Chapter 4: The Incident’s Unexpected Aftermath

Even back before I had been reincarnated, kissing had never been particularly relevant to my life. After all, I had been at the age where a pretty classmate locking lips with so-and-so would be enough to set off rumors throughout the entire school. Thus, I’d only ever seen it happen in manga, anime, and dramas.

What did the heroine usually do in these situations, again?

“I’m not sure remembering will do me any good here.”

I recalled a whole lot of times when it had happened while the girl was unconscious. As for accidental kisses everyone was awake for? Those generally happened in situations where both parties already liked each other, and it usually ended in someone admitting their feelings. Neither of those applied to my situation.

“Ughhh...”

Ultimately, not even a full night’s sleep had managed to get the kiss out of my head. I was feeling dizzy from all the worries running through my mind, and I just wanted to stop dwelling on it.

“It was just an accident! Besides, Reggie even apologized for it. Doesn’t that mean I’m better off erasing it from my memory?”

If you didn’t like it, you can just forget that it happened. How was I supposed to interpret that? Did it mean Reggie hadn’t had a problem with it? Or did it mean that he hadn’t meant for it to happen, so he preferred that I forget about it?

I groaned, feeling my brain start to overheat. Master Horace chortled from his place in my arms.

“Excuse me! Have you got something to say, Master Horace?”

“No, see, it feels like I’m getting tickled all o... oh... ACHOO!”

Master Horace let out a huge sneeze, clay doll though he was. Immediately after, a gust of wind rose from his body.

“Huh?! What’s going on, Master Horace?!”

The breeze had been strong enough to blow my bangs upside down. Color me surprised.

“I couldn’t tell you, either—ACHOO!”

Master Horace stirred up yet another puff of wind, sending my hair flying up into the air. My hands shot up to my head to shove it back down, and I dropped him in the process.

“Wait, what?”

Master Horace suddenly stopped spouting air, landing with a plunk on the bed I’d been sitting on.

“There, it stopped. Good grief.”

With a little grunt, he pulled himself up into a sitting position. He didn’t manage it without his fair share of wobbling, however; it was hard for him to maneuver atop the soft bedding with those tiny limbs of his.

“I figured out what was causing it, at least.”

“What is it? My mana?”

“Mmheehee!”

I desperately wanted to know the answer, but Master Horace chose to keep mum about it, only laughing in response.

Just then, there came a rapping on the door. It was Gina, who would come by to get me each and every morning.

When I chirped out a response to her knock, Gina opened the door a crack to invite me to breakfast. “Let’s go grab something to eat, Kiara.”

“Coming!” I rose to my feet, having already changed out of my nightgown earlier.

It was then that Master Horace requested, “Hey, little disciple. Bring me with you.”

“Really? But I thought you hated watching the rest of us eat, since you can never join in.”

“I’m counting on a show to go with the meal today. Eeeheehee! Here I am, an old geezer doing overtime in life; let me have a little fun every now and then!”

I did owe him a lot, and as the one responsible for turning him into this strange cursed doll, I wanted to do whatever I could for him. Thus, despite having no clue what he was going on about, I agreed to take him with me.

Besides, he wouldn’t have to worry about the frostfoxes at the breakfast table; they’d gotten in the habit of eating with Girsch as of late. There were plenty of knights and soldiers who loved to sneak them scraps, apparently. Reynard was living up to his role as the male provider, bringing Lila and Sara with him and putting on his best puppy dog eyes to beg for a little extra food.

They’d better be careful, though. I bet even monsters can get fat if they eat too much.

While quietly fussing over the foxes’ unfortunate diets, I plucked Master Horace from the bed and headed to the cafeteria with Gina. Or, well... it was really more of a banquet hall than a cafeteria. The room was absolutely stunning, a gorgeous landscape painted over its white walls.

Under normal circumstances, this was where the baron’s family would sit down and eat their meals together, with plenty of servants on hand to take care of their every need. Sadly, this was wartime, so we didn’t have time for formal, seated meals. Everyone just filed in at around the same time, filled their stomachs with whatever food was carried in, and left.

As such, we weren’t actually guaranteed to see each other every day... yet today of all days, Reggie was already seated at the table.

I greeted him, doing my absolute best to act natural. “G-Good, uh... good... morning?”

Shoot. That sounded so forced!

“Good morning, Kiara,” Reggie responded smoothly, smiling his usual smile. This was so embarrassing. I was clearly the only one overthinking the whole incident.

“Eeeheehee!”

Just as Master Horace cackled, another gale swept around him.

“Whoa there, Master Horace!”

“What’s going on, Kiara?!” Gina cried out, alarmed.

Before I had time to think, I shoved Master Horace into her hands. The wind died down again.

“Master Horace!” I whined.

He had to have known this was going to happen. I glared daggers at him as he went back to his devious chuckling.

“Hahaha.” It wasn’t long before Reggie joined him in laughter.

“Kiara,” Gina prodded, “your bangs are all messed up.”

“What? Oh no!” I fussed with my hair, rushing to comb it back down.

“Maybe it’s not such a good idea for Kiara to be holding you right now. Let’s have you sit here, Sir Horace,” Gina kindly suggested, plopping him down in the empty seat next to hers.

“Aww, that’s no fun,” Master Horace griped, but he settled down in his seat without a fight.

If he’s complaining, that means all those weird things were happening because I was holding him!

Now that we had Gina safely sandwiched in between us, I started to think: there was one other time when Master Horace had released a gust of wind and flown away. It was when I’d been pumping my mana into him to get the stone propeller on his head turning.

So what that meant was that an excess of my mana was flowing into Master Horace, and he was blowing air as a result of it. Why air? That part probably had to do with what his own element used to be.

“I figured it out, Master Horace.”

“Oho?”

Of course, I couldn’t announce the results of my assessment here and now. That would mean telling Reggie that I was still hung up on our kiss.

Meanwhile, Master Horace just scratched at his hip with a laugh. “So now you know. But will that be enough to keep it under control? You’ve got a long way to go, my little disciple. Heeheehee!”

“Ugh.”

He was right. I still didn’t know why my mana was flowing into him like that. It was clearly less than when I’d been experimenting, but I wasn’t trying to pump any of it into him in the first place.

Gina, who had been quietly keeping an eye on me, prompted me to finish my meal. “C’mon, let’s just eat, Kiara.”

There was no point in wasting my time bantering with Master Horace. I rushed to clear my plate.

It was after I’d drunk my soup, finished off my salad, and gobbled down about half of my bread that I suddenly realized: I’d been so focused on talking with Master Horace and finishing my breakfast that I’d finally stopped obsessing over Reggie. He had yet to say anything else after having a laugh at my expense, nor did he look the slightest bit embarrassed. Maybe it really hadn’t been a big deal for him.

In that case, I had to get over it, too. For now, I would just concentrate on eating.

After breakfast was over, Gina suddenly asked, “Want to go out to the garden?”

I had no reason to decline, and it was always nice to have an opportunity for some female bonding. Off I went to enjoy a post-meal chat with Gina.

Delphion Castle was a citadel surrounded by towering walls, but a manor that made for a better living space had been built right at its center. About half of the courtyard that bordered it on all four sides was made up of gardens. In one corner, there was a white gazebo, small enough that it couldn’t house more than a handful of people at once. It didn’t have any tables—only a single bench—but it was the perfect place to sit down and have a chat. What’s more, it was practically surrounded by thornbushes; even if someone wanted to eavesdrop, there was no way they’d be able to hear what we were saying so long as we kept our voices down.

Once we had taken a seat next to each other, Gina handed Master Horace back to me. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

“So, what happened with Prince Reginald?” Not a second after I’d thanked her, she dropped a bomb on me.

“What happened”? Right, what had happened? The question brought the kiss back to the forefront of my mind, and another huge gust of wind blew out of Master Horace.

He cackled. “Eeeheehee! Hey now, that tickles!”

A clay figurine blasting wind everywhere while scratching at his belly like an old geezer was a surreal sight, to say the least.

The image was nearly enough to put reality out of my mind, but Gina mercilessly brought me back to earth. “Kiara, I think you’re losing control of your mana because you’re flipping through too many emotions right now. Whenever mating season rolls around and my foxes start vying for the apple of their eye, they start sprinkling snow all over the place. I can’t let them inside the house when they’re like that, so I always have to lock them out for the whole week.”

“Wow, so monsters can fall in love, too.”

“Since you’re a spellcaster, I figure it works the same way for you. If your emotions run too high, you lose control of your magic.”

I didn’t expect her to compare me to a monster. Wait, aren’t we talking about love here?!

“I-It’s not like that, honest! I was just taken by surprise!”

“By what?”

I couldn’t very well keep quiet in the face of Gina’s leading question. I murmured, “The corners of our mouths... touched by accident.”

“My!” Gina’s hand slipped over her mouth, her eyes practically sparkling. “A kiss? You two really kissed?! If I’d known this was what was bothering you, I would’ve brought Girsch along!”

“Hah! Now that’s how you react to something like this. My disciple here is no fun at all! Instead of getting giddy like you, she’s been looking glum all day long.”

I’d already told Master Horace about what happened earlier. Now here he was, jumping to criticize me. I’m allowed to make whatever face I want! This is really nerve-racking, Master Horace!

“I mean, it was a total accident; you can’t really call that a kiss. That doesn’t make it any less awkward to show my face around him, though. Besides, it’s all my fault that it happened in the first place.”

“Hmm. So it’s awkward for you, huh? Now I see.” Gina nodded sagely. “How did His Highness react?”

That wasn’t enough to make her back off from her interrogation, apparently. After some hesitation, I decided that there was no point in hiding it after I’d already told her so much, so I muttered, “He apologized.”

For some reason, Gina made a face that screamed Yikes, slapping her hand against her forehead. “Why would he go and do that?”

“Now that’s what I call spineless. If it were me, I would’ve gobbled her up.”

“You’re a man who knows what he wants, after all. I thought His Highness was the same way underneath the surface, though. You think it’s because his ‘snack’ wasn’t ready for that yet? If he came on too strong and she ran off, he’d be in a worse position than he started.”

“Um... What are you talking about?”

I more or less understood what they were getting at, but part of me didn’t want to. Reggie had his own tastes and preferences, after all. If it had happened with someone he saw as a real woman, maybe things would have gone differently.

My gaze dropped lower and lower to the floor, until Gina finally answered, “We’re talking about how nobody would want to hear ‘I’m sorry’ in that situation.”

“Exactly. The boy’s a milksop for apologizing.”

“What?” That surprised me. I hadn’t expected them to say that. “What else would he say?”

Hold on, what do guys usually say that in that situation?!

Gina chuckled and replied, “It wasn’t like he forced a kiss on you or anything, right? So if he apologizes, it just feels like a rejection.”

“You think so?”

Is that why it hadn’t sat right with me? Because it felt like he was rejecting me?

“Think carefully about what you really wanted him to say, Kiara. You’re free to imagine any scenario you want. And no matter what the answer is, don’t be afraid. My boy had a mean streak, so I kept trying to tell myself it wasn’t really like that... and before I knew it, it was too late. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Listen to your heart.” Gina patted me on the head. “Now, I’d feel bad if your hair got messed up each time you started thinking about it, so let me take Sir Horace off your hands.”

Gina plucked Master Horace out of my arms. “Come on, Sir Horace, it’s time for the animal petting hour.”

“Hey! What did I do to deserve this?!”

“It’s about time you learned how to deal with them. You’re not going to break apart just because my foxes licked your arm or sniffed at you a bit, you know.”

“I don’t want some damn mutt slobbering all over me!”

“Good thing they’re not dogs.”

As Master Horace’s protests and Gina’s quips faded into the distance, I sat there stewing.

“My heart?”

Most likely, Gina was alluding to romantic feelings. I really didn’t want to believe this was “love,” though. When I thought about it in those terms, the first place my mind went to was Ada. If I became as obsessed with Reggie as Ada was, and he shot down my pleas the way he had back in Évrard...

Well, I’d probably be so terrified that I’d start clinging and apologizing like a girl possessed—just like how Ada wanted his love so badly that she kept hunting him down no matter how many times he rejected her or gave her the slip. Even now, while I still only considered him a guardian, the idea that he’d turned his back on me had been enough to make me run crying to Gina and Girsch.

I hated the idea of losing myself.

Plus, the more Ada chased him, the more Reggie went out of his way to avoid her. If it meant he was going to treat me like that, we were better off staying friends.

“I don’t want to make him hate me.”

And for that reason, I didn’t bother thinking about what I wanted to hear him say. If Reggie really wasn’t happy about the kiss, I didn’t mind if he wrote it off as an accident, and if he wanted me to erase it from my memory, I would do just that. Anything was fine by me, as long as he didn’t cut me off the way he had Ada.

Once I’d settled on how I felt about it, I started to feel sleepy.

“I guess I didn’t sleep much last night.”

It probably didn’t help that the sun had risen high above the gazebo by now, its warm rays of light beating down upon me.

I leaned back against the bench, letting my eyes drift closed.

When my hand stirred atop the seat just a fraction, perhaps I brushed it against a thorn branch that had grown all the way into the gazebo, as I felt a small prick on my finger.

◇◇◇

When I opened my eyes, I saw a sparse grove of trees and a small pond off to the side.

“Oh... I’m in a forest?”

I was pretty sure I’d been inside a residence just moments ago. Was that just a dream?

After reaching back into my memory, I recalled coming out to the forest that extended west of the Farzian royal palace. The woods were contained within its walls, so be it an animal or a person, no one could get wander in without permission to come and go from the royal palace.

I’d been feeling drowsy earlier, and I must have actually drifted off at some point. For once, I’d been dreaming of a lucky sort of dilemma. I couldn’t remember what happened in it very clearly, but I was pretty sure I’d been somewhere else, laughing and chatting with a bunch of other people.

Here in reality, there wasn’t anyone I could talk to like that.

I stood up with a sigh, only to find my legs and back were sore after sitting and falling asleep in such an awkward position. What am I, an old woman? I thought as I did some stretches and waited for the pain to subside.

I wanted to take my time heading back. After all, the whole reason I was out here was that I’d made a break for it the moment I heard Lord Credias was coming to visit. There was no telling what he would do if he found me hanging around near the queen’s room. Hence why I’d run off into the woods; even if he knew where I was, he wouldn’t bother to come looking for me.

Given that his waistline was four times the size of mine, the viscount hated all forms of exercise. Thus, if I stayed somewhere that forced him to either get on horseback or stroll around for who-knows-how-long, he wouldn’t come near me.

Since I’d known I was somewhere safe, it seemed I’d let myself relax a little too much. All I’d meant to do was spread a blanket over the ground and lean back against a tree, but I’d fallen fast asleep.

Knowing that I still had a little bit of time left, I stared vacantly up at the sky.

“I wish I could fly.”

It would have made it so easy to escape somewhere the viscount couldn’t touch me.

The queen may have allowed me to sneak out every now and then, but when it came down to it, she just wanted to use me, too. She would never let me run away. A veteran lady-in-waiting had warned me that a good deal of the soldiers guarding the gates were under the queen’s patronage.

Besides, even if I did run away, how was I going to get by? I hardly knew anything of the outside world. I knew how money was used, but the only time I’d ever had any of my own was during my time in boarding school.

Surely I could get by so long as I had my magic. However, the only people who would hire a spellcaster were the nobility. A mage’s services were far too expensive for the average commoner to afford. And if I were hired by an aristocrat, the truth would come to light sooner or later—that I was Lord Credias’ wife.

The viscount had taken a liking to me because I vaguely resembled his late wife. For a time, he had even brought me along with him to banquets and such. That meant that the nobles who lived in the royal capital and the VIPs of various provinces would all remember my face.

Of course, none of that meant that Lord Credias took good care of me. On the contrary, he was clearly projecting a grudge against his “traitorous” wife onto me. He loved nothing more than making me scream and bringing me to tears.

All those months I’d been forced to spend at the viscount’s estate had been no less harrowing than being trapped in an endlessly dark void. On top of all that, he’d made me into a spellcaster and ordered me to go work for the queen.

I was more than entitled to wish for him to keep his hands off of me, at least for as long as I was working in the palace.

Spending time away from him had only made my revulsion grow, it seemed. Just the sight of him made me nauseous, and the memories of what he’d done to me gave me nightmares. And yet, I wasn’t even permitted a release through death; the queen’s ladies-in-waiting had stopped me in the act too many times, and eventually, I’d given up on trying.

That was when it suddenly occurred to me: there was no one to stop me from doing it now.

I’d given up on my suicide attempts as of late, and every time I ran off to avoid the viscount, I always returned to my room afterward. Perhaps because of that, there was never a lookout posted by my door anymore, the way there had been back in the beginning. It was a sign that the queen had let her guard down, assuming I’d abandoned hope. This was my chance.

I stood up and scurried toward the pond. I’d messed up a suicide by drowning once while I was living with Lord Credias, but I knew it would be easy enough to drown in a pond so long as it was deep enough. The water would weigh down my dress, keeping me from floating back up to the surface.

When I took a closer look, I found the pond was even deeper than I’d expected. A small river was flowing into it, so the water was fairly clear, too.

Let’s get this over with.

I threw myself right into the pond. It was cold enough that I nearly screamed, but I kept a lid on it. I could already feel my clothes growing heavier, dragging me deeper and deeper into the water. I flapped my legs, just to test what happened, and found there was nothing to worry about—it didn’t bring me any closer to the surface.

I was running out of air. The moment I wished my breathing would finally stop and put me out of my misery, somebody grabbed me by the arm. The mysterious stranger pulled me up out of the water, lifting my face above the surface of the pond.

As I coughed and wheezed, whoever it was patted my back. Surely he thought he was being kind, but all I felt was bitter. To add insult to injury, his tone was unimpressed as he remarked, “Why on earth would you jump into the pond like that? And you looked pretty pleased with yourself, at that.”

For my part, if he’d noticed how “pleased” I looked, I would have preferred he hadn’t stopped me. Now I was soaking wet and no closer to accomplishing my goal for it.

“You’re right; that was exactly what I wanted. So I wish you hadn’t interfered—”

When I turned around to tell him off, I was shocked to see the face of my unwanted savior. He wasn’t much older than me, but he had gorgeous features... and I’d seen him somewhere before. That eye-catching silver hair of his told me right away that he carried the blood of the royal family in his veins. Nobody but relatives of the monarchy had that shade of hair. Considering his age, I could take a good guess as to who he was.

However, I didn’t recall his face all that clearly, so I wasn’t sure whether or not I ought to jump to conclusions. Perhaps there was someone among the nobility besides the king, his sister, and his son who had inherited those silver locks.

Really, I should have had plenty of opportunities to see the prince and king since coming to the royal palace, but with how busy I always was running from the viscount and living in fear of the queen, I’d never bothered remembering their faces.

No matter how much authority they held, now that I’d become a spellcaster, they could never release me from my bindings.

“Prince Reginald, I take it?” I asked, still unsure if my hunch was correct.

That seemed to amuse him. “It’s rare to meet someone who doesn’t recognize me. Just as you say, my name is Reginald,” came his mild reply, a small smile playing on his lips.

Right then, I heard a voice echo from who-knows-where: Whoops, my memories slipped through the cracks. Just forget you saw any of that.

Meanwhile, the wind whipped against me as I stood around soaking wet, chilling me to the bone. Hoping to fight off the cold, I shivered and—

◇◇◇

“Achoo!”

“See, this is why you shouldn’t fall asleep outside. You’re going to catch a cold.”

“Look, I just fell into a pond—wait, what?”

My eyes fluttered open as someone shook me by the shoulders. I found myself enclosed in the white pillars of the gazebo, Cain looking up at me from where he knelt by my side.

My head was a mess. I could have sworn it was Reggie who had just been standing right in front of me. Wasn’t I somewhere else only seconds ago?

When I pinched my cheek, it all came flooding back to me: I’d been dreaming about what my life would’ve been if I’d never found out about my reincarnation.

Since Reggie had made an appearance, I assumed it had to have taken place at the royal palace. Thinking about it, Game-Kiara must have had plenty of chances to meet him, too.

Cain cast me a dubious look. “Are you still half asleep?”

“No, I’m awa— ACHOO!”

I sneezed again. My shoulders felt pretty chilly, so my body must have cooled off during my doze. And here I’d thought it was still pretty warm out for autumn.

“You always act like a child in the strangest of ways, Miss Kiara.” Cain draped his cape around my shoulders. “If you were going to fall so deep into thought, you could have picked a better place to do it.”

“Yes, well, I won’t deny that I had some thinking to do.” It wasn’t something I felt comfortable talking to him about, so I chose to leave it at that.

“Was it about that ring?” Cain looked down at my hands, folded in front of his cape. That startled me. “Who gave that to you? His Highness?”

“I bought it my—”

“I don’t believe you had any time to do so yesterday,” Cain retorted.

I fell silent. He was exactly right. He had been with me the whole time, so of course he would have known that. Why did I think for even a second that I could fool him?

“Erm... Well, you know, people can give each other talismans like this as part of the festival. He recommended that I use it for emergency funds if I ever had to run off on my own.”

“I don’t recall hearing a word about handing out rings as talismans.”

“Hold on. Really?”

Had Reggie tricked me? When I asked myself why he would bother doing that... No, no, I can’t let myself think that.

Meanwhile, Cain backed me further up against the wall. “If a man you’re not related to gives you an accessory, no matter what it is, it’s best to assume there are some feelings behind it.”

“Hrk...”

If it were anyone else, I would have told him I couldn’t accept it and taken it off right away. Seeing as it was the prince who had given it to me, however, I’d just assumed his sense of money was different from mine. Plus, he was my keeper; there was a chance he really had given it to me in case of emergency.

“I suppose I should have given you something, too. I was afraid it would just put more of a burden on you, so I decided against it.”

“Why would you give me anything? That sounds like a waste.”

I could tell this line of conversation wasn’t going anywhere good. By the time I realized that, however, Cain had already reached out to touch my right hand.

“I told you before that I would treat you like a sister. Isn’t it only natural for me to keep an eye on what gifts other men are giving you, then? Your brother should be allowed to give you anything he wants, too. Am I wrong?”

Cain was as straight-faced as ever, which just lent more weight to his words. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze; his palm was hard and callused from gripping his sword, reminding me how we had walked very different paths in life.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that for me, though. I mean, you’re not really—”

Cain cut me off just as I was about to turn him down. “You mustn’t say that I’m not really your brother. Unless your goal is to test me, that is.”

“Wha—oh.”

As if to demonstrate what would happen next, Cain planted a kiss on my hand. I could feel a squeak rise in my throat at the quiet smack of his lips and the ticklish sensation gracing my fingers.

While I was busy panicking, Cain followed up by pressing his lips to my wrist. Watching him do it made me all the more sensitive; it tickled something fierce. And worse than that, it was just embarrassing. I averted my gaze.

Meanwhile, I recalled that Reggie had kissed my fingers in much the same way. It had been his way of cowing me into a promise that I wouldn’t do anything reckless. Was this Cain’s way of coercing me, too? Was he trying to tell me that if I wanted to keep him in check, I couldn’t deny that he was my brother?

As I fell deep into thought, Cain chuckled. “You didn’t tell me to stop.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. After all, it wasn’t like it had bothered me that much.

I was just scared. Given how much more mature he was than me, I was worried I would get swept away before I knew what was happening. Plus, I got the feeling he wouldn’t wait up for me the way Reggie always did.

“I didn’t mind it, but I don’t understand why you did it in the first place.”

“Because if someone else steals your heart... I’m afraid you’ll leave me behind.”

Is he feeling lonely, then?

Although he’d just said he didn’t want to be cast aside, Cain finally let go of my hand. Does that mean he’s calmed down now? I wondered.

Assuming as much, I said to him, “There’s no need to bother with that. I’m not going to leave you behind. You’ve always gone along with whatever I want to do; I don’t know what I’d do without you, really. I wouldn’t want you going anywhere.”

Cain heaved a sigh. “Perhaps I need to be more direct.”

In contrast to his discouraged tone, he grabbed me roughly by the arm and pulled me closer to him. Just as I gulped, he wrapped his arms around me in a firm embrace.

His arms were holding me almost tightly enough to hurt. I usually found the difference in our heights reassuring, but in that moment, it just fed into a fear that he was going to swallow me whole. It was enough to make me tremble.

“You don’t need to feel like you owe me anything. I do it all because I love you,” he murmured.

I could have sworn I’d stopped breathing.

I love you. Did I really hear that right? Had he really just declared his love for me?

I floundered, unsure of how to react.

Just as I’d mentioned to Gina and Girsch before, I was vaguely aware of Cain’s feelings for me. I knew he was interested. Still, I had never expected him to come out and say it like this.

I figured that his desire for revenge was stronger than anything else—that he wanted to tether the spellcaster to him to achieve his goal, and that was why he was putting the moves on me. And so, I had arrived at the conclusion that what he felt for me wasn’t really love.

“You still won’t believe me even after I’ve come out and said it? Well, I’d figured that you weren’t interested in facing the concept of romance head-on. That suits me fine,” Cain said. “If you can’t respond to my feelings, I want you to give me an order. Tell me not to leave your side. I want a promise that you’re going to stay with me. Please, be my sister for at least a little while longer.”

As I listened to Cain, the blush on my face drained away, leaving me white as a sheet. I could tell that Cain was projecting his dead family onto me.

At first, he’d just thought of me as another child to take care of, I was pretty sure. After that, when I was so intimidated by romance that he risked losing me altogether, he’d decided to be a brother figure to me instead. Having lost his own little brother, that must have rekindled his feelings for his dead family. The reason he was so scared of being left behind was because he’d wanted to be freed from those emotions for so long.

It was hard for me to say whether those feelings of his really were love. Regardless, I hated to see the person who had always supported and protected me suffering like this.

If I responded to his feelings, perhaps it would give him some peace. And yet, I didn’t have the courage to do so. Part of me still didn’t want to wrap my head around the concept of romance—at the very least, not until we’d won the war and I could settle down into a peaceful life.

“Don’t worry. Didn’t we agree to fight together?”

For as long as we kept on fighting, Cain would find some relief in killing our enemies, yet he would constantly be reminded of those he had lost. I wasn’t about to abandon him in a situation like that. I’d meant to convey as much in my response, but he didn’t seem satisfied with that.

“It has to be an order, Miss Kiara. If I get anxious, there’s no telling what I’ll do,” he protested, resting his cheek against the top of my head. When I realized what he was doing, I had to stop myself from flailing in his arms.

What kind of intimidation tactic is that?! Oh, alright already!

“Fine! Unless you get seriously injured, stay by my side and keep on protecting me! You aren’t allowed to go anywhere!”

That was good enough to get Cain to release me. There was a small smile on his face, but it looked strangely dull and lifeless. I only grew more concerned.

I truly hoped that, for at least as long as we walked the same path together, Cain could find some form of salvation.

As I made that wish, I thought back to my daydream. My memories of it were starting to fade, but I could still vividly recall the anguish I’d felt.

Why did I have a dream like that?

No matter how hard the war was on me, I was somewhere safe now. And yet, everything had felt so real, I almost had to wonder if this was actually the dream... and the thought of it terrified me.

◇◇◇

Next thing Alan knew, Reggie was staring out the window. Curious as to what he was looking at, Alan came to his side... and immediately regretted it.

The second floor window didn’t provide a clear view of everything. Plus, the roof of the gazebo hid nearly a third of the figures from view. What was clear, however, was that a certain man and woman were sitting in very close quarters.

“Uhh...”

What an awkward thing to witness. Not only did he recognize the duo, but one of them was someone he considered a friend, while the other was the man who was like a brother to him. Worst of all, Reggie was standing right there beside him.

Wentworth finally pulled away from Kiara, and once the pair had spent a bit more time talking, they left the gazebo. Just like always, Kiara took up the lead, with Wentworth trailing behind her.

All the while, Alan kept stealing glances at Reggie.

It was a well-known fact among those close to Reggie that the prince was exceptionally taken with Kiara. Given that he wasn’t in the habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve, everyone had assumed he was being so open about it as a means of protecting Kiara, who had no one else to back her up, and keeping any bad company at bay. But by this point, even Alan could tell that the real reason was simple: Reggie was flat-out in love with Kiara.

Once Reggie was done watching over the pair, he stepped away from the window without comment.

“Hey,” Alan blurted out before he could stop himself, but he didn’t know what to say next.

Reggie glanced back at him. “You needn’t worry, Alan. Nothing will change the fact that Kiara is the spellcaster of the Farzian army.”

No matter who Kiara fell for, Reggie would keep her under his wing. That was how Alan had interpreted the comment, but something about it didn’t sit well with him.

“Are you really alright with that, though?”

A conflicted look passed over Reggie’s face, which turned into a rueful smile. “Oh, don’t make that face, Alan. It’s not so serious an issue.”

He did his best to look genuinely unconcerned, but Alan knew him better than that.

“But it still bothers you, doesn’t it?”

Reggie’s expression went blank. The next words out of his mouth, however, belied his true feelings. “If that’s Kiara’s choice, I’m fine with it.”