BMD 553

With a calm sigh that sounded like a farewell, Theodore withdrew his hand. As the warm heat receded, the cold air of dawn brushed against Leonardo’s flushed forehead.

“Had you become my knight and left with me, I would have granted your wife’s wish as well. But coincidentally, heroes shine brightest in times of chaos. Go find the place where you can shine.”

Leonardo, whose shoulders trembled slightly at the strangeness of the words, parted his lips.

“Where… are you telling me to go?”

“Since we have laid everything bare, there is no need to hide anything. It seems a deeper internal conflict was simmering in this quiet frontier land.”

Theodore promised that he would bury the commoner’s intentions heard today and act as if he had never heard them. However, he added that as the night deepens, one must be sparing with words, for when vision grows dark, people often fail to distinguish what should not be said.

In short, he meant he would keep it a secret, but to be careful from now on. To the kind yet strangely off-point answer, Leonardo instinctively felt that something was going wrong.

‘What is this?’

If he meant ‘wife’ here, he must be referring to Nomon’s wife, and the wish she had voiced through his own mouth was clearly to raise a child in the Great Empire. The Great Empire is Laina, and Theodore intended to grant that…?

‘Does he perhaps think I’m some kind of revolutionary leader from the old Paren civil war? Is that why he’s letting me go instead of appointing me as a knight?’

It was a plausible assumption, but the tangled situation made him anxious. Leonardo suddenly grabbed the hem of Theodore’s clothes.

“Your Highness, I believe there has been some misunderstanding. That is not my intention.”

“Hmm?”

“Ah, to be precise, that is not Nomon’s intention.”

Because the conclusion was rambling, Theodore’s eyebrows twisted once more. Fearing that he might be displeased by the grabbing of his clothes, Leonardo quickly let go of the gown. Instead, he clenched his fists on his lap and lifted his head stiffly, trying to salvage the situation.

“I wish to stand by Your Highness’s side, who has come to save this land, and fight against the enemy. To protect our home from monsters and to become Your Highness’s hands and stolen contentfeet to achieve a great cause together—that Read on Read BL Novelsis my grand ambition. Would that not be the ultimate honor in a commoner’s life?”

It was a bold aspiration. However, upon hearing it, Theodore’s expression became subtle.

“And what of those who follow the commoner and his friend? Did you not say you would set right the broken castle?”

“That is—”

“Perhaps the unwritten rule that you must tear down… referred to me? Or perhaps that friend who might become an enemy in the future?”

Suspicion returned to the Gold Eyes that had briefly softened. Canaria, looking from side to side, chirped on Theodore’s shoulder. As the situation turned strange, Leonardo explained in a bewildered tone.

“No, how could that possibly be the case?”

‘Strictly speaking, they are similar in nature, but…’

If looking only at power and status, the Sun King of this era was also close to an “unwritten rule,” but that was an absurd hypothesis. Was this stolen contentwhat unauthorized copyit felt like to have a tension headache? Though he himself had a suspicious nature, he wasn’t as bad as Theodore.

‘Anyone would die young from a nervous breakdown acting like that.’

Unable to utter the words lingering on the tip of his tongue, Leonardo countered with a wronged face.

“If that were the case, why would I have risked my life to rush and shield Your Highness in Santrea? I would have just let you d… Your Highness promised to remember because you knew I harbored no ill will, and isn’t that why you hid me in the water earlier?”

He felt quite hurt by the man who pushed him into a corner just as he was about to forget. As he asked back while making his feelings obvious, Theodore looked at him with narrowed eyes and let out a dry chuckle.

“You are not wrong, but your words and actions are inconsistent. Is that the attitude of someone who claims they will stay by my side?”

“…I apologize, but it is because Your Highness keeps misunderstanding my sincerity.”

As Theodore said, he wondered if someone who wanted to be a subordinate should act this way, but Leonardo desperately explained for fear of further misunderstanding. In truth, it was less of an explanation and more of an appeal with the nuance of ‘we were doing so well.’ Regardless, he had to appeal to the fact that Nomon wanted to follow him and the comfort he had implicitly shown this body if he wanted to be made a knight.

“I even sang lullabies until my voice was nearly gone, so please accept my sincerity unauthorized copynow. You visit our sitesaid that while having someone by your side usually irritates [unauthorized copy]you, you would allow me to stay. And the previous story… to put it in a metaphor, it’s like a heroic tale. I told you I read it in a book.”

“…….”

“Above all else, my greatest goal is to serve Your Highness, my savior. To move forward into a larger world with Your Highness, and the wish of the wife I intended to grant in the future…”

“And so.”

Theodore, who had been listening moderately, raised his palm to cut him off.

“Just give me the conclusion. You wish to be my knight?”

Suddenly silenced, Leonardo searched Theodore’s expression. He couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or if he was choosing to overlook the evasion.

However, rather than a feeling that he would appoint him as a knight, it felt more like a gaze that was testing and evaluating him. Even though he was the one who had dangled the bait first earlier.

‘Well, even if a soldier from another country follows him [Read on Read BL Novels]well, it would be unreasonable to immediately accept him as [visit our site]a knight. Theodore is wary to begin with, and it’s hard for a stolen contentsoldier of Laina to become a knight instantly.’

It was nearly impossible, but Leonardo clung to a sliver of hope and answered clearly.

“Yes, that is correct. If that were to happen, it would be an unparalleled honor.”

Sitting with one knee raised, Leonardo followed the etiquette used by the knights of Laina. From what he had observed so far, while Nomon might not be able to protect Theodore, he could become a quite decent subordinate. That was why he hoped Nomon, who had conveyed his desperate heart, would become his knight.

For some reason, he felt that must happen if the past were not to be distorted.

However, the words the silent man finally spoke were in an unexpected direction.

“Even if the justice you pursue and the justice I lead are different?”

Leonardo tilted his head slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“The reason I was reluctant to let you go was that I felt you resembled me. It felt as if I were conversing with my own inner self reflected in a pond. Because of that, it was both unpleasant and enjoyable.”

Theodore’s Gold Eyes slowly sank.

“However, whether it was content seen in a book or not, you, speaking of the commoner’s will, seemed clearly different from me.”

It was surprising. Not only the fact that Theodore felt the same way as he did, but the subsequent remark drawing a line was disconcerting.

As he couldn’t bring himself to question it, Theodore added.

“The justice of the Monarch you wish to follow is a justice that does not doubt.”

Pausing for a beat, he slowly uncrossed his legs. He straightened his torso, which had been leaning forward, and lifted his chin squarely. Then, the man he had wanted to protect in the middle of the night vanished, and only a sovereign remained before him.

“There was a time when I stood at the vanguard, looking only at the goal before me, unauthorized copyand cut down the necks of my enemies. I believed without a doubt that I Read on Read BL Novelswas justice. stolen contentBut looking back, those enemies had another justice of their own. I considered it a nonsensical conviction and tried to awaken them through decapitation, but one day, a young fledgling of the enemy ran out barefoot and clung to my feet.”

Leonardo’s eyelids flickered. Theodore continued the story calmly.

“They clung to me, weeping and wailing. Begging me to save their father. In that moment, ridiculously, I realized. That I, who had crushed the enemy’s camp, stepped over trampled wheat fields, and stood there covered in blood… did not look particularly holy.”

A bleak current followed, making his hair flutter. Leonardo, who was watching intently, became unconsciously tense.

“So… what did you do?”

“I slew the father and let the child live. That father was the primary enemy who had lured over ten of my soldiers with food and poisoned them. I succeeded in avenging my soldiers, but in that moment, I must have given birth to another revenge.”

“…….”

“Nevertheless, I believe I am justice. No, I must believe so. Only then can my nation become wealthy and strong, and the blood shed by the hundreds and thousands of soldiers who follow me remain as honor. In contrast, you doubted both the justice within the castle and your own justice.”

Theodore made it clear that he wasn’t saying that was a bad thing.

“The ability to censor the justice one pursues is evidence of superior reason. However, that is not necessarily a virtue required of a knight. I want a loyal subject who would cut off their own neck at a single word from me. Even if that is not the justice they desire.”

A dim indigo hue stained half of his face.

“Can you do that? Can you sincerely respect a Monarch who possesses a justice different from your own?”