Veronia swallowed a sigh and tried to reassure herself.

‘It’s okay. You can do this. You still have clear memories of your past life.’

Veronia took a small deep breath and then revealed her only weapon – memories of her past life.

“It’s a magical device installed on the ceiling. When it detects heat and smoke, it immediately sprays water.”

“…”

“But it’s impossible for water to come out infinitely. So I thought it would be better if a signal was sent to the patrol squad as soon as the magical device activates.”

Killian, who had been listening intently to Veronia’s calm explanation, finally spoke.

“Hmm… That’s a good idea. I’d like to see the plan more detailed and installation hastened. We could also collect additional taxes from the nobles in the form of donations, taking advantage of the current heightened awareness of fire accidents.”

“…”

Veronia was in a daze. It was amazing that a mere thought she had casually mentioned was being pushed forward so quickly.

‘There’s a magic here more powerful than the wizards’ magic. The mouth of the Prime Minister.’

A chuckle escaped her lips. Startled by her own laughter, she flinched for a moment.

‘To think I can laugh with Killian sitting next to me! Aren’t you letting your guard down too much, Veronia?’

Inwardly scolding herself, she straightened her back. She needed to raise her vigilance again.

The rain had stopped by now. The two people stood up and headed towards the carriage storage.

It was while they were walking in silence. A large puddle had formed at the entrance of the garden. To leave the garden, one had to inevitably step into the puddle.

The thought of getting not just her shoes but her feet wet was daunting.

Without hesitation, Killian stretched out his foot, stood firmly in the middle of the puddle, and extended his hand towards Veronia.

“Step on my foot and cross over.”

“What? That’s…”

She was flustered.

‘This is ridiculous. He might be this courteous to a princess, but I’m just a commoner worker he barely knows. Yet he’s being this polite?’

It felt strange and awkward. It was a scene that didn’t make sense.

And his mixing of formal and informal speech also felt odd.

‘Could it be he knows who I am? That’s why…’

A frightening thought suddenly popped up. But that thought soon faded.

‘No. This person is just kind to everyone. Nothing more, nothing less.’

Who was Killian?

He was the one who had silently stayed by the real Veronia’s side for all those years, despite her torment. The reason this was possible was because he was a patient and polite person.

‘So he’s just being polite to a strange woman like me. He would have extended his hand like this to anyone else, not just me.’

Seeing Veronia’s hesitation, Killian waved his hand, urging her.

“Hurry.”

His large, white hand came closer. There was no choice. Veronia took his hand.

The hand, calloused with hard work, was rough yet warm. It was exactly as Veronia remembered.

She put her weight on the firmly grasped hand and stepped forward. One step, two steps, she crossed the puddle stepping on his shoes.

For a moment, their bodies touched and then immediately separated. Though brief, it was long enough to feel the warmth radiating from his body.

As soon as she safely crossed the puddle, Veronia let go of his hand and bowed.

“I’m sorry. And thank you.”

Killian looked somewhat regretfully at the small hand that had grasped his own and then immediately let go, before breaking into a smile.

“Don’t mention it.”

“But your shoes are all wet because of me. What should we do?”

“It’s fine. These are specially made military boots for knights, so even if the outside gets wet, the inside remains dry.”

“You still… wear military boots?”

She asked out of pure curiosity. It was surprising that he was still wearing rugged military boots when he was no longer a knight roaming the battlefield.

“These boots are quite comfortable. And once a knight, always a knight, right?”

Killian said with a sheepish smile. Seeing his smile, Veronia naturally smiled back. And then she was startled again.

‘I… laughed again. Is it okay to laugh so defenselessly in front of this person? Is it alright… Get a grip, Veronia! Don’t forget you’re a fugitive!’

She clenched her molars, trying to regain her composure.

Before they knew it, the two had arrived at the carriage storage. But there was no carriage for Veronia to ride.

“All the carriages for the Magic Tower Research Institute were taken by the others earlier, so there are none left.”

The guard on duty said with an apologetic expression.

“How could this happen…”

Veronia was at a loss. It seemed that while they were taking shelter from the rain in the garden, the other workers had finished their work and left by carriage.

“Why don’t you ride in my carriage with me?”

“What? That’s…”

She hesitated.

In the carriage, they would have to sit facing each other, and she wasn’t confident about facing Killian in such a confined space.

“Shall I take you to the Magic Tower Research Institute?”

Killian asked, extending his hand. His kind and large hand, his gentle eyes and voice were disarming her.

‘This person is really dangerous. But…’

There was no choice. There was no other way. It would take at least an hour to walk from here to the Magic Tower Research Institute, so walking was out of the question.

The ground would be muddy after the rain, and it would be difficult to catch a hired carriage at this late hour.

“Then I’ll accept your offer. Thank you, Your Excellency.”

“It’s nothing.”

Veronia took Killian’s hand. The warm temperature transmitted directly.

As soon as the two settled in their seats, the carriage slowly began to move.

Meanwhile, there was a gaze watching the departing carriage while hiding behind a corner of the building – it was none other than the aide Windler.

The corners of his mouth stretched wide. A chuckle kept escaping, refusing to dry up.

“Good. My plan worked perfectly!”

It was Windler who had sent away the Magic Tower Research Institute’s carriage early.

It had been a spontaneous plan. The thought had suddenly struck him as soon as he accidentally witnessed Killian and Nia heading to the garden together.

The execution of the plan was easy. Thanks to his quick feet and well-oiled tongue, everything went smoothly.

“Your Excellency, trust in me alone. I will help you with all my heart and soul!”

Killian had never shown interest in women throughout his life. He seemed to show a brief interest in Princess Veronia, who was his fiancée, but the princess ended up dying.

There had been no one after that. Absolutely no one, to an extreme degree.

‘It’s not like… he’s maintaining chastity or anything…’

For a man, especially an unmarried nobleman, to not have even one or two women he was seeing was something incomprehensible by the common sense of this world.

‘And yet, Your Excellency has shown interest in this one person. This meeting… must absolutely succeed!’

It didn’t matter that she was a commoner, or that she had a child. As long as she was a woman without a husband, one was enough.

‘I’m sure our Grand Madam would think the same. This auspicious meeting… I should report it immediately if there’s progress in the relationship!’

Windler’s heart was already swelling at the thought of reporting this joyous news to the Grand Madam in the near future.

Thump-thump, his heartbeat resounded mightily like the drums of a marching band.

An awkward silence briefly fell inside the carriage. The one who first broke the silence was Veronia.

“By the way, do you usually walk to the carriage storage yourself? Isn’t that unusual?”

“That’s right. Usually, the carriage comes if one waits at the entrance.”

Killian felt caught off guard for a moment by the sharp question.

He couldn’t say it was because he wanted to see her face a little more, because he wanted to talk with her more, so he had to find another excuse.

Killian quickly racked his brain.

“Then why…?”

“Let’s say it was to create an opportunity to converse with a capable talent. Thanks to that, I was able to hear about the magical device for fire suppression, so I think it was quite successful.”

“Ah, I see…”

A gentle smile appeared on Veronia’s lips at the words ‘capable talent’. Satisfied with his own answer, a pleased smile also formed on Killian’s lips.

Taking advantage of the good atmosphere, Killian asked the question he really wanted to ask.

“I believe I heard last time that you have a child. Won’t the child be very worried since you’re coming home late again today?”

While he was self-congratulating on how natural it sounded, Veronia lightly opened her mouth.

“It’ll be fine. The child is with their grandparents.”

Killian replayed the sentence that flowed from her lips several times in his mind.

‘It’ll be fine. The child is with their grandparents… It’ll be fine. The child is with their grandparents…’

There was no mention of a husband anywhere in her answer.

‘Does that mean… there’s no father for the child? There’s no… husband?’

For a moment, Killian’s entire face lit up brightly.

‘That’s right. It clearly means there are grandparents to take care of the child, but no husband.’

Having drawn a satisfactory conclusion, Killian was so happy he almost let out a cheer.

Fortunately, he managed to hold back from actually saying it out loud. But he couldn’t do anything about the corners of his mouth twitching as he tried to suppress his smile.

Encouraged, Killian continued his questions.

“About the fire suppression device. If you could choose the first place to install it, where do you think would be best?”

Veronia, upon receiving the question, thought for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.

“First… I think they would install it in old wooden buildings. And also in places like orphanages or hospitals.”

“Then we should find old wooden buildings among orphanages or hospitals and do a pilot installation there first.”

Veronia was happy to be able to showcase the fire suppression device, and Killian was happy to have created a connection with her.