Honorary Member

While I stood there with my shoulders slumped, Raul stepped away from me with a wry smile.

The one who came rushing over in his place at incredible speed was Shitoen.

For some reason, I thought she was going to throw herself into my arms.

But instead, she moved around behind my back.

What exactly was I supposed to do with the arms I’d already stretched out…?

“I think he’ll be fine, since he’s wearing a protector.”

As Raul said that, he gently lowered my awkwardly outstretched arms. He was a good guy.

“A towel!”

But Shitoen’s voice came out sharp. When Raul shrugged as if to say he didn’t have one, she did something astonishing—she tore off a piece of her cracked dress. Apparently she meant to use it instead of a towel.

She moved around behind my back and started doing something, but all I could hear were groans.

“How am I supposed to pull this out?!”

Apparently, she was trying to yank out the knife.

“Raul.”

When I called softly, Raul moved behind me as if he had been expecting it.

By then, the security knights had started arriving one after another, peering over here in alarm and uncertainty.

“Perfect timing. Form a wall. Don’t let anyone in the hall see this.”

I gave the order.

The groom with a knife stuck in his back, and the bride clinging to it…

What kind of cake-cutting was that supposed to be?

“Prince Saryu. Please undo your jacket buttons. The moment the knife comes out, I’m going to stop the bleeding!”

Shitoen sounded fired up, but…

No, I was pretty sure the wound wasn’t actually that deep, you know?

I flicked my eyes toward Raul. He was smiling wryly too, but apparently had no intention of opposing Shitoen.

“All right. I’m undoing them.”

I obediently followed instructions too. Or rather, taking off the protector was more of a hassle than removing the jacket.

“I’m pulling it out now.”

Raul said that, and behind me Shitoen seemed to brace herself. If blood spurted out, she apparently meant to press the cloth against it.

My back shook several times with a rattling motion, then Raul said, “Heave-ho,” and pulled out the dagger.

At the same time, I took off my jacket.

After that, as I took off my shirt and then the protector, Shitoen stamped her feet impatiently, which made me panic badly. A few of the knights finally took pity on me and helped, and at last I was bare from the waist up.

“…Thank goodness…”

The instant she said that, there was a sudden thump, and I hurriedly turned around.

Shitoen had dropped down to the ground and was trembling while clutching the torn scrap of dress she had ripped off herself.

“The wound’s not that bad, right?”

I smiled.

I mean, if I was going to shield her with my body, I naturally had a rough idea of how badly I’d be hurt. Maybe the tip had gone in two centimeters, maybe not. It hurt, sure, but it wasn’t unbearable, and if I kept pressure on it, the bleeding would probably stop.

And yet, Shitoen glared at me, reached out, and smacked me sharply on the leg.

“This is not something to laugh about!”

“Yes, sorry.”

I apologized with a meek expression. Well… sure, it must have been terrifying for her. But Shitoen wasn’t about to let me off that easily.

“I told you before!! Stop shielding me like that!!”

“No, but. Then what, you wanted me to let you die? That’s impossible.”

I lowered my brows.

“The woman I love was about to be killed right in front of me, and you expect me to run away without doing anything? There’s no way I could do that.”

“I can protect myself!”

Shitoen shouted desperately, but.

It just…

Made the whole mood turn awkward.

No, that was impossible, obviously.

“Why do you think I can’t?!”

Shitoen puffed out her lips and stood up. A tear that had pooled in her eye spilled over, and somehow she looked fiercely defiant.

“Well… um, being by the Captain’s side is the safest place in this country, so why not just stay there and let him protect you the whole time?”

Raul said with a forced smile, but one sharp glare from Shitoen made him clamp his mouth shut. Amazing. She silenced him with a single look.

“So then you can get hurt instead of me, like this!? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Shitoen fixed me with blazing eyes.

“I’ll take care of myself! Promise me you’ll never do that again!”

“Then Shitoen, you promise me something too.”

I folded my arms and bent down so my eyes would meet hers.

“A promise? What kind?”

Shitoen knitted her brows.

“That you’ll properly learn the self-defense techniques I teach you.”

The moment I said that, her whole face brightened.

“Yes! Yes, of course, I’ll learn!”

“But until I say, ‘All right, now you’re fine,’ don’t leave my side.”

“…Huh?”

At her confused tilt of the head, I twisted my mouth into a grim line.

“I don’t know why, but apparently someone’s trying to kill you. I don’t think the attacker is going to give up that easily… They’ll probably come after you again. So if you can protect yourself, there’s nothing better than that. But.”

I softened my tone as if explaining something to a child.

“Even if I teach you self-defense for just one day, I don’t think that’ll be enough for you to actually use it. Even the knights here trained for years—decades—to reach the level they have now. It’s the same for you, right? That medical knowledge of yours—did you learn it all overnight?”

Shitoen timidly shook her head.

“So I’ll teach you self-defense until the point where I can say, ‘Shitoen will be all right even on her own now.’ Until you’ve learned it, stay where I can reach you. Otherwise I won’t be able to relax. Understood?”

When I pressed the point, she finally nodded, albeit reluctantly.

“Good. Then starting tomorrow, you’ll be an apprentice of our knight order, so everyone, take good care of her.”

I straightened up and called out to the knights forming the wall. At once, laughter burst out around us.

“Ah!! Isn’t that actually a great idea?!”

Raul suddenly shouted at the top of his voice.

“What? Which part?”

I asked.

“The clothes!! We still have to see off the guests now… The Captain can somehow manage with his uniform… but Lady Shitoen doesn’t have a spare dress, does she? And she already tore hers.”

At that, I looked Shitoen over carefully.

Really.

It was a complete wreck.

“She should wear one of our spare uniforms too. Since she joined the household as a bride, that makes her an honorary member of our knight order as well!!”

At Raul’s words, I snapped my fingers and said, “I’m in!”

“Someone bring a spare uniform!”