The Male Lead Knelt Before Me

‘So, so handsome…….’

Sponsored Content

I couldn’t notice it because of the hat, but the man was handsome.

I mean, too handsome!

No, I don’t think ‘too handsome’ isn’t enough, but anyway!!!

Besides, he really was my cup of tea.

Although he feels difficult to be approached easily because of his sharp eyes, he is neat overall.

Rather, why did I just see his face?

If I had known, I would have kept peeking.
No….…!!

‘Get a hold of yourself.’

I rolled up my fist and pressed my palm with the tip of my fingernails.

Of course, this doesn’t calm me down right away, but it does make me feel somewhat restrained.

I tried to focus my eyes elsewhere as much as I could, but I couldn’t do anything other than glance at the man without my knowing.

No! Stop peeking at him!

Oh, but he’s really handsome……..
Still no! I can’t do that! It’s rude!

 

But it’s hard to see a handsome one like this again…

And at the time when the inner conflict was at its peak.

“It’s here!”

A strange cry came and soon, I heard the footsteps of several people.

Not far away, men in strikingly colourful red uniforms were running.

Among them, the man who came at the forefront saluted before us and shouted.

“Hello, I’m Clive, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Division of the Capital Guard! I came after seeing the smoke of the flares!”!”

“Are they the one behind you, sir?”

“Yes, they are!”

I tilted my head looking at the man next to me and the guard commander.

Are they originally supposed to be polite in front of the citizens?

Or does this man have a higher position than the guard commander?

But the man looks too young to have a higher position than the…….

Even while I was questioning myself, the man calmly explained and pointed to bullies.

“They were the ones who threatened innocent citizens.
Bring them in and rule them under the Current Law.”

 

“I’ll do that, Sir! What are you all doing? Get them up and take them!”

“Yes!”

At the command of the guard commander, the men behind him rushed in and raised the bullies.

As I watched the bullies being dragged away with their legs on the ground, the man said to me.

“I think we can go now.”

“Shouldn’t I give a testimony?”

“If it’s testimony……..?”

“The testimony said that those bullies threatened me.
I thought you asked me to wait for this, didn’t you?”

Sponsored Content

After a brief silence, the man shook his head lightly.

“No, I don’t need any testimony about what I’ve done, because I myself am a knight already.”

Oh, he was a knight.
No wonder I thought that he was so dignified and amazing.

“If I don’t need to testify, can I know why you asked me to wait?”

“As much as you’ve been through, I was worried and wanted to take you home.
But I couldn’t just leave those people here, so I asked you to wait, but I think I made you misunderstand.”

“Me, home?”

“Yes.”

It was only that word, but strangely, my heart was beating.

My heart tickles.

I couldn’t even make eye contact with the man and grabbed the hem of my skirt instead, but he kept adding.

“I apologize for the lack of explanation.
Also, if you find it unpleasant for me to take you there, you can refuse.”

“Oh, no, no! I’d love it if you could take me!”

Hyeop, I think I made it too obvious that I like it too much.

I shook my head busily and tried to excuse myself.

“As you say, I’m a little surprised, and I understand that.
Anyway, it’s not unpleasant, so don’t worry.”

“Thank you for your understanding.
Then I’ll take you home.”

“Oh, can I ask you to take me to the square instead of home, please? I came out with a friend, so we decided to meet each other there again.”

“Of course, it’s fine.”

The man reached out to me.

Why is he reaching out to me?

Is he telling me to hold his hands?

“Sho, should I hold your hand?”

“If you’re uncomfortable, you can put it lightly on the back of my arm.”

This man is a knight, so he might be okay with it, but I feel a little, no, a lot burdened.

Of course, I touched his hand earlier, but it was because I was curious about the material of the gloves, so I touched it slightly.
It’s not like we’re holding hands at all.

But I can’t refuse the favour he had given me.…….

“Then I’ll put it on the back of your arm.”

“Whatever you like, please.”

After a compromise, I carefully put my hand on the man’s arm.

As I was walking side by side, I felt the height difference between the man and me.
Nevertheless, it was not difficult to walk together, it seemed like he was taking consideration of me and matching our stride length.

When I realized that, my heart trembled even more.

Ugh, not only this handsome, but he’s also so kind and caring!

‘He must have a girlfriend……?’

I’m sure he already has.
Because he has such a perfect face and personality.

Not long after walking with the man swallowing my regret, I saw a familiar building not far away.

It’s the clock tower I saw before I broke up with Veloca.

“Is this where you’re supposed to meet your friend?”

“That’s right.
Thank you for taking me.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Sponsored Content

The man raised his arm in a short reply.

“I’ll wait with you until your friend comes.”

“Oh, it’s okay! You’ve already seen enough of my situation.
I’ll feel really sorry to ask you more.”

“It could be dangerous again……….”

“There are so many people, wouldn’t it be safer here?”

I said as I glanced at the people passing by me in a hurry even now.

“If so, I’ll see.
Then I’ll go.”

“He, hey!”

The man who was about to turn stopped at my cry.

“Thank you so much for your help today.
I don’t know how to pay you back……..”

“I just did what I had to do.”

“Still, ah!”

Yes, there was a ticket!

I paused as I tried to pull the ticket out of my pocket.

If he doesn’t like it, then it’s not a payback.

“Do you happen to hate seeing a play?”

“What kind of play are you talking about?”

“A play where people sing and act.”

“I don’t hate it.”

Then, it means he doesn’t even like it.

Listening to the story made me feel certain.

I’m sure a ticket wouldn’t be a good return for this man.

‘Shall I just pretend and put it back in?’

It was a time when the hand that got the ticket was loosened.

“Not often, but I do watch sometimes.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Then I could give him this, right?

I took two tickets out of my pocket and handed them out to the man.

“It’s not a big deal, but it’s a ticket for Chloe’s theatre up ahead this street.
You can watch it whenever you want, so if you like it, please watch it with your friend.”

“Thank you.”

Fortunately, the man accepted the ticket I gave him.

The ticket was the size of my finger, so it was very small for us to grab.

Maybe that’s why, as I was handing it over, I touched the man.

It wasn’t even his bare skin.

The man was wearing gloves.

And yet my heart was pounding.

Oddly enough

“Well, you really can go now.
Thank you very much for today.”

Sponsored Content

The man bowed slightly to my words and turned around.
As the tail of his black cloak flew away and followed him as if possessed, I suddenly felt regret.

“I should have asked for his name…….”

It’s too late, but…

***

Caleb stopped walking only after leaving the square completely.

When he put his hand in his coat pocket and took it out, he saw two tickets.
He just got it from a woman he broke up with.

Caleb looked at the ticket with a strange face.
Because he couldn’t understand his behaviour.

On patrol, he often saw people in danger, and he was willing to help them.

The situation of the woman he just met wasn’t a very unusual case either.

Since many people he had helped were suffering from bullies a few times before.

Among them were a variety of people, such as those who ran away while he was helping, those who only watched, and those who tried to help him a little bit, just like the woman.

And his duty was to hand over criminals to the guards.

Not even once, has he ever been more kind than that.

He’s sure that’s what he’s always doing.

‘How come just now…….’

Even he realized he was excessively kind to the woman.

In addition, he should have answered the question of whether he hates seeing play properly, instead, he added some explanation he shouldn’t have done.

When he was young, he only saw one performance in the Imperial Palace with his parents, and he never thought it was fun or interesting.

‘It’s not a big deal, but it’s a ticket for Chloe’s theatre up ahead this street.
You can watch it whenever you want, so if you like it, please watch it with your friend.’

There was a faint rose scent on the ticket.
Maybe it was the smell of perfume that the woman often uses.

It was like the smell that kept hovering on the tip of his nose when they walked together.

His fingertips were strangely numb when he recognized the fact.
It wasn’t just that it smelled good.

Somehow his heart ached when he was just thinking of the woman.

As if he had met again someone he has missed after a long time.

‘I’ve never seen her before, but why…….’

Caleb stared at the ticket on his palm, confused.

He was so focused that he didn’t even know a middle-aged man was passing by looking at the ticket in his hand.

***

It’s been 12 hours.

I glanced at the clock tower.

And yet Veloca did not show up.

Sitting in front of the fountain and playing with my feet! ‘Lena’, a voice came calling for me.

As I raised my head, Veloca was rushing in.

“Sorry, I’m so late, aren’t I? There were a lot of new goods, so I looked around and couldn’t stop…….
I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay, Veloca.
I didn’t wait that long.”

“I’m sorry, though.
What about your perfume?”

Veloca, who searched my tracks, asked me a question.

“I couldn’t buy it.
I got caught up in something weird because I took the wrong road, and came here at our promised time.”

“Something weird?”

Can I tell her? It doesn’t matter, does it?

Sponsored Content

“That’s…….”

I told Veloca what happened step by step.

When I told her about the rumour I’m being a yobu, Veloca laughed as loudly as the last time she had heard that I had kicked the Viscount.
To the story about the passerby glances.

But when I told the story of me meeting the bullies, she got angry on my behalf, as if she had never laughed before.

“What a bunch of crazy people! Their head is just full of shit, isn’t it? Why would they do that to someone who was walking along the street?”

“I know right.”

“Those guys really need to be cut down.”

Veloca moved like she was scissoring with her index and middle finger.

The expression is a little bit harsh, but…….

Anyway, I nodded because it was something I sympathized with.

“So, did you get hurt somewhere?”

“No, thanks to that knight.”

“Thank God.”

Hearing Veloca’s reassuring voice made me relieved.

“But why did your face suddenly turn so red?”

“What?”

My face?

Unknowingly, Veloca smiled insidiously as I touched my cheek.

“Aha, I see.
The knight must be very handsome, isn’t he? So you fell for him, right?”

“He’s handsome, but I didn’t fall for him.”

“Well, if you say that, I’ll believe it.
More than that, did you ask his name? Of course, you’ve made an appointment with him next time, right?

“I didn’t make such an appointment.
I don’t even know his name.”

“What, really?”

I nodded positively and Veloca looked at me with a look of disbelief.

Why does she look at me like that?

“You should have grabbed him, you fool! When do you think you can meet him again?”

“We’ve never met before, how do I grab him?”

“That’s why you should have grabbed him more! Don’t you know that a relationship is created by making a connection?”

I laughed awkwardly at Veloca’s cry.

Obviously, Veloca was right, too.

But there is no way that can be done in the first meeting.
Still, I thought I’d ask for his name.

“Ha… I don’t know.
You haven’t bought any perfume yet, have you? Do you want to go buy it now?”

“Can I do that?”

“If you don’t buy it today, you’ll have to wait two more weeks, wouldn’t it be better to buy it now?”

“I’m sorry.
Just because of me…….”

“What are you so sorry about? We’re friends after all.”

Friends.

That word unknowingly hardened my face.

Luckily Veloca didn’t seem to notice it.
Seeing her casually cross her arms with mine and lead me to the perfume dealer.

As I watched her red hair tickle my shoulder, I pulled my lips together and smiled.