Are You Sure Our Empire's Knight Order Captain is a Yandere? - Chapter 7

“Finished your shift, then?” Shen Gong Ye lightly tossed the half-eaten apple in her hand, looking at Brandcien, who had just stepped out of the hotel.
“You… you wasted the cash on apples again?”
“Hmph!”
“Alright, alright.” Brandcien had only just clocked off and really didn’t want a row the moment he finished work.
“Got enough juice in you?” Shen Gong Ye shot him a chilly side-eye. Was mixing drinks really that knackering? It’s not like he was a farm hand doing heavy labor…
“Er…” Brandcien noticed Shen Gong Ye’s ice-cold stare—well, the one she was pretending was ice-cold.
A mischievous idea started to bubble up in his head.
“Apologies,” Brandcien scratched the back of his neck. “See, there was this woman who asked for an escort, and the bar was short-staffed, so… I… I just…”
Brandcien stopped. Because… because he felt a killing intent that promised immediate, certain death.
“Heh heh heh.” Shen Gong Ye’s crimson eyes, hidden beneath her cloak, pulsed. “Ha ha ha ha, Brandcien…”
“Woah!”
Brandcien jerked his body to avoid the ice-blue longsword, which nearly cleaved him in two. He instantly grasped the three urgent problems:
(1) He was only winding her up.
(2) Where on Earth did Shen Gong Ye keep that longsword?
(3) They’d been walking and chatting, and now they were in a deserted alleyway!
A quiet alley at dusk = Prime real estate for a quick murder and disposal.
Brandcien’s left foot tapped the ground repeatedly. Shen Gong Ye’s sword techniques, every single one aimed to kill, somehow all missed. It was as if… Brandcien was a ghost. Realizing this,
Shen Gong Ye’s heart leaped. She launched a sweeping, horizontal slash. Brandcien saw his chance, pushed off with his left foot, and jumped several feet up. The longsword scraped right under the sole of his boot.
Brandcien landed, nice and steady, on the ice-blue longsword still clutched in Shen Gong Ye’s hand.
“What’s the game, then? Trying to murder your own husband?”
“Hmph. It’s only when you’re terrified that you treat me like a… Wait, hang on… What did you just say?”
“Murdering my husband.”
“We’re not even married yet!”
“We do ‘that thing’ every night, though… what else would you call us?”
“You idiot!” As Brandcien dropped the keyword, Shen Gong Ye’s small face immediately went bright red, a mix of humiliation, fury, and a tiny bit of fluster.
“Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Watching Shen Gong Ye’s face flush, her eyes blank, repeating the same word like she was a broken robot, Brandcien thought: That’s actually quite amusing.
“Idiot! Idiot!!… Wait? Where am I?” Shen Gong Ye snapped out of it, looking around in a panic.
“You were frozen for two hours, thirteen minutes, and five seconds exactly.” Brandcien checked his pocket watch. It was half-past six now.
“So, only three and a half hours left?” Shen Gong Ye stuck her bottom lip out and discontentedly tapped her chin. “Right, let’s go eat!”
Eat…
“I thought you said we were going for food?” Brandcien followed Shen Gong Ye into a restaurant tucked away in a housing estate.
“Hmph… hmph… hmph… En… En~~ En En…? Did you say something?” Shen Gong Ye was humming a tune as she scanned the menu, her legs swinging rhythmically under the table.
“Is this actually a restaurant where people eat?” Brandcien patiently asked again.
He looked at the décor and sighed inwardly.
Pink flooring.
Pink ceiling.
Pink walls, pink chairs, pink tables.
“Well?” Shen Gong Ye raised one eyebrow. “Got an issue?”
“……………………Why is every single thing on the menu apple dishes!?”
“Because apples are the most divine ingredient in the entire world!”
“Mr. He, are you ready to order?” A white-haired young woman in a pink qipao stood beside their table.
Right… The high-slit qipao revealed a long stretch of pale leg… she had a defined figure… sharp features, and long white hair in a simple ponytail… A weird sense of déjà vu washed over him.
“Oh?” Brandcien gave the qipao girl a second look. “Do I know you?”
“Yes, sir,” the young woman replied respectfully. “There is likely no one in the Imperial Capital who doesn’t recognize Mr. He.”
“You’re that famous, are you?” Shen Gong Ye gave Brandcien a little kick to the shin.
“Hmph.” Brandcien huffed. Why did she kick so hard? That really hurts. “Don’t know, do I?”
“Mr. He’s mixing skills are truly first-rate. For a simple mocktail, a high-end bartender might manage a hundred variations, but Mr. He, you have almost a thousand different twists.”
“Well, if you compare him to Shen Gong Ye… who’s more popular?” Shen Gong Ye had no idea why she was asking such a ridiculous question; she never normally did this! But seeing the waitress looking at Brandcien with the same worshipful gaze you’d reserve for a pop star, a slow, low, irrational rage began to burn in her chest.
“Are you referring to Lady Shen Gong Ye, the Captain of the Imperial Knights Order?”
The young woman wasn’t a mage and couldn’t know the exact relationship, but their mannerisms showed they were close, so her attitude naturally became more deferential.
“If I were to put it into words, Lady Shen Gong Ye is like a solitary plum blossom on a high mountain peak—ethereally beautiful, like a dream, yet utterly out of reach for the ordinary citizen… To put it another way, she’s merely a fantasy, at best.
“Mr. He, however, is different. While he doesn’t always show up for his shifts at the tavern, he always offers a gentle smile, listens to his customers’ troubles, and serves a drink made with genuine care. I think, among the common people, Mr. He is probably a fair bit more popular than Lady Shen Gong Ye.”
Hearing the waitress’s blunt analysis, Shen Gong Ye’s face went completely green. “But… but Mr. He has a girlfriend!”
“Is that honestly true?” The waitress looked absolutely stunned.
“Yes, he does.” Shen Gong Ye instantly shook off her gloom. Hmph! That’s what you get for only liking him because he’s single and handsome!
“…………………” Brandcien was speechless but didn’t interrupt Shen Gong Ye’s little act.
“Oh…” The waitress looked surprised. The more surprised she looked, the happier Shen Gong Ye became. Heh heh heh.
“It’s fine, though. For us, it wouldn’t matter if Mr. He got a girlfriend, or even got married, after all, Mr. He belongs to everyone…” The answer didn’t come from the waitress by their table, but from every single member of the restaurant staff.
“………………Oh, for goodness sake!!… A whole mob of obsessed women!” Shen Gong Ye’s face collapsed. Brandcien’s patience was also near a snapping point. No wonder so many girls were gawking at them on the street just now!… And a couple of blokes, too… Hmm…
(Brandcien says: I’m not touching that one.)
After they finally ordered, Brandcien couldn’t help but laugh at Shen Gong Ye’s sour expression.
“Don’t you think your temper {chest} is a bit too small, eh?”
“Hmph!” Noticing Brandcien’s eyes had drifted towards the white-haired waitress again,
and then thinking closely about his last comment, Shen Gong Ye glanced down at her flat breastplate and heard the sound of her own sanity officially shattering.
“Brandcien, Death Sentence, Immediate Execution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”