“Take it.”

“What is this?”

“The results of this expedition.”

“……”

Alicia reluctantly accepted the documents Eric handed over.

‘What on earth did I expect.’

Blaming herself, Alicia read the first page of the received document.

“Eric. Isn’t this confidential?”

“There’s nothing that falls under confidentiality.”

Alicia lifted her head and glanced at Eric, who was looking at the documents.

For someone who had just returned from fighting monsters, he looked fine without any signs of fatigue.

Having just washed, his hair was slightly damp and naturally disheveled, and he was only wearing a white shirt, but the sight of him looking at her with his sleeves rolled up was subtly distracting.

Then, startled, Alicia quickly shook her head.

‘Ugh. Why am I really like this.’

Earlier, with that one phrase ‘Want to stay over’, her mind went blank as if all thought had stopped, and since then her mind had been constantly complicated.

She knows well that it has no meaning.

There’s no way he would say something like that to someone he’s not close to.

Even though she knew, she couldn’t believe what kind of expectation she had, it was absurd even to herself.

“Why? Do you have something to say?”

“Not at all.”

When Eric looked up from the documents and their eyes met, Alicia hastily turned her eyes to the documents.

Looking puzzled, Eric put the documents down on the table.

“What’s wrong? You seem unable to concentrate at all.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I thought you’d be happy if I showed you since you were interested last time.”

“…… I’m looking at it diligently. It’s interesting.”

Ignoring Eric’s gaze that seemed to say ‘There seems to be something’, Alicia tried to focus on the documents.

“Only one type came out? The same type as last time?”

“Yes.”

“Then there’s a high possibility it’s the same magician, right?”

“How on earth do you know such things?”

“I was curious, so I went to the Great Temple library a few more times, and everyone just told me.”

“…… It’s not particularly confidential, but do they just tell you like this? About magicians?”

When Eric asked in bewilderment, Alicia shrugged.

Eventually, Eric chuckled and continued.

“I’ll send the investigated data to the Great Temple. We need to see if there’s anything that matches with the previous data.”

“The priests were worried that there’s almost no data left due to the accident 10 years ago.”

“That’s right. How was the atmosphere at the temple?”

“Everyone seemed to be working hard. They said they deliberately destroyed some related materials after magic was banned. So it seems to be even more difficult.”

“I see.”

“Moreover-.”

Suddenly Alicia lowered her voice and gestured for Eric to come closer.

Puzzled, Eric leaned in close to Alicia’s ear.

“They say the Great Sorcerer is also absent.”

“…… Is that so?”

“So the priests said the sorcerers are very flustered.”

“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Eric nodded with a serious expression.

The fact that the Great Sorcerer was absent was already known and was classified in the current situation.

‘I should tell the Great Priest about controlling the priests’ tongues for revealing confidential information to a civilian.’

Yet, for Alicia who was whispering as if telling a big secret, he decided to pretend not to know.

Looking at Alicia who was now focused on the documents, Eric casually asked while resting his arm on the back of the sofa.

“So nothing happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

Alicia answered indifferently while looking at the documents.

“Is your mother healthy?”

“Yes. She’s fine these days. Ah, your father and mother were also fine.”

“How about your siblings?”

“They’re doing well.”

“Were you worried about me?”

“I was. I really couldn’t sleep-.”

When Alicia looked up in surprise, her eyes met Eric’s, who was grinning.

“You were so worried you couldn’t sleep?”

“That-.”

Feeling her face heating up, Alicia raised the documents to cover her face.

“Why? Why are you covering?”

“I’m not covering, I’m looking at the documents.”

“Ah, why. We haven’t seen each other in a while, why are you covering your face. I missed-.”

Alicia lowered the documents just enough to show her eyes and looked at Eric, who quickly closed his mouth.

This time, Eric raised the documents to cover his face.

“Why are you covering?”

“I’m not covering, I’m looking at the documents.”

In the end, both of them held the documents for a while.

They were smiling, feeling reassured that their faces were hidden behind the documents.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Hey.”

“What is it again?”

“Again? What do you mean again? What have I done again?”

Eric signed the documents and picked up another one without even looking at William, who was grumbling as if wronged.

“Geez. You shouldn’t treat me like this? I came all the way here to tell you something that will move you.”

“?”

“A story about your precious fiancée, don’t you want to hear it?”

Only then did Eric look up.

“Are you pretending to know now that your fiancée is mentioned?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not going to tell you because I’m annoyed.”

Eric frowned, thinking it strange that William was playing hard to get when he had come rushing here as if he was dying to talk.

“…… I would be grateful if you tell me.”

Finally, when Eric asked with a small sigh, William excitedly opened his mouth.

“Her Majesty the Empress gathered the young ladies for a tea party.”

“And?”

“It seems Lady Lancaster was also there, and there was a bit of an incident with Her Majesty the Empress.”

“What kind of incident?”

“Ah-, let’s just skip that. It seems the Duchess has already dealt with it once.”

“Dealt with it?”

“After the Duchess visited, there was a commotion, so it seems Her Majesty the Empress was properly taught a lesson.”

“You mean my mother? To Her Majesty the Empress?”

Seeing Eric’s expression change drastically, William hastily added.

“How angry must she have been for the graceful Duchess to do that. They say she rushed there as soon as she heard about it at the tea party.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, what I want to talk about is not that, but when I happened to meet Lady Lancaster at the palace and told her you were safe and well, she immediately burst into tears-.”

“What?”

Seeing Eric’s surprised expression, William nodded as if he understood.

“I was surprised too. She must have been really worried. I felt so sorry that I was the first to inform her about your return.”

“……”

“So from now on, if you have to be away, return promptly as soon as you’re done. Also, send some news in between.”

“Uh- Um.”

Not knowing how to react, Eric slightly turned his head.

Of course, Alicia had said she was so worried she couldn’t sleep. But he didn’t know it was to the extent of crying in front of everyone.

He felt sorry for making her worry, but at the same time, it didn’t feel bad, no, it felt good, that kind of emotion.

“Commander-. You need to go to the Great Temple for a meeting. Oh, Your Highness.”

Allen opened the door and came in, then hurriedly bowed when he saw William.

William gestured that it was fine with a smile, and Allen approached Eric’s desk with relief.

“Oh? Commander. Are you sick? Why is your face so red?”

“There was a reason for that, so leave it be.”

“What happened?”

When William chuckled, Allen looked curiously back and forth between William and Eric.

“He’s not sick, he’s like that because he’s moved.”

“Moved?”

Allen looked back and forth between William and Eric again with a puzzled expression.

William was still chuckling, and Eric was still covering his red face with his hand and turning his head away.

[This is the timeline separator]

Eric was sitting seriously in his mansion’s study, drawing something on paper.

He drew something like a round pouch and then held it out to the butler.

“Here it’s like this pouch, and it’s hanging like this, anyway, it’s a flower that looks like this.”

“……”

The butler silently stared intently at the paper.

When Eric said he was going to send flowers to Alicia, the butler thought it was surprisingly thoughtful of him, but seeing the drawing, that thought completely disappeared.

‘What is this? So the Count said it was a pouch? Hmm, a drooping pouch? No, a round pouch? Is there a flower called a pouch flower? Does the young lady like such an outlandish flower?’

The butler glanced at Eric.

Seeing Eric’s expectant eyes, he didn’t have the courage to ask what he had drawn.

“Ahem. I believe there are a few flowers that look like this, I’ll call the gardener.”

“Ah. Is that so.”

When Eric nodded, the butler immediately sent someone to call the gardener.

“Ah, I know this.”

“Oh, as expected.”

As expected of a gardener. The butler couldn’t have been more reassured by the gardener who immediately smiled broadly and confidently answered upon seeing the drawing.

“Isn’t this a carnivorous plant? It’s because there’s a seductive smell coming from this pouch, you know. It lures things like flies and drops them in here to eat.”

“……”

Eric’s expression darkened rapidly.

“What nonsense about a carnivorous plant. Ah, that’s right. Isn’t this because you’re looking at it upside down? Since the Count drew it from that side, it seems right to look at it upside down.”

The butler hurriedly flipped the paper upside down and showed it to the gardener.

“A withered carnivorous plant-.”

“Please stop with that carnivorous nonsense.”

The gardener closed his mouth with a ‘hup’ at the butler’s harsh words, which were always polite.

The butler clutched his head, watching Eric’s expression darken even more.

“Count, then at least the color?”

“…… White.”

“Do you remember the size?”

“About this- big? Ah, I think several of them were hanging in a row.”

“Isn’t it lily of the valley?”

“Huh?”

“Doesn’t it look like this?”

The gardener quickly sketched and showed it to Eric.

“Ah, that. I think that’s right.”

“It’s called lily of the valley, also known as May bells.”

“That’s right. May bells. Earlier I couldn’t think of the name like that.”

The butler let out a sigh of relief and asked Eric.

“Shall we send it to the young lady?”

“Please do.”

“How many should we send?”

“How many?”

‘I should know if I’ve ever sent flowers.’

Eric pondered and then said, glancing around slightly.

“Umm. A lot?”

“Yes-. A lot.”

“When should we send it?”

“Hmm. As soon as possible?”

“Yes-. As soon as possible.”

The butler scribbled diligently on a notepad as if taking an order at a restaurant.

“Don’t worry. We’ll search the entire capital if we have to.”

“Is it that hard to find?”

When Eric asked, the gardener answered with a bright smile.

“The season is ending, but there should still be some.”

“Ah, I see. Don’t overdo it.”

“Overdo it? It’s not even close. Right?”

“Yes, yes, of course. If not, we’ll even grow them. We should be able to send them next year.”

“Next year?”

“It’s just a manner of speaking, just speaking. Then I’ll take my leave.”

The butler dragged the gardener out. Only after coming out to the corridor did he let go of the gardener’s hand.

Then he quietly asked the gardener.

“Carnivorous plant?”

“Well-, when has the Count ever asked about flowers? I didn’t expect him to ask about something so normal.”

“Even so, a carnivorous plant? Did you trade your tact for candy or something?”

“That may be true, but if you had told me from the beginning that it was for the young lady, would I have ever said it was a carnivorous plant?”

The butler clicked his tongue and glared at the gardener who was protesting as if wronged, then shook his head and moved on.

The gardener followed behind with quick steps.

“Anyway, we need to send the carniv… I mean, lily of the valley to the young lady quickly, so let’s mobilize all the people we know.”

“Understood, Butler.”

And two days later, at the Lancaster Count’s residence, Alicia was speechless, staring at the flowers Eric had sent.