A few days later.
Airen was preparing for a long departure.
‘Co to think of it, we had decided to split the occupation forces and dispatch them to various locations across the continent.’
As the vice-commander, Airen was no exception. Now that training duties were roughly concluded, she was making final preparations for her journey.
Would I not be able to see her for a while?
The first person Airen greeted was the head maid, whose face she had now grown quite familiar with.
"Well then, I’ll be off. I leave the mansion in your care."
"Do not worry, my lady."
"Reika. I’d appreciate it if you could stay comfortable even while I’m gone."
"Have a safe trip...!! I’ll be waiting for you. When you return, I’ll make you lots of delicious food...! So please co back safely...!"
"And..."
She hesitated for a mont.
Sensing that it was now my turn, I approached her.
Airen’s golden eyes wavered slightly as she looked up at .
"Swen. I’ll be back soon... So make sure to stay safe and take care of yourself."
"..."
There was sothing subtle about her tone of voice.
I hoped I wasn’t reading too much into it.
And yet—
I stepped forward and—
"...!!!!"
Opened my arms wide and pulled her into an embrace.
Airen flinched slightly, startled—but she didn’t reject .
Instead, she leaned into my chest, resting her head against .
"Have a safe trip, Lady Airen. I will miss you very much... but I will wait for you."
"Mm... Swen, I’ll do my best. I’ll miss you too... a lot..."
"Please take care of yourself. Don’t push yourself too hard. If anything even feels dangerous, retreat imdiately. Understood?"
"I won’t overdo it. If Swen tells not to do sothing... I won’t do it..."
She was only going out on patrol, so maybe I was being a bit excessive.
But back when she was with the Aishus Army, she had been willing to risk her life for without hesitation.
If I didn’t at least tell her this much, I wouldn’t be able to breathe easy.
I slowly ran my hand through her crimson hair.
She always put on a strong front, always acted steadfast and resolute.
But monts like these reminded —Airen wasn’t an unshakable pillar of steel.
After seeing her off—
"...?"
"Ah, u-uh, um...!!!"
I turned to see Reika, her face flushed bright red, sweating profusely as she fidgeted awkwardly.
I softened my expression and asked,
"Do you have anything to do today?"
"Uh? No, um... I... don’t..."
Her fingers tapped against each other, her flustered behavior oddly endearing.
"Then, would you like to ditate with ? It’s been a while."
"Huh...?"
"Do you not want to?"
"N-no, that’s not it, it’s just, uh... I-I’d love to! I’d love to...!!"
Reading together in the library wouldn’t have been a bad idea either.
But the ti she always seed happiest while with was when we ditated together.
Today, I supposed, would be a good day to spend so ti with her.
With that, Reika and I stepped outside the mansion.
***
Thump, thump.
Even though Reika had co out to ditate with Swen, she couldn’t calm her racing heart.
‘That was... incredible...’
Lady Airen saying she would be off.
And Swen pulling her into a tight embrace in response.
It was like a scene straight out of a painting—a perfectly matched pair.
Seeing them together like that sent an inexplicable ticklish sensation through her chest.
Their bond looked undeniably strong, yet—
The surprising thing was that, as of now, they weren’t actually anything more than that.
And from that nothing more than that, Reika found a strange sense of relief.
‘If I ever had to leave on a long journey soday... would Swen also hold like that...?’
After all, both she and Lady Airen had started in similar positions.
And if she considered the engagent proposal, she was technically ahead.
So there was no need to feel discouraged, right?
Or so she thought—
‘...Huh?’
A single realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.
Wait a second.
Did I just think that I was ahead...?
‘...Ahead in what?’
In the engagent?
And if I am ahead in the engagent, what does that even an?
One thought led to another, forming a continuous chain—until finally, she reached a single conclusion.
Then, maybe... I...
‘Do I like Swen...?????’
‘Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.’
Her eyes went wide, her face turned red, and a tidal wave of thoughts crashed through her mind.
‘I never really wanted to get married... But the idea of becoming Swen’s wife... It didn’t seem so bad. I didn’t hate it from the beginning.
I only went along with it because Father wanted to, and that’s just how marriage works for won anyway...
But at so point... Sothing, sothing changed...!’
She would be lying if she said she didn’t feel a thrill when Swen had introduced her in the library as his wife.
‘But... Swen told that if I didn’t want to marry him, if I wanted to live freely, I could choose that instead.
At the ti, I was grateful for his words... but wasn’t there always this subtle sense of distance between us?’
"Miss Reika?"
‘I never quite understood what that distance was, but now that I think about it...
Could it be that I wanted to hear sothing different...?’
"Excuse ? Miss Reika?"
‘What if... instead of giving a choice, Swen had firmly told —
"Be my wife."’
"Miss Reika!"
"Kyaaah...!"
Startled, Reika finally turned her head to look at Swen.
"S-Swen...?"
"You seed a bit lost in thought."
"N-no, it’s nothing! I’m completely fine!!"
"You say that, but you looked very distracted."
Flustered, Reika stamred.
"Why... do you say that?"
"You kept fidgeting and looking around restlessly. Normally, when you ditate, you close your eyes and stay incredibly calm. But today... not so much."
"...Did I really do that?"
"Yes. Like this."
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Swen casually mimicked her movents, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ making her shrink into herself in despair.
"I’m so sorry... I... I don’t think I need to live anymore. I will now end my life..."
"No, no! That’s way too extre!"
"But... I showed you such an embarrassing side of myself..."
"It’s fine. More importantly, is sothing troubling you?"
"A concern...?"
Reika t Swen’s gray eyes.
When she had first t him, she had thought—He’s really handso, but he seems cold.
And those sharp, gray eyes had played a major role in forming that impression.
But now... for so reason, those sa eyes looked warm.
Gentle.
The kind of warmth that ca from people who were genuinely kind and caring.
‘A concern, huh...’
That maybe, instead of living freely—
Maybe, getting married to Swen...
Living together with Lady Airen, the three of them, peacefully...
Maybe that would be better.
But—
She didn’t have the courage to say that out loud.
"It’s nothing..."
Swen was silent for a mont before nodding.
"Is that so? Alright. I won’t pry. But if you ever want to talk, you can tell anyti. Okay?"
"Y-yes...!!"
His words—telling her she could always talk to him—ward her heart once more.
—My heart must be wavering because Swen is such a kind person.
Having Swen as her engagent partner, sothing that had fallen into her lap unexpectedly—
Maybe, Reika thought, it was an incredible stroke of luck.
"Shall we continue?"
"Yes...!"
Finally shaking off her tangled thoughts, Reika focused on the mana flowing in the air.
This place was rich in mana.
Not to the extent of an overflowing, dense forest, but far richer than the central continent.
‘With this amount of mana... I might be able to pull off that technique I failed last ti...!’
Reika recalled the ti at Valharat Castle when she had found a dying rabbit in the garden.
Back then, she had failed because there wasn’t enough mana in the air.
But now, she had a feeling she could succeed.
This was how she had always learned magic—
She would get a feeling, then turn it into a formula and manifest it.
No one had ever taught her, but for Reika, it was as natural as breathing.
Lately, she had been growing even faster—so much so that even she could feel it.
Handling mana had beco fun.
Magic formulas, which should have been incredibly complex, felt like simple puzzles to her—problems that only required a little ti to solve.
And in reality, that was exactly the case.
But Reika had no idea that it was simply because she was an innate genius.
She firmly believed—
"It’s all thanks to Swen. Ever since I t him, I’ve been able to understand things better...! One day, I have to repay him for everything he’s taught ...!"
Believing it was Swen’s guidance that had helped her grow, Reika’s admiration for him only deepened.
And so, that day, she spent her ti ditating alongside Swen.
For Reika, this was a mont she would cherish more than anything.
***
Several days had passed since Airen's departure.
Early in the morning, a maid hurriedly inford that the head maid was looking for with urgency.
Without wasting any ti, I quickly dressed and headed to where she was waiting.
As soon as she saw , she bowed her head respectfully before speaking.
"Ah, Lord Swen. You’ve arrived. I should greet you with a good morning... but..."
"It’s fine. What is the matter?"
"A ssenger has arrived from the royal palace. Lady Serpina has requested that you co imdiately."
"Did you hear anything about the reason?"
I asked, though I had a fairly good guess already.
The troubled look on the head maid’s face.
The urgency of the ssage.
And considering the only plausible situation that could warrant this level of haste...
"The details are unclear, but... it seems a rebel army has risen sowhere on the continent."
As expected.
So it was news of a rebellion.
Which also ant—
‘Lady Serpina’s prediction was correct.’
A rebellion would rise.
And the only basis for that prediction... was my advice.
How had she been so certain that a rebellion would occur?
Well, regardless—this was sothing I could resolve by eting my lord in person.
"I will depart imdiately."
"Yes. Please, take care on your way..."
Exchanging a brief farewell with the head maid, I swiftly donned my uniform and made my way to the royal palace.
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