A Knight for One Person (3)
It was Ellie's voice, as biting and prickly as ever. And yet, the moment it reached his ears, the tension washed away without a trace — which was, frankly, a very strange thing indeed.
Only then did Kallen smile, offering Ellie his arm as naturally as breathing and falling into step beside her.
"Sorry. I had some business to take care of."
"Wow, what a half-hearted excuse. What business could you possibly have out of nowhere... hm?"
Ellie, mid-grumble, caught sight of something held in Kallen's other hand and shot him a look.
"What's that?"
"Nothing?"
Kallen fobbed her off and quietly slipped the object into his coat.
Ellie pulled a bland expression, though her eyes remained fixed on him with unconcealed suspicion.
"Getting worked up over nothing, as usual. Where'd you get swindled this time, you idiot?"
"Like that could happen."
"...Fine, forget it."
It was a flustered answer from Kallen, but mercifully, Ellie didn't press any further.
It helped that her attention today was fixed firmly elsewhere.
"Anyway, let's hurry up and go. They said there's a traveling troupe performing over that way."
Today marked the first day of the Saint Valentinus Festival, one of the empire's most widely celebrated holidays.
The mercenary corps had come here precisely to savor the famous local festivities held in honor of the holy day.
The other members were already gleefully enjoying the carnival, so it was no surprise that Ellie, with her notorious sweet tooth, was raring to go.
"They've got food stalls over there, and they said there'd be fireworks in the evening, so if we stake out a good spot early..."
Kallen let himself be dragged this way and that at Ellie's lead, a faint smile playing on his lips.
It was only because she was at his side that he could brush his worries aside as nothing more than a light melancholy.
Had it not been for Ellie, who barged uninvited across every line he drew and dug into his heart, he would have been swallowed whole by an endless swamp of self-loathing he might never have escaped.
The girl who had once been nothing but a nuisance had long since become the other half of himself — the half he could not live without.
And here, today, Kallen wanted to be just a little more greedy.
For today was the day he would harden that resolve.
The two, who had clung to each other's side all day exploring the festival, found a quiet spot in a garden nestled at the foot of the hill.
With everyone else crowded into the market below, not a single soul stirred around them — the silence was absolute.
"I can't believe a place like this even existed...?"
"They say the lord's wife built it because she loves flowers. Apparently it's opened to visitors during the festival."
Ellie, who had been gazing around in wonder, suddenly turned to Kallen with a smirk tugging at her lips.
"You didn't drag me up here to pull something lecherous, did you? Honestly, you're hopeless."
"I just figured it'd be a good place to watch the fireworks, so I scouted it out in advance. If you don't like it, feel free to head back down."
"...Hmph."
At Kallen's unbothered shrug, Ellie glared at him with an irritated tsk, as if something about it rubbed her the wrong way.
Then, pretending to relent, she took a seat on the bench and murmured to herself under her breath.
"Well... I suppose it is pretty. Nice and quiet, too..."
That stillness — as if only the two of them remained in all the world — suited Kallen just fine.
So the sun sank lazily toward the horizon, and before they knew it, a deep darkness had settled over the garden.
-BOOM! KABOOM!
With a deafening roar that rang in their ears, brilliant fireworks of every color finally erupted, stitching patterns across the night sky.
It was a breathtaking spectacle, as though they had fallen into a sea of stars.
Even Ellie, who greeted most things in life with sardonic disdain, was utterly spellbound by the beauty of it — at least for this one moment.
"Wow... it's beautiful..."
And then, beside Ellie as she stared up at the sky with wide, dazed eyes, a quiet voice spoke.
"Ellie."
"Hm? What is it all of a sudden?"
"Did you know? Here in Resville, there's a custom of giving a hairpin when you propose."
"Really? That's kind of fascinating, actually. Usually it's a ring, thou—..."
Ellie, who had been chattering as she turned her head, froze mid-motion.
Her words forgotten, her eyes had gone as wide as the full moon hanging in the sky above.
Kallen knelt on one knee before her, like a priest presiding over a sacred rite.
Resting on his outstretched palm was a small box wrapped in velvet.
And in the cascade of moonlight pouring down around them, a hairpin at last revealed itself — silver, adorned with beautiful gemstones of every color.
"Kallen... you..."
"...My body shall become your shield, and my soul shall become your shadow."
At last, Kallen spoke on, his voice trembling ever so slightly.
"I will pave the thorned road you walk with my own blood, and even the darkness of the nights you endure, I will cut down."
Once, he had memorized the knight's oath to protect the empire and its people. Now, in its entirety, it turned toward the girl before him.
"Until my heart beats its last, no enemy shall so much as graze the hem of your garment."
He was no longer Kallen, son of the ducal house. He was no longer the inheritor of a Divine Relic.
Every glory that had once been his now belonged to another — but he no longer intended to cling to such things.
At the end of his long wandering, Kallen had finally found what he wanted to do.
"I pledge this life to protecting you. I swear it, in all truth, that I shall be your most faithful blade, now and always."
What he wanted, right now, was only one thing.
To become a knight who protected one person — and one person alone.
"So, by a knight's honor... will you accept this oath?"
"..."
What followed Kallen's final words was a long silence.
Somewhere, the sound of a heart pounding could be heard — though there was no telling whose it was.
Perhaps it belonged to them both.
"Pfft."
And then, at last, a burst of laughter shattered the stillness.
"Aha, ahaha...!"
Ellie was laughing, shoulders shaking, one hand pressed over her mouth.
It went on for a long while before she finally managed to compose herself, shooting Kallen a mildly exasperated sideways glance.
"...That's hilarious, honestly. Who on earth proposes like they're reciting a formal decree? It's not like you're marching off to some battlefield..."
Then her voice dropped, sinking a little lower.
"I told you, didn't I? I don't like poor men. And mercenaries are the worst of the lot."
"But you said you liked me."
At Kallen's easy retort, Ellie flushed as though he'd struck her dead center. A moment later, she opened her mouth again with a slightly pouty look.
"...Hmph. Well, I don't like ugly men, either."
"Then I'm safe. I've never once heard the word 'ugly' in my entire life."
"...And I hate men with goody-two-shoes personalities, too. Any guy who just grins and takes it when other women so much as talk to him makes me sick."
"Not me, either."
"And I can't stand liars. I saw everything — you flirting and laughing around with Hess earlier!"
"I wasn't flirting. I was helping her carry luggage."
"What? That's hilarious! I saw her patting your back, and now you're standing there with a straight face...!"
Little by little, Ellie's voice, which had been rattling off objections one after another, grew softer. In her eyes as she looked at Kallen was a complexity beyond all words.
After a moment's hesitation, she asked him once more.
"...Kallen. Do you mean it?"
"Yes."
And Kallen nodded without a single heartbeat's worth of hesitation.
Ellie could see it — the rock-solid, unshakable weight of his resolve.
All that remained now was her own choice.
And when the long silence stretched out once more, at its end—
"...What are you doing."
Came Ellie's voice at last, sounding as though she'd given up entirely — as though she'd resigned herself to everything.
"Who just hands someone a hairpin like that? You're supposed to put it in... yourself."
"Uh...? Oh."
Ellie's cheeks, eyes closed and face tilted expectantly toward him, were glowing a deep, feverish crimson.
Only then grasping her meaning, Kallen rose slowly to his feet and stepped toward her.
"...There."
After a long, careful moment of threading his fingers through Ellie's hair, Kallen drew back slightly.
Ellie opened her eyes again, fumbling at the hairpin with awkward fingers, sneaking glances at him all the while.
"So, so...? How is it? Does it suit me...? Honestly, it might look too expensive on me..."
"It suits you perfectly."
And once again, Kallen nodded immediately, without a flicker of doubt.
"Like a goddess who just stepped down from the moon."
"...Hey. You're doing that on purpose."
Ellie snapped at him, her face burning scarlet, but Kallen only answered with a silent smile.
It was then that Ellie finally understood where her heart had been pointing all along.
She had lost completely, and any further resistance was meaningless.
Drawing close to Kallen, she slowly took both his hands in hers.
Then, in a voice small but crystal clear, she spoke.
"I... accept your oath."
"...!"
And Kallen's eyes flooded with an joy and astonishment beyond all measure.
"Ka-Kallen?"
She had braved her own embarrassment to answer him, and now he simply stood rooted to the spot. Ellie was about to stare at him in bewilderment when—
"Hey, what's gotten into you all of a sud— EEEK!!"
Kallen lunged at her without warning, sweeping her up into his arms and spinning her around and around.
A smile overflowed across his face — a smile utterly drunk on happiness.
"Wha-what are you doing?! Put me down, right now!! If anyone sees us like...! Pfft — hey!"
Ellie's near-scream of protest melted, before she knew it, into laughter.
The two of them simply held each other tight, spinning as if they would dance on and on forever. In this moment, Kallen was the happiest man alive.
Wealth. Honor. A sword.
He had lost them all — and in return, he had gained something more precious than any of them.
The news of Kallen and Ellie's engagement spread through the mercenary corps in no time.
With so few members, it took less than half a day.
"No way! Our little Kallen, already...!"
"I was planning to knock him over first... that sneaky little fox, Ellie..."
The members wailed their regrets one after another, but for the most part it was all in good, teasing fun.
Not a single soul in the corps had been unaware of the two's relationship. They had long since agreed that it was only a matter of time.
The same held true for Lenart, the corps' captain.
"...So that's how it turned out, hmm."
After a brief flash of surprise, Lenart smiled a quiet, gentle smile.
The emotion in her gaze as she looked at Kallen ran deeper and ran more tangled than any of the other members'.
"Looks like you've finally found what you wanted to do. Am I right?"
"Yeah."
Kallen nodded.
"It's all thanks to you, Lenart. Thank you."
If Ellie was his other half, Lenart was the teacher and benefactor who had made the Kallen of today possible.
Had it not been for her — the woman who had taught him everything without holding back, who had guided him every step of the way — the happiness he knew now would never have existed.
"Finding your path was something you did on your own. All I did was lend a little help along the way."
But Lenart only waved her head lightly, brushing it off.
"Congratulations, Kallen."
"Lenart..."
Lenart, who had been gripping his hand tightly, pulled him into a brief embrace.
Then she brought her lips close to his ear and whispered in a small voice.
"Always be happy. That's all I could ever ask."