Once the door closed and Archel and Ren stepped into the corridor, the attendants followed behind them.
Archel didn't say a word as they walked down the hall. The two of them walked side by side, at their usual distance, with the familiar space between them. And yet, for some reason, Ren found the silence especially heavy today. Sunlight from outside flickered across Archel's face as they walked, appearing and disappearing over and over. The shifting light only seemed to emphasize the shadows cast across her features. She always led her work with a firm expression and unwavering strength, but perhaps there was a darkness hidden beneath it all.
Archel felt pathetic for still being shaken by Kael. Even after he had struck her with a sword, she still had feelings for him. But more than that, what made Archel uneasy was the way Kael had looked at Ren.
His eyes had swept sharply over Ren even as he spoke sweetly. Looking back, Ren and Kael had no connection outside of her. Kael was the Grand Duke of Edelhardt, the very embodiment of pure blood and the highest-ranking noble in the empire, while Ren was originally a commoner with no desire to rise in status. The only link between them was Archel herself.
That link between the two of them had formed far too soon because of her. The voice that had mentioned the Mark of Extinction echoed in her ears. It seemed Kael had already begun to keep Ren in mind.
The sight of Ren's severed head rolling around before her eyes stood out vividly, like a trauma. Archel's steps faltered ever so slightly.
The crimson blood that had filled her vision the instant the door opened. His back as he held on to keep from collapsing, gripping the sword that had pierced through his body with his bare hand. His head falling before her eyes, his eyes wide open, unable even to close them. Those images appeared before her against her will. Archel stopped where she stood.
Overlapping that scene was Kael's gaze as he looked at Ren as though he found him irritating. Gooseflesh rose across her body, and an oppressive anxiety tightened around her chest. Archel stopped the breath that was beginning to quicken—hng—and forced herself to calm down.
She was standing in a corridor of the Imperial Palace, where she had no idea where the traitors' eyes might be hiding.
When Archel lowered her head, her shining silver hair fell forward and hid her face. Logically, keeping Ren by her side from the moment she returned to the past had been the right choice. Archel needed someone she could trust completely right now, an ally who could help her root out the rats. And the only person who fit the bill was Ren Cassius. But still. Despite that, an irrational desire began to well up inside her—to never see him die again.
“Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell?”
Ren stepped closer and whispered softly beside Archel's ear. At the sound of his voice, Archel lifted her head sharply and looked at him. His face was as composed as ever. Behind Ren, she saw the attendants watching her with puzzled expressions. Archel hid her emotions in an instant and shook her head.
“...No. I was just lost in thought for a moment. Let's go.”
As she started walking, they moved on again. Archel pushed the thoughts that kept chasing one another into a corner of her mind for the time being. She needed to recognize that she was in an emotional state right now. Today, she decided, it would be better if Ren Cassius wasn't at her side. Archel raised a hand slightly toward him, and Ren stepped closer and bowed at the waist.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“...You worked hard today.”
If he wasn't beside her, she would simply have to endure the anxiety over her own safety. But today, she felt she would be anxious even with him there. She would have to carry her worry and fear for him as well. So it would be better if he weren't with her today. As she slowly continued, Ren glanced over her expression, trying to understand her intentions, then answered a beat late.
“...I only fulfilled my duty. If anything... those are the words I should be saying to Your Majesty.”
His blunt tone held gentle concern. She had only now realized that this man had been worrying about her all along. Even after returning to the past, Archel still felt as though she were living in regret. There were so many things she had missed because she had been consumed by Kael.
When they arrived in front of her study, Archel turned around and faced Ren. His gray eyes looked especially warm. Archel lowered her gaze.
“Your guard duty ends here for today. Go back and rest.”
Ren's eyes narrowed faintly at the unexpected order.
“No, Your Majesty. I will remain at my post.”
“I'll be staying in my study from here on anyway, so there's no need for you to waste your time.”
Despite Ren's tactful refusal, Archel firmly shook her head.
“My duty is to protect Your Majesty. How could that possibly be a waste of time—”
“Ren.”
Archel quietly called his name when he strangely argued against her orders today, and Ren's mouth closed. When she simply continued to look at him without saying anything more, Ren met her gaze for a moment before lowering his eyes and bowing his head.
“...Understood, Your Majesty.”
It was the same subdued reply as always, yet for some reason, Archel felt uncomfortable. It wasn't as though she had anything she could explain to him. That Kael's gaze when he looked at Ren frightened her. That it made her uneasy. That she didn't feel comfortable having Ren beside her today because of it. How could she possibly say such things?
So she could only—
“...I'll see you tomorrow. Good work today.”
And with those few words, she had no choice but to turn away.
“......Yes.”
Ren answered briefly as he watched her back. Both Archel and Ren could feel the countless words contained within that short answer and the silence that followed.
When Ren turned and left, the sound of his dress shoes gradually faded into the distance. After entering the room, Archel turned her head slightly and watched his retreating back through the narrowing gap as the door closed.
With a soft click, the door shut, and Ren's footsteps, which had been moving a little too quickly, slowed.
Grind—Ren clenched his teeth and swallowed his displeasure. There was no doubt that Kael Edelhardt was the reason Archel had suddenly begun acting that way.
Kael Edelhardt.
There wasn't a single thing he liked about the man—not his slick face, not the brows that curved so skillfully in front of Archel, nor the false gaze that pretended to be concerned when he wasn't worried at all. He was also worried by how excessively Archel reacted to every one of that man's actions and words.
Why did Archel become so shaken whenever she met Kael Edelhardt?
Please continue to take good care of Chel.
The words in which Kael had asked him, as though it were only natural, to t.a.k.e. c.a.r.e. o.f. Archel came back to him, and anger surged up all over again. How dare he—who did he think he was asking to take care of whom? But more than anything, what enraged Ren was the difference in rank and position between Kael and himself. The gap that forced him to simply accept and obey the way Kael ordered him around, as though he were already the emperor's imperial consort.
He hadn't clawed his way up to become Commander of the Imperial Knights just to hear something like that from a bastard like him. He had risen because there was someone he needed to protect.
Ren didn't go home after work. He headed straight to the Imperial Knights instead. As he entered the building, the faint sound of metal came from the training yard. When he heard the sharp clash of weapons, the emotions boiling inside him seemed to settle. He went straight to the training yard, where the knights in the middle of practice spotted him and saluted.
Ren returned the greeting casually, then entered the private training area set apart at the back and drew his sword. The familiar weight settled naturally into his hand.
He swung it once, then again. He pictured that bastard Kael Edelhardt standing before him and kept swinging without pause. Even after the other knights in the training yard finished practicing and disappeared one by one, Ren did not stop.
He regulated his ragged breathing and drove his aching, straining muscles past their limits. In doing so, he let every distracting thought drain away with his sweat. Ren gritted his teeth and raised his sword again.