“Keep the lines straight! Move!”
In response to Chester’s commanding voice, the knights moved in perfect unison.
Suddenly, a low-ranking knight dropped his wooden practice sword.
As the dull thud echoed through the air, a sense of dread washed over everyone, and they stole glances at the clumsy recruit.
Surely, a thunderous scolding was coming.
It wouldn’t be strange if Chester shouted about the importance of focus or asked if they intended to drop their weapons in the middle of a real battle.
True to form, Chester’s sharp gaze landed directly on the man who had dropped his sword.
Everyone gulped, waiting for the explosion—but Chester remained silent.
“Haaa…”
Instead, he let out a heavy, weary sigh.
It was a reaction none of them had seen before, and the knights began exchanging bewildered glances, sensing something was off.
“Pick it up quickly and fix your stance.”
“Ye… Yes, sir!”
But that was all Chester said.
Normally, even harsher words would have been expected, but Chester didn’t even give the knight a second look as he resumed the training session.
“Why is everyone moving so sluggishly? Do you really think you can kill a monster without getting injured like this?”
Near the end of the session, Chester’s voice finally took on a sharper edge.
Everyone gulped and straightened their backs.
They knew what came next.
Disappointed with the day’s performance, Chester would certainly order extra training.
The knights, who had been hoping for a brief moment of rest after the scheduled drills, couldn’t help but lament inwardly.
“Work harder. Don’t neglect your individual practice. Dismissed.”
The knights couldn’t even manage a spirited response as they watched Chester walk away from the training grounds with a strangely hollow gait.
“Something… is definitely weird, right?”
“For sure. He even let it slide when Jayan dropped his sword earlier.”
Even though Chester had dismissed them, the knights huddled together to start a serious discussion.
“And I was positive he’d order extra training today. Why did he just end it so quietly?”
“Besides, didn’t Commander Chester look… drained? Like all the life had been sucked out of him.”
“Totally. It was like looking at a withered tree.”
Everyone added a comment about Chester’s unusual behavior.
It wasn’t just the lack of scolding; today’s Chester seemed to have no energy at all.
Usually, regardless of what was happening, Chester remained cool, sharp, and focused.
He was the type to keep his nerves taut, never letting his guard down for a second.
It was so extreme that common talk among the knights was how strange it was that the polar opposites, Chester and Varen, got along so well.
But today, Chester had ignored several moments that usually would have earned a sharp tongue-lashing, and his characteristic edge was so dull he looked like he’d collapse if someone so much as poked him.
“Oh, wait. Maybe it’s because of that?”
While they were debating the cause of Chester’s condition, one knight finally spoke up.
“What?”
“Some people from headquarters were sent on dispatch to the Northern Branch recently, right?”
The others nodded, focusing on him.
“I heard from someone in the Research Department that Aide Ruite was part of that team.”
“……Ah.”
The knights, who had been wondering what that had to do with Chester’s low mood, all let out a simultaneous groan of realization.
That explained everything.
It was too easy to understand now.
The reason Chester was so “off” today was as clear as day.
Unaware that his subordinates were conducting a post-mortem on his mood, Chester was trudging toward the main building.
As he dragged his heavy, lifeless body along, someone suddenly pounced on him from behind.
“Chester—!”
It was Varen, who had just returned from a monster subjugation.
Varen was the type to always act informally, regardless of Chester’s mood.
Lunging at Chester like this was a familiar routine; usually, Chester would scowl and swat his hands away, telling him to get off.
“Eh?”
But today, instead of swatting him away, Chester couldn’t even withstand the force of Varen’s enthusiastic greeting.
He stumbled and sank right down onto the ground.
“……What are you doing?”
Chester glared up at Varen.
But Varen felt genuinely wronged—he hadn’t intended to knock him over at all.
Besides, Chester wasn’t the kind of person who could be pushed down by that little force.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Even the way Chester pushed himself off the ground looked precarious.
Varen scratched the back of his head, staring worriedly at his normally indomitable junior.
“Are you sick?”
“I’m perfectly healthy.”
Chester brushed the dirt off his hands.
Varen’s suspicious gaze didn’t waver.
He didn’t look healthy at all.
His complexion was the same, but there was no life in his expression.
“If you have nothing else to say, I’m going.”
His prickly attitude was the same, but it felt like something vital was missing.
Watching Chester’s retreating back, Varen tilted his head.
Staring at those slumped shoulders, he suddenly clapped his hands together with a realization.
There was only one thing that could make Chester act like this.
To test his theory, Varen took a deep breath and pointed toward the entrance of the headquarters.
“Oh! It’s Ruite!”
At the booming voice, Chester stopped dead in his tracks and whipped his head around to where Varen was pointing.
Though only his profile was visible, his gloomy face instantly brightened at the mere mention of Ruite’s name.
It was a transformation so total it was as if he’d put on a different face entirely.
Seeing Chester’s expression light up like dry land being touched by water, Varen nodded.
His hunch was correct.
However, no sooner had Chester realized the trick than a murderous glare was directed back at Varen.
“What was that? There’s no way Ruite could be here right now.”
“Yeah, exactly. You know that perfectly well, so what was with that face just now?”
Chester clamped his mouth shut and just glared.
The momentary spark of life vanished, and his face sank back into gloom.
“I was wondering why Chester was in such a foul mood. It’s because Ruite isn’t here, isn’t it? It was yesterday, right? When the dispatch team left for the North.”
To support the investigation of the mass Grade-1 monster appearance in the North, several members from the Research Department, including Ruite, had been sent on dispatch.
“Are you lonely without Ruite?”
“If you’re just here to tease me, stop. I’m not in the mood for jokes.”
Chester pushed Varen’s approaching face away with his hand and continued toward the main building.
After that, dealing with Varen’s persistent teasing every time they crossed paths was a chore in itself.
Normally, he would have expressed his annoyance openly, but he didn’t even have the strength for that.
In fact, just starting the day had been a struggle.
Since seeing Ruite off to the Northern Branch yesterday, it felt like every ounce of energy had drained from his body.
He had no motivation and no appetite.
Just thinking about being apart from Ruite for a week made a sigh escape his lips automatically.
Before Ruite left, Chester had sternly instructed him not to respond with more than three words if another Alpha spoke to him, and never to spend private time with Colin outside of work, but he was still worried.
To think he had to spend several more days like this…
Chester let out his countless sigh for the day as he finished work and headed back to the mansion.
Standing in front of the estate, Chester didn’t go in immediately, instead staring blankly at the front door.
Even if he went inside, Ruite wouldn’t be there.
“……”
Chester dragged his reluctant legs into the mansion.
The butler, Vilter, and the servants greeted him politely, but he didn’t even have the energy to respond properly.
“Master Chester, as for dinner…”
“It’s fine. I don’t have an appetite.”
Telling Vilter not to prepare anything, he climbed the stairs with heavy steps.
Entering the bedroom without even changing out of his clothes, Chester collapsed onto the bed.
“……Haaa.”
He could smell Ruite’s scent on the blankets.
Breathing it in, he felt a tiny fraction of his strength return.
“Ruite……”
Normally, at this time, they would have come home together, shared dinner, and talked about their day.
Not only that, but once back at the mansion, he could touch Ruite whenever he wanted without worrying about anyone watching.
He could kiss him incessantly, nibble on his cheeks, and bury his face in Ruite’s neck to take in his scent and faint pheromones.
“……”
Deciding he couldn’t take it anymore, Chester left the bedroom and headed for Ruite’s dressing room.
Finding the clothes Ruite wore most often in his daily life—not his uniform—Chester buried his nose in the fabric and took a deep breath.
Sure enough, Ruite’s scent was much stronger here than on the bedsheets.
There were even traces of his faint pheromones.
Finally, he felt like he could breathe again. But that relief didn’t last long.
“……Damn it.”
Chester bit his lip, his face flushing slightly.
It was one thing to soothe his longing by smelling Ruite’s clothes, but he hadn’t expected his body to react so viscerally.
Chester’s gaze naturally drifted downward.
As expected, there was a prominent bulge in his trousers.
