Jade woke up from her sleep with a cough.

“Achoo! Ugh…”

Somehow, it was a familiar position, a familiar ceiling. On the first day when she fainted after hearing about the Athanase Forest, she had woken up here.

As she turned her head towards the fireplace, something fell from her forehead with a thud.

“What… what is this…?”

Why am I here?

“You’re awake.”

Hearing the calm voice, she rolled her eyes to see Axel with his arms crossed. His tilted head somehow looked tired.

“Do you remember?”

“Remember what?”

As she raised her body with a confused look, she felt dizzy for a moment.

As she groaned and held her forehead, Axel quickly approached and swiftly pushed away Jade’s arm that was acting as a support. Naturally, Jade’s head hit the soft sofa.

“What are you doing…! Is it morning? Has the rooster crowed?”

“Yeah. It has.”

“This can’t be. I have things to do!”

She had made a medicine that would change color and lose its effectiveness when exposed to light. Since it wasn’t a finished product yet, she needed to work on it more.

Jade tried to get up again, but this time her forehead was pushed down, forcing her to lie back.

“What are you doing, really!”

Jade expressed mild irritation, but Axel just looked at her with a scornful face.

“Jade.”

“Huh… what?”

Her mouth, which was about to get angry again, was awkwardly shut. Wait, didn’t he just call my name?

“What did you say?”

“I’m the owner of this house, so today you’ll do as I say. You had a high fever all night. So don’t go running around shivering, just rest by the fireplace and warm up. I’ve already fetched water this morning, and Ollie’s house is not busy, so you have nothing to do.”

“That, no. Didn’t you just call me Jade?”

The man’s expression was so casual as he listed things off that Jade wondered if there was something wrong with her ears.

Even though they had become somewhat closer, she had always been addressed as “hey,” “you,” “look,” “magician,” etc., so being called by name was rather startling.

What’s this? Why is he pronouncing a name he’s never called before so calmly?

“You have a problem with that?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Then it’s fine. I’ll say just one more thing. Don’t ever run around in the cold wind again.”

His eyes were fierce, warning her not to be reckless given her weak constitution as a magician. Jade, who had loudly claimed to be healthier than other magicians just yesterday, felt awkward.

“Um… ahem.”

Now that she looked, what had fallen from her forehead was a damp cloth that had lost about half its moisture. She seemed to remember feeling fatigue and heat invading her body before going to sleep. It was clearly due to running around too much lately.

Bringing her from the lakeside, saving her from monsters, and now nursing her fever?

She had nothing to say even if she had ten mouths. How many times had she made mistakes in the process of adapting to the forest?

So Jade said with all sincerity:

“Thank you.”

Hmm, thinking about it carefully, it seemed like she shouldn’t miss the chance to call his name proudly. So she hastily added:

“Thank you, Axel. For taking care of me all night. Since bringing a piece of luggage into your house, your work has become quite diverse.”

Jade grinned with a face that had lost weight in just one day. Axel retorted gruffly:

“I didn’t do it all night. You got noticeably better by dawn.”

“Wouldn’t I have been more grateful if you had just said you did?”

“I don’t need that. Just lie down uselessly, Jade Brown.”

His tone was still mean, but his eyes were much gentler than usual and contained a faint hint of barely visible worry, making Jade regret not revealing her real name. Just a little.

It would have been so much better if she had been called Jade Broen.

She was moved. She knew that emotions couldn’t be returned as much as they were given, and she knew that he wasn’t approaching as much as she had. It was clear that he had consciously drawn a line.

But in just one night, that line had blurred. Enough for his voice calling her “Jade” to sound like an everyday occurrence.

While she was absorbed in her own emotions, Axel had already turned away. Jade called out to his back once more.

“Thank you, Axel!”

“There’s no need for such words, just be lazy. If you get sick again, there really won’t be any hope for you this time.”

Jade smiled. She couldn’t see his expression, but it was enough that he didn’t turn away unpleasantly.

Having used up all her energy just waking up and talking with Axel, Jade fell asleep again.

Sleeping on the sofa was better than she thought. The crackling sound of burning firewood and the clanking and clicking sounds of someone moving around felt like a lullaby, giving a strange sense of security.

It felt like she could wake up quickly even if she had a nightmare.

She wanted to ask if he wasn’t going hunting today, but her body, sinking into sleep, couldn’t move a finger. She only felt the blanket she had kicked off settling back down gently on her chest.

Jade, who had fully rested and recovered, woke up as it was getting dark outside.

“Fully recovered!”

Axel stared at her with pitying eyes. No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem right for her to shout in such a bright voice when her cheeks, which had had soft curves, had become hollow again. Only her eyes were big.

“Are you happy?”

“Of course. No, the sun has already set? Anyway, I had a really good dream. I saw a fairy in the Florencio Forest. Have you heard the saying that if you meet a fairy in your dreams, you’ll have good luck?”

“I guess you’re planning to meet some great weed tomorrow.”

“It’s not a weed!”

Suddenly remembering the potion cauldron, she rolled over to the fireplace, only to find its contents dried up and stuck to the metal surface, blackened.

“No!”

She could see Axel, who was clearly the culprit, pretending not to hear, but she couldn’t say anything. He must have increased the fire strength for her sake, as she was clearly cold.

He just didn’t take down the cauldron.

“Ugh…”

As she was mourning, hitting the floor, Ollie arrived with both hands full.

“Oh my, I heard you were sick?”

“Yes. I had a bit of a fever. I guess I ignored the cold of the forest.”

“I felt empty when you didn’t come for a day after coming every day. The chickens must have missed you too. Here, I made some stew, try it. I also brought some wheat bread that I kept in a cool place. This is to thank you for the arthritis medicine!”

The three of them sat around the table, spending the evening chatting about trivial and useless topics.

Ollie brought up small topics to keep the conversation lively, and Axel, despite his indifferent face, responded consistently, leaving no room for silence.

“I don’t understand how you can cook when everything else is so bothersome.”

“It’s better than being overly enthusiastic and getting sick from running around recklessly. Right, Jade?”

“Are you attacking me now…?”

“You’re quite perceptive.”

Even though there were only three of them, it felt strangely bustling.

It had been a very, very long time since Jade had experienced such a comfortable and warm dinner time, allowing her to smile more easily than ever before.

That night, no nightmares invaded her sleep.

“Oh, goodness.”

In a secluded room of the Broen castle, Bernard exclaimed while tugging at his unkempt, overgrown beard.

“What on earth is all this commotion about!”

Mori sighed and tossed a piece of paper to him.

“It hasn’t even been two months, and they’re already talking about a funeral. I guarantee this is Felix Broen’s doing.”

“Everyone here knows that. But to think that there are those within the family who support this. Have they no shame?”

“They’re probably angry because they can’t take bribes anymore due to Lady Jade. They might think that searching for about two months is enough to save face.”

“Two months? It’s barely been a month and a half.”

Bernard made a pointless rebuttal and then slumped into his seat. A gloomy silence filled the air around them. Mori blew a few strands of hair that had fallen onto his forehead upwards with a puff.

After pondering for a while, Bernard muttered while smoothing his greasy hair.

“I suppose we should contact the Countess of Snowden first.”

“To spread rumors?”

“Yes. The family’s only heir has disappeared, and no proper search is being conducted. The magician who supposedly transported Jade suddenly died.”

“It sounds suspicious just hearing about it.”

“Indeed. So if the Countess of Snowden, who dominates the noble social circles, speaks up, speculation will run rampant, and their brazenness will be highlighted. The Countess has always been fond of Lady Jade, so she’ll help us.”

“So the news of the Broen family being in disarray will spread. But well, Lady Jade would probably laugh and call it the truth. And then?”

“I heard that the third child of the Milton family was chosen as His Majesty’s attendant. The eldest, Sage Milton, used to exchange letters with Lady Jade about magical studies. They met a few times for pleasant conversations too.”

Mori slightly furrowed his brow.

“Bernard, I understand what you’re aiming for. But do you think His Majesty will help Lady Jade?”

Mori Avers, who worked as the financial manager for the Broen family, liked to convert relationships between people into numbers. But no matter how he calculated, this situation was difficult to compute.

The King and the heir of the Broen family. Jade Broen was certainly a valuable chess piece for the King, but now that she might really be dead, would the King maintain that loyalty?

Bernard sighed.

“I’m not sure either. But Felix Broen, despite his brutal actions, is extremely timid. He’s the type to be on edge even at a meaningless word from His Majesty. That’s about all we can aim for.”

“True. There’s no harm in trying. Even if Felix might try to kill us.”

“We can endure that much, can’t we? For Lady Jade’s sake.”

At the look that seemed to ask ‘isn’t that right?’, Mori chuckled.

“Of course.”

The people whose lives Jade had saved directly and educated at her own expense were always ready to work for her.

“Alright, for now, let’s send Marien to—”

“Excuse me.”

Startled by the sudden voice, the two men knocked over papers and chairs. In their overflowing passion, they had let their guard down.

“W-Who’s there?”

As they turned around clumsily, they saw a slender woman who had hurriedly squeezed through the door, standing there looking at them.

Bernard murmured, almost like a sigh.

“Lady Asela.”

It was Asela Broen, Felix Broen’s daughter. Her face was pale, and her eyes were unusually wide today.

Naturally, she was someone they should be wary of, so Mori gently stood up and forced a smile.

“What brings you here? I was just visiting Bernard briefly for some accounting documents, nothing else—”

“The, the teleportation magician. Look for the teleportation magician.”

It was an abrupt and clumsy statement without context. But Bernard and Mori, who were present, understood.

They exchanged a brief glance. Then Bernard responded gently to Asela.

“You must be referring to the magician who transported Lady Jade? That magician has already been found dead.”