As a knight, protecting people was only natural.
From the moment I became one, I often volunteered for expeditions. The provinces were always short on manpower, threatened by monsters, and I wanted to protect them.
That didn’t change even after I got married.
After I began wearing the sword belt Sheila gave me, it felt like my opportunities increased. When I went on my first expedition after we started dating, she had called it a good-luck charm. She told me she had woven her magic into it herself. Others had received charms from their lovers too, so I remember how happy I was.
From that point on, I barely felt fatigue. I achieved more than anyone else.
My comrades praised me and thanked me. I thanked Sheila, saying it was all thanks to the sword belt. They told me to treasure a woman who would give me something so wonderful.
Whenever I returned to the capital, Sheila always greeted me with a smile. That alone put me at ease and made me think I wanted to stay with her forever.
That was why I proposed, submitted the marriage papers to the guild, and officially began living together.
“Now that you’re married, you’ll ease up on expeditions, right?”
A colleague said that to me, and it caught me completely off guard.
“No. Expeditions pay well. I plan to keep going.”
“Even so…”
I understood his concern.
Many knights on expeditions frequented brothels or kept women in the towns they were stationed in. Most partners didn’t take kindly to that, which was why expedition slots were usually given to unmarried knights first.
“Don’t worry. I won’t look at anyone but Sheila. I’m thinking about our future, so I want to save up while I can.”
I clapped my colleague on the shoulder and signed up for another expedition.
For about a year after we married, I was devoted to Sheila.
But as my achievements grew rapidly, I became well-known in town, and young women began to gather around me.
What started as simple drinking turned into being surrounded by women, swayed by their allure.
Even then, I didn’t cross the final line.
Then I met Chiara.
“Sir Knight, thank you for protecting our town.”
She looked at me with sparkling eyes and a hopeful smile. I brushed it off as usual, but when I heard her name, something stirred in my chest.
Chiara. It sounded like Sheila. Her atmosphere reminded me of Sheila when we first met.
But unlike Sheila, Chiara was a little clumsy, someone who made me want to protect her. Before I realized it, I was drawn in.
At first, I didn’t go drinking with my comrades. I simply went to Chiara’s house and shared meals.
She said she wanted to thank the knight who protected the town. When I noticed the bandage wrapped around her finger, she hid her hand shyly.
“I’m not very good at cooking, but I tried my best. Please eat, if you’d like.”
Her earnestness was endearing. Before I knew it, I had stolen her lips.
“Um, Sir Knight…”
“Leon.”
Her eyes shimmered. Her damp lips moved as she said my name.
That was enough to snap my restraint. I pushed her down onto the bed.
Her body trembled faintly as she endured the pain, clinging to me as if offering everything she had. I took her again and again without growing tired.
When she told me it was her first time, I felt something like responsibility—but joy outweighed it. Even afterward, I treated her gently, kissing her many times.
After sleeping for a while, we ate the cold meal together late at night.
I sat her on my lap, feeding her, kissing her, touching her. At first she was shy, but soon she grew bold, and we began to seek each other openly.
In the morning, she saw me off with a trembling smile, tears in her eyes. I kissed her and promised I would come again before heading back to the garrison.
“Did you enjoy yourself last night?”
A younger knight teased me. I smiled it off, but the next words felt like cold water being poured over me.
“You’ve got a wife, Leon. Don’t get carried away.”
My heart thudded unpleasantly.
That’s right. I had Sheila.
Seeing the sword belt I’d left in the garrison locker, cold sweat poured down my back.
I had betrayed Sheila.
I was married to her, yet I had held another woman.
“That’s not… what it is.”
I muttered weakly, not even sure who I was saying it to.
During that expedition, I didn’t go back to Chiara. I returned home instead.
“Welcome back.”
Seeing Sheila’s smile filled me with guilt, and I couldn’t look at her properly.
She cared for me as always, and feeling ashamed, I became curt.
“I’m tired. I’ll eat and sleep.”
Her gaze felt like it was accusing me. I signed up for more expeditions to escape, left before she woke, and returned only after she was asleep.
For a while, things seemed to settle. I decided not to go back to Marseize, where Chiara lived.
But then there was a manpower shortage, and I had no choice.
I told myself it would be the last time.
When I returned to the town after about half a year, Chiara was waiting at the garrison.
Women coming to see knights wasn’t unusual—but when I saw her slightly rounded belly, my eyes widened.
“I’d like to talk after your duties are done.”
Her sharp gaze stole my breath. There was no way to refuse.
It was almost certainly about her stomach.
That day’s training passed in a blur. I went to see Chiara, still wearing the sword belt.
We sat across a table. I couldn’t meet her eyes and instead looked around her home. She lived alone, and the place wasn’t very clean.
And yet, she had cooked for me back then. The thought made my chest ache.
“I felt I should tell you.”
I swallowed.
“I conceived your child that night. I struggled with what to do, but I decided to give birth.”
I could feel my face stiffen. I wanted reality to be a lie and clenched my fists.
“That’s… my child?”
Chiara’s expression twisted—contempt, disappointment.
“I’ve never done anything like that with anyone else.”
Some part of me had wished she were careless, but she had been inexperienced, her innocent reactions pulling at my heart.
Something heavy pressed down on my chest. There was something I had to tell her, but the words felt lodged in my throat.
“I… I have a wife. In the capital…”
I forced the words out.
They echoed back painfully.
Silence fell. Chiara spoke first.
“…I suspected as much. I heard stories from other knights’ lovers… that even if they say they’re single, many have wives or lovers in the capital. But still…”
When I looked up, she was biting her lip, shoulders trembling as she struggled not to cry. I moved closer and held her.
“You’re not like that. I thought you were different. That’s why I was happy when I found out I was pregnant. You said you’d come again, so I…”
She broke down, sobbing. I stroked her head.
It hadn’t been a momentary mistake.
I had wanted Chiara, desired her, taken everything from her. My regret was brief. Standing before her now, all I could think was that I had to protect her.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. Please give birth. I’ll take responsibility.”
As I said those words, Sheila’s existence slipped completely from my mind.
