“Ugh!”

“You came quickly.”

Aspeiran put on his shirt sluggishly over his bare upper body with an indifferent expression. He really has no shame.

I swallowed my embarrassment alone and pressed myself against the wall. Then, with my gaze fixed on my luggage, I walked ssshhh to the farthest place from Aspeiran.

Aspeiran, who had finished changing, frowned at me.

“What are you doing?”

What am I doing? I’m still sane enough not to casually look at your naked body, so I’m running away.

But I couldn’t say that, so I made up an excuse.

“Um, I was drying my hair and thought water might splash on you, my lord. So I’m trying to move away…”

“…Come here.”

Aspeiran beckoned to me with his finger. Is he going to dry it at once with magic?

‘It was just a random excuse, but what luck is this.’

Since Aspeiran is fully dressed now, there’s no need to be shy anymore, I thought as I excitedly ran to him.

“Sit down.”

He pulled a chair in front of me. I thought he’d just snap his fingers and be done with it, but is there something more complicated to do?

When I sat down as instructed, he took the towel from my hand. And then.

“?”

He gently wrapped the towel around my head.

Before I could ask what he was doing, Aspeiran started to gently ruffle my hair.

It was a bit surprising, but the touch on my scalp felt so nice that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

His large hands move delicately, occasionally brushing my ears or nape. Each time, my shoulders would inexplicably shrink.

I tried to shake off the strange feeling creeping up by forcibly pulling up various random thoughts.

‘This must be his first time drying someone else’s hair, but he’s surprisingly skilled. Like someone with 10 years of hairdressing experience… As expected, there’s nothing our Aspeiran can’t do.’

Whether he used magic or not, my hair quickly dried to a fluffy state. I awkwardly wiggled my toes and blurted out something.

“Um, I think you’d make a good father, my lord.”

“A father? Do you think I’m treating you like a child?”

“No! That’s not what I meant!”

I panicked, and Aspeiran chuckled. He muttered while combing my hair with his fingers.

“Like dandelion fluff.”

“My hair? I guess it is thin and short like that.”

“Thinking of growing it out?”

“Not right now… Does this hair not suit me?”

“No, it’s cute.”

It was a casually dropped remark. But its impact was tremendous.

Aspeiran’s hand on my shoulder stiffened. I quickly grabbed his wrist with both hands as he tried to pull away.

“You think I’m cute?”

“No…”

“My lord, do you think I’m cute?”

“No, it was a slip of the tongue. Go to sleep.”

“Wow! My lord said I’m cute!”

“I said go to sleep!”

Aspeiran lifted me up and threw me onto the bed, then wrapped me tightly in the blanket. I laughed, wriggling in my cocoon-like state.

“Don’t be embarrassed! You’re not the only one who thinks so. Maybe because I’m small in height and build compared to Roakin people, everyone calls me cute.”

Aspeiran didn’t reply and just turned off the magic light. I heard him storm out of the room in the darkness.

I giggled at his retreating back.

“So I was my lord’s cutie!”

No wonder. I thought he was being too nice to me. It was because he found me cute. Like… a little sister?

I wriggled my body to lie facing the ceiling. I felt like shouting eureka. I finally found the answer to the question that had been bothering me.

“I was a cutie!”

I laughed out loud. Then, lulled by the comfortably snug blanket and the fatigue weighing down my whole body, I fell asleep just like that.

Aspeiran returned to the room about three hours later.

Shuria was already deep in dreamland. The blanket he had carefully tucked in was now crumpled and pulled down to her feet.

Aspeiran pulled the blanket back up to her chin and tucked her in well. Shuria mumbled a bit, perhaps feeling stuffy, but quieted down after a few pats. Aspeiran smiled softly.

Shuria’s round forehead gleamed white in the dim light. Her mouth, occasionally mumbling whatever dream she was having, looked happy.

Aspeiran quietly gazed down at that peaceful face, then sat down on the edge of the bed.

“…Sleeping so well.”

He reached out and twirled her soft light brown hair between his fingers. Liking the ticklish sensation of the thin, soft hair on his palm, Aspeiran’s lips curled into a slight smile.

Some had compared this child to a hamster, puppy, or snow rabbit, but to him, Shuria was a dandelion.

Like warm sunshine, bringing joy to some and comfort to others. A small, lovely dandelion that perseveres in its life without yielding to harsh winds.

He had vehemently denied it in the past, but now he had no choice but to admit it.

As Kiara and Canis said, Shuria was cute. So lovable that he didn’t want to take his eyes off her for even a moment.

Perhaps… he had thought so from the very first moment he saw her. Though he had tried hard to deny it.

“But I won’t tell you.”

Shuria had made such a fuss over a casual remark. If he told her this realization, who knows how much she would prance about.

Of course, even that sight would look adorable to him, but it would be troublesome to lose his composure and show such an immature appearance.

Aspeiran barely tore his gaze away from Shuria and looked up at the ceiling. He was satisfied with the tranquility enveloping the cozy room.

Although he had opposed this expedition out of worry that Shuria might be in danger, seeing her so happy made him think it might be good to take her out occasionally.

Show her around Roakin, visit other countries together. It wouldn’t be bad to travel just the two of them, without escorts.

‘It might be good to take her along to next year’s peace talks.’

This train of thought could hardly be seen as for a ‘cherished subordinate’ or a ‘child like a little sister’, but Aspeiran and Shuria, both ignorant in matters of romantic emotions, were completely unaware.

At that moment, Shuria groaned, “Mmmm…” and shifted in her sleep. Aspeiran rhythmically patted her shoulder.

The night was deepening.

I naturally woke up at 4 AM.

I’m not sure if it’s because I slept well or if Rumel’s muscle pain medicine I drank before bed was super effective, but in any case, my body felt very light.

‘At this rate, I should be able to ride a horse today too. That’s a relief.’

After doing a vigorous round of morning stretches with a satisfied heart, I went to check on Sammemma’s condition first. On the way, I noticed the weather was very nice too.

“Waoong!”

The white-furred children, with straw stuck here and there in their fur, were overflowing with energy today as well.

It seems this journey is very much to their liking. I fed Sammemma and groomed their fur a bit.

After finishing my duty, it was time to take care of myself. As I was humming and heading towards the kitchen, I spotted Aspeiran walking from the direction of the food storage.

I had wondered why he wasn’t in the room when I woke up, looks like he got up early and was preparing luggage for today’s march with the others.

I approached him with a giggle.

“My lord! Your cutie has arrived!”

“I hope you haven’t forgotten that you have to ride with me again today.”

Aspeiran casually dropped a threat. How mean!

I pouted my lips and stood right next to him. As we entered the kitchen, Aspeiran asked,

“Did you sleep well?”

“I slept like a log without waking up once. How about you, my lord?”

“I couldn’t sleep because of your sleep talking.”

“Ah, you said you’d pretend not to notice even if I snored.”

“I never said I’d pretend not to notice sleep talking. What on earth was so delicious that you kept saying ‘delicious’ non-stop?”

“Um…”

I’m not sure. Was I eating chicken, or was it pizza?

Anyway, it’s extremely embarrassing. I twisted my hair and subtly avoided his gaze.

“Well then, next time I’ll sleep with the others. If several people sleep together, my sleep talking might be less noticeable…”

“Hmm.”

As soon as we entered the kitchen, Aspeiran, who had been moving busily, suddenly handed me a cup of warmed milk. As I awkwardly accepted it, he lightly pinched my nose.

“That won’t do.”

After eating a hearty breakfast with warm milk, we immediately prepared for departure. Today, like yesterday, we were scheduled to ride horses without rest and spend the night at the next resting place.

Maybe because it was the second day and I’d gotten a bit used to it, when evening came and we arrived at the resting place, I felt more energetic than yesterday. I even thought about learning horseback riding once we return to the castle after finishing the exploration.

The mountain lodge we’re staying at tonight had the same appearance and structure as where we stayed yesterday. The only difference was that here, two caretakers were waiting.

“This, this humble body greets the master of Roakin and guardian of the North!”

The caretakers, shaking with tension, bowed to Aspeiran.

When Aspeiran casually waved his hand, they retreated saying they would prepare dinner right away. As I headed towards the small room with Aspeiran, I casually asked,

“Why are there caretakers here?”

“We can’t take the horses with us tomorrow because we have to climb a mountain. So I called people to take care of the horses during the exploration period.”

“Ah, I see.”

Not being able to ride horses, as I expected, means the mountain terrain must be quite rough.

Now the peaceful times are over. I fell asleep with a bundle of anxiety.

The next day, as I had guessed, the atmosphere of preparing for the mountain climb was not ordinary.

Instead of the luggage we had been carrying so far, we carefully packed tools for climbing the mountain. Clothes and shoes also had to be changed to ones more suitable for mountain climbing.

The place we’re climbing today is a snow-capped mountain where one wrong move could mean death. Elkin comforted me as my face stiffened with tension.

“It’s not as dangerous as you might think since it’s a path frequently used by exploration teams. But we do need to be constantly vigilant.”

I’m not foolish enough to throw away all my anxiety at those words. I knew well enough, even without experiencing it, that crawling over a massive glacier is no easy task.

‘In my past life, climbing Everest was on my bucket list. I didn’t know I’d achieve a similar goal after dying.’

In the end, I’m fulfilling my dream. But maybe because the tension was eating my brain, I wasn’t particularly excited.

After changing my clothes completely, I headed to the back of the lodge to check on Sammemma’s condition. Today too, our huge babies came bounding towards me.

“Hmm…”

Come to think of it, something just occurred to me, how will our babies climb the mountain? If such large creatures run wild, it might cause an avalanche.

Instead of worrying alone unnecessarily, I went straight to consult Aspeiran.

Indeed, our lord easily resolved my worry.

With just a snap of Aspeiran’s fingers, Sammemma shrank to the size of a newborn puppy.