“Ah, did you come to explain?”

“I thought I should.”

“Why go to such lengths? You must be busy.”

“I’m not busy at all.”

Eric awkwardly replied and observed Alicia, who was smiling.

He felt a little, no, very disappointed.

Alicia seemed completely unbothered, to the point where he wondered why he had rushed over like a madman.

‘What is this complex, subtle emotion? This feeling of relief yet not feeling relieved at the same time.’

Eric was flustered by this unfamiliar emotion.

Alicia gazed at him intently.

Gulp.

Even though Alicia was smiling casually, when their eyes met, Eric unconsciously swallowed dry saliva.

Alicia finally put down her pen and spoke again, enunciating each word.

“There’s no need to be so tense. I’m not bothered at all.”

“……”

Eric looked at Alicia for a moment, then closed his mouth with a displeased expression.

“Why that expression?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“You came early for once, why don’t you go rest?”

“No, it’s fine. Just continue what you were doing.”

“I will. I have some urgent matters right now.”

Alicia picked up her pen again and turned her eyes to the documents.

With an even more sullen expression than before, Eric stared at her intently and grumbled inwardly.

‘I understand she’s busy, but still, there’s a woman here, there’s a child here, and this is what she’s focusing on? Really?’

It would be better if he just sat on the sofa, but Eric standing right in front and staring was distracting, so Alicia finally put down her pen and looked up.

“…You’re really distracting me.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Your expression says otherwise.”

“……”

“Did you really want me to grab your hair or something?”

“…I don’t know what you mean.”

Though he said that, Eric’s inner thoughts were intense.

‘Yes, I’d rather you did that. Grab my hair or get angry, you should at least let me explain. How can you be so unbothered?

This isn’t typical behavior for a fiancée, is it? Isn’t this a breach of contract? Isn’t this a violation of the duty of good faith?’

“Eric.”

Alicia’s voice was low as she spoke with a sigh.

Startled by that voice, Eric’s body reflexively flinched and then froze.

Feeling apologetic, Alicia smiled awkwardly.

“Eric, actually-”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Eh?”

Alicia looked at Eric in surprise, but Eric’s expression was serious.

“I won’t see her again. I won’t even go near there.”

“!”

‘No, why are you saying you won’t see her so easily? What about all the help up until now?’

Something stirred in Alicia’s heart.

She was flustered, sorry, and complicated, so Alicia hesitated before speaking.

“I didn’t mean to hear such words.”

“?”

“I was going to say it’s really okay because I know why Eric did it.”

Seeing Eric still looking at her as if not fully grasping the situation, Alicia smiled apologetically.

If she had known it would be like this, she should have spoken properly from the beginning instead of teasing.

“So what I mean is, you don’t have to worry about Miss Eugenie.”

“…How do you know about Lady Eugenie?”

“Huh?”

Alicia closed her mouth in surprise.

She couldn’t bring herself to say that she had barged into that café since early morning and found out that way.

“That’s not what’s important right now, is it? Isn’t the important thing that I’m not misunderstanding?”

“That’s true.”

“Were you that worried?”

“Yes.”

“If I said I didn’t like it, were you really going to stop seeing her?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You said you didn’t like it?”

Alicia’s expression subtly changed at Eric’s matter-of-fact reply.

Not noticing, Eric smiled with relief and then suddenly asked with concern after seeing Alicia’s complexion.

“But why do you look like that? You don’t look well.”

“I’m tired. I couldn’t sleep because I was worried.”

“Ah, you were worried?”

“……”

Eric grinned as if pleased.

“So you were worried after all?”

“No, just a little.”

Now that Eric seemed to have found his composure, he asked mischievously.

“It doesn’t seem like Allen told you, so how did you know about Lady Eugenie? Did you go see her yourself?”

“……”

“You did, didn’t you? Why? What were you curious about?”

“I just stopped by briefly on my way somewhere.”

“Aha. You just stopped by briefly. To grab her hair or something?”

“Me? No way. That’s nonsense.”

Looking at Alicia flatly denying it, Eric grinned and asked casually.

“What’s with this reaction? Were you perhaps jealous?”

“No, not really. Just…”

“Ah, you were.”

“……”

Eric’s grinning was annoying, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

So Alicia briefly feigned ignorance, hoping this awkward feeling would quickly disappear, before asking.

“What kind of person was that senior?”

“That senior?”

Seeing right through her intention to change the subject, Eric smiled slightly and decided to go along with it.

But his expression was serious as he answered.

“Someone I could trust with my back.”

Even Alicia, who wasn’t a knight, had heard before that someone you could trust with your back meant someone you could completely trust.

“He was someone with a lot to learn from. And above all, he was my lifesaver.”

“Lifesaver?”

“He died because of me.”

“!”

“I was all enthusiasm and knew nothing back then. So I fell into a trap, and he overexerted himself trying to save me and died in battle.”

“……”

“At that time, Toby wasn’t even born yet. His wife was pregnant, and he was so happy about it before leaving for battle.”

The image of Toby, who called a grown man ‘Dad’, flashed through Alicia’s mind.

“When I went to deliver the news of his death, Lady Eugenie didn’t cry or blame me. Rather, I was the one who cried, ridiculously enough.”

“So that’s why you started helping Lady Eugenie?”

“It’s not easy for a commoner woman to give birth and raise a child alone.”

“That’s true.”

“Besides, I don’t know when or where something might happen to me, so I have to do what I can when I can.”

Eric’s voice and eyes were calm, but Alicia thought his heart must not be.

How many subordinates’ deaths must he have witnessed, not just Eugenie’s husband.

Her heart ached.

So she gently took Eric’s hand.

“What’s this, suddenly?”

“Comfort.”

“Ah.”

“I mean it.”

Eric looked at their overlapping hands for a moment.

How could such small and delicate hands be so warm?

If he had received such comfort from Alicia back then, could he have overcome it faster?

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“……”

Eric suddenly felt as if he had been doused with cold water at Alicia’s murmur.

Alicia making the same expression as Lady Eugenie back then.

He didn’t like it.

Eric removed Alicia’s hand that was holding his.

“?”

“Nothing will happen during the contract period.”

“What about after the contract ends?”

“Don’t you remember the special clause? Once it’s over, we won’t meet or contact each other. Even if something happens to me, you won’t know, so it’ll be fine-”

Puck-

Eric looked at Alicia in bewilderment after suddenly being hit with a cushion.

“What does the special clause matter? If something happens to you, the whole empire will know, so how could I not know? That’s a real violation, you know? Just try letting me find out that way. I’ll sue for breach of contract, I will.”

“……”

“Just try getting into trouble without me around. I’ll find out somehow and really make you pay damages. You think I can’t?”

Eric looked at the fuming Alicia with a strange expression.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Hm? Am I?”

“I’m so angry I could die, why are you smiling?”

At Alicia’s rebuke, Eric covered his mouth in surprise.

He didn’t know.

‘I really am smiling.’

Trying to hide his face due to an inexplicable emotion, Eric lowered his head for a moment before raising it again.

Then he spoke jokingly with a forced smile.

“I’ll have to survive until the end. If I get caught by you, it seems I’ll be stripped of everything down to the dust and kicked out naked.”

“Of course. I know all the details of your assets.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Eric laughed as he joked, causing Alicia to laugh along in the end.

But inside, she couldn’t laugh.

Just imagining it made her feel hurt and difficult, causing her to choke up without realizing.

‘This is strange.’

Alicia wasn’t originally an emotional person.

From the time she misunderstood Eric and Eugenie, her emotions had been surging like big waves, and now they were jumping wildly at just a single word from Eric.

‘I don’t know how to handle this every time.’

It was troublesome.

She had never experienced this before, so she didn’t know how to control her feelings.

Just as she was about to sink into contemplation with her confused heart, Alicia snapped back to attention at the sudden sound Eric made.

“Oh no.”

“What is it?”

“I forgot I had a meeting.”

Eric frowned and ruffled his hair.

He had planned to briefly stop by to explain to Alicia and return right away, but he had forgotten in all the confusion.

“Shouldn’t you hurry and go?”

“It’s already too late. Even if I go now, it’ll be over. Allen will have taken care of it.”

Can Allen be trusted?

Seeming to understand what Alicia’s expression meant, Eric laughed shortly.

“That guy may not look it, but he’s capable. Besides, it wasn’t that important of a meeting, so he’ll handle it well. More importantly-”

Eric grinned and immediately asked Alicia.

“Since it’s come to this, what shall we do today? We have a lot of time left.”

“Is it okay not to go back?”

“It’s fine. Let’s just say I’ve clocked out for the day.”

“Being a commander sure is nice. Just leaving work whenever you want.”

“I worked really hard up until now.”

Seeing Eric laughing and joking, Alicia nodded as if there was no helping it.

‘Damn it. I can’t believe there was actually a schedule at the imperial palace.’

Allen, who had entered the palace in Eric’s place, rolled his eyes as he sat at the meeting.

After Eric had rushed out, he had only then grasped Eric’s schedule through confirmation with the adjutant, and when Eric didn’t show up even though it was time, he thoughtlessly entered the meeting room as a proxy, only to find the emperor himself seated.

‘Well, it’s my fault for not properly grasping the commander’s schedule and meeting agenda.’

‘But still, how could he skip a meeting presided over by His Majesty unless he’s gone mad?’

Allen held his head with an expression mixed with trouble and irritation.

At that moment, as the emperor wrapped up the brief meeting, he finally asked.

“What happened to Earl Russell?”