�It was all him. I did nothing. I heard that you�ve completed your work here? You�re planning on going back home, correct?�

�Yes, my parents should be waiting.�

�You must miss them. However, since the two of you promised to be friends for life, it must be sad to go back like this. Hey, Louis.�

�Yes, your Grace.�

�The carriage that Shirone was supposed to take to get back home? Take his parents here instead.�

�Right away.�

The head butler immediately left the mansion.

The situation with Shirone was no longer something he could deal with.

Louis realized again at that moment that a noble�s way of thinking was completely beyond his understanding.

____

By the time Shirone and Rian returned to the room, it was nearing noon.

�Haha! Did you see their faces?! That felt sooooo good!�

�But are you really okay? That knight�s oath� I think you overdid it because of me.�

Rian�s expression became serious. Despite how immature he was, he understood the weight of the knight�s oath.

�Shirone, I did not take the oath because you are my friend. You�re different from my brother. You have the power to attract people.�

Shirone felt the sincerity.

But listening to such praise made him feel awkward, so to lift the mood a bit, he tried to joke around.

�Haha! I feel too much pressure. But if you want to protect me, you�ll have to improve by several folds.�

Rian flinched.

�Hey, don�t poke where it hurts. I already know that. By the way, you surprised me there. Saying what you wanted to say in front of my whole family. Weren�t you scared?�

�Hehe, there�s a secret to that.�

Shirone explained how he imagined jumping off a cliff, which he realized before his sword battle with Rian.

Thinking it would be of some help towards improving his swordsmanship, Rian was puzzled once he heard the story.

�Jumping off a cliff? Why would you do that? Are you perhaps� An idiot?�

��An idiot?�

He couldn�t believe Rian called him an idiot.

�No, just listen carefully. I don�t mean you should actually jump off a cliff. Simply imagine it. You aren�t dead until you fall flat on the ground. It means that you need to focus on the present instead of needlessly imagining the future.�

�But if you jump off, you�re dead. It�s you who needs to think it over. If you jump, you�re as good as dead.�

�Argh, seriously! If you don�t even jump off the cliff, ultimately, you�ll end up not being able to do anything!�

�Aha, then I can do it. For example, I would jump without any hesitation to save you. Because that�s what a knight does.� JrNovels.com