“What are you saying!”

Reilly raised his voice in response to Killian’s answer.

“Are you saying this because you don’t know the current situation? Traces of magical beasts have been found not far from the capital! Can you guarantee that we won’t continue to encounter magical beasts on the way to the Tower of Sages?”

Turning his gaze from Killian, who was ignoring him, to Alicia, Reilly continued pleadingly.

“It’s dangerous, too dangerous. We must return to the imperial palace as soon as possible to report what happened here and begin a full-scale investigation.”

Reilly’s words were not wrong.

If safety was the concern, it would be right to turn back immediately and return to the capital.

But there was something Reilly hadn’t considered.

“Viscount, I moved knowing it would be dangerous.”

Even the emperor and crown prince knew it would be dangerous but didn’t stop Alicia from heading to the Tower of Sages.

“But Your Highness!”

“Because we know we might encounter magical beasts, Duke Diaz is the overall person in charge of this journey.”

At her words, one corner of Killian’s mouth lifted imperceptibly.

Of course, unaware of this fact, Alicia had already shaken off her previous fearful appearance and continued speaking with a calm and elegant demeanor.

“Even if I had set out without knowing about the possibility of encountering magical beasts beforehand, I would have answered that I would continue towards the Tower of Sages.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I am the Imperial Princess of Eregron.”

Had he not expected Alicia’s answer?

Reilly, who had been prepared to refute whatever she said, could only close his mouth.

“The Imperial Princess of Eregron is on her way to do what is necessary for the empire. Are you saying we should turn back now because the path is rough?”

“I…”

“I was born into the imperial family and have enjoyed good things all this time in order to be the first to shed blood for the empire. If you don’t want to make me a coward, stop there.”

After Alicia finished speaking, Reilly bowed his head in shame.

The princess, whom he had unconsciously thought of as weak and in need of protection, was someone who knew the weight of the name she had to bear.

Rather, it was Reilly himself who didn’t know what she was carrying.

“If you still object, Viscount, you may return to the capital from here first.”

“Your Highness! That’s…!”

“I swear by my name. Even if you return first, there will be no disadvantages to you because of it.”

“…No, Your Highness. I will accompany you to the end.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Alicia smiled gently at Reilly, who was bowing his head, and then noticed Cassa looking at her with eyes sparkling almost excessively.

Finding that gaze burdensome, Alicia decided to look away and opened her mouth towards Killian, who seemed strangely in a good mood.

“Although we’re still heading to the Tower of Sages, it’s also important to inform the imperial palace about what happened here.”

“I wrote up a document last evening and sent the report on the fastest horse at dawn today.”

“Last evening?”

Come to think of it, she hadn’t heard exactly what had happened after she lost consciousness last evening.

Was it Cassa who moved her after she collapsed?

She seemed to remember being told that it would take some time to set up the tent she would use…

Only then did the surroundings enter Alicia’s eyes.

The scene inside the tent, with only the necessary items placed simply in the required places, was too sparse and gave off too stiff an atmosphere to be considered a place for the imperial princess to use.

It was at that moment.

As Alicia was surveying the inside of the tent, she caught Killian looking at her with a strange expression.

Moreover, Killian’s tone when speaking about last evening just now was also a bit…

“…Could it be… is this the Duke’s tent?”

“Yes.”

No way, it couldn’t be…

Thinking this way, Alicia asked, but her face hardened at Killian’s quick and firm answer.

“You said you wrote the document in the evening, where did you do that?”

“I did it here.”

“W-why?”

“Because Your Highness wouldn’t let me go.”

“What?”

She was surprised.

Really, literally so surprised that her heart felt like it would drop to the floor.

She understood that since the incident happened before her tent was ready, she was moved to Killian’s tent, which was in some sense the safest place.

Then couldn’t Killian have used the tent that was supposed to be for her afterwards?

There was no need to write the report in the tent where she was lying unconscious.

No, but what was that excuse? That I wouldn’t let him go?

Alicia was about to shout that he shouldn’t say such nonsense, but she realized that Killian’s words were not a lie when she saw Marisa nodding quickly, Cassa avoiding her gaze, and Reilly looking at her and Killian with a strange face.

“T-this can’t be.”

“You don’t need to worry. Your maid was with you the whole time. And White checked on Your Highness’s condition throughout the night.”

It was a warning not to misunderstand that he had done anything improper, as there were two people watching.

“T-that I held onto the Duke…”

“I came in briefly to get my luggage, and as I was about to pass by Your Highness’s side, you reached out your hand.”

“…”

“For reference, the Viscount can testify to this.”

“…You grabbed onto his trousers, so there was no choice.”

Killian, unable to touch the sleeping princess’s body carelessly, had stood for two full hours until Marisa, who attended to her, arrived.

Afterwards, it was too late to leave the tent, and fearing becoming the subject of unnecessary rumors if seen leaving, he stayed and wrote reports all night.

“It seemed like Your Highness was concerned about rumors.”

…I didn’t know this man could smile so annoyingly.

Why isn’t she happy to witness a new side of Killian?

Wanting to hide in a mouse hole if possible, Alicia covered her flushed face with both hands.

“Everyone leave…”

“Your Highness?”

“Everyone except Marisa!”

What kind of reaction would she show if he said that her desperate shouting while covering her face with both hands was cute?

‘That would probably be cute too…’

Killian thought as he was pushed out of the tent by Marisa, clicking his tongue in regret.

And watching Killian walk towards his subordinates with a somehow pleased look on his face, Reilly scratched his forehead.

Was it because he knew Alicia’s will well that he said he would follow her wishes?

The Killian he knew was a cold man with no interest in the princess…

If he really had no interest in Alicia, he wouldn’t have said such a thing.

Recalling Killian’s words that remained like a hangnail on his fingertip, Reilly messed up his hair completely and turned his eyes towards the entrance of the tent where Alicia was staying.

“What are you looking at? Aren’t you going?”

“…You don’t care about others watching anymore?”

“Yeah, get lost.”

Cassa, standing with his back to the tent entrance like a guard, glared at Reilly.

It seems he didn’t have such a personality when they were at the academy…

Did his personality change after becoming an imperial guard knight?

Reilly vowed to find time to ask the captain of the guard about this someday as he made his way to his own tent.

It was time to move diligently towards the Tower of Sages again, though it was a little later than planned.

After somehow dealing with what happened the previous evening, a small, really small problem occurred for Alicia’s party as they were about to set out again towards the Tower of Sages.

“…Our captain tore off that door panel?”

“Bran told you to call him ‘Duke’. And the captain is waaay over there, Captain Derick, you know?”

“Damn it, I heard you calling him captain too.”

“I called him ‘Captain sir’.”

“Is that something to be so proud of?”

Two members of Bardulf’s unit whispered in low voices in front of the carriage that had lost some of its functionality due to the torn-off door.

Alicia, examining the carriage from a short distance away, let out a sigh.

It was fortunate that the horses had been moved elsewhere to graze freely since there were no plans to move the carriage in the evening. If the horses had been tied up when yesterday’s commotion occurred, it could have been a big problem.

‘If the horses had been startled and reared up…’

Something even worse than screaming and fainting could have happened.

‘Thinking about it that way, it’s fortunate it ended with just that… but can we run with that carriage?’

It was unreasonable to expect the knights of the Imperial Guard to repair the carriage, and the members of Bardulf’s unit, who had various experiences, were the only hope, but…

“Our Duke is quite fiery, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. He completely destroyed it so there’s no thought of fixing it.”

“But how strong does one have to be to tear this off in one go?”

“Go ask the Duke if you’re curious. He’ll probably pound you thoroughly so you can understand with your body.”

These were people who were saying in this way that repair was impossible.

This had happened just one day after setting out on the journey.

Perhaps the only fortunate thing was that they had the two horses that had been pulling the carriage, so they could move without immediately needing to find a new carriage.

However, the problem didn’t end there.

‘There are three people but only two horses.’

Two people would have to ride on one horse, and in the process of deciding this, an unexpected problem arose.

“I will ride the horse with Your Highness.”

“I will be more reassuring than Marisa.”

“Serving Your Highness is my job.”

“What does serving have to do with riding a horse together?”

Alicia was stuck in place even though she had finished preparing to depart, due to the argument between Marisa and Cassa, who were both insisting on riding the same horse as her.

The two seemed to be getting along well, but it turns out they had just been ignoring each other’s territories until now because their domains were different.

When Reilly, unable to stand it anymore, threw in a word saying that he would ride the horse with Alicia, both of them immediately flared up in anger…

“Viscount, where did you say the nearest horse market was?”

“If we go as planned, we’ll arrive at a village in two days that has one.”

“Then shall we take turns riding the horse each day?”

“They’ll probably argue about who gets to ride first, so let’s just leave them to reach a conclusion now.”

If only one of Cassa or Marisa couldn’t ride a horse, the problem would be easily solved.

However, Cassa, being a knight, couldn’t possibly not know how to ride a horse, and Marisa, though from a poor family, was still a noble lady who couldn’t have not experienced horseback riding, which was an essential part of education.

That’s why they had been insisting that their skills were superior and that they should naturally be the one to ride with Alicia.

How much time had passed like this?

Finally, the person who would ride the horse together with Alicia was decided.