Looking for My Fiancé's Lover

“Yesterday evening, His Majesty the Emperor ordered an attack to the north.”

That’s not good. In fact, it’s really bad.

Lockherd lowered his arm at the sound of it. It wasn’t intentional, but his expression had seemed to harden.

“It seems that a war is being started under the pretext of Baron Ibraam’s absence at the border.”

 Northern War.

In the northern territory of the empire, kingdoms the size of a small city were clustered together like barnacles. However, successive rulers of the Caval Empire had regarded the barnacles as a thorn in the eye. They had been steadily strengthening their military power in an effort to wage a war against the north.

It was not surprising that a war would break out this openly. That was because the Imperial Guards, including Lockherd, had been strengthening their tactical and practical training for the past several years. However, that didn’t serve enough as the real reason for Nezar to visit the knights.

“You…don’t tell me you’re going out there yourself?”

It’s ridiculous to think that the heir to the empire’s throne would go to war himself. However, his bad feelings were never wrong, and Nezar’s eyes, which had been on Lockherd, looked firm and unbending at its resolve.

Lockherd kept his mouth shut. Eventually, Louis, who approached them from afar, handed Nezar a water bottle and a towel.

“The training will be over soon.”

At the light pat on the shoulder, Nezar gave him a slight nod of gratitude.

“I got to go, too. Though, I don’t think that I saw Sir Pancion Entera today, or did I miss him?”

Wiping his face with a wet towel, Nezar’s gaze swept through the training ground again. Like Kate, there were many people looking for Pancion Entera in recent days.

“Oh, Sir Pancion went into the headquarters for a moment. I think he said his sister was coming today….It’s been a while since he has prepared flowers to decorate the drawing room, so he will probably be on the second floor. I think he’s meeting his sister there.”

While Louis was eagerly explaining the reason for Sir Pancion’s absence, a black shadow fell over Nezar’s face, which had risen red from the heat. Nezar raised his head, spitting water out of his mouth in a startle. Lockherd followed his gaze and turned around to see a particularly neat-looking man suddenly intervening among them sweaty men.

“Did you call for me?”

It was Pancion Entera.

Nezar’s eyes widened, judgementally scanning Pancion up and down, head to toes.

“He said you were going to meet your family, but you came back quite quickly, huh? Did you meet your sister?”

“Yes, but it seemed that she wanted to go back to the castle soon. We just exchanged greetings and parted.”

There was a fresh scent of flowers wafted from Pancion, who had just arrived. It was the perfect scent for him, who radiated a light and soft aura. Pancion looked at Louis and Lockherd’s alternately and his eyes finally settled on Nezar again.

“If you have nothing else to say, I’ll be on my way.”

“Is your work urgent?”

“The knights are having a meeting soon. Sir Lockherd, you must attend too.”

It was an unexpected call. Lockherd looked up at Pancion, who was a bit taller than him. 

“Me? As far as I know, only vice captains will attend the meeting though.”

“Captain Breit has just resigned from the position as the head commander of the Second Division of the Imperial Knights. Instead, he took over the position as the commander of the Northern Attack Force. So as of today, Sir Lockherd shall be the deputy commander of the Second Knights Division.”

“….sorry?”

There was no such a thing as ‘a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky.’ No matter how promising of a knight Lockherd was, he couldn’t have beaten dozens of his seniors and became the head of the Second Knights Division.

Don’t tell me that old man Breit is trying to tie me up like this?!

As soon as Pancion had finished speaking, he turned his back and headed for the headquarters of the Imperial Knights Divisions. Lockherd not-so-excitedly reorganised his thoughts as he turned back to Nezar and Louis with distress, facepalming and dragging it down his face tiredly.

Meanwhile, the news about the Northern Attack had left Louis half dazed out of his mind.

On the contrary, Nezar’s expression was as calm as a frozen lake in midwinter. He felt a bit sorry for Lockherd for not mentioning it in advance.

“This is absurd…Nezar, I’m sorry, but while we’re at it, please do me a favour.”

“Rejected.”

Despite his knife-like blunt rejection, Lockherd persevered and continued what he had to say. When dealing with Nezar, above all else, it was essential to be heavily armed with audacity.

“If it’s okay, go to the headquarters of the Second Knights Division before you go back. Kate will be waiting for me in the drawing room on the second floor.”

At that moment, Nezar’s expression, which was as consistent and unmoving as wax poured over a mould, went distorted. It was only for a brief moment, but Lockherd was able to catch onto it. Because Nezar’s only weakness in the pursuit of perfection was his sister.

“Kate? Why is she here?”

“That’s-”

He couldn’t say that it was because she wanted to see Sir Pancion Entera in Nezar’s face. Such an absurd response might set him up in fire of rage so Lockherd just shrugged, brushing off his question as if it wasn’t a big deal. Those dark red eyes’ persistent stares were much more stinging than the autumn sun.

“Is there a need for a reason? She must have been curious about my training. As you can see, I have a meeting to attend so I don’t think I can take care of her. Aren’t you her fiancé? Please?”

Without hearing the answer, he turned on his heels and chased after Pancion. He’s sure he had left Kate with the advice to act carefully so there shouldn’t be a problem.