“You returned safely.”

Jack smiled faintly at her words tinged with relief.

“It’s not like we went into battle.”

Unlike Dwayne, Jack looked haggard as if he had gone through a lot, but he answered humbly. Then he looked at her straight and nodded silently. It meant the mission was successful.

Amy smiled with great relief.

“Good work. You must have had a hard time.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Dwayne barged into the warm atmosphere that had settled.

“Head Maid! I really worked hard. I searched every small shrine and examined each nameless grave one by one…”

“Hey, I told you to be quiet.”

Jack quickly wrapped his arm around Dwayne’s neck, but it wasn’t enough to cover his mouth.

“It was so, so hard, I felt like I was going to throw up, gagging every day…”

“Shut up, I said shut it!”

Jack struggled to cover his mouth with his hand, but Dwayne dodged well, turning his head this way and that. Amy frowned.

“My, you must have had a hard time.”

Amy signaled to Jack with her eyes that it was okay. Only then did Jack release his arm and let Dwayne go. Dwayne blinked his eyes, then covered his mouth with both hands and shouted.

“Head Maid!”

His tone was clearly moved, leaving Amy bewildered. Dwayne ran up to her in one breath and his eyes shone.

“But I didn’t actually throw up. So don’t worry, Head Maid!”

“…That’s a relief.”

Amy wondered when she had worried, but gave an answer based on her excellent social skills. Of course, she swore she had no intention of worrying about Dwayne from the moment she first saw him until now, and wouldn’t in the future either. Dwayne threw his head back and laughed loudly.

“If I had known you would worry like this, I should have investigated more slowly!”

“That would have been troublesome.”

As Amy furrowed her brow, thinking he had forgotten the order to find it as quickly as possible, Dwayne laughed even louder.

“I’m a bit of a troublesome person. Hahaha.”

“…Anyway, good work. His Highness is in class now, so rest until you see him later.”

Amy, who had developed a headache, decided not to associate with Dwayne and turned around. Dwayne’s cheerful greeting was heard from behind.

“Yes, Head Maid. Take care~”

“…”

Amy grabbed her forehead and asked Mary in a low voice.

“Could you get me some headache medicine from the doctor?”

Mary glanced at Dwayne from top to bottom.

“Wouldn’t it be more effective to hit that person instead?”

“I’d love to, but we have to endure it.”

Dwayne watched contentedly as the two conversed and walked away.

“And here I thought the Head Maid hated me. Turns out she’s just shy~”

“…Sure. Think whatever you want.”

Jack shook his head, thinking he should also go to the doctor for some headache medicine.

When Noah returned to his office after class was over, Amy had a servant call for Jack and Dwayne. Noah’s eyes shone with curiosity.

“Did they really find it?”

“Yes.”

Amy wondered how big the magical tool they brought back would be. If it was too large and heavy, it would be difficult to move.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and then the door opened roughly.

“Your Grace~!”

Dwayne cried out in an anguished voice as if seeing a fiancée he hadn’t seen in three years, rushing in with his arms wide open. But Noah was no pushover.

“Stop.”

“Yes, sir.”

Noah stopped him like a skilled trainer, and Dwayne immediately obeyed like a dog waiting for praise. Only Jack stood far away with a disgusted expression.

Amy clapped her hands as if to change the atmosphere.

“Why don’t you report your return to His Highness first?”

As if he had been waiting for those words, Jack stepped forward and bowed politely.

“We have returned with the item as ordered.”

“Did you bring it? Where is it?”

Noah asked, looking Jack up and down. Amy also frowned. Neither Jack nor Dwayne were holding anything.

Jack took something out of his pocket and placed it on the desk. It was a statue about the size of an adult’s palm. Noah carefully picked it up and looked at it, then whispered in a small voice.

“Is this it, Amy?”

“If it was found in a grave attached to a shrine in that territory, it must be. There’s no way there could be another one like it. Besides…”

Amy took the statue from Noah and gently rubbed it with her finger.

“The material is similar to that magical tool from before. I asked the blacksmith, but he said it’s difficult to tell exactly what it is.”

“Then it must be right.”

Noah nodded towards Jack and Dwayne.

“Good work. You must have had a hard time.”

“We were just following orders.”

The faces of the two men, who had now truly completed their mission, brightened. Amy put the statue on the desk and said,

“We’ll have to go up to the Black Mountains in about a week. The ice on top of the mountain is melting, so it won’t be as difficult as before.”

“Wasn’t it urgent? Why not go earlier…”

As Noah wondered, Amy shook her head disapprovingly.

“We’re going to move after the Imperial Crown Prince leaves.”

At those words, Jack asked in surprise,

“Didn’t the banquet end a long time ago? Is he still here?”

Dwayne also looked bewildered, blinking his eyes like a cow. Amy frowned and told them,

“That’s how it turned out. And the person guarding him is Captain Martin.”

“What?”

Jack and Dwayne opened their mouths wide at the same time. After a moment, Dwayne burst out shouting.

“What does that bastard think this place is!”

“What about Captain Vernon? He didn’t clash with him, did he?”

Jack looked like he wanted to run to Vernon right away. Noah said,

“He said it was fine. He seemed to be handling it better than expected.”

“…Well, our captain is good at being smooth.”

Jack’s expression relaxed as if his worry had subsided a bit. Dwayne was still fuming and angry, but no one paid him any attention.

“Don’t even think about going to Captain Martin and causing a commotion.”

Amy warned, not taking her eyes off Dwayne. She thought she had glared at him rather fiercely, but unfortunately, Dwayne took it in a different meaning. He clasped his hands together shyly.

“Head Maid, are you worrying about me again? Well, I guess it’s understandable, since I was a bit immature in the past?”

His face, pretending to be mature now, was so brazen it was astounding.

“This isn’t worry, it’s… never mind.”

Amy wrinkled her nose and waved her hand. Noah dismissed them.

“You must be very tired, go and rest now.”

The two bowed and left the office. Dwayne was still noisy even after leaving, jumping up and down saying he would secretly go and challenge Martin to a duel right away, while Jack tried to dissuade him, asking if he wasn’t afraid of the consequences.

Amy was dumbfounded. Did he think they couldn’t hear him talking so loudly right outside the door?

‘I want to open up his head and take a look inside…’

There’s probably just a walnut-sized brain in there. Amy shook her head and muttered,

“Now that Dwayne is back, the castle will be noisy again.”

“…”

Noah silently gazed at her. Amy thought he had something to say and quietly waited. But when he just stared blankly, she furrowed her brows.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“You went to see my brother a few days ago, right?”

“…Ah.”

Amy, who had completely forgotten about meeting the Crown Prince, let out a belated exclamation.

“I heard he wasn’t eating, so I went to see him in case the Grand Duchy would be blamed.”

“…”

Noah lowered his eyes for a moment, lost in thought. In case we’d be blamed, he thought. He made an inner resolution. He would put Amy in such a high position that no one would dare to say such things in front of her, not in a position to be blamed.

Unaware that he was gritting his teeth while thinking this, Amy grumbled,

“But what do you mean he wasn’t eating, he ate so well his face was shining with grease. We almost accused the Empire of sending a pig instead of the Crown Prince.”

“…Pfft.”

Noah covered his mouth with his fist and laughed shyly. The sight was like a flower blooming in the shade, and Amy stared blankly, lost in thought.

“Hmm, so Amy, you don’t have any lingering feelings for my brother…?”

Noah narrowed his eyes slightly and tapped his fingers quickly on the desk, as if testing the waters. Seeing his anxiety so visible, Amy laughed with a deflating sound.

“Feelings? Those disappeared long ago.”

Due to her resentment from before her regression, Noah had almost died right in front of her. It took some effort to cut off her old affection at once, but that was also a thing of the past.

As she spoke seriously, Noah stopped his restless hand movement and let out a shallow breath.

“Then that’s fine.”

“…”

Amy stared at him for a moment before opening her lips.

“He’ll be returning to the Imperial capital in a few days. We probably won’t see him again in the future.”

At those words, Noah raised his head and met her eyes. Then he deliberately opened his eyes wide.

“Are you comforting me now?”

“Is this a moment that needs comfort? Weren’t we having a pleasant conversation? For example, about finally chasing out a big rat…?”

As Amy raised her eyebrows playfully, Noah grinned, showing his teeth. Feeling somewhat satisfied, Amy also smiled along, when suddenly there was a knock on the door and Lady Weaver rushed in.

“The Crown Prince says he’s leaving today.”

“!”

The two looked at each other’s faces in surprise.

At that time, Dwayne and Jack were unintentionally clashing with the Crown Prince’s knights. Jack felt wronged while Dwayne was excited. It was because the Crown Prince’s knights, not them, had picked the fight first.

The Crown Prince’s knights discovered Dwayne wandering around the outer castle courtyard, grinning and winking at the maids, and surrounded him in a group.

“Who do we have here? Aren’t these the dogs who lost the fight and ran away with their tails between their legs?”

The largest knight among them stepped forward, puffing out his chest. He was Martin’s close aide and had been at odds with Bradley since their time at the Imperial Palace.

Jack, thinking this was troublesome, scratched his cheek in annoyance and glanced to the side.

“You won’t fall for such low-level provocation, right, Dwayne?”

“Come on, what do you take me for? I hear that kind of talk from Bradley all the time, it doesn’t even tickle anymore.”

Jack sighed as he watched Dwayne puff out his chest and speak proudly.

“That’s nothing to brag about.”