As they left Rohakan’s vineyard, Yulie moved through the tangled vines, helping the scattered knights of the Imperial Palace and agents to their feet. Beside her, Isaac, Gawain, and the other knights followed suit, assisting those who still struggled to rise from the ground.0

"… Yulie," Isaac called, his voice reaching her.0

Yulie turned to her former commanding knight, gave a slight nod, and answered, “Yes, sir.”0

"It has been a while… have you fared well?"0

It was an uncharacteristic question, unlike Isaac—a knight of unwavering determination—his voice wavering, tinged with quiet sorrow.0

"A knight does not falter. What prompts such a question, sir?" Yulie replied, a glimmer of surprise in her eyes.0

A bitter smile touched Isaac’s lips, his heart weighted with regret. But he was not alone in his remorse—all the knights felt it too. In this vineyard, they had glimpsed their past, come face to face with old memories, stirred awake by the recollection of Rohakan’s timeline.0

“… I should have been there to protect you.”0

Yulie had entered the Imperial Knights’ Order with great aspirations, serving under her direct superior, Isaac, whose strength she had once believed would guide her. However, bound by his status as a lesser noble and dependent on fragile political favor, Isaac lacked the power to protect her from Deculein’s obsession with her.0

In his inability to protect her or rein in the professor’s intimidation of the other knights, Yulie found herself trapped between duty and the crushing weight of Deculein’s influence.0

In the end, Isaac had done nothing as Yulie left the Imperial Knights of her own accord, telling himself there was no other choice, convincing himself it was inevitable. But now, confronted with the past, the weight of that memory...0