking.

“I... I really don’t know what to do anymore.”

Kiole sat down, clutched his head, and muttered.

“My peaceful life has completely fallen apart since I met you! My father’s injured, my oldest brother’s trying to kill me... I haven’t been to the Guard in months, the Crown Prince isn’t contacting me, and now he’s suddenly caught in some lawsuit...!”

Was that my fault? Yuder was about to ask sarcastically—until his eyebrow twitched at the last part. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“Lawsuit?”

“Yes! What was it... some unknown village in the western countryside filed a complaint about bandits being hired and sent their way, asking the authorities to find and punish whoever did it! And it turns out the employer was the Crown Prince’s attendant!”

Yuder’s gaze darkened.

“When did you hear that?”

“Just yesterday! Even though I was inside my room, the commoners outside were so loud I couldn’t help but overhear!”

“Ah.”

Yuder’s lips curled into a chilling smile.

‘So His Majesty’s gift... wasn’t just one.’

Kiole instinctively swallowed hard, spooked by the look in his eyes.