Rigel was right. Once getting used to the crowd, this place was full of wonderful things.

Jade had a surprisingly enjoyable time.

Here, she was not the successor who failed to become the family head, nor the mage who had to maintain a close relationship with the king. She was just an ordinary citizen of the kingdom, browsing through goods, eating food, and drinking alcohol amidst the crowd.

Like any ordinary day in the Atanase Forest, Jade walked and chatted with him while bursting into laughter. Her cheek muscles ached from laughing too much out of excitement.

Yes, she realized anew how stupid her past thoughts were. Homesickness? Missing the Atanase Forest, what kind of misunderstanding was that? With Axel by her side, she felt perfectly at ease even without the forest.

“Does this make sense? This is a scam!”

“It’s a scam if you can’t do it, and it’s a scam if I do it well. The whole world must be full of scammers.”

“But it’s strange that you can’t get a single one in!”

“Thanks to people like you, that person will have the heart to do business. You’re so thoughtful.”

Even when having conversations where they argued back and forth without taking each other’s side, Axel, who handed the won prizes to Jade’s hand, was laughing comfortably with his body relaxed.

It was a relief. We were both having fun.

After enjoying the sloppy games for a while, he suddenly insisted on going to a dessert shop.

“But why? Did you like desserts?”

“We just have to go.”

After making such a firm claim, he didn’t know where to go. Eventually, the two asked around and arrived at a dessert shop, but there was only a small piece of cake left.

In the end, they bought that and sat down. Although only a thin layer of cream and jam was spread, the bread was sweet and soft, making it delicious. While Jade was mumbling and taking big bites with tea, Axel tasted a bit of the cream and frowned.

“Not your taste?”

“…No. It’s delicious.”

Then why did he insist on eating it in the first place?

While tilting her head and savoring the sensation of the cake softly crumbling in her mouth, a certain memory suddenly came to mind. It was a conversation they had one night when they were active as a pair in the subjugation team, in front of the biggest monster.

‘We might get an extra piece of cake if we go to a dessert shop.’

‘Desserts are, well, easy.’

She remembered being puzzled about what he meant by it being easy.

Could it be?

Seeing Axel grudgingly scraping and eating the outer part of the cake and finally throwing away the fork, laughter suddenly came out.

However, she didn’t ask if it was really because of the conversation that day. Jade just ate the cake deliciously and thanked him. Axel nodded as if it was nothing, but he looked satisfied.

When they went outside again, the night had already deepened.

The lazulite lamps were not in every district, so there was no more magic to illuminate the darkness, but the flickering oil lamps were also quite atmospheric.

The two walked silently for a long time, following the movement of the people. Their clasped hands, hidden in each other’s shadows, remained the same.

It was truly amazing. With him, both noisy conversations and silence without a single sound felt perfectly fine.

When she glanced up, he was already looking at her. Their eyes met, with his eyes slightly curved. It was unbelievable that she had become accustomed to such a faint smile, so Jade quickly lowered her head and cooled her reddening cheeks in the wind.

That, that damn face. It makes people so troubled!

The place where the crowd finally slowed down was the fifth bridge over the Erin River that ran through Siena. It was famous for its beautiful decoration of flowers on the delicate railings and the elegant curves that made up its body.

Jade and Axel decided to sit on the bridge, eat skewered meat, and look at the flowing river. They also bought alcohol, but unfortunately, they didn’t have cups, so they could only look at it longingly.

Axel’s body blocked all the wind, so Jade could enjoy the flowing water without feeling a bit of cold even in the occasional gusts of wind.

“It’s interesting. They grill vegetables together here.”

“Just meat alone in the Broen territory?”

“I think it was like that… But these days, I can’t even go to the market in detail, so maybe something has changed.”

It turned out to be a trend sweeping the entire kingdom these days.

At Jade’s serious words, Axel tilted his head after turning the skewer once. Jade chuckled inwardly, finding it interesting that he looked puzzled by the fact that there were trends in food. It was amusing that he was serious even about a casual remark.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow, well, I’m planning to visit nearby townhouses. There are people to whom I need to deliver the invitations in person. I’ll have to talk with them for a bit before coming back, right? These days, I’ve only been to the palace in Siena, so I don’t know anything.”

“Are you going to give me a coming-of-age ceremony invitation too?”

“You… I’ll write it myself and give it to you. Actually, my handwriting isn’t that great, so I had called a ghostwriter.”

When they finally brought up the topic of the coming-of-age ceremony while wandering around the market, eating and drinking this and that, Axel nodded. When Jade looked proud, Axel had a fleeting affectionate look. It was the same now.

“It was something you even had nightmares about. Congratulations.”

She felt somewhat embarrassed by the simple and neat congratulations. It was because there were often days when he took care of her when she had nightmares.

Jade shook her head with an embarrassed face.

“Oh, no. I haven’t overcome all the nightmares yet.”

“Sometimes, just enduring is something to be congratulated for.”

Axel praised her in a low voice. You endured well. You’ve done well.

Those words made her feel like she was about to cry. She thought that praise, which seemed like nothing special, was what she wanted to hear the most.

Her eyes became moist and her nose felt stinging.

But she didn’t want to cry. Because today was a very good day.

Jade hurriedly lowered her head and changed the subject. She deliberately chattered in a cheerful voice, worried that he might notice the awkwardness.

“Ah, right. Has Ollie’s health gotten a bit better? In winter, her legs seemed to hurt badly, so I was worried….”

Before she could finish her words, Axel’s hand gently cupped her cheek. In a dazed moment, her head turned and their eyes met.

Even in the dim light, her wet eyes would have been clearly visible. She had nothing to say even if she was scolded for being a crybaby. Why was she crying like this out of the blue?

However, Axel silently brushed her eyes with his thumb, wiping away the moisture, and then let go of her cheek. It was straightforward.

“She said it got a bit better after winter passed. The joint medicine you gave her also had a good effect.”

Then, as if it was nothing, he answered and even held her hand. The movement of tightly interlocking their fingers made it seem like moisture would gather in her eyes again.

“Stop it. I don’t want to cry….”

“What did I do? Can’t I even hold your hand?”

“No. You held it too weakly. Hold it tighter.”

At her words, spoken while sniffling, Axel chuckled and applied more strength.

She felt a little calmer with that pressure. She felt the moisture drying on her eyes in the cool breeze. Ridiculously, her mood became good in an instant.

“Phew.”

Jade, who let out a sigh-like laughter, leaned her head near his shoulder. She felt his body stiffen and startle.

Thump, thump.

Was his heartbeat, which was heard through her pressed ear, always this loud? Or are you also finding ordinary contact more unfamiliar like me?

However, Axel soon reached out his arm to arrange the hem of her robe and pulled her closer so they could properly share warmth. It was a posture just before a full embrace.

At this moment, Jade felt comfortable enough to fall asleep.

They silently enjoyed the beautiful scenery in front of them for a while.

The sound of numerous couples sitting on the bridge and chatting softly was like music. It was warm, affectionate, and gentle. It felt as if flower petals were falling on their bodies.

However, Jade broke the silence that she didn’t want to break at all.

“Axel, why don’t you ask?”

Jade didn’t give him any answer.

Axel, who had held onto her when she was only trying to run away, and Jade, who seemed to accept it but then ran away to the territory.

No one would be happy with ambiguous and vague expressions. It was natural for Axel not to develop great trust in her.

If so, while she was joyful, comfortable, and happy, this time might feel futile to him.

Thinking like that made her very anxious. It seemed like she had too little to give back compared to what she received.

Even with the sparse sentences missing important content, Axel seemed to understand well and smiled faintly. He once again wrapped Jade’s hand with his large hand.

“Shall I return the question? Why don’t you ask?”

“What? Do I have something to ask you?”

At her puzzled gaze, Axel laughed again.

“About who I am. You just asked a few things you wanted to know earlier and stopped.”

“You said not everything about you is certain.”

“Yes. But not anymore. Because now I have a reason to want to stay outside.”

Because you might give me something in return.

A gentle whisper carried by the wind gently ruffled their hair and passed by.

Jade, who suddenly became the only reason he wanted to stay outside, swallowed her dry saliva a few times. And with a determined face, she grabbed the bottle of alcohol she was holding and gulped it down. There were no cups.

“……”

Axel took the bottle away with a face asking if she was crazy. Jade, relying on the alcohol−of course, she couldn’t get drunk with two sips, but she tried to rely on her will−spoke firmly.

“I won’t ask.”

“Why? No, did you drink like that to say that?”

“It’s my decision! Anyway, such things are no longer important to my choice. If you gave up your name when entering the Atanase Forest, that’s enough. It doesn’t matter.”

The thought that she needed Mabel’s recognition to lead the family without restraint as the head was already a trace.

No, the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that it would rather bring about bad results. Mabel was not the type to fully hand over power to someone, so if Jade became the head, she would definitely start placing her own people within the family.

What she thought was a bit of an easier path might actually be a more difficult one.

Then, Axel’s background wasn’t important at all. Only the determination was important.

When she finished speaking firmly, Axel’s eyes were slightly widened as if surprised. After staring at Jade’s wide-open eyes like that for a long time, he finally burst into laughter. A low, gentle, and refreshing laughter spread through the wind.