Aspeiran stopped thinking. No matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t clearly judge what feelings he currently held towards Shuria.

In the end, Aspeiran could only leave behind the idiotic answer of “It’s because you’re precious to me” before turning around and leaving. The biggest fool in the world was right here.

“Sigh…”

Aspeiran roughly ran his hand over his face. From then until now, he had been carefully contemplating and rummaging through his heart, but still couldn’t find an answer.

He had already realized that his feelings towards Shuria were no longer simple favor. The sprout that had bloomed in his heart had somehow already borne a luscious flower bud.

The problem was, he couldn’t figure out the identity of this flower bud at all.

The color, fragrance, name of the flower – nothing was clear. The existence of the sprout that had given him interest and joy had grown into a flower bud, making him impatient like never before.

It was the first time in his life that affection for someone had developed in this way.

Aspeiran felt an instinctive aversion to this unfamiliar situation he was experiencing for the first time. So he couldn’t muster the courage to go see Shuria.

If Aspeiran had been born and raised ordinarily in an average family, he wouldn’t have been so flustered in the face of these strange emotions.

If he had at least been used to asking someone for help and seeking answers, this would have been a problem he could have easily found a solution to.

However, he was Aspeiran Roakin, the savior of Roakin. It was natural and familiar for him to ponder and find answers alone.

…But the lord of Roakin couldn’t run away forever.

Aspeiran leaned back in his chair and thought of that round, bright face.

“…She must be restless on her own.”

It had already been ten days since he last went to see Shuria. That kid who hated loneliness more than anything was probably extremely depressed by now.

“…”

After much deliberation, Aspeiran began organizing the documents. Although he still hadn’t found an answer, nothing was more important than Shuria’s sorrow.

And when no solution was in sight, sometimes directly tackling it head-on was a pretty good method.

Aspeiran stood up from his seat. It was right then that familiar footsteps sounded from outside.

“Lo-Lord, are you there?”

Following that, a trembling voice filled with panic slipped through the crack in the door.

It was Shuria.

Aspeiran snapped his fingers to open the office door without a second thought.

Shuria, drenched in sweat from head to toe, widened her already large eyes even more and quickly turned her head.

Upon seeing Aspeiran, Shuria’s face crumpled as if about to cry. Seeing her like that felt like a huge rock was weighing heavily on his chest.

Aspeiran immediately approached Shuria.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“It’s terrible, Lord. Something terrible has happened.”

Shuria clutched the hem of Aspeiran’s clothes. Her pupils were shaking uncontrollably, just like her pale hands.

“Th-The nanny wolf, no, the lunar wolf…”

Hearing Shuria’s next words, Aspeiran’s pupils also began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.

Aspeiran swiftly picked Shuria up in his arms. And immediately used spatial movement magic.

Meanwhile, at that time in the underground conference room of the laboratory.

Even after sending Shuria off, the researchers were still huddled together, catching up with each other.

Titira poured more cookies onto an empty plate. These were apple cookies made by Shuria. They looked a bit like dog poop but tasted pretty good.

Elkin spoke as he grabbed a cookie to eat.

“I never imagined that monster would be attached to the plant roots! I was so surprised to hear that story. Hey Sek, did you check the other trees too?”

“Of course~. Fortunately, there were no other issues. Phew, we’ll have to be more strict about bringing in plants from now on.”

“Safety is most important above all else, so it can’t be helped!”

Elkin laughed, “Ha ha ha!” Titira nodded in agreement, wringing her hands.

“Th-This time we were really lucky. If it weren’t for Miss Shuria, the fully grown blind cave rat would have spread everywhere, digging up the underground… We almost ended up with a huge network of tunnels under Roakin…”

“If that really happened, our laboratory would have been finished.”

Prom groaned and muttered. The researchers simultaneously shuddered at the dizzying thought.

The first to regain his senses was Elkin. He lightly tapped the table.

“Anyways, it’s a relief that things ended well. We can progress further based on the lessons learned from this incident! Now, let’s stop dwelling on the past and move forward!”

Elkin downed a glass of milk in one shot. The other researchers also came to their senses and nibbled on the cookies.

In the peaceful atmosphere, Elkin opened his mouth again.

“By the way, when does the Director plan to return to Veltrum? There’s a limit to conducting the Director’s ‘magical power research in Veltrum’ with just the materials I send.”

“Well, I’ll probably be at the lab for the time being. Since we have a new recruit at the lab too.”

“By new recruit… do you mean Miss Shuria?”

“Yeah. I can’t just let that know-nothing foal loose in an empty lab. Well, someone needs to oversee her studies too.”

Hearing Prom’s indifferent words, Elkin pressed his lips together. He tried his best, but in the end, he burst out laughing, “Pft ha ha!”

“Oho, Director! When you first told me about Miss Shuria, you were gritting your teeth saying you’d chase her out soon! Now you’ve completely accepted her as one of us!”

“Shut up!”

Prom shouted and pretended to prop his chin up, slyly covering his mouth with his hand. A faint blush rose on his pale skin that rarely saw sunlight.

When Prom first met Shuria, he thought how could such a young and small woman handle monsters.

He was convinced she was sticking to the laboratory to gain the Lord’s attention. In any case, she was a woman he disliked in many ways.

It was annoying that he had to hand over some of the director’s authority to a woman who would surely not endure it and run away soon. It was very unpleasant, as if she was lightly dipping her toes into the Veltrum research they had jumped into at the risk of their lives.

But his prediction was wrong. No matter what crisis befell her, she never gave up.

Her eyes as she observed and cared for the lunar wolf were always serious, and if there was something lacking, she endlessly strived to fill it in and move forward.

And on the day the emergency general meeting was held, Prom could feel it to the point his skin tingled that she wasn’t following the Lord with a light heart.

He had to admit it. She was undeniably the Lord’s subordinate, a monster breeder, and a member of the Veltrum Laboratory.

…But he would never spill his true feelings. He had to maintain his weight as the director!

Prom quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, is everything alright in Veltrum? I hear regular updates, but it’s different from you telling me directly.”

“Veltrum has been peaceful lately. No new doors are opening either. But we did make some gains. Do you remember when I reported discovering a new monster when the snowy mountain terrain opened last April?”

“The monster that emits a powerful sleep-inducing scent?”

“Yes, it’s called the Bonacow.”

Elkin opened his notebook and showed a scribbled drawing. It was a white cow-shaped monster with two long horns on its forehead.

“The next time the snowy mountain terrain’s turn came around, I encountered it again. We were prepared in advance that time, so we weren’t affected by the sleep scent. Thanks to that, we were able to attach a tracker…”

“So you found its habitat?”

“We got lucky! But the location is too far. Unless the Lord steps in, it seems impossible to reach there in time.”

Due to the dense magical power concentration in Veltrum’s atmosphere, the expedition team couldn’t utilize horses or dogs and had to proceed on foot and with spatial movement magic alone.

They couldn’t even use spatial movement magic frequently. Space-related magic required a lot of magical power and was too dangerous to use in Veltrum where magic errors were common. Naturally, the explorable range was reduced.

However, if Aspeiran got involved here, the story would change. Aspeiran boasted overwhelming magical power and was unrivaled in spatial magic.

So if the Lord accompanied them, it would be possible to go on expeditions much further.

But…

“As soon as I returned to the castle, I tried bringing up the expedition to the Lord, but he refused, saying he had no intention of leading expeditions for the time being.”

Elkin spoke gloomily. Kiri, who was flipping through newly arrived materials next to him, chimed in.

“That’s too bad. The Bonacow’s sleep scent could be useful in many ways.”

“I think so too, Kiri! Director, is there no way to persuade the Lord?”

“Well…”

Aspeiran had regularly participated in expeditions, well aware that he was of great help to the Veltrum expeditions.

But recently, he hadn’t left the castle even once. Why was that?

Carefully calculating that period, Prom realized that the time Aspeiran had holed up in the castle perfectly coincided with the period Shuria had been working at the castle.

‘…Could it be that he refused because he doesn’t want to be apart from Shuria for long periods of time?’

Although Prom had no interest in uninteresting things, even he was well aware of the subtle atmosphere flowing between the Lord and Shuria.

The feelings the Lord harbored for Shuria were clearly more than just favor.

“Hmm…”

Once his thoughts reached that point, Prom began to feel convinced that the reason the Lord wasn’t going to Veltrum was because he didn’t want to be separated from Shuria.

If this was true, it was a very meaningful discovery for the researchers.

In other words, didn’t it mean that their laboratory now had a master key to freely obtain the Lord’s favor?

Prom decided to conduct an experiment.

“Elkin, if you really want, try telling Shuria to go to Veltrum together. If Shuria goes, the Lord will accompany her.”

“Miss Shuria, you say?”

Elkin made a doubtful expression.

“I’ve heard that the Lord cherishes Miss Shuria very much, but…”

“It’s not just cherishing her very much. If Shuria says she’s going somewhere, he might even postpone a peace conference to follow her.”

“The Lord would? No way!”

Elkin waved his hands in shock. Prom wagged his finger as if pitying the foolish.

“Later, when you have a chance, go to the breeding center. Once you witness how the Lord looks at Shuria, you’ll believe my words.”

Elkin’s expression became puzzled. It was right at that moment that an urgent communication came through.

Prom hurriedly connected the communication magic.

“Yes, this is Prom. Yes… What?”

Prom’s face gradually stiffened as he conversed with someone. Sek asked Prom, who had ended the call.

“What’s the matter?”

“…It was the Lord. He said to come to the breeding center right now. What are you doing? Everyone, get up. Hurry!”

At Prom’s urging, the researchers unsteadily rose from their seats. Tossing each of them a fur cloak that was lying in the corner, Prom spoke as if screaming.

“The lunar wolves, oh my gosh! He said all the lunar wolves have fully matured into adults!”