So, the Duke didn’t need to be there, and it seemed they could return to the mansion right away.

Lina was calculating the distance from Denver to the Permanent Territory, snapping her fingers.

“If Denver is a town in the Minolta Territory, let’s see…….”

Muttering and estimating the distance, it seemed that it would take three days of nonstop carriage travel to arrive in the Permanent Territory.

“So we have to take the carriage for a long time again……?”

Lina seemed to sigh at the thought of another carriage journey.

She wanted to use teleportation magic to return to the Permanent Territory, but in the first place, the distance she could travel by teleportation wasn’t very far.

‘At most. I can only get to the village entrance from here.’

Lina looked at the distant village entrance and exhaled a short breath. Then, as she was turning to return to the inn.

Suddenly, Lina stopped walking.

“Wait.”

Suddenly, a piece of memory she had forgotten came into her head.

“But why couldn’t I use magic that day?”

The day when the ground collapsed and she fell into the Curpit River. She had chanted the spell for teleportation several times. But.

“The magic didn’t activate.”

Lina put her hand on her chest. It felt empty.

Yes, she had felt this way that day. Like a full cup of water was empty.

‘Was it because of the Hyperion’s magic removal?’

Removing Hyperion’s magic required injecting the magician’s power into the tree. She knew it would consume a lot of power, but.

She had been restraining herself from using magic, so she didn’t even know how much power she had.

“I used too much power that day…….”

Closing her eyes and feeling the magic flowing through her body, it seemed that it would take quite some time to fully recover.

“I shouldn’t use magic for a while.”

She promised herself not to use magic until it was fully recovered.

“Huh? By the way, it’s already time…….”

She walked around the village thoughtlessly, and it seemed much time had passed. With a sudden realization, Lina’s pace quickened towards the inn.

Sure enough, she caught the eye of Valige, who seemed to be looking for her. The Duke approached her, his face relieved at seeing her.

“I think I’ll have to go straight to the capital.”

“The capital?”

“Yes, you go straight to the Permanent Territory. They will go with you.”
The Duke pointed to the other knights who came with Lawrence and spoke. As Lina scanned the knights he mentioned, she met eyes with Lawrence, who was looking at her.

Ugh.

‘He might kill someone with that look alone.’

She subtly avoided Lawrence’s gaze, which was staring at her with burning eyes.

‘I thought we were going back to Permanence together.’

The mood was somewhat off just now. Lina’s shoulders drooped slightly in disappointment.

The Duke put his hand on Lina’s shoulder and said,

“I’ll be waiting at the mansion. We’ll leave soon. And,”

Valige lowered his head and whispered in Lina’s ear,

“It would be good to think about the answer to the question I asked you.”

Ah.

As she stood with a dumbfounded face, unable to say anything, Valige chuckled and tousled her hair.

It was a smile he had never shown before. That unfamiliar face made her quiet heart throb.

(This is a time separator.)

“We have finally arrived.”

It took two full days to reach the Permanence mansion. Although it was her workplace, it felt like home after living there for three years.

Lina, who got off the carriage, moved her wornout body and entered the mansion.

“I need to take a bath quickly and rest in bed.”

She was full of fatigue, having not washed or slept properly for days.

“After soaking in warm water [dash].”

But then. As she was lightly stepping toward her room, she felt a murmur from behind.

‘What’s that?’

When she turned around to the whispering sound, the mansion’s people who had been watching her hurriedly turned their heads and pretended not to see.

‘Something is strange.’

She had been watched and murmured about many times, but this time it was a little different. There were mixed glances of ridicule and perhaps sympathy towards her.

Lina, who did not know what happened while she was away, simply cocked her head.

Then she resumed walking to her room and found May, who was cleaning the hallway.

“May!”

“Lina?”

May, who stopped cleaning and turned her head at the calling, widened her eyes as if surprised when she saw Lina.

“May, it’s been a while! Have you been well?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. You’ve been well too?”

But May’s attitude was oddly strange. She couldn’t even look Lina in the eyes, just staring at the broom.

Feeling that something was wrong, Lina asked May,

“May, was there something going on at the mansion while I was gone?”

“Huh?”

At her question, May’s face quickly darkened.

“That, that is….”

May stuttered, seemingly unable to answer.

“Something did happen. What is it? Tell me quickly.”

“Actually….”

“Yes?”

Hesitating, May finally seemed to make up her mind and met Lina’s eyes.

“……The Duke’s fiancée has come to the mansion.”