“…….”

Unlike Irene, whose eyes had widened like a rabbit’s, Kalos remained calm.

Seeing his expression made Irene feel like she was the strange one for being surprised. She lowered her gaze and asked:

“Why… did you touch me?”

“This.”

As Kalos moved his hand as if to show something, her gaze naturally rose.

In Kalos’s hand was a red maple leaf.

“It was stuck to your neck.”

“Ah.”

Irene lowered her gaze again and brushed her nape.

Everywhere else was cold, but the spot where Kalos’s hand had touched was hot.

“If you had told me, I could have removed it myself…”

“I’ll do that next time.”

Kalos let the maple leaf fly away in the wind, then stretched his hand forward.

Irene, who naturally thought he was going to grab her, shrank her neck like a turtle. But then…

“……”

When Kalos’s hand passed by her and grasped the reins, she bit her lip in embarrassment.

It felt foolish, like waiting while sipping tea alone when no one was going to offer her sweets.

“Look ahead. You’ll fall.”

At the cool warning, Irene quickly turned her head to look forward.

Perhaps because of what just happened, Kalos’s chest pressed against her back felt even more noticeable than before.

“……”

The silence that hung between them was awkward and uncomfortable.

There was nothing she could do about their chests touching as long as they were on horseback, so she wanted to at least break this silence.

Irene moistened her dry lips with her tongue, pondering, then carefully opened her mouth.

“I think… I might learn horseback riding.”

Kalos glanced down at the small head leaning against his chest and asked:

“Why did you suddenly think of that?”

“Well… I feel like I’m being a nuisance to Your Grace every time I need to ride a horse like this.”

“I’ve never thought of it as a nuisance.”

I think so.

And it’s also uncomfortable riding with Your Grace.

Irene swallowed the words she couldn’t bring herself to say and fidgeted with her fingertips.

Though she had brought up horseback riding to break the awkward silence, she did have a genuine desire to learn.

But when Kalos responded skeptically, Irene gave up.

“If you want to learn horseback riding, you can.”

Unexpectedly, when permission was granted, Irene turned to look at him in slight surprise.

Kalos looked directly into Irene’s eyes and continued with a warning tone:

“But you will absolutely never go out riding alone.”

*

When the horseback riding talk ended, a suffocating silence fell once again.

Irene wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence. But…

Afraid the conversation might end strangely like before, she couldn’t bring herself to speak up.

“Aren’t you curious where we’re going?”

To her surprise, Kalos asked first.

Since she had been wondering about it anyway, Irene nodded quickly.

“Yes, I’m curious. Where are we going?”

“First, we’re going to the square in the western part of the territory. We went there during the Poyeon Festival, do you remember?”

“Of course.”

She couldn’t have forgotten playing darts there and receiving the Mermaid’s Tear hairpin as a prize.

“There’s a relief center there to help territory residents affected by the monster riots. After checking if it’s operating properly, we’ll go to ‘Solas’.”

“By Solas, you mean the entertainment district, right?”

“You catch on quickly.”

To Irene’s ears, that response sounded like “How do you know that?”, so she instinctively explained:

“I, I read it in a book. It said Solas refers to a street with places like taverns and pleasure houses…”

“You don’t need to explain yourself.”

“……”

As Irene fell silent, losing her words, another chuckle was heard.

Irene bit her lip firmly, feeling somehow like she was being teased.

Then a low laugh was heard from above her head.

It really does seem like he’s teasing me.

Irene was about to voice her complaints, feeling a bit unfair to be teased just for knowing what Solas meant. But…

“There’s a relief center there too.”

As Kalos continued with serious talk, she couldn’t say anything and just listened to his words.

“The goal of this inspection is to check if that relief center is also operating properly and if there are any problems.”

“I see.”

She had thought it was a light matter since he said she could come along, but it was a much more significant task than she had expected.

‘Is it really okay for me to come along?’

Irene was somewhat worried that she might just get in the way.

*

The horse that had been galloping diligently came to a stop in front of an alley.

“We’ll walk from here.”

Kalos, who dismounted first, grabbed Irene’s waist and helped her down.

Though brief, the feeling of her feet touching the ground after floating in the air felt a bit unfamiliar.

Irene looked around while adjusting her disheveled coat.

If it weren’t for the broken buildings here and there, one wouldn’t have known a monster riot had occurred, as the street was clean.

There were no major shadows on the faces of people coming and going on the street.

She had worried about how people might be struggling, but thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Wait here.”

Irene, who had been feeling relieved, turned to Kalos when she heard his voice.

She thought he was naturally talking to her, but that wasn’t the case.

“Huh?”

That man is Deuce.

When did he arrive?

Irene looked at Deuce in confusion as he took the horse’s reins.

However, Deuce didn’t even glance at Irene, looking straight at Kalos as he asked:

“Are you sure it’s alright to go alone, sir?”

“Yes. If I need anything, I’ll call for you.”

“Understood.”

Only then did Deuce look in Irene’s direction.

When he hadn’t looked at her before, she felt a bit upset, as if she was being ignored.

But now that he was actually looking at her, Irene felt burdened and awkward, so she rolled her eyes.

“……”

Deuce raised his eyebrows as if finding Irene strange.

Then he bowed his head to Kalos in greeting and disappeared in the direction they had come from with the horse.

“……”

He’s a difficult person in a different way than Kalos.

As Irene watched Deuce’s retreating figure, she looked up at Kalos when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

Though Kalos’s hand on her shoulder was very distracting…

“Okay.”

Strangely, walking side by side with him didn’t bother her at all.

*

As they entered the alley, Kalos gave Irene a few instructions.

“Don’t call me ‘Your Grace’ while we’re here.”

Irene, who had been pondering Kalos’s order to look like commoners, the clothes they were wearing, and everything he had said so far, belatedly realized his intentions and exclaimed:

“You’re trying to hide your identity!”

Kalos chuckled.

“I think I just told you not to call me ‘Your Grace’.”

Oh no.

Irene hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand and looked at Kalos cautiously.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem angry or upset.

“Then… what should I call you?”

“Hmm.”

As if he hadn’t thought that far, Kalos pondered for a moment before saying:

“It would probably be most natural if we appeared to be lovers.”

If it’s what lovers call each other… could it be something like ‘honey’ or ‘darling’?

Imagining herself calling Kalos that, Irene’s face turned bright red as she exclaimed:

“I, I can’t do that!”

Kalos asked incredulously:

“What do you think I’m going to make you do that you say you can’t?”

“……”

Did I imagine something strange on my own again?

If so, she certainly couldn’t say it out loud, so Irene bit her lip.

Her face was still as red as a ripe tomato.

Kalos stared down at that face for a moment before letting out a chuckle.

“You had a strange imagination.”

“N-No, I didn’t!”

“They say a strong denial is a strong affirmation.”

I should clearly say it’s not like that to avoid misunderstanding.

But it wasn’t a misunderstanding, it was the truth.

And Irene, who had no talent whatsoever for lying, just moved her lips without actually saying anything.

*

It was when they reached the end of the alley that Kalos gave a precise answer about what to call him.

“I think calling me ‘Lord Ron’ would work.”

-Lord was a term commonly used to respectfully address knights.

“If I call you ‘Lord’, I don’t think anyone will believe you’re a commoner.”

Kalos raised his lips in a mocking smile and tilted his head.

“Do I look like a commoner to you?”

“……”

Certainly… he doesn’t look like a commoner.

An air of nobility overflowed from him that couldn’t be hidden even by plain clothes.

He looked like someone born of noble blood to anyone who saw him.

But it seemed better to disguise himself as a relatively low-ranking knight rather than insisting he was a commoner.

“Your name is also known among the territory residents, so we should decide on a different name for you to use.”

Ah, I need an alias too if I’m going to hide my identity.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“Umm……”

Of course, she hadn’t thought of anything, so Irene pondered, but not for long.

“Please call me Rine.”

“Rine.”

When Kalos spoke that name, Irene felt like her heart dropped.

Maybe I shouldn’t have told him.

“Come here, Rine.”

……My ‘nickname’ that only my mother used to call me.

*

When they entered the square, Irene was puzzled to see even more street vendors than during the Poyeon Festival.

“Why are there so many street vendors?”

“They’ve come out to the streets to make a living.”

Kalos answered calmly.

“Even if buildings were destroyed, they still need to earn a living.”

Unlike his calm voice, the content was sad, so Irene furrowed her brows.

“I hope it gets restored quickly.”

“Everyone’s working hard, so it will be restored soon.”

Saying ‘soon’ was just a figure of speech. Rebuilding destroyed buildings would take at least a few months to even years.

Irene knew this fact too, so she let out a small sigh.

At least those whose shops were destroyed only lost their livelihoods.

What about those who lost their homes?

The harsh winter was coming soon.

Irene was worried, but she didn’t ask Kalos.

It seemed too presumptuous for someone in her position – neither an administrator nor a noble, and not even quite a guest – to ask.

“The relief center is that way.”

So Irene was silently following Kalos when she stopped, her nose tickled by a familiar food smell.

Kalos, who stopped with her, asked:

“What’s wrong?”

Irene pointed to a street vendor.

“They’re selling rösti over there.”

At the stall Irene pointed to, they were selling a food that looked like thinly fried potato pancakes.

So that’s rösti. It was a food Kalos had never seen before.

“Do you want to eat it?”

Thinking that might be why she stopped, he asked, but Irene shook her head.

“Not particularly. I’m tired of it because I ate too much of it before.”

“You must have liked it that much?”

“No. I didn’t… want to do that either.”

Irene smiled bitterly as she spoke of an old memory.