In her early years, Edith was much more lively than when they met again as adults.

“Isaac, Isaac! The weather’s nice, let’s go to the fields. Hmm?”

As soon as the awkwardness passed, Edith approached me energetically. She was always thrilled to have a peer, inviting me to ride together and play somewhere.

Each time, I would close the book I was pretending to read and rise from my seat just to see her smiling face.

Edith’s addition to daily life was colorful in every way. Even on rainy days, it felt warm as if basking in sunlight.

Moreover, Edith made me realize something with her mere presence.

‘Before staying at Lowell Mansion… was I uneasy?’

It’s not that I disliked wandering around with a horse carrying cream-colored fur. The guards Mother brought were more than sufficient, even overflowing.

However, returning to the mansion with Edith and Lady Lowell was more enjoyable than spending each day traveling.

Sometimes, even if Mother accidentally burned the ingredients to a crisp, it was enjoyable.

“Lady Lea… should I just cut out the burned parts and try eating it?”

Edith looking at the charcoal-like chicken dish with a pitiful expression was utterly charming.

When we rode horses together, looking at her blonde hair brushing against my cheek or catching a glimpse of her blue eyes glancing back at me momentarily helped temporarily forget the weighty concerns.

How bad was Mother’s health?

There are whispers of storms at the royal palace; can Father survive until the end?

How much longer can we continue our current lifestyle?

When I was with Edith, I didn’t think about such worries.

Moreover… Edith was blatantly showing that she liked me.

One day, she ran away after closely examining my face, and another day, she asked if I had someone I liked with a teasing smile.

“Isaac, do you like blondes?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“You do. That’s a relief.”

After a while, when we went to the market to buy things, she chattered away with the store owner’s daughter—she was blonde—and puffed up her cheeks like a squirrel.

“Isaac, Isaac! They said they would let us ride horses today!”

“Huh, what?”

“Silly!”

“…?”

She once got angry like that and kissed my cheek while I was napping, then ran away after hearing some story from somewhere.

“…What the heck, seriously.”

I woke up abruptly, holding my throbbing cheek for a few hours.

It was the day I thought settling down in one place and living with someone might not be a bad idea.

But that evening, Mother knocked on the door with a bitter expression.

“Isaac, it seems the knights of Goturk have been scouring Fortrion lately. They’ve sent people to other regions too. It doesn’t seem like they’re specifically chasing us, but it’s better to be cautious.”
“Are you saying we have to leave, Mother?”

“In the off chance, if we cause any trouble to Lowellga, we can’t allow that. We should do that. And slowly bid farewell to Edith as well.”

…”

The reason I didn’t tell Mother that I didn’t want to leave Lowell Mansion was that I didn’t want to pass any danger to Edith and Lady Lowell.

‘If Goturk is determined to chase Mother and me, those two who hid us might be harmed.’

However, it didn’t mean I gave up on Edith.

“Mother. The newspaper reporters are saying that the power struggle in the royal family is gradually ending. Is that true?”

“It’s likely. Your father is an incredibly strong person.”

Balter wasn’t particularly attached to the presence of a father.

Even if he didn’t accept him as his son, there was Lexion, Mother’s family, to rely on.

“Then I’ll go back to the capital to stabilize my magic and return to Fortrion as the lord. I might have to keep the reason for going back to the capital a secret for a while from Edith.”

Thanks to Lea’s careful management from a young age, Balter’s magic, though enormous, showed no signs of going berserk.

Lea judged that if he returned to Lexion before becoming an adult and received help from the family, there would be no problems living.

“…It seems my time is running out soon. I want to take you to the mansion for the last time.”

…”

Nodding was difficult.

He knew that Mother’s time, which should have ended ten years ago, had stopped.

She said on every birthday that she was grateful because the time has miraculously lengthened since meeting him and watching him grow.

Thus ended the dream-like time spent at Lowell Mansion. It had been four years since meeting Edith.

On the day of their farewell, Lea hugged Edith, who was wearing the blue necklace she had given, tightly. Her magic flowed into the necklace.

Edith embraced Lea for a long time, then took his hand, rubbing her puffy, teary eyes.

A tearful voice filled his ears.

“You are the first person I’ve ever loved, Isaac.”

“…”

“I love you… very much.”

Edith couldn’t let go of his hand and sobbed for a while before finally speaking.

“So, I don’t want to part with you. So please…”

Will you come back?

The tearful eyes were asking so. It might have been natural that the answer immediately sprung out without going through his mind.