Chapter 66: Kilian’s Knight

He threw the cane on the bed, and followed it with his body, stretching his legs out over the soft sheets.

His mother had smiled on the trip home, and she had seemed genuinely happy with the gifts.

'At least I can do this for her.' He thought to himself, thinking back on the little he had had only a few months earlier.

"It can not erase the years she has gone through in that idiotic family."

He grimaced and looked over at the package that was leaning against the table in the room. It was wrapped in a simple cloth, and with it was a smaller box on the table.

Kilian smiled to himself, the day had been lucrative, and Mr. Kilga had delivered on his promises, and presented some special items for Kilian to return with.

The room was warm, and the comfortable bed made him doze off into meaningless dreams.

"Master Kilian." the words were just loud enough to wake Kilian from his sleep, and groggily sit up in the bed.

A flustered Dante was standing in the doorway, his hands unnecessarily fidgeting with his clothes.

"You can come in, Dante."

Kilian sighed, assuming Dante was being overly careful after their conversation earlier.

'Maybe he thinks he needs my permission for everything now.'

Kilian rubbed his eyes gently and got up, his mind clearer than seconds ago.

"Dante, I have something for you."

He strode over to the floor to grab the item wrapped in cloth, casually throwing it at Dante like it was nothing.

His face carried a wide grin watching Dante catch it with ease and with a certain elegance.

'He really has trained lately.'

"What is it… Master."

Even if Kilian addressed his knight by name, it seemed Dante was now making sure to keep up the boundaries they had agreed on.

"A gift, for your constant loyalty, you deserve it."

Kilian gave him a bright smile, and red spread faintly over Dante's cheeks.

There was no denying that even if they now had walls between them, they still cared about each other in their own way.

The cloth quickly fell to the floor with Dante's excited unwrapping, and a dark metal sword laid in Dante's hands.

The straight sword had hints of a feather look embedded, and the handle bore a bright red ruby.

It was the only elaborate design the sword had, to make it stand out from a normal training sword, as Kilian had wanted for others to know Dante had a certain status.

Only commanders were allowed to embed or carry elaborate fancy designs with their swords.

Generally, it was a show of superiority, but honestly, Kilian had simply wanted the gem to match Dante's hair, so no one would be in doubt who the owner was.

The sword beautifully sliced the air between them, and several moves later Dante stood with a satisfied grin, looking at the sword as if it was more important to him than the other person in the room.

Kilian was almost jealous of the look, knowing it had once been for him only.

'You can't have everything.' He thought.

"They were unable to create a sheathe for it at the shop on such short notice, so you will have to get one made later, for now at least get used to it."

Kilian stepped aside as a maid came in with tea for them.

She quickly bowed and left in a hurry, possibly because the man who had still been swinging the sword had not noticed her arrival.

"Thank you, young Master."

The words sounded genuine and Kilian could tell Dante was irking to leave to test it out more.

"Why don't you go show it off to the others." Kilian's smile was now slightly devious.

He wanted to have the weapon tested and see how it stood against the sword the other knights were using.

"Make sure to stand out while winning."

He was not gonna let his first business product lose easily to other weapons, and the knights would be the perfect test subjects.

Dante left with a short nod, and Kilian noticed how the evening was starting to grow darker.

'It is time.'

He had to go. There wouldn't be another revisit from a maid unless he called them.

A simple pair of pants and shirt was covered by a dark hooded cloak, and he grabbed the box remaining on the table and opened it.

A short sword and a dagger were neatly placed inside of it.

They were both dark metal with a simple white handle both carrying a small light blue gem.

He was satisfied, and happy Mr. Kilga did not have the same taste as his grandfather or the king, as the only embedded design was that of a griffin.

He hid the dagger in his boot and wore the sword in a sheath under the cloak.

The sound of the cane was muffled on the long carpet in the hallway, and he left for the entrance of the residence, where the old butler simply opened the door without asking any questions.

The old man simply bowed.

"Have a good evening, Young Duke."

Kilian nodded and left to disappear into the busy capital.

It did not take long before he located the alleyway he had met the strays of the capital, and it took even less time for them to spot him and make contact.

"Mr. Joker."

Kilian turned, only letting the kid who had addressed him see a mask covering the upper half of his face, the cloak hiding his bright hair in the shadows of the night.

Kilian did not reply but pushed the cloak back to reveal the cane. It was now his identification in this area, and the kid nodded, leading the way away from the busy side of town.

The small boy who was guiding him led him to a door on the side of a building, and Kilian stepped forward to open it.

His insides were in turmoil, unsure what to expect. He had left again without Dante and he could not know if he would be in danger there or not.

The room inside was plain and almost normal looking, like a simple office with a desk facing the entrance and several kids were sitting on the floor inside, all looking at him as if they had been waiting.