A Knight Who Protects His Enemies

“…”

Time seemed to freeze as Vivian stared up at me, frozen in place.

Her red eyes were a mix of confusion and pain.

The silence stretched on, feeling painfully long.

In that stillness, I felt the weight of our farewell once more.

It hurt.

I never thought saying goodbye would be so difficult.

But this was one of the trials I had to face, and I wanted to believe it would be the last one.

Vivian’s unmoving figure felt strangely unfamiliar.

It was as if she had reverted back to the 13-year-old I first saw.

That innocent face, now marked by deep wounds and confusion.

No, it might even be worse than that.

She didn’t seem to have made this expression even when she lost her mother.

“…Are you leaving?”

Her voice trembled.

It seemed she hadn’t anticipated my departure.

Maybe she did expect it, but the shock weighed heavy on her.

-Swish.

In an instant, Vivian lunged toward me.

She raised her arms, trying to embrace me again.

It was as if a drowning person was grasping for their last breath.

But I gritted my teeth and pushed her away.

With a bit of scuffling, I managed to shove her back.

Vivian became increasingly frustrated.

Her eyes were filled with a look that asked why something so obvious couldn’t happen—like she had hit an incomprehensible wall.

After a struggle, she glared up at me, biting her lip.

Seeing that expression made me resolve myself even more.

“…Send me back home.”

She bit her lip, her face shifting to a forced smile.

“So, you mean… you’ll go and come back, right?”

I shook my head.

“No. I won’t come back.”

“Then… we’ll never meet again…”

She asked, as if not understanding that fact.

“…I know. That’s what I intend.”

“You’re saying you’ll separate from me for life?”

“There’s no reason for us to hold hands anymore. You survived, so let’s just go our separate ways…”

“…Go our separate ways?”

Vivian acted as if she couldn’t comprehend those words.

“…How… how am I supposed to live without you?”

It was a question that would sound arrogant to others, but we both understood what she was really asking.

Until now, whenever we thought about the future, we always painted a picture with each other in it.

The idea of planning ahead without one another felt foreign and absurd.

I had never envisioned a life without her.

But now, it seemed like I had to.

“I have to inherit the family. Just as you support the Rondore family, I have to support mine.”

“…But I won’t be there.”

“I’ll bear it.”

Anger began to flare in Vivian’s eyes.

“And after that…?”

I understood what Vivian was asking.

It was a conversation she didn’t want to have, but the more she avoided it, the more firmly I responded.

“…I’ll start a family with another woman.”

That was when sparks flew in Vivian’s eyes.

Flames ignited in her red irises.

“…With someone other than me? Who?”

Instantly, her voice swelled with mockery and contempt.

“You think someone would accept a wreck like you… if it weren’t for me?”

I could feel her determination to break my will.

Vivian loved my scars.

Just seeing her gentle touch told me how sorry and grateful she was.

Every time she swept her fingers over those scars, it felt like she was reminiscing about the memories they held.

In those moments, I even thought the scars on my body weren’t so bad after all.

And knowing this, Vivian conveyed the message that others wouldn’t be like her.

That once she left, my body would only be an eyesore.

“My body is all scarred up because of me…! You think another woman would be okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t she be?”

“It’s like having my name etched all over your body! You got hurt for me! It’s written on your body that it’s mine!!”

In the end, I also said something to break her down.

“I’m already getting plenty of marriage proposals.”

Her face stiffened.

“…Who?”

“Keila. My sister.”

“…”

“Think about it, Vivian. You keep forgetting… we are the Allen Family. There are plenty of families scrambling to connect with us. You know this well since you lead the Rondore family, right?”

“…”

Vivian chuckled slightly, saying, “…So you’re saying you’ll live with a woman that’s not me?”

“I’ll have kids. And forget you… that’s how I’ll live.”

A vivid spark of jealousy colored her.

“You’re going to whisper sweet nothings to someone who isn’t me?”

I tried to suppress the aching feeling in my chest as I replied.

“…Why wouldn’t I? I loved you, didn’t I?”

At my words, Vivian got hurt again, but far too easily, she leaped at me.

“I…! Then I…!!”

“…”

“Then I can… be with another man after you leave, right?”

It was a jab meant to provoke me.

I answered, hiding the pain I felt from that notion.

After all, I had thought of this far before I brought up our parting.

“Yeah. Go ahead. You go find your partner… and I’ll find mine.”

My nonchalant reply merely fueled her provocation.

Vivian’s expression twisted in anguish.

“You still love me…! And you think it’s okay to say that?”

“…I’ve decided to stop trusting my heart.”

Vivian swung her arm. I didn’t even flinch.

-Smack!

“Please snap out of it!!”

Vivian cried out desperately.

“Are you really going to believe the words of some old hag and leave me?”

“Just some old hag?”

Her words triggered something inside me.

I threw off my shirt.

Countless scars hidden beneath it came to light.

Much worse, deeper wounds than the ones visible on my arms, neck, and ears marked me.

Those were the scars Vivian had loved.

“Can’t you see what that old hag did to me?”

Though we loved these scars, in cold rationality, as Vivian said, they were nothing but eyesores.

They were traces of the trials I had to endure.

I whispered, swallowing my fury.

“…I just don’t want to hurt anymore.”

-Swoosh!

At last, I couldn’t stop Vivian from lunging at me again.

She wrapped her arms around me and intertwined her fingers with mine.

When I tried to push her away, she wouldn’t budge.

Putting more strength into it here felt like it would only hurt her.

“Don’t… don’t lie to me, Kyle…”

Vivian whispered almost like she was sobbing.

She hadn’t shed a tear, but her voice was filled with desperation.

“I know…! You’re not trying to leave me because of that… You’re scared that your feelings might be false…”

“What on earth are you talking about? It’s the right thing to-”

“-You’re afraid of hurting me, right?”

Vivian suddenly asked.

For some reason, my words caught in my throat.

“If the curse is real… I wouldn’t be able to have a child…! I’d die young at thirty…! Are you saying you’re scared of doing that to me?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

So Vivian insisted even more fiercely.

“You know you can’t be there for me forever…!! You feel like you can’t give me a family!! And you just assume it’s easier to run away?!”

After some time struggling, I finally mustered the courage to ask.

“…Can you handle it?”

My arms lost strength as I tried to push Vivian away.

“If I really… can’t have children… and die at thirty… then you…”

In her voice, a kind of madness began to creep in.

“Why do I need a child?”

“What?”

“I just need you…! What if you die at thirty? If you die, I’ll follow you!!”

“Vivian…!”

“Don’t you see the world without you would be hell for me?!”

Seeing her shout in agony, my voice failed me too.

Watching her desperation made my heart ache violently.

Vivian continued.

“I won’t leave you…! I can’t leave you!! I don’t need to be happy…! Even if being with you is torturous, I’ll take it. Even if it leads to destruction… I want to be with you for just one more day. I have to.”

“…”

“So… if you’re scared, you need to hold my hand this time. I’m fine with it…”

With her in my arms, she couldn’t see my face.

I revealed all the pain I had been holding back.

With squinted eyes, I could feel Vivian’s desperate warmth.

My hands seemed to want to hold her automatically.

At that moment, Vivian felt so fragile and uncertain, it was as if I would have to support her again.

Even though she was telling me to rely on her, it was Vivian who seemed like she would shatter.

But I took a deep breath and steadied my heart.

I knew how great a price would come with being swayed in this moment.

“…It’s not that. I’ve just made up my mind.”

“Kyle… please…”

“I’m so tired of living a life covered in shame for something I didn’t do. If I should never have been dragged into this, I just want to go home.”

“…”

“Before Robert’s rumors reach the royal family, my treatment will change. Before that happens, let me go with your own hands. Let’s part cleanly.”

Vivian’s movements gradually froze.

It seemed she understood that I had firmly made up my mind.

The desperately yearning girl began to withdraw, revealing the Duke of Rondore who would rise up instead.

-Swoosh.

Vivian calmly pulled away from my embrace.

Her demeanor was no longer swayed by emotion, and her expression hardened like stone, unreadable now.

“…Cleanly?” she asked quietly.

“…Yeah, cleanly.”

I struggled to reply.

It seemed she had given up as well.

She realized she could not hold onto me.

Perhaps this was better for me too.

It would be better to finish things coldly and stiffly than to scream and cry over each other, soaked in tears.

“…I understand, Kyle.”

Vivian said coldly.

I looked at her, with my eyes trembling.

“…Vivi-”

-“I get it, but you’re not going anywhere.”

Vivian cut me off suddenly.

“…What?”

“I’ll give you some time. Think about it again. I’ve been too sudden; I can’t make a clear judgment. Let’s talk about this again later.”

“…”

Before I could say anything else, Vivian turned her back.

Without a hint of hesitation, she walked away from me.

I had to watch her retreat for a long moment.

Her back told me.

There was no clean break.

It would become as messy as it could.

…For some reason, it felt like returning to a familiar past.

Back to the time when we would crush each other’s will.

****

In the dead of night, as the smell of cigarette smoke wafted in, Vivian asked.

“…Is Kyle cursed?”

With a huff, the smell of smoke thickened.

That aroma seemed to calm a part of the shivering in my chest.

“…I don’t know. I haven’t seen him up close.”

Elena’s voice was calm, but hesitation lay within her calmness.

“Then check for me.”

Vivian said with a more desperate voice.

But Elena shook her head.

“I don’t have the courage to stand before Kyle Allen. There’s no need to put myself before a Witch Hunter.”

“Master—”

-“Besides, you’re lacking courage too, aren’t you?”

Elena leaned against Vivian’s desk after stepping down from the window.

The faint moonlight outside illuminated Elena’s face.

“…Will you be okay? If Kyle Allen’s feelings turn out to be the curse… can you bear it?”

…Kyle’s feelings are a curse?

Vivian’s hand shook with fear.

Thinking back, it was evident that Vivian lacked the courage to accept that.

No matter what, Vivian needed Kyle’s love.

Without it, she couldn’t endure even a sigh.

But if his feelings were indeed a curse… what should she do then?

If his love was part of the curse, would she have to accept that there were no true feelings beneath it?

Would she have to admit that all his efforts, choices, and will were not truly his own?

Vivian sighed deeply, clenching her trembling hand.

Vivian could also feel the fear Kyle would experience.

The two were sharing the same fear yet again.

“…And if it is a curse, then you’ll have to do something… can you handle it? If Kyle Allen stops loving you?”

“…Ah.”

Vivian clutched her chest tightly.

The pain that came was so intense it was hard to endure.

She couldn’t face Kyle, who would look at her with cold, empty eyes.

She felt no affection left, and she had no strength to hold onto him as he walked away.

The more she thought about it, the more it felt like a curse.

It felt like a curse was laid upon Vivian too.

If it truly was a curse, then she had to do something, but the thought of Kyle’s love disappearing meant death for Vivian.

Neither option was easy to choose.

Imagining Kyle would leave her… and whisper sweet words to another woman.

…Imagining he would protect another girl with the same gentleness he once bestowed upon her.

Imagining he wouldn’t care about being hurt, that he would burn himself out for another…

“…”

She tasted blood from her bitten lips.

Vivian felt powerless.

Even if it turned out that what afflicted Kyle was not a curse, there was no means to prove it wasn’t.

Kyle firmly believed it was a curse laid upon him.

Vivian could never think of a way to break that belief.

After all, she couldn’t even reveal herself as a witch.

In the end, the only thing she felt she could do was to force the situation.

Right now, she could only keep him from leaving.

And during that time, she had no choice but to hope for a change in his heart.

“Just let him go, Vivian.”

Elena suggested.

Vivian didn’t even hear her with her ears.

There’s still a chance.

Vivian repeated to herself.

She just needed to convince him.

She still had hope.

She still had her weapons left.

Now was the time for Vivian to be honest.

Every time she learned a woman’s skills from Lady Linne, there was always one person she imagined as her target.

Even if it seemed crude and disgraceful, she felt it was time to try what she had learned on him.

From the position of someone who was loved, to the position of someone who would give love.

If there was a way to capture his heart, she was ready to do anything.

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