It was a moment when Jade was thinking she shouldn’t lose, while Axel was contemplating how to scold her effectively, as they stared at each other.

Behind them, Mimi, who seemed tired and irritated, broke the silence by kicking the tree with her hind legs.

Nevertheless, Axel’s gaze remained unwavering, fixed on Jade. It was a very intense stare.

He was worried about her.

Realizing this, she suddenly felt like laughing. Everything turned out well, so why are we fighting?

A chuckle eventually escaped through her pursed lips. Seeing this, the frown on Axel’s brow also gradually began to relax.

“Are you happy?”

“Of course. I can give Pavel good news, and I can also come to the lake occasionally during the day. You probably wiped out all the monsters in this area.”

“That’s not bad.”

“Right? So let’s stop fighting now.”

Jade said with a grin. You know the results, right?

“I’m a person who really hates result-oriented thinking.”

“Knights are like that. Is it because the process is important during training? Anyway, be happy about it today. Tomorrow’s Jade, who will have slept more and become more generous, will listen to your nagging.”

She held out her fist. It was a gesture usually done when making a contract or completing all tasks, which fit the current mood perfectly. After all, they had successfully finished a difficult job.

But Axel, as he was about to extend his hand, hesitated, perhaps suddenly aware of the size difference, and just lightly enveloped her fist without bumping it.

“What does that make me, who hit you earlier?”

“Something like a character wreck, I guess.”

Jade, who had been looking at him with displeasure, suddenly smiled with her eyes curved.

“Why.”

“Haha.”

The eyes full of laughter somehow seemed awkward to Axel.

Maybe it was because the background had completely changed. In the darkness, smiling while receiving faint light, it was a Jade he had never seen before, so it felt very unfamiliar.

She looked pale and tired, but strangely also transparent.

Is it because she’s so fair?

Axel was about to say grumpily, what are you looking at?

But before he could open his mouth, her hand suddenly approached.

He watched in a slightly dumbfounded state as her fingers reached his cheek. She was standing on her tiptoes, fully focused on him.

He felt like he could draw every single eyelash of her eyes. Large eyes, long eyelashes completely upturned, deep-colored eyes that looked almost black in the darkness.

Standing there in a daze, he tried to take a step back when he came to his senses, but there was no need.

Because the warmth that touched his cheek started to rub vigorously, shattering the strangely entranced feeling.

“It’s still there.”

She showed the back of her hand, revealing traces of dried blood. It seemed to be Jade’s blood that had stained him earlier.

“Let’s go now. I’m really sleepy. I hope the rooster doesn’t crow tomorrow. Or is it today?”

Watching her chattering figure walking towards the horse, Axel rubbed his cheek vigorously with the back of his hand.

Am I going crazy in the middle of the night? Why did I suddenly do that?

The moment of contemplation was brief. His instinct prevented him from trying to think deeply about it.

He simply moved with long strides to catch up with her. Because he knew Jade would subtly insist on taking the reins herself.

The tail of the monster sprawled behind finally lost its light and became completely dark. At the same time, it slowly became transparent and began to melt into the water. As if transforming into water itself.

But it was a scene no one witnessed.

Jade and Axel began to gallop towards home. It was the end of a long, long incident.

02.

Jade quickly poured water over the pan, causing steam to rise. Then she covered it with a lid.

“Wow, why am I so good at everything…?”

She smiled with genuine satisfaction.

Usually, when there are no adults around to praise them, children tend to lose confidence, but Jade’s case was a bit different.

After her parents died, the girl, boiling with anger towards her remaining family members, developed a habit of praising herself for everything she did. After all, no matter what she did, her grandmother and uncle would subtly belittle her anyway, so it didn’t matter.

This habit persisted even into adulthood, and sometimes the magicians around her found it quite interesting.

Despite having a significant weakness in that only fire attribute magic was powerful, she didn’t particularly feel discouraged or belittle herself. Rather, she thought it was fine if she could compensate through effort.

Blake, one of her few close magician friends, said that not belittling herself was Jade’s greatest strength.

It’s been quite a while since I thought of that name. Blake, huh? I wonder how he’s doing.

Jade chuckled and opened the lid. The egg, opaque on the outside due to the hot steam, looked firm and bouncy. It was for Axel, who liked his eggs half-cooked.

She placed the egg on a plate and stirred the soup in the large pot with a ladle. The clear soup with rehydrated dried meat smelled amazing.

Should I add a bit more meat? It seems a bit too thin.

While she was contemplating, Axel burst through the door. Having checked on Ollie’s house just in case, due to the heavy snowfall the night before, his hair was soaking wet.

“Is Ollie okay?”

“There was a small leak in the roof. I fixed it before coming back.”

“I’ve boiled some water. If you grab your sword, I can boil more.”

Since knights could use magic, if he grabbed his sword, he could create strong flames.

As Jade giggled, imagining Axel using his sword like a torch, he shook his head and asked,

“Is it going well? Can I not worry? I’m really hungry right now.”

“Ha, don’t worry. I’m not my old self anymore!”

Recalling how she had turned stew into salt stew not too long ago, Axel wore a skeptical expression. Jade scooped up a bit of stew with a spoon.

“Here.”

As she held it up to his lips, Axel leaned down to taste it and slightly raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm.”

“It’s good, right?”

Axel disappeared to wash up without answering.

Instead of adding more meat, Jade threw in plenty of dried mushrooms she had prepared. Only then did the soup look hearty.

By the time Axel came out after changing clothes, the table was fully set. Though not as bountiful as autumn, it looked quite splendid for a winter table.

“Time does solve some things…”

His voice sounded genuinely surprised, allowing Jade to proudly hold her head high.

“This time, I really perfectly half-cooked it. Try it, quickly!”

Axel obediently cut the egg in half. The yolk flowed out softly, soaking the edge of the bread beside it.

He chuckled.

“Not bad.”

“See how quickly I improve.”

It was now about the middle of winter. The once-full food storage was slowly starting to show empty spaces, but it wasn’t dangerous yet. Their prior preparations had paid off.

Also, Pavel, who had received help from them, was an excellent farmer and occasionally brought gifts of food.

Not long ago, he brought preserved fruits and precious biscuits made from coarsely ground grains, making Jade happy.

Nina, with her chubby cheeks peeking out from under her hat, came along too. She gifted Jade a pretty pair of gloves and Axel a knitted cover for his cold sword handle. She said she had knitted them herself.

It was incredibly touching. Despite not being financially well-off, these people had hearts warm enough to share with others and still have plenty left over.

The abundance outside wasn’t missed at all.

Thus, their preparations were thorough, and the people around them were kind.

Still, it wasn’t leisurely enough to just sit around idly, so Axel still went hunting occasionally, and Jade would roam here and there gathering materials for magic potions.

And there was a great harvest gained from one of these outings.

“Come back early. Okay?”

Handing gloves to the well-dressed Axel, he tilted his head at her words.

“What? Did something happen?”

“The moon flower liquor! I told you the color has fully set now. We absolutely must drink it today!”

Axel nodded as if he finally understood.

Thanks to the major clearing out of monsters in this area making it much safer, Jade sometimes went on night walks with Axel.

With Axel present, she could realize magic through his body, so it was less dangerous. Of course, it meant Axel had to work a bit harder.

That day too, she naturally tagged along after Axel, and he didn’t particularly stop her.

After walking for quite a while, they decided to go somewhere a bit different that day. Axel said he would take her to a place where they could see the entire view of the Athanase Forest.

But just as she was starting to suspect he might be trying to torment her due to the excessively steep angle of the land, Jade, while being distracted, spotted a faintly spreading soft light in the distance.

Wondering what it could be, she pushed aside the long-stretched tree branches, and an astonishingly beautiful scene unfolded before her.

In a space encircled by tall trees, moonlight was pouring down purely, and flowers that had fully bloomed, absorbing that light, were transparent as if not of this world. Around them, peculiar lights were falling like specks.

Even Axel, usually stingy with praise for beauty, quietly let out an exclamation of admiration.

There were more than ten moon flowers blooming, but Jade didn’t get greedy and only dug up two.

Seeing Axel’s surprised look, Jade smiled brightly and said that they should leave some so they could flourish and be eaten again later.

‘That’s so like you.’

‘You’ll drink it well too if I give it to you, right?’

‘That’s true.’

Anyway, the moment to finally drink it had come.

“Well, I won’t be late. I’m not going hunting today.”

“Then where are you going?”

“I won’t tell you.”

Knowing Jade would pounce on him out of curiosity, Axel quickly slipped out the door as soon as he picked up his sword. Jade pulled on the doorknob, but it wouldn’t open as he was pulling from the other side.

Soon, a whistling sound came from beyond the door. It was Axel calling for his horse.