“Eek!”

Such a scream burst from Reniel as her clothes caught fire. She was so startled that she felt the hair all over her body stand on end.

Though she knew she needed to put out the fire quickly, her mind went blank and she didn’t know what to do first.

“Your Highness!”

“I’m sorry…!”

As soon as she called out, Thanasis, who had finally come to his senses, quickly withdrew his magic.

He couldn’t understand why he was so flustered.

Despite the commotion, the image of her appearing fully as a woman seemed to linger beneath his eyelids like a vivid afterimage.

His heart was pounding in his ears as if it had suddenly stopped after running.

“The clothes I just bought are ruined.”

Terrison laughed incredulously as he saw how her skirt had instantly shortened.

Originally, the dress she wore had a skirt that reached her ankles, but now it was above her knees.

“Are you burned? Are you hurt?”

“Ah… well…”

Reniel thought that since her skirt had burned, her legs must have been burned too.

However, when she ran her palm over her legs, she felt warmth but no pain. As if only the clothes had been burned.

“I think I’m okay.”

“How is that possible? You were on fire.”

Thanasis said worriedly as he examined her legs. He felt his chest tighten with guilt.

He had nearly burned Reniel to death due to a sudden loss of control over his abilities.

His heart was pounding and he felt the blood in his body run cold.

“Look.”

She turned around once in front of him.

Only then could he confirm that she really wasn’t hurt.

Just in case she was pretending to be fine, he made her turn around several more times.

“I’m getting a bit dizzy…”

“Shut up.”

Reniel’s legs showed no signs of redness indicative of burns. Her knees were just slightly peach-colored.

Feeling he needed to check directly, Thanasis knelt on the ground like a knight and touched her legs with his palm.

“Your Highness?”

“There’s nothing visible, but burns might not show on the surface.”

He said this while feeling various spots with his palm to see if there was any place she reacted to.

However, Reniel only laughed as if ticklish at his touch, not saying it hurt.

Reniel felt a rough yet vague tickling sensation due to the calluses on his palm. It was because he was stroking very carefully.

Then she was reminded of Felix, whose body was full of calluses and muscles.

Felix’s hands had more calluses than Thanasis’s.

Every time he touched her, it felt like well-polished stone.

She shook her head at the thought that she had thought of Felix again and grabbed Thanasis’s hand.

“Your Highness, I’m not hurt. Really.”

At her words, Thanasis frowned as if suddenly realizing what he had just done, stood up and stepped back.

“…What do I care? Get hurt or not.”

He said that and immediately turned to go down.

“Let’s go together!”

As Reniel immediately followed him down, Terrison, who had been staring blankly, wondered if his lord had gone mad.

There was no way he could be someone capable of such kindness.

“I have prepared a carriage, Your Highness.”

“Alright.”

So they went down to the first floor and headed for the carriage Terrison had prepared.

Reniel wondered how he had managed to get a carriage at this hour when there were no cabs available.

“It’s our family carriage.”

“Who asked you?”

As expected, Terrison had urgently called for his family’s carriage.

“I thought the young lady here might be curious.”

“Ah, yes. I was a bit curious. Thank you… sir.”

“My name is Terrison. Miss maid.”

Terrison said this as he met Reniel’s eyes. She reflexively smiled and moved her lips the moment their eyes met.

“This is Reni.”

Thanasis casually spoke Reniel’s nickname as if it were her name and stood next to the carriage.

“Reni, your hand.”

When Thanasis held out his hand to her, Reniel, not knowing what it meant, interlocked her fingers with his.

It seemed Thanasis liked holding hands this way. He hadn’t wanted to let go when escaping from Duke Le Pelique’s mansion either.

“Haha.”

Since she had never lived as a woman in the first place, there was no way she could immediately recall the etiquette between men and women.

She had lived as a mere servant and never even got close to noble young ladies. Most of the time, she had only served male nobles when they came as guests.

All of this was very unfamiliar to her and not common sense in her mind.

The only etiquette she knew was that of men.

“Ah…!”

“If you want, get on like that.”

Thanasis said that and picked Reniel up. Then he got into the carriage and set her down in her seat.

Reniel looked at Terrison, wondering if she had made some mistake.

Terrison was looking at them with an expression that seemed to wonder if this was really happening.

Reniel was flustered, not knowing whether she had made a mistake or not.

Then, as Terrison was about to get in,

“Don’t you get in.”

“But I’m Your Highness’s guard knight…”

“Sit next to the coachman.”

“Then I can’t protect Your Highness from the side.”

“I’m several times stronger than you. To hell with protection.”

“You mean ‘to the devil’? But still… hmm.”

Since Thanasis had obediently gotten into the carriage, Terrison felt he shouldn’t irritate his mood any further.

In fact, this was the first time Terrison had seen Thanasis look so gentle and in a good mood while serving him.

‘Why don’t you just disappear?’

‘Don’t breathe. Your breath stinks.’

‘I might just burn you.’

‘Don’t come near me!’

He had always shouted like that and pushed him away.

In fact, Thanasis had been kidnapped because he had moved arbitrarily to get rid of Terrison.

Felix, who had been targeting Thanasis, had been watching for an opportunity for months.

“Your Highness, I still think it would be better to have the guard knight.”

“Why? Don’t you want to ride alone with me?”

Thanasis was frowning again. However, he didn’t look irritated as usual, but somehow seemed a bit hurt.

“I’d like to ride with just the two of us. But I think Your Highness’s safety is more important than my satisfaction.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Thanasis pondered a bit at her words. He shouldn’t make her have other thoughts if she was to safely reach the imperial palace.

But Terrison had the unique sweat smell of knights.

Although Terrison was relatively clean, he sometimes had that disgusting sweat smell that other knights had.

“But Terrison smells.”

“Pardon?”

“Take that into account.”

“Ah, yes.”

Soon Terrison tactfully got on. Then, as he closed the door, the coachman also tactfully started moving the horse.

Terrison sat across from Reniel, who was seated next to Thanasis.

Reniel unconsciously sniffed, wondering if Terrison really smelled.

“Sir knight smells of lavender fabric softener distributed by the Derias trading company, though?”

“What kind of nice way is that to describe a smell? It’s just sweat smell.”

“I don’t think there’s any sweat smell.”

“Thank you.”

Terrison thought Reniel seemed stronger than expected.

If you looked closely, she said what she needed to say while being mindful of Thanasis’s words.

It was also impressive how she spoke nicely, as Thanasis said. Unlike her friendly impression, she also expressed her opinions well.

“By the way, if you’re coming as a maid, which family are you from?”

“Do you need to know that?”

“Of course. If Your Highness is personally bringing in a maid, shouldn’t I warn the other knights as well?”

In fact, Thanasis did have some nobles he could connect with to create a new identity for Reniel, but the preparations weren’t complete yet.

For now, it would be easier to negotiate with Duke Nirnberg if he could safely bring her to the imperial palace.

“Don’t bother. And tell the others too. They need my permission to talk to Reni.”

As Thanasis warned, Reniel looked at him and said,

“Your Highness, I don’t think that’s right.”

“Why? Do you want to talk to other men besides me?”

“That’s not it. But I’m entering to become a maid, and to properly serve Your Highness, I naturally need to communicate with others.”

“…That’s true.”

Thanasis docilely answered her words.

Terrison wondered what on earth this was.

‘You’re forbidden from talking from now on.’

‘What? Then how am I supposed to give orders to my subordinates?’

‘How should I know? Just shut your mouth. I’m sick of hearing your voice too.’

‘But I need to do my job…!’

‘Do I have to care about that?’

Recalling their past conversations, he felt bitter, but also…

“I look forward to working with you, Sir Knight.”

As Reniel said this and reached out her hand as if offering a handshake, he unconsciously tried to take it.

“Aren’t you going to move your hand?”

Thanasis grabbed her hand himself, preventing Terrison from taking it.

Terrison had also absorbed magic stones.

Therefore, he was concerned that if she held his hand, her purification ability might reach him.

“You can talk, but don’t touch.”

Though Reniel thought this new superior was quite picky, she forced a smile and replied,

“I will.”

At her answer, Thanasis immediately softened again.