Noah, who had been watching the two with bated breath, reached his limit of patience when Ashton’s hand was about to touch Nigel’s, and his body reflexively sprang forward.

Startled by the sudden presence, Nigel and Ashton’s gazes turned to one spot.

“Noah…?”

“Ah, a nuisance has appeared.”

Noah stared at Ashton with deeply sunken cold blue eyes, walking with large strides.

“Ashton, what brings you here at this late hour?”

“Well, the same as what you and Lady Nigel were about to do.”

Even as Ashton gave a light reply, Noah did not let his guard down. Ashton shrugged and spoke again.

“Well, what else could it be besides a night walk? The evening weather since September has been cool and fresh, perfect for walking. I just happened to run into you two in the process.”

“I understand that much. But why were you trying to grab another’s fiancée’s hand?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Ashton’s eyes, which had been answering boldly, narrowed, and mischief filled the space between them.

Ashton grabbed Nigel’s hand and intertwined their fingers.

“I can’t say there wasn’t a bit of self-interest.”

And he enjoyed the reactions of Nigel, whose face was more distorted than rotten vegetables, and Noah, who was revealing his hatred.

“Oh my, there might be a murder in Sienia today.”

Ashton snickered at Noah, then leaned close to Nigel’s ear.

“…Lady Nigel, if I die, testify to my family. It’s a promise.”

“If you’re going to say such things, let go of my hand first.”

Nigel’s brows furrowed even deeper at the nonsense gently tickling her ear.

“Ashton, you’re getting close to Nigel again…!”

Noah shouted as if he was about to harm Ashton at any moment. Nigel, noticing the real sword dangling at Noah’s waist, quickly pushed Ashton away roughly.

Ashton, stumbling from the sudden force, barely regained his balance and looked surprised.

Fortunately, whether he had managed to fulfill the duty of a fiancé that he had heard about endlessly from friends and family, Noah’s menacing aura quickly dissipated.

‘Sorry, Ashton. But this saved your life.’

Nigel uttered words opposite to the apology that didn’t reach.

“Ashton, I’m afraid we’ll have to end our conversation here.”

Ashton, who had been caught by Nigel while out for a walk and was spilling everything like an interrogation about Nix and the temple, caught a glimpse of the small affection in Nigel’s eyes and smirked.

“Right, I suppose I was the intruder after all.”

With those words, Ashton stood up without lingering and slowly walked away.

“Haa…”

It was a sigh that escaped as the situation quickly eased, avoiding both demerits and Noah getting hurt.

‘Well, I suppose I also fulfilled my duty as a fiancée.’

Just as Nigel was lavishing praise on her own sharp wit, a weight enveloped her entire body, and blue-silver hair swayed before her eyes.

As she slowly closed her eyelids in shock, something soft and warm briefly stole Nigel’s cheeks and lips, then brazenly pulled away as if nothing had happened.

“You, what are you…”

Nigel’s face grew hot as she realized what had happened. She was so flustered that words wouldn’t come out properly.

To think that Noah Beselion, who was so strict about manners in the original work that he frustrated readers, would do such an audacious thing.

The most incomprehensible thing was that Nigel found his kiss quite pleasant rather than unpleasant.

Noah, looking at the dazed Nigel, embraced her as if he couldn’t bear it anymore. A reassuring weight pleasantly pressed down on Nigel’s body.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I originally intended to apologize as soon as we met, but… I just couldn’t help it.”

Nigel’s intention to confront him about what he had done melted away like snow as soon as she heard Noah’s urgent voice, devoid of any patience.

“…What on earth.”

“Well, because Nigel took action directly for my sake.”

“What nonsense…”

Nigel, who was about to protest about how much she had done for Noah, stupidly tilted her head this way and that before stopping.

“…Ah.”

Noah was right.

While there had been times when she had made plans for Noah’s benefit behind the scenes, subtly pushing him into her schemes, instances where she had acted directly for Noah’s sake could be counted on one hand.

Looking back, she had never given up desserts Noah liked, nor had she offered warm words of comfort or encouragement.

On the other hand, Noah naturally showed consideration for Nigel every time they met, as easily as breathing.

When they happened to meet while moving between classrooms, he would smile brightly and say “hang in there.” When Nigel’s favorite dessert was served, he would readily place it on Nigel’s tray. When Nigel seemed to be in a bad mood, he would sit beside her, willingly giving his time until she spoke first.

In every small moment, he acted for Nigel’s sake. And as she realized that all of this from Noah stemmed from affection, Nigel’s head felt dazed as if she had been punched by Roneh.

This affection was clearly of a different color from Abrelina’s.

Both were warm, but the extent to which they reached was different.

While Abrelina’s affection could be vaguely found whenever she looked at Meriel and Callein, Noah’s affection was directed solely at Nigel.

The difference in the size of their affection was so great that it made Nigel’s self-praise about being perceptive feel shameful. His affection had seeped into every corner of Nigel’s daily life without her even realizing it.

And yet, Noah was overjoyed that Nigel had given just a little.

Noah’s weight, still pressing down on her body, felt heavy. No, more precisely, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to return it.

She still had many burdens to resolve, such as the temple, the Shining Rose, and the Duke of Dien. For these, she needed to be able to discard Noah’s affection like tossing a pebble by the roadside, holding it in her hand but ready to let go at any time.

But just as a stone becomes more than a simple rock once you give it a name, so too was Noah’s affection.

That feeling was so precious and tender that she didn’t want to let it go.

If only time could stop right here.

Forgetting the painfully pressing reality for a moment, resting quietly in your arms – wouldn’t that be a fine ending too?

Nigel opened her eyes while still in Noah’s embrace. And looking up at the small moon rising in the distance, she found her answer.

‘Nix, if it were you, brave despite your weakness, what would you have said to me?’

Strangely, she had an odd feeling that if she could find Nix, everything would be solved.

“Noah.”

At the soft but firm voice, Noah slowly pulled away from the embrace, ending the eternal moment of magic.

“We should go back now.”

Yes, time wouldn’t wait for us, so we had to face reality. No matter what might happen to us.

“Nigel! Have you heard the news?”

“What news? Did they find that man?”

“No!”

As Allen answered confidently, Nigel’s body went limp. She closed her book, stretched, and then lowered her arms to cross them.

“Wow… By the way, Nigel, are you alright? You don’t look so good.”

−Rich human, of course not! Every night, Nigel… mmph!

Fearing the words might leak out, Nigel quickly stuffed Rus into her bag to cover its mouth.

“What is it, what did Rus say?”

−Nigel, why aren’t you telling the rich human the truth! The fact is, you’ve been communicating with the old human every night, having boring conversations!

As Rus said, Nigel had been going over the actions of Widrun and the Shining Rose in detail whenever she had time, be it night or weekend, preparing for future events.

Because of that, it had been a full month since she last released her magic, and mild symptoms of magic addiction like headaches and dullness were starting to appear. The communication stone buzzing with Zeronin’s indigo at all hours was an added bonus.

−Didn’t you say not to lie, Nigel! Let me out of here and allow me to tell the truth!

When Nigel suddenly put Rus in her bag or pocket, it was an implicit signal to keep quiet, so Rus spoke only loud enough for Nigel to hear while bouncing around in the bag.

Nigel calmly said while preventing Rus from escaping the bag:

“Ah, no need to worry. Just the usual story of staying up till dawn working on assignments after catching up on studying.”

“Ah, I thought you couldn’t sleep because you were thinking about Noah. You two have been looking quite close lately, haven’t you?”

Allen grinned mischievously, having heard through Noah that the two had kissed.

“Shut up. So, what’s this news that’s important enough to interrupt my assignment?”

“Ah, about that…”

At that moment, a pocket suddenly started buzzing, interrupting Allen’s words.

“Sorry, Allen. Just a moment.”

Allen waved his hand, saying it was fine.

Thinking it might be Zeronin again, Nigel grimaced as she took out the communication stone.

“…!”

It wasn’t Zeronin. Transparent color – this was a communication from Widrun.

As Widrun rarely contacted before the end of regular class hours, Nigel’s face turned pale.

“Sorry, I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I need to go.”

Nigel quickly gathered her things and bag and left her seat.

“But my news is really urgent too…”

Left alone, Allen reached out towards Nigel’s back, then quickly withdrew his hand.

Nigel quickly arrived at her dormitory room using a teleport stone. She took a deep breath and infused magic into the communication stone.

“What’s the matter?”

−Leparo has been banned from sale on grounds of blasphemy against the temple.