After spending a long-overdue outing with Lady Airen,
not long after that, I found myself once again spending ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) ti with another woman.
This ti, it was... yes. The adorable girl with the soft pink twin tails—now an indispensable, asymtrical force within Serpina’s army.
“Swen niiim~!”
From a distance, she ca running with a cheerful, innocent smile.
It was Reika Nighhardt.
“Huff... huff...”
“You did great. That was a lot of effort.”
I gently patted Reika’s back.
The mont she spotted , she ca dashing all the way from afar—full of joy—but clearly wore herself out quickly.
Neither of us had great stamina, after all. If it ever ca down to a strength contest, the knight Airen would easily take first place among the three of us.
“Th-thank you... Swen niiim.”
Even as sweat trickled down her face, she forced herself to smile brightly at .
Only then did her appearance fully co into view.
She wore a very neat and elegant white dress. It was made of a light, cool fabric—perfect for this ti of year.
And throughout her run, her rather large chest had bounced continuously. ...She had to be wearing underwear, but still, the way it moved was incredible. Probably best not to ntion that.
“Shall we get going?”
Just as I was about to take a step forward with her—
“W-wait a mont—!!”
“?”
“S-Swen niiim! I-I have sothing t-to ask... huff... you!”
“Let’s catch your breath first.”
“Huff... huff... ah, right...”
She reached for the canteen at her waist, took a few sips of water, then—
“About last ti! How was it?!”
“Last ti?”
“With Lady Airen! You went on a date!”
“Ah...”
Thinking back to it made feel suddenly embarrassed, and I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
“Well... it was fun.”
“And?”
“...Sorry?”
“D-did anything... happen?!”
Reika clenched her fists in both hands, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at .
What was with those dreamy eyes? What kind of answer was she hoping for?
I briefly considered telling her the truth, but it was too embarrassing, so I gave a vague reply.
“Not... really. Nothing happened.”
“I see...”
As her shoulders slumped, I joked to lighten the mood.
“What were you expecting, exactly...?”
“I an, just... you know... I can’t be ahead of Lady Airen...”
“Huh?”
Flustered, Reika stumbled over her words for a while.
“A k-k-kiss... you kissed, so... at the very least, Lady Airen should’ve kissed too...!!!”
“...How did this beco a competition?”
“Because... I-I’m... the second wife...!”
Hearing her stamr about not wanting to get ahead of the first wife, I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
“Ah, o-of course! I know it can only happen if we’re actually married, but still, that’s...”
Even when saying nonsense like this, she still managed to look adorable. It made feel like I’d slowly grown fond of Reika without even realizing it.
Honestly, the one who kissed first was Lady Serpina—which, from Reika’s perspective, would’ve been a shocking revelation.
But I wasn’t even sure whether I should tell her that.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Either way, I didn’t feel bad or uncomfortable about any of this.
She had probably done all this out of consideration for and Lady Airen, in her own way.
“Well, you don’t have to push yourself too hard. Things will unfold naturally, so don’t worry too much.”
“N-naturally, huh...!! That’s such a Swen thing to say...!”
I gently patted Reika’s head and took her hand.
She looked surprised... but no longer pulled away, and calmly returned the gesture.
Both of us had lowered our emotional barriers a lot since the first ti we t.
“Shall we go, then?”
“Yes...! P-please... take good care of today... as my escort...!”
***
The first place we visited with Reika, of course, was the Nighhardt estate.
“You’ve returned, young lady...!!”
“Reina! It’s been so long...!!”
After a brief reunion, we got to hear a bit of news about Jinor.
“That’s right. You’re Sir Swen, yes? You asked about him the last ti you ca, didn’t you? What timing—it just so happened that very evening, we received word about the young master.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. It sounds like he’s doing well.”
Apparently, he had even ntioned Reika, which made her flush and mumble in embarrassnt.
“There’s no need to worry about that much...!”
From a third-person perspective, his ssage had sounded less like concern and more like a serious contemplation about whether she’d be able to handle things well... but there was no need to hurt Reika’s feelings by pointing that out.
“And aside from that?”
“Nothing special. He seems to be doing fine under his new lord.”
A new lord... that had to be Lady Luna.
With Jinor’s capabilities, he was likely already serving as a national strategist.
It was undoubtedly thanks to him that the first mage to appear had been deployed effectively, and that Karelia’s and Roland’s forces had been defeated one after the other.
After that, Reika and I had a long-overdue tea ti together.
Though we called it a “light tea ti,” we spent the entire evening drowning in sugar from the sweets and cakes she kept baking.
I wasn’t particularly fond of sugary treats, but I wanted to match her mood—she clearly enjoyed using the kitchen again after so long.
Reika, the maids—everyone seed to enjoy themselves.
Even after the al, we wrapped up our date by ditating together in peace.
“Being able to sit like this with Swen again, closing my eyes and feeling the mana... it makes so happy. Hehe...”
“I’m happy too.”
“I want to go back to Eingart Castle soon, and live peacefully with Lady Airen and Swen... For that, I have to work even harder...!”
Using magic to kill soldiers surely wasn’t sothing she’d gotten used to—but Reika, admirable as ever, showed no sign of struggling, always doing her best to keep up with us.
Peace for the continent...
My heart grew conflicted for a mont, knowing that it wasn’t Serpina who would bring peace, but rather Luna...
But now wasn’t the ti to dwell on that. Now was the ti to focus fully on Reika.
The ti I spent with Lady Airen and the ti with Reika each gave a different sense of peace.
No matter how you put it—it was all precious to .
***
During the rest of my leave, I truly lived a laid-back life, just as Serpina had advised.
I invited both Reika and Airen and enjoyed als with the two of them, or took quiet walks alone through the bustling streets of Valharat to observe the state of the city.
Thankfully, the public sentint among the people was improving by the day.
Even though Yuri had squandered much of the territory’s resources in her final years, I had expected the people to still long for Aishus rule after such a long reign—but to my surprise, the recovery in public opinion had been rapid.
Well, from my perspective, I was glad I didn’t have to see Serpina being demonized and insulted for no reason anymore.
In any case, Serpina truly hadn’t summoned even once during my entire vacation.
I was able to rest—literally rest—for the first ti since I entered this world, since those early days before I t Lunarian and spent my ti idling at the tavern.
And so, the full week ca to an end.
“Swen. Your expression’s much better now. Have you been well?”
“Thanks to your consideration, I was able to rest deeply for the first ti in ages. I’ll work hard to repay the favor.”
“No need to work hard or anything. You’ve already done more than enough—I’m not expecting anything more from you.”
“You mustn’t say that, my lord. The prophecies born of my inner vision still hold true, and I will continue to act for your sake.”
“Fufufu, I see. You’re flattering again—looks like you’ve really recovered your composure.”
Serpina laughed behind her hand with amusent, then looked down at and said,
“Then, let’s get straight to business.”
“Yes. I’m ready for anything.”
“A diplomatic envoy has arrived.”
“...Excuse ?”
A diplomatic envoy?
Who would even send an envoy to our army?
It was strange to say now, but the Serpina Army was practically the enemy of the world.
Far from diplomacy, we’d have been lucky not to be constantly condemned.
No nation had ever signed an agreent with us.
“Where are they from?”
“From the Hesna Army.”
Hesna.
The southern country that had seized Raklein Castle and pushed Aishus to collapse—now our new border neighbor.
“When did they make the offer?”
“About a week ago.”
A week ago...?
That would an the envoy arrived right after my leave began.
I considered complaining—why hadn’t I been called in?—but then again, maybe it was Serpina’s way of being considerate.
She must’ve sensed my thoughts, as she shook her head with a small smile.
“They’ve been treated with the utmost hospitality while they rest. Given the long journey, offering them a break isn’t such a bad idea—so don’t worry.”
Even if they shared a border with us now, traveling from the southern continent to the central one required crossing vast rivers and treacherous mountain ranges.
It was precisely because of those natural barriers that the southern continent had remained untouched by the continent-wide war and was able to maintain its own order.
“What are their demands?”
“An alliance.”
“An alliance...?”
That’s all well and good, but... what are they offering?
From our perspective, there was no particular reason to join hands with them.
And that’s when she said—
“If we accept, they’ve agreed to recognize as Empress.”
“...What?”
Seeing the stunned look on my face, Serpina gave a small smirk and tossed it out like a casual remark.
“In other words—they’ve declared their intention to serve under . To beco a vassal state.”
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