However, the initial enthusiasm couldn’t last long.

As they passed the middle of the stairs, Blair began to show signs of fatigue. It had been a while since her breath got heavy, and her shod feet squeaked.

At first, Herdin had followed behind Blair, but now he was ascending ahead of her with the same leisurely pace, without a hint of breathlessness.

Noticing Blair falling behind, Herdin turned to look at her.

“Who was it that confidently claimed they could make it?”

Mocking her.

Blair glared at him with an irritated expression, tightly biting her lips, and continued to climb the stairs with determination.

Herdin, passing by Blair, subtly remarked.

“If you ask me to carry you, I’ll gladly do so until we reach the top.”

“… I can go on my own.”

Herdin chuckled as he continued to ascend. Her resistance reminded him of her childhood.

After a while, the two reached the top.

A refreshing breeze swept across Blair’s sweaty forehead.

When she opened her eyes momentarily closed by the sudden gust, the panoramic view of the island unfolded before her.

Blair couldn’t help but marvel.

“Wow…”

The late afternoon sky was bathed in the golden light just before sunset.
Below, cherry blossoms in full bloom and iridescent flags symbolizing the festival fluttered in the spring breeze, and in between, a blue river embraced the center of the island.

Amidst this scenery, Blair’s palace, where she had spent her entire life, and the temple where she had stayed just a while ago, could be seen.

Looking at this view, Blair realized how small the world she had known and lived in all her life was. Also, how vast the world ahead was.

Blair stared blankly at the scenery.

It was the landscape she had longed to see.

Her stray thoughts scattered in the wind. Beneath them, her sweat-soaked, white nape was shimmering.

Observing this, Herdin took off his outer garment and draped it over Blair’s shoulders.

Blair turned to him.

Only then did he exist in her purple-tinted world.

“Thank you, Herdin. I’ve always wanted to come here.”

Blair smiled brightly. Her smile towards him was a rare sight.

Herdin, standing next to her as she looked at a distant world, quietly observed her appearance.

The woman harmonized well with the fully bloomed cherry blossoms and the golden sunlight pouring down in the afternoon.

Now, perhaps this season, with its abundant blooming flowers, seemed somewhat bearable.

The two of them watched the sunset before finally descending the stairs.
Herdin, who was descending first, noticed something odd and turned around.

“Blair?”

Blair was coming down the stairs, holding onto the wall with legs wobbling. Due to the strain of climbing up, her strength seemed to have drained away.

Her appearance resembled that of a newborn fawn.

Though he was aware of her weakness to some extent, it was surprising to see her so frail.

Herdin, with a somewhat bewildered expression, watched Blair and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“…Don’t laugh.”

Laughing with a refreshing demeanor, his face looked exceptionally good. And equally mischievous.

Blair bit her lip and descended one step at a time with her own strength. However, as she tried to speed up a bit, an impatient move led to a momentary misstep.

“Oops!”

Her body swayed, and she leaned forward. Herdin swiftly approached and grabbed her waist, supporting her.

“Be careful.”

“Oh, th―”

Before Blair could fully stand up again, Herdin lifted her in his arms. Blair instinctively stifled a scream that almost came out.

“Put me down.”

“It doesn’t seem like the wisest option. It might be tomorrow morning before you manage to come down with those legs.”

“…….”

Given the current situation, there wasn’t much room for argument.

In the end, Blair quietly embraced his neck.

“…Am I not too heavy?”

“Well, my arms might fall off.”

“…….”

At his playful response, Blair pressed her lips together in displeasure.
However, at least he could show consideration for a lady, even if it were mere words.

Seeing his reaction, Herdin chuckled.

“I served for the lady, so grant me one wish.”

“A wish?”

“Yes, a wish.”

Blair, catching onto his mischievous expression, quickly took the lead.

“As long as it’s not a strange wish.”

“If you put such restrictions, I won’t feel like doing it.”

“…Are you trying to make a strange wish, after all?”

“Explain to me what the criteria for ‘strange’ are first.”

“Disgusting—”

Blair, who was about to say more, realized a beat too late that she got caught in his clumsy rhetoric and tightly sealed her lips.

Herdin, looking at Blair in such a state, casually asked.

“Disgusting, and then?”

“…I won’t say it.”

“Alright, we agreed on granting one wish without conditions.”

Blair, with an unsatisfied look in her poor eyes, reluctantly nodded her head.

A satisfying smile appeared on Herdin’s lips as he finally got the answer he was hoping for.

Blair placed a small framed picture on the bedside table, an artwork depicting the scenery of the clock tower and cherry blossoms that they had visited together today.