Evening.

We arrived at Grael, a small rural village far south of the capital of the North.

Originally, we had planned to go further, but sudden rain forced us to hurriedly find a place to stay.

This village was the only place with visible lights even from afar, so we had no choice but to head here. We climbed the hill towards the village’s only inn, cloaked and drenched in rain.

When we arrived at the inn through the rain, I was a bit surprised by its size.

It was a rather large two-story wooden building for such a small village.

“This should have rooms available!”

Major Moby said confidently.

While Yora took care of the horses in the stable, the four of us entered the inn first.

The first floor was a spacious dining hall-like area.

“If I remember correctly, this is a mining village.”

Ergo said. And it seemed to be true.

In the hall, sturdy-looking men who seemed to have drifted into town looking for work were gathered in small groups, sharing drinks and food.

The strong smell of sweat they exuded mixed with the scent of rain soaking the earth, stinging my nose like acrid smoke.

It wasn’t a pleasant smell.

The plump hostess sitting at the desk right next to the door stood up when she saw us.

Major Moby asked,

“Madam, we need three, no, four rooms.”

One each for the Grand Duke and me, and the other two for Yora, Moby, and Ergo to share.

But the hostess frowned.

“Oh my, we have so many guests today that there’s only one room left.”

“What? In this big inn?”

“When it rains, even passing travelers all come here. As you can see, all the people in this hall are guests, so there’s only one room left.”

This was troublesome.

The hostess spoke to me and the Grand Duke.

“You need a room too? Oh dear. I think this last room will go to this gentleman. There are no more rooms now.”

“……”

I was flustered.

‘Where will we stay with all this rain?’

The hostess said worriedly,

“You look like a couple? Oh my. Newlyweds?”

“Ah, no!”

I exclaimed loudly without realizing.

Moby cried out indignantly,

“Gentleman? I’m part of the same group as these young people!”

“Oh, is that so? How many of you in total?”

“Five in all.”

“The room might be too small for all five. Miss, can you share a room with these people? What’s your relationship?”

“Why do you ask that?”

The Grand Duke inquired.

“Well, I need to know your relationship to see if I can squeeze out a non-existent room.”

We kept our mouths shut and refrained from speaking.

After all, we had agreed not to reveal our identities until we reached the capital.

If it became known that the Grand Duke of the North and his knights were here, it would be troublesome for both sides.

Moby said,

“Uh, we’re connected by regional ties. So, hostess, do you have any rooms you can squeeze out?”

“There’s a newlywed couple scheduled to leave tonight. If they go, one more room will be available. But I’m not sure if they’ll leave, with all this rain.”

At that moment, thunder struck outside.

“How about it, do you want to see the one room available now? I think three men could sleep there comfortably.”

“What time are the newlyweds leaving?”

The Grand Duke asked.

The hostess smiled warmly with her plump face.

“The extremely handsome and tall young man speaks so briefly.”

‘Oh no.’

The Grand Duke was currently in plain clothes. The hostess clearly had no idea he was the Grand Duke.

The Grand Duke opened his mouth with an awkward expression.

“What time are they leaving?”

“They said the carriage they booked would come here. They said they’d definitely leave today, so I guess they will. Maybe because they’re newlyweds, they’ve been holed up in their room for days now. Good times. I wonder if they’ll leave the room clean.”

The hostess grumbled indifferently. She seemed ready to keep complaining if left alone.

Ergo said,

“How about we stay here since another room might become available?”

The Grand Duke nodded. I agreed too.

The rain is getting heavier. We have no other option.

“Hostess, we’ll take the one room for now.”

“Alright! Gentlemen, follow me.”

The hostess took the two gentlemen(?) and the Grand Duke up to the second floor.

Just then, Yora came in too, and all four men went upstairs.

I quietly sat in the chair next to the desk and waited.

A moment later, only the Grand Duke and the hostess came down.

“?”

The Grand Duke shook his head.

When I went up, Yora, Moby, and Ergo were crouched in a narrow room.

Ergo said to me,

“We’ll rest here for now. You saw how guests keep coming, right? If we don’t secure a room, she looks ready to kick us out any minute. She’s tougher than she looks.”

Moby glanced outside to confirm the hostess wasn’t there and continued.

“The newlyweds’ room is bigger. When that room becomes available, all the men will move there, so Lady Esther can use this room.”

“Yes. Don’t worry about me, please rest for a while. You’ve all pushed yourselves too hard.”

In any case, Moby and Ergo are older. They looked more tired than usual after getting caught in the rain.

I went back downstairs.

The Grand Duke was leaning against the spot where I had been sitting earlier. As I approached, he straightened up.

“The smell of tobacco and alcohol…… are you alright?”

“Yes, this much is fine.”

The Grand Duke showed a faint smile.

“The hostess went up to meet that couple just now.”

“I see.”

Then he lowered his voice.

“Your Highness.”

“?”

“You got very wet in the rain. Please go upstairs and rest a bit.”

The Grand Duke made a troubled face.

“I tried to rest, but it was impossible. There’s not even room to put a foot down.”

The Grand Duke laughed.

Indeed.

Finding the situation amusing, I laughed along.

However, the hostess didn’t appear even after a long time had passed.

The Grand Duke said he would go look for the hostess and went outside wearing his cloak. I didn’t even have time to stop him.

Through the briefly opened door, I could see the rain pouring down in torrents.

‘Even hardened mercenaries couldn’t sleep outside in this weather.’

I waited for the Grand Duke to return. But even after about ten minutes, the Grand Duke didn’t come back.

That’s when it happened.

A drunk man staggered over to me. He looked to be in his early thirties.

“Are you alone?”

He immediately addressed me informally with his half-slurred tongue. I didn’t respond.

The man then bent down and thrust his face in front of mine.

“Hooo…… you’re extremely pretty. A new employee? Or are you waiting for a man to get you a room? Is that mask on purpose? You’re doing secret work, aren’t you!”

“Get lost.”

“Your way of speaking is charming too. Hehe. How about it? I have a shop down in the village. Want to work there?”

The man reached out as if to touch my face. I avoided his hand with a small movement.

Then he tried to grab my hair.

‘I can’t cause a commotion, so.’

I dodged slightly again. Considering which part to break if he bothered me one more time.

But then the man suddenly shouted.

“You’re acting all coy because I’m being nice, you wench!”

The man roughly grabbed my shoulder.

“It’s raining, let’s spend a hot night together!”

That’s when it happened.

– Aaaaargh!

Suddenly the man screamed.

The Grand Duke, who had come in unnoticed, was gripping the man’s hand that had reached towards me, twisting it.

The man screamed with one arm raised by the Grand Duke.

‘Your Highness!’

An incredible killing intent I had never seen before was emanating from the Grand Duke’s entire body.

“Say that again. What did you dare say?”

“Aaaaargh!”

“Speak. Before I tear that mouth of yours.”

“Please… please spare me! Aaaaargh!”

The Grand Duke twisted the man’s wrist. He looked ready to break the wrist along with the fingers.

The man let out an agonized scream. Everyone in the hall was staring at us.

I tried to stop the Grand Duke.

“Please stop.”

“Ah, sorry, sorry! If there’s a man, you should say so!!! You bitch!”

Blue sparks flew in the Grand Duke’s eyes.

‘He might kill him.’

I quickly grabbed the Grand Duke’s hand.

“He’s drunk. Please, you mustn’t.”

The Grand Duke exhaled roughly.

After a moment, the Grand Duke threw the man down as if tossing him aside.

The man, who hit his head against the wall, fled through the rain at lightning speed, afraid of being caught again.

“See? Even when drunk, he has the sense to run away. A man who uses alcohol as an excuse to do bad things is just a bad person.”

“Please calm down. You’re too agitated.”

“……”

“It’s fortunate though. If you hadn’t come, I don’t know what I might have done to that guy.”

Only then did the Grand Duke’s killing intent subside a little.

I examined the Grand Duke. His hair was wet from the rain.

“Is it raining heavily?”

Just then, the hostess came in, completely drenched by the rain.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry! That newlywed couple, they were about to leave but now the carriage can’t come. We waited all this time and only now got the message……”

The hostess looked at me and the Grand Duke apologetically.

This was awkward.

I looked around.

‘Should I just close my eyes in the hall.’

The Grand Duke asked,

“Do all those in the hall have rooms too?”

“Yes, they do. They’re all just drinking instead of going to their rooms. As you can see, I don’t even have my own room today. I can’t let a female guest sleep at the desk either……”

The hostess is troubled too. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked at us.

“If you don’t mind, there happens to be an unused barn I cleaned yesterday. How about that? I’ll give you plenty of blankets. There’s dry hay laid out too, it’s not bad. I won’t charge you for it.”

The Grand Duke said,

“Alright. Esther, we’ll use the barn, so you take the small room upstairs.”

“But.”

How could I let Your Highness stay in a barn.

I tried to dissuade the Grand Duke. But he strode upstairs, saying he would send Yora and the others down.

I followed him upstairs.

However.

The three people lying here and there in the narrow room were sound asleep as if unconscious. They were sleeping so peacefully it seemed a shame to wake them.

“Your Highness has only recently recovered, so I’ll stay in the corridor”

“The same goes for you.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“You said you’re not a couple, so what kind of~ relationship is it? Doesn’t seem like blood relatives, so is it regional ties?”

The hostess laughed heartily as she spread out a large blanket on the hay. Then she said to me,

“It’s plenty spacious, so it’ll be fine. Just lie down comfortably far apart. How about it? Isn’t it roomy?”

It was indeed a spacious barn. At least compared to the room Major Moby and the others went into.

Though it had gotten a bit damp from the rain, there was still plenty of fluffy dry hay piled up.

There was just one window, high up.

The sound of raindrops falling incessantly on the tin roof could be heard.

“This might even be better than a room. Well then, have a good rest~”

The hostess waved her hand with a hearty laugh, then closed the door and left with quick steps.

In the middle of the spacious barn, only the Grand Duke and I remained, with the blanket between us.

The vast silence and the sound of rain filled the large space completely.

‘This is so awkward. What should I do?’

As I was just staring down at my feet, the Grand Duke said,

“I keep getting the feeling that innkeeper is trying to set us up.”

I creakily went to the corner of the barn.

“Your Highness, please rest comfortably on the blanket. I’m used to sleeping on hay piles, so I’ll be fine.”

Just then, a raindrop fell from the ceiling with a plop- onto my face.

“Ahaha.”

I wiped the rain off my face with my hand as if it was nothing.

“It’s leaking, so come over here. You use the blanket. Hay is enough for me.”

In the darkness, the Grand Duke took off his cloak and placed it on the hay. Then he lay down on it and turned his back to me.

“I’m tired, so I’ll sleep first. So rest comfortably.”

A long silence followed after that.

How much time had passed?

As the stillness continued, my body, which had been tense, gradually relaxed.

There was no sound from the Grand Duke.

‘He must have fallen asleep. That’s good.’

When I stopped being conscious of it, the awkwardness subsided a little.

I hugged my knees and rested my head on them. And I quietly listened to the sound of falling rain.

The rain tapped on the tin roof of the barn incessantly, sometimes like a beautiful nocturne, sometimes like an intense dance.

‘I like the sound of rain.’

I quietly closed my eyes.

Listening to the sound tapping on the ceiling at regular intervals, I felt as comfortable as if I were embraced in the arms of a calm world.

I quietly lay down on the edge of the blanket farthest from the Grand Duke. Then I curled up and closed my eyes.

The forced march that had continued since returning to the North. The matter of the red larvae, the battle with the demon beasts, and the brush with death.

And…… the Grand Duke who saved me.

The end of my thoughts continued on and on, gradually sinking into darkness.

Amidst the sound of rain, I fell into a deep sleep.

[This is the timeline separator]

How long had I slept?

As consciousness returned, the sound of rain that had seemed distant became close again.

The rain was still beating on the roof incessantly, even more fiercely than before I fell asleep.

‘It’s still raining.’

It was dark night all around. Was it just before dawn, or was it still the middle of the night?

I stared ahead, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

‘!’

The sleeping face of the Grand Duke was right in front of me.

His hair, which had been wet from the rain, still seemed damp, revealing its wet texture in the darkness.

I could see his long eyelashes under his hanging hair. We were that close.

‘Ah…… I.’

After falling asleep, I must have unconsciously burrowed into the blanket due to the cold and rolled over. I was lying right in front of the Grand Duke.

The Grand Duke was also sleeping with his body turned towards me.

The sound of my pounding heart beat in my ears.

I hoped the sound of rain would grow louder to cover this sound. I hoped the Grand Duke wouldn’t wake up from the sound of my heart.

‘The person who let me live. The reason I’m alive.’

I went mad for a moment.

I moved closer to him.

And I very lightly…… pressed my lips to his.

An action that came out before reason could stop it.

‘I’m crazy.’

I slowly removed my face from him and lowered my head.

‘You’re crazy, Esther.’

What have you done to the sleeping Grand Duke.

Feeling guilty, I slowly raised my head.

But the Grand Duke’s blue eyes were staring at me.

I was too shocked to say anything. I couldn’t turn my head away from him either.

His blue eyes looking at me were like the sea boiling on top of lava.

The sound of rain fades away in my ears.

The Grand Duke removed my mask.

“Your… Highness?”

“You started this first.”