Grittleplus was a beautiful place, just as expected.

Outside the city, endless sand dunes tinged red by the sunset stretched out, while inside, people with healthy bronzed skin bustled about energetically.

Their clothes were so thin that even the slightest breeze revealed the contours of their bodies.

Whenever he saw women whose bodies were clearly visible, almost as if naked, the captain turned his head away as if troubled.

It seemed he found their attire embarrassing, but unlike him, I envied them.

Embarrassing or not, they looked incredibly cool.

Grittleplus was beautiful, of course, but separately, it was also terribly hot.

So, without even thinking about sightseeing the beautiful natural scenery and people, I said to the captain,

“It’s quite hot. Shall we change into thin clothes like the people here?”

“Dress like that? Are you serious?”

“It’s better than being cooked to death. We’re the only ones dressed so thickly here. I happen to be quite sensitive to heat… I seriously feel like I’m going to faint.”

“…”

He glanced at my attire.

I had already taken off my coat on the way and was wearing just a shirt, but even so, the shirt itself was made of a rather warm material.

Because of that, my whole body was now drenched in sweat.

I was already lacking in stamina, and I couldn’t use my ice ability to try to overcome the heat, so I looked at the captain desperately. He shook his head.

“Those clothes reveal the entire chest. Moreover, they’re all not wearing underwear. As for me, I absolutely can’t dress like the people here.”

“Did you look at other women’s chests…?”

When I asked that with sharp eyes, he hastily replied.

“No. I only look at your body. I don’t even notice others.”

“I see. I’m not sure if I should be touched by that or…”

“Anyway, I’d like our bodies to be shown only to each other.”

It was a reasonable statement.

I was so hot that my thoughts were paralyzed, and while I wanted to take everything off right now, I’d probably be quite embarrassed later when I came to my senses.

I nodded and said to the captain,

“I’ll try to endure a little longer. You’ll show your body only to me too, right?”

“Of course. My body is exclusively for you. And it’ll be night soon, so it’ll cool down quickly. Then we’ll need to put on our coats. Desert nights are fierce.”

“I understand. Then before that, I think we should find lodging-”

“We don’t need to look for lodging.”

The captain, who spoke so decisively, continued to say,

“We can go to that guy’s house.”

“That guy?”

“My old friend. I couldn’t contact him in advance, but it shouldn’t matter. Even if we visit unexpectedly, he’ll always have spare guest rooms for us.”

Whoever this friend was, he seemed to be quite wealthy.

Given that he had spare guest rooms.

Anyway, I thought it was fortunate that we didn’t have to go through the trouble of finding lodging separately, and I quietly followed behind the captain.

And when we arrived at the house of this ‘old friend’, I couldn’t hide my surprise.

“This isn’t just a house, it’s a ‘castle’, isn’t it…? It seems like there might be more than a hundred rooms, far beyond just having spare guest rooms.”

It was a massive castle that could rival even the Imperial Palace or Habicht Ducal Castle.

It didn’t seem to be a place where an ordinary noble lived, so this friend was probably at least a count.

I was wondering which families in this area would own a castle of this scale when the captain conveniently informed me.

“It is indeed a castle. More precisely, a ‘ducal’ castle.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, this is the castle of the Southern Duke, Edbert von Grittleplus.”

I thought it looked like the castle of a high-ranking noble, but I never imagined it would be the castle of that Southern Duke.

If Captain, the Duke of Habicht, was called the Northern Duke, then the Duke of Grittleplus was commonly referred to as the Southern Duke.

However, the appearance and residence of the Southern Duke were not well known, as Grittleplus was geographically quite distant.

So he was a mysterious figure to me.

I never imagined I would see the Southern Duke here.

Moreover, I certainly didn’t expect him to be the captain’s ‘old friend’.

“How did you come to be acquainted with him?”

“We’ll talk about that step by step once we’re inside. It seems to be getting cold now.”

Saying that, the captain stood in front of the massive castle gate, and a person who looked like a servant came out through a small door beside it and asked for the captain’s name and status.

Upon hearing the captain’s answer, the servant was startled and ran back into the castle.

After waiting a bit, the massive castle gate opened and a man came out to greet us.

“Martin! It’s been so long!”

The man who approached us with such a welcoming voice was wrapped in expensive clothes.

Thanks to that, I could immediately recognize who he was.

He was probably Edbert, the owner of this castle and the ruler of this land, the Southern Duke.

I quietly stood behind the captain and observed Edbert’s appearance.

As expected, he was a man with a slightly different appearance from the northerners.

His skin was a healthy bronze color and his hair was slightly wavy and black.

His body was muscular like the captain’s, and he was similarly tall.

However, unlike the captain, he was wearing very thin clothes, so his muscular physique was clearly visible through the fabric.

Seemingly quite fond of the captain, Edbert immediately approached and embraced him as soon as he came out.

Then, finally noticing me standing behind him, he asked,

“Who is this beautiful lady?”

Before the captain could answer his question, I bowed my head and replied first.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Grace. I am Yulia von Schnesternen… the vice-captain of the Silver Knights.”

“Oh!”

As soon as he heard my introduction, he exclaimed in surprise.

Then, abandoning the captain he had been embracing, he started to approach me.

“Are you that Yulia?”

“You know of me?”

“Of course. Even in the south here, there’s no one who doesn’t know of the Silver Knights.”

He revealed his delight with his jovial features and continued,

“The knight with silver hair, Yulia von Schnesternen. They say that with her powerful ability and excellent martial skills, her exploits could fill ten volumes if written down?”

“You flatter me. All those exploits were only possible with the help of the captain and my dear comrades.”

“And modest too. I’ve always wanted to meet you, but to think I’d see you like this…”

He reached out and grasped my hand.

“I heard from the servant that you wish to stay here. A valiant knight like you is more than welcome to stay. I hope you’ll stay comfortably in my castle for a long-”

“You’re still overly familiar as ever.”

Just as Edbert was greeting me while holding my hand, the captain intervened between us, saying that.

He glared at Edbert with eyes that were even fiercer than usual.

“There’s no need to hold hands while greeting, is there?”

“Hmm?”

Hearing the captain’s reproach, Edbert opened his eyes wide and looked at the captain.

Then he soon burst into laughter, “Haha!”

“Aren’t you being too stingy just because I held your subordinate’s hand a little? Anyone would think I had grabbed your fiancée’s hand.”

“…”

“Huh? You’re not denying it…?”

As Edbert muttered with a bewildered look, the captain heaved a deep sigh.

“You’re still overly familiar and overly oblivious.”

“Wait, does that mean… Is it true?”

In place of the tired-looking captain, I nodded and replied.

“My introduction was insufficient. I am not only the vice-captain of the Silver Knights, but also the fiancée of Duke Martin von Habicht.”

“…”

“That is, I am indeed his fiancée.”

We kept it a secret from the other members out of embarrassment, but since Edbert was the captain’s friend, I just honestly revealed our relationship.

Moreover, the south was so far away that even if Edbert spread rumors about our relationship here and there, those rumors wouldn’t reach the north where we lived.

So when I honestly revealed our relationship, Edbert slowly looked at the captain again and said,

“Actually, I was worried that there might be something wrong with your sexual function. You seemed so uninterested in women. But you got engaged to such a beauty without me knowing?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his light joke.

Worried that there might be something wrong with his sexual function?

The captain’s sexual function was so good it was almost a problem.

He could make love to me repeatedly without tiring.

Anyway, I thought he would immediately refute having his important function doubted, but surprisingly, the part the captain pointed out was completely different.

“Yes, we got engaged after many hardships. So, could you stop fiddling with her hand?”

Hearing the captain’s words, Edbert burst into loud laughter.

“I’ll be careful not to hold hands in the future. I don’t want to be thoroughly beaten by that solid fist of yours.”

After that, he moved away from me with his characteristic light movements.

He was a light man in both actions and speech.

Still, as if he was indeed the owner of this castle, he led the way into the castle without hesitation and said,

“Now then, follow me. I’ll give you the best night here.”