The nearby scattered branches were woefully insufficient to serve as a splint. Elie threw the branches behind his back and sat back down.

Helena, realizing what this meant, expressed her reluctance.

“It’s fine.”

“If you’d said that looking a bit more presentable, I might have pretended to believe you.”

“I wasn’t in great shape to begin with. Even if I ended up like this just now, it’s none of your concern.”

“That remains to be seen. Whether you’ll take me where I want to go.”

Elie let out a meaningful sigh tinged with mockery.

Knowing she wouldn’t willingly get on his back, he glanced over his shoulder.

“Shall I take your continued resistance as a sign you’d prefer to be held like before?”

Helena’s throat went dry. For some reason, she was reminded of Ian from their first meeting. A man impervious to stubbornness.

Having no desire whatsoever to be carried like a princess again, Helena reluctantly bent over onto his broad back.

Just as she felt his slightly curly blonde hair brush her cheek, her field of vision rose abruptly.

“Guide the way.”

Helena recalled the nearest residential area in her mind and pointed to the side. Elie readily set off in the direction her finger indicated.

After about three blocks, houses with birch trees and reddish-brown brick roofs began to appear sporadically. Helena asked to be let down, saying they were almost there.

However, Elie tightened his interlocked hands behind her back and firmly instructed her.

“If you answer falsely, I’ll visit every house and ask if this woman lives here.”

“You must enjoy creating extra work for yourself.”

“Yes. It’s going to be a long day.”

“…You can’t be serious.”

“Let’s start with this house right now.”

Elie strode forward as if about to knock on the door of the mansion before them. Helena tugged at the arms around his neck and declared her surrender.

She made several more escape attempts afterwards, but failed each time. In the end, she was only able to touch ground again at the guild entrance as the sun was setting.

Elie set Helena down and carefully surveyed the guild. He had been a bit worried because of the memory of being torn away again in Futua. Fortunately, he was able to find it right away.

Beyond the thick log door built like a fortress. Elie’s eyes narrowed as he gazed at it.

‘So this is where you’ve been.’

At first, he had only intervened out of curiosity about the woman standing up for a stranger. But the encounter he thought would be fleeting turned out to be one someone else was desperately seeking.

Moreover, she had proved to be an excellent guide. There was no longer any doubt that his lord was in Patren.

“Young lady−! I’m so glad you’re safe!”

Even the runaway dog had managed to find its way here to its master.

Helena turned her head towards Sakin, who was running over from afar. Elie dropped a farewell on top of her red head.

“I’ll repay you for the ankle somehow next time.”

And then he vanished. In truth, he had likely just hidden himself, but he was so fast it almost seemed like teleportation magic.

When Helena turned her head back, he had already disappeared without a trace. His exit was as swift and silent as his entrance.

Helena thought he was quite a peculiar man.

But…

‘Next time?’

He had spoken of meeting again as if it were a foregone conclusion. That made her tilt her head in puzzlement. By then, Sakin had approached like a puppy that had found its owner.

“I’m so sorry, young lady! I should have been more alert to make sure you didn’t get lost…!”

Sakin fretted anxiously, circling around Helena. He scrutinized every nook and cranny as if checking that a hidden treat was still there before stepping back.

Even as she was led away by Sakin’s hand, Helena occasionally glanced behind her. She thought she caught a glimpse of gleaming blonde hair among the bushes for a moment.

“Anyway, it’s fortunate, so fortunate that nothing bad happened!”

Only after ranting repeatedly about how he’d been thoroughly scolded by the guild master and that such an incident would never happen again did Sakin’s mouth finally quiet down.

Of course, it was rare for his entire body to be completely still. While his mouth had calmed, his arms and legs were still busy.

Helena sat in a chair at the dining table, polished smooth by people’s hands, watching as he prepared something as a gesture of apology.

“It’s ready!”

Before long, a colorful plate appeared before her. A sweet aroma tickled her nostrils.

It was a muffin topped with pink cream and a cherry, a cinnamon roll drizzled with vanilla syrup, and cool lemonade.

Star-shaped ice cubes clinked in the transparent glass with a light crackling sound.

‘How pretty.’

Pure admiration arose spontaneously. Sakin had an unexpected talent for this. Helena stared down at the delicately decorated plate.

When she didn’t touch it and only looked, Sakin sat down across from her and asked,

“Do you not like desserts very much?”

Helena was about to reflexively say yes, but hesitated. The answer that was about to come out of habit was swallowed more easily than expected.

“No, I like them.”

Memories of the past unfolded like a picture on the plate.

Was it during the first regression?

There was a day when Eugene bought lots of desserts for her. He had personally visited a famous shop where the prepared quantities sold out as soon as they opened.

⌜To think that the man once called the murderer of the battlefield would bring cake boxes. Though he’s my son, I can hardly believe it.⌟

⌜You’re quite thick-skinned too, Grand Duchess, flitting from party to party while your husband goes to such lengths.⌟

Not knowing how it would circulate among the pack of wolves.

Her mother-in-law and her subordinate nobles pretended not to see her even though they knew full well she was there.

No matter what she did, arrows of criticism inevitably rained down. No matter how much she acted the part of a noble lady or a saint, in front of people she was just a clown, just putting on airs.

Eugene was not at fault. The problem, if anything, was that she was his wife.

Helena, unable to bear tarnishing even that, habitually cut herself off.

⌜Thank you, I’ll enjoy it. But Eugene… I don’t really like desserts. You don’t have to do this from now on.⌟

From then on, Helena consistently avoided sweets. She hid everything she liked so Eugene wouldn’t have to worry about her.

To prevent even the smallest, most trivial scandal from arising in the first place. To appear as a dignified and proper Grand Duchess.

⌜Can’t you act affectionately like Natasha even once? Even a stone would be warmer than you.⌟

Looking back now, it had all been futile.

The voice that had pierced her heart in the last regression came back to life. Helena mechanically moved her hand to shake it off.

As she bit into the warm muffin, the tangy cherry flavor spread throughout her mouth. Sakin’s handiwork was a great help in overturning the afterimage.

With the sweetness on her tongue, Helena muttered as if to herself.

“Was I… wrong for not being honest? Does it make people tired of me?”

Sakin’s eyes rolled at the question that wasn’t really a question. He seemed to be pondering quite seriously, unlike his usual self.

But soon his expression changed to one of nonchalance. He wiped the butter grease off his palms with a napkin and opened his mouth.

“Well… not being honest can lead to misunderstandings. But I don’t think it’s a big problem if the other person is truly interested. The mouth may lie well, but the body isn’t easily deceived.”

Helena paused with the muffin held in both hands. She lifted her eyelids to look at him, and his deep green eyes sparkled.

“Why do you think I made this?”

“Well, because Sakin said it was an apology for today’s incident…”

“There were plenty of other ways to apologize, you know. But why did I choose to bake bread?”

“Because… Sakin is good at it?”

“I saw the expression on your face when you smelled the sweet aroma as we passed by the dessert shop.”

“…”

“I also know your expression when mango pudding or lemon tart occasionally comes out for dessert at dinner time.”

Had such expressions unknowingly appeared on her face?

Helena, feeling strangely embarrassed, tried to avert her gaze. But Sakin’s words wouldn’t let her.

“My sister Sana, who’s right below me, always says she’s fine. It’s probably because she feels responsible for our younger siblings while I’m away, but I know it’s not really fine.”

“Maybe it was her judgment that hiding it would be better for everyone. She might be saying that because of emotions she doesn’t want revealed.”

“Still, the fact that it’s a lie doesn’t change, and no matter how much she does that, I know. Because she’s family I love. When there’s affection, you come to know without having to try hard.”

Affection. Affection, is it.

‘Reading you was the happiest and most painful thing for me, but did you look at me with such eyes too?’

Helena tried to recall Eugene’s face as he spoke of love. But it didn’t come to mind as easily as she thought. Instead, another man’s face kept overlapping with his.

“To add one more thing, my mother used to say this. While it’s important to untangle knotted threads, the wisest thing is to prevent the threads from tangling in the first place.”

Sakin’s words made the man even clearer.

As if he had been setting up to bring him up all along, Sakin clenched his fist and boldly asserted,

“And our guild master absolutely hates complicated things. I guarantee he won’t create a situation where you have to hide what you want, whatever the reason!”

Of course, the bright green eyes that had been shining cleanly now couldn’t look at her. His upper body was also oddly tilted to face the opposite direction.

Helena gazed steadily at Sakin with her chin resting on her hand. The lips pressed into a straight line occasionally twitched.

That trickle of cold sweat flowing down his nape couldn’t be from the heat.

“…He told you to say that just now, didn’t he?”

“…!”

It seemed to have hit the mark. Sakin’s crestfallen face revealed the answer in its entirety. Helena couldn’t help but laugh softly at his facial muscles that were fluctuating rapidly.

Sakin let out a dejected sigh as a confirmation shot. His eyes, which had already turned pitiful, blinked round and large.

“Sigh, I guess I have no talent for lying. Please don’t tell the guild master about this. He’s already given me an earful for disappearing and leaving you alone, if he finds out about this too… ugh…!”

The sight of him gnawing on the napkin looked just like a Retriever flapping its drooping ears.

Helena pulled the napkin, now with teeth marks like a bone, out of his mouth. The edge had already become a bit damp. Helena folded it in half, finding a dry part, and wiped the cream off Sakin’s cheek.

“I won’t tell.”

“You promise, right?”

“Yes, and Sakin, you’re not stupid.”

As if her single statement meant everything, the gloomy expression vanished as if it had been a mask. Sakin smiled, his eyes crinkling as if he had never known a downcast expression.

“Hehe, it feels good hearing that from you, young lady.”