Jade yelled in pain.

“Does it make sense to snatch a blanket from a sick person?”

“I don’t see anything like that in my eyes right now. Just drink your medicine properly. Anyways, yes. You can think that all the female knights without partners are aiming for Sir Leon. Even though no one knows his background!”

Grace Tanner immediately came to mind. Those rosy cheeks and envious eyes directed at Axel.

“Some male knight sneered that Sir Leon might have been a lowly mercenary working for a noble family, but no one cares about that. Rather, that man had to back off after being mocked for being too jealous. His body−”

Jade hurriedly stopped Blake who was about to make some kind of hand gesture and blurted out whatever came to mind.

“They’re well matched, they’re well matched, that’s why!”

A sinister glance was returned. Reflecting on her own words, Jade realized that it could be interpreted in many ways. She quickly covered Blake’s mouth with her hand and shouted.

“The match, the match is good! Nothing else but the match! Their hands and feet fit together well!”

“So naive.”

Blake giggled and made a tsk-tsk sound with her fingers.

“That’s good. Then you can think of them as a pair! There hasn’t been a case where a temporary pair received this much praise from those around them. He hasn’t decided on a fiancée yet, right? Ah, they will look really good together externally. You’re a bit light in color overall. He’s dark.”

Blake chattered fervently, bouncing her red hair.

Her imagination flowed and flowed, finally arriving at Jade’s coming-of-age ceremony. How reassuring it would be to stand next to him with that handsome face.

Jade just moved her lips and sighed. She was at a loss for words to convey her feelings.

“What do you think? What do you think?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“What? What are you talking about! If you like him too, hurry up and catch him. It seems that even that cold-faced man is interested in you. Before other women snatch him away, try casting a bait…”

“It might all be a misunderstanding, Blake. Maybe it’s just human affection that comes from working well together, and we’re arbitrarily interpreting it…”

Blake folded her arms firmly. And she glared at her pretty friend with terrible eyes.

Unlike her own hair that becomes frizzy as if struck by fire magic if she neglects to oil it even a little, Jade’s soft hair hung neatly. Unique eyes that look glamorous yet friendly. Eyes that sparkle like jewels.

No matter where you look, she was a beauty who could take the lead in a relationship between a man and a woman.

Is that all? She was also born with good abilities and was highly valued by the king who personally selected her. At first, who knows, but now whenever there was a task involving magic, Jade was always called upon.

So, whichever way you look at it, there was absolutely no room for the absurd excuse of ‘human affection’!

A rough voice came out as if rubbed with sandpaper.

“My goodness, human affection? Jade, are you kidding me? Are you making excuses to run away from your heart? Are you saying that Sir Leon can’t feel any human affection for other people, so he’s that cold? And you’re saying it’s because you’re so pe-erfectly great in personality?”

Every time Blake roughly stirred the magic potion, water splashed around.

“No, that’s not it…”

“I know Sir Leon is handsome! His body is good too! You may be a bit lacking in appearance though!”

Jade looked at Blake, who was making an impassioned speech with a grim face.

“Hey, are you sure you’re trying to encourage me?”

“He’s good enough to be appointed as a commander. I know it all. Even so, I’ve never even heard of the Vince family. It’s not something to compare to the Broen family. If you score him this way and that, there won’t be much difference between you two!”

It might be true. But.

“That’s the problem, Blake.”

“What?”

Jade hugged her legs and rested her chin on her knees. The curled up body gave a strange sense of stability, like hiding in a closet when she was young, so she could comfortably have an uncomfortable conversation.

“You know. My story.”

Blake, who had been tilting her head for a while, was barely able to pull out a piece of information from her head. Gossip that she heard in passing a long time ago.

“Hmm… could it be.”

Seeing Blake stammering as if it was difficult to speak first, Jade smiled.

“Yes, my mother’s origins.”

Blake cleared her throat several times and said with her chin raised.

“Jade, they say that when three nobles gather, they can gossip for half a day about a single piece of dust on the window frame. Everyone makes a fuss over nothing. Not paying attention to the dust on their own sofa.”

“Yes, I know that too. But from my experience, it was really hard to hear such stories. That my mother was from a very lowly class, and that she was granted knighthood under a contract between the former king and my father.”

“That’s just a rumor.”

“Right. But whenever I can’t do something or have shortcomings, everyone blames my mother. They say that the Broen family’s bloodline can’t be like that, so something must be wrong. Then, before I know it, a moment comes when I’m convinced.”

Grandmother’s cold gaze.

‘If it weren’t for Yannick’s eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to believe it at all. That you are that child’s offspring.’

Felix’s sarcastic whisper.

‘Even clear water rots when mixed with dirty water.’

Those times of self-denial that she had to face alone. Now, with some foundation laid, she can look back with a slight smile, but the Jade Broen of that time was very painful and difficult.

Really, is there something wrong with me? Or could it really be that my mother…

On such days, she couldn’t stop the tears of apology, thinking of her warm mother’s embrace.

“The only truth I know is that our mother was a strong knight who was not ashamed to be called the body of God. That’s all, and that’s all I will believe.”

“You’re right. That’s all, Jade.”

At the gentle agreement, Jade nodded. And she instantly transformed her voice into a playful one.

“So… I don’t think Sir Leon will work out!”

The young king who took the throne executed countless deaths to cleanly eliminate the remaining elements of rebellion. An elegant golden cup engraved with grapes, filled with poison.

Thanks to that, the country was stabilized, but among them, there were definitely excellent knights and great mages, so the number of capable people to protect the country decreased.

Therefore, the king focused on newly nurturing talented individuals, and Axel also seemed to have been selected in that way in the past. The Vince family, which no one had ever heard of, was likely to be a name given by the king.

However, Jade’s grandmother, Mabel Broen, had only one condition for supporting Jade.

‘Take a partner from a proper family, with proper bloodline.’

The promise had to be kept. Mabel had so much that if Jade disobeyed her, she might not be able to stand upright even after becoming the family head.

Ironically, to clean up the family, the things Mabel possessed were necessary.

Of course, she didn’t want to tell Blake this story. It was too miserable to say that even the only family member who supported her, albeit with an ambiguous attitude, had conditions attached.

So she just laughed.

“No matter how much I like him, I have no intention of repeating the past events in my generation. It’s not that much.”

It was still bearable.

“What kind of conclusion is that.”

Grumbling, but as if she understood all the deep contents of Jade’s heart, Blake’s voice was much calmer.

“Haha, that’s right. And it’s too pitiful for Sir Leon to be with me. Why would such a great person come to our family and suffer needless abuse? And I don’t think he will suffer abuse. The family will be at war every day.”

“Indeed, he seems like someone who would flatly refute with that cold face.”

“Right? But Blake, our conversation is missing the most important key point.”

“What is it?”

Jade grinned at Blake who was tilting her head.

“That Sir Leon has no idea we’re having this conversation? We may have worked well together as a temporary pair, but he probably has no intention of being a lifelong pair with me. He scolded me so much for acting too dangerously.”

“Do you really think it’s because of your great personality?”

“No. It’s that there is also a relationship of a friend full of affection.”

Don’t go ahead. Strictly speaking, it’s one-sided on my part.

Even with that clear voice, Blake tilted her head.

It definitely didn’t seem one-sided. Wasn’t there clearly a sense of possession in his gaze and gestures when handing the gloves to Rigel?

But it was strange for a third party to deny it when the person involved was very confident. Blake scratched her head with an awkward face.

“Well, okay. I won’t carelessly say such things anymore. I tend to imagine things on my own because I love romance stories so much.”

“It’s okay. It was fun. I haven’t really talked about this with anyone else… Actually, I feel really refreshed. Rather, thank you.”

When Jade grinned, Blake also replied with a smile.

“Yes, right. I enjoyed it too. I feel like I got to know you in more detail today. No, to be honest, I think it’s the first time I’ve heard your inner thoughts.”

It was a kindness without any intention, but there were many parts that pierced the heart.

After realizing that Asela, who was her closest friend when she was young, was conveying every little story of Jade to Felix, Jade consciously avoided revealing her inner feelings to anyone.

At least in the forest, she let her guard down with the thought of being cut off from the outside, but from the moment she left the forest, she locked all the places in her heart again.

But until now, had she missed too many opportunities by being overly conscious of past failures?

If she continues to become accustomed to only rejecting like this, even if she becomes free someday, wouldn’t it be too late to recover then?

Jade recalled the many people she could have become closer to. So an embarrassed voice naturally came out.

“I’m a bit… lacking in this aspect. Were you disappointed by any chance?”

“Well, a little? I’m glad you admit it. It was hard to put up with it.”

“Hmm…”

While they were calmly bickering and refreshing the heavy atmosphere, someone knocked on the door. Jade and Blake, who were having a private conversation, were startled.

Surprisingly, it was Belita who barged in without even being told to come in. Her painstakingly styled hair was scattered over her panting face.

She quickly pushed her body in and closed the door silently.

Jade greeted her in a dazed manner.

“Ah, Belita…”

“What’s the matter? Jade is still unwell.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s not what’s important! Jade, you’ve been continuously partnering with Sir Leon, right?”

“Yes. Why? Did Sir Leon get hurt?”

Jade got up from the bed as if rolling, but Belita waved her hands crazily in the air.

“Hurt, my foot. He’s walking around with a fine face. Anyway, was there anything else? Something else!”