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Chapter 69: Mistral Dance (I).

Kein\'s POV

At that point we were left alone, everyone else in the art booth were fixing and preparing to pack heading out either to home or wherever they wanted. Father just left with Vivienne for some grandfather and granddaughter bonding moment leaving me with Rose.

I held the frog plushie she had given me and I felt a bit flustered as I wrapped it around my arms. I... have to admit I don\'t know how to take the lead now that I\'m this hot and bothered.

"I erm... should we go?" I managed to mutter out and she reluctantly nodded. I guess we were both feeling the jitters after a lot of things happening now.

"Yes, let\'s go to the church it\'s turning night and I fear we could get separated-" She stops for a bit looking hesitant. "So to not get lost... would you like to hold hands with me while we walk?" Slowly she offers her small hands towards mine.

I saw my hand that has been all roughed up and full of scars, nothing befitting for a woman.

I have most likely killed a lot of things with these hands from my time at the military academy, purging monsters and I... might have killed a criminal or two.

Usually I would worry that I would hurt and taint such a national treasure such as a princess of a kingdom but I know... this girl is not that fragile and innocent, I know she wouldn\'t be a person to care if my hand were dirty as such she  would still hold it regardless.

I took a deep breath, looked at her and replied. "If you wouldn\'t mind me, Rose. I would love to hold hands with you." I take her hand in mine, feeling that familiar warmth I\'m craving. As expected it was still the same when we were children, small and soft.

"Two years since we\'ve seen the Mistral dance together. Are you excited?"

"Yes, I am. Though the dancing will start once the moon comes out this year, from the looks of it, it\'ll be a full moon where the moonlight shines the brightest under the dark. On other festivals it would\'ve been alright to start at any time."

"On the time of the full moon, is where the light goddess says to be giving her blessings to your people."

Hand in hand, we walked in complete silence seeing so many people going into the direction of the church.

There were already church girls on duty welcoming so many people and knights on posts making sure that the Mistral dance event would go on without a hitch.

Some of the Knights who were posted on the side noticed me and began waving over. I tried to squint to see who was posted, thinking it was my classmates from the same batch but-

Oh- they\'re- the knights from the [Winshern] tavern.

They\'re my seniors who were assigned on the same mission the same to escort Rose safely to the neighboring kingdom and then back home. It seems that they\'ve already been given duty to be guarding posts over here.

"Hey, Commander! I see you\'re still with the Winshern girl!" They teased and at this point we were forced to come over.

"Kein aren\'t they your friends from-" (Rose) seems to recognize the drunkards as well. They also looked happy being recognized by a pretty lady as well.

"Yes, they\'re the knights from the tavern back in winshern-" I replied tiredly scratching the back of my neck looking at their happy goofy faces.

Grrr... if Lord Vincent knew of their behavior while seeing a co-worker in public they\'ll surely never hear the end of it. "Just a moment if you don\'t mind I think I might give them some small talk about work ethics while on duty. Clearly after just getting back from a high ranked mission they think they can do well just because it\'s the festival."

"Oh Kein, everyone deserves to relax a little."

"Still- I\'ll be quick to just talk to them."

I sighed and shook my head for getting recognized in public. The fact that these guys are breaking professionalism while on duty is also another added disappointment.

"Alright but please be quick- I think the dance will start soon but you know I could also come with you?" (Rose) suggested and I was a bit conflicted on it.

It\'s not like I don\'t want her to come with me but knowing these bunch they\'ll be running their mouths that I\'m afraid whatever they\'ll spill about me will be baseless lies.

Especially the false rumors of me being a womanizer at the military academy as a joke. "Are you sure- these guys- knowing back at the tavern you\'ll be a target of teasing as well."

"Nothing I can\'t handle, dear. Now come on- why don\'t we say hi?"

With our hands still holding she leads me to the way of my \'friends\' of the Knights that came with us drinking in the tavern. Immediately they were giving me smirks and started clapping when we got near them.

"So you actually brought your girlfriend from Winshern! I thought it was just one time fling but Commander Kein, I aspire to be like you one day. Look at you bringing home ladies left and right-" One Knight laughed before the other group followed.

"Oh- and is that a frog plushie?" They pointed at the frog plushie, colored into a dark shade of green and I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.

The senior knights have never seen me bring anything- like a plushie.

"S-So? What if it is one?" I clicked my tongue taking the plushie into a more safe area now, which is into my [Storage Ring].

"Nothing- it\'s just something we couldn\'t expect from the Commander, you know?"

"You guys won\'t have any mercy from me when I get back to my station." I threatened them while I could hear Rose giggling right by my side.

Rose shakes her head and turns to the Knights. "I\'m actually not from Winshern originally- I was visiting when I met your Commander on her mission and what a fate it is for us to meet again in our hometown."

Pffft, yeah fate.

The knights were a bit surprised but then just went along with it. "Oh? You\'re originally from Puronia- no wonder you\'re probably a catch, Miss- but be careful this girl right here is fire."

"You better have a good explanation for comparing me to a fire-"

He cuts me off and dramatically settles his hand over his forehead.

"A blazing flame that attracts ladies like a moth-!" The other Knight beside him readies a catching stance before the first one falls over right by his arm, the knight being prepared catches him. "However just before they could touch the flame they came burning down gaining nothing- thrown to the floor with an aching heart. Their feelings never returned."

At this point everyone in the crowd was just staring.

I don\'t know these crazy people.

"However, seeing that this is the second time we saw you with the Commander we might\'ve guessed it was serious." The senior knights nodded with each other\'s direction agreeing in the said sentence. "Though rumors have it she\'s still in love with an old flame- been two years already but this lass here has no absolute sign of moving on."

"You guys I swear- every time we meet up it\'s all about my love life!" I am thinking of taking out my cursed sword, [Nirvana] and wondered if it wanted any souls of a knight for dinner today. "Think of something else to talk about while I\'m here."

And for the record, I\'m currently on a date with the said old flame. To where they are right I don\'t think I\'m going to show signs of moving on at this point.

"Hold on there, Commander. It\'s not every time we meet up-"

"No- no- we\'re not that bad. It\'s only when we see you having a lovely lady by your side, we\'re just here to warm them before it\'s too late. It hurts us to see more hearts getting broken by the young commander."

"Pfft! I like these friends of yours, Kein." (Rose) complimented these two fools to which I didn\'t like.

I crossed my arms and glared at the three Knights who mostly started the commotion.

"I don\'t like them not one bit." is what I said but I was lying.

These two seniors have got my back since at the academy, the first to accept who I was. When the news got out that I wasn\'t \'normal\', where the other knights would try to attempt to fix me and I would just beat them in duels... Including Lucas being in my batch.

Despite being years older than me, it seems that he was held back due to horrible grades. He made sure to make my life a living hell inside the classroom, to the point no one wanted to do anything with me.

With my seniors however, I gained their respect and thus we have this respectable relationship in the present.

"Please you stole my girlfriend that one time- I should be the one saying that."

"You\'ll never live that down. For the last time I said I was sorry and I didn\'t even steal her!"

"I know I was kidding commander. I\'m already engaged to a better woman anyways." This time the Knights smiled genuinely in our direction. "We were all kidding Miss. If the both of you are anything serious, we hope that you two will be happy moving on forward."

They all nodded in sync and I feel my mood being a little lighter, perhaps checking up drunk knight friends would be worth a while. "Thanks... you idiots."

Rose seemed to be more than pleased, she looked really happy because her eyes had that little shimmer that says I\'m having a good day today and nothing can ruin it feeling.

"Please, may I have your names? You people... are rare friends to find. Kein is truly lucky to have all of you." She walks forward to the group of Knight seniors and asks for their name.

The knights looked at each other for a moment before going into abrupt cheers happily telling her their names one by one and even trash talking my name into the mix.

"My name is David Shlock, little miss. Did you know, your little girlfriend of yours has balls greater than any other man from her class. She dueled all of us using no magic at all and beat the crap out of us fairly."

"And the name\'s Gerald Antson. Your girlfriend was a real one, one time I was her senior partner for a low ranked mission we had to defeat a group of monsters and she saved me? Definitely agree she got balls."

"Your girlfriend got me out of a horrible relationship that I was too blind to realize it was, it sucks but I consider her as one of my comrade in arms I owe her a lot for it… My name is Finner Kentley but my friends call me Fin."

All of them shook her hand respectfully and I could see her having fun talking with them some more until it was time to go.

"Thank you for getting to know us a little better, Miss. Next time why don\'t you and the Commander visit my wedding? I\'ll hand you both an invite, I know where she lives anyways." (Fin) turns to me patting my back, I can\'t believe that he\'s also getting married.

Rose happily accepted his invitation to go to the wedding and I told him, "I\'ll be waiting for the invite then. Also are kids allowed in your wedding-"

I might take Vivienne when the time comes but thankfully the wedding is not going to happen after a few more months. Which means I have time to attend after completing my mission for the first princess\' cure.