Due to motion sickness, Irene couldn’t even drink water properly, let alone eat, on the way to Maybel.

The only thing she managed was a few sips of water that Jessie forcefully fed her, saying she might get dehydrated otherwise.

Even though she hadn’t felt particularly hungry before, seeing the food laid out on the table made her hunger rush in.

Gurgle, her stomach clock rang loudly, appealing that it was hungry.

Well, it’s understandable since she hadn’t eaten properly for three days.

Come to think of it, that man and Jessie didn’t seem to have eaten anything either.

She couldn’t remember seeing Dewey and Deuce eat anything either.

The same was true for Kara.

“……”

While she couldn’t eat due to motion sickness, it was a bit strange that others hadn’t eaten for three days either.

If they had gotten off the carriage, she would have thought they ate somewhere out of sight, but they never got off.

Since the carriage never stopped on the way to Maybel, there was no way they could have gotten off.

“Please sit down, miss.”

“Ah, yes.”

Irene was curious about why they hadn’t eaten, but thinking it might be a bit odd to suddenly ask why they didn’t eat, she sat down without asking anything.

Jessie poured water into an empty cup and asked.

“It seems you’ll have to go out right after eating. Is that alright?”

Irene nodded and asked back.

“Where are we going?”

“The master will tell you about that.”

Ah, so I’m going out with that man.

Is he going to introduce the friend he mentioned then?

As Irene was thinking about Kalos, she suddenly glanced at the seat across from her.

The empty seat felt lonely.

The food laid out on the table was also a bit too much for one person to eat.

Come to think of it, she was supposed to have breakfast with that man…

“Doesn’t His Grace the Duke… have breakfast?”

“The master has already eaten, so don’t worry and please eat.”

I see. So he ate first.

Irene felt a little disappointed that Kalos had eaten breakfast first, but she thought it couldn’t be helped.

After all, he couldn’t just wait indefinitely for someone who might wake up at any time.

“Please eat before the food gets cold, miss.”

As Irene nodded and was about to take a big spoonful of soup.

Bang—.

The door flung open without a knock.

“…!”

Startled by this, Irene dropped her spoon.

The hot soup that was in the spoon fell mercilessly onto the back of her hand.

“Ah!”

Irene let out a short scream and clutched her hand where she felt a burning sensation.

“Oh my, what should we do!”

As Jessie also exclaimed in surprise and tried to examine Irene’s hand, there was a hand that reached out before her.

“……”

It was Kalos.

Jessie stared blankly at the unusual sight of the ruler kneeling on one knee and seriously examining someone else’s wound.

Kalos’s expression hardened coldly as he saw Irene’s slightly red and swollen hand.

“Bring a cold wet towel.”

“What? Ah, yes!”

Snapping to her senses at the order that fell like lightning, Jessie hurriedly went into the bathroom.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“No. It doesn’t hurt much.”

Irene was about to lie and say it didn’t hurt at all, but thinking that would be too transparent, she answered honestly.

“This much will get better soon, so don’t worry.”

“…I see.”

Despite her answer, his tense face didn’t seem to believe her words at all.

“Here’s the wet towel.”

Kalos wrapped Irene’s hand with the wet towel Jessie brought.

Is it my imagination that his hand feels colder than the wet towel?

Irene stared blankly at her hand wrapped in the towel.

“I’m sorry.”

She raised her head again as a low voice spread above her.

Kalos continued, as if frustrated.

“I should have knocked… I just opened the door thinking you’d be sleeping, of course. I’m sorry. This was clearly my mistake.”

Irene let out a small laugh, finding Kalos speaking incoherently, unlike his usual self, a bit cute.

“……”

At that, Kalos stood up, touching his nape.

His earlobe, briefly visible, was slightly red.

“I’ll call a doctor.”

Irene shook her head.

“It’s okay. As I said before, this much will heal quickly even if nothing is done.”

“Still, I think it would be better to show it to a doctor.”

Instead of saying it was fine again, Irene made a specific suggestion.

“If my hand is still red and swollen after an hour, I’ll get examined by a doctor then.”

“……”

Kalos looked at Irene with a somewhat displeased face, but.

He nodded as if he had no choice.

“Let’s do that then.”

*

Thinking that Irene wouldn’t be able to eat comfortably if he was there, Kalos left the room saying he would come back later.

Leaning against the closed door with a thud, Kalos’s expression was clouded.

“……”

The moment he realized that Irene had been hurt due to his mistake, his heart plummeted.

He felt so wretched he wanted to bite his tongue.

He couldn’t understand why he felt this way over such a small thing as her burning her hand with soup.

But one thing was clear.

I don’t want her to get hurt.

“……”

What a ridiculous thing.

To think this way when I’ll have to kill her with my own hands someday.

Finding it absurd even to himself, Kalos let out a hollow laugh and looked out the window.

As if to reflect his mood, the sky was full of ashen clouds.

*

When Irene, having finished preparing to go out, came down to the first floor lobby, Kalos checked the back of her hand.

Irene showed her hand with a gentle smile.

“It’s fine, right?”

The back of her hand was clean without a single wound. There was no swelling either.

Dewey, who didn’t know what had happened between them, interjected in confusion.

“Did you hurt your hand?”

“No. Just a small accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

In response to the question, Irene answered with a smile instead and changed the subject.

“Where are we going?”

As Dewey was about to answer, Kalos answered first.

“We’re going to Cream Beach.”

Irene’s gaze naturally shifted to Kalos.

Dewey also glanced at Kalos and turned away.

“Cream Beach… That’s the most famous beach in Maybel, right?”

“You know well. Did you read about this in a book too?”

“Yes.”

Books were the only means for Irene, who had been confined at home all her life, to communicate with the world.

“Is your friend at Cream Beach, Your Grace?”

“Yes.”

He thought they would return after a day, but Saren still hadn’t come back.

The same was true for Abel.

“……”

What on earth were they doing at Cream Beach that they hadn’t returned even after a day?

Deep wrinkles formed between Kalos’s brows.

He felt a strong premonition that Abel and Saren were conspiring to tease him, which made him very displeased and annoyed.

He was also worried about having to take Irene to such a place.

If he could, he wanted to wait a little longer and observe the situation, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much time left.

They would have to leave by tomorrow afternoon at the latest to arrive in the capital on time.

He had to meet Saren and settle things by today.

*

Deuce, who was waiting at the entrance of the inn, bowed his waist in greeting as Kalos came out.

“Hello.”

Irene, who was beside Kalos, reflexively greeted along with him.

“……”

However, as always, Deuce didn’t even look at Irene.

At this perfect ignoring, Irene awkwardly tidied her disheveled robe.

She thought they had become close enough to exchange greetings, but it seemed to have been a misunderstanding.

Kalos first helped Irene onto the horse, then mounted behind her.

Jessie and Deuce also got on their horses, but Dewey didn’t.

Is Dewey not coming?

“Dewey has things to do, so he’s staying here. He also needs to take care of Kara.”

“……”

When Kalos spoke as if he had looked into her mind, Irene looked at him somewhat glumly.

Kalos looked down at her as if asking if she had something to say.

How do you know my mind so well?

Then… have you perhaps noticed this feeling of liking you too?

“…It’s nothing.”

As these were things she couldn’t bring herself to ask, Irene swallowed her words and pulled her robe tightly over her head.

*

“Then let’s depart.”

As the horse started moving, Irene’s body froze stiff.

It was because of the trauma from suffering from terrible motion sickness throughout the journey to Maybel.

What if we ride as fast as we did then?

“……”

Just the thought was horrifying, and Irene bit her lip tightly.

Cold sweat dripped down her forehead.

Clop, clop, the sound of horse hooves echoed steadily.

Although she expected them to ride somewhat fast, if not as mercilessly as when coming to Maybel.

But to her surprise, Kalos rode the horse very slowly.

To exaggerate a bit, she thought walking might be faster.

Thanks to this, Irene, whose tension had eased, let out a sigh of relief and turned to look at Kalos.

She was about to ask why he was riding so slowly, but once again, the answer came before she could ask.

“There are many people on the streets.”

“……”

She understood the reason for going slowly, but another question arose.

How on earth does this man know what I want to say?

Is he really reading my mind?

That would be troublesome.

Because he would end up discovering my feelings.

Irene glanced at Kalos and then.

“……”

When their eyes met, she startled and quickly looked forward again.

An obviously strange behavior.

Irene thought about what to answer if Kalos asked why she was acting that way, but it was a useless effort.

“……”

Because he didn’t ask anything.

At this, Irene felt relieved but also a bit hurt, and fidgeted with her hands.

*

As the tension eased, she had the leisure to look around.

Irene looked around like a meerkat, taking in the streets of Maybel.

While the buildings in the Esper territory each had strong individuality, the buildings in Maybel were uniform.

Walking down the street lined with buildings that looked like twins on both sides, it was confusing yet interesting, as if going around in circles on the same road.

It felt like exploring a maze.

If she had gotten lost, it would have been frustrating, but since that wasn’t the case, she could enjoy it.

After looking around for a while, Irene’s gaze stopped at a stall selling seashell crafts.

While she had seen various crafts during her stay at Esper Castle, she had never seen crafts made of seashells.

The seashell crafts she was seeing for the first time were so beautiful that Irene stared at them half-dazed.

“……”

At this, Kalos’s horse, which had been moving slowly but steadily, came to a stop.

Deuce, who had been following behind, also stopped and asked.

“What’s the matter?”

“……”

Without answering, Kalos got off the horse and held out his hand to Irene.

As Irene took his hand and got off the horse, Kalos walked somewhere still holding her hand.

Following him in a daze, Irene was surprised when Kalos stopped in front of the stall she had been staring at and looked up at him.

Did he stop because of me?

Kalos pointed at the stall with his chin.

“Choose something you like.”