Shadowless Night

‘Nestor Sihorge.’

Many people saw her fight with him. The reason people had not applied to work under Rosaline was because of the widespread perception that she wouldn’t be able to give them what they wanted most. They wanted to meet and be taught by a superior with excellent sword skills. As long as he had exceptional skills, even a senior knight with an eccentric personality would have a high application rate.

However, the knight called Rosaline was known to everyone in the Knights of the White Night as a not very strong knight. ‘She is reticent and sincere, but from a family opposite to 2nd Prince Ricardis. She is a woman and weak.’ She was even looked down on by lesser knights. So there had been no apprentice knights who had asked for her teachings. However, as of yesterday, the perception that had spread throughout the Knights of White Night was shattered into pieces. The lesser knight Nestor was a person with a good balance of strength and skill. He was known to be the strongest among the lesser knights of his age…

Well, he had been…

He lost his sword within 3 seconds of the start of the match and got knocked out by Rosaline’s first strike in the second round. He even left the arena in the arms of his opponent that was 10 centimeters shorter and much thinner than him. His departure was as shocking as her victory.

“And that’s why I came looking for you. You have to pick some people, Sir Rosaline.”

With Raymond standing by the doorway, holding the apprentices’ applications, Rosaline was rummaging through her room. She wandered around her room bustling around for a while. Rosaline left quite the impression as she folded her hands after spreading out on the table a children’s book, a ring representing the Radwiell family, and a set of macarons that Raymond had just brought to her. She looked troubled. Raymond intervened after seeing the wrinkles on her forehead.

“What are you doing, Rosaline?”

“Preparing for a visit.”

There should be only one person she wanted to visit now: Nestor Sihorge, whom she had beaten into a pulp. She was very good at having the common sense to visit her injured coworker, but the objects on the table were the problem. A fairy tale book, a ring of the Radwiell family, and a macaron set? ‘Don’t tell me…’

“Are you picking a visitation gift, or something, from those… Roselle? Please say no. Come on.”

Raymond unconsciously made a serious expression. Rosaline nodded her head with a carefree look. He was right— a visitation gift.

“I saw it in a book. When visiting, flowers and gifts should be given as a means of wishing for a speedy recovery.”

‘Children’s books and macarons can be categorized as her precious things. Such a cute child! Good kid!’ Raymond covered his mouth with his hand and smiled, then turned serious again.

“You can’t give out your ring. Unless you’re planning to marry him.”

“Ah.”

Rosaline grabbed the ring and hung it on her necklace. She didn’t want to marry Nestor. After thinking for a while between the two, she picked up the macaron set. It was, of course, the expensive kind from a famous dessert bakery. It wasn’t a perfect gift for a manly knight, but… ‘You know what. Whatever Rosaline gives, you only have to say thank you and receive it.’

***

“Thank you for the gift… Glory to Idelavhim who parts the black moon. Sir Rosaline, Lieutenant Raymond.”

“Glory to Idelavhim. Is your body okay?”

With trembling hands, Nestor received a set of macarons wrapped in a pale pastel wrapper and a bunch of yellow wildflowers pulled out by their roots. ‘What the hell is this combination of a box tied with a pink lace ribbon and this weed still dripping soil from its roots. Is this girl fucking with me?’ This thought was strong. Nevertheless, his attitude was very polite. He bowed his head and received them with both hands as if receiving a gift from His Highness the Prince.

“Thank you for your concern. I feel much better.”

He didn’t look good. His voice was rough, and his face had shrunk in just one day. One couldn’t even find where his usual joy and confidence had gone.

“I wasn’t concerned,” Rosaline responded directly to Nestor’s words.

Contrary to the crumpled expression on Nestor’s face, Rosaline was still calm. Raymond was standing behind Rosaline and quietly covered his eyes. This honesty was too much. ‘When we leave the hospital, I have to teach her that such words are just formality…’

Nestor was upset. ‘I truly think this woman is fucking with me.’ The thought never left his mind.

“Ah, so… you see…”

Nestor replied with some nonsense, “I’m glad you were not concerned… If you worry too much, you won’t be able to sleep well and it will be bad for you…”

When he couldn’t make complete eye contact with her, Rosaline placed her hand under Nestor’s chin, making him meet her eyes. Nestor and Raymond’s eyes widened as the scene unfolded. She grabbed his face and turned it around, scanning for wounds with her eyes.

“You have bruises.”

“Of course! Sir, just yesterday you… I mean, no! It is because I’m weak!”

“It hurts when you bruise.”

“Eh? Yes, it is. Bruising hurts!”

“Be more careful.”

‘Are you saying he’s going to lose again?’ The two men were silently astonished.

Rosaline moved the one hand holding his chin and gently brushed the messy hair back over his bruised face. It was disgusting to see, so she unconsciously lifted her hand. Nestor had thought that he was about to get beaten again and trembled as she played her game, but then he gave a blank expression to Rosaline’s gentle touch.

“I’ll be concerned, so you should get well soon.”

Raymond stared at Rosaline foolishly. A rough knight and a man formed a strange atmosphere in the quiet space. Starlight was falling in Nestor’s eyes. It seemed as if a gentle breeze was blowing through the open window, carrying the scent of flowers. Raymond stood far away like a sack of barley, guarding this absurd situation. Nestor’s face, covered in black bruises, turned red. Nestor barely squeezed out a thank you with a bruised and blushing face.

Raymond shook his head. He knew she was acting without much emotion, but it seemed very, somewhat… like a male knight in a novel seducing an innocent country girl. The unsuspecting country girl, Nestor, continued to look at Rosaline passionately until she left his hospital room.

With utmost sincerity, the patient took care of those who came to the hospital. He laid his handkerchief on the plain chair, placed the wild plants and bunches of wildflowers she had pulled from the flower bed into a pretty vase, and hand-carved the precious fruits his colleagues had gifted him for Rosaline. Rosaline took him for granted and ate it. Nestor consistently looked at her with a happy face throughout her visit.

When Rosaline left the ward, her hands were full of gifts from Nestor. With an excited look on her face, she said that visiting was a good thing. Raymond asked in a tired voice.

“Just now… Why did you do that just now, Rosaline? You just touched… Sir Nestor’s face with your hands… right there.”

“To convey my wishes of recovery.”

Raymond closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. ‘I miss Calyx, who I am not even very close to.’

***

The apprentice knights who had applied for Rosaline had gathered at a corner of the training grounds. As they practiced wielding their swords, they saw a man and a woman walking from afar and saluted in a hurry. It was Rosaline and her best friend, the deputy commander’s assistant, Raymond.

“Glory to Idelavhim who parts the black moon!”

When the fifteen people gathered together, their voices resounded in that space. The eyes of many apprentice knights were dazzling. Seeing their eyes full of anticipation, Raymond smiled inwardly. He remembered for a moment when Rosaline was his apprentice knight. ‘She was younger than she is now, she was shorter than she is now, and she was smarter than she is now… No, let’s not think about that.’ Raymond settled his heart down and raised his voice.

“Have all the glories of Idelavhim gathered here?”

“Yes, Lieutenant Raymond.”

Fifteen people lined up. Most were male knights, but there were also two women. Raymond handed the applications over to Rosaline. Every time she flips a page, he speaks behind her, “Oh, this is the second kid from the left, over there,” and tells her various information about their families, motives for application, specialties, and hobbies as described in the application forms.

But this wasn’t the information Rosaline needed. Rosaline hadn’t spent a long time with humans, but in that brief period, she did understand that one couldn’t contain all of a person’s information on a single sheet of paper. Rosaline handed the papers back to Raymond.

Rosaline glanced at those who stood there with tense expressions on their faces. Then stood in front of the knight on the far left. It was a knight whose information she hadn’t read. She didn’t know either his name or his family. Rosaline looked silently into the eyes of the apprentice knight. One second, two seconds, three seconds, ten seconds, thirty seconds, sixty seconds… The apprentice knight who received Rosaline’s gaze gradually felt the thirst burning in his throat as time passed. The shaded green eyes looked as dark as the deepest part of a forest. It seemed as if something was moving in it. ‘Did I write something wrong in my application?’ He thought if he did, it’s okay to be scolded. He only hoped that she would say something to him.

After a while, Rosaline moved in front of the apprentice knight next to him. The first applicant released a small sigh of relief and prayed for the well-being of his comrade standing next to him. Contrary to his expectations, however, Senior Knight Rosaline only looked for a second at the second applicant and immediately moved on to the third.