The Crown Prince frowned and shook off Noah’s hand. Noah withdrew his hand nonchalantly and said.

“Take care, Your Highness.”

“……Call me elder brother.”

The Crown Prince, who was about to get irritated, glanced at Amy and forced himself to speak politely. Noah quickly responded.

“Take care, elder brother.”

Amy secretly held back laughter, seeing his clear intention to send them off as soon as possible. Catching her smile, the Crown Prince muttered unconsciously.

“Perhaps I should stay just one more day……”

Noah deliberately ignored his words and interrupted.

“The weather looks suspicious, it might rain.”

Then he raised his voice towards the people.

“Quickly, saddle the horses!”

At the Duke’s command, the loyal servants of the duchy responded loudly.

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Their hands moved even faster, and preparations were completed in an instant. The Crown Prince pursed his lips and reluctantly mounted his horse.

“Amy……”

As he called Amy and hesitated for a moment, Amy quickly spoke up.

“Your Grace, please say a few words for the Crown Prince’s safe return to the empire.”

“……”

Both men made equally displeased expressions. Meeting each other’s unenthusiastic gazes, they simultaneously averted their eyes and muttered.

“I’m sure I can manage on my own……”

“Forget it. It would only be uncomfortable……”

Perhaps fortunately, they didn’t hear each other’s words. Amy felt cold sweat breaking out on her back as she gestured to the people.

“Make way.”

The people who had been huddled together stealing glances at them withdrew in unison. As a path opened up among the crowd, the Crown Prince’s horse finally began to move.

“……”

Amy stood still, watching until the entire procession had left the castle. Then, as the last servant crossed the drawbridge, she tilted her head.

‘Did I miss something?’

As she stared at the departing group’s backs with an uneasy feeling, people approached her side.

“Now we can finally catch our breath.”

It was Vernon, looking as if he hadn’t slept for a week. When Lady Weaver, standing behind Amy, looked him over worriedly, Vernon sheepishly scratched his head. Amy nodded.

“The guard captain had an especially hard time.”

“Indeed.”

As Noah chimed in agreement, Vernon’s cheekbones flushed red. He subtly puffed out his chest and glanced at Lady Weaver as if to see if she had noticed. Amy inwardly clicked her tongue. So inelegant, really.

Just then, she noticed Jack and Dwayne standing nervously in the distance. Amy narrowed her eyes and whispered to Noah.

“What shall we do with them?”

They had dared to disobey the Duke’s orders and nearly caused a conflict with the empire. It was fortunate the Crown Prince hadn’t paid attention; if he had taken issue with it, it could have been quite troublesome.

“……Follow me.”

Noah glanced at them before turning away first. Amy followed him, giving Jack and Dwayne a look that said ‘you’re dead now’. The two trudged along behind, shoulders slumped.

Upon reaching the office, Noah perched on the edge of the desk. Amy stood beside him, while Jack and Dwayne stood before them, looking like dogs who had misbehaved badly and were awaiting punishment.

Noah rummaged through a drawer and tossed something.

“!”

Jack, caught off guard, blinked as he caught it. It was a small pouch. He glanced at Amy nervously as he opened it, then startled.

“Th-this is……”

Curious, Amy craned her neck to see what Jack was holding and frowned in disapproval.

“Your Grace? Why are you giving a reward to those who should be punished?”

The pouch contained gold coins. Considering that servants’ wages were paid in silver coins at most, it was an enormous sum. Noah nonchalantly nodded.

“They completed their mission safely. I’m just giving this as a bonus.”

But the sharp-eyed Jack quickly grasped the Duke’s true intentions. He seemed quite pleased that they had crushed his half-brother’s knights and damaged his pride.

“Thank you.”

As Dwayne got excited like a dog seeing a bone, Jack quickly tucked the pouch into his chest. Dwayne deflated like flat beer, but Jack ignored him and changed the subject.

“There’s something I didn’t get to mention before. Actually, we received help from an outsider in finding that item.”

“!”

The expression vanished from Amy’s face in an instant. Dizzy from the unexpected words, she stumbled and gripped the desk for support, startling all three men.

“Amy, what’s wrong?”

Noah jumped up to support her. Amy patted his arm that was wrapped around her, indicating she was fine. Then she took a deep breath and looked at Jack.

“What kind of person was it? Did they… perhaps know what I had told Sir Jack?”

The fact that she might not be the only one who had regressed hit her with more fear than expected. If that person who helped them had appeared there knowing everything…

Feeling her heart pounding madly, she unconsciously gripped Noah’s arm. Though it must have hurt, Noah didn’t move an inch and remained Amy’s support.

“It didn’t seem that way. He just appeared while I was searching the graveyard and told me to check the tombstone with strange writing first.”

Jack said, trying to recall. Dwayne nodded beside him. Only then could Amy relax. As she slumped down, Noah held her more tightly and whispered.

“Let’s sit down.”

He led her to his chair and sat her down. Amy, too dazed to realize where she was sitting, caught her breath and came to her senses, then jumped up in surprise.

“Keep sitting.”

“No, not here!”

Amy hurriedly came out from behind the desk. Noah pouted in displeasure, while Jack and Dwayne watched them with great interest.

Amy cleared her throat and asked casually.

“You don’t know what was written on the tombstone?”

“Ah, no. That person didn’t seem to know either.”

“I see……”

Amy’s expression relaxed. Right, it must have been a coincidence. If they really knew, they wouldn’t have come here…

“But you know……”

Suddenly, Jack looked troubled and fell silent, glancing between Noah and Amy. As Jack hemmed and hawed, Dwayne stepped forward and declared energetically.

“We invited that person to the duchy!”

“What did you say?”

Amy was shocked, while Noah tilted his head in confusion. Amy raised her voice in a near-scream, her neck veins bulging.

“I specifically told you not to reveal your identity!”

Seeing her anger far exceed expectations, Jack groaned and covered his face with his hands. But Dwayne spread his arms wide and pleaded.

“Please listen, Head Maid. We had such a hard time. Investigating the graves of a temple, especially unmarked ones – it sounds easy, but it was incredibly daunting. We examined thousands of graves.”

“……”

“Not to mention all those temples hidden in mountain valleys and peaks. And that’s not all. We even dug up ground to find abandoned temples… we really went through hell.”

Though she had expected it to be difficult, she hadn’t realized it would be to that extent.

‘Maybe I should have sent more people?’

She had only sent a few trusted individuals since it needed to be done discreetly. Though not completely appeased, Amy lowered her eyes slightly, feeling apologetic. Dwayne’s lament continued.

“In that situation, a benefactor appeared out of nowhere. Personally, I wanted to treat them to some northern liquor, so I invited them. Surely, Head Maid……”

Suddenly, Dwayne pointed at Amy. Reflexively raising her head, she met his sparkling eyes and barely managed to control her face from contorting.

“After all your concern… You’re not going to say this isn’t allowed, are you?”

“……”

At a loss for words, Amy thought for a moment, then muttered while averting her gaze.

“Well… that’s for His Grace to decide……”

“!”

Both men’s gazes whipped around. Noah stared intently at Amy, not them, then nodded once as if in agreement. At that, Dwayne cheered and Jack’s expression brightened considerably. It seemed they had truly received significant help from that person.

‘Right, it must be a coincidence. Given the circumstances, the strange writing was likely from the Biscon clan, and that helpful person probably has some connection to them…’

No, appearing at just the right moment to provide crucial help – how could this be a coincidence? Amy tried to convince herself, but ended up persuading herself of the opposite.

‘Let’s just assume it’s someone who knows about the regression, like me.’

Having made up her mind one way, she actually felt more at ease.

‘Since they’re coming, let’s see what kind of person they are. Whether they’ll be helpful to us or a hindrance… well, they’ve been helpful so far. We should repay that. Besides, if they had ulterior motives, they would have just taken the magical item for themselves instead of helping us find it.’

She glanced at Noah. Seeing him still looking at her with concerned eyes, she smiled brightly. Only then did his expression soften, which made her want to smile for real.

Amy didn’t realize she had started thinking of herself and Noah as “us”.

That night, in the kitchen of the duchy.

In the dead of night, after the cook had returned to his home in the village and all the servants had gone back to their quarters, the last remaining maid was tiredly scraping ashes from the hearth when she heard a scratching sound from somewhere.

“What’s that noise?”

The maid paused her work and listened carefully. But as if it had been her imagination, she heard nothing more. As the maid tilted her head, wondering if she had misheard, this time there was a thud, as if something had fallen.

“What the……”

Suddenly aware of being alone in the dark kitchen, goosebumps broke out all over her body. But retreating in fear here would not befit a woman of the North.

“Phew……”

Taking a small breath, the maid set down the tin can of ashes and stood up. Then, gripping the poker tightly, she began to creep towards the source of the sound. If it was a thief, she intended to crack their skull properly.

She descended the stone steps and reached the door of the underground storage room. Beyond the door that the cook had locked securely, she sensed something moving. The maid hesitated for a moment. She knew where the cook hid the key to the storage room.

‘It was so much fun to secretly raid the storage room with fellow maids in the middle of the night, stealing sausages and jerky…’

But she couldn’t just leave a thief be.

‘I guess those days are over now.’

Sighing, the maid reached between the dishes on the shelf. Soon, she grasped a small key. She pulled it out, inserted it into the keyhole, and slowly turned it. Then she flung the door open wide and shouted.

“Hey, you thief… Huh?”

In the corner of the storage room, she saw someone huddled on the floor, shaking.

“Oh, you are……”

The maid raised the poker, eyes wide.