The Outsider with Secrets

The training session had just concluded. The knights were wiping away sweat, drinking water, and catching their breath. Hoche gave a polite bow and silently followed as Jack led him out of the training grounds.

“Sorry for tossing a new job at you out of the blue,” Jack said as they walked the castle corridors. There wasn’t the faintest trace of apology in his tone.

“…So this is why you brought me here—to assign this duty?” Hoche asked once he made sure no one else could hear. 

Jack smirked. “Nah. Though I thought it’d be fun if it ended up that way. Besides…” He shot Hoche a sidelong glance, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Seems like the princess took a liking to you.”

Despite what had happened, Charlotte had seemed unusually interested in him. Back at the training grounds, her peridot-green eyes had often flickered his way, laced with equal parts curiosity and unease.

Jack had noticed, of course. There was a quiet amusement in the way she tried—and failed—not to stare at this new mysterious knight.

“…And what exactly am I supposed to say to that?” Hoche replied, unamused by Jack’s obvious teasing.

"Just stating facts. But tell me, had you never seen her before today?"

"I did, during the recent reception for the foreign duchess. But I only caught a glimpse of her, and she looked entirely different."

Jack let out a small laugh. “The green dress and tiara were just for show—ceremonial stuff. But that red bow and braid? That’s classic Lotte. You better get used to seeing it.”

Hoche nodded, but remained silent.

“Still, even if her outfit was unusual…” Jack cast him a sideways glance. “Wasn’t that a bit rash, coming from you? Drawing your sword on a girl you’ve never seen before?”

"You overestimate me," Hoche replied without meeting his gaze.

"Do I?"

"I'm someone who judges others by appearances and draws my sword accordingly."

Jack sensed a hint of defensiveness in his tone but chose not to press further. He wondered what danger such a strong man could perceive in such a delicate-looking princess.

"Well, it's fortunate that Lotte forgave you. Our princess has a generous heart, doesn't she?"

"Indeed..."

Hoche's response was simple, yet his voice carried a weight, as if he still couldn't believe his actions had been so easily pardoned.

"I know it doesn’t sit right with you. So think of guarding her as penance for your misunderstanding. But this is a peaceful kingdom. You shouldn't have to fight any suspicious individuals during the task."

"Understood."

Hoche's expression remained unreadable as he nodded.

Jack peered into Hoche's face, still smiling. "Hey, I'm just curious—what do you think of her?"

Hoche gave him a wary glance. "What do you mean?"

"Anything. Just your impressions."

"It's not my place to comment on royalty."

"Come on, we're past formalities here. But if you don't want to answer, that's fine."

It wasn’t an order. Jack didn’t push. He didn’t have to answer.

And yet—before Hoche seemed to even realize he was speaking, the words slipped out.

“…She has beautiful eyes. Like gemstones. Green like... early spring.”

Jack blinked, momentarily thrown. For just a heartbeat, something crossed Hoche’s face—surprise? Regret? But it disappeared before Jack could pin it down, retreating behind those cold blue eyes set in a face that bore no trace of tenderness, let alone something as fragile and human as love.

Jack let out a thoughtful hum. “Poetic of you.”

“I wasn’t trying to be.” Though his expression and tone remained the same, there was a subtle edge to his voice.

Jack chuckled. “Either way—it’s a pretty vivid image. Gemstones, huh...” He tilted his head. “Have you actually seen one up close?”

“…Yes.”

Hoche’s response came slower than usual.

Jack noticed it, but didn’t press. He just filed that away.

“Well, then. We head into the city after breakfast tomorrow,” Jack said with a grin. “I hope you’ll grow fond of this job.”

“I follow orders. That’s all.” With a formal bow, Hoche turned and walked down the hallway toward his quarters.

Jack watched him go, sighing at the man’s stiff, frosty demeanor.

As he made his way to the Knight Commander's office, Jack mentally rehearsed the reports he needed to finish. The moment he pushed open the heavy oak door, a sharp voice cracked through the air.

“Jack! Finally!”

Chancellor Edmund stood in front of the huge desk for the commander, red-faced and fuming. His pristine robes looked absurd in a room filled with swords, armor, books, and half-finished enchantment tools.

"Oh. Ed, you could've waited seated."

"And where, pray tell, is there a chair available for visitors in this cluttered mess?!"

He pointed to a wooden chair nearby, piled high with sun-bleached books.

Jack shrugged and picked up the books, but Edmund didn’t sit in the chair.

"So, Ed... what's the matter? If it's about the recent mission report, it's nearly done. I've heard rumors of a sorcerer operating in that region—" Jack said as he moved around the room, shuffling books back into uneven stacks.

"That's not important right now! You know damn well why I'm here!"

Edmund slammed his fist onto the desk, sending a crystal rolling off and papers fluttering to the floor. Jack just pushed all the books onto the shelf and began gathering the papers up.

“…This is about Hoche, isn’t it?”

More specifically, about how Jack had appointed him as Charlotte’s personal guard.

Jack had made the suggestion, and both parties had accepted without protest. Hoche obeyed orders without question, and Charlotte had welcomed the arrangement, seeing it as a way to gain more freedom.

At least, that's her excuse.

Edmund, however, had opposed it vehemently—and now he was here, demanding answers.

“Hoche—if that’s even his real name!”

“It is,” Jack replied.

Edmund let out a sarcastic laugh. "You, of all people know how easy it is to hide behind a false name, don't you?"

He glared at Jack accusingly. Aware of this, Jack scratched his head.

“...Yeah, but I can tell that it’s his name. Real name. And you know I can,” he tapped the side of his head, hinting at his unusual intuition—something Edmund knew all too well.

Edmund clicked his tongue in frustration. “And yet someone like you—someone so utterly irresponsible—is the Knight Commander of Peridotia…”

“Oh? Still not over it, huh?” Jack smirked.

“I’ve accepted it,” Edmund muttered. “You’re the strongest. That doesn’t mean I admire you.”

“A shame. I like you just fine.”

“What the hell does that even mean?!”

“You’ve got something I don’t. Like… actual responsibility.”

Edmund scowled, the shorter man doing his best to look intimidating. Jack just leaned back, utterly unconcerned.

“Anyway! That man—Hoche! He’s strange, and you know it! I saw his entrance exam results. That beautiful handwriting, the breadth of his knowledge... and that poise and strength... Those aren't skills acquired overnight! Was he once in service to a noble? And if so, to whom? He's too young for that!"

Edmund’s voice rose again, carried by a mixture of frustration and genuine concern. He looked like a man cornered by his own logic, chased by questions he couldn't answer.

Jack took the half-repaired sword that had been left sitting on the desk and propped it up against the wall. “You’re not wrong,” he admitted. 

Everything about Hoche—the way he moved, the knowledge he possessed, the power he held—it was all too refined.

That was why Jack had chosen him as Charlotte’s guard. But it also made him incredibly suspicious.

“None of this adds up. That’s why I want to keep him close—where I can see him,” Jack said.

“You should’ve locked him up, not placed him beside the princess!” Edmund’s voice cracked. “What if he’s a spy? An assassin?! From another country, no less!”

“Sure, his knowledge and combat skills are enough to warrant caution. But he'd have to be a complete fool if he were here to do something to Lotte or this kingdom. He doesn’t even try to blend in—doesn’t care if people get suspicious. And if his goal was to win Lotte over, there’s no way he would’ve pulled a sword on her the moment they met—”

“What did you just say?!”

“Ah—never mind that. The point is... Hoche has a reason to obey me. And no real choice not to.”

Edmund frowned at the way Jack said it, his brow knitting with unease. Jack, too, felt the bitterness of his own words linger on his tongue, like something uttered by a tyrant, or the master of a chained man.

“...Can you swear to that?” 

"Yes. He doesn't just follow orders—he clings to them. They’re the only thing holding him together."

Jack picked up a worn quill that had rolled onto the table and twirled it between his fingers.

The metal nib caught the light with a glint—sharp, cold. It gleamed like a blade. And in the right hands, it could be just as cruel—just as deadly.

"If I told him to gouge out his own eye, he’d do it," he said, looking at the point of the nib.

Or even to die—he didn’t say it aloud, but the weight of it lingered in the air.

Edmund felt a chill creep up his spine. He exhaled sharply, forcing down his unease. “That’s absurd.”

“…Want to test it?” Jack asked, holding out the quill toward him, its feathered end aimed like a silent dare.

A thick silence settled between them. Edmund shuddered, the image clearly taking hold in his mind.

“Only a monster would try something so grotesque,” he muttered.

Jack chuckled, “Then I’m glad you’re not one.” With a flick of his wrist, he returned the quill to its inkwell.

“You still haven’t answered me,” Edmund said. “Why place someone like that next to her?”

“She’s needed a real guard for a long time.” Jack bent down and picked up the rolled, milky-green crystal that had fallen to the ground.

“Most of our veterans vanished with the Queen and her consort. What we’ve got now are just green recruits—barely old enough to shave. You know that.”

Edmund fell silent, frustration tightening his jaw.

Jack turned the crystal over in the palm of his hand, letting it roll back and forth. “Lotte is kind… too kind, maybe. If anyone can get through to him, it’s her. And besides…”

“Besides what?”

“…Don’t get mad, okay?”

Jack turned the crystal over in his hand, then set it down on the table with a soft clink. He picked up the mug beside it—one he’d brewed that morning and never touched.

He averted Edmund’s gaze, looking out at the castle garden below. The young flowers swayed gently in the breeze, oblivious to the tension inside the castle walls. 

Jack let out a heavy sigh.

“I want Hoche to know that cruelty, greed, and bloodshed do not define this world. That not everyone is heartless…”

It wasn’t the garden he saw anymore, but the shadows of his own past.

Edmund stared. “And you’re gambling the princess’s life to fix that?”

“That’s why I keep saying—he won’t disobey.” Jack brought the mug up to his lips, the weariness on his shoulders more telling than his words.

“But… he’s still a man!” Edmund barked.

Jack choked on a sip of the now-cold tea.

“Wait—what?” He coughed violently, setting the mug down with a thud. “I mean, yeah, obviously he’s a man… but we don’t have any strong female knights yet, so—”

“That’s exactly the problem!” Edmund snapped. “That man—Hoche—he may look calm and expressionless, but what if he develops improper thoughts about the princess?!”

Jack raised a hand. “Whoa, whoa, Ed—calm down. I get what you’re saying, but if that’s your concern, then Hoche is probably the least of our worries. That man has no desires. Hell, I don’t even think he has the will to have some fun, let alone lust after someone…”

“Jack, this isn’t a joke!”

“I know, I know.” Jack sobered, then his expression changed into something serious. “If anything suspicious happens, I’ll pull him off duty. Immediately.”

Then he looked at Edmund's eyes, and he bowed his head.

“But please. Just… give him a chance.”

The words were simple, but the weight behind them was real. A request, not a command. A plea.

Edmund sighed, his expression twisting between distrust and reluctant concession. “…Tch. I may not trust him, but if the princess says she does… I’ll have to respect that.” He muttered the words under his breath as he turned toward the door.

“Thanks, Ed.” Jack straightened with a grin and threw his arms open theatrically. "Besides, I was an outsider once, yet here I am, your favorite Knight Commander."

“Shut up, you damn fool!”

With a sharp bang, Edmund slammed the door. The force rattled the room, sending a stack of books tumbling to the floor in a dusty heap. Elsewhere, a sword propped against the wall clattered to the ground, bringing a shield and a polearm down with it in a clanging chorus.

Jack didn’t move. He just stared at the mess—then gave a bitter smile, as if it had all gone exactly as expected.

He sank deep into the chair, then slipped a hand into his coat pocket. His fingers searched for a moment before closing around something cool and familiar. When he drew it out, a pendant lay in his palm—a serpent coiled tightly around a blood-red ruby, its fanged maw frozen in a silent snarl.

It wasn’t his, but he kept it close.

He traced its scales with a thumb, as if trying to understand the man who once created it.

Even in the gentle warmth of spring, the crimson gem radiated something vile—something that did not belong in sunlight.

His narrowed gray eyes stared, but the serpent revealed none of its secrets.

“...Let’s see if this ends in fortune or ruin,” he whispered to the empty room.