At that point, I stopped whispering and sat up straight.

If we whispered any longer, people would surely find it suspicious.

So I sat there pretending nothing was amiss, when suddenly I made eye contact with Bertha.

For some reason, Bertha was staring intently at me.

What’s going on? Since earlier…

I thought this as I stared back at Bertha.

With that strange question earlier, Bertha had been oddly attentive to me since before.

I was thinking I should ask the Captain about Bertha later, when just then the food arrived.

Starting with well-roasted turkey and hot stew…

Seeing the delicious food piled high on the table, I immediately picked up my utensils.

That’s when it happened. The Captain tore off a turkey leg and placed it on my plate.

“You have to face monsters at the forefront, so eat plenty to build up your strength.”

He seemed to think it would look natural if he gave me food with that reason, but it wasn’t at all.

To tear off a piece of meat everyone was eating and give it to just one person.

Anyone could see this was something only lovers would do.

In fact, some of the sharper ones already seemed to sense something was off.

Among them, the especially perceptive Karl asked outright.

“Captain? It seems you’re treating the Vice Captain extra specially today. Is it just my imagination?”

“Special? It’s only natural the Vice Captain should eat more since she fights at the very front among us. You just stand still in the back using your ability, so you don’t particularly need to eat more.”

“Ugh, don’t you know those words hurt me? Do you know how hard it is to carefully observe and use my ability at the right moments…”

Karl drooped his shoulders dejectedly, but the Captain ignored him and urged me on.

“Come on, eat up. You’re too skinny. What if you collapse?”

“…”

Feeling considerable pressure, I awkwardly tore into the meat.

Should I be grateful he didn’t feed it directly into my mouth?

Meanwhile, Bertha’s gaze kept bothering me.

Bertha’s sharp gaze was still fixed on me.

Was she simply staring out of curiosity because it was unusual to see the Captain taking care of someone? Or…

“It’s good to see you eating well.”

The Captain’s voice interrupted my thoughts just then.

It’s good to see me eating well, he says.

I shifted my focus from Bertha to concentrate on the meat he had given me.

After the meal, the members went to bed early for tomorrow.

We couldn’t stay up all night since we needed to conserve as much energy as possible to face the monsters.

However, while they slept, the Captain and I had a secret meeting in a corner of the back garden.

We hadn’t had a proper chance to talk all day, so we wanted to have some time alone like this.

When we were finally alone, I asked him what I had been curious about all along.

“What kind of relationship do you have with Bertha? She seems to pay a lot of attention to you.”

“…”

“She’s not just an employee, is she?”

The Captain, who had looked relaxed until just now, immediately averted his gaze at that question.

As I was feeling increasingly suspicious, he said something that sounded even more suspicious.

“Can you promise not to get angry after hearing this?”

Those words made my heart sink.

Trying not to let my expression harden, I asked him:

“…Is it a relationship that would make me angry if I heard about it?”

“No. You’re not that narrow-minded. But just in case, I want to get your promise.”

“…”

I would have to answer that I wouldn’t get angry for the Captain to tell me the truth.

Trying my best to put on an innocent smile, I replied to him.

“I absolutely won’t get angry.”

“That’s a relief. Then I’ll tell you the truth. Bertha is my former fiancée.”

“…”

“You could say we were engaged in the past and then broke it off.”

“I… said I wouldn’t get angry, but I never said I wouldn’t get upset. I’m getting upset.”

“Huh?”

Leaving him looking bewildered, I turned around abruptly.

Then I walked away from him with big strides to show that I was upset.

After I had taken about 3 steps, the Captain finally came to his senses and hurriedly blocked my path.

“Wait, Yulia, at least hear me out. If you listen, you’ll realize it’s really nothing.”

He was saying it was really nothing, but I wasn’t so sure.

How could a ‘former fiancée’ be nothing?

Even so, I wanted to hear how the Captain would explain that relationship.

He began to speak with an uncharacteristically slightly nervous expression.

“Bertha is the eldest daughter of the ‘Ostberg Count family’. Ostberg was an influential family that had ruled this northern region for generations.”

“…”

“For me, who had received the title of Duke at a young age and was newly governing the Habicht Duchy, it was necessary to form a connection with the influential Ostberg Count family in the region.”

“So you entered into a political marriage?”

He nodded readily at my question.

“Yes. I easily decided on a political marriage. When I was young, I thought of marriage as just a tool for politics. But Bertha wasn’t like that. Bertha… genuinely wanted me.”

“…”

“Every time I went out to attack a rift, I received several letters from Bertha. She seemed to be anxiously waiting for me. Her actions made me feel guilty. Unlike the casual feelings I had for Bertha, the feelings Bertha had for me were… too heavy.”

Understanding the situation, I nodded as well.

“So you eventually broke off the engagement.”

“I felt it was only right to let her go if I couldn’t love her, since she was a woman seeking love.”

“But it seems she still has feelings for you.”

“Yes, that’s the problem.”

The Captain said, furrowing his brow slightly.

“I was the one who asked to break off the engagement first, and the Count’s family agreed, but Bertha said she wanted to stay here. She said she wanted to manage my castle while I was away on rift attacks.”

“And you allowed it?”

“…I still felt guilty towards Bertha. When she said she wanted to stay here like that, I couldn’t bring myself to turn her away. Besides, since she came from a family that had ruled this area for a long time, I thought she could manage the territory and castle without any problems.”

After hearing everything the Captain said, I fell into thought for a moment.

I could understand.

That he had gotten engaged, and that he had allowed his fiancée to stay in his castle after breaking off the engagement.

They were all rational choices.

But what was this? A somewhat petty and childish emotion was welling up inside me.

“…”

I kept my mouth shut to avoid revealing this emotion… this jealousy bubbling up inside me.

If I opened my mouth now, words of resentment towards him would likely pour out.

So I was just quietly swallowing my feelings when he suddenly grasped my shoulders.

Looking me straight in the eye like that, the Captain suddenly made a radical statement.

“Alright, I’ll have Bertha leave the castle tomorrow.”

“What? Tomorrow, you say? But then who will manage the castle—”

“Don’t worry about that. There might be some confusion, but it was something I should have handled myself in the first place.”

How could I not worry?

Whether I liked it or not, it was undeniable that Bertha was someone he needed right now.

To drive out such a necessary person because of my momentary jealousy.

I opened my mouth to tell him not to do it, but he tapped my lips with his fingertip to stop me from speaking.

“For now, I can temporarily entrust the castle management to a capable vassal I brought from the imperial court.”

“…”

“And then when we close all the rifts in the empire and regain peace, then…”

The Captain moved his lips as if to say something, then shook his head.

“No, this kind of talk is too early. Don’t worry about it.”

“Please tell me. ‘When we regain peace, then…’ What were you going to say after that?”

“I told you not to worry about it. It really wasn’t anything important.”

In fact, even if he didn’t tell me, I could more or less guess what he was going to say.

After closing all the rifts and regaining peace, we might be able to get married.

We might be able to live as an ordinary couple and enjoy an ordinary and happy newlywed life.

So he was probably going to say something like this:

‘And then when we close all the rifts in the empire and regain peace, you can marry me and manage this castle.’

“…”

Well, it certainly was too early to think about that.

But it wasn’t bad.

We’re risking our lives hunting monsters right now, so shouldn’t we hold onto small dreams like this to make it less painful?

So I decided to hold it in my heart as well.

The same humble yet shining fragment of a dream that he held.

“I hope a peaceful world comes soon.”

Praying for the swift arrival of the moment when we could spend a happy newlywed life in this peaceful land after closing all the rifts, we pressed our lips together.

It was a long, long kiss, as intense as our wish.