“Is the real reason you don’t want to die today because of that?”

“Yes. The feeling of not wanting to die is the same every day, but today, that’s the reason.”

“Ah, I see…”

Cedric bowed his head, remaining silent for a while.

Realizing that he was holding back laughter, I raised my voice awkwardly.

“Don’t laugh! I’m really serious! Today is a really precious day for me, you know?”

“Okay, okay…”
Cedric, while avoiding my pinching and twisting his body, burst into laughter.

Then, unexpectedly, he grabbed my hand and made me hold onto the window frame.

“Just wait a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Saying that, with agile movements, he jumped onto the roof.

I urgently shouted towards Cedric.

“What’s this? You said you wouldn’t let me die! Where on earth are you going?!”

Cedric, looking down at me through the roof gap, coolly raised the corners of his lips.

“To perfectly finish off your precious day.”

With those words, Cedric suddenly snatched a monster that had jumped onto the carriage roof.

Then, with one hand firmly gripping the monster’s neck, he calmly sharpened his knife.

“I know they’re observing the situation through these.”

“Ugh…”

“So listen carefully.”

It seemed like he was leaving a message to someone controlling the monsters.

Cedric’s voice, which had been scrutinizing the struggling monster for a while, became even lower.

“The moment they threaten my wife again, I will find you and personally slaughter you.”

Soon, a blue light flickered in Cedric’s hand holding the monster’s neck.

And that light soon turned into flames.

The burning monster gradually began to transform into a straw doll.

Meanwhile, numerous hordes of monsters were still chasing the back of the carriage.

Cedric, without hesitation, threw the burning straw dolls towards them.

As a result, the blue flames instantly turned into a massive blaze, fiercely swallowing the horde of monsters.

At a similar time, in a shabby building in a northern city alley.

The interior of the basement was narrow and damp at first glance.

The musty smell and the scent of formaldehyde intensified the discomfort felt in that place.

In the cupboard hung black iron pots and well-dried bodies of frogs or mice, and on the bookshelf were old books with peculiar titles piled up.

An elderly woman passed by those things with familiar steps and sat down at a round table.

A purple cloth covered the table.

As the old woman’s touch reached the large crystal bead placed on it, a mysterious light flickered inside the bead.

Watching the bead like that for a while.

The old woman’s forehead slightly wrinkled.

The sound of a low whistle could be heard around that time.

“Oh, oh… Unfortunately, it seems to have failed this time, my lady.”

At the old woman’s words, a woman who had been leaning against the cupboard somewhat indifferently let out a long sigh.

“I thought I could easily kill them… Why on earth did it fail?”

Even with the woman’s sharp reproach, the old woman did not lose her composure and answered slowly.

“It seems that His Grace has helped.”

“… His Grace?”

The woman’s eyes blinked slowly.

Then, with an expression of disbelief, she hurriedly approached the old woman.

“Show me.”
As the woman spoke, the old woman raised both hands again and touched the crystal bead. Soon, the scene the old woman had seen inside it was reproduced once again.

“When they threaten my wife again, I will find you and personally slaughter you.”

At the moment Cedric’s eerie warning was uttered, the corners of the woman’s lips tilted slightly. The woman tapped the table with her finger.

“Again.”

Following the woman’s command, the old woman manipulated the crystal bead, rewinding the image.

“When they threaten my wife, I will find you and personally…”

The woman, who had been staring through Cedric’s face in the bead, commanded again.

“Again.”

“When they threaten my wife…”

Cedric’s warning continued like an extended tape for a while.

“Stop.”

The woman who commanded the old woman murmured low, seemingly lost in thought.

“The Duke personally intervened to save Rebecca’s life…”

Looking at Cedric’s face once again through the bead, the woman blinked as if unable to believe it.

“Why would he…?”

In the forest, darkness had silently descended. The night forest was entwined with a giant blue flame and a violet barrier, presenting a mysterious and beautiful spectacle like the universe. While the number of monsters had significantly decreased, Adrian checked the situation and gradually slowed down the carriage. Cedric confirmed the last burning monster before returning inside the carriage.

In Cedric’s eyes, the sight of Rebecca, who had been gazing out the window as if lost in thought, came into view. The situation where the enemies who had threatened her life had disappeared, and everything was returning to stability. She seemed to have belatedly lost her attention to the beautiful scenery of the illuminated forest.

Watching her in admiration and even marveling, Cedric gently smiled.

“Is it that fascinating?”

“Yes, incredibly. And it’s beautiful. Come here and see it too.”

“…I’ve already seen it exhaustively from the roof.”

While Cedric replied like that, he approached Rebecca.

As he did, Rebecca pulled Cedric’s arm, bringing him closer to her, and looked out the window again.

“How is it? It looks even more beautiful from here, doesn’t it?”

As Rebecca casually asked, Cedric’s gaze fell on her.

Above Rebecca’s fair face, a mysterious light flickered, and a pleasant fragrance wafted through their slightly touching bodies.

“…Yeah. It’s truly beautiful.”

Rebecca, still fixedly gazing out the window, smiled with delight.

As Cedric answered, he approached Rebecca.

At that moment, Rebecca, who was still smiling and gazing out the window, inadvertently stole a glance at Cedric’s lips.

Cedric suddenly became curious.

Would his past self have immediately rushed to find Rebecca like this, sensing her danger, or would he have considered it more reasonable to release the knights and search for the Duke? Probably not.

However, why did his earlier self lose reason and blindly set out to find Rebecca?
Numerous questions and wrong answers repeatedly surfaced in my mind, disappearing over and over again. Cycles that continued pointlessly due to pride. Finally, at the end of it all, Cedric thought, “Maybe my heart… is gradually turning towards Rebecca.”