The Amber Knight Swears His Love on the Saintess’s Left Hand - Chapter 23

Lynette decided to go to the cathedral the day before Quill’s suspension was set to lift.

This was the first time Quill had seen her dressed in her official capacity as the Saint. The pure white dress was cinched just below the bust, falling naturally from there in a straight line. With no ornamentation whatsoever, the garment looked so much like a nightgown that it took him aback.

“You’re going out looking like that!?”

“If I do not enter the cathedral gates in this manner, I will offend the Holy Sword’s temperament.”

She spoke of the weapon as if it were a temperamental child.

A sword with a temperament? Quill wondered, but he offered his arm regardless. The performance of appearing as a devoted fiancé had finally begun to feel natural to him.

As they neared the central district, the number of piercing stares increased.

He tried to tell himself it was business as usual, but today, the gazes felt laced with a distinct sense of condemnation.

Perhaps the recent monster incident had stirred things up in the wrong direction. He realized he shouldn’t have let Lynette walk while looking every bit the Saint.

Relieved that he had arranged for a carriage on the return trip, Quill quickened his pace slightly. He hurried toward the cathedral, adjusting his speed so Lynette could keep up. She remained silent, her fingertips pressing firmly into Quill’s arm.

When they arrived, the gatekeeper glared at them with sharp, suspicious eyes. The guard hurried Lynette inside, leaving Quill behind.

—What on earth is going on?

In the capital, this engagement was supposed to have been received favorably. Yet, what he felt today was unmistakable malice.

He turned his back on the cathedral and began walking toward the headquarters. Suddenly, a hand tugged at his sleeve.

It was the boy he had saved during the Black Wolf chaos.

“I’m glad to see you’re safe.”

The boy, who was about the same age as Adele, nodded silently and began walking while still holding Quill’s sleeve. There was a sense of urgency in the child’s posture.

He led Quill into a back alley. Once he was sure no one was around, the boy pulled a bundle of crumpled papers from his pocket.

“These were all over town.”

His high-pitched, pre-pubescent voice trembled slightly.

Quill unfolded the papers. Every single one bore the same message, written in a rough, scrawled hand:

“The Saint has been defiled by the blood of Betzyraft.”

The boy looked up at Quill with concern. The bundle easily exceeded twenty pages.

“Did you go around tearing these down?”

“I could only gather a few.”

Quill instinctively reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Thank you. But don’t worry about this anymore. I don’t want you getting in trouble for trying to help.”

After making sure the boy nodded, Quill gave him a gentle pat on the back.

He stuffed the bundle of paper into his pocket and ran toward the headquarters.

＊　＊　＊

When he arrived at the station, his subordinates in the Second Squad greeted him with looks of shock.

“Captain! You shouldn’t be here right now. You ought to stay at the manor!”

“So, everyone already knows about the posters?”

“Yes. They started appearing right after the monster attack.”

As he listened to the report, Quill headed for the Commander’s office.

Inside, Sascha and Geis were huddled together with grim expressions. However, the moment Quill entered, they wiped their faces clean.

“What’s this? Am I seeing a phantom of a subordinate who’s supposed to be suspended?”

“I see it too. Maybe we’re just overworked,” Sascha added.

Quill didn’t have the luxury of laughing at their clumsy feigned ignorance. He slammed the bundle of paper onto the table.

“Has there been any damage here?”

This was what he wanted to confirm first. Everyone in the capital knew who Quill was. If such slander was spreading, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Knights were targeted perhaps even having stones thrown at the building.

Geis answered Quill’s question.

“If you want to talk about damage, we’ve got it. My Second Captain is suspended and we’re short-handed.”

“Is that due to the number of extermination requests?”

“The numbers have spiked since then. We don’t know why, but they’re starting to concentrate around the capital.”

Quill looked down at the papers.

When the boy had shown him these, not a shred of indignation had risen within him. Instead, he had thought: It’s possible.

He feared that because of his Betzyraft blood, Lynette’s protection might have been negatively affected.

Why had she suddenly regained her emotions? Could that very change be proof that the Saint’s power was waning?

Geis slapped Quill on the back—hard. The blow landed right on his newly healed wound, making Quill drop to one knee with a muffled groan.

“What was that for!?”

“For wearing such a gloom-and-doom face.”

Laughing heartily, Geis ripped the bundle of posters to shreds. Since he scattered them all over the floor, Sascha and Quill were left with the task of picking them up. Quill wished the man would consider the person who had to clean.

“I suspect Earl Ceryes is behind most of this. Is Lady Lynette at the cathedral?”

“Yes. I’m supposed to pick her up in an hour.”

Geis picked up a scrap of paper, scribbled something on the back, and handed it to Sascha.

“Go ask Prince Leonard to come down. He should be with the White Knights today discussing ball security. In the worst-case scenario, Lady Lynette might not be allowed to leave the cathedral.”

Quill recalled the sharp glare of the gatekeeper. He didn’t think Geis was being hyperbolic.

As Sascha left the room, Geis placed a hand on Quill’s shoulder.

“Quill. What do you want to do with this engagement?”

Quill blinked repeatedly at the unexpected question.

—What do I want to do with it?

“I know you weren’t keen on it. I figured that even if it fell through and you got stuck with a scandal, you’d be fine with it as long as it kept other suitors away. If you still feel that way, this is a good opportunity to end it.”

Quill had no rebuttal. Hearing it from someone else now made him realize just how half-hearted his initial resolve had been.

Either way, he could have escaped from marriage talks, balls, and the annoying world of the nobility. He had simply nodded along to the Crown Prince’s suggestion.

Quill reflected on his behavior since then. He had bought a cheap Pledge Lock, failed to greet her on the first day, never returned to the townhouse, and his letters to Lynette had been mere two-line updates.

Wait, he realized.

“…I’ve been a pretty terrible fiancé, haven’t I?”

“You’re just noticing that now? Seriously?”

But then, there had been the mock battle. He had been overwhelmed by the difference between himself who had done nothing but despair over his Betzyraft blood and her. That was when he learned of Lynette’s strength.

He had also seen the vulnerability she recorded in her notebook. He had seen the resignation in her eyes when she said she had grown “used” to the role of the Saint.

And then, Quill had seen the moment she blossomed. The moment he saw her tears, he felt that, finally, they could truly begin to know each other.

Was he going to let a few scraps of paper get in the way of that?

What had he thought while standing before Marquis Claussen?

Had he not felt that he lacked the power to be Lynette Ceryes’s fiancé?

“I can’t let it end here. We haven’t even started yet.”

Geis’s hand on his shoulder squeezed in a gesture of encouragement.

“So even the sturdiest ice wall melts in the spring, eh?”

Just then, Sascha burst back in, his knock as perfunctory as ever.

Prince Leonard was behind him. The moment he saw Quill, a smile touched his lips.

“Fiancé of the Saint. Have you finally gotten into the spirit of things?”

The words were irritatingly perceptive, but Quill simply answered with a firm nod.

＊　＊　＊

Quill waited for Lynette in the cathedral plaza.

The gatekeeper’s gaze was far sharper than it had been that morning. One of those posters had been purposefully plastered right on the gate. People entering the square whispered amongst themselves before scurrying away.

Quill was used to malice that pricked like needles.

He stood tall before the gate, looking up at the bone-white cathedral.

Eventually, the sound of grinding metal echoed as the gates opened. First Leonard appeared, and then Lynette, supported by Juliana.

Shocked by her look of total exhaustion, Quill rushed to her side.

“Lady Ceryes!”

At his call, Lynette weakly raised her right hand and took Quill’s, clinging to him.

“What… what is the meaning of this?”

He asked Leonard, but was met with silence. What a Saint does inside the cathedral is a secret. Quill had no right to know.

Juliana stroked Lynette’s back, her voice trembling slightly.

“Take her back to the manor quickly. You’re off duty today, right? Please, stay by her side. I beg you.”

Sensing something ominous in her tone, Quill boarded the carriage with Lynette.

As soon as they began to move, Lynette’s fingers curled around his pinky.

He drew her close by the shoulder, letting her lean against him while her eyes remained closed.

Inside Quill’s hand, Lynette’s left hand would not stop shaking.