MTM 145

–Yes!

Harto replied cheerfully to Zed on the other end of the line, then ended the call with a bright smile. Just the thought of seeing Zed soon made his heart flutter.

It had only been a few hours since he’d stepped out into the square, but the time apart from Zed felt long. He had been feeling hollow, yet just hearing his voice filled him with happiness. It was a feeling he had never experienced before, strange, yet sweet.

‘This must all be… because I like Zed…?’

He never imagined that liking someone could transform every moment of his daily life. Harto smiled happily. He cherished this feeling that was sprouting within him.

“Leon! Zed’s coming over here right now… ow!”

Harto tried to turn quickly toward Leon, who was picking out candy at the stand across the way, to tell him the news about Zed, but he ended up bumping into something hard and solid.

“Oh, no.”

Just as he staggered from the impact, a strong hand grabbed Harto’s waist. Startled, he looked up to find none other than Gerard, the commander of the holy knights of Carseon.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah!”

The moment he realized it was Gerard, Harto recoiled in shock and jumped away from his grasp.

“W-what…!”

Harto immediately went on high alert. He’d been relieved not to run into him even within the castle, but he never expected to bump into him in a public square.

“Whoa, if you give me such an intense stare, I won’t know where to put myself.”

“Wha… intense stare?”

Harto was taken aback by the remark.

“Yes, when I look into those eyes that shine as clear as a lake, it feels like my heart is melting away…”

“Ew.”

Unable to endure Gerard’s cheesy line any longer, Harto covered his eyes with both hands. Seeing that adorable reaction, Gerard’s eyes widened, and he immediately clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! You… you covered your eyes just because I said that?”

Gerard laughed heartily at Harto’s reaction and took a step closer.

“You’re really cute.”

Then, with a sly smile, he poked Harto’s nose with his finger. To be precise, it wasn’t a poke, he had used his power to create a small halo of light on the tip of Harto’s nose.

“W-what is this…?”

The tip of Harto’s nose glowed bright white. It was a ridiculous sight, as if he had turned into Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He panicked and tried rubbing it with his hand, but the light created by the magic wouldn’t fade.

“Take this off right now!”

Harto shouted, but Gerard, who looked as if he were dying of amusement, simply leaned in with his arms crossed. Being teased made Harto feel a sudden surge of anger.

“Holy knights aren’t supposed to do bad things!”

“Huh? What bad thing did I do? I was just playing a little prank because your reaction was so adorable. If anything, I’m your savior for helping you when you almost fell.”

“……”

He wanted to argue, but since it wasn’t exactly wrong, Harto just bit his lip.

“Then how about this.”

Gerard reached out his finger toward Harto once more. As he did, the shimmering light on the tip of his finger gathered together and transformed into a snow-white butterfly.

“…Whoa!”

Harto’s eyes widened. It wasn’t simply because of the display. It was because it looked so much like the pure white butterfly he had seen in his dream.

“Surprised? I guess Prince Ares doesn’t show you things like this?”

Misinterpreting Harto’s reaction, Gerard asked sarcastically, but Harto didn’t even respond; instead, he followed the butterfly.

“By any chance… can anyone create this if they have holy power?”

“No? It’s not that simple just because you have holy power. This is alive.”

“Alive…?”

Instead of answering, Gerard snapped his fingers. The butterfly, which had been flying through the air, vanished in an instant. While Harto was shocked, Gerard’s face suddenly loomed right in front of him.

“By the way, you’re a monster, is it really fine for you to be this defenseless? If you just stand there staring blankly, you’ll get captured.”

“……!”

Harto belatedly raised his guard and took a step back. But Gerard placed his hands on his hips, and let out a sigh of regret.

“Ah… what a shame. I should have found you before Prince Ares did.”

“I–I wasn’t found!”

Harto was furious at being treated like a lost animal.

“Oh, really? Then how did the two of you meet?”

“I saved him from the cave… ah! I’m not telling you!”

Caught up in Gerard’s banter, Harto nearly blurted out his precious memories with Zed and quickly closed his mouth.

“I have my party waiting, so I’d better be going. As for your help… thank you!”

Harto left a brief greeting and tried to hurry over to where Leon was.

“Wait a second.”

Just then, Gerard grabbed the hem of Harto’s cloak. Startled by the sudden contact, Harto immediately tried to pull away, but an unexpected remark came out of Gerard’s mouth.

“I want to apologize.”

“Apologize…?”

“Yes. Do you think we ran into each other by chance? Actually, I came all the way here because I wanted to apologize to you.”

With that, Gerard suddenly knelt on one knee in front of Harto.

“Wh-what…?”

The communication device slipped from Harto’s hand.

From that moment on, passersby began to stop one by one. As the area instantly filled with murmurs, Harto desperately wanted to find a place to hide.

“P-please let go of this…”

He fidgeted nervously and tried to pull away from the cloak Gerard was holding, but he only gripped it tighter and looked up to say,

“Just listen to me. I’m sorry for being rude yesterday. It was my first time seeing a monster capable of taking human form, so I got a little excited. And no matter what the source of your power is, if you’re this pretty, even I would… ahem.”

Gerard blushed mid-sentence, seemingly embarrassed.

‘That’s gross….’

He didn’t want to stay here any longer. Apologies or not, he wanted to burn the clothes Gerard was holding onto right then and there. Harto tried to use a flame to knock him off, but a gust of wind swept across the square.

“Harto!”

It was Zed’s voice.

“Ah!”

At the same moment, a powerful hand pulled Harto toward him. The cloak that had been grabbed by Gerard slipped free, but in its place, Zed’s hand roughly snatched Harto’s wrist.

“Ugh…!”

He didn’t even have time to fully feel the stinging pain. When he came to his senses, he found himself cradled in Zed’s arms.

“Zed…?”

“Harto.”

Zed looked at Harto in his arms and gave a brief smile. But the smile didn’t last long. The moment his gaze shifted to Gerard, his expression turned icy and stern.

“What are you doing? The Carseon Code explicitly states that tormenting a monster without cause is a crime. Even as the commander of the holy knights, you’ll find it hard to escape severe punishment without a justifiable cause.”

Zed’s voice sounded sinister as he landed in front of the fountain in the center of the square. Not only that, but a terrifying aura began to emanate from him. Yet Gerard chuckled.

“Aren’t you doting on him a bit too much, Your Highness?”

Gerard stood up, and dusted off the cloak that remained in his hand.

“I wasn’t tormenting him. I was trying to apologize.”

In response to Gerard’s retort, Zed frowned. He tightened his grip on Harto. A suffocating tension rose between the two men. Just from the way they glared at each other, a palpable killing intent could be felt. A menacing atmosphere hung in the air, as if they might draw their swords at any moment.

Not wanting to escalate the situation, especially for Zed’s sake, Harto quickly shouted toward him.

“Wait, that’s right! I wasn’t being harassed, Zed…!”

“Harto…?”

Completely caught off guard by Harto’s intervention, Zed’s eyes wavered slightly.

“So you really did come here to apologize to me. But… I just can’t….”

After a brief pause, Harto took a deep breath, looked Gerard in the eye, and spoke.

“Commander, then please do something for Zed as well.”

“…What is it?”

“An apology.”

Harto steadied his trembling voice and continued.

“I believe that yesterday, it wasn’t just me, but our entire party that was threatened. So… it’s only right that you apologize to Zed as well.”

As Harto finished speaking in a clear, measured tone, Gerard gazed into his blue eyes. A moment of silence passed, then he smiled and nodded.

“You’re not wrong.”

Gerard readily acknowledged this, and threw Harto’s cloak, which he had been holding, toward Zed. The moment Zed caught it, Gerard unsheathed the sword at his waist, placed it on the ground, and bowed toward Zed.

“I formally apologize for the holy knights’ rudeness yesterday. As the commander, I have truly brought shame upon myself.”

At Gerard’s formal apology, a stark contrast to his usual arrogance, the crowd of onlookers applauded.

“…….”

However, instead of accepting the apology, Zed simply stared at Gerard with cold eyes.

“Zed…?”

It was Harto, caught in the middle, who actually felt awkward at Zed’s lack of reaction.

He tried to gently grab his arm, but he couldn’t read his true feelings from that expressionless face. The hostility he’d been directing at Gerard seemed to have vanished, yet he couldn’t figure out why he felt so anxious.

“What is all this commotion about? Huh? Harto, Zed!”

Just then, Leon, who had belatedly noticed the commotion, pushed through the crowd and ran over. As if he’d been waiting for that moment, Zed wrapped one arm around Harto’s shoulder and lifted him up.

“Harto, let’s go.”

“Huh? Um… uh, yes…!”

Harto wanted to say he could walk on his own, but Zed held him close and walked away. As Harto was carried away in Zed’s arms, he was concerned about Gerard, who still hadn’t gotten up from his position, but he had no choice but to hurry away.