“Aack! Aaack! That crazy old woman!”

Her terrible screams and the sound of objects breaking in the reception room continued for quite a while. The maids standing outside the door sighed deeply, wondering when their mistress’s rampage would end.

* * *

How much time had passed?

Danae collapsed onto the torn sofa, panting heavily. She looked around the reception room, which had become a mess with broken teacup shards, overturned tables, tea spilled on the carpet, and toppled flower vases, with an irritated gaze and shouted.

“Emma! Where are you, Emma!”

“Yes, young lady!”

Emma, who had been standing outside the door, immediately responded to her call.

Danae spoke in a sharp voice towards Emma, who carefully entered the reception room while watching her mood.

“Call the maids to clean this up right away. And I want to wash up, so prepare the bath water. Choose a new dress too.”

“…Yes, young lady.”

Emma replied in a small voice. Danae stomped her feet as if she had thrown away all dignity and headed to the bedroom.

Sitting in front of the dressing table, she cursed once again as she looked at her disheveled reflection in the mirror.

“Ugh! Damn it!”

Danae breathed heavily with her head down. No matter how much she screamed and broke things, her anger wouldn’t subside. It was because of what that crazy old witch Emeline had said to her earlier.

“Father trusts and relies on that wench of an elder sister more than me? And you think you know why? You crazy old hag. Do you think you can say whatever you want just because you have a mouth?”

Danae muttered ominously, violently biting the tips of her fingers that had barely healed as her shoulders trembled.

“…That old woman wouldn’t suddenly act like that for no reason. …That old woman who adored me so much wouldn’t get angry over such a trivial request… It must be my elder sister’s doing. That wench must have used some cunning trick to bewitch that old woman.”

She was convinced of that inwardly. Damn Christine, that wench who acts like she’s the smartest in the world must be up to something again. Danae let out a hollow laugh as she pictured Christine’s face in her mind. She kept mumbling like a madwoman.

“Ha, do you think I can’t do it just because you interfere like this? …I’ll make this work by any means necessary. I’ll prove to Father and Lenny that I’m smarter and more useful than you.”

After that, she would drive out the now useless Christine.

“Emma! Emma!”

“Yes, young lady!”

Emma came running out hurriedly, carrying a basket filled with bath oils and flower petals. Danae stared at her with a displeased look and said.

“Send a letter to the magic tower right away to see if there’s a magician who can help me. And tell the administrator of the Yusten estate that we plan to plant Pannax seeds, so mobilize the farmers to plow that land in advance! Also send a letter to Viscount Klein telling him that I’ll call a magician, so prepare as planned.”

“Yes, young lady.”

“Alright. You may go!”

Danae waved her hand and chased Emma away. Just as Emma was about to enter the bathroom again, Danae let out a short exclamation and said.

“Oh, right. And when you’re done with all that, find a messenger.”

“A messenger? Where are you sending them?”

Emma asked, tilting her head. Danae answered with a meaningful smile.

“I’m going to send them to Flima Castle. We need to check if our cute little liar Christine really went to Flima Castle.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

After finishing her words, Danae pushed past Emma and entered the bathroom. Her mind was filled with thoughts of searching through Christine’s locked dressing table as soon as she finished bathing.

* * *

The Duke and I, who had obtained the Clepiard seed, safely met up with Sir Roger and Gwen.

The two, each covered in monster blood and dirt, shouted in shock when they saw the blood-covered Duke and me.

“What’s with all this blood! Don’t tell me it’s your blood, Your Grace?”

“What on earth happened just now, Your Grace!”

The Duke answered their questions in a gruff voice.

“I used my aura trying to kill a monster. As I was dying, the Yusten Duke’s daughter here saved me using the Clepiard seed.”

“…What? Then that dazzling blue light that came from the forest earlier…! Was that Your Grace’s aura?”

“No matter how urgent the situation was, how could you! Why did you do such a thing! What if you had lost your life by mistake?”

The two surrounded the Duke and pressed him. The Duke shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal and said.

“I survived, so it’s fine. Besides, we safely obtained the Clepiard seed.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you say that seed was used up earlier to save Your Grace’s life?”

Sir Roger and Gwen asked in confusion. The Duke smiled meaningfully and explained what had just happened.

“Do you want to know?”

After hearing the whole story about how the seed I found was a legendary seed that could be used twice, the two exclaimed in amazement. Sir Roger and Gwen turned to look at me with moved expressions and said.

“My goodness, for such a miracle to happen! The goddess must have performed a miracle after seeing how the Yusten Duke’s daughter used that seed without hesitation to save Your Grace’s life!”

“Sir Gwen is right! Thank you, Yusten Duke’s daughter! We are truly indebted to you with a debt that can never be repaid!”

“Oh, no. Anyone would have done the same if they saw the Duke collapsed.”

I waved my hands in embarrassment at their words. Then the Duke looked at me and said kindly.

“First you called the palace magician when you saw me collapse before, and now this. You’ve saved my life twice already.”

“…Duke.”

“I was too busy foolishly blaming myself earlier to properly thank you… Thank you. I will never forget this debt. Just as you did, I too will stake my life to protect you.”

He said that with a slight smile. I blushed to the tips of my ears as I saw his kind gaze and smile. Those words about staking his life to protect me sounded like a confession, which made it even more so. Even though I knew well that wasn’t how he meant it.

Feeling shy, I awkwardly changed the subject.

“Ah, haha. It’s fine, you don’t need to go that far. I can take care of myself, so please be more careful next time, Duke. And don’t drink any more poisons made from witch’s blood.”

“…”

“By the way, Sir Roger, what time is it now? If we start riding for Flima Castle now, do you think we can safely arrive by dawn tomorrow?”

Sir Roger was startled by my words, then took out his pocket watch to check.

“Oh my! Now that you mention it, that’s right! We’ve been delayed longer than expected! If we’re to escort the Duke’s daughter to Flima Castle by dawn, we should head down the mountain right away!”

“There’s no need to rush.”

“Pardon?”

“Because I’m here now.”

The Duke said that as he looked at me and his knights. A faint blue aura rose from the Duke’s body. Sir Roger and Gwen nodded with a grin.

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Now that Your Grace has recovered your strength, we can shorten the time to descend the mountain.”

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

I asked in confusion. The Duke said in a meaningful voice.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“What? Eek…!”

Then he suddenly lifted me up like a princess. The Duke firmly held up my body as I reflexively clung to his neck, and said to me.

“We’ll descend like this. I’ll go fast, so close your eyes if you’re scared.”

“Put me down! I can walk down on my own!”

“If we go down this mountain at your pace, it’ll take a good hour. But if my knights and I use our aura, we can reach where the carriage is parked in 10 minutes.”

“…Is that true? Then why didn’t you do this earlier?”

I asked, looking up at him with furrowed brows. The Duke replied gruffly.

“Because I couldn’t ask Sir Roger and Sir Gwen to carry you.”

At those words, I stared at him speechlessly. But the Duke avoided my gaze and said to Roger and Gwen.

“Sir Roger, Sir Gwen! We’ll descend like this.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

The two answered in unison. Soon the Duke began to rapidly descend the mountain while carrying me. As he had warned, the speed was frighteningly fast. The rough and steep mountain scenery passed by in an instant. I closed my eyes tightly while clinging to his neck. At that moment, I thought I heard the Duke chuckle, but I figured I must have misheard.

* * *

After descending the mountain in 10 minutes as the Duke had promised, we immediately boarded the carriage and headed for Flima Castle.

As soon as we got in the carriage, the Duke suggested I get some sleep. At first I shook my head saying I was fine, but I fell asleep without realizing it as the carriage traveled.

Several hours later, I woke up to the bright moonlight seeping in.

The Duke was sleeping with his arms crossed and his head leaning against the window.

I gazed entranced at his handsome face bathed in the blue moonlight. Just then, he shuddered and let out a short groan. He seemed a bit cold. Come to think of it, I had been wearing his robe the whole time. I quickly took off his robe that I was wearing.

And just as I was about to drape it over his sleeping body, he opened his eyes. I smiled sheepishly and said to him.

“You must be very cold? I’m sorry. I should have returned this robe to you earlier.”

“…It’s alright. You can keep wearing it.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be getting off soon anyway.”

The Duke shook his head. I stubbornly held out the robe to him.

Just as the Duke finally took his robe, giving in to my insistence, Gwen’s voice came from the driver’s seat.