“Lady Daisy, your posture is really good, isn’t it?”

“That’s because I’ve been repeating this motion over and over… And this is just a light wooden sword, you know.”

Daisy sheepishly rubbed the nape of her neck.

While the wooden sword was much lighter than a real sword, Daisy didn’t tremble her hands even once as she raised the wooden sword up and brought it down again.

That meant that, at the very least, the swordsmanship Daisy performed with the wooden sword was sufficiently learnable.

“Swordsmanship doesn’t necessarily have to be practiced with real swords. You can attack sufficiently with a wooden sword, and self-defense is also possible.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I didn’t expect you to be able to wield it so steadily, even if it’s just a wooden sword, Lady Daisy.”

“Actually, that’s because Edwin…”

Just remembering Edwin seemed to make her happy; before she could finish her sentence, Daisy’s face turned red.

“How about learning swordsmanship from Edwin instead of me?”

“No! I prefer learning from you, Lady Rosebelia.”

“Have you accepted Edwin’s feelings?”

“Well… He confessed that he likes me, but…”

Every time Daisy trailed off, my heart sank along with her words.

“Did you respond?”

“…I couldn’t answer.”

“I’m asking out of concern, but Edwin didn’t run away again, did he?”

“No, this time I was a bit shy… I suggested that we could be friends first.”

Friends?

「’If there’s a next life, then…’

‘…’

‘Will you be friends with me?’

‘I’ll do anything for you.’」

The ending of the original story suddenly came to mind, making my chest tingle.

So they’re starting as friends, just like those words.

“You did well.”

“Actually, this is my first time experiencing something like this, so I feel a bit dazed… And when I think about Edwin, my heart beats a little faster.”

Watching Daisy blush while thinking of Edwin, a strange emotion washed over me.

Yes, slowly developing from friends to lovers isn’t bad either.

“Have you met Edwin since then?”

“I haven’t seen him since the banquet.”

“Really?”

“But he sends flowers to the duke’s mansion every day.”

What’s this? It already seems like they’re dating.

“How about you, Lady Rosebelia?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you have someone you like, Lady Rosebelia? It seems like you’re always asking me about it.”

The sudden question made my eyelids move slowly. The smile that had been leaking out due to the heartwarming feeling stopped abruptly.

“Ah, I… I don’t think it’s the right time for me to see anyone right now.”

“Come on, what kind of answer is that? You should first answer whether you have someone you like or not.”

Daisy, with her usual innocent smile, continued.

“And isn’t the important thing not the timing, but whether the person you like is by your side now or not? You might reach a time when you’re ready to meet someone, but there’s no one you actually like.”

“…”

“On the contrary, if you have someone you like but don’t meet them because it’s not the right time… They might become someone else’s lover later.”

“That’s…”

It was an irrefutable statement. Daisy added that wouldn’t it be too sad if that happened, and as if empathizing with the emotion, she pulled her hands to her chest.

“Did I sound a bit negative? I just don’t want you to miss out if someone you like appears, thinking it’s not the right time.”

“…Someone I like?”

“Yes. I hope such a destined person appears for you too, Lady Rosebelia… When that happens, make sure you don’t let them go.”

Facing Daisy who was smiling brightly, I somehow couldn’t smile. I couldn’t even pretend to smile.

“Of course, you must show me too when it happens.”

*

“My lady, about that White Knight Order member you asked me to look into…”

“Yes, his name was Klein, wasn’t it?”

“They say there’s no information to report.”

Margaret hesitantly spoke, causing Olivia’s eyebrows to furrow unpleasantly.

“What does that mean?”

“The White Knight Order values skill the most when recruiting, so they sometimes don’t keep detailed personal records.”

“So you’re saying there’s no information about that man at all?”

“Yes. I asked the administrator to discreetly look into it, but they said only his name was written down…”

“How can that be?”

Olivia’s hand, which had been rubbing her furrowed brow, paused.

He could be a commoner with little personal information to record. But having only a name written down seemed somewhat suspicious.

“I’m just relaying what was reported to me.”

“Are they sure that man has some kind of relationship with Rosebelia?”

“There aren’t such rumors within the Order, but when asked who Rosebelia is close to, the names Edwin, Lucas, and then immediately Klein came up.”

Olivia had seen knights named Edwin and Lucas a few times at the banquet. Edwin had even greeted her several times while with Rosebelia.

“The strange thing is, this man is said to be a new recruit who just joined.”

A new recruit mentioned alongside two people who had been close to Rosebelia for quite some time?

Olivia nodded her head up and down with a face that seemed to say, ‘Well, that makes sense.’

“Hmm, I was thinking of sending an invitation to the address listed in his personal information…”

“An invitation?”

“There’s going to be a banquet at the Riley family soon. I was thinking of inviting that man without Rosebelia knowing, to make it a surprise event…”

“Then couldn’t we just leave the invitation at the Order’s dormitory?”

Olivia’s lips curled slightly, as if it wasn’t a bad idea.

*

After returning to the Order from the duke’s mansion, I immediately headed to the training grounds.

I intended to clear my mind, but somehow my head felt increasingly heavy, so I plopped down on the ground.

‘Isn’t the important thing not the timing, but whether the person you like is by your side now or not? You might reach a time when you’re ready to meet someone, but there’s no one you actually like.’

‘…’

‘On the contrary, if you have someone you like but don’t meet them because it’s not the right time… They might become someone else’s lover later.’

Daisy’s words kept circling in my mind.

“Someone I like, huh.”

It would be a lie to say there wasn’t a face that came to mind. I closed my eyes tightly and then opened them, letting out a long sigh.

In my previous life, I had lived so desperately, pushing myself to gain recognition from my family…

It seemed like not much had changed even now.

Yes, in a way, I’ve been given a chance to live again.

So wouldn’t it be good to try living the way I want to this time?

Daisy, who was unhappily in love with Ian in the original story, and Edwin, who suffered heartache watching her.

Those two have finally come to face each other. That alone made my heart feel lighter.

So maybe I can let my guard down a little too?

Just as I had finally emptied my mind and was about to get up, the tightly closed door of the training grounds burst open.

“Rose, you were here?”

“Edwin.”

As I waved my hand in greeting, Edwin quickly approached me.

“You went to the duke’s mansion today, right?”

“How did you know that?”

“I received a letter from Lady Daisy yesterday. She was very excited that you would be visiting today.”

“So you exchange letters with Lady Daisy?”

Edwin, who had been chattering excitedly, wrinkled his nose as if embarrassed. As I grinned knowingly, he cleared his throat and answered.

“…To be honest, my relationship with Lady Daisy is all thanks to you.”

“Huh?”

“If you hadn’t asked me to help with Lady Daisy’s physical training, I wouldn’t have gotten this close to her so quickly.”

I told you I would definitely make your one-sided love come true this time.

Seeing Edwin’s face full of joy, a smile naturally formed on my face out of a sense of satisfaction.

“It was good that you stayed in the capital, wasn’t it?”

“In the end, it turned out very well.”

“It would have worked out well even if I hadn’t intervened.”

“Why do you think that?”

Although there was a small disturbance in my heart, I tried to speak casually.

“Just… I think you would have at least become friends.”

“I can’t be satisfied with just being friends. I’m going to go beyond that and become Lady Daisy’s proper lover.”

“Are you going to be satisfied with being her lover? There’s no one else listening, you should boldly say you’ll become her husband.”

“Of course I’ll be her husband too.”

As I chuckled, Edwin let out a low laugh along with me.

“But is that what you came to tell me?”

“Ah, right. That’s not what I came to say, but when I saw you, I thought of Lady Daisy and…”

“So what did you want to tell me?”

Edwin gestured to me as if he was about to reveal a very important secret. Then he lowered his voice and said,

“Do you know who’s come to our Order now?”

“Who came?”

“The Second Imperial Prince.”

“Who?”

When I asked again, Edwin answered loudly.

“The Second Imperial Prince of the Fonnes Empire!”