I'm Looking for the Male Lead for the Ending - Chapter 20
Chapter 11.1
“Captain, we’re departing in an hour? What are you doing now…?”
A man with a long vertical scar on his left eye asked while glancing around the messy barracks. He cocked his head at his silent superior before he opened his mouth once again.
“Do you have something you’ve lost?”
It was only when he asked the second question that his gaze returned to the man. He spoke to the man who had a faint wrinkle forming on his well-groomed brow.
“I’ve lost my brooch, Ban.”
“A brooch?”
“I definitely left it on the table.”
Ban, who had been tilting his head at those words, asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“Are you talking about the lapis lazuli brooch you always wear?”
“Yes. Do you remember seeing it today?”
“No. The last time I remember was when I saw it at the summit of the Baltic Mountain, where we were training yesterday.”
In response to Ban’s calm words, the other person’s eyes narrowed. He turned to Ban with a puzzled expression and asked with a questioning tone.
“Could it be that Kane is playing a prank?”
“…That guy also knows how valuable life is.”
“What about the others?”
“The same goes for everyone else. In fact, unless it’s anything else, none of them are foolish enough to hide the brooch that the Captain cherishes.”
“….”
“Of course, there’s no way that anyone could come all the way up to this rugged mountain to steal a brooch.”
“I don’t cherish it that much.”
Ban shrugged his shoulders in response to the blunt statement. There was no one who didn’t know that he always wore that brooch on important occasions.
Seeing Ban’s reaction, the man seemed displeased and opened his mouth again with a grimace on his face.
“You don’t believe it.”
“In fact, it’s even harder to believe that you’ve been wearing a brooch that doesn’t even look that expensive for eight years, and you don’t don’t care about it.”
“Has it already been eight years?”
“Yes, you were wearing it when I first met you.”
The man, who had narrowed his eyes for a moment at Ban’s words, eventually let out a shallow sigh and spoke.
“Anyway, I don’t cherish it. Not wearing it just makes me feel incomplete, that’s all.”
“People in the world often say that they cherish things like that, Captain.”
At Ban’s objection, the man smiled and raised his hand to his sword.
“You have a long tongue, Ban Foster.”
“….”
“If you want, I could probably cut it to the right length.”
“No, I like it the way it is.”
As the man ran his hand through his hair and sat down on the chair as Ban quickly lowered his tail, Ban, who had already scanned the disheveled barracks once, spoke to him.
“If you don’t cherish it that much, and if not having it makes you feel empty, you should rather have a similar one custom-made by the craftsman.”
The man glared at Ban upon hearing his teasing comment for a moment before he waved his hand.
“I don’t need it.”
“Yes? Weren’t you looking for it because you needed it?”
“I’m saying it doesn’t matter because I’m going back to the capital anyway, and I’m sure the Grand Duke’s residence has a similar brooch.”
Ban, who blinked for a moment at the man’s words, asked in a surprised tone.
“I-is it okay to replace it with something else? We see you wear it every day, so naturally, we thought it was a very precious item to you.”
“I told you. It’s just because not wearing it makes me feel empty.”
“S-So, you’ve been wearing only that for eight years because it makes you feel empty?”
At Ban’s question, the man suddenly thought of the girl who had given him the brooch.
Did he receive it as a thank you for saving her life?
It was the first time he had ever saved someone’s life or received anything in return. Maybe it was because of that day that he became an imperial knight. Even though all that child gave him was a cheap brooch, it served as a milestone in his life, as it showed him the path he should take when he didn’t know what he wanted to do.
Of course, now the memory had become so hazy that he couldn’t even recall the face of the person who gave it to him.
“Yeah. How many times do I have to say that?”
At the man’s words, Ban let out a groan before he added with a sheepish voice when the man looked at him with an inquiring gaze.
“Actually, there’s a saying that the reason why the Captain wears that brooch every day is because you received it from a woman you liked.”
“What?”
“The bet didn’t pay off because everyone was betting on it, but if I had known it would be like this, I would have bet on the opposite.”
The man twisted his lips to the corners of his mouth and spoke after hearing Ban’s explanation.
“It seems like the training we’ve been doing all this time was worth it. To think that everyone has the nerve to make such a bet.”
“Yes?”
“When we return to the capital, I’ll make sure to train you without any regrets so you won’t even think of making such a bet again.”
Ban’s face turned pale at the man’s insistence that he leave.
It seemed like he had once again unintentionally touched a nerve again.
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