Is It Time to Go and Apologize?

“You only need to listen to my words.

As for those useless thoughts, discard them completely.

They won’t affect anything anyway.”

“My commands are absolute.

Every word I say must be carried out without the slightest deviation.”

“From this moment on, everything about you belongs to me.

Your joy and anger, your sorrow and happiness, your survival and your death—

Everything is mine.”

“Foolish children go to hell after death.

Smart children, after death—

I will erect a gravestone for you.”

“And on that gravestone,

I will carve your name.”

“Firth Talia,

My most loyal ‘■■’.”

……

……

“…Hah…”

Firth opened his eyes.

He was still lying in his own bedroom.

In theory, work in the knight order was exhausting.

When Aegmaed had become the captain of the knight order back then, it was common for him to go several days and nights without proper sleep.

He often had to work late into the night before returning, and then wake up early in the morning to lead the knights in training.

But Firth was relatively lucky.

Back when he was still in the knight order, he served as a vice-captain.

Compared to Aegmaed, he could get off work earlier, at least returning home to sleep instead of collapsing directly on the office sofa.

Now, although he had become the temporary acting captain, because he had more subordinates assisting him, he actually had quite a bit more time to rest.

After all, properly distributing work was the way to improve efficiency…

“Haa…”

Rubbing his eyes, Firth sat up on the bed.

His reddish-brown short hair was a mess from sleeping, but that was hardly surprising—he wasn’t exactly a refined type.

He had just had a strange dream.

A very strange dream.

He dreamed that he was curled up in a dark, damp place.

Perhaps a cage.

Perhaps some kind of basement.

Someone stood before him.

He couldn’t see their appearance at all.

Even their voice was blurred.

He couldn’t even tell whether they were male or female from the sound.

All he could do was kneel and bow low to the ground.

His forehead was pressed tightly against that person’s feet.

In his ears, aside from his own tense breathing, there was only that person’s “instruction” and “discipline.”

And—

They called his name.

Firth…

Talia…

Firth’s full name was Firth Talia Croyer.

Talia was his middle name, also his baptismal name.

Normally, he never revealed this name.

Only when filling out official documents would he write “Talia” as his middle name.

In all other cases, he simply used the name Firth Croyer.

His younger sister, Evelia, didn’t have such concerns.

She had no baptismal name.

Before she was born, the local church had already fallen into ruin because of the war.

There was no one left to give her a baptismal name, so it was simply omitted.

But still…

Who was the person in that dream?

A strange dream.

A strangely unsettling feeling.

He didn’t know who that person was, nor what it all meant.

But inexplicably, it felt as though he truly was that kneeling figure.

Sentence by sentence—

Even those words themselves—

They had been deeply engraved into his mind.

As if he had long grown accustomed to emptying his thoughts and handing the right to think over to that person.

“……”

When he finally came back to his senses, Firth realized that a thin layer of cold sweat had formed on his forehead.

It was only a dream.

And yet, it made him feel a fear that seemed to rise from deep within.

“……”

“…Mm…”

But for the moment, he couldn’t make sense of it.

The dream had no beginning and no end.

Like the opening fragment cut from some unknown novel.

It left him completely at a loss.

After some thought, Firth decided to set it aside for now.

After all, he still had work to do today.

“Morning, brother.”

After washing up, Firth pushed open the bedroom door and headed toward the dining room.

There, he saw Evelia preparing breakfast.

Evelia was now Aegmaed’s fiancée.

The reason Aegmaed had stepped away from knight order duties was also because he was busy preparing the wedding with Evelia.

After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Naturally, it required full commitment.

Not resigning outright from the captain’s position was already generous enough.

At least it left people with something to hope for, thinking that he might return to the knight order in a few days.

Aegmaed was extremely popular within the knight order.

Not only was he handsome and powerful—

The youngest knight order captain in history—

But his temperament was also exceptionally gentle.

He always treated others kindly.

Within the knight order, he had no shortage of devoted admirers.

One of the reasons Firth never chose to become captain himself was precisely because of this.

He felt that his achievements could never surpass Aegmaed’s.

At best, he could remain in the vice-captain position.

So he declined reassignment and chose to stay where he was.

Now, while Aegmaed—busy with wedding preparations—was still resting, his fiancée had already woken up early and begun preparing food.

Because this was their “apology.”

This was a matter between the siblings themselves and had nothing to do with Aegmaed.

So they didn’t disturb him, letting him sleep peacefully a bit longer.

As for who they were apologizing to—

There was no need to guess.

It was, of course, the second princess, Ellie, who had vomited after being stimulated by tomato ketchup.

After eating the tomato-ketchup pastry they had made, she had suffered such severe vomiting.

Naturally, both siblings had learned about it.

And it was the crown prince himself who had sent someone to inform them.

It was clear that the crown prince was worried about his sister’s safety.

And he was also somewhat angry—

Angry that they had given such a stimulating food to his sickly younger sister.

Thus, the siblings decided to prepare some normal food and deliver it to the second princess and the crown prince as an apology.

As for “normal” food—

Naturally, that meant ordinary pastries.

This time, they would stick to tradition.

Cream cakes.

Or cookies.

Simple, ordinary sweets.

Surely, this time, it wouldn’t irritate the second princess’s fragile stomach again.

“…Is tomato ketchup really that bad?”

As Evelia prepared the regular pastries, she also tossed the box containing the ketchup far away.

Afraid that she might unconsciously add their specially blended ketchup again.

“I think it tastes pretty good.

Maybe they just can’t understand it.”

Understanding gourmet food required a certain level of ability.

If someone couldn’t understand it—

Then it was obviously because they had no taste!

But facing their superior, the two of them naturally didn’t dare say such things aloud.

They could only grumble silently in mutual agreement.

After finishing the normal pastries, Firth also tidied up his clothes.

This time, Evelia wouldn’t be going to the palace with him.

After all, this incident was mainly because Firth had carelessly given the tomato snack to Ellie.

At its core, it was Firth’s mistake.

“Ah, really now…

How can giving a gift be considered a mistake?

You look like this—

Are you worried about getting punished or something?

Don’t be so nervous.”

Just as Firth was about to head out, Aegmaed’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

The siblings had thought Aegmaed was still resting.

But unexpectedly, he had already gotten dressed at some point and was simply waiting for Firth to be ready so they could leave together.

“Just in case, I’ll go with you.

After all, I’m still your superior.

If anything happens, I’ll handle the talking.

Honestly, His Highness too—

Giving a gift was clearly an act of goodwill.

Why does it feel like someone’s about to be punished?”

Aegmaed’s gentle demeanor was always his most attractive trait.

And as the captain of the knight order, he could always step in to shoulder responsibility for his subordinates when they were at a loss.

Who could possibly dislike a captain like that?

“This time was my mistake.

It has nothing to do with you, Sir Aegmaed—”

“Alright, alright.”

Just as Firth tried to refuse, Aegmaed stepped forward first.

Like the closest of brothers, he wrapped an arm around Firth’s shoulders.

“I told you, don’t be so polite with me.

I’m marrying your sister.

That makes us family.

I should even be calling you ‘brother-in-law.’

No need to be so formal.

In the knight order, we’re superior and subordinate.

But at home, we’re family.

Come on.

Let’s go see His Highness together.

No matter what happens, I’m here.

He won’t make things difficult for you.”

Aegmaed’s presence truly put people at ease.

Although Firth instinctively wanted to refuse, seeing that reassuring expression, he could only treat him as a lifeline.

And so, he boarded the carriage to the palace together with Aegmaed.