“Kirian, you have to catch the fire salamander.”

The fire salamander was a small creature the size of a palm. Shooting fire salamanders into the night sky on the last day of the festival, bursting into various colored flames, was a tradition unique to the ducal house.

“We can’t ask the guests, and the servants don’t have time because of other tasks, so you’re the only one suitable for this.”

Kirian grimaced at the Duchess’s point, but he couldn’t argue. And I found myself absurdly pondering. Mumbling without realizing it.

“Should I go catch the salamander too…….?”

The Duchess jumped up as soon as I spoke.

“Absolutely not! If my daughter’s fernlike hands get hurt……!”

Whether she had turned pale just by imagining it, the Duchess staggered for a moment. The fire salamander was small but aggressive, and if you were not careful, you could get bitten.

However, the Duchess’s reaction was as if she was sure that my hand would be severed. It would be more of a problem to catch the swift salamander than to get bitten.

But when the Duchess trembled, I had no choice but to wave my hand and laugh awkwardly.

“Haha. I was just saying.”

“I’ll do it.”

Esmeralda spoke confidently. Glancing at Kirian again, she showed her everpresent magical book around her neck.

“I may lack sword skills, but I think I can catch it with magic.”

When I stepped forward, the Duchess vehemently discouraged me, but when Esmeralda, who seemed more delicate than me, volunteered, she nodded.

“You are the daughter of the Marquis of Majine, right, yes.”

The Duchess smiled brightly, pointing at Kirian and Esmeralda.

“So, then. Collaborate well. Kirian can do the hard work and take care of the guests.”

Esmeralda’s bright smile was utterly beautiful, but for some reason, I didn’t feel very good.

(This is a time divider.)

The two who went to catch the fire salamander entered the forest path around the ducal mansion.

To keep up with Kirian’s swift strides, Esmeralda had to run in little hops, her face filled with excitement.

Upon reaching a small spring, Esmeralda glanced at Kirian with subtle anticipation.

She had brought her most cherished dresses to the ducal mansion, wanting to look pretty, and today she wore a fluffy skirt again.

It would be difficult for her to cross the spring alone, so a small hope arose that Kirian, being a gentleman, might take her hand.

However, Kirian, who crossed the small spring in one go, did not even look back and continued straight on.
Esmeralda hurriedly gathered her skirt and stepped on the mosscovered cobblestone.

“Ah!”

Her thin silk slipper slipped on the moist moss. Esmeralda flailed her arms to regain her balance but it was in vain. Her nose was just inches from the spring water.

Thud.

Her neck was caught and she was suddenly on the other side.

“Why did you come wearing such uncomfortable clothes?”

Kirian glanced at Esmeralda, dusting off his hand as if annoyed, and then muttered so she couldn’t hear,

“There’s hardly any time as it is.”

He wanted to gather the required fire lizards as quickly as possible and return to the Duke’s residence.

When Kirian’s eyes met hers, Esmeralda’s cheeks flushed slightly.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Kirian responded without a word, hurrying his pace again, but a shy smile lingered on Esmeralda’s lips for a long time.

Finally, they arrived at the courtyard where the lizards basked in the late afternoon sun. The large rock in the center of the yard was filled with lizards warming their bodies.

Kirian, crouching behind nearby bushes, kept his eyes on the rock. If he wanted to finish quickly, he had to sweep them all at once.

But if he moved rashly, the sensitive lizards would scatter in the blink of an eye.

“If only there was a way to lure them.”

Kirian whispered, lost in thought.

“Do lizards like fire?”

Esmeralda asked cautiously, sitting awkwardly next to Kirian. When Kirian turned to look at her, she bashfully played with her hair.

“The name has ‘fire’ in it.”

Kirian nodded briefly, responding dryly.

“They like fire. They even eat it.”

The lizard, which warmed its cold blood with the fire in its stomach, was the first to appear where there was a wildfire, and occasionally lit a fire by chewing on dry branches.

Had it not been for its habit of rushing at people walking in the forest and biting their toes, it would have been classified as a relatively tame monster.

Esmeralda immediately opened her magic book.

“I’ll light a fire to lure them!”

With only enthusiasm leading her, Esmeralda placed her hand on the book and infused it with magic. Then a wind blew, and a fire ignited in the bush in front of them.

“Oh!”

Esmeralda stepped back, but it was too late. The flames that engulfed the bush in an instant reached Esmeralda’s hem.

“What to do, what to do!”

As she flapped her skirt to put out the fire, the flames only grew fiercer. The commotion scared the fire lizards, and one by one, they began to flee.

“Sigh…….”

A soft sigh was heard, and then suddenly, a splash. Cold water soaked her feet. The fire on her hem was extinguished, leaving only smoke.

Another deep sigh came from behind. Turning around, she saw Kirian holding his forehead and sighing deeply.

Esmeralda’s hand involuntarily tightened on her singed hem. Her beautiful dress was blackened, and the smell of wet ash lingered.

And more than anything, a faint contempt was frozen in Kirian’s eyes as he looked at her.

She felt like crying.