Yuan stood still for a while, feeling somewhat dazed. The state of his heart, pounding as if it might burst, slowly stabilized. Feeling a bit drained, Yuan chuckled softly.

“Dying isn’t much of a problem for her. Even if it hurts enough to die, in the end, she didn’t die.”

“Yes.”

But Clad looked serious. Yuan, again feeling the strength of the shoulders that held him tightly, looked up at him with a faint smile.

“I promise.”

As if extracting a light that seemed to flicker momentarily from his eyes, dark as an endless underground, Yuan answered very carefully but firmly.

“I will never die in front of you.”

The strength in Clad’s hand increased. The heat that started from his body passed through his wet clothes to Yuan’s soaked clothes and eventually heated her skin, penetrating to the heart.

From a distance, the sound of hoofbeats approaching them became closer. The carriage with the emblem of Roksenhardt was coming through the rain.

Yuan looked silently at the pouring rain again, thinking for no apparent reason about the ticklish and warm feeling that was rising.

This moment, being embraced in the rain, felt happy… he thought.

Having a home to return to.

Having someone by your side who says you can do anything as long as you don’t die.

“What happened outside that you’re so enthusiastic, Your Highness? Did you perhaps get hit by eggs?”

“Don’t be cheeky.”

“Since you’re now whining without even having lunch, this is what I’m talking about.”

Ranslet, who came early in the morning to the black mansion to hear the impressions of the first territory inspection, pointed to the sandwich left by Butler Gustav.

“Why aren’t you feeding me? Do you think my mashed potatoes with carrots and onions are not tasty?”

“It’s absurd.”

“Oh, now that exactly matches the impression I have of you!”

Ranslet swept her clean caramel-colored hair, lifted the top part of the pile of documents like a tower, and tapped it lightly.

According to Maxime’s report, the commercial district seemed to be empty due to the shortage of hands in spring, and Lord Clad, the lord, seemed very dissatisfied and bewildered.

Moreover, there was a heavy rain in the middle of the territory inspection, and it was said to be a complete failure.

Clad, who should be in the bedroom, has been missing for a long time, and it seemed like he was pretending to be busy alone in the dusty office that had been used only by Leve men for the past ten years, as if he had become someone else.

He seemed flustered by the speed of putting his hands on the work that he had gradually started to touch one by one, as if he was going to see all of it at once, as he followed the changes in his body that had been improving little by little.

“You’ve worked hard until now, Ranslet. For a guy who only used his body.”

“Has my time to die come…?”

“Tell Edie and Osuk also.”
“If it were Edie, it might be okay, but wouldn’t your father be so delighted if you personally told him that you’d be peeing with joy?”

Sharp and cold gazes collided at the same time.

Ranslet quickly noticed that the intensely sparkling eyes were not the color she had seen over the past ten years but resembled the gaze she had when she first clashed swords with him ten years ago.

Eyes before the dreadful curse.

The brilliant color she glimpsed for a moment brightened Ranslet’s heart after ten years.

“Yeah, what scheme could our lord, who only has land without any title, be planning?”

Carrying a heavy heart, Ranslet moved toward Clad, buried in documents.

The densely written handwriting didn’t seem ordinary.

“……Huh?”

“The so-called center city of Roksenhardt. Glorious and glittering like before. We should make it more interesting.”

“Don’t speak so innocently. Read exactly what you wrote here.”

“…….?”

“Empty your coffers, even if it means Central Roksenhardt becomes a commercial city?”

“It sounds like asking for a miracle. Do you think your parents loved this city just because there were many forests? A terrain with no mountains in the northwest corner. Beyond the northern forest, there is a port where you can exit to another continent without the threat of monsters. Pour in gold, and it will be more than possible within ten years.”

Ranslet looked at the neatly finished stack of documents with her lips pursed.

“You did this in a day? Didn’t you sleep?”

Ranslet opened her mouth in surprise but closed it soon after.

… He must have slept.

Clad’s face, which did not look tired at all, had a vitality that would not slip even if a fly sat on it.

“Because of your wife?”

His nervous hand, which had been working cleanly on the already finished stack of documents, paused for a moment.

Having captured another moment, Ranslet stuck out her tongue.

“Did your wife look around the territory and seem disappointed? Or maybe our lord wanted to show her something good but couldn’t, and he felt embarrassed? So, you want to make the city rich and sparkling. Is that it?”

“Who would do such an important thing for such an absurd reason?”

“You’re doing it, Clad.”