The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 10

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 10

Chapter Title: Magic Circle by the Barrier

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Kiril placed Nina on the examination table she had disinfected with strong alcohol, and at that moment, the medical room door opened and someone entered.

“Ah, Young Master.”

Nina gave an awkward smile.

Adrian’s shadowed eyes and long, slender fingers reflected his delicate and sensitive personality, but he always wore a soft smile on his face. But today was different.

Seeing Nina’s condition, he gritted his teeth and let out a long sigh.

“What did I tell you?”

His voice was low and calm. Nina shrank back.

“Not to go out alone.”

“You really…”

He pressed his forehead.

It had been ten years since he had taken Nina in.

He thought he knew her well enough, but these impulsive actions still left him troubled.

“But I—”

Nina opened her mouth but let out a scream.

“Stop exaggerating.”

Doctor Kiril said flatly as she pressed the wound. Nina trembled all over in pain.

She couldn’t even speak.

It hurt so much that only gasping sounds escaped from her lungs.

“This won’t do. Tie her down.”

Kiril gestured with her chin and took out scissors and a knife.

The examination table helpfully had restraints attached, but Jin pinned her arms down firmly with his own hands.

As Nina looked up at him with teary eyes, Jin let out a deep sigh.

Vice-Captain Lui, who had followed Adrian inside, tried to hold Nina’s legs, but Adrian took hold of them instead.

Kiril neatly sliced away the pants and boots, revealing the swollen ankle. Jin grimaced at the exposed wound.

“This is bad. The ankle bone is probably crushed inside. It must hurt like hell. Why not just gag her?”

At Kiril’s words, Jin fetched a wooden gag padded with leather and held it out to Nina.

“Ugh, I hate this.”

“Or do you want to bite your tongue?”

Jin glared, and Nina bit down on the gag and squeezed her eyes shut.

Only Kiril remained composed.

“It’s not just the fracture—the real problem is the poison... Hold her tight.”

While Kiril worked silently on the treatment, Nina’s body thrashed like a fish several times before going limp.

“She passed out.”

Vice-Captain Lui said quietly.

As vice-captain, he was among the older members of the knight order. In his early thirties, he kept his light brown hair neatly tied back, and his eyes were always closed.

Even with his eyes closed, he saw just as well as anyone.

No one in the Ebony Knight Order was without a past, so they never pried into each other’s histories, but Nina had asked Lui exactly once.

Isn’t it inconvenient going around with your eyes closed?

Lui had replied, ‘I see too well, so even with my eyes closed, I see fine.’

“Passing out is better.”

Kiril said, clicking her tongue.

Vice-Captain Lui glanced at Adrian, then at Nina.

When young Adrian had become knight captain, everyone knew. He was the discarded card from the ducal family.

A bastard sent off to die.

Above all, Adrian knew it himself.

The subtle, awkward atmosphere.

The Duchess’s open instructions to abandon him to die or cooperate in killing him.

Amid that tension, when Nina—who had just joined the order—brightly called out “Young Master!”, his face...

‘Why are you here?’

It was exactly that kind of face.

Half a year into his captaincy, it was the first time anyone had seen such a dumbfounded expression on him.

Afterward, Adrian thoroughly reformed the Ebony Knight Order.

Mortality rates plummeted, and everything ran smoothly, shifting the way people looked at him.

Even if the Duchess promised to summon him back, nothing was more important than one’s own life right now.

Through all the deaths and replacements that followed, Nina and Adrian survived.

Three years later.

Now nineteen, the knight captain possessed a strength and gravitas that held up anywhere.

Nina was strong too, but her speech and behavior—Lui still couldn’t forget the shock of when Nina had declared herself ‘the cutest Nina in the world.’—didn’t inspire the same reverence as Adrian did.

If Adrian commanded loyalty from people, Nina drew affection.

Her chirping, bright voice, her cheerfulness, and kindness pulled everyone in.

Her sunny disposition seeped deeply into the weary bodies and hearts of the people here.

There was something about Nina that made even her willful antics feel charming.

So anyone could see how precious Nina was to Adrian.

The knights included.

In a place like this, one inevitably lost touch with normal life, but Nina fought to hold onto it, cherishing the little things.

How valuable unwarped senses were.

New arrivals sometimes ignored or mocked such a Nina at first. But with time, they realized how rare it was.

Flower bouquets in glass jars, changing with the seasons.

White sheets fluttering in the breeze.

Jam made from heaps of gathered tree fruits.

Chipped teacups and nameless tea, shared tea times.

Warm meals together.

Those things turned them into family.

She turned them into family.

“It’s done.”

Kiril said as she released the bandaged hand.

“Is it okay?”

At Adrian’s question, Kiril lit her pipe and nodded.

“No need to amputate.”

“The poison?”

“We’ll have to leave the rest to Nina’s stamina. I got out as much as I could, but…”

Kiril shrugged at Adrian.

“Still, spirit contractors have strong poison resistance, and since Nina contracts spirits related to cold, she won’t go down without a fight.”

Kiril added.

“Like that time.”

That time.

Adrian started to protest but soon bowed his head again.

Jin asked anxiously.

“Anyway, no permanent disability, right?”

“Right.”

Reassured, Jin’s tension drained away. He sighed heavily, released her arms, and removed the gag.

Adrian let go of her legs as well.

“...It really hurts. Kiril, you’re mean…”

Kiril chuckled at the mumbling voice.

“Already coming to? If you can talk like that, you must be fine.”

Her recovery power was monstrous, Kiril thought, clicking her tongue.

With her face streaked with tears, Nina looked at Jin.

Jin wore a pitiful expression but was also angry, his tone sharp.

“This is what happens when you wander off alone, got it? It’s not about banning rookies from solo actions—it’s you who needs to be banned.”

“I’m hurting, and you’re gonna nag?”

“Nag? Does this sound like nagging to you? You really…!”

Before Jin could shout, Nina quickly raised her voice.

“Young Master, I have something to tell you!”

Adrian spoke lowly, his voice suppressing his anger.

“What.”

Adrian’s voice was chilling, like sinking into water, and Nina swallowed hard.

“Someone drew a magic circle near the barrier.”

Silence suddenly weighed down the medical room. Vice-Captain Lui asked.

“A magic circle? Can you explain in more detail?”

“Yes.”

As Nina tried to sit up, Jin supported her upper body.

Her head spun, and she felt hot with fever. Nina swallowed dryly and gave a simple explanation.

“Right next to the barrier, on the ground—someone clearly drew a magic circle with stones. I don’t know if it’s from the Sages, heretics, or the temple.”

“We need to report this to the ducal family.”

Lui’s face hardened.

Jin snorted.

“Besides throwing lives away as cannon fodder, what does the ducal family do well? They’re not even good at that lately. Telling them won’t change anything.”

“We need to inform the temple too… Huh?”

Mid-sentence, Nina wiped away the nosebleed gushing out.

‘The blood’s black?’

Nina lost consciousness right then.