I listened to the faint sound. The sound of wind rustling leaves, the chirping of crickets…

Wait? Crickets?

Startled, I opened my eyes to see a grassy field shrouded in darkness.

“You’re awake.”

I answered with a slight nod and slowly blinked my eyes. It didn’t take long to assess the situation.

So this is the grassy field where we practiced aura, and I couldn’t fight off the sleepiness, and I fell asleep properly while leaning on Ian’s shoulder?

“How long have I been like this? You should have just woken me up.”

“It hasn’t been long.”

I could tell right away that those words were a lie. The moon, which had been close to a hazy glow when we came here, was now shining brightly.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m fine. Actually, I feel refreshed after taking a nap.”

“That’s good.”

The voice that had sounded stiff throughout now seemed more relaxed. Perhaps because there was even a faint hint of laughter in it, I felt a tickle in my ear for no reason.

But what’s that? Am I seeing things because I just woke up?

I blinked my eyes several times, but nothing changed. What I saw was my hand gripping Ian’s hand.

Ian just had his palm spread out, and it was clearly my hand that was firmly grasping his.

I was about to curl my fingertips when I flinched. That’s when the sensation in my fingertips became clear.

His hand, calloused from work, was large, firm, and warm.

I really did all sorts of things, didn’t I?

“Shall we head back to the lodgings now?”

I casually got up, throwing my gaze beyond the forest path. Intending to pretend I didn’t know, my steps were hurried as I left the grassy field.

But somehow, Ian’s presence behind me felt strange.

“Klein?”

I thought his steps following me were slow, but his walking posture seemed somewhat uncomfortable. Seeing him lean to the left, it seemed his right leg had cramped up.

“Is it because you were uncomfortable because of me?”

“My leg is just a bit numb. I’ll follow slowly behind.”

“I’ll support you. Lean on me.”

I went back the way we came and stood in front of Ian, who was standing like a statue.

“It’s fine…”

“I’m receiving proper help from you. Let me do at least this much.”

As I put my arm around his waist, I felt Ian visibly flinch. It was actually I who was more flustered by that reaction.

Thinking I might have acted too casually, I was about to carefully lower my hand when Ian grabbed my wrist.

“Then, just until that tree ahead, if you please.”

“Alright. You can lean on me more.”

I felt Ian finally shift his weight slightly towards me. As I pulled his waist closer, he startled and put his arm over my shoulder.

As I was about to take a step, I glanced at my left shoulder. I saw his fist clenched tightly, as if completely blocking his hand from touching my shoulder.

If he had just casually put his hand on my shoulder, it wouldn’t have felt strange at all…

I could have just said that since we’re comrades, he could be a bit more comfortable. The words rose to the tip of my tongue, but I just needed to spit them out.

For some reason, my tightly pressed lips wouldn’t part.

“…Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Ian answered briefly to my barely uttered question. I took my gaze off my left shoulder and looked straight ahead.

A damp breeze swept over my whole body. Thinking that even the wind felt ticklish today, I took a step. The crickets were still chirping behind us.

*

“My lady!”

As I entered the second-floor corridor, Anne, who had been standing in front of my room, ran towards me as if she had been waiting.

“Be careful. You might fall like that.”

“It’s been three days since you’ve been here. Why don’t you just stay comfortably in the mansion before leaving for the subjugation?”

Anne grumbled in a sulky voice. After informing them that I would stay at the knights’ quarters for training, I had spent a full three days there.

“Any letters?”

I felt a bit sorry for Anne, but if I hadn’t heard the message that a reply had come from Dylan, I would have wanted to keep staying there, as the quarters were that comfortable.

“I’ve hidden it well.”

“You could have just told a servant to deliver it.”

“That’s… because you don’t come to the mansion often enough.”

Anne had often sent servants before to urge Rosebelia to return. Anne was one of the few people who wanted Rosebelia to stay in this house.

“I’m trying to praise you for doing well.”

“I just want you to rest comfortably, even if just a little…”

“I know, thank you.”

“Was there a lot of training? Because you have to leave for subjugation soon?”

“Well, I suppose you could say that.”

During my stay at the quarters, I practiced aura the entire time. It was the same pattern every time. Feeling at ease with Ian by my side, I freely used aura, and when I couldn’t resist the drowsiness that poured over me, I closed my eyes, only to open them again always leaning on Ian’s shoulder.

“Here, my lady.”

I opened the letter Anne handed me. Dylan’s reply to me was simple.

‘As you said, a request came in from the Holton family. I’ve told them to hurry, but manufacturing an antidote for the venom of magical beasts is no easy task, so it will take some time. I’ll be visiting the marquis’s residence soon, so let’s talk more then.’

“Is this the reply you were waiting for, my lady?”

“It’s a bit ambiguous.”

There are so many eyes at the marquis’s residence, how does he expect us to talk there?

“Give it to me, I’ll burn it.”

“Thank you.”

After soaking in the bath Anne had prepared in advance, I went straight to the study.

“…The name ‘Fortuna’ isn’t anywhere.”

It was clearly a woman’s voice, and I thought she wasn’t an ordinary being.

So I suspected she might be a ‘goddess,’ but I couldn’t find such a name in the history of the Fonnes Empire.

To begin with, the Fonnes Empire doesn’t seem to have an atmosphere that encourages religion like other countries. It seems that while calling itself an ’empire,’ they rather tried to diminish the existence of ‘gods’ and focus on the ’emperor’ as the center…

Since it changed from the Kingdom of Fonnes to an ’empire’ as it expanded its territory, should I look into the history before that?

It was then that a concise knock was heard from outside the study. Anne entered when I opened the door.

“My lady, dinner preparations are complete.”

“Is that so? What about Schultz?”

“I saw him entering the main building earlier.”

“Then I suppose I should head down soon.”

There must be someone eagerly waiting for me to come, so I should meet their expectations.

I closed the book and stood up. I could feel Anne’s worried gaze following my every step.

Don’t worry.

After conveying those words in passing, I showed a wide smile, and Anne finally replied with a faint smile.

“Then have a good time, my lady.”

“Alright.”

*

It was on the way to the dining room. As I reached the main hall, I heard Olivia’s voice.

“I heard everything from Aaron.”

“From Aaron?”

The voice that followed was Cayden’s. It seemed the curtain had risen on the play Olivia had prepared.

“If you were hurt, you should have said so right away. Why did you hide it?”

“That’s… I didn’t mention it because it was just a small injury from training.”

“A small injury? From what I heard from Aaron, it wasn’t small at all.”

“There’s no need to worry.”

“I heard you’ve been training with Schultz lately. Did Schultz treat you harshly?”

I felt Olivia glance at me briefly. Whether she was truly immersed in the act or not, Olivia’s voice was gradually becoming more agitated. Thanks to that, attention was properly focused.

“No, it’s not like that…”

“What’s all this commotion, Olivia?”

At Herman’s appearance, Olivia suddenly clutched her face. With the added touch of staggering slightly in place, she looked like a tragic heroine.

“Cayden was severely injured while training with Schultz… You’re the next head of the Winters family. How can I not worry?”

“You trained with Schultz, not Arnold?”

Cayden nodded firmly to Herman’s question.

“Yes. I requested training from Schultz of my own accord. And I’m not severely injured.”

“Aaron said he saw bruises all over your body, how can you say you’re not severely injured…”

“Go and bring Schultz here.”

Herman, who had been holding his forehead, ordered Aaron, the male servant attending to Cayden.

“I was just about to call him to hear what exactly happened.”

At Olivia’s gesture, Margaret headed towards the corridor where the reception room was. Not long after, Schultz appeared along with Margaret.

Although I had already seen this situation once in a dream, seeing it in person was even more ridiculous.

If I hadn’t come to the mansion after all this meticulous preparation, what would they have done?

“This doesn’t need any further explanation, Father. I simply trained with Schultz, that’s all.”

“Herman, can one get so severely injured from just simple training as Cayden says? I simply cannot understand…”

Olivia shook her head slowly with her hand on her left cheek.

“Schultz, you tell us. How did Cayden end up covered in bruises if it was just training with you?”

Schultz, passing by Cayden and Olivia in turn, stood before Herman. As his heavy footsteps that shook the floor ceased, an eerie silence descended upon the mansion.

“That’s…”

Schultz, trailing off, slowly turned around. Facing me directly, he opened his mouth again after a brief silence.

“It’s because of Lady Rosebelia.”