──Ah, damn it… This is just sickening.
Standing at the back of the group, Kevin, a low-ranking knight, frowned silently, his heart filled with resentment.
──What did Miss Flora ever do to deserve this? This is just too much…
He glared at the back of Elliott’s head, his former comrade who had risen to the rank of Holy Knight, as if he could bore a hole through it. If he could, he would shout at him and land a punch, but the weight of his own inferiority complex and the need for self-preservation as a mere lowly knight left him unable to voice his frustrations.
In a corner of the bustling citizen district of the Royal Capital, a group of knights in formal attire stood out like a sore thumb against the humble backdrop of the modest tenement houses. To make matters worse, the renowned Holy Knight and the Holy Maiden were present as well.
The only thing Kevin could do was use the Concealment Magic Orb he had borrowed multiple times from a palace mage, bowing his head in gratitude each time, to ensure that the other residents remained oblivious to the situation.
While Elliott basked in his fame, his wife Flora was exposed to the malice of those around her, completely unrelated to her own actions—something Kevin had heard from his girlfriend, Chelsea, who lived in the nearby lower town.
He couldn’t help but feel pity for Flora, wishing she wouldn’t attract any more unwanted attention.
──Honestly, anyone can see this is infidelity. And yet…
Outnumbered, a crowd of knights pressed against a single woman, demanding her to divorce. It was nothing short of intimidation, Kevin thought. He knew that it was not something he could voice as a fellow knight standing there, but he understood it all too well.
Before their deployment to hunt the Undead Beast, Kevin had shared a modest friendship with Elliott, having joined the ranks as low-ranking knights at the same time.
To Kevin, Elliott was a taciturn and overly serious man, lacking in charm, yet he was one of the few colleagues who never looked down on Kevin, a commoner without any formal education.
There had been a time when the four of them—Elliott, Flora, and Chelsea—had gone out for a meal together. Their relationship was not particularly deep, given Elliott’s natural awkwardness with social interactions, but Kevin had thought they were familiar enough to be considered friends.
Kevin had not silently watched as the distance between Elliott, now a Holy Knight, and the Holy Maiden Emily grew closer each day.
He had often brought up Flora’s name to Elliott, trying to remind him, and at times, he had even admonished him seriously.
“I know,” Elliott would reply every time he was warned, yet in the end, he seemed to understand nothing at all.
Disappointment, despair, and anger swirled within him as he looked down, trying to suppress his emotions. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of fluffy golden hair brushing past him.
──And this woman too… What kind of nerve does she have to follow him? She’s unbelievably foolish.
She had come all this way, claiming to “accompany” the man who was here to divorce his wife, and now she was trying to stand beside Elliott. Kevin quickly grabbed Emily’s arm, pulling her behind the other knights to keep her out of Flora’s sight. He shot her a glare, and with a stern voice, he told her to at least remain silent, which she complied with, but the way she still tried to peek over was infuriating.
“I just want to apologize…”
Emily had repeated those words countless times on their way here.
“Your apology, which is only for your own sake, is nothing but a nuisance.”
The words slipped out before he could stop himself, and to his surprise, they seemed to strike Emily deeply.
The other knights, seeing Emily bow her head at his sharp words, rushed to comfort her, but that only fueled Kevin’s irritation further. While many knights revered the Holy Maiden, he felt nothing but disdain for Emily.
He had admonished her countless times on the battlefield, reminding her that Elliott had a wife waiting for him in the Royal Capital.
──I won’t let you say you didn’t know.
Even knowing about Flora’s existence, she had still approached Elliott. What on earth could she possibly apologize for now?