As soon as the voice was heard, a chilling gust of wind swept over Karina’s head with a hissing sound.

Whoosh!

“Kieeeeeek!”

She felt the monster in front of her let out a blood-curdling scream.

“……!”

Karina narrowly opened her eyes.

‘Huh?’

When she opened her eyes, the monster and the entire surrounding area were cleanly sliced as if cut by a giant’s sword.

“……!”

Karina was startled by the sight before her.

“What……”

Right after that, someone strongly pulled the frozen Karina.

Yanked by the pulling hand, Karina was tucked into a firm and comfortable embrace.

Strong arms held her tightly without any gaps.

Then she sensed a cool and refreshing scent that she had smelled somewhere before.

‘Ah…… I think there was a similar situation before.’

It felt even more intense than that time.

While Karina was thinking this, a trembling voice called her name again, sounding pitiful.

“Karina……!”

Unlike before, she could feel the heart of the person holding her beating frantically.

‘No, is it the sound of my own heart?’

She was too shocked to distinguish whose heartbeat it was.

Mikhail carefully examined Karina from head to toe.

“Are you hurt?”

Mikhail’s expression was desperate enough to show his emotional turmoil as he asked.

Karina just blinked blankly.

She tried to answer that she was fine, but her voice was caught in her throat from the shock, unable to make a proper sound.

Karina nodded instead of answering.

Mikhail was deeply relieved to confirm that Karina was unharmed.

“Haa. Thank goodness, really.”

Mikhail exhaled a long breath he had been holding, along with a groan.

Karina was surprised by his reaction.

She had never seen Mikhail looking so flustered before.

‘He must have been really shocked.’

It was understandable.

‘Of course. I really thought I was going to die too.’

Karina’s tension finally eased, and all strength left her body.

‘I’m so glad Mikhail came in time.’

She was safe thanks to Mikhail.

Karina took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm herself.

“I…… I’m fine.”

Her voice was still trembling a little, but she felt better than before.

Karina tried to reassure Mikhail with a small smile on her lips.

But hearing her say she was fine, Mikhail’s expression hardened even more.

“How can you be fine? Your face is as white as a sheet of paper.”

Mikhail stroked Karina’s face with a pained expression.

“No. This is…… just because I was a bit surprised……”

Karina stammered.

Karina had only seen monsters a handful of times in both her past and present lives.

The fact that the monster she saw for the first time after her regression was much larger and more hideous than any she had seen before also played a part.

“I thought my heart was going to fall out.”

Mikhail murmured softly, resting his head on Karina’s shoulder.

Karina stammered in embarrassment.

“Uh…… ? Did…… did you get that scared?”

“I thought I was going to go crazy.”

The moment he saw Karina standing defenselessly in front of the huge monster, trembling.

Mikhail really felt like he was going to lose his mind.

Time seemed to stop, and his mind went blank.

His heart was racing wildly, fearing Karina might get hurt.

As soon as he came to his senses, he launched an attack spell with all his might, without controlling its power.

He cut down the entire area along with the monster that was lunging at her with its mouth open.

There was no time to think about anything else.

“I’m so glad you’re safe. Really.”

Mikhail could only feel at ease after embracing Karina.

Only after feeling Karina’s breath in his arms did his heart calm down.

He wanted to keep her small and delicate form completely trapped in his arms.

He wanted to keep her safe under his protection.

Mikhail lifted his head from where he had been resting it and looked at Karina.

His heart ached at the sight of Karina looking up at him with a still pale expression.

Her face, trying to smile weakly to reassure him, was etched into his eyes.

Mikhail carefully caressed Karina’s face with both hands.

As if engraving every detail of her face into his eyes.

And carefully approaching, he gently kissed her forehead, like a butterfly landing on a flower.

Something soft and warm touched her forehead.

‘Huh……?’

Karina looked at Mikhail with a dazed expression.

Karina’s eyes widened as she realized that he had kissed her forehead.

‘Umm……?’

Unaware or unconcerned about Karina’s confusion, Mikhail was solely focused on examining her with a worried voice.

“Your hands are cold too.”

While Karina was surprised and flustered, Mikhail grasped both her hands and brought them into his chest.

Then he kissed both her hands as if they were precious.

“……!”

The sensation of his lips touching her hands was so vivid.

She could clearly feel the soft, tender feeling along with the warmth of his breath.

Karina felt dizzy for a moment.

The places he touched felt hot and ticklish, and she didn’t know what to do.

On top of that, she realized she was now in Mikhail’s arms like an affectionate lover, making her even more flustered.

“You…… you……!”

She was so surprised that she couldn’t speak properly.

“You were really shocked, weren’t you? It’s my fault.”

Mikhail looked as if he himself was deeply hurt as he said those words.

Seeing his expression contorted in pain, Karina forgot what she was going to say.

‘How is this your fault?’

That was all Karina could think.

The monster appearing in the village, being pushed away by the suddenly fleeing crowd, and that monster appearing right in front of her. All of these were unexpected situations.

It wasn’t something he should feel guilty about.

Of course, he didn’t seem to think so at all, given his heavy sense of responsibility as a guard.

Still, she didn’t want to keep seeing his gloomy expression.

“What are you saying? You’re the one who saved me when I was in danger. If it weren’t for you, I would have become monster food by now.”

Karina pointed to the remains of an animal that had been eaten by the monster in the distance as she spoke.

“The fact that I’m unharmed like this is thanks to you. Thank you so much for coming in time, Mikhail.”

Karina smiled sincerely.

“……”

Mikhail silently stared at Karina’s face.

His eyes, filled with the sight of Karina, seemed to waver for a moment.

But soon he smiled prettily as usual, with his eyes curving.

“Karina. You really……”

Seeing his expression soften as he chuckled, Karina felt better too.

Mikhail looked at Karina with warm eyes.

And he gently pressed his forehead against Karina’s forehead where he had kissed earlier.

Their faces were close enough for their noses to touch.

‘This seems too close.’

Karina pulled back slightly in embarrassment.

But the sensation left on her forehead was still clear.

Karina made an awkward expression.

Without realizing it, she raised her hand to touch her forehead.

Mikhail was still smiling as he gently stroked Karina’s head.

‘Huh?’

Mikhail was smiling with an expression that seemed to find her endearing.

Seeing that expression suddenly reminded her of how he had stroked Eiden’s head in exactly the same way.

‘Surely he’s not treating me like a child, the same as Eiden?’

Karina’s expression turned prim.

Karina raised her finger and lightly tapped the tip of Mikhail’s nose.

“……?”

“By the way, why are you suddenly speaking informally? I never said you could drop the honorifics.”

Mikhail looked blank at Karina’s words.

“Ah……!”

Mikhail seemed to have just realized that he had been speaking informally.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I was just so shocked and…… seeing that the Duchess was safe, I felt relieved……”

Mikhail flustered as he ran his hand over his face.

Karina giggled as she watched him fluster.

“It’s fine. You can speak informally.”

“Pardon……?”

“I’m saying you can speak comfortably when it’s just the two of us.”

He was a lifesaver who had saved her life twice.

‘Mikhail would probably think he just did his duty as a guard.’

But Karina knew well that there were countless people who would run away to save their own lives, even if it was their job.

She wanted to become true friends with him, beyond their positions as duchess and guard.

“From now on, when we’re alone, I’d like you to treat me as just myself, not as the Duchess.”

While she was at it, she decided to get rid of the stiff title of ‘Duchess’ as well.

“When you call me, just call me Karina. You were calling me that well earlier, weren’t you?”

“Ah…… that was because I was in such a hurry……”

Mikhail mumbled, seemingly embarrassed.

“Come on, say it again.”

Karina urged him.

“……”

“I said hurry up and call me.”

“……Karina.”

Mikhail called her name as if giving in.

He looked so adorable.

Karina smiled with satisfaction.

“Thank you so much, Mikhail. You’ve already protected me twice now.”

“Well, that’s just my natural duty……”

As expected, the anticipated answer came out.

Karina laughed silently at his typical response.

‘Come to think of it, I hardly know anything about Mikhail.’

Karina looked at Mikhail and asked.

“By the way, Mikhail is your first name, right? Don’t you have a last name?”

Usually, it was common to call someone by their last name rather than their first name before becoming close.

But when he first introduced himself, he only said his first name without a last name.

‘Maybe he doesn’t have a separate last name? Since he’s a mage, that could be possible.’

She had heard that for mages, social status didn’t matter much.

Moreover, in the magic towers where they lived together, magical ability was prioritized over social status.

“Hmm……”

Mikhail scratched the back of his head as if it was difficult to explain.

Karina felt a bit regretful at his ambiguous response.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have asked about a sensitive topic?’

“Just…… there are circumstances. It’s a bit hard to explain right now……”

It seemed there was some reason, but she decided not to ask further in case it might be a sensitive family issue.

“Please just call me Mikhail like you have been. That’s more comfortable.”

Mikhail said with an awkward expression.

His speech had already returned to formal language.

“I see. If that’s more comfortable for you, I’ll do that. Mikhail.”

Karina grinned.

“I’m sure you’ll get better at speaking informally with practice.”

“……”

Mikhail let out a groan.

“We should get out of here first.”

Mikhail nodded at Karina’s words.

The two of them moved to leave.