One Day, My Fiancé Brought His First Love Along - Chapter 49

A noble lady carefully set down a small, translucent bottle—no larger than a palm—onto the table. She then brought her wrist close to her nose.

“Mmm. As I thought, the scent is simply exquisite. It was worth the trouble acquiring it.”

It had been extraordinarily difficult to obtain. Only after doubling the price was she finally able to get her hands on the perfume.

Its scarcity only heightened its value, especially in a society where vanity and extravagance reigned supreme. In such circles, owning a perfume like this granted one considerable influence.

So, she had been using it sparingly and with great satisfaction. Yet now, the pale yellow liquid was nearing its end.

“I must reorder before it runs out.”

She clicked her tongue softly and brought her wrist to her nose one last time, inhaling deeply.

“…What?”

Dozens of bright yellow butterflies suddenly swarmed toward her.

“Kyaaa!”

In a room that had been empty just moments ago, the cloud of butterflies engulfed her face and obscured her vision. Screaming in panic, she frantically tried to swat them away, waving both hands in the air.

“My lady!”

The door burst open as a maid rushed in, only to freeze in horror and let out a shocked cry.

“Quick! Fetch a physician!”

The noble lady thrashed her arms wildly at the empty air, as if fighting an invisible enemy. Her cheeks and forehead were scratched red from striking her own face while trying to fend off the nonexistent butterflies.

“Get rid of them! Hurry! Get these butterflies away from me!”

The maid instinctively stepped back from her mistress, who now screamed like a madwoman.

They had to summon a physician immediately, find out why the mistress—who had been perfectly fine just moments ago—had suddenly gone mad, check whether she was possessed by a spirit, and above all, keep this incident a secret.

They needed to shut every mouth before rumors spread.

Aileen trained with near-maniacal intensity. Since Edys had personally arranged the opportunity for her, it was certain that Carlisle would participate.

“This still isn’t enough…”

Carlisle’s skills hadn’t dulled in the slightest—in fact, they had improved. Looking back, the duels he’d engaged in while resting from active duty had been merely relaxed exhibitions. His true strength exceeded what he’d shown.

Even when simply standing still, he radiated an overwhelming pressure. His sword slashed through the air with both sharpness and weight, yet flowed with graceful precision as he redirected incoming strikes.

While she had endured a period of stagnation, Carlisle had relentlessly moved forward.

“I have to win.”

Not because of any personal grudge. It was a pure, earnest desire—to defeat the strongest knight in the Empire.

“What am I doing wrong?”

Frustrated, Aileen drove her blade into the tree in front of her and wiped her sweat-soaked forehead with her forearm.

Beads of sweat trickled down her cheek and clung to the sharp tip of her chin before dropping to the ground.

“I’m sure everything up to this point is correct, but I can’t figure out what comes next…”

Muttering, she replayed the sequence of movements she’d repeated over and over again.

It was a technique she had developed, specialized for her light and agile frame. The flow of movement had been smooth—until it hit an invisible wall, blocking her from going further.

If she could just push past this point, if she could break through… it would be complete.

Lingering in frustration, she eventually stepped away.

After she disappeared into the dense trees, a tall figure emerged from the shadows.

He silently traced the countless marks Aileen had left behind with his fingers.

After standing motionless for a long time, he raised his sword and swung it several times before vanishing without a trace.

The next day, after completing all her duties with the knight order, Aileen returned to the inner part of the forest and picked up her sword just like before. She stared intently at the tree in front of her.

Recalling the traces she had left, she tried to identify what had gone wrong.

“…Huh?”

There was a peculiar mark. It looked chaotic, but something about its shape drew the eye—so much so that she wondered how she hadn’t noticed it before.

“This is it.”

A shiver like a lightning strike ran down the back of her head. Riding that sensation, Aileen raised her sword and swung.

Like a winding river, the arc of her blade flowed smoothly. The wind rippled, and the air shivered with a delicate hum.

Then, at the precise moment the current reached an impasse, the fluid motion hardened into ice—and transformed into a sharp awl that pierced forward with lethal precision.

With a resounding crack, the center of a tree—so thick even Aileen couldn’t wrap her arms around it—was blasted open.

“I did it!”

Panting heavily, she trembled with joy as the exhilaration overwhelmed her.

She had struggled so long to perfect this technique—days spent in agony, chasing the elusive breakthrough that never seemed to come.

That she would finally realize it like this… it was almost unbelievable.

This was a technique she had been secretly refining for the swordsmanship tournament. As the day approached, her anxiety had grown. She hadn’t been able to reveal it to anyone, and the secrecy had been unbearable.

Aileen leapt with joy, unable to contain herself, and after jumping up and down for some time, she finally left the forest.

After Aileen disappeared, a tall man leapt down from the large tree. His movement was light, as if he were walking on clouds.

Carlisle stepped out from the dense thicket with long strides. A leaf that had fallen near his shoulder was swept away by a sudden gust of wind and drifted far into the distance.

“This should be enough,”
he murmured quietly.

He had already known that Aileen was secretly developing her own style of swordsmanship.
It was something she had often spoken of since long ago, almost like a habit. And during joint training sessions, the hints in her movements made it easy to infer the truth.

That was why he had come to the place they used to visit together.
He wanted to help.
If he couldn’t stand by her openly, he at least wanted to support her from behind.

Whatever Aileen desired, he wanted to grant it. No matter what happened, he didn’t want her to ever face despair.

Even so, if she were to find out that he had helped—

“She’d hate it. Absolutely hate it.”

A faint, bitter smile flickered at the corner of Carlisle’s lips.

He clenched and unclenched his large, bony hands—hands that had grown even more defined compared to some time ago—and slowly looked around.
This was the place where their memories were etched.

Back when Aileen was a knight of the Sel Order, the two of them would often spar somewhere within the palace forest.

It was a place they had found while searching for somewhere free from the eyes of others.

—”Carlisle, look here! Can you believe such a place exists?”

Her face, radiant in the sunlight and sparkling with joy, had mesmerized him. Carlisle had taken a moment too long to respond, because he had been too busy etching her image into his mind.

—”We can train here from now on. It kind of reminds me of our academy days. Don’t you think so, Carlisle?”

—”Yeah.”

Anywhere was fine, as long as it was with you.
Even if it was a mire that would drag me into ruin—I’d still go with you.

But the feelings were so dark, so heavy and clinging, he couldn’t bring himself to say them aloud.

Unaware of his turmoil, Aileen simply smiled brightly, lost in nostalgia over their academy days.

—”We first met in a forest too, remember? You were practicing your swordsmanship, and I found you.”

Her exaggerated prideful expression as she recalled the memory was so endearing that Carlisle couldn’t help but reach out to tuck her hair behind her ear.

A few strands of hair had fallen to the side, and he gently pushed them back.
When the warmth of his fingers brushed against her ear, her earlobes instantly flushed red like flames leaping up from a spark.

—”Your hair was stuck to your cheek.”

—”Thanks.”

Just like the sea frozen solid from winter’s biting winds, the cold, emotionless expression Carlisle always wore melted away effortlessly in front of Aileen.

Aileen, too, would crumble at the sight of his unguarded face, her heart always pounding—longing to see the raw, vulnerable self that lay beneath the broken ice.

—”That was the first time I saw such beautiful swordsmanship.”

That was you, Carlisle.

Her eyes drifted to his lips as they moved softly. She’d heard it before—many times—but never once had it bored her.

—”And it was so smooth and clean, the way it landed. You were amazing.”

So are you.
And I’d known you even before that day, Aileen.

The words he couldn’t say were swallowed with the weight of unspoken thoughts.

Aileen believed that was their first meeting, but that wasn’t the truth. Carlisle had known her long before then.

At the time, he had never imagined Aileen would come to love him.

Those days had been nothing short of a miracle.

Carlisle, drowning in memories that could never fade, lingered in silence before finally turning to leave.

The tournament was now just a day away.
Because this would be the first-ever swordsmanship competition held between Imperial knight orders, Emperor Edys had invested great effort into the event.

As proof, a grand celebration and a ceremonial parade were scheduled before the matches, drawing the eyes of the entire Empire.

“We could just start with the preliminaries… Why even bother with the banquet?”

Grumbling under her breath, Aileen’s muttering was caught by Sera, who stiffened and responded in a stern tone.

“Of course it must be grand—it’s the first tournament, after all! And yet our lady won’t be attending such an important banquet… My heart aches terribly.”

“I’m competing in the preliminaries. I can’t help it.”

“I had every confidence I could make you the most beautiful woman in the world… It’s such a shame, my lady. What good is a military parade without a banquet?”

Sera dramatically thumped her chest in protest.

Aileen smiled awkwardly, trying to calm her down.

“I’m a knight, remember? I’m one of the main participants in this tournament. So this is just natural. Don’t worry, Sera. At the next banquet, I promise—I’ll sit still and let you dress me up however you want, no complaints.”

“Really? Really now? You promised?”

“Yes, I swear.”

Sera’s somber face lit up instantly. After sending her off with a laugh, Aileen began preparing to enter the palace.

“They said today’s the dress rehearsal for the parade, right?”

It had been a long time since she attended such an event. The last time was back when she served in the Sel Order.

Nostalgia tugged at her heart, but Aileen shook it off and headed for the Imperial Palace.

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