Fortunately, it seemed like things were gradually coming to an end.

According to Schuler, the Emperor’s condition still couldn’t be said to have improved, but he was recovering little by little.

Elaina was also worried that he might be up to something while sharing meals with Hister, but to her surprise, the Emperor was unusually quiet.

The same went for Hister. He seemed to have been quite shocked that the Emperor didn’t take his side.

[……Being the Crown Prince is just a position, Hister has no real power.]

And Sinclair said with a smirk.

[He only ascended to that position because I killed Yuria, and he was only able to hold on until now because of the Emperor’s help. He’s a stupid fool who can’t do anything properly on his own, so what else can he do besides shutting his mouth?]

After hearing the whole story from Sinclair who had returned from the Imperial Palace, Elaina thought briefly.

……Why had Sinclair endured it for so long when he could have acted so quickly? No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.

Anyway, besides the Emperor and Hister’s movements, there was one more thing that had changed.

It was Sinclair’s behavior.

[I’m back, Elaina……]

From that day on, Sinclair began to change little by little, unlike before.

For example, he would casually extend his hand to Elaina, or call her name in a slightly more affectionate voice.

Or sometimes, he would silently gaze at Elaina with a quiet but affectionate look without saying anything.

Considering how he had loudly told her not to interfere with his affairs, the Sinclair of then and now could be thought of as completely different people.

And most importantly……

The fact was, Elaina didn’t dislike such changes in Sinclair either.

Is it really okay for us to be like this?

Our relationship is only a contract.

After a year passes, if Sinclair becomes Emperor without any difficulty like this, I will have to leave Edenbell.

The feelings she hadn’t even shared with Sinclair quietly surged like waves as time went on.

So even while experiencing various emotions, whenever Sinclair reached out his hand to her, Elaina held it, and when he looked at her, she affectionately met his gaze.

Knowing full well that all of this was literally too reckless an emotion……

And it was exactly three days after that incident that news arrived that all of the Aswald family’s assets had been transferred to Elaina.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Do you really intend to return all the assets entirely to the Imperial Palace?”

Sinclair, who asked the question, seemed slightly uncomfortable. In a way, it might have been natural. From his perspective, it seemed like Elaina, who had been embroiled in a needless scandal, had decided to return the assets out of concern for what others would think.

“Yes.”

However, Elaina nodded as if it didn’t matter and said.

“I don’t need that much money. Besides, it probably wasn’t money that Melvin had earned legitimately in the first place, so I don’t really want to keep it anyway.”

“……”

“And…… even if the time comes when I need money…… I have a promise with you.”

Sinclair wasn’t unaware of what ‘the promise with you’ meant. Rather, he understood immediately.

It was the very promise that he would provide her with enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life when Elaina left Edenbell a year later.

Sinclair reflexively scowled slightly.

Is that so? Was she still constantly remembering those words? Waiting only for a year to pass, only for the time to leave to come?

……I thought we had gotten a little closer though.

Recalling Elaina’s lovely face as she kissed his cheek, Sinclair made a somewhat bitter expression.

“Sinclair?”

When there was no answer, Elaina hesitated slightly and called his name. Sinclair, who seemed lost in thought for a moment, hesitated and looked at Elaina.

“There’s somewhere I want to go with you.”

Then, trying to hide his expression, he continued.

“Especially if you’re planning to return all of Melvin’s assets to the Imperial family.”

“What is this again……”

“It won’t take long. We’ll probably be back by dinner time.”

With those puzzling words, Sinclair snatched the thin robe Elaina had placed on one side of the bedroom. Then, draping it roughly over Elaina’s shoulders, he grabbed her wrist as if snatching it and began to walk.

“Ah, no…… where on earth are we going!”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

Uttering an answer that sounded somewhat irresponsible.

[This is the timeline separator]

Unlike usual, Sinclair did not have the knights accompany them separately.

He simply called Schuler and added that he should follow them from a certain distance behind.

And today, they didn’t ride in a carriage either. Sinclair brought an enormously large black horse, and lifted the startled Elaina up.

“You’re not telling me to ride this alone, right?”

She had no experience riding a horse at all. Even on the day she was almost dragged to Duke Hank’s residence, Sinclair had thrown the coachman onto the dirty ground and hijacked the carriage.

Even if he had brought a young horse, she wouldn’t know how to ride it, but he wants me to ride this house-sized horse?

“Not unless I’m crazy.”

Sinclair made the most absurd expression in the world and shook his head in answer.

“No one else can touch a single hair on it except me. It’s a fine horse, but it’s very fierce and ill-tempered.”

“It takes after its owner……”

“What?”

Sinclair, who had suddenly mounted behind Elaina, frowned slightly and asked back.

“No, it’s nothing. But it’s docile even with me on it……? I thought you said it had a bad temper.”

“Because I put you on it myself.”

Sinclair said with a shrug.

“No matter how fierce, it knows how to recognize its owner.”

Perhaps……

Like how I am with you.

Sinclair swallowed the rest of his words with a bitter smirk.

“Anyway, feel free to lean back comfortably. I’ll go slowly, but it’s originally a fast one.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Although he told her to lean back comfortably, Elaina instead sat upright with a tense face in a stiff posture.

……Of course it was scary for the horse to run fast, but strangely, being so close to Sinclair like this made her more nervous.

“You’re doing something unnecessary.”

“What?”

“Well, you’ll find out once we ride anyway.”

Suddenly, Sinclair grasped the reins tightly and lightly kicked the horse’s flank.

“Aaaaah!”

Elaina let out a short scream, startled by the horse that began to dash like an arrow. She knew it would be fast, but she didn’t expect it to be this fast.

If she fell off the horse, it felt like at least her head would crack open. Elaina, whose face had turned slightly pale, finally leaned against Sinclair unlike before, and not knowing what to do with her hands, she tightly grasped both of Sinclair’s arms.

“……”

Sinclair, who was riding the horse, looked down at Elaina who was almost nestled in his arms and finally smirked.

His words about going slowly were a blatant lie. As the speed increased more and more, feeling the warmth of Elaina coming close to him, Sinclair began to ride like a madman.

[This is the timeline separator]

How long had they been riding?

Thirty minutes? An hour?

She couldn’t tell exactly, but Elaina’s face had a slightly different color than before.

That is, rather than being terrified, she had a very delighted expression.

Unlike when she was trembling and leaning against Sinclair’s body, she stretched her neck slightly to look around, and reached out her hand to stroke the back of the horse’s head.

“You said you were scared.”

Sinclair, who had been watching her from behind, said with a disgruntled expression. This is different from my calculation. Thinking thoughts that were utterly childish.

“No, it’s okay now. It’s fun to keep riding.”

But Elaina, who was sitting with her back to him, couldn’t see Sinclair’s face. So she continued to speak with a bright face.

“The wind is cool, and it feels refreshing to have my hair fluttering……”

“……”

“Before I injured my legs, I often ran at full speed. It felt just like this. Like the whole world is rushing toward me?”

Sinclair hesitated briefly.

“When I ran like that, strangely, I felt really good. It was like my insides were refreshed, as if all the pent-up feelings were released.”

So this was the first time in a very long time that she felt this way. So Elaina smiled brightly, listening to the sound of her own wildly beating heart.

Not seeing Sinclair, who was looking at her, slightly biting his lip.

“But where are we really going? You said it wouldn’t take long, so I thought we were heading towards the capital…… but this is a forest, isn’t it?”

The place where they were currently riding was north of the Imperial Palace.

It was the forest famous for being the most beautiful in Edenbell.

Perhaps because it was the height of spring, or perhaps it was originally this pretty even when it wasn’t spring, the northern forest, which she was seeing for the first time, was indeed a mysterious place that seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale, just as rumored.

Was he thinking of letting me get some fresh air? But if that’s the case, it seems we’ve come quite deep.

Sinclair didn’t answer. He just kept riding. And only after a not-so-short time had passed did he slowly stop the horse.

Sinclair, who jumped off the horse first, reached out his arms to Elaina who was looking down at him, and Elaina hesitated for a moment but eventually hugged his neck and set foot on the ground.

“Hold on.”

Sinclair, who had roughly tied the horse to a tree, said, holding out his hand to Elaina.

“The terrain isn’t rough, but you might fall.”

Elaina nodded slightly and firmly grasped Sinclair’s hand.

When did your hand, the warmth directly touching my skin, become so familiar to me? Thinking such thoughts……

“This way. It’s not far.”

Sinclair, holding Elaina’s hand, said while looking ahead. He carefully took steps, matching her slow pace as much as possible, and Elaina also began to walk diligently.

And the place Elaina arrived at with Sinclair like that was……

A place she never expected at all.