‘Then this person must be a knight as well.’

He was too well-built to simply be a butler.

‘So I won’t have to meet him until Cedar comes to see me directly. I really can stay here comfortably like it’s my own home.’

The situation was clearly sorted out. I smiled brightly and said:

“Then just pretend I’m not here. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Pardon?”

“You should return to the knights’ quarters now, right? Hurry along, go on.”

“Eh?”

Hail turned to look at me with a confused expression, but I just smiled cheerfully while pushing him out.

[This is the timeline separator]

Even though his wife, whom he thought would never open her eyes again, had awakened, there was little change in Cedar’s life.

‘She really was a strange woman.’

Cedar twisted the corner of his mouth as he recalled Nelly, who had spouted nothing but nonsense. Seeing Cedar’s smile, the knights whispered among themselves.

‘Why is the captain in such a mood today?’

‘I don’t know. What’s up with him?’

‘If you get caught on a day like this, it’s death.’

Without saying a word, everyone carefully watched Cedar’s mood and slipped away.

Time passed in an instant, and the hot afternoon arrived. Given the long outdoor training sessions, the hours between 2 and 4 PM, when the sun was hottest, were rest time.

Cedar washed off the dust and sweat from the afternoon training with cold water and walked out.

And as if he had been waiting, Hail was standing in front of the door, holding out a towel to him. Cedar glared at him.

“Why are you here?”

Unbeknownst to Nelly, Cedar had ordered Hail to stay at the mansion all day and attend to her.

Already feeling guilty for seemingly disobeying that order, Hail immediately blurted out an excuse that sounded almost like a scream.

“I didn’t skip out! The madam told me to go!”

The knights who were washing up and coming out turned to look at Hail’s booming voice.

“Madam?”

“…Hup.”

Not sure what had gone wrong, but realizing he had upset Cedar’s mood, Hail’s face turned pale.

Cedar grabbed the back of Hail’s neck with a hardened expression.

“You, come here.”

Cedar, walking down the corridor without even putting on his upper garment and dripping water, with Hail in his grasp, drew everyone’s attention. Most had the same thought:

‘He’s dead.’

‘He’s done for.’

‘Don’t know what happened, but he’s finished.’

Even Hail himself thought so.

‘Today must be my last day in this world! But what did I do wrong to make him so angry suddenly? Is it because I didn’t stay to look after the madam and came to the knights’ quarters? But the madam told me to go!’

He felt wronged, but couldn’t argue about it. In the Dragon Knights, Cedar Granite’s word was law.

However, Cedar still needed a subordinate to secretly look after his wife, so Hail’s life was due for a slight extension.

Cedar shoved Hail into his office and immediately glared at him with cold eyes, spitting out just one word.

“You idiot.”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry!”

Hail, who didn’t even know what he had done wrong, immediately apologized and cautiously observed Cedar’s mood.

But Cedar, who had seemed ready to lash out at Hail, just crossed his arms and stared elsewhere.

‘Huh? Looks like he’s not going to take his anger out on me right away?’

More precisely, he seemed lost in thought about something else.

‘Is he worried about the madam?’

But then why drag me into the office? If he’s really concerned, shouldn’t he be urgently asking about her?

‘He’s not the type to hesitate in saying what he wants because he’s distracted by something else.’

It was a puzzling sight, but considering Nelly had woken up, it wasn’t incomprehensible. Doesn’t love change people and all that?

Swallowing hard, Hail boldly made a move.

“…It seems the madam was lonely eating alone. She left me a note saying you were too busy to eat, and that she herself only ate half due to lack of appetite.”

Flinch―!

Cedar’s broad shoulders flinched. Hail’s eyes sparkled as he keenly observed the change.

‘Oh? What’s this?’

Hail took courage and chattered on enthusiastically.

“She must be confused after suddenly regaining consciousness, but seeing how she considers even the servants, she seems like a truly kind-hearted person.”

Cedar, who had been frowning, finally spoke after a long pause.

“What did she do after that?”

“She kept going up and down the second floor, moving around.”

“Lunch?”

“She said she would manage on her own. She also said not to worry about her from now on.”

“…”

For some reason, Cedar seemed displeased at her saying she would manage on her own. Hail tilted his head.

“You also mentioned that you didn’t want the madam’s presence to be revealed… Is that a misunderstanding on her part?”

“It’s not a misunderstanding.”

“What? You really intend to keep it a secret that the madam has woken up? Why?”

“What good would it do you to know the reason?”

His eyes, devoid of any warmth, were filled only with irritation. Hail’s face contorted strangely.

‘He’s really going to keep it a secret?’

The marriage between a comatose archmage and the strongest swordmaster in the country had caused quite a stir among the public.

Since Cedar was already set to inherit the enormous Granite fortune, no one was interested in Nelly’s inheritance.

Everyone just gossiped about when such a romantic love had blossomed.

But not all rumors were good.

Just as Nelly had asked if Cedar had a thing for sleeping women, there were some unsavory rumors about Cedar circulating quietly.

‘If they announced that the madam has woken up now, all those bad rumors would disappear too.’

But Cedar decided to hide it.

‘Why on earth?’

After racking his brains this way and that, the only reason Hail could come up with was this:

“The madam is certainly beautiful, but I don’t think she’s beautiful enough to warrant this level of caution…”

“What?”

Even that made Cedar glare fiercely, causing Hail to immediately crumple.

He had no desire to get beaten up for pushing things too far. Hail just bowed his head and said what he needed to say.

“Anyway, the madam wanted me to leave the mansion, so I left. It wasn’t my own decision.”

“Did that woman say that? That she prefers to be alone?”

“Even if she didn’t, wouldn’t she be uncomfortable being alone in the mansion with a man she’s never met before?”

“Hmm.”

Cedar’s brow furrowed deeply at Hail’s answer. There was only one reason Cedar hadn’t employed any staff at home until now.

‘If I bring in people, Mother will try to recruit them somehow to monitor my movements. I hate that.’

Cedar was sick of having his every move watched.

That’s why he left home and didn’t employ a single person at the mansion. If he needed someone, he would send Hail.

‘But it might be a difficult situation for that woman to adapt to.’

Come to think of it, Hail’s words made sense.

While Hail was like a convenient stick for him to push around, he wouldn’t be as comfortable a companion for Nelly as he was for Cedar.

Hail, thinking Cedar’s concerns were typical of newlyweds, grinned and offered some cheeky advice.

“So you should go home early and all that.”

“Nonsense.”

“What? Aren’t you dismissing my well-intentioned advice too much?”

Hail was about to argue, feeling wronged, but seeing Cedar glaring fiercely, he quickly tucked his tail between his legs again. Cedar earnestly entreated Hail:

“Everything about my wife is strictly confidential. I hope you’ll keep your mouth shut. Before I have to seal it for you myself.”

“Yes! Yes!”

After thoroughly intimidating Hail, Cedar returned to his knightly duties.

He had to set out for monster subjugation soon, so he needed to push the knights a little more.

But what was this? As he trained the knights as usual, Nelly’s face kept appearing in his mind.

Skin so pale it was almost white, bright golden hair the color of lemons left unstyled, a small frame he could easily lift with just one arm.

It was a face he had grown accustomed to seeing all this time, but now one more detail was added to his memory.

The emerald green eyes that sparkled like beads.

‘Damn it.’

If he had known her face would keep appearing like this, he shouldn’t have looked in on that woman, whether to hear her out or whatever.

Now her face had become unnecessarily familiar.

Nelly’s face continued to pop up like soap bubbles after that, and in the end, Cedar returned to his mansion earlier than usual.

And when he faced Nelly, he ended up asking this:

“…What’s with that getup?”

As expected, this woman was beyond whatever he anticipated.

[This is the timeline separator]

I couldn’t find the food storage, but I could find the kitchen.

However, there was no food to be found in the kitchen either. Only the bare minimum of tableware was out.

As if anticipating that I would come out prowling for food like this, water and a cup were set out on the dining table.

‘Are they telling me to just drink water?’

I’ll have to ask about the food storage tomorrow without fail.

I’m not particularly fond of eating, but ever since I collapsed while researching at the academy, I’ve made a habit of keeping emergency rations nearby.

[If you collapse like this again, Sister, I’m going to live in your room from now on. I’ll assume you’re incapable of taking care of yourself.]

It was all thanks to Grisha.

‘I wonder if I’ll ever be able to repay this debt to Grisha.’

Thinking of Grisha automatically made my face gloomy. Grisha, who was like my own brother.

‘He must be worried about me. Maybe he’s unable to do anything, just waiting for me to contact him.’

I’d probably be the same if our positions were reversed and Grisha was in this situation.

After briefly reminiscing about Grisha, I shook my head vigorously.

‘Grisha will know it’s almost time for me to wake up. He’ll surely contact me first, so there’s no need to be anxious.’

It would be more dangerous to clumsily go to the Periway baronial estate to retrieve the communication device Grisha had given me.