“It’s okay-.”

“Alright, alright. Thank you.”

Eric smiled helplessly as he lifted his head and started walking while holding the twins.

“I have no choice but to return to the knights’ order for now. Let’s take them along.”

When they returned to the carriage William had left behind, the coachman was startled to see Eric suddenly appear holding the children.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

The coachman hurriedly lowered his gaze and opened the carriage door.

‘But whose children are they? Are they the Count’s children? I thought I heard he was engaged, but was he actually married?’

Sitting on the coachman’s seat, he tilted his head at the question that arose.

Anyway, seeing the Russell Knight Commander taking children to the knights’ order in such an emergency situation, it must not be an ordinary relationship.

Just in case, the coachman firmly gripped the reins, determined to drive the carriage carefully.

Inside the carriage, Eric carefully seated Ryan and Laila next to him.

“Where are we going?”

“To the knights’ order. Do you remember the knight uncles from before?”

“Umm-.”

The twins put their hands on their chins and tilted their heads in exactly the same way.

“We’re going to see those uncles.”

“Why?”

“Why, you ask?”

Eric almost gave in to the temptation to say ‘Because that guy abandoned you and ran away,’ but he barely held back.

“Chase is busy.”

Then he stared at the twins for a moment before asking in a voice that tried to be gentle:

“Don’t you want to come with me? Would you rather be with Chase?”

“Umm.”

‘You’re hesitating? You’re actually hesitating? How could you do this to me?’

Just as he was about to feel shocked by the betrayal, the twins looked at Eric and smiled brightly.

“I want to go with elder brother.”

“I wanna go with elder bwother.”

“Good. That’s how it should be.”

Eric’s mood immediately improved as the twins hugged his arms tightly.

‘Ah, no. This isn’t the time to feel happy about this. What should I do when I take them to the knights’ order right away? Lord Edinburgh will be waiting because of the meeting.’

Eric frowned for a moment in thought, but there was no particularly good solution.

“······I’ll figure something out when we get there.”

Right now, Eric was too mentally and physically exhausted to think of a rational solution.

[This is the timeline separator]

Until they arrived at the knights’ order and entered the meeting room, they received all kinds of looks from people passing by.

The fortunate thing was that the children didn’t cry or whine even once, and stayed quietly in his arms.

If they had started wailing in the unfamiliar environment, it really would have been a disaster.

Moreover, this was the knights’ order.

Unlike last time, there was no one here who could properly take care of children if things got out of hand.

While he was contemplating whether to entrust them to his subordinates, he ran into Lord Edinburgh in the hallway.

He looked back and forth between Eric and the twins before speaking indifferently.

“······The children are the spitting image of their mother.”

“They’re not.”

“Ah. I thought it was strange. They seemed too big to be your children.”

“My lord. Your joke isn’t funny.”

“Is that so.”

Ryan and Laila clung tightly to Eric’s neck and stared at Lord Edinburgh.

‘It’s hot.’

Whether it was because his neck felt strangled, or it was actually hot, or both, Eric didn’t dare to pull the children away for fear they might cry.

“Why on earth did you bring the children?”

“There was no one to watch them, sir.”

“Hmm. That is quite a troublesome situation.”

“Indeed it is. Alicia’s friend who was watching them left suddenly.”

“Where’s big sis?”

“What?”

“Where’s elder brother and big sis?”

“!”

Eric frowned as if he had been hit on the head by those words.

He’d been had.

‘This bastard dumped the kids on me and went off alone with Alicia······!’

“My lord. The children for a moment.”

“What?”

Although it sounded absurd, Eric’s voice was so serious that Lord Edinburgh reflexively took the twins.

“One hour will be enough.”

“What?”

“Look, if the children get startled and have a fit······hmm?”

Ryan and Laila giggled as they snuggled into Lord Edinburgh’s arms.

“Then I’ll leave them in your care.”

With those final words, Eric hurriedly left the scene.

Hearing the children’s voices from outside, the First Knight Order subordinates who had come out wondering what was going on froze in surprise when they saw their commander holding the twins.

“Commander? Why are you holding children?”

“It just ended up this way. Anyway, can we delay the meeting by about an hour?”

“Ah, that’s possible. But shouldn’t we check Commander Russell’s schedule?”

“I’ve already agreed with Commander Russell. So let’s start in an hour.”

“Understood.”

The subordinates went back into the meeting room, marveling at how the twins weren’t crying at all despite being held by the intimidating Lord Edinburgh.

Then Lord Edinburgh began to carefully, if a bit clumsily, rock the children in his arms.

[This is the timeline separator]

The Emperor was sitting alone in his office with a serious expression, staring at an envelope.

There was nothing unusual about the letter itself, but the seal on the envelope was special.

‘It’s been a while since I received an official letter from the Zero Knight Order Commander.’

The Emperor opened the envelope with a solemn face.

“Ho. A recommendation for an acting commander.”

Now that the existence of magical beasts and magicians had been confirmed, this was a situation where the Zero Knight Order should be moving.

However, due to the absence of the commander, they hadn’t been able to utilize the Zero Knight Order until now.

The Emperor had also been pondering this problem, but who would have thought a direct recommendation for an acting commander would come from the Zero Knight Order Commander himself?

If it was someone the commander personally recommended, even the notoriously closed-off Zero Knight Order members would follow. At least on the surface.

The Emperor continued reading the letter, then paused at a familiar name written in it.

“Hmm. He really recommended this person?”

The Emperor stroked his chin with interest.

But it was an understandable appointment. There was no one with more recent experience facing magical beasts than that person.

“When did he investigate all this? He’s as thorough as ever.”

The letter presented the Emperor with evidence for the recommendation, including the candidate’s background, achievements, evaluation of skills, leadership, and reputation.

The Emperor put down the letter and fell into thought.

It was clearly the most suitable candidate, and there were no other alternatives.

The Emperor picked up his pen and signed the appointment letter.

“Acting Commander of the Zero Knight Order, Eric Russell Gloucester.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Around the time the Emperor was officially placing another duty on Eric, the person in question was riding his horse at full speed towards the place where he had met Chase earlier.

As soon as he arrived, he jumped off, tied up his horse, and looked around the table area where Chase and the twins had been sitting.

‘They were eating ice cream earlier, right?’

He entered the ice cream shop visible a short distance away.

“Welcome!”

“Do you remember the man and woman who bought ice cream for twins sitting at that table outside earlier?”

“Ah-.”

The clerk, flustered by Eric’s low voice that sounded like an interrogation, quickly tried to recall.

“Um, well, a young couple did come with pretty twins-.”

“······Couple? Haa. She’s my woman, you know?”

“Ah, I’m so sorry!! I apologize!!”

Even though his tone was quiet rather than angry, the clerk unconsciously bowed his head to Eric and kept apologizing.

Faced with a situation that seemed ridiculous no matter how he thought about it, Eric put his hand to his head, looking tired, and quietly asked:

“So where did they go?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking where that woman went.”

“Ah, if you mean that lady, she went towards the bookstore earlier-.”

Before the frightened clerk could finish stammering out his answer, Eric left the shop without hesitation.

“What’s going on? Why is it so noisy?”

The owner, who had been in the storage room, came out grumbling and walked to the counter.

“Ah, boss. There was a customer who-.”

“Customer?”

The clerk’s face quickly crumpled.

“He was such a pitiful customer. It seems his wife ran off with another man. He came to catch her.”

“What? He came to catch his runaway wife?”

“Yes, you know, the one who came with those twins earlier.”

“Oh my, what has the world come to? How can she brazenly walk around outside like that?”

“I know, right? That woman didn’t seem like that type at all. You really can’t judge people by their appearances.”

The clerk and the owner sighed and shook their heads, worrying about the state of the world.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Where’s the bookstore?”

Eric was walking while looking at signs and glancing around.

“Eric?”

Just then, he heard Alicia’s voice from behind.

Eric slowly turned his head.

“What are you doing here? Isn’t this your work time? Or are you perhaps finished already?”

Alicia walked towards him with a pleased expression, holding books in her arms.

Seeing her like that, Eric finally realized.

Leaving after seeing the twins, saying he was going to catch Chase – those were all just excuses, and he had simply wanted to see this woman.

“Eric?”

“······.”

Alicia, who had come close, examined Eric’s expression as he just stared at her blankly.

It seemed strange that he wasn’t saying anything and just looking at her with an unreadable expression.

He looked like someone who had experienced something major, which made her suddenly worried.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Alicia’s concerned voice sounded slow and muffled in Eric’s ears, as if from far away.

It seemed like he had had a lot to say before meeting her, but now he couldn’t remember any of it.

There was only one thing he wanted to say right now.

“I love you.”

“!”

Alicia’s eyes widened at the unexpected confession.

Seeing her surprised expression, Eric blushed and covered his mouth with his hand.

It wasn’t intentional, it had just suddenly burst out, but perhaps because of that, it was more honest and sincere.

So Eric slowly emphasized each word as he said it again.

“I love you, Alicia.”

“······.”

“It might not be the right time or place, but I wanted to say it anyway.”

Although he was afraid of Alicia, who was still just staring at him with a surprised face, Eric steadfastly waited for her to speak.

“I love you too.”

Alicia answered with a bright smile.

He was happy.

He was already happy that Eric had suddenly appeared before her, but he was even happier that Eric had said the words she most wanted to hear.

So.

“I don’t mind.”

“?”

“Why do we need the right time and place when Eric, who said those words to me, is here right now.”

“This is really driving me crazy.”

Alicia, looking at him with her flushed face and smiling, was incredibly lovable.

What should he do with this woman?

She keeps making him think of cheesy words he never thought he’d use in his life.

How can she be this beautiful every single time?

Now even her words are beautiful.

Feeling as if someone was constantly tickling her gently, Alicia shyly lowered her head slightly.

Even that gesture was so alluring that Eric couldn’t stand it and took a step closer to Alicia.

And just as he was about to reach out his arms towards Alicia, an unwelcome voice was heard.

“Oh my, elder brother. You’re back?”