There were no flashy appearances, but the warm scent of dinner being prepared wafted from each house, and the roads were without sharp stones to trip running children.

Merchants who were doing business encouraged each other, and they tried to share even the smallest things.

Although he only went out to buy alcohol once a week, all these harmonious lives were possible because Clint was there.

He supported them so they wouldn’t falter with his mere existence.

‘Damn.’

Levanfell slightly closed his eyes. Beyond his closed eyes, he saw the ruined mansion and Clint dying within it.

“……Why put down the sword?”

Levanfell irritably pushed back his hair.

Why was the black sword hidden under the bed so meticulously maintained by the one who claimed to have put down the sword? What the hell was that quick reaction speed? Even if you’ve put down the sword,

The joyful eyes when clashing swords, what the hell are they?

“Damn it.”

Levanfell bit his lip.

He didn’t think Clint was doing well. But when even replies that hadn’t come before started arriving, he harbored a ridiculous hope that maybe things were better, maybe time had dulled the pain.

Even though he couldn’t do it.

He knew well that a man who had lost his entire family couldn’t be okay.

But he harbored that hope to escape from the heinous sins committed by his mother.

When he finally met the salvation he had longed for and was walking in the light, Clint was wandering in a barren wasteland.

“Ha.”

Levanfell swept his face with his large palm. The guilt that weighed heavily on him, along with the selfishness to protect Teriella, began to emerge.

“…….”

Levanfell’s eyes were about to spark with selfishness when

Bam bam!

His cruelty was about to reveal itself when someone knocked hard on the door.

Levanfell instinctively checked the location of his sword before approaching the door. There were two people behind the door.

It was too early for midnight, so there was no need to hesitate.

Levanfell opened the door without delay.

Then,

“Kyahahaha! Levanfell!”

“Hahahaha! Lord Levanfell! Hahahaha!”
Shoulder to shoulder, two familiar faces with flushed expressions appeared. Levanfell looked at the two with incredulous eyes, alternating between them.

“Teriella. ……Jalim.”

“Lord Levanfell! This is too much! Why do you call Lady Teriella ‘Teriella~,’ and I’m just ‘Jalim.’?!”

“Ha. Have you been drinking?”

“Levanfell…… Levanfell……!”

Teriella, who had been arm in arm with Jalim, reached for Levanfell’s neck and hugged him. Levanfell, in the spur of the moment, held Teriella in his arms and pushed away the accompanying Jalim.

“You always push me away!”

“……Do I have to embrace you too? Jalim. Why did you drink so much? Making Teriella drunk as well. What if something happened……”

“The knights are all guarding nearby! Why?!”

“Ha.”

Levanfell stuck out his tongue and called a knight who was waiting nearby. The knight showed himself at his call.

“Take him and throw him roughly onto the bed.”

Levanfell pointed at Jalim, and Jalim stomped his feet, feeling aggrieved.

“I am! Ready to give my life for Lord Levanfell!”

“You’re loud, so tie his mouth if you have a rope.”

“Please care for me as well!”

The knight took the drunken Jalim away. Levanfell sighed, closed the door, and supported the staggering Teriella.

A sweet smell of alcohol wafted as Teriella’s hair fluttered.

“……A drink I haven’t even tried with you yet.”

The moment Levanfell made a resentful face, Teriella softly cupped both his cheeks.

“……Levanfell.”

And soft lips swallowed his name, as if devouring all that was Levanfell.