I’m Not the Final Boss’ Lover

The moment he heard this, a suspicion crossed Fabian’s mind. Even as he thought he was overreacting, Fabian secretly looked into who had raided the dungeon Jun was supposed to be in. As the saying went, most fears were bound to come true. The Dark Knights had been the ones to clear the dungeon, which meant there was a possibility that Jun had encountered them. Yet rather than feeling relieved that she might be alive, he was struck by anxiety. He couldn’t stop wondering what he was supposed to do if Jun had really joined the Dark Knights. If her information ended up being used for them, then… Then that would be the worst. This was why he had left her to die…!

But no matter how much he thought about it, it was unlikely that Mayer Knox would have Jun as his vice-captain. The man didn’t treat individuals that were unhelpful in dungeon raids as even human, yet people talked of him keeping a support mage as his right hand? Not to mention, Jun was around level 20 a year ago. Even if she had labored this entire time leveling up, level 30 would be the most she could have reached. And that wasn’t enough to become the vice-captain of the Dark Knights.

All the circumstances pointed to Jun being the rumored vice-captain. Yet, basing his conjectures on his logic and information, Fabian vehemently denied it. He believed it was all a lie, and that he would get to the bottom of this at the performance report meeting. That misinformation had spread by word of mouth when the truth was that Mayer had taken in a talented individual with gray hair.

But what Fabian came to face in the meeting was the reality he had never hoped for. He recalled what he had seen: a woman with a slender nose and chin offset by brilliant scarlet eyes and head of gray. Her long limbs moved gracefully, clad in a uniform of the Dark Knights that nicely matched her slim body. In Fabian’s memories, she was always dressed in simple and modest clothes. His corps certainly wasn’t a wealthy group, and Jun in particular had gone through all kinds of hardship as she was with him since the early to middle days.

Fabian could still remember how every time her robe got burnt during dungeon raids, she would insist they could still be worn and patched them up herself. At first, he had felt a sense of unity as fellow commoners, but even after they had become the best corps out there, Jun remained the same. Because her stats were poor despite her high level.

He thought it was grubby, the way she saved money to buy equipment to catch up to the rest of them. She also looked a bit boorish, what with how she never really got used to imperial etiquette despite having attended so many performance report meetings. Fabian, Decca, and April were given lessons on this subject from the other corps members who were of nobility, but Jun didn’t get that opportunity. And even though he knew this, he merely thought she had to work harder then. She was falling behind because she was a support mage, to begin with. Wasn’t it only natural to put in the effort to keep up? Didn’t he also work hard to level the score with Mayer Knox and the Dark Knights?

But Jun Karentia reappeared before Fabian’s eyes without even a trace of her former shabby self. Looking confident and assured like a born aristocrat, exuding an aloof air of dignity.

Fabian wondered if he really hadn’t been seeing wrong. He had only managed to catch a glimpse of her face as she passed by, so all he could confirm was the sight of her back. Determined to make things clear, he continued to chase after Jun, but she was too far away. The Dark Knights were seated right before the emperor, while Fabian Corps were somewhere around the latter middle.

Even as he reported to the emperor, all his senses were focused on Jun. The mistakes he made drew mockery from the others, but the priority in his mind was to find out whether that woman was Jun or not.

Fabian poked his head out from his seat and spotted Mayer Knox right across her, standing side by side. His Adam’s apple jerked up and down as the world in his eyes turned black and white around Jun and Mayer as if they were the only people in existence.