Chapter 2 part 1: Morning Kiss in The Morning

I went to the Special Task Squad’s headquarters together with Sofia, then I dropped her off at the kitchen and after that I started to look for Captain Jullius right away. However, it turned out that Captain had already left for the Imperial Court. He went faster than usual. If he went early, then he’s supposed to come back early as well. With that in mind, I grabbed some snacks from the kitchen so I could eat them to while away the time. Sofia said her skill is pretty good.

“Isn’t it about time he got here? Sofia, put those egg tarts in the basket. Along with the peanut pie.”

When Sofia came out while holding a tiny basket, she grumbled.

“I made these for you to eat, Miss.”

“I’ve eaten a lot. Why do you hate Captain Jullius so much?”

“I don’t hate him.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“That, the thing is….”

She blushed slightly and seemed to equivocate.

“…. Don’t just look after Sir Rizar, please take care of the butler too.”

Adjutant Sieg would eat well and live well even without me taking care of him. Nonetheless, I nodded my head to assure her that I got it. Holding a basket filled with snacks, I left the kitchen for the stable. Given that Blackie wasn’t here, it seemed that he hasn’t returned yet, and when he’s on his way home, he would come this way.

‘It smells awfully pungent to wait here.’

The stable was well maintained, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any smell of manure. It’s because horses’ manures couldn’t all be cleaned at once. Since there’s nothing I could do, I sat on a decorative boulder in a flower garden which was a distance away from the stable. Facing the paths around the buildings that lead to the stable, I put the basket on my lap and took an egg tart out and bit it down.

(T/N: fun fact ~> on average, a horse (especially stallion) can defecate up to 16 times a day and produce around 50 pounds of manure. No wonder the smells linger around…)

‘When will he come?’

If he had to go to the Special Task Squad to work, we could have gone together, why did he go alone like that? I wanted to apologize for my mistake in the morning so next time we could go to work together. We should go together. If I stayed at home, adjutant Sieg would give me an earful, and the food at the Special Task Squad were more delicious. After I’ve finished off three egg tarts, I covered the basket with the cloth again. I should leave some food behind for Captain to eat.

‘He’s not come yet.’

I think there’s nothing much to do by going to the Imperial Court but I don’t know why he has to go there everyday. If I were in my old body, I would protest to His Majesty the Emperor. When I was contemplating about whether if I should take out and eat a slice of peanut pie or not, finally I heard the sound of horses’ hooves. Ohh, he comes, he’s here. I sprang to my feet and stood on the boulder, then I waved my hand to the black horse that appeared around the corner.

“Captain Julliu–“

Eh? What the–, why did he suddenly jump off the horse? Why was he going around the building again and disappearing? Lathy, who came with Captain Jullius, looked back and forth between me and the direction where the Captain had disappeared to with a puzzled look on his face. Blackie also seemed confused by that, but even without its owner, it knew how to go to the stable on its own. What happened?

“Older sister Silla, what happened to the Captain?”

Lathy, who came to me while riding a horse, asked me. I jumped off the boulder and shook my head.

“There’s nothing much happened.”

I just kissed him once.

“But why is the Captain running away?”

“… Did he run away?”

“He ran away as soon as he saw older sister.”

Did he really run away when he saw me? No, why on earth did he do it? Did he hate kissing with me that much? I tossed the basket to Lathy.

“You can eat them.”

“Older sister–?”

“I’m going to catch the Captain.”

If you have any complaints! Don’t run away! Say it! In front of me! Why the hell are you running away! Do you think that I’m going to eat you up? You’re even stronger than me! I hastily gathered the hem of my dress in one hand and began running quickly.

I went to the corner where he disappered to in one go, but the Captain had already gone. Where did this man go?

“Captain Jullius!!”

Where are you! Since he couldn’t possibly escape outside, then he must be inside the headquarters. First, I didn’t see him in the training ground. Therefore, it should be inside the building. I kicked open the door and the underground was the first place I went to check but the place was deserted with only cold stones inside. If he’s not in the underground, then he’s likely to be on the upper floor, did he go to Ortzen?

I gnashed my teeth and went up the stairs two to three steps at a time. When I reached the second floor and burst open the door to Ortzen’s office,

“Miss Epheria?”

Ortzen recoiled in surprise and looked at me. What, he’s all alone.

“Where’s the Captain?”

“That’s also something I’d like to ask you. Is he back?”

“Damn it!”

If he’s not here, then where the hell is he? Ortzen said something, but I walked away and ignored him then rushed out to the corridor again. What to do, should I set up a trap? Was there any snare or cast net in the armory? I scanned through the entire second floor corridor quickly and went up to the third floor. There, I finally saw the back of the person I was looking for.

“Captain!”

At my shout, Captain Jullius flinched and turned around. Then,

“Wait!”

Jumped down. So, he just jumped out of the window on the third floor to run away from me. F*ck. I quickly approached the window and when I looked outside, Captain Jullius also looked up and our eyes met. He was startled that he turned his head. Ah, why! I felt so wronged! No, it’s all my fault. That’s why please come back.

“Captain Jullius!”

When I was about to jump down as well, I suddenly recalled my experience that if I was caught by adjutant Sieg for doing something brazen while wearing a dress, it’s as clear as day that I would have to listen to his nagging all day long, so I decided to shout instead. In addition, the height of the third floor was a bit too much for me to land safely with my current shoes. Just wanted to say that the ceiling here was very high and this third floor could be the same height as a fourth floor in another building.

“It’s my fault for putting my tongue in when we kissed! So please come back!!”

I exerted all my strength on my lower abdomen to shout out loud that my voice reverberated around widely. The Captain, who was hesitating below, stepped backward surreptitiously like that, so why were the members of Special Task Squad at the training ground even showing interest in this side? What’s worse, the members surrounded the Captain, -who looked like he’s trying to run away-, as if they besieged him then they began to say something. What, what the hell are those bastards doing now?

‘What to do, should I just jump down?’

I couldn’t see Captain Jullius’ face from here, but somehow his back seemed to shrink. The members of the Special Task Squad are saying something, but I can’t hear it up here. Ah, just now Captain’s shoulder twitched and shook. What, don’t tell me that they’re picking on my fiance!

‘Damn, there’s nothing to throw.’

The weapons I hid beneath my skirt were all taken away by adjutant Sieg… Should I throw my shoes? I couldn’t keep fretting like this and should just jumped down, but when I was rolling up my skirt, Captain Jullius turned his body around. With a sullen face, he looked up at me once then walked to the door of the building. Is he coming in again? What the hell did those bastards babble about that made you had such a depressed look? Anyway, for now, Captain is my priority. I’ll get back at those damn guys later.

This time, I was determined I would never miss this chance so I dashed off to the corridor and started running down the stairs. At first, I skipped three to four steps at a time, then I just grabbed the banister and jumped down. It’s almost as though I was jumping down a whole staircase, but actually I haven’t even passed a floor yet. Thankfully no one saw it.

I got to the second floor by doing that and when I was about to proceed jumping down from one of the two stairs leading to the first floor, just then I saw Captain Jullius coming in. Unlike before, he’s approaching me on his own now, but I don’t know what to do. He might get scared for no reason and just run away again. Then again, aren’t wild animals extremely sharp?

“Captain!”

Thinking that Captain Jullius might run away again made me jittery. I was in such a hurry that I didn’t look at where my foot landed,

“Ah!”

I lost my footing on the stairs and fell down. No matter how urgent I was, it’s embarrassing to make this kind of mistake. My body leaned forward greatly, and at the foot of the stairs, Captain Jullius stretched out his arms in panic. No, you don’t have to do that.

I didn’t exert myself to try pulling my inclined body back to stand straight but I just twisted my upper body and bent it to the side. Then, I applied some force on one of my hand to push against the lower step then I spun my body with ease and landed at the foot of the stairs. And without having the time to tidy up my wrinkled dress, I grabbed Captain Jullius’ wrist right away.

“You must absolutely keep what I did just now a secret from adjutant Sieg.”

“Ah, yes.”

He replied in a daze. Good, then now…

“It’s my fault for kissing you suddenly like that.”

I should get right to the point.

“So please don’t run away.”

I looked straight up at his pale grey eyes and emphasized again.

“Don’t run away, please speak up. I won’t get angry with anything– well, I will try not to get angry and listen to what you want to say.”

Honestly, it’s impossible not to get angry at all. I’m getting a bit emotional.

“So don’t ever run away like this again. Even if you run away across the Black Desert, I’ll chase you and capture you. I’ll capture you and tie you up so that you can’t run away again.”

I know it won’t be easy to deal with Captain Jullius, but if I get some help from the Holy Knight Squad and Special Task Squad, then it’s possible. The Captain nodded obediently after he heard me out.

“I’ll say it from now on.”

“Good. If you tell me, I’ll hear you out and try to understand so don’t worry about anything else.”

Sometimes, even though one understand, there are times when one pretend that one doesn’t, but it’s not that one doesn’t truly understand.

“Anyway, what I’ve done in the morning happened because I was mistaken about something.”

I let go of Captain’s wrist and went up a step on the stairs then said. Emm, with the way things were going, it’s already a big difference.

“Please lower your head a bit.”

Even though he was so appalled by what happened in the morning, Captain Jullius still lowered his head docilely. I kissed him lightly on the cheek.

“Adjutant Sieg said this is what a morning kiss is.”

“… morning kiss?”