“I called for you earlier. Didn’t you hear?”

A small restaurant. It was near the end of the meal. As soon as the words ended, the sound of a fork falling resonated through the space with a clang.

Surprised emotions rippled over the jet-black eyes. To the point where Nerea felt embarrassed instead.

While the skilled maid quietly brought the tableware, Alejandro stammered.

“You saw it, my lady?”

There was no way she couldn’t have seen it. But she couldn’t say that to the startled face.

“Of course. Didn’t you see everything since long ago?”

“Long ago, my lady?”

The voice rose by another tone.

Oops. Nerea smiled awkwardly and shrugged.

“Yes. Anyway, why are you so surprised.”

“…It’s swordsmanship, my lady. I wanted to learn it secretly, so I went to watch for a bit.”

Ah.

Shadows fell on Alejandro’s face as he lowered his eyelashes as if gauging her reaction. Only then did Nerea realize her own indifference.

Despite calling him a squire, compared to what Alejandro did for her, she hadn’t even given him a single common training to make him a knight.

“I’ll teach you. It’s very late, but you’ll catch up well.”

The maids momentarily looked at Alejandro with dumbfounded eyes, but Nerea didn’t notice. Instead, she added with a grin.

“In return, I’ll teach strictly. Of course, it’s my first time teaching, so I might be a little clumsy.”

As she spoke, Nerea lightly rotated her wrist. It had definitely gotten better.

But it still wasn’t perfectly back to the same level as before. Thinking about the upcoming tournament, the tension and impatience doubled.

It was as if she could intermittently hear the sound of glasses breaking in her ears and the sighs of people at a loss. This was one of those moments.

Whispers, sympathetic gazes and sneers, the stickiness of wine soaking up from the hem of her pants.

No matter how hard she tried to shake it off, the nightmare of the victory banquet still lingered for Nerea. Nerea shrugged as if trying to seem fine.

“I should be able to go easy on you.”

“No, my lady.”

A low and strong voice was directed at Nerea.

The tinnitus that had been stickily clinging on dispersed bit by bit with just Alejandro’s voice.

The jet-black eyes, the eyes that always looked at her as if she was the best, smiled slowly.

For a moment, Nerea felt as if only she and Alejandro were completely alone in this small restaurant.

“You are just as great now as you were before, my lady.”

Each syllable tickled her ears.

“If you’ve made up your mind for the tournament and say such unconfident things, that won’t do, my lady.”

Nerea blinked. That’s usually what she would say. Nerea laughed with a huff and put a lot of strength into the corners of her eyes.

“How cheeky.”

“But you still look upon me favorably, my lady.”

Alejandro’s face, with narrowed eyes, sparkled. The situation hadn’t changed, but strangely, it felt like her heart was full.

It was as if magic had unfolded. Nerea laughed and ate the steak.

“The steak is delicious today, so I’ll let it slide.”

Contrary to the conceited content, my lady’s voice was endlessly gentle.

The voice ringing in his ears rushed in like waves, drenching Alejandro.

Without realizing it, Alejandro avoided my lady’s gaze. And he vaguely grumbled.

Ah, it seemed like today was also a day when the sunlight was too scorching.

.

.

.

The courtyard at midday.

The May sunlight shone brilliantly. In a place where moderately lush green leaves created shade, Nerea quietly looked up at the sky.

“It is not often that Young Lady Lancaster visits this count’s residence.”

It was amazing how the green leaves sparkled silver in the sunlight shining through the branches. Nerea pondered Heather’s words as she tidied her hair that scattered in the fluttering wind.

She had been trying to find a way to contact Grace Lancaster separately, but if she didn’t visit, there was no choice but to find another means of communication.

Alejandro’s abrupt words came to mind.

“If you tell me, I will bring Young Lady Lancaster right away.”

He had smiled, curling the corners of his mouth, saying to save the miracle, and turned the conversation, saying he had not yet received an answer from Anjer.

As long as Anjer Hart was at the border, the riots had not yet occurred. While feeling relief first, on the other hand, it was also anxious, like stepping on a path with traps set.

-The wreckage that the Black Knight Nerea Esteban could not clear away. Tormenting the people of Valere.

The newspapers said it was all nonsense, but even the suffering people were not lies. Nerea bit her lip quietly.

Pitch-black ashes and torches that devoured the night brightly, the trembling backs of villagers running around amidst startled screams.

Deep wounds that could never be erased were deeply embedded in the people who lived on tension and fear every day.

If she became a proper Count, wouldn’t she be able to visit them again?

Then Nerea smiled a little. No, let’s talk about becoming a Count first. Exhaling and inhaling a very tense breath, the ends of Nerea’s eyes narrowed.

Around this time in Alphen, the scent of apple blossoms would linger on the end of the breeze, but it was a little different here.

To be precise, it was more accurate to say that the scent of this courtyard was different. It smelled like flowers, and strangely, it also smelled like medicine amid the grass scent.

When Nerea coughed, ahem, Heather spoke with a slightly excited face.

“From now on, we must utilize the courtyard like this when reporting to you.”

“Why?”

“Count, you need both decoction and sunlight! Sunlight is so good for the body. Seeing how pale your face is, it’ll say, ‘The corpse is your friend!'”

Nerea burst into laughter without realizing it.

“Where did you learn that joke?”

“From the older sisters working in the kitchen, my lady. The older sisters also said that my lady’s face is too pale. That you need a lot of sunlight.”

Ah. Nerea swallowed a silence. After hearing that most of the people in the residence were from Orlando, Nerea saw a few different scenes than before.

The worries conveyed through Heather, or the cookies prepared to her taste that she could eat at any time.

Feeling somewhat fuzzy, she scratched her cheek.

She often went out at night. To train.

Nerea threw her gaze at the courtyard as if feigning ignorance. The strange grass scent kept stimulating the tip of her nose.

When Nerea wrinkled her nose, Heather quickly noticed and pointed to one spot.

“Ah! There’s a bit of a strange smell, right? Strangely, this courtyard has a lot of unique medicinal herbs. Even the herbs that smell a bit bad. I’m used to it, so I’m fine. Are you alright, my lady?”

Even while saying it smelled, Heather’s eyes sparkled.

These days, along with letter practice, Heather seemed to be studying medicinal herbs quite diligently, and she pointed to the herbs in the courtyard with signs and spoke one by one.

“The interesting thing is that all those strange-smelling herbs are excellent for detoxification. I heard Sir Alejandro cultivated them very diligently.”

Nerea smiled faintly. Because he’s a kid who works hard at everything, it was easy to imagine him planting those medicinal herbs.

“Honestly, even after hearing the circumstances from Sir Johan Jenax, I wondered why Sir Alejandro was still at the Esteban Count’s residence. He must be staying there to be prepared for all the poisonous herbs on the Tylesbury side, right?”

Oho. As Nerea was swallowing her admiration inwardly, it was the moment when a great informant had considerable inference ability.

“Seeing how he told me to never reveal that I’m a Blanche anywhere and only say my surname is Wilkinson, it seems he’s also thoughtful.”

“What does that mean again?”

Heather blinked and then explained as if realizing, “Ah.”

“He said that since my family must have a lot of debt, I should never let anyone know that I’m a Blanche. The acting Countess is a person from Tylesbury. Who runs the largest medicinal herb company. My grandfather also went bankrupt while running a medicinal herb business, so they might know each other.”

It was a story she didn’t know. She thought he had changed her surname for personal reasons, but Johan was involved in this too. Just as she felt like she was grasping something, a familiar voice was heard.

“You were here, my lady?”

It was Alejandro. Heather quickly changed her expression and bowed to Alejandro, ahem.

Nerea looked at Alejandro, who was walking slowly, and gathered her thoughts.

Helen’s family and Heather’s family. Both were families that dealt with medicinal herbs.

Johan, that smart person, wouldn’t have talked about surnames for no reason. There must be some connection.

For example, the one who caused Heather’s family to go bankrupt was Helen’s family.

Nerea abruptly raised her head to face Alejandro.

When she looked up to tell him to bring newspapers about Tylesbury, Alejandro’s expression in front of her eyes looked happy yet apologetic.

“It seems you’ve been enjoying walks a lot these days, my lady. You must feel stuffy staying only at the Count’s residence after being in that free place, Alphen, right?”

Before Nerea could clear up Alejandro’s misunderstanding, Heather interjected.

“That’s right, Sir Alejandro. These days, she takes a walk with me in the courtyard every day.”

“In the courtyard, not even the garden?”

That’s because I like it here.

“Yes! How stuffy must you feel to do that, my lady.”

“That won’t do, my lady. I’m sorry for noticing too late.”

“No, there’s no need to go that far…”

“While we’re at it, why don’t you visit our company at least once, my lady?”

The end of the busy conversation was a subtle invitation.

It resembled a face full of excitement, like when preparing perfume for the first time on the battlefield.

Ah.

Only then did Nerea recall her black armor. Did he finally get ready to show it to her after saying he had it?

In an instant, her hazy mind cleared up.

Just thinking about the black armor, she was determined to enter the tournament, so perhaps if she saw the armor, a suitable way to reclaim the title might come to mind.

Nerea smiled a little at Alejandro, who was looking at her with an anxious face.

“I was curious about how the system had changed, but hearing about it, I’m becoming more curious about your company.”