Why did you co here? It’s dangerous.”
Claudia muttered, pouting in embarrassnt.
The knights hadn’t explained how she’d gotten injured on the way here.
They’d dodged my questions, almost as if it were so unspoken secret.
So naturally, I’d feared the worst — that she’d gotten caught up in so dangerous sche — and rushed over, heart pounding.
Fortunately, it was just a minor fracture in her ankle.
She’d landed wrong while dismounting from her horse.
A simple mistake, or maybe just a mont of carelessness.
You could chalk it up to sheer bad luck.
Either way, it had nothing to do with her skill.
“Ugh, really. How embarrassing.”
Claudia, who had so boldly declared she'd bring back a wolf, probably didn’t want to face like this.
Maybe she even gave orders ahead of ti to keep from coming.
She swept her sharp gaze over the knights, clearly ready to scold them into next week.
I quickly stepped in to stop her.
“I was the one who insisted on coming. I just can’t stand seeing Chloe in pain, not even for a second.”
“...”
“Just the thought of you hurting alone makes hurt.”
The mont those words left my mouth, Claudia softened — like a wild beast suddenly tad.
‘Phew…’
Besides, even if the knights had chosen to follow the Emperor’s orders and ignored , Claudia likely would’ve punished them more harshly than if they’d simply disobeyed a command.
From their perspective, they were caught in an impossible situation.
Still, that dilemma was probably the only reason I was able to make it to the forest so easily.
‘Sothing about this still feels off.’
Claudia making such a rookie mistake?
Sure, even a monkey fell from a tree sotis — but the timing was too suspicious.
A hunting ground where magic was banned.
And now, the Emperor, sidelined with an injury.
It reeked of foul play.
Staying alert, I pulled out the leather bag I’d packed in advance for today.
“I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Whatever the case, I was glad I ca.
After all, you never knew when sothing unexpected might happen, so it was best to start the treatnt as soon as possible.
“Drink this, and your bones will nd perfectly in no ti.”
“What is this?”
"Don't Hit The Shin."
"...What?"
Claudia stared at as if doubting her own ears.
"It’s the na of the potion. It’s called 'Don’t Hit The Shin.'"
She stared blankly between and the potion, then suddenly burst out laughing. “Puhaha!”
"Ah, right. If you hit the shin, it will be a big problem."
Did the na I ca up with on a whim sohow hit just the right codic note?
While everyone else stood stone-faced, Claudia kept laughing to herself.
The serious mood seed to thicken around us — it wasn’t just in my head.
‘Haha… alright. If you're happy, then I’m happy too.’
I smiled brightly, matching hers.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? When you think about it, it’s not even that funny.”
So it wasn’t actually funny.
The corners of my mouth, which had been lifted, drooped right back down.
“But everything you say, Rin, is hilarious.”
Was that supposed to be a complint?
“No matter what you say, I just can’t help but laugh.”
Under the patchwork canopy of autumn maples, Claudia’s eyes crinkled softly.
Bright leaves rained down above her, the vivid colours striking against the pale silver of her hair.
I watched silently as she downed the potion I gave her in one gulp — without a second’s hesitation or even checking if it was safe.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Just, because I’m happy.”
Suddenly, I realised that the words she had said were the sa ones I had heard every day from soone who resembled her.
The Diamond Siblings seed to cherish and love imnsely.
I knew that, but maybe they loved even more than I’d allowed myself to realise.
Claudia asked, noticing the smile that had naturally spread across my lips.
“Why are you smiling?”
"Well, just because.”
Now, it shouldn’t hurt anymore, so I gently cupped her ankle and moved it back and forth to test it.
Claudia, without hesitation, boldly rotated her foot in circles.
Seeing no trace of pain on her face, it seed the bone had healed properly.
"I don’t know how I’d live without you, Rin."
Without a hint of hesitation, Claudia pulled into a hug.
Startled, my eyes went wide at the sudden embrace — but then, I lted into her familiar warmth.
Suddenly, a wave of nostalgia washed over .
It was a scene I was so familiar with in Korea.
Friends held hands, linked arms, and hugged freely to express their friendship.
But in this world, casual physical contact among female friends was not considered normal behaviour.
By the ti I realised that fact, the people around had already grown used to my unreserved displays of affection.
So much so that, when it ca to ‘Irene,’ they would sotis initiate it themselves — just like now.
“Even if it’s just sothing small, you have to tell if you get hurt, okay?”
I spoke as I nestled into her arms.
Claudia gently patted my back and replied with a playful lilt:
“If it ans monts like this, then maybe getting hurt once in a while wouldn’t be so bad.”
What kind of nonsense was that?
I was just about to scold her — seriously, tell her not to joke about sothing like that — when the atmosphere suddenly shifted.
The autumn wind, which had only been rustling leaves a mont ago, now carried a distinct sense of unease.
Then, just as the hairs on the back of my neck rose, the roar of a beast echoed through the forest, tearing through the air.
My body froze on instinct.
Claudia reflexively pulled in tighter.
The knights around us drew their swords in an instant.
“Your Majesty, please retreat to safety — imdiately!”
Held so tightly that I could barely breathe, I blinked in surprise.
Across from stood Felix — soone I never expected to see here.
“...”
“Fel—”
My lips parted and froze just like that.
His sea-coloured eyes gently trembled like ripples after a stone was cast into still water. It was a quiet kind of disturbance.
‘...Why?’
Despite the urgency of the situation, he captured all my attention.
What could have triggered him?
Just as I felt the urge to grasp the fragnt of emotion caught at the edge of his gaze, he raised his bow.
There was no hesitation in his movent.
Felix, with the arrow nocked on the string, fixed his gaze precisely on .
A gentle smile touched his lips, and though I couldn’t hear it, his sweet voice seed to linger by my ear.
‘Close your eyes.’
I obeyed instinctively, squeezing my eyes shut.
I could feel it — the arrow slicing through the space between Claudia and . I could even hear the sound of it piercing sothing solid.
When I opened my eyes again, there was no trace left of Felix where he had been standing.
Not a single trace of him remained in the spot where he had stood.
Only the lingering wind tousled my hair.
It felt so dreamlike, I wondered if I’d imagined the whole thing — if I’d been daydreaming with my eyes open.
I only realised the beast that had appeared was a bear after examining the corpse.
The arrow, which had precisely struck a vital spot so the animal wouldn’t feel pain, reflected Felix’s true nature perfectly.
“Brother?”
Claudia traced the guardian’s emblem engraved on the tip of the arrow and muttered in puzzlent.
“Strange. He disappeared without saying a word.”
Exactly. It really was strange.
I anxiously searched for any trace that Felix had been here.
Although the bear had been struck by the arrow, strangely, it felt as if my own heart was pierced.
・・・・・
Felix was the sa as usual. The sa, yet sohow different.
‘Hmm…’
What was it?
What on earth could it be?
There had never been any problems between Felix and — not a single clash.
We were simply busy loving each other, like any other couple who hadn’t been together long.
But had the mont finally co?
I sighed deeply, recalling the strange atmosphere that had been lingering between us these past few days.
Maybe it was because the common enemy — the original male leads — had disappeared, and the conflicts we’d buried all this ti were finally surfacing.
In other words, this was a problem just between the two of us, with no external interference or attacks involved.
‘This isn’t really my area of expertise…’
Before expertise, I was just a complete novice.
Neither Felix nor I had any experience in relationships; this was both of our first tis.
"Fel."
So, I went to him without much thought.
It was rare for to seek him out so early in the morning, so Felix looked surprised.
Now that I thought about it, lately, I had always been spending this ti with Claudia or busy with potion work, theatre, or counselling others…
Wait, co to think of it, I hardly had any mories of spending dayti with Felix at all.
"What about Chloe?"
He seed to be aware of it too and naturally asked about her.
“She’s in a royal council eting. There seem to be quite a few conflicts due to the succession issue.”
Because Claudia kept avoiding any politically advantageous marriage proposals, the Senate seed troubled.
As for , I didn’t care what happened to the future of the country as long as Claudia was happy.
I’d leave all decisions up to her.
“Anyway, that’s not the important thing…”
What should I say?
Unconsciously, I thought of Felix, whom I had seen during the hunting tournant, and kept silent for a mont.
"...Don’t you think we need to talk?"
That was all I could say.
It was the first ti I found Felix’s expression so hard to read.
He wasn’t one to show his inner thoughts easily, but he had always been kind and openly loving toward .
"Yes, finally."
Finally?
"You ca to see ."
Felix set down so papers on the desk and reached out his hand.
I didn’t know why, but I willingly placed my hand over his.
For a mont, his gaze — cold and controlled yet burning with suppressed passion — reminded of the look he had at the banquet.
He was holding back a fiery heat with icy reason.
He sat down at the desk.
I felt the papers crumple beneath with a soft rustling sound, and his hands on my waist were burning hot.
"I don't want to talk."
Felix rejected the idea outright and sat opposite , fixing with a steady, unwavering gaze.
“It’s my selfishness.”
“...”
“Please give the answer I want to hear.”
He could have kindly told , but was he expecting to figure it out on my own?
Until now, he had always led to the answer naturally, but this was the first ti he outright told to give one.
Feeling how much he had lost his composure, I unknowingly squeezed his hand tightly.
His fingertips twitched in response.
“Did I make Fel anxious?”
I recalled the monts when Felix had shown those strange reactions.
Though I didn’t know the exact cause, the truth was that I had left him alone until it got to this point.
Because I knew he would always be by my side, supporting .
It was arrogance and selfishness.
I gently cupped Felix’s cheek.
His gaze wavered and softened, and I parted my lips to speak.
"Guardian, sothing serious has happened!"
Suddenly, soone burst through the door without checking the situation inside and shouted loudly.
"Her Majesty declared she would remain unmarried at today’s eting!"
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