Shadowless Night
chapter-17

No one knew what her standard was. She stayed in front of someone for a few minutes while in front of another one, she passed by without even sparing a glance. She returned to Raymond’s side only after meeting each of the fifteen people once like that.

“Do I have to pick all five?”

“No, the maximum capacity is five people. Do whatever you want.”

“You and you. I wish the rest of you all the best in the future.”

“The man is Eberhard. The woman is Leticia.”

“Eberhard, Leticia. I hope we get along well in the future.”

It was a male knight with ultramarine blue hair, who had received her attention the longest, and a female knight with auburn hair, who was taller than Rosaline. The two looked at each other and jumped with joy.

“Thank you. Sir Rosaline. I’m Leticia Frosthornfal, an apprentice knight who is now in her 3rd year. We will do our best to meet your expectations. Take good care of me!”

[T/N: Finally, a normal name?]

“This one is Eberhard Roots. It has been four years since I became an apprentice knight. I will do my best so that you will have no regrets for choosing me. Take good care of me!”

They tried to straighten their expression, but in the end, they couldn’t hide the laughter creeping up. Rosaline also had a slight smile on her expressionless face. One would say that apprentice knights are like the limbs of senior knights. Some senior knights recruited apprentices based solely on their applications, but Rosaline wanted to see them in person. Paper documents alone cannot tell their thoughts, their eyes, and the feelings they express for Rosaline. That was also the reason why Rosaline carefully looked at the fifteen applicants.

‘He has dirty eyes. He is looking down on Rosaline. He is staring at Raymond, and this one even has no idea why he applied to me. This one only applied because other people also applied.’

That only left two people in the chaotic group. They also had a lot of greed in their eyes, but it came from a desire to meet a good senior knight and improve their skills. In addition, although it was a little burdensome, there was even somehow a light of respect in the eyes looking at her.

Her sixth sense was excellent. Compared to humans who have a common language and communicate with each other, many living things in the mountains have as many different languages and habits as the number of individuals, making it almost impossible to communicate. Her sixth sense became nurtured thanks to that. She could only read the actions of the other creatures, their moods, or even the circumstances around them. As much as Rosaline had lived for a long time and had lived with many other animals, she had eyes to see. She could see through the people dressed in flashy words. In Rosaline’s eyes, the two knights she picked were pretty decent people. Perhaps a mix of other senior knights would have still chosen these people as well.

Except for the two designated apprentices, the other apprentice knights frowned as if they were very offended. Leticia came from a powerless, fallen aristocrat family who had nothing to do with the capital. She even picked out Eberhard ‘Roots’, a family name used by commoners who did not receive a title. A commoner and a fallen aristocrat? You will only have those two around? When it comes to senior knights, they tend to gather forces to rise further, but Rosaline Radwiell didn’t seem to know that. They tried to silence the unpleasant feelings inside.

At Raymond’s gesture, they dispersed, leaving only Eberhard and Leticia. Their faces were flushed. Rosaline was a little burdened by their passionate eyes.

“Eberhard, Leticia.”

“Yes!”

“You will leave the apprentice knight’s dormitory and will be assigned near Sir Rosaline’s quarters. You will do your best not to interfere with the life and mission of Sir Rosaline, and this will continue until you become lesser knights and pay your allegiance to His Highness the Prince. As much as you respect and follow Sir Rosaline, so too will Sir Rosaline teach and guide you. Do you have any objections?”

“No, I don’t!”

“No, I don’t!”

Eberhard couldn’t hide it anymore and was smiling. Apprentice knights were knights only by name and were not officially appointed. Because of this, he was not paid a salary and received no education other than basic instruction. He lived in a shabby and dilapidated building with several dozen people, and he had to cover his living expenses himself.

For them, a senior knight was both a teacher and a master, and it was something that guaranteed a stable life. They were now able to leave the side room and stay in the dormitory of the senior knight.

Of course, it won’t be as luxurious as Rosaline’s room, but it’s nothing compared to the places they have been. Although they were not yet formally ordained as lesser knights, their years of hard work seemed to melt away. Leticia’s eyes flashed as she calmed the emotions rising to her eyes and smiled broadly.

“Please take good care of us!”

***

“As of today, I, Senior Knight Rosaline Radwiell, have been commissioned to escort the 2nd Prince. I will sacrifice my life for this.”

It was a few days later. Rosaline was assigned to escort Ricardis only after the formalities and handover were completed. Ricardis flapped his paper on a wooden table. He didn’t seem to care too much whether the person in front of him saluted or greeted him.

Rosaline took a deep breath under her bland expression. It was because her response at her inauguration ceremony left a deep impression. She still vividly remembers the sound of her heart beating as she encountered Ricardis. His handsome face was still there, but fortunately, her heart was cruising calmly at this moment.

He opened his mouth without taking his eyes off the papers as he wrote and read something by tracing it with a quill. His voice rang as he languidly sat.

“I would have said I don’t need your life, Sir Rose.”

Rosaline rolled her eyes and looked down at his shiny silver hair. Although Calyx had taught her ‘conversation is not done alone, it is interacting with other people’, Ricardis seemed like a man who didn’t even know this simple thing. His gaze did not leave the table and the edge of the paper. Ricardis was so focused on his work that it was hard to believe that he had spoken to her.

Rose. Edelweiss, Rosaline’s mother, also called her Rose. When she asked Calyx, he said it was a nickname for ‘Rosaline’. Honestly, she hated the nickname. She thought she was different from that flower, so she was quite offended by this ‘Rose’ nickname. Did the handsome man in front of her know that and deliberately use it?

“Are you listening, Sir Rose?” He said as if he knew what she was thinking.

He wore a smile that was more dazzling than the bright sunlight. A man so beautiful that it felt sacred when he spoke a nickname such as ‘Rose’ to the shabby, dark-haired female knight in front of him.

The inauguration and now. Rosaline and Ricardis have only had two encounters so far. However, she was aware his occasional words and emotions contained in his gaze were not very favorable towards her. So, it was right to think that the name ‘Rose’ was not based on any affection.

Perhaps Rosaline didn’t have a good relationship with this man. Even though she wanted to protect this man when she was on the brink of death, that didn’t seem to guarantee any close relationship between the two.

Ricardis tickled her with a non-smiling look. Rosaline bowed her head slightly and opened her mouth.

“I am listening, Your Highness.”

“Anyway, to come back alive between those poisons and magic, you are more talented than I thought.”

“Thank you for your compliment.”

“Is there something wrong with your memory? I heard from Sir Starz.”

It was a plain and unassuming voice for talking about a person’s sensitive matters. But Rosaline was not a person who’d be offended by such negligence. She also responded calmly.

“That’s right.”

“What do you know, and what do you not know?”

Ricardis’ question was quite difficult to answer. ‘What do you know, and what do you not know?’ She didn’t have the ability to measure the scope in the first place. ‘In preparation for this kind of situation, there is something Calyx taught me. I don’t know anything. I don’t remember anything.’ He said those were magic words that would shut others up.

She started to rhyme “nothing” as Calyx had told her, but Ricardis cut her off before she could finish her speech.

“You know nothing?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

He held his chin, and bright silver hair glided down as he moved. Ricardis stared at her.

She had the same face as before, but somehow she felt like a different person. He couldn’t tell if it was because of the short-response style of speaking or because she was without the desperate look she used to have on her face— always fidgeting and looking at him as if she had something to say. She didn’t have the look of someone who would say she’d do as ordered without any resistance even if he told her to pull out her knife and kill herself right away. In his final analysis, she was less annoying than before.

“I look forward to your performance, Sir Rose.”

“Yes.”

Rosaline’s eyebrows twitched. The name that came out of his mouth seemed to make her uncomfortable. Ricardis smirked inwardly. ‘Yes, yes. I understand, Your Highness. I’ll take your orders, Your Highness.’ She looked very different from the woman she used to be.

Rosaline saluted and then stood right next to his table. When Ricardis was in the office, the layout was such that there were two people at the door, two people inside the office, three people outside the office and by the window. Rosaline was assigned the role of escorting him in his office. In fact, in the case of an idiot knight, everything and everyone is filtered at the front door, so there is little chance of a risk factor entering the office. Rosaline was said to have beaten Nestor, but it was still not enough to win the trust of the senior knights. Therefore, she was placed in a relatively low-risk office space.