Chapter 34

***

Until recently, Melody was known as the darling of the village, but in fact, before that, she wasn’t a particularly welcomed existence.

It was because of her mother.

Thinking about it, no one likes having a dangerous criminal living in their neighborhood, so it was natural for her to be disliked.

However, there was a problem. Adults’ thoughts and attitudes were directly transmitted to their children.

So, the children would sometimes hurl mean words at Melody or play childish pranks on her.

“Mel!”

‘Isaiah’ was one of the very few village children who stood up for Melody.

Whenever Melody was upset from being bullied by the other children and hid crying near the vegetable garden’s wall, Isaiah would always come to find her.

“Was it this brat? Right? It was this one, wasn’t it?”

And he never came empty-handed. After beating up the child who had bullied Melody, he would drag them along.

“Hic.”

Melody was startled into stopping her crying when she saw the boy Isaiah brought with him, his nose bleeding.

How hard must he have hit him!

Isaiah seemed to think that Melody’s cessation of tears was an expression of ‘joy’.

He smirked a bit smugly.

“Here, now you do the same to this one.”

Isaiah pushed the boy he brought in front of Melody.

“…The same?”

“That’s how these guys will learn not to bully you again.”

Isaiah frowned, looking at Melody’s one  shoe.

Here’s what happened:

Melody had fallen over in the middle of the village, and one of her slightly larger  shoes had come off and rolled away.

Seeing this, the village boys laughed and threw Melody’s  shoe to a distant chestnut tree.

The shoe got caught on a branch of the chestnut tree that even adults could barely climb.

“Come on, do the same to him! Show him what it feels like!”

Urged by Isaiah, Melody hesitantly approached the boy, who was bleeding from the nose.

The boy twitched his feet, too scared of Isaiah to even think of running away.

Melody looked at the boy’s brown  shoes. They were very shiny.

Then she remembered.

These shoes were a birthday gift for the boy. His parents had gone far to buy them.

The boy had bragged about these  shoes to everyone in the village.

He treasured them greatly.

Melody withdrew her hand that she had tentatively extended. She resented the boy, but she didn’t want to go this far.

“Hurry up. What will you do if the adults come?!”

Frustrated, Isaiah forcefully snatched the boy’s shoes and placed them in Melody’s hand.

Melody looked back and forth between the frightened boy and Isaiah, then finally handed the shoes back to the boy.

“Here, take them.”

The boy looked at Melody with disbelief, but soon snatched his  shoes and clutched them tightly, running away in a panic.

“What do you think you’re doing!” Isaiah quickly tried to catch the boy, but Melody firmly grabbed his arm, preventing him from doing so.

“Stop it, Isaiah!”

Isaiah stared blankly at the little girl clinging to his arm and then just sighed.

“You’re really too kind-hearted.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“I… I don’t like doing that.”

“You don’t have to like it. You have to do it so they won’t bully you!”

“…”

Melody didn’t respond. Isaiah muttered a few more similar words of advice but eventually sighed and pinched Melody’s cheeks.

“There’s no helping it. I’ll protect you, Mel. If anyone bullies you, you tell me, okay?”

“But, the doctor will be upset.”

When Melody mentioned his mother, Isaiah’s face momentarily turned pale.

Being the son of a doctor and going around beating up the village kids might get him in trouble again.

“No, no problem! I’m going to be a knight, not some doctor!”

Trying to appear strong, the boy puffed up his chest.

Finding his behavior somewhat amusing, Melody, tears still brimming in her eyes, couldn’t help but smile.

“Little Mel, go home quickly.”

The boy looked at Melody with slight annoyance, then abruptly turned and started running off somewhere.

Melody asked where he was going, but all she got in response was, “You don’t need to know! Just go home!”

***

That evening, Melody had dinner with her mother and quietly returned to her room.

Feeling a bit sleepy, she lay down on her bed when she heard a tapping sound at the window.

Melody sat up and looked towards the sound.

“Who’s there…?”

But there was no one. Maybe the window wasn’t properly closed and was rattling in the wind.

Melody got out of bed and approached the window.

As she thought, the window was slightly open. But the tapping sound wasn’t made by the wind.

Melody cautiously picked up the worn-out  shoe placed on the windowsill.

It was the one she had lost earlier in the day.

She quickly looked up. Beyond the pitch darkness, she saw the silhouette of a boy running away in a hurry.

It was just a silhouette, but she knew.

It was Isaiah.

***

“…Mel?”

At the cautious voice, Melody turned to look.

“Mel, is that you?”

The boy almost stuck his head through the carriage window as he asked.

Startled, the other knights and retainers hurried to pull him away, but Claude raised his hand to stop them, curious about the boy’s relation to Melody.

Despite the boy’s fervent call, Melody remained cautious.

He called her ‘Mel,’ a nickname from the past, which made her think it might be Isaiah, but she couldn’t be sure as half of his face was covered by a helmet.

Noticing her hesitation, Isaiah grumbled slightly as he removed his helmet.

“That’s a bit much.”

With the helmet off, his playful smile was visible.

His skin was more tanned and his hair was a sweaty mess, but his smile was unchanged.

“Isaiah!”

Melody called out his name and stood up without realizing.

Her height wasn’t enough to hit the carriage roof.

“Come here, little Mel.”

He spread his arms slightly, and Melody quickly opened the carriage door.

Isaiah immediately hugged her.

The cold touch of his armor felt strange, but the laughter near her ear was unmistakably the Isaiah she remembered.@@novelbin@@

Maybe Isaiah hadn’t changed at all since coming to the capital.

Except he was taller and a bit bulkier.

“Isaiah, you’ve grown so much.”

Melody had to look up a bit while standing on the carriage step.

Even though Isaiah had always been much taller than Melody.

Perhaps pleased by her comment, the boy smiled broadly and gently pinched Melody’s cheeks.

“Mel is still tiny. Did you even grow?”

“I did!”

“Oh, Mel is sulking.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Sure you are.”

He poked Melody’s chin with his fingertip and laughed heartily.

“When Mel sulks, she always gets a little tense here. Who are you trying to fool?”

Melody quickly covered her mouth with both hands. Thinking about it, Isaiah knew a lot about her, even more than her own mother did.

Maybe he was the person who knew her best, other than her mother.

“I was just about to talk about your mother…”

At that moment, Claude raised his voice to speak to the knight standing behind Isaiah.

“Would it be alright to borrow the knight’s apprentice for a moment? It seems he has a connection with our guest.”

“Of course, Lord Baldwin.”

“Thank you. And while I owe you, could you arrange a place for us to chat?”

“Yes, I’ll notify the inside.”

After receiving a courteous response, Claude smiled faintly, and the knight nudged Isaiah’s back, whispering, “Know that if you disrespect the Duke’s family, you’ll eat a raw hawthorn when you return.”

“Melody, please take a seat.”

At Claude’s request, Melody returned to the seat opposite him.

He nodded slightly to Isaiah, indicating permission for him to climb into the carriage.

Moreover, Claude kindly moved towards the window to make room for the unfamiliar guest.

“Well then, I won’t refuse the offer.”

With a somewhat casual tone, Isaiah greeted and climbed into the carriage.

He squeezed his large frame into the carriage, looking around as if wondering where to sit. Claude quickly gestured to the seat next to him. However, Isaiah immediately sat next to Melody with a thud.

“Mel, it’s cramped. Move over a bit.”

Adding such a request to a lady seemed quite rude. Just as Claude thought this, Isaiah displayed his own version of capital-style manners.

“Uh, thanks for the ride, my lord.”

He gave a slight nod, and Melody slapped his arm.

“He’s not a lord, he’s a young master. Dummy.”

“What, did you just call me dumb?”

“Because Isaiah keeps being careless. He’s a very high-ranking noble.”

“Why is such a high-ranking young master with you?”

“Well…”

Melody hesitated to answer, unsure of what to say.

Perhaps her answer was of great concern. Both the noisy Isaiah and Claude, who always teased Melody, just looked at her silently. It was time for someone to break the silence.

Thankfully, the carriage stopped just in time, a blessing. The knight who had received the message at the entrance escorted the three to a reception room of the knight order next to the central prison.

It seemed they were being given a comfortable place to talk.

Entering the reception room, Claude offered Melody a seat. After she sat as he suggested, Claude promptly sat next to her. He then kindly gestured Isaiah to take a seat, across the wide table from them.

Once everyone was seated, a servant brought in some refreshments.

“Wow, chocolate!”

Isaiah, childishly excited, grabbed a handful of chocolates and stared at Claude.

“Young Master of the Duke’s house, may I take some of these chocolates? The guys… I mean, the… well, everyone I train with is craving something sweet.”

“Then I’ll have more brought in.”

“Awesome!”

Isaiah hurriedly stuffed his pockets with chocolates, amusing Melody, who chuckled.

“You really haven’t changed at all.”

In the village, he always helped Melody and other friends in need, sharing whatever tasty treats he had.

“Of course. I became a knight to not change. Oh, that reminds me.”

Suddenly, he stood up. Melody thought he might be getting more chocolate, but fortunately, that wasn’t it.

He adopted a serious expression, unusual for him.

Then, like a knight from a storybook, he knelt on one knee on the floor.

Isaiah looked up, his gaze meeting Claude’s.

He smiled slyly, a smile Claude found somewhat irritating.

“I apologize for my delayed gratitude, Young Master of the Duke’s house.”

“It’s just chocolate.”

“No, I mean for looking after Mel, even if it was brief. I thought it proper to express my thanks.”