“No.”
“No what?”
“You can’t show your forehead. No.”
Chester stood firmly in front of Ruite, who was fully dressed and ready to depart, shaking his head.
They were supposed to leave now to celebrate the birthday of Colin’s younger sister, but Chester crossed his arms and refused to budge.
His reason?
Ruite’s forehead was halfway exposed due to the styling chosen for the banquet.
“Fix Ruite’s hair again.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Let’s just go. We’re already pushing it for time.”
But Chester wouldn’t retreat.
Ruite let out a long sigh and sat back down in the room.
The servants, following Chester’s instructions, began to adjust Ruite’s silver locks once more.
“Seriously, he always gets obsessed over the weirdest things.”
“Perhaps he just doesn’t want anyone else to see your forehead, Ruite?”
“It’s just a forehead. Is it going to wear away if someone looks at it?”
Ruite grumbled, but he obediently sat through the servants’ touch.
Only after his forehead was completely covered by his hair did Chester nod in satisfaction.
“It’s unfair.”
“What is?”
Inside the carriage heading to the Raulguns mansion, Ruite suddenly glared at Chester.
“You told me not to sweep my hair back. But look at you.”
Chester, who usually wore his hair down comfortably, had pinned his bangs up completely today, exposing his entire forehead.
“I’m fine. But for you, the vibe changes completely depending on your hairstyle. I can’t let other guys see that specific brand of cuteness.”
Ruite wondered how a grown man could be considered “cute,” but he kept the thought to himself.
He didn’t have any major complaints; honestly, whether his hair was up or down didn’t matter much to him.
Before long, they arrived at the Marquis of Raulguns’ estate.
Stepping out of the carriage, the two naturally entered the banquet hall under the guidance of the servants.
The moment they stepped inside, gazes poured in from all directions.
The marriage between the Callaway Duchy and the Everhart County had been a major topic in social circles, and since both were performing exceptionally well in the Knights, they naturally drew attention.
Furthermore, rumors that the two were on incredibly good terms—despite it being an arranged marriage—played a part.
“Ruite! Chester!”
As Ruite was naturally scanning the refreshments prepared for the banquet, a familiar voice called out.
It was Colin, who had returned to the capital after a long time for today’s event.
“Colin!”
Just as Ruite was about to approach Colin happily, Chester abruptly grabbed Ruite’s hand.
“Huh?”
“That’s enough. Let’s go.”
Seemingly satisfied now that they were walking hand-in-hand, Chester finally headed toward Colin.
“Hey, Colin.”
Chester waved at him.
However, the fact that he greeted him by raising the hand currently interlaced with Ruite’s was… eccentric, to say the least.
Ruite looked at Chester with an “Again with this?” expression, while Colin, who had already seen through his friend’s intentions, just chuckled.
“Chester, you’re already married. Are you still keeping a guard up against me?”
“Who’s guarding against whom? It’s not like that.”
Colin wondered why he still did such childish things.
It was impossible not to notice how deep their relationship had become.
Ruite carried Chester’s pheromones, and Chester carried Ruite’s—scents that were incomparably denser than what he had sensed at the wedding.
“Oh, right. This is my younger sister, Sophia.”
The child clinging to Colin’s side bowed her head politely.
Perhaps because of her young age, or because she wasn’t used to the atmosphere of a banquet, she looked a bit intimidated.
“She seems nervous.”
“I didn’t know Colin had a sister with such a big age gap.”
Ruite bent his knees slightly and reached out his hand.
“Hi, Sophia. I’m Ruite, your brother’s friend. Happy birthday.”
As Ruite curled his lips into a gentle smile, the tension in Sophia’s eyes slowly faded.
Without a word, the child grabbed Ruite’s hand and looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
“Oh, it looks like she likes Ruite. She usually doesn’t approach strangers easily. Sophia, do you like this oppa?”
“Yeah. He’s the prettiest person here.”
Ruite and Colin burst into laughter at the child’s honest review.
The only one unable to laugh comfortably was Chester.
“Then Ruite, could you take Sophia around for a bit? Thinking about the future, I’d like her to get used to the banquet atmosphere, and I think you’d be better for that than me, her family.”
Sophia would eventually have her debutante ball and would need to attend many such official gatherings as the second daughter of Raulguns. Colin seemed worried about that.
“Sure, I don’t mind. Chester, I’ll be back in a bit.”
Ruite took Sophia’s hand and moved elsewhere.
The child clearly liked Ruite, as she couldn’t take her eyes off him even while walking.
“Ruite is popular wherever he goes. Even with kids.”
Colin watched Ruite’s retreating back and then turned to Chester, who was biting his lip.
“Surely you aren’t jealous of my little sister, too?”
“……I’m not.”
Colin let out a small laugh. He could tell that was a forced, barely-squeezed-out answer.
He had suspected it, but to think he’d even be on guard against a young girl.
Sophia was likely just showing a fleeting interest because Ruite was handsome.
“I didn’t know the Chester who was so prickly back in the Academy would become such a romantic. Do you really like Ruite that much?”
Chester’s lips quirked before he let out a deep sigh.
“If I had my way, I’d keep him in the mansion and be the only one to see him.”
“Uh…… what?”
Colin was slightly taken aback by the unexpectedly honest answer.
“Simply saying I ‘like’ him isn’t enough.”
“Are you feeling insecure for some reason?”
Ruite’s reflection appeared in Chester’s eyes.
He could see Ruite smiling while engaging in light conversation with others while looking after Sophia.
“We’re married. What is there to be insecure about?”
“Exactly.”
“But I do have a worry. That one day, Ruite might start to find my feelings… burdensome.”
He knew they loved each other.
He could clearly feel the affection Ruite gave him.
However, his own feelings were surely much larger and heavier.
He worried that one day, Ruite might find that suffocating.
Watching Chester, who only had eyes for Ruite, Colin smiled faintly.
“Chester, you see the tree but miss the forest.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
Colin simply shrugged and took a sip of his drink.
Sophia eventually grew tired after walking around with Ruite.
Conveniently, the Marchioness of Raulguns approached, thanked him for looking after her, and took the child away.
Waving goodbye to Sophia, Ruite looked around the vast banquet hall.
He was wandering around looking for Chester when he accidentally bumped into someone’s back.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Ruite rubbed his nose and bowed his head.
But he heard the person he bumped into shout, “Hey!”
“You…”
The person was even pointing a finger.
To behave so rudely at a banquet… Ruite, wondering who it could be, looked at the person’s face and tilted his head.
“……You look familiar.”
Ruite narrowed his eyes, stroking his chin.
This face definitely wasn’t a first-time encounter.
“Hey, you don’t even recognize a fellow student? No, more than that, how can you not recognize me? My side still aches whenever it rains because of you!”
‘His side?’
Ruite wondered if he should be worried about someone so young having such aches, but then a memory flashed in his mind.
Something that happened during the class-versus-class monster subjugation battle at the third-year Academy festival.
“Ah! You’re…… Harrid.”
“It’s Harrison.”
“Sorry, right, Harrison. Now I remember.”
Harrison from Class 1.
They weren’t close since they had no real interaction, but they were linked by that monster subjugation battle.
Back then, while facing the Class 1 students who had attacked first, Ruite had perfectly suppressed Harrison to secure victory.
“Well, I’ll be going now.”
He wanted to find Chester as quickly as possible.
But Harrison didn’t seem to want to end the conversation and didn’t move out of the way.
“Hey, I’m asking this now, but why did you hit me so hard back then?”
“Why are you asking that now? If you were curious, you should have asked then.”
“Honestly, our class picked the fight first, so I thought you were just acting accordingly. But the more I think about it, the less it makes sense. I felt like there was a lot of personal emotion put into your strikes.”
Harrison’s logic was that they hadn’t really known each other well enough for such animosity.
“You have good instincts. You’re right, I hit you with plenty of personal emotion.”
Harrison’s face crumpled in frustration.
“So I’m asking, what was the reason?”
“You badmouthed Chester.”
“What?”
“Talking about how he’s just his brother’s shadow and whatever… Ugh, just thinking about it makes me mad again.”
As Ruite’s expression turned cold and sharp, Harrison instinctively swallowed hard.
Back then, Ruite had felt a clear sense of rage.
He had entered that fight with the determination to take down the person who spoke so carelessly about Chester without knowing anything.
Well, back then he hadn’t realized his feelings for Chester yet, so he hadn’t looked too deeply into the specifics of his emotions.
“Whoa, what? Was that the reason?”
“Yeah, that was the reason. Why? Surely you aren’t still thinking such things?”
“N—No! That was just because I didn’t know any better back then. I don’t think that way anymore. In fact, looking at Chester now, I think he’s amazing.”
Harrison waved his hands as if to calm Ruite down, seeing him instinctively clench his fists.
