My Ex-Girlfriend Was Appointed as a Knight Commander

Chapter 66

"Senior, it looks like your hair has grown quite a bit."

One day after the Crow Knight Order had been reorganized, during a regular weekday after work, Christine casually spoke to Maxime. Maxime absentmindedly touched the long bangs that had grown out to the side.

"Has it?"

Now that she mentioned it, it had been quite a while since he last got his hair cut. Maxime looked at himself in a hallway mirror, assessing the length. His hair was long enough to partially cover his eyes. He figured he’d need to cut it soon.

Christine, standing beside him in the mirror’s reflection, reached up and gently touched the ends of his brown hair.

"Should I cut it for you? It’s been a while."

Maxime frowned slightly, as if contemplating, while quietly accepting her touch.

"Hmm... should you?"

"Don’t refuse. The vice-captain herself is offering to cut it for you."

Christine grinned playfully and gave his hair a light tug. Maxime couldn’t help but laugh and accepted her offer.

"Alright, let’s see your skills again after all this time."

"Leave it to me. Have I ever let you down?"

Christine, humming in high spirits, led the way to the vice-captain’s office. Maxime followed her slowly, watching her light steps. After entering the office, Christine took out an old cloth, shook it out with a flourish, and draped it around Maxime's neck as he sat in a chair.

"It’s been a while."

"Really has been."

Christine muttered as she lifted Maxime’s hair with her hands. The soft strands of his hair slipped through her pale fingers like sand. She produced a pair of scissors from somewhere and began snipping the air playfully.

"It’s been so long, I’m a little nervous."

"Didn’t you say you always cut your own hair? Don’t worry about it."

Christine continued to comb through Maxime’s hair with her fingers.

"...When was the first time you cut my hair?"

Christine smiled softly.

"I think it was shortly after I joined the order. A couple of years ago, maybe? Feels like two years."

"You surprised me back then, offering out of the blue to cut my hair."

As Maxime watched his hair fall to the floor with each snip of the scissors, he remembered that moment.

Autumn was so short that it might as well have been called a brief transition between summer and winter.

The sky still carried the remnants of the record-breaking heat from the past summer. It was a bright, unnervingly clear sky, without a single cloud. The training grounds were as empty as the sky itself. Maxime frowned as he noticed the overgrown weeds between the stones of the training ground. The knights who were supposed to be using and maintaining the grounds had left long ago to drink.@@@@

Maxime was the only one left. The captain had left as well, lazily dismissing them and disappearing. If the captain gave permission to leave, what could the vice-captain do to stop them? Maxime clutched his aching head. These damn idiots.

"Sigh."

He couldn't help but let out a sigh. It was 4 PM, and though the days were getting shorter, the sky was still bright. Maxime clasped his hands behind his back, pacing leisurely around the training grounds like an old man on a stroll.

How long had it been? About a year and a half?

Maxime mentally calculated the time that had passed. The past was ashes. He shook his head, trying not to dwell on complicated thoughts. Last summer, he'd taken Marion to the riverside. He could still picture her hesitant figure dipping her toes into the clear water.

"Pathetic."

Maxime often thought of himself and the knights that way. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t pathetic. None of them had any real drive to move forward. They were a group of people trapped in the past, sacrificing the present for what was already gone.

Well, maybe there was one exception.

Maxime made a thoughtful noise. The new recruit, who hadn’t been around for long, probably hadn’t left yet. Birds chirped from the roof of the main building, where ivy crawled up the walls. Maxime stopped his aimless walk around the training grounds and headed toward the main building.

"Damn captain."

Maxime cursed the aging captain as he opened the door to the main building. Damn that captain, that useless bastard. Maxime grumbled like an old man. And as he entered, the first thing he saw was the familiar wrinkled face of that useless old man.

"What’s that you’re saying about the captain?"

Maxime, without even trying to come up with an excuse, grimaced back at the captain.

"Nothing at all."

Of course, the captain was well aware of Maxime’s complaints. But since he was nearing retirement, he had no intention of addressing Maxime's attitude. After all, he was leading a group of knights who had no real will to act as knights.

Besides, Maxime was one of the rare ones who actually handled the captain’s paperwork properly. His competence was enough for the captain to overlook any grumbling or curses thrown his way.

"Not off duty yet?"

Maxime asked with a hint of sarcasm. The captain chuckled, knowing full well the intent behind the question, and shrugged.

"I just got back from somewhere. Now I’m really heading out. Even the most useless knights don’t leave that early."

Wasn’t this the same captain who had lazily given permission to leave earlier? Maxime felt a headache coming on.

"Oh, here’s the quarterly budget file."

The captain handed Maxime a file. Maxime accepted it, glaring at the captain as if to say, What are you up to now?

"I think there’s a way to squeeze a little more from the maintenance budget."

It was the usual talk of embezzlement. Maxime let out a tired sigh.

"We’re running out of practice swords for training, captain. We’re already struggling because we don’t even have enough scarecrows..."

The captain narrowed his eyes at Maxime.

"Why do you need more training equipment if you don’t actually conduct training? If you want to train on your own, just replenish enough for that."

As the sun set, the sky took on the colors of autumn mountains. Maxime stretched to relieve his stiff body.

"Let me treat you to dinner. Want to grab something to eat?"

Christine blinked in surprise at the unexpected offer, then slowly nodded.

"Sure... let’s have dinner."

"Alright."

As Maxime stood up, he absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair, which had gotten in the way.

"My hair’s gotten really long."

He had cut it short at the start of summer, but now, in autumn, it had grown quite a bit. Maxime muttered under his breath, annoyed at the thought of having to get it cut.

"I really don’t feel like cutting it..."

Christine watched him closely.

"Shall we go?" he asked.

"Um, vice-captain."

Christine called out to him.

"What is it?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Maxime’s hair.

"If you don’t mind, I could cut your hair right now."

Maxime raised an eyebrow, surprised by the offer.

"You know how to cut hair?"

Christine smiled brightly.

"I’m pretty good at it."

Maxime glanced out the window at the setting sun, then back at Christine, who was smiling at him. He figured he had time for a quick haircut before dinner.

Sensing his curiosity outweighing his hesitation, Maxime nodded.

"Alright... cut my hair, and then we’ll go eat."

The preparations were surprisingly simple. Before he knew it, Maxime was sitting in the office chair, draped in an old cloth that Christine had found in the storage room. She had also dug up a pair of rusty scissors, which she cleaned and restored with magic. Now, she was snipping the air to test them.

"Alright, let’s begin."

Christine’s voice was cheerful as she started cutting Maxime’s hair. Just as her fingers were about to touch his hair, Maxime began to regret letting her do it.

"...Wait—"

But her touch was unexpectedly soft and confident. Snip, snip. Christine cut Maxime’s hair with precision, as though she knew exactly what she was doing. Maxime was inwardly surprised at how smoothly it was going.

"You’re good at this..."

Maxime remarked, glancing at Christine, who smiled as she worked.

"I always trim my own hair."

Christine continued to snip away, carefully shaping his hair.

"And... I grew up in an orphanage, so I used to cut the kids’ hair there. I’m pretty used to cutting other people’s hair."

Maxime found himself intrigued by Christine’s candid explanation.

"Is that so."

Snip, snip.

Even after she was done, Christine kept adjusting small details here and there, making sure everything was just right.

"All done, vice-captain."

The haircut Christine had given him turned out surprisingly neat and well-shaped.

"Wow... impressive. Thanks, Christine."

Maxime admired his new haircut in the mirror, running his hand through his hair. Behind him, Christine, hidden from his view, wore a sad smile. It was a smile of atonement, blooming like a daffodil in the mist.

"You’re welcome, vice-captain."

"Looks just like before."

Maxime touched his freshly cut hair, sounding both impressed and nostalgic. Christine beamed proudly.

"See, I told you, senior."

"Though your attitude has gotten a bit more cocky."

Christine puffed her cheeks slightly in protest.

"How dare you..."

"Alright, alright."

Christine playfully tousled Maxime’s freshly cut hair, annoyed that he interrupted her.

"Ouch! Hey, I just got it cut!"

"Go wash your hair, senior."

Maxime chuckled, and Christine laughed along with him. It was a fleeting moment of their everyday life, one that might never come again.