Seeing a new appearance different from the young lady she had seen for five years, Heather stared at Nerea, forgetting to wipe away her tears.

“Heather. Don’t cry.”

It was a strong voice. Heather nodded without realizing it.

“And never again. Don’t kneel before anyone in front of me.”

The light contained in that voice sparkled. Vitality, and a strange hope.

“Whether for my sake. Or for your own.”

Now she could vaguely see the path she needed to take.

Nerea went straight into the room. In the quiet room, she faced the newspaper she had been avoiding.

-Count Esteban, who disappeared from the victory banquet, recuperating in Alpern.

From the first page, it was an article she didn’t want to see so badly, but it didn’t matter. Nerea read and reread it.

And only when dawn was breaking brightly outside the window did Nerea let out a small groan.

-Merchant group Rosa donating wheat and necessities to the scarred region.

The next article was.

-The emergence of Count Rosa, a nobleman the king never acknowledges. The birth of a half-wit nobleman who rose from baron to count without a knighthood.

Found it.

* * *

It was late at night when Johnny returned to the cabin. The pitch-black night before dawn.

“…Check if the Crown Princess has returned. And if she’s alright……”

He should take better care of himself.

Clicking his tongue, Johnny still dutifully followed Alejandro’s words. The Crown Princess’s carriage wheel tracks had already dried, and there was no sign of anyone around.

And as soon as he opened the door of the cabin.

“Johnny.”

“Yes, yes!”

Johnny, who answered reflexively, blinked his eyes.

Something was strange.

The Count was sitting in a cream-colored chair. At his feet, newspapers were scattered. Among the ten years’ worth of neatly stacked newspapers, parts were circled. Could he have looked at those newspapers?

What did the Crown Princess say when she came…

Then Johnny quickly swallowed his breath. The strange feeling wasn’t just because of those newspapers.

When the coolly calm gaze turned towards him, he realized that the Count’s voice was different from usual.

“Where is Alejandro now.”

“He’s probably looking at paintings. At the Alpern branch of the merchant group.”

No sooner had Johnny finished answering than the Count rose from his seat. Johnny was no longer the young child from ten years ago. But the Count, smaller than himself, looking infinitely larger was no different from ten years ago or now.

So Johnny moved his lips once more.

“Lady Nerea. I……”

He felt a blank stare. Johnny murmured in an even smaller voice.

“…Alejandro really only waited for Lady Nerea. That’s why he refused even when the emperor offered to bestow a knighthood. Everything he did was just to repay a little of the trouble he caused Lady Nerea……”

Halfway through speaking, Johnny closed his mouth. It was presumptuous. If what Alejandro had done made the Count recall old wounds…

“He’s a good friend. I’m glad.”

Over the voice tinged with a faint smile, a memory from the past suddenly surfaced. It was from when Johnny was a squire in the Tervan style, just one step away from being beaten to death.

“Sir! Over there!”

“My squire has no friends. It would be nice if you played together.”

From the moment the knight who blocked the countless kicks said that, no, from the moment he saw the tiny child who ran over even faster, he couldn’t help but pay attention to the two of them.

Johnny bowed his head for a long time towards where Nerea had left and the door had closed.

.

.

.

The feeling of gripping the horse’s reins felt unfamiliar. The horse’s breath felt under her clothes was also strange.

She recalled the first time she rode a horse. The day of the departure ceremony when she had to somehow keep her body upright on the horse while fumbling about.

She thought she would never ride a horse again after Clasimen died. But now she was riding a horse again. And so easily at that.

The night breeze mixed with the scent of apple blossoms ruffled her hair. Nerea recalled the contents of the newspapers.

-Merchant group donates wheat to border riots. Suspicions of monopolizing hundreds of tons of wheat amidst years of poor wheat harvests.

According to the article, the Rosa merchant group first stood out because of the wheat donated to the border riots. Seeing how the imperial family immediately raised monopoly suspicions, they must have been quite annoyed from their perspective.

Nerea also remembered the poor harvests that continued until five years ago. The days when she was shocked by the rapidly rising prices when buying bread directly before Heather came.

-Merchant group Rosa. Arbitrarily using the title most loved by the noblest imperial princess, Isolde Rose Castarty.

The imperial family’s hostile stance towards the Rosa merchant group changed in an instant. It started with bestowing the title of baron and the border territory of Orlando.

-[Breaking] Gradually disappearing scars of war. The Crown Prince’s palace sends hundreds of tons of grain to examine every part of the border. Crown Prince Claude’s deep intentions spread throughout Castarty.

Claude Castarty. Seeing the grains bestowed in the Crown Prince’s name, the deal between Alejandro and the imperial family was clear.

They exchanged free grain for titles and the war-scarred border territory.

The Orlando territory Alejandro wanted was the land that formed the boundary with Gauwe along with the Curcly Peninsula. The land barren from war was extremely infertile, and it would take years to do anything there.

But what Alejandro started was a merchant group.

-Castarty’s trade. Can’t be resolved without going through Orlando.

-Castarty. Did you forget Orlando, the land of exchange, during the hundred-year war?

Castarty, which had exchanged through the sea and foreign countries during the hundred-year war, belatedly realized how convenient a strategic point the land given to Alejandro was.

So Rosa, who started as a baron, eventually received the title of count. The emperor must have tried to coax loyalty from someone without a knighthood, but Alejandro rejected that offer.

-Imperial decision. We’ll bestow titles on Count Rosa, but can’t recognize him as a knight.

Around that time, the knights’ argument for dealing with Alejandro was one:

An arrogant, proud, stiff half-wit nobleman without even a knighthood.

It wasn’t even funny. Would someone arrogant, proud, and stiff have endured like that just for that one thing?

“He lived. He endured.”

For a moment, Nerea couldn’t breathe.

.

.

.

Tying the horse’s reins, Nerea quietly pushed open the door of the merchant group. In the silent space, Alejandro’s back was broad as he looked at the large painting.

“Who…!”

Alejandro, sensing a presence, started to shout fiercely but then opened his eyes wide. Unable to meet the confused, helpless eyes, Nerea looked at the painting.

The painting drenched in moonlight next to the window where light entered best. Funnily enough, the painting seemed to be just resting now. It wasn’t provocative, but calm.

“Si-, no. How did you come?”

“Is this the original?”

“Yes.”

“You’re there too.”

Seeing the young child in the corner, Nerea smiled faintly.

“I wanted to follow along, even if just there. I……”

Alejandro couldn’t continue speaking.

“Brianna came.”

As if he already knew, Alejandro said nothing.

“She said the baron’s leg was my fault.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then what about you?”

For a moment, Alejandro’s breath was drawn sharply. As his eyes reddened as if holding back tears, Nerea took one step closer to Alejandro.

“You who suffered alone for ten years.”

“……”

“My pain wasn’t your fault.”

“If only I hadn’t used that poisonous herb……”

“That poisonous herb. If you hadn’t used even that back then, I would have died.”

She was sincere. If the poisonous herb that ate away at her bones hadn’t stopped the bleeding, she might have died when she was stabbed in the stomach in the first battle.

“You made the best choice for me.”

“……”

“Just as you don’t blame yourself for the baron’s injured leg. I think the same.”

“……”

“So. I……”

As Nerea moved her lips, Alejandro looked up at her with a gentle face. But the tension was felt in the veins protruding on his forehead.

“I, for a very long time, did a foolish thing.”

It was embarrassing. As Alejandro’s eyes wavered, Nerea shrugged her shoulders.

“Not at all, knightly.”

Feeling pity for the knight who smiled self-deprecatingly, and gladness for the content mixed in that languid voice.

Alejandro unknowingly took one more step towards that precious hand.

After staring at Alejandro for a long time, Nerea suddenly smiled. Suddenly, she was reminded of the black jewel she had given to Alejandro in the Gauwe royal palace.

“I promised to give you a new jewel when you grew a little more. I’ve only given you one jewel so far. Do you remember?”

“How could I forget?”

I’ve always carried it with me.

“I’m trying to keep my promise again.”

“……”

“Will you come with me?”

Alejandro’s eyes widened. As if worried he might not answer, Nerea added.

“This time, I’ll wrap your whole body in jewels.”

It felt like a hot flame was rising inside his throat. His eyes, his earlobes, no, everywhere his gaze touched felt sore.

“…I’ve waited for a long time.”

Alejandro smiled deeply.

* * *

On a night when the Castarty flag fluttered in the rough wind and the growls of night beasts were all there was, it was an unusually quiet day at the border where riots frequently occurred.

The soldiers who always stood guard tensely watched the knights standing guard instead of them.

The Crown Prince’s knights in high-quality armor. Seeing their perfect stance, the soldiers made idle chatter.

“As expected, it’s different when His Highness the Crown Prince comes. A night without riots in Valere, of all places.”