Unable to find words to respond to his bewildering actions, I remained silent as the Commander took long strides.

Perhaps due to his long legs, he moved at a much faster pace than when I walked.

Before I knew it, we had left the guest room and were passing through the hallway.

“W-Wait a moment. Please put me down before people see us. If someone sees me being carried like this—”

“It’s fine. No one will see. The sun is already rising while you were asleep.”

“……?!”

“All the guests have left. There’s no one outside right now.”

The Commander’s words were true.

As he carried me through the hallway and down the stairs, we didn’t encounter a single person.

Even the servants seemed to have gone to sleep.

We were able to reach the carriage passing through the empty hall like that.

“Come to think of it, I came here in the imperial carriage. His Majesty came to pick me up. Since I didn’t bring our family’s carriage, it seems I’ll have to borrow the imperial carriage to return as well.”

“No. That won’t be necessary.”

“……?”

“I’ll take you to your villa.”

I already felt bad for being carried all the way here, so wouldn’t it be too much of an imposition to get a ride in his carriage too?

With that thought, I shook my head, but the Commander spoke.

“Are you going to refuse again? You seem to only know how to refuse. Sometimes you should learn to accept others’ kindness.”

“But……”

“I’m going that way anyway, so don’t worry about it and just get in.”

When he put it that way, it became difficult for me to refuse any further.

Meanwhile, the Commander continued walking, and soon we arrived where his carriage was parked.

The Commander’s carriage was pitch black, the exact opposite of Ernant’s.

Even the horses pulling it were jet-black steeds, and I suddenly thought they suited him well.

After setting me down there, the Commander asked:

“Shall I help you? Your hand.”

“……No. I can get into a carriage on my own.”

I declined his offer to hold my hand and boarded the carriage alone.

I already felt like I owed him too much for carrying me all the way here.

After I climbed into the carriage and sat down, he followed and boarded as well.

The door closed, and soon the coachman set the horses in motion.

“Will you tell me about your worries someday, when you’re ready?”

At the Commander’s sudden question, I pondered for a moment.

Having signed a contract with a curse ability, I couldn’t tell him anything at the moment.

However, if I found a way to avoid the curse in the future, I would be able to confide everything to him then.

“Yes, I’ll tell you when the time comes. Please wait a little longer.”

“Then I’ll wait quietly. Until you open that precious heart of yours to me.”

How should I put it, I thought his words were truly reassuring.

He didn’t pressure me to confide my worries right away.

He didn’t turn away saying he wouldn’t help me either.

He just said he would wait. Until my heart opened up.

The existence of someone willing to wait so I could talk about my worries whenever I felt ready was a great comfort to me.

“Thank you, always. You may not realize it yourself, but you’re truly a good person, Commander.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, so just go to sleep. You look tired.”

Hearing those words, my eyes started to close on their own.

It was probably due to exhaustion from all I had experienced throughout the day.

I didn’t force my heavy eyelids to stay open, but just let them be.

I had only intended to close my eyes for a moment, but I ended up falling into a deep sleep.

I had a long dream for the first time in a while.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a nightmare.

It was just a rather bewildering dream.

−”Sister, don’t leave. Once you leave, you may never be able to return.”

Johannes in the dream said that, trying to stop me.

But the me in the dream was stubborn.

−”No, I have to go. I need that desperately.”

I didn’t know what ‘that’ was that I was talking about.

Everything is vague like that in dreams.

I was just consumed by a sense of mission that I had to find ‘that’, whatever it was.

So despite Johannes’ attempts to dissuade me, I set off on a journey to find ‘that’.

Along the way, I encountered petty bandits, powerful monsters, and even betrayal from trusted companions.

After overcoming all sorts of difficulties, I was finally able to find ‘that’.

−”I’ve finally found it……”

‘That’ which I had been searching for turned out to be a star.

A star shining brightly white in the sky.

I had been unconsciously searching for that star all along.

Anyway, having finally found what I was looking for, I moved towards it, filled with emotion.

The moment I reached out my hand after that.

−”I’ve finally caught you. My star.”

The Commander, who had been following me without my knowledge, said that and grabbed my wrist.

Thinking I needed to quickly grasp the star, I tried to shake off the Commander’s hand, but he wouldn’t let go.

Greatly flustered, I pleaded with the Commander.

−”I’m not a star. The real star is over there!”

−”No, you are a star.”

The Commander instead gripped my wrist even tighter, and said strange things that could only be said in a dream.

−”I let you go once, but I won’t let you go a second time.”

The strange dream ended there.

I was forced to wake up due to the sunlight falling on my face.

“……”

I frowned for a moment before slowly opening my eyes.

Then I looked around with blurry vision.

I could see the scenery of my bedroom in the villa.

It seemed the Commander had brought me sleeping in the carriage all the way to the villa.

My dress had also been changed to indoor clothes, probably by the maids.

As I was sitting there absentmindedly, surveying my surroundings, a maid quietly opened the door and entered the bedroom.

“Ah, you’re awake? I thought you were still asleep, so I was just going to quietly leave the water jug……”

“It’s fine. But how did I return to the mansion? Did Duke Habicht bring me back?”

“Yes. His Grace the Duke carried the sleeping Lady Yulia in his arms and brought you to the bedroom. Since the Marquis wasn’t here, there was no one else to move you.”

“I see……? I’ve become greatly indebted to him.”

As expected, it seemed the Commander had moved me here from the carriage where I had fallen asleep.

By the way, Johannes hadn’t come home until dawn.

It looked like he had spent the night with Lady Adelheid.

Aren’t those two moving too fast? While I was thinking that, the maid belatedly remembered something and informed me.

“Ah, and His Grace the Duke left a letter for Lady Yulia. It’s the letter on that bedside table.”

Looking at the bedside table after hearing the maid’s words, I saw a letter placed there.

I instructed the maid to leave, then opened and read the letter the Commander had left.

There was only one line written in the letter.

Come back when you’ve rested enough. I’ll be waiting.

The Founding Day event was over.

It was time to return to fighting monsters in the rifts, keeping the memory of that one night of dancing in a dress as a memento.

I let out a deep sigh and got up from my seat.

After that, I hurriedly took care of the things I needed to do.

I personally selected a carriage to send to Lady Adelheid and paid for it, then packed my bags to return to the Knights Order.

While I was busy preparing to leave, Johannes, who had spent the night out, returned to the villa.

Seeing me hurrying to get ready to leave, he showed a slightly disappointed look.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I have to go back. The monsters won’t wait for us to rest comfortably.”

Monsters didn’t have holidays.

They poured out of the rifts and attacked humans regardless of whether it was Saturday or Sunday.

Therefore, we knights who faced them couldn’t afford the luxury of rest either.

I loaded my small luggage bag onto the horse, then mounted the saddle myself.

Before departing, Johannes looked at me with concern one last time and advised:

“Although you’re certainly strong enough, Sister… you still need to be careful always. Those things are as dangerous as natural disasters.”

Sitting on the horse, I patted Johannes’ head once.

“Don’t worry. I never let my guard down in front of monsters.”

I always gave it my all when facing monsters.

If there was anything that made me let my guard down, it was humans.

Not monsters, but humans.

Someone I trusted poisoning me, or stabbing me in the back……

Such unexpected betrayals would be the real threat.

But there was no need to tell Johannes this explicitly.

I reassured Johannes with a confident expression until the end, then rode away from the villa on horseback.

While it had taken quite some time to come up to the capital by carriage, going down alone on horseback was instantaneous.

Before long, I arrived at the ‘Barony of Nivertal’ where the Knights Order’s base was located.

The Barony of Nivertal was an area where two rifts had opened, and the Silver Knights Order was planning to stay here for a while, focusing all efforts on closing the rifts.

Upon arriving there and going to see the Commander, he welcomed me in his own way.

“You came unnecessarily early. It would have been fine to come more leisurely.”

I also expressed my gladness to see the Commander welcoming me, in my own way.

“You left a letter saying you’d be waiting for me, so I hurried.”

“Hah. That was just a meaningless greeting I left without much thought.”

“Is that so? Well, anyway, since I hurried here, I’ll hurry to start my duties. However, before that, there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you.”