“……I apologize for taking your hand without asking. I’ll let go when we reach the Holy Maiden’s Forest, so bear with it until then.”

“Alright.”

I answered with reddened ear tips. The duke firmly grasped my hand again and started walking, stepping only where Gwen had gone first.

After walking like that for a good two hours or so.

As our breathing gradually became ragged and sweat slightly formed on our joined hands, the steep path leveled out and a warm breeze began to blow. Roger, who was walking at the very front, turned to look at us.

“I’ve found the path leading into the Holy Maiden’s Forest!”

I quietly let go of the hand I was holding and said.

“……Thank you, Your Grace. From here on, the path is flat, so I’ll walk on my own.”

At those words, the duke furrowed his brow. Then, grabbing my hand that was trying to pull away, he said.

“The path may be flat, but from here on, vicious monsters guarding this forest are positioned everywhere.”

“……What?”

“It’s dangerous, so we’ll let go of hands a bit later.”

Saying that, the duke’s ears turned bright red as he walked ahead. I nodded with a blank expression. I didn’t know how to take his words, or how I should react. Just then, Roger approached his side.

“I sense very strong magical power from the forest. Could it be the power flowing from the Clepiad seed?”

The duke nodded.

“It seems so. ……I never imagined it would emit this much magical power. The monsters living in the forest must have become quite ferocious after feeding on this magic. We must not let our guard down.”

“Be careful, Your Excellency. You absolutely must not use aura.”

“I know. ……Lady Yusten, don’t let go of my hand. Understand?”

“Yes. I understand.”

I answered with a stern expression. After that, we slowly pushed through the forest path and moved forward. Roger cleared the way at the front, while Gwen walked at the very back to guard me and the duke.

As we were passing through about the center of the forest, suddenly, with a tremendous roar, a huge boulder came rolling towards us, knocking down the dense trees.

“Dodge!”

Gwen shouted, pushing me and him aside. As the duke pulled me towards him and stepped back, Roger blocked in front of us and swung his sword.

Then the huge boulder suddenly rose up and split in half. It fell onto the forest path, raising an enormous cloud of dust.

“Are you alright, Sir Gwen?”

“Yes, I’m fine! Your Grace and Sir Roger are obviously fine, right? ……Damn it! But this boulder has blocked the path! I’ll chop it into pieces right away, so please wait a moment!”

With those words, the sound of Gwen drawing his sword was heard. Roger clicked his tongue briefly in displeasure and said.

“What do you mean chop it into pieces. Just break it moderately and come out, you fool. We don’t have time to waste here!”

“Yes, yes!”

It was when Gwen was responding moderately.

Suddenly the sky turned black, and hundreds of giant bats flew towards us with their mouths wide open. The duke immediately hid me behind his back and drew his sword. Roger shouted as he cut down the bats flying at us with mouths dripping with foul saliva.

“Damn it! I’ve never seen so many banshees before!”

“I’ll take care of the ones in front, so Sir Roger, take care of the rear!”

The duke shouted back as he swung his sword. Roger shook his head and yelled.

“No! Your Grace, please escort the young lady and proceed as you are! I’ll handle these creatures alone!”

“Understood. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

The duke nodded and then lifted me up in his arms like a princess. I screamed in surprise at his sudden action.

“I’ll apologize later. Right now, safely retrieving the seed is the priority.”

He said that and ran forward. I tightly wrapped my arms around his neck to avoid falling and squeezed my eyes shut. The wind stung my eyes as it hit my face from how fast the duke was running.

After running like that for a while, the duke carrying me came to a stop. Only then did I open my eyes and look around. It was a plain where large bushes up to my waist and unknown wildflowers bloomed instead of big trees. The duke slowly put me down.

“The magical power I feel here is incomparably stronger than what I felt at the entrance of the forest.”

“Can you sense where the Clepiad is?”

“No. ……Damn it. If I could use aura, I could definitely find out where it is, but I can’t, so it’s frustrating.”

“……It can’t be helped. Let’s split up and search. I’ll look over there, so you take the opposite side, Your Grace.”

“Alright. Be careful not to go in too deep.”

The duke nodded. As I searched for the Clepiad with its seed by pushing through the bushes and wildflowers blooming here and there, I recalled the appearance of the Clepiad I had seen in the guidebook before coming here.

“It had long leaves with blue tips and dark red stems, with small bell-like blue flowers. ……The seed is formed right in the center of that flower.”

I muttered that description as I searched various parts of the plain. In the meantime, I went deeper and deeper into the forest. It was then, as I was pushing through the thickly grown grass for a while with my hands.

“……I found it.”

In a narrow space surrounded by large trees was the Clepiad. That plant, which looked like both a flower and a weed, was standing upright with small bell-shaped flowers blooming towards the sky, unlike the withered surrounding plants. I immediately approached it and examined the flower.

Then I could see a round, silver seed formed in the center of the blue flower. I plucked that seed, which looked like a large pearl, and held it in my hand.

“Damn it, Christine−!”

“……!”

At that moment, the duke embraced me, calling my name with a voice so loud it could deafen my ears.

And at the same time, a giant wolf with legs as tall as my height opened its mouth wide to swallow us. I was too terrified to even scream, unable to express the fear in words.

At that moment, an intense blue aura flowed from the duke’s body as he embraced me.

His aura flickered like burning flames, enveloping both my body and his, while also pouring over the body of the giant wolf trying to swallow us.

Then the wolf howled in what seemed like pain and collapsed. The ground shook greatly as its house-sized body fell to the floor. Only then could I turn to look at the duke.

“Thank you for saving me, Your Grace……!”

However, before I could finish my words, the duke fell weakly on top of me.

Belatedly grasping the situation, I sat down on the ground while embracing the duke and shouted, patting his cheek with my palm.

“Your Grace! Your Grace! Please come to your senses, Your Grace!”

“……Ugh.”

He only let out a dry cough with his brow furrowed. Red blood dripped from his slightly parted lips. I wiped the blood smeared on his face, trembling with fear.

“……No. He’s not someone who would die so feebly……Y-Your Grace. Please open your eyes. ……I, I found the seed.”

“……”

“I said open your eyes! Or at least say something!”

I wailed, shaking him violently as he lay limp in my arms. A sense of helplessness and despair that seemed impossible to escape from overwhelmed me as everything went dark before my eyes. I couldn’t lose him like this. How could I lose a comrade before even properly starting my revenge, after coming all this way?

No.

I couldn’t lose him.

At this moment, I wished for him to be safe and alive, regardless of my revenge.

I roughly wiped away my tears with my fist and gritted my teeth.

“……Think. Think of a way to save him somehow……”

Then, I remembered the Clepiad seed.

A plant that bloomed from the tears shed by the queen of the gods mourning her lover’s death, and if you split it in half and make someone drink the liquid inside, you can save a dying person.

‘You can save a dying person.’

Realizing this fact, I split the Clepiad seed I was holding in half without hesitation.

Then a mysterious purple light leaked from the seed. I quickly examined the tiny amount of purple liquid, not even a mouthful, and the duke lying on my lap with my eyes. Currently, the duke was unconscious, but he was occasionally coughing up blood. So if I poured the medicine into his mouth, he might cough it all out, and everything would be in vain.

After quickly assessing the situation, I immediately poured the liquid contained in the Clepiad seed into my mouth and kissed him. To prevent him from spitting out the medicine, I kept our lips pressed together for a while even after letting the liquid I was holding in my mouth flow into him.

During this, there was a gulping sound, and the duke’s Adam’s apple moved once greatly. He had safely swallowed the medicine.

I wiped his blood-stained lips with the back of my hand and then put my face to his heart. The sound of his heart beating thump, thump echoed in my ears. I let out a long sigh and dropped my head. Tears of relief poured out uncontrollably.

At that moment, the duke furrowed his brow as if in pain and slowly opened his eyes. He looked at me, who was crying with a smile, and slowly opened his mouth.

“……You……Are, you……alright? Are you……hurt……anywhere?”

“You fool. Who’s worrying about whom right now?”

I shouted like that while rubbing away my tears with the back of my hand. Then I hugged the bewildered duke tightly. I felt my heart swell with satisfaction and acknowledged my feelings for him.

That I simply liked him, regardless of my revenge.