14. Everyone’s situation (3)

Emile Bordain looked at Maxime, turning his head from side to side, like an owl staring at its prey under a tree.

“Well?”

Emile Bordain’s eyes touch Maxim’s face. Neither cold nor hot, a blue gaze like an incomprehensible sea. Maxim met that gaze head-on and didn’t open his mouth until the end.

“Hey, he’s a very shy man. Maxim, did I not tell you?”

The corners of Emile Bordain’s mouth smirked again.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to win a woman’s heart if you’re not that friendly.”

“That’s it, let’s do it.”

Maxim was impatient and was about to say something when Theodora intervened. I could see a side face shadowed by platinum hair. I could see her pursed lips and her slightly trembling lips. Her cheeks, which were beautiful and bright, were pale.

Maxim could not say anything. No, I didn’t. No matter what he said now, Theodora couldn’t hear it. No, every sentence, every word would become a needle and pierce her ears. Maxim put his hand behind his back and took it. I clenched my fist too tightly. Blood was oozing from the flesh cut into his fingernails.

“Excuse me, lady.”

Emile Bordain said in a tone that said he was not rude at all.

“Ah, when are you planning to visit the manor? As usual, Count Benning sent me a letter a while ago…”

“I am not interested.”

Theodora said it bluntly and walked past the smiling Émile Bordain. Maxim could not hold her. The platinum curtain was getting farther and farther out of reach. No, it might have been an uncontrollable fog originally.

Theodora walked away. Maxim couldn’t reach out his hand to her back, or even speak to him. Gradually, Theodora becomes smaller in the green of the garden.

“Your expression is really sad.”

I heard the light voice of Emile Bordain. He was taunting Maxim in a voice full of ridicule.

“How nice it would be if we showed only half of that expression to our daughter.”

“…You.”

“Uh huh, wait.”

Maxime looked at Emile Bordain. Émile Bordain pretended to be indifferent, and was acting the expression of a perfect court aristocrat. Emile scanned the vast garden with narrow eyes, as if looking at a landscape.

“Aren’t you too lazy to talk here? Let’s move somewhere and talk.”

Emile Bordain stepped out. The sound of the shoes touching the garden was disgusting.

“Aren’t you following me?”

said Emile Bordain, turning to Maxim. As Maxim gritted his teeth, he felt the urge to cut himself, who had no choice but to follow.

Emile Bordin walked about a minute to arrive at the foot of an angel statue. Under the shadow of the cassia tree beside the statue, Emile Bordain’s eyes shone.

“What do you want to say?”

Maxim asked in a hard voice.

“Son-in-law, don’t keep talking like that out of frustration.”

“If you call me son-in-law just one more time, I will remove the hair from that handsome shoulder and attach it to the rotten belly.”

kick.

Emile Bordain laughed at Maxim. The court aristocrat of the friendly secretary’s office has disappeared. A black man named Emile Bordin now took his place.

“Hey, I thought it was fixed, but the habit of mouthing like biting a rag still hasn’t been fixed.”

Emile Bordain slowly approached the place where Maxim was standing.

“I didn’t even ask to come for an argument, so why did it grow so thorny?”

Maxim did not change his expression. Emile Bordain did the same. He smiled round and round and spoke in a quiet tone in front of Maxim’s eyes. Those emotionless eyes were shining like those of a reptile. As Maxim stood still without saying anything, Emile Bordain spoke up with a fishy expression as if he had lost.

“So, the reason I called you here… is to tell you to watch your mouth.”

Emil’s eyes turned to the center of the garden where Theodora was supposed to be.

“This is a warning not to make trouble by making fun of your mouth unnecessarily.”

Knowing better than anyone else that Maxim could not do that, Emile insisted.

“I never thought you would be assigned to the same knights as Lady Theodora, but it might be a good thing.”

Emile Bordain tapped the heel of his shoe with a thud.

“Rather, it was because I had an opportunity to do it more clearly like now. To make the young lady hate you.”

Maxim was very aware of Emile Bordain’s intentions. Why did he highlight his relationship with Theodora as if to provoke her on purpose, why did he pretend to like him and scratch Theodora’s nerves more with a friendly tone.

The wind blew, and a single leaf from the cassia tree was carried by the wind into the sky in the garden. Emile Bordain caught the flying leaf, glared at it narrowly, and continued.

“Maxim, you know what? Memories become vague and ambiguous the more they pass, the good and the bad become tangled together like a tangled skein.”

The leaf pinched between Emile Bordain’s thumb and forefinger spun.

“Basically, good memories rarely turn into bad ones. Memories once good will remain good forever…”

Emile covered the hand holding the branch. A light rustling sound came from his hand.

“However, it always happens that bad memories fade, fade, and eventually turn into good ones. So memories are like threads when you look back. Intertwined and intertwined, in the end, what is what? It means you can’t tell what was a good memory and what was a bad memory.”

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Nausea rose again in Maxim’s stomach.

“It’s not just memories. The feelings I had in my memory are the same. The emotion I had at that time, was it anger or sadness? Was it joy or surprise? Was it love, or was it play with a momentary trembling… Now, before the boundaries become ambiguous, before they become a skein of thread, we…”

Emile Bordain’s eyes met Maxim’s.

“Miss Theodora needs to decide which side to choose.”

Silence passed. Emile Bordain was still laughing.

“And Maxim. No matter how much Count Benning appreciates your courage, there are lines that must be protected.”

Emil’s hand pointed to Maxim’s chest, exactly where Maxim’s scar began.

“Don’t forget. Always keep that day in your heart.”

cook.

Emil’s hand pressed hard against Maxim’s scar. There was no feeling in the scar.

“Don’t forget the promise of that day, Count.”

“…Are you really calling that a promise?”

In Maxim’s eyes, there was a lifelike life. Emile burst into laughter at Maxim’s attitude.

“What can we say if we don’t call what the two of us agreed on and promise?”

Emile Bordain then swung back. It was an attitude that seemed to have lost interest. He had changed into the appearance of a court aristocrat before he knew it. He finished his speech calmly, as if he had been talking about Maxim’s engagement from the beginning.

“So, come over to my house sometime. Your daughter really wants to see you too.”

—

Golden sunlight shone in the king’s garden. Theodora, thinking about what the king had said during the luncheon, took a tour of the gardens, guided by Emile Bordain. The greenery, which grew splendidly with the vitality of summer, was certainly beautiful, but Theodora could not purely enjoy the sight.

“…This artificial pond was actually built during the reign of the late King…”

Paola, Roberto and Christine at the front, Theodora and Maxim at the back of Emile.

Theodora knew that Emile Bordin was guiding the group on purpose, leaving only himself and Maxim behind. Knowing the circumstances surrounding himself and Maxim, the attitude of trying to separate the two only infuriated Theodora even more.

When Emile Bordain, who was leading, made sure that the rest of the knights had gone far enough, he turned to her.

“Long time no see, lady.”

miss.

Theodora glared at Emile Bordain, who called her by that offensive title.

“Yes, long time no see, Baron Borden.”

Emile Bordain bowed his head.

“It is late to say hello to the head family’s Sogaju. As a member of the royal family, please forgive me for having to show disrespect unintentionally.”

Although the rudeness has already been committed even now.

“…that’s it.”

I will not yield to Emile Bordain’s intentions. Theodora made up her mind and kept her mouth shut. I wouldn’t be swayed by such a trivial provocation. Theodora wanted to believe that Maxim’s work would no longer shake her.

“And… Maxim.”

Maxime’s name was called from Emile Bordain’s mouth.

“If you are a prospective son-in-law, isn’t there a title you should call me?”

I couldn’t see the expression of Maxim standing behind me. Theodora was not confident to face him normally, no matter how his expression had changed now.

It shouldn’t shake. But as soon as she confirmed the title Emile Bordain was calling Maxim, her shoulders trembled involuntarily.

You’ve been through enough wounds since you came here.

Theodora wanted to move on.

“Hey, he’s a very shy man. Maxim, did I not tell you?”

Emile Bordain’s mouth smirked. Theodora gnashed her teeth inwardly as she saw that friendly smile. I hated Emile for saying that. And I hated Maxim even more, standing behind me without saying a word. I wanted to leave the place. But her feet stuck to the ground and didn’t come off.

stop moving It’s not like there’s anything you want to hear.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to win a woman’s heart if you’re not that friendly.”

I had to move. Theodora forced her mouth open to interrupt Emile Bordain’s words.

“Stop, please.”

Emile Bordain looked at Theodora, who interrupted him, with slightly raised eyebrows. Perhaps guessing that Theodora’s mood was unusual, Emil took it down without saying more.

“Excuse me, lady.”

Admit it, I’ll admit it, Maxim.

Theodora thought to herself.

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No matter what you’ve done, I guess I can’t help but be swayed by your name, your actions, and your story.

How nice it would be if I could think of myself as a stranger now. If the relationship is cut off, how comfortable it would be if you could cut off your feelings for that person as well.

He was a dog. To her, she was a dog that was unique in the world. It was a mistake to come here. The situation that had to come was resentful.

“Ah, when are you planning to visit the manor? As usual, Count Benning sent me a letter a while ago…”

Theodora decided to leave without listening to Emil’s words. The goal of not being shaken has already failed. Theodora left Maxim behind and hurried to the garden.

“I am not interested.”

As if talking to himself, he uttered his final words with all his might.

—

It was night. As if to prove the clear sky during the day, the stars densely embroidered the indigo curtain. The headquarters of the Knights of the Jackdaw was located far above the average elevation of the capital. On a particularly starry night, the window in the hallway on the second floor of the headquarters was a great place to see the stars.

“…a lot of stars are out.”

Maxim hadn’t come home from work yet. Today’s trip to the royal palace reimprinted so many things on him. Maxim stared blankly at the locked office of the leader and then took another step. Most of the items in the Knights of the Crow were organized in order to sortie to the front the next day. The empty, clean main building was unfamiliar.

Did you say that after demolishing it, it will be used as another site?

Maxim quietly put his hand on the wall of the main building.

The mouth wrote.

I was prepared for many things, but people’s resolutions always fell short of reality. Such was the conversation he had with Emile Bordain today. He knew that something like this would happen someday, but Maxim’s determination was too much to endure today’s conversation.

Maxim sighed. As I walked, I arrived in front of the vice-captain’s office before I knew it. Maxim put his hand on the habitually closed doorknob of the vice-captain’s office and turned it open. As soon as I got used to it, the familiar sight of the office came into my eyes.

As usual, Maxim sat down on an old chair and desk in the center of the vice-captain’s office. It wasn’t time to think, it was time to not think. And, as always, the desk in the office was a really good place for him to pass the time without thinking.

Moonlight streamed in through the window. Maxim was staring blankly at his own shadow, which repeated lengthening and shortening. It was then that Maxim felt a presence outside the door. The sound of footsteps got closer and closer to the vice-captain’s office, then stopped when they reached the front.

rattle.

“…Eh, budanj…no, senior?”

It was Christine who appeared through the door. Her hair was tied back and she was dressed in casual clothes. Maxim was taken aback and straightened up and sat down.

“Christine? What happened to headquarters all of a sudden?”

“I came to bring back the key… why are you here?”

Maxim, who was speechless, raised and lowered his hand repeatedly.

“I just… I’m leaving here tomorrow, so I thought I’d see you one last time.”

Christine narrowed her eyes as she saw Maxim.

“Is that really true? Even though there is nothing left here.”

Christine smiled and turned the chair to sit in front of Maxim. Maxim laughed helplessly as he looked at Christine in casual clothes.

“Why are you so low on energy?”

“Why don’t you have any energy? I am full of energy.”

Christine looked at her senior in silence. He had occasions when he acted like this. At times like this, if I look into your face with silent eye contact like this, I can’t win and tell you my true feelings.

“…Yeah, I feel a little bad. why.”

Christine sighed and smiled. Maxim looked at her and smiled.

“Are you in a good mood?”

“Yeah. A little bit good. So today, I will especially comfort you.”

“All right. It’s late, so hurry up and get off work heh…”

prison.

Maxim’s words did not carry on to the end.

Maxim’s face was buried in Christine’s arms. It smelled faintly of daffodils.

“…Hey…”

“I can’t hear you well. Can you tell me again?”

When Christine shuddered, Maxim tried to escape with a little strength, but Christine stopped Maxim from trying to escape by giving strength to her arm. When Maxim’s resistance disappeared, Christine stroked his hair. Light brown, slightly curly hair. Maxim’s hair peeked out between Christine’s fingers.

“Senior, did you know that you always get so depressed when it comes to things involving the captain?”

“…”

When Maxim was silent, Christine let Maxim go. Maxim looked at Christine with a slightly reddened face. Christine smiled when she saw the narrowed brow.

“Are you not going to tell me?”

Maxim sighed heavily. how did it happen like this

“…my ex-girlfriend.”

Upon hearing Maxim’s words, Christine’s smile changed to a calm one.

“What, why?”

“Nope. It seemed like something.”

Christine remembered Maxim’s eyes looking at Theodora. I thought of those eyes full of trembling, deep and deep feelings that I had never seen before.

“What is that. Aren’t you going to ask more?”

“Would you like to ask more?”

At Christine’s words, Maxim smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“…no.”

“It is.”

“Because you’re weird too.”

Christine changed her smile again.

“Iknow, right.”

Maksim, who is smiling with his head down, is not to be noticed. very quietly

“I don’t even know myself.”