The sound of waves breaking the silence echoed in my ears. I smiled awkwardly, hiding my startled inner feelings.

“You’re doing great, Roger!”

Anyone who heard that would think it was real. I swallowed the rest of my words, but there was no reaction from Roger. Normally, he would be standing there proudly, shrugging his shoulders…

When I cautiously looked at him, Roger’s face was as red as a beet. His face, red up to his ears, looked like it would burst if poked.

“Lize, I want to practice too!”

“Y-Yurik. You too?”

“Yes. But since telling you I like you isn’t a lie, let me say something else.”

Yurik rebuked Roger and wedged himself between him and me.

“…O-Okay. What would be good?”

Yurik, who didn’t need practice, waited for my words with his eyes wide open. I pondered what would be good, but my attention was drawn to Roger. Roger’s face remained flushed, as if his heart wasn’t calming down easily.

Seeing the usually cheeky Roger like this made even me feel embarrassed.

“Lize.”

Yurik called my name once more. He grabbed my gaze that was distracted elsewhere.

“…L-Let’s stop! Practicing for a day won’t make us good at lying, right?”

When I changed the subject, Yurik couldn’t hide his disappointed expression.

Another storm seemed to be coming as the wind blew. The gentle waves also grew in size. We hadn’t even been sightseeing for a few minutes, but we had to go back into the villa. As if sensing my disappointment, Yurik reached out his hand to me.

“You wanted to dip your feet in the water, right? The water is cold, but it’ll be fine for a little while.”

“Really?”

When I asked, Yurik nodded. I quickly took off the boots and socks I was wearing, fearing he might change his mind. As soon as my feet touched the sand, a chill ran down my spine. Holding Yurik’s hand and walking forward, a wave tapped my toes and receded.

“Eek! It’s cold!”

“Hey! Be careful!”

The seawater was colder than I thought, and I yelped without realizing it. As I flailed my body, Roger grabbed me from the opposite side. Roger, who unfailingly held my balance, chuckled.

“I thought you were just stubborn, but you’re quite clumsy, huh?”

“That side of her is cute, though.”

At Yurik’s words, Roger was startled.

“Cute? You have very peculiar tastes.”

No matter what they said, I looked down at my two feet that were completely in the water. My feet, which were already white, looked even paler. They even looked small.

“Children, come inside now!”

The Duchess’s voice was heard from far away. My feet were getting cold, so I hurriedly got out of the water, but the sand was even colder. I wanted to put my socks on like this, but my wet feet felt icky, and running to the villa barefoot seemed like my feet would freeze.

“Ugh, should I just run?”

As I fidgeted my feet, Roger looked at me with disdainful eyes as if he knew this would happen.

Having no choice, I was about to grab my two shoes and run. But Yurik’s actions were quick. Yurik picked up my socks and shoes lying on the ground and threw them to Roger.

“Leave the shoes to that guy, and Lize, get on my back.”

“What? G-Get on your back?”

When I asked back, Yurik nodded.

“Yeah, if not now, when will you get a chance to ride on the back of the Penton family’s eldest son?”

As I hesitated, Roger quipped sarcastically. Can’t he speak a bit more nicely?

‘I knew his confession of liking me earlier was a lie.’

I glared at Roger and climbed onto Yurik’s back. Roger’s smile gradually faded, as if he never expected me to actually get on Yurik’s back.

“Hold on tight, Lize.”

“Huh? Ah! Yurik! Y-You’re too fast!”

I tightly hugged Yurik’s neck. He ran in a stable posture as if I wasn’t heavy at all.

“Hey! Wait for me!”

Roger also ran to catch up belatedly.

* * *

‘Lize. You said you wouldn’t lie again, so how can you lie once more? I’m really disappointed in you.’

‘……’

‘I’m tired of forgiving you now. Leave. You’re no longer a child of the Marsen family.’

“Gasp.”

I woke up at Isabel’s resolute tone. Pitch-black darkness and silence engulfed me.

“……”

What a damn nightmare.

It was a dream that made me break out in a cold sweat. Even before parting my lips, the image of Isabel turning her back on me lingered. Even if I tried to follow her as she moved away, it was too late. My fingertips were far from reaching Isabel, let alone touching her.

‘I’m really disappointed in you.’

I recalled Isabel’s words.

It was heartbreaking, but I was also frustrated and filled with anger. Just as I had lied to Isabel, she also had many things she hid from me. I couldn’t accept being abandoned without being able to hear anything.

“……Haa.”

I felt complicated. I was completely wide awake.

I was still at the villa. Originally, I was supposed to share a room with Yune, but the Duchess, worried that her illness might be contagious to me, gave me a separate room.

Thanks to that, I had a large room and even a bed all to myself.

“……?”

I got up to drink some water, and I heard footsteps beyond the door. Someone was in the hallway. It seemed like there was more than one person, as the footsteps were varied.

I carefully approached the door and opened it. The hallway, without a single light, was engulfed in darkness, and nothing was visible.

“……Lize?”

Yurik’s voice came from the front. I blinked several times to adjust my eyes to the darkness as I shifted my gaze to where the sound came from. But the front remained pitch-black.

“Yurik? What are you doing there?”

“This fool said he wanted to go to the bathroom.”

“Fool? Is Roger there too?”

“He’s next to me.”

I could sense Roger’s presence. Yurik let out a deep sigh and continued.

“This guy made a fuss, saying he was scared to go alone. I thought he was just stupid, but he turned out to be a scaredy-cat.”

“S-So you’re complaining?”

Roger’s voice was heard.

“I just said that, when did I say I was complaining?”

“You kept grumbling!”

“Mother will be sleeping. Lower your voice a bit.”

“This guy…!”

The two seemed to have gotten quite close.

“By the way, Lize, why did you come out? Can’t sleep?”

Yurik asked me without waiting for Roger’s full answer.

“She probably wants to go to the bathroom too.”

Roger answered on my behalf.

“Don’t make assumptions on your own, Roger. How would you know?”

“What? Lize. Bodily functions are natural. Don’t you start grumbling too.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound indicating the hour was heard from downstairs. It was quite late. We had to go to sleep early to depart early tomorrow morning.

“Anyway, we’ll go in first. You should sleep soon too.”

Yurik pulled Roger’s clothes and passed by me.

It was fine when I was talking with the two of them, but when I became alone, my heart felt heavy. I didn’t want to lie down on the bed like this. I wanted to refuse having the large room all to myself.

“Guys.”

At my voice, Yurik and Roger stopped after taking a few steps. I could feel their gazes.

“…Actually, I had a bad dream. So I’m a bit scared to sleep alone.”

Neither of them answered.

“So I was wondering if I could sleep together with you.”

I uttered the words with difficulty.

I asked, but I thought they would refuse. Even though we were still young, it was strange for a boy and a girl to sleep together.

Also, these young masters had used their own beds their entire lives. Sharing a bed between the two of them was already uncomfortable, so how awkward would it be if one more person joined?

“Lize, hold my hand.”

“Huh?”

Yurik suddenly stretched out his hand, fumbling around, and grabbed my hand. Roger also uncannily found my remaining empty hand and held it.

“Now, let’s go.”

Yurik started walking. The two men, carefully examining the floor to avoid falling, looked quite serious.

Although the hallway was dark and nothing was visible, if we just got the direction right, we could quickly reach the room.

“Isn’t this too slow?”

When I spoke, both Roger and Yurik flinched. At this rate, it would take dozens of minutes more to reach the room. What kind of caution was this…?

“Can’t we go a bit faster?”

At my suggestion,

“Lize, you might get hurt if we do that.”

Yurik,

“That’s right. There’s no harm in being careful.”

And Roger refused.

“How did you go to the bathroom?”

I was really curious.

“…To be honest, that guy’s footsteps were so slow that I almost wet myself on the way.”

“You were slow too, Roger.”

From what I saw, they were both the same.

“This won’t do. I’ll take the lead, follow me well!”

“What? Y-You’ll get hurt!”

“Hey!”

I pulled their hands and trudged forward. The two startled boys fumbled their bodies. Yurik, who at least followed well, was different from Roger, who suddenly fell over as if his feet were tangled.

“Ack!”

“Gasp, Roger? Are you okay?”

“…Tch, that’s why I told you to stop.”

Roger said, sniffling. I waited for Roger to get up, but strangely, he wasn’t moving at all. Since I couldn’t see, I had no idea what situation Roger was in now.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“……”

“Say something, Roger.”

“…My legs gave out.”

His legs gave out.

“Scaredy-cat.”

Yurik remarked.

Roger also remained silent, probably out of embarrassment. What should we do? I couldn’t drag Roger by the arm, but I couldn’t leave him behind either.

There was no choice. I bent my legs and offered my back to where I felt Roger’s presence.

“Reach out your hand and get on my back.”

“…What?”

“Don’t refuse. If not now, when will you get a chance to ride on the back of the Marsen family’s youngest daughter?”

I didn’t know how much Roger weighed, but he was shorter than me anyway.

“Lize, I’ll carry that guy instead…”

“What are you saying? You can’t even walk properly out of fear.”

After shutting Yurik’s mouth, I urged Roger to act.

Roger, who had been hesitating, seemed to have made up his mind as he reached out to me and wrapped his arms around my neck. As expected, Roger wasn’t very heavy. I lifted my legs and reached out one hand to find Yurik’s hand.

“Roger, hold onto me tightly, and Yurik, follow carefully.”

It felt like I had become the mother of these two.

I found the direction and reached the room at the end of the hallway, opening the door. The room was bright due to the bright moonlight coming through the window. I walked to the bed and checked on Roger, who had buried his head on my back.

“Alright, get down now.”

“Mmm.”

Roger released his arms around my neck and landed on the bed. Could we finally get some sleep now?

But Yurik was nowhere to be seen. I turned my head and spotted him kneeling in front of the door.

“Yurik? Why are you sitting there when it’s cold?”

Yurik stared at me intently. He didn’t seem to have fallen or gotten hurt anywhere.

“Lize.”

“……?”

“Carry me.”

……Huh?

“I think my legs are numb.”

Suddenly?