Chapter 3: A Place to Call Home

I could see Fort Liadna from atop a small hill. Perhaps the fort itself was too small to fight from; the Farzians had taken up position outside its walls. The figures lined up under the blue banner of Farzia were too small to tell apart from where I stood.

Reggie had to be somewhere among them. Whether Cain was alive or not, he was probably in no shape to head into battle, and I certainly hoped he wouldn’t be pushing himself that hard. Had Alan and Emmeline been hurt in the previous battle? Were Jerome and Lord Enister alright? I was in no position to find out, no matter how badly I wanted to know.

On the other hand, I was a little relieved that none of them would be able to tell that I was the one sharing Isaac’s horse, either.

I’d been brought into battle, just as planned. My hands were tied together with a rope in case I tried anything funny. The Salekhardians were being extra cautious; if they’d put me in handcuffs, I could have simply transformed the metal and turned it into a weapon, and if I was free to touch whatever I wanted, there was no telling when I might use my magic to attack. That wasn’t the only measure they’d taken to keep me from escaping, either.

My clothes were a good example. I’d been thrown over someone’s shoulder and carried away before I could even change out of my pajamas. I was wearing a green Salekhardian cape over the nightgown, but most girls would be way too embarrassed to walk around looking like this. Plus, I was wearing slippers. Unlike the ones I’d worn in my past life, they didn’t have sturdy soles. Only a single layer of soft leather lined the bottom, so it would hurt too much to run over the pebble-strewn ground.

Truth be told, however, neither of those issues seemed particularly debilitating to me. In my past life, I’d gone on trips to the convenience store in the same sweatsuit I’d worn as pajamas. If you used that as a baseline, this wasn’t all that embarrassing, considering I was wearing a cape over it... or at least, that’s what I could keep telling myself. Depending on how you looked at it, the shoes worked to my advantage, too.

Of course, I couldn’t let on what I was truly thinking. I hung my head, wrapping the cape tightly around myself as if to hide my body. For the moment, Isaac appeared to be under the mistaken impression that I was ashamed.

“Do you see that, Kiara? If possible, I want you to use that golem of yours to cut off Farzia’s left flank. That should bring the Llewynians to a halt as well, and so long as you hold back, I doubt Farzia will suffer too many casualties as a result.” Isaac had ordered me to bring out my golem. If I didn’t have to be the one to suggest it myself, that was going to make this a whole lot easier.

“I’ll need to borrow Master Horace, then. I can’t do it without him. Also, I try to save my magic for after the battle has begun.”

“Oh? Well, we do have you tied up. I suppose that’s fine.” Isaac readily assented. He did cast me a searching look, however, so it was safe to say he was still on his guard.

After that, all there was to do was wait.

Isaac gave the order to launch the attack. Both sides fired off a stream of arrows. In the meantime, the Llewynians had a separate unit of theirs march forward. Not only was this a wide-open field, but the ground from here to the fort was on a slope, so I had a clear view of the entire battlefield.

I clutched the cloak even tighter around myself. My hands were shaking. The thought that Farzians might be dying while I was just sitting here was terrifying. Still, I had to wait for the right moment.

I’d always watched our battles unfold with the aerial map from the RPG in mind. I’d jotted down everything I knew in a diagram, showing it to Reggie so I could get his feedback. Moreover, while there was still plenty I didn’t understand, I’d learned a thing or two about battle strategy.

One was that you should aim for the moment when you can seize the greatest victory—and that sometimes you need to wait for that opportunity to come.

I jumped into action once Salekhard went on the move, not long after Llewyne had.

“Hand me Master Horace.”

“Hm? Hey, Mikhail!”

Once he was done relaying a message to his runner, Isaac called out to Mikhail next to him. After helping me down from his horse, he handed the end of the rope around my wrists to another knight.

“I don’t want her trampling any of my soldiers. Once you’ve taken her a good distance away from here, tell the rest of the men to back off. Mikhail, hand her the doll.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“She told me she needs him for the magic to work. If she does try to run, well, she isn’t going to make it very far.”

Following Isaac’s instructions, Mikhail handed me Master Horace, slipping him into my arms so I could hold him with my hands still tied together.

“If she puts up a fight, just knock her out, even if you have to hit her to do it. That should break whatever spell she casts. Got it?” Isaac ordered the knight, before turning his attention back to the battle.

I studied Isaac’s profile intently for a couple seconds. After that, the knight led me away by the rope, guiding me toward the rear.

Meanwhile, I whispered, “Master Horace, I have a favor to ask of you. Do you think you could pilot a giant version of yourself? You managed to pull it off when we practiced it before, right?”

My mana was constantly flowing into Master Horace; thus, we’d done some experiments to see if Master Horace could use his magic to control my golems. We’d only used miniature versions to test it out, but aside from some more minute maneuvers, it had worked like a charm.

Master Horace chuckled. “Sure thing. How about you mold it in my image, too? Eeeheehee! I went to the trouble of advertising myself as a cursed doll and all. I’ve got all the pieces in place to give ’em a fright.”

“Advertise...? Oh, that. There’s no need to menace them, though.”

At first, I didn’t see the point of scaring the Salekhardians, but hearing Master Horace’s true aim changed my mind.

“Considering they’ve helped you out once, I figure it wouldn’t be too good for your mental health to kill them.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I love you, Master Horace.”

I couldn’t help rubbing my face against the top of his coarse, clay head.

“Hah! I’m not the kind of geezer who gets tickled to hear ‘I love you, Daddy!’ but I guess I can accept that as payment for now. I’ll collect my real reward later. That means you have to make sure not to die here. Leave all the steering to me, and once you’ve reached your limit, don’t bother keeping it going anymore. Keep me buried in the soil somewhere and I should be fine. Just make sure you ask someone to dig me out later.”

“Got it.”

Once he was done talking smack, Master Horace requested I set him down by way of flapping his arms and legs. The Salekhardian knight stared at us as though he was witnessing some uncanny spectacle.

The knight ushered all the other soldiers away from the area. After setting Master Horace down, I placed my hands on the ground and cast my magic.

What slowly rose from the earth was a golem, Master Horace settled snugly in a hollow atop its head. I designed it to look a little like a Japanese clay figurine. The Salekhardian soldiers gave me a wide berth, shaking in their boots.

When I pointed to the left, Master Horace cackled and extended one of the golem’s arms toward me. He then plucked the Salekhardian knight holding my rope off the ground, tossed him a good distance away, and finally charged toward the Llewynian troops.

Surprised by the sudden attack from one of their own, the Salekhardian soldiers froze with shocked cries, while screams rang out from the Llewynians.

“Whoops! Growing so big got my senses all messed up!” Master Horace boomed, staggering as he charged forward.

The Llewynians halted their march in the face of Master Horace’s assault.

Meanwhile, I felt myself struck with a feebleness reminiscent of anemia.

“Ugh...”

It was Lord Credias. His forces were only about a hundred mers away from us, so I’d figured I would be well within range of his mana control. The moment he’d seen my golem, he must have gone to work clamping down on my powers.

Still, I just had to tough it out if I wanted to achieve my goal. I needed Master Horace to attack the Llewynians in order to give Farzia as much of an advantage as I possibly could.

Salekhard hoped to whittle away at Llewyne’s forces themselves, so it wasn’t as though they wouldn’t benefit from this. Even if I was going to be leaving them a mess to deal with, I was too mad at Isaac to care.

Let him suffer a little, I thought bitterly.

Unfortunately, the viscount decided to take advantage of the chaos to attack me. A soldier-turned-defective spellcaster came lumbering toward us, whipping up a gale in his wake.

“I guess he doesn’t care about keeping me alive anymore.”

I had assumed he’d try to take me alive, but it looked like he had every intention of killing me. After our encounter the other day, perhaps he had re-classified me as someone he wanted dead. Of course, I wasn’t going to go down that easily.

“If you don’t want to die, get out of the way!” I yelled at the surrounding Salekhardians.

Gritting my teeth, I disturbed the mana sleeping in the soil around me all at once. The ground swelled and billowed, drawing a thick line as it rushed toward the Llewynians. The defective spellcaster, shambling forward like a zombie, was swiftly swallowed up. Although he blew away some of the soil with his wind, he failed to avoid all of it, leaving him buried up to his ankles in earth.

I piled on another wave of earth, sweeping away another defective spellcaster—this one a mass of flames—as he came running up from behind the other. That was the end of their rampage, so the pair had likely run out of magic.

The nearby soldiers were falling over themselves to escape the bulging patches of dirt. Given how much I’d been jumbling the earth, the area around us had turned into a cluster of boulders and solidified waves of soil. Unable to stand any longer, I leaned against an earthen wall I’d erected nearby and did my best to hold out. I couldn’t afford to fall just yet. Besides, I was feeling a good deal more robust than I had back when I was captured by Isaac.

When I looked around, I saw that the Llewynian soldiers were screaming, currently under attack by my golem. The Farzian troops were also in the process of launching a concentrated attack on Llewyne’s forces. Their enemy had clearly lost the will to fight, and Reggie’s men weren’t the type to pass up that opportunity. The goal was to take care of that half of the enemy forces while Salekhard was still stunned by this turn of events.

Since I had just used a huge spell to bury the defective spellcasters, it had gotten much harder to keep Master Horace’s golem going. When I looked off in the distance, I saw it had toppled over sideways, a dense column of smoke rising from its body.

Even as I focused all my efforts on keeping the golem from falling apart, I remained vigilant—just in case Lord Credias was planning to strike again. Given the current state of my golem, he was bound to assume my power had grown weaker and head this way. I was going to give him a bloodbath for his efforts.

I had to wait for the right moment. Considering the viscount couldn’t cast any magic of his own, I knew I could handle him somehow or another. Still, I wasn’t exactly in good shape. He had to come to me. And he had to come soon... or else I was going to run out of strength to fight.

“Stop right there, Kiara!”

That was when someone tugged me back by the arm, forcing me to crumple down on the spot. When I looked up, I saw Isaac fixing me with a savage glare. Given that Salekhard’s captive spellcaster had just struck down allied troops, he had to be worried about how that was going to reflect on him, so he’d rushed over to put me in check. Considering he was the king and all, I’d thought I was going to have a little more time before he came running over in person.

“Call off that golem of yours.”

“I’m not the one controlling it anymore. Master Horace is moving it around on his own.”

His grip on my arm brought back memories of the kiss he’d forced on me, not to mention the way he’d kept me restrained. Nevertheless, I half-bluffed in hopes that he wouldn’t notice my legs trembling. It was true that Master Horace was the one controlling it, but I was still the one keeping it going.

“Would your answer change if Lord Credias stormed over demanding custody of you? After what you’ve just done, I won’t be in a position to refuse his request.”

“I’m going to take the viscount down right here and now. That doesn’t seem like too bad a deal for Salekhard, either.”

Isaac frowned. If I could just get rid of Lord Credias, it would put Farzia at an advantage. They’d be more than able to force Salekhard and Llewyne back even without my help.

“Will I have to make you stop?”

No matter how hard he tried to intimidate me, I wasn’t the same powerless girl I’d been a few days ago. The fear I felt only rekindled my will to fight.

I clenched my gut, staring Isaac straight in the eyes. “Sorry, but I can’t back down. In fact, I’m about to make you my prisoner, Isaac. I will never, ever let myself become Reggie’s enemy.”

Since I was wearing slippers, I was able to kick off my shoes easily. Now it didn’t matter that my hands were tied; as long as I could touch the earth, I could use magic just fine without my copper ore or my blood.

A cage made of earth sprang from the ground to trap Isaac inside. Unfortunately, his sharp instincts allowed him to dodge my attack. My next move was to raise the soil around me and put more distance between the two of us, but it wasn’t long before Isaac had caught up to me. He even nimbly darted around all the pitfalls I made in hopes of tripping him up. Perhaps he could tell I wasn’t pulling my punches, however, as he briefly came to a stop where he stood.

Facing him head-on was just as terrifying as I’d thought it would be. I barely had any experience fighting one-on-one; plus, Isaac was a darn good fighter. Did a king really need to be this skilled at combat? Since conflicts were so frequent in this world, maybe fighting ability was an essential quality in a leader.

I was worried about what would happen if someone swooped in to back Isaac up, but not a single Salekhardian soldier took a step from the wide perimeter they’d formed around us. Isaac must have ordered them not to interfere. Considering how hard it would have been to stave them all off at once, it was a good thing, too.

On the other hand, it gave me the sense that Isaac was affording me special treatment. If anyone else had heard the way I’d thrown down the gauntlet just now, they probably would have killed me on the spot. Isaac was giving me a second chance by making sure no one else could hear me.

“Don’t make me shut you up for good.”

Isaac drew his sword from its sheath. He was ready to put a stop to my rebellion even if it meant hurting me.

I gritted my teeth. If I wanted to pose any serious threat to Isaac, I needed to be ready to strike him down, not take him captive.

But I didn’t despise him enough. Some part of me just couldn’t. There was no way I could bring myself to kill him. That was why I’d tried to find a non-lethal way to stop him... but so much for that.

Worst of all, if I focused too much energy on him, I wouldn’t have the strength left to fight the viscount. Just as I started to lose my nerve...

“Eep!”

Something soft and heavy rammed right into me. Whatever it was didn’t send me flying, either; it carried me away in its tiny little paws. Together we went tumbling down over the giant bumps of soil.

“Eeeeek!”

This wasn’t part of my plan! What the heck is going on?!

While my head was still spinning, I finally found myself disentangled from that oddly familiar form. The pressure from Lord Credias had already left me considerably weakened, so this had really done a number on me. I was about two seconds from puking my guts out. Since my control was cut off now, it was probably safe to say that Master Horace’s golem had fallen to pieces elsewhere.

There was no time to check and see if I was right, though. I had no idea what was going on, but at least I’d managed to put some distance between myself and Isaac. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity. Ready to make my escape, I stood up, panting like I’d just run a marathon—and that was when I identified exactly what had crashed into me.

The creatures, their looks reminiscent of giant hamsters, gave a shrill squeak. It was a group of terramice.

“What? Is this your habitat?”

I started to wonder if there was a terramouse nest nearby, but there was no way. Otherwise, they would have popped out when I was driving my golem around Fort Liadna the other day.

I knew the terramice weren’t going to do me any harm. Thus, when one scooped me up again in its fluffy paws, I didn’t bother trying to wrest free. This was probably going to make me a little sick, but it was definitely faster than running on my own two feet. I’d just have to suck it up.

Unfortunately, our escape was short-lived. With a shriek, the terramouse tumbled to the ground. I was hauled up out of its paws, only to be restrained from behind.

The terramouse had collapsed in a pool of its own blood. I nearly averted my eyes on instinct. Its friends were staring in my direction, taking a defensive posture and baring their fangs.

From the looks of it, I’d been carried all the way to a grove behind the rest of the troops. There wasn’t a Salekhardian soldier in sight.

“What are these things?”

This was clearly the first time Isaac—the man restraining me from behind, as it turned out—had laid eyes on a terramouse. Despite his bewilderment, he brandished his sword at the mice, adjusting his stance.

Right then, an arrow whizzed by with a flute-like whistle, grazing one of Isaac’s feet. The terramice sprang into motion as if on cue.

Isaac staved off his attackers, cutting down mice as the entire horde pounced on him. I sucked in a breath, stunned as I watched red blood splatter across soft, tan fur.

Still, even Isaac couldn’t quite dodge a blow from behind, and his body pitched forward with the impact. Seeing as he was holding on to me, I lurched along with him. Despite that, however, he managed to block the sword strike that followed the terramouse’s attack, his face twisting in delight.

“Farzia doesn’t fight fair, I see!”

“I believe that’s what they call ‘tactics.’ To ascribe your own shortcomings to poor sportsmanship is unbecoming, King of Salekhard.”

The one Isaac had clashed swords with was a man with long, silver hair—Reggie.

“Reggie!”

I was both overjoyed that he had come for me and, at the same time, distressed that he had thrown himself into such danger. He rarely ever jumped into the fray like this. He was the prince and, now that the king had passed away, the only direct descendant of the royal family. Though he still fought, his protection came before anything else.

And yet, those blue eyes, their gaze sharp enough to bore straight through Isaac, and that silky, silver hair were undoubtedly Reggie’s. This was no illusion.

My mind wandered to Cain next, considering he was usually the first to show up in a situation like this. I bit down on my lip, wondering what had become of him.

Salekhardian soldiers came rushing over, hoping to insert themselves into the kings’ standoff. However, a rain of arrows swiftly blocked their path. A familiar face cut his way through as the men faltered.

“Sir Groul!”

The rest of Reggie’s knights were there, too. Does that mean they had all consented to accompany Reggie here? Why would they agree to such a reckless plan?

Either way, their team was few in number. Knights and soldiers alike formed a protective ring around Reggie, but there weren’t that many to speak of. It was hard watching Reggie fight with his back to the wall. Forcing him into a situation like this was the last thing I’d wanted.

Isaac and Reggie’s duel was still going. I panicked and tried to cast a spell, desperate to protect Reggie somehow, but the moment Isaac noticed me trying to use my magic, he knocked Reggie’s sword to the side and lifted me up in his other arm. As soon as he pressed the tip of his sword to my neck, Reggie came to a halt, his expression going carefully blank.

“Is this girl so important to you, Your Highness?”

“Kiara is a fragile girl. You ought to be taking her somewhere safe, don’t you think? I see you’ve been affording your precious spellcaster rather crass treatment, King of Salekhard. I don’t appreciate you making her run around without shoes, and I certainly don’t appreciate you giving her bruises.”

Reggie’s comment reminded me: Shoot! I needed to touch the soil to cast my magic, so I took off my shoes, and now my feet are covered in mud... The bruises must be from when the terramouse and I toppled over.

What really mattered here was that I was exposing my legs to a huge group of men, even if it was just my calves. Having attention drawn to it was mortifying.

“If she’d simply behaved, she could have gotten out of this without a mark on her, yet she insisted on acting the shrew. I did save her from her ex-fiancé, I’ll have you know. Though make no mistake, I helped myself to a reward for my efforts.”

“EXCUSE me?!”

How dare he! The ex-fiancé thing is true, but what do you mean, “reward”?!

All the protests I wanted to make jumbled together, and it was hard to find the right words in such a tense situation, so in the end, I resorted to calling him names. “Isaac, you creep! You big, fat JERK!”

“Can it.” I felt the cold steel of his blade against my neck. “You know, if she’s just going to get in my way, I have no particular need to spare this girl’s life.”

Isaac fixed Reggie with a piercing stare. He was all but saying that he wouldn’t mind killing me. Did he really mean it? I couldn’t glean anything from his profile.

Then again, Isaac had shown that when he was playing the part of the king, he was perfectly willing to kill Cain on the spot. Recalling that incident struck fear into my heart, and I found myself trembling.

Reggie attempted to strike a bargain. “If I throw my sword aside, will you let Kiara go?”

“If you’re willing to become my hostage in her stead, then certainly, we can make that trade.”

“Your Grace!” His knights moved to stop him.

The offer to lay down his sword had nearly brought me to tears.

I need to do something, but I can’t use my magic like this. Given the shape I’m in right now, I’d have a hard time so much as transmuting Isaac’s sword. Wait, hold on a second... That’s actually a great idea!

Without a moment’s hesitation, I made a grab for the blade of his sword. As I tightened my grip, my skin tore, blood trickling down my hand.

“What do you think you’re doing, Kia—guh!”

Surprised, Isaac tried to yank his sword away from me, and that was when I aimed a kick at his chin. There was a good chance I had just flashed someone my thighs with that move, but this wasn’t the time to be worried about that.

When I felt Isaac’s hold on me loosen, I twisted myself out of his arm and dropped to the ground. Ouch. Groaning in pain all the while, I used my magic to warp Isaac’s sword, which now dripped with my blood.

“Ugh! Damned harpy!”

“I happen to be frail and unarmed, so anything goes, if you ask me!” I shot back, finding it harder and harder to breathe.

Meanwhile, Reggie wasted no time cutting his way forward. Isaac recoiled from the close-range thrust, and soon, arrows came flying. The soldiers of Salekhard hadn’t just been sitting back and watching this unfold, of course. Their assault on Reggie’s knights was in full swing.

I tried to get as far away as I could. I was out of breath and so shaky on my feet I felt like I was running a fever, but if I didn’t run, I was just going to get in everyone’s way.

Suddenly, I felt someone wrap their arms around me. I shrank in on myself, terrified that it was Isaac. And yet, despite the urgency in the embrace, there was an odd sort of courtesy to it that I recognized. When he pulled me closer, the scent that tickled my nostrils filled me with a sense of nostalgia and the warmth of the sun.

“Kiara.”

It was Reggie, no doubt about it. The moment I came to that realization, all the tension bled from my body, tears pricking my eyes.

“Hold on just a little bit longer,” he said, adjusting his arm around my shoulders and brandishing his sword.

He struck down an incoming block of ice. When I glanced behind me, I saw that in addition to the Salekhardian soldiers, another defective spellcaster was heading our way.

“Look out, Your Grace!”

“Don’t worry about us! I’m going to focus on retreating!”

While Reggie shouted back and forth with Groul, we were assailed by a magical blizzard. We were engulfed in a flurry of white powder and wind, so fierce that I couldn’t see ahead of me. Considering I was wearing nothing but a nightgown, I thought I was going to freeze to death.

The snowstorm had turned the fight into a free-for-all. Several Salekhardian soldiers popped out from within the white gale, only to be cut down by Reggie’s blade.

An arrow zipped by from somewhere outside the blizzard, not to be outdone by the speed of the winds, and shot Reggie’s current adversary straight through. It must have been a fellow Farzian assisting our retreat.

I was suddenly reminded that I couldn’t leave this place behind just yet. I pleaded with Reggie, “Um, I’m sorry! Master Horace was riding that golem you saw earlier. If we just leave him there, well...”

Once Salekhard took him into their possession, I’d never see him again. With that much distance between the two of us, there was a good chance the magic spell on him would break.

“Alright. I think I can manage something there.” Reggie stopped the knight that was leading the way to tell him, “I’ll be fine. Let’s use this snowstorm for all its worth and turn the defective spellcaster on Salekhard. That said, it seems that Kiara’s mentor is with the golem that just collapsed. Alan should be closest, so send him orders to take the doll into custody.”

At Reggie’s command, the knight nodded and disappeared back into the blizzard.

Then, he requested of me, “Can I call upon just a little bit more of your magic?”

“Sure.”

He clearly had something in mind. Without the slightest bit of skepticism, I set the earth around us into motion.

In the same moment, a terramouse rushed in and scooped the pair of us into its paws. Two more mice flocked around us, shoving and guiding us in a certain direction.

Oh, I get it. The entrance to their nest must be this way. No matter how hard it was to see, surely a monster would know which way led to its own den. It explained how Reggie and his crew had popped up out of nowhere, too; they’d used the terramice’s tunnels to get here.

The moment we went on the move, I could have sworn I heard someone murmur: “I hope you find happiness, Kiara.”

I was pretty sure it was Isaac’s voice. Why would he be saying that now, of all times? Or had I just imagined it? It left me with all sorts of questions, but I had no chance to ask a single one.

As snow blew into my face, I closed my eyes and clung to Reggie. It wasn’t long before I suddenly felt myself floating through the air, which earned a loud shriek from me.

“Eek!”

The drop had taken me by surprise, but seeing as Reggie had broken my fall, I came out of it unscathed.

We were inside the terramice’s nest now. The cave was dark, but given that we’d just escaped from a blizzard, the air felt pleasantly warm.

Once Reggie had sheathed his sword, he swept me up into his arms once more and proceeded through the nest. The tunnel was pitch black, with only the terramice sandwiching us from both sides to serve as our guides. I wasn’t worried, though; Reggie would never do anything bad to me. I knew he was only here to protect me.

What I was concerned about was the distance we’d traveled. It seemed like an awful long way to walk while carrying someone, but Reggie didn’t so much as complain.

“Put me down, Reggie. I can walk.”

“I don’t think so. You’re barefoot, remember? Besides, I want to hold you close right now.”

The darkness around us only made the line that much more flustering to hear. The words resonated with me something fierce.

I couldn’t bring myself to argue back, and soon, we had emerged from the gloomy soil. We’d come out under a small cliff next to a river. I could see the water rushing by, washing clean the large rocks dotting the stream. The spot where Reggie and the terramice were standing was a riverbank of tiny, round pebbles.

There, Reggie finally set me down. The stones felt cool against the bare skin of my feet.

“So this is where we ended up,” he murmured.

I gave a curious tilt of my head. “You didn’t know where the tunnel went?”

“Well, the terramice built three different exits. Where we would end up was entirely up to the ones guiding us. Either way, it’s safe to say we’ve made it a good distance from the battlefield of Liadna. The rest of the team should be making their way to the other exits as we speak. Now, hold out your hands.”

At his prompting, I stuck out my hands, which were still bound together. He cut the rope with his sword. It was a huge relief to finally be untied. I rubbed at my wrists, the marks the rope had left behind tingling on my skin.

Reggie went on to treat my injuries. Perhaps he’d anticipated that we would end up separated from everyone else from the start; he was carrying a salve on his person. He wrapped bandages around both the rope burns and the gash Isaac’s sword had left on my palm.

Was it really safe to be taking it so easy, though? I was on pins and needles, worried that the enemy might discover the terramice’s tunnels any second now.

“Don’t we need to worry about the enemy following us?”

“Lady Emmeline is in charge of closing the holes. Apparently she knows a way to get the terramice to plug them up.”

That’s their owner, alright.

“A few of the poor things got caught in the crossfire,” I lamented. No matter how much time they’d spent ramming into me, it was hard to watch such adorable creatures get slaughtered.

“We knew that was inevitable, so don’t you worry about it. Lady Emmeline said that was alright with her, and once she’d brought them to the fort, nothing was going to stop them from rushing into enemy forces the second you cast your magic. But forget about all that...” Reggie trailed off as soon as he’d finished tying the bandages around my hand, only to pull me into a hug. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

My eyes started to water. Truth be told, I hadn’t expected anyone to come for me. I didn’t think it was right to hope for that; after all, there was a good chance it would just get someone hurt. After a long struggle, I’d finally come to terms with taking lives in war, but if nothing else, I didn’t want any harm to come to the people most important to me. That was why I’d relegated my own escape to the back burner. Instead, I’d tried to focus on helping Farzia win and taking down Lord Credias while I was at it. Getting rid of him was bound to make the battle an easier fight for our forces.

And yet... here Reggie was. I was over the moon that he’d been concerned for me, and just knowing that he still needed me around was enough to warm my heart. I was so overjoyed, so relieved, that I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

“Don’t cry, Kiara.” Reggie rubbed my back soothingly. The familiar touch of his hand only made me wail harder. “I’m sorry for putting you through all that. I wish I could have rescued you sooner.”

As much as I wanted to tell him to stop apologizing, I couldn’t get the words out through my sobs. It wasn’t Reggie’s fault at all. I was the one who had insisted on joining the war effort.

Though I couldn’t get a reply out, all that crying calmed me down a little, and my tears eventually subsided. I still couldn’t bring myself to lift my face, so I just thunked my forehead against Reggie’s chest and stayed there.

As he stroked my hair, Reggie said, “I’d like to see your face sometime soon.”

“No way. It’s a mess from crying.” I shot him down immediately. If it were Isaac, I would’ve been happy to put him off with the sight of it, but I didn’t want Reggie to see me like this.

“I don’t care about that. You always look cute to me.”

“What?”

The compliment was such a direct hit that it took me by surprise. Meanwhile, Reggie lifted my right hand in his.

“Did he take your ring?”

He could tell that I wasn’t wearing it at a glance. He brushed his fingers over mine, as though he were lamenting the accessory’s absence.

Struck with an emotion I didn’t quite understand—something more than simple embarrassment—I floundered and explained, “Erm, actually... I used it to stab the viscount.”

“So he did something that merited stabbing?” he asked back, and I realized I’d let more slip than I should have.

Kiara, you dummy! Why would you tell him that?! It’s just going to make him worried!

“Don’t worry! Miss Ada saved me, and Isaac made sure he couldn’t come anywhere near me after that!”

“Which means he did something that warranted that kind of response. What happened?”

“Erk! Well... since I’m a spellcaster, he insisted that he should be in charge of me and took me away.”

“So he used that as a pretense, then got intimate enough with you that you had to stab him?”

I knew I couldn’t contradict him much longer, so I tried to ditch the subject altogether. I was too ashamed to tell him I was nearly assaulted.

“O-Okay, enough questions!”

If I said that and peeled myself away from him, I figured that Reggie would choose to let it go before I really started digging my heels in. Thus, I took a step back... but I couldn’t bring myself to release my gentle grip on his hand. I was scared to let go of him. Almost as though he’d sensed that, Reggie laid his other hand over mine, enveloping it completely.

“You don’t mind holding hands with me, Kiara?” he asked quietly. I wasn’t sure what to do here, but I nodded all the same. “You didn’t mind me hugging you, either?”

“Not at all. It was nice and warm,” I responded.

Reggie gave a small smile. “Then don’t run, okay?”

I got the feeling that he’d said something similar once before. As I tried to recall when it was, I answered, “I’d never run from you, Reggie.” He promptly wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up off the ground.

He sat down on a nearby rock, still cradling me in his arms, then lifted my right hand and placed a kiss on the finger that no longer bore his ring.

“Does that bother you?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

I figured that was his way of telling me he wasn’t angry, even though I’d ruined his ring. Nonetheless, I felt a pang in my chest. I got the sense that he really wished I were still wearing it. Still, did he have to kiss my finger just to check that the ring was really gone? Weren’t you supposed to save that sort of thing for someone you have feelings for?

I couldn’t ask him that, though—I was too afraid. Besides, I knew that hand-kissing was a gesture of courtesy among aristocrats.

But just as I was thinking that, Reggie mumbled, “What about this?”

I lifted my face at the question, only for Reggie’s lips to brush against my cheek. It only lasted a second, but a sweet sensation took root in my heart. It felt nothing like when Isaac had done the same thing. Sensing that the reason for that was about to fall into place, I gazed steadily back into Reggie’s eyes.

“I know that you let yourself be captured to keep Wentworth safe, but I spent the whole time worrying about you. It is thanks to your gambit that he came back alive, however.”

Assured that Cain was alive and well at long last, I let out a sigh of relief. Good, so Cain made it back safe.

Reggie smiled, using his fingers to gently dry my dampened cheeks. “If I could have taken your place, I would have. I’m not confident that I’ll be able to let you out of my sight ever again. That’s how much you mean to me, Kiara.”

Just as my crying had finally stopped, that declaration of his made tears well up in my eyes all over again.

“I’m sorry to make you worry, Reggie. But don’t pull any more crazy stunts, okay? I can take care of myself, and I’d hate it more than anything if you got hurt or killed.”

“I’m afraid we’ll never see eye to eye when it comes to this.”

I was being completely honest with him, yet he just dismissed me with a rueful smile.

He’s awful, I thought, only to hear him murmur, “I won’t back down on this one. No one is more important to me than you. I love you, Kiara.”

I love you.

I gasped, as though he’d just pierced me through the heart with those words. As if he had been waiting for that moment, Reggie brought his face close to mine... and placed a kiss on my lips this time.

The thought of moving away didn’t even cross my mind. As soon as I registered the soft sensation gracing my lips, my face heated up like it was on fire. Spurred on to imitate the gesture, a shiver ran down my spine. It was a feeling akin to taking a plunge.

Unlike with Isaac, I wasn’t scared. In fact, I was perplexed to find myself wanting more.

Meanwhile, I was finally starting to understand what Isaac had been trying to tell me. Why would I risk my own life to save Reggie, heading into battle despite knowing the danger that awaited me? Perhaps the reason he had forced a kiss on me while urging me to despise him was to show me the difference between him and Reggie—to make me understand the difference between a man I loved and a man I didn’t.

Oh, I see now. I love him.

The words settled deep in my heart.

I was sure I had from the moment I’d met him. When we’d first encountered each other, when I was all alone with no one on my side, it would have been totally reasonable for him to doubt my story. Yet he’d still trusted me.

Still, I hadn’t believed there was a chance he’d ever fall for me. He was an RPG prince, for God’s sake! Even when he did things that pushed the boundaries of mere camaraderie, I always wrote it off as him teasing me. If I convinced myself it was a joke, at least I wouldn’t damage our idyllic friendship. Even now, part of me wondered if this was all some trick of my mind.

His lips left mine. The yearning that followed drove home that what I’d felt was real.

Reggie said, “I’m not going to apologize this time. I was scared of putting you off, so I’ve held back from this for a while now. But being separated from you—and being unable to do a thing about it—made me realize how much I’d hate leaving my feelings unsaid. So I’ve decided to tell you everything.”

“E-Everything?”

“I love you, and that’s why I didn’t want you to fight. All I truly wanted was to lock you away somewhere, to keep you safe and secluded. I didn’t care if I died, so long as you lived. I tried to make you understand that, but I could never seem to get my point across. Before long, you started keeping Wentworth by your side, so I assumed you’d chosen to put him first. I decided to keep my distance before it became too painful to bear.”

“What? Sir Cain?” I blinked, surprised to hear his name pop up all of a sudden.

“Can you blame me for thinking that? You didn’t protest when he embraced you.”

Is he talking about what happened at Delphion Castle?

“I got the feeling that Sir Cain needed someone to depend on, that’s all.”

In that particular moment, I’d been under the impression that Cain couldn’t put his late family behind him and needed someone to take their place. If he was lonely and sad, I thought I could offer him a shoulder to cry on—though perhaps not literally, since men don’t like to cry. He’d confessed his love for me then, but I couldn’t bring myself to respond to his feelings head-on. Something about it hadn’t sat right with me.

I couldn’t delude myself about what the issue was anymore. Isaac had made sure of that. He was supposed to be my enemy, yet here I was struck by his kindness.

“Regardless, I’ve decided to stop holding back.” Reggie smiled, content. “Perhaps you might find this a nuisance, or perhaps the knowledge might feel like a burden, but I wanted to get everything off my chest. I’d hate it if I never had the chance to say it, after all. Still... does any of this bother you?”

My answer should have been obvious. I’d just been playing dumb this whole time. “No, your feelings don’t bother me at all. But... are you sure you really like me?”

Will you really, truly love me?

I was afraid I might wake up to find this was all just a dream.

At some point, I’d reached out to clutch the collar of Reggie’s cape, and he placed his hand atop mine—which was enough to reassure me that the reason for my hesitation had come across. That sense of mutual understanding warmed my heart.

“You don’t believe me?”

“I’m just a little scared.”

It should have been well established by now that this was reality, yet I was still scared to take the plunge and put my feelings into words. Even I wasn’t sure what I was so afraid of.

“I think I know why you feel that way—so I’ll do my best to make myself understood until the fear finally goes away. I’m willing to wait for as long as it takes.”

Reggie didn’t pressure me to give him an answer. Was it because he already knew I was leaning his way?

“I love you, Kiara.”

Basking in those gentle words, I let my eyes drift shut.

As nice as it would have been for the scene to change the moment I closed my eyes, things didn’t work that way in reality. Until someone arrived to pick us up, I had to sit with Reggie by the edge of the river.

It was super awkward.

I mean, come on! He’d just confessed to me! Worse still, I was currently withholding my answer because I was too chicken to come out with it.

As soon as I’d realized I was in love, it had suddenly become a lot harder to figure out the appropriate boundaries to keep. I would have felt bad leaning too hard on him and indulging in his affections. After all, I was the one who had relegated our relationship to one of friends or family because I was scared to be abandoned. But was it okay to just act the same way I always had? Would it bother him, considering he’d just confessed his feelings for me?

Oh, but still, I didn’t refuse the kiss.

His embrace was so comforting that it had always been hard for me to push him away. It turned out that wasn’t just because I felt safe in my guardian’s arms.

Waking up to my feelings had made me a whole lot more self-conscious, but I didn’t want to move away from him, so I just stayed put.

After a while, Reggie finally said, “Are you cold?”

I was lightly dressed, so I was feeling a little chilly. Summer was long over now. Still, snuggling up to Reggie kept me warm.

“Not really.”

In spite of my answer, he asked, “Could you stand up for a second?”

That gave me a start. “Oh, I’m sorry! I must be heavy!”

Keeping something heavy in his lap for so long had to be bad for his circulation. I recalled putting my dad’s legs to sleep after sitting on his lap for a long time during my past life. I jumped off of Reggie in a hurry.

“Not at all; you’re light as a feather. I’ll bet anything you fell into a deep sleep soon after you were captured and haven’t had a proper meal to eat. I’m fairly sure you’ve lost weight.”

“What? How did you know I was laid up?”

“You used far more magic than your standard fare just before you were captured. You saved Felix, fought the viscount and his defective spellcasters, and then healed Wentworth on top of that, right? I was awfully worried about you.”

“I know. Sorry.”

There wasn’t anything else I could have done. No matter how many times it happened, I’d always choose to fight, and I’d always heal the two of them. Still, anything I could have said would have sounded like an excuse, so I apologized instead.

“By the way, there’s something I wanted to ask you.” He changed the subject. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“The Salekhardians figured that your typical girl wouldn’t run off in a nightgown.”

“They knew that binding your hands wouldn’t be enough to stop you, I see.” His voice dropped an octave. “Don’t move, Kiara.”

First, he took the green cape I was wearing and wound it even more tightly around me. It wasn’t quite long enough to reach all the way down to my feet, however. Reggie didn’t seem to like that one bit, but nevertheless, he took me into his arms and sat down once again. Apparently, he’d asked me to stand up just so he could do that.

“I hate to think of you walking around showing off your legs. In all honesty, I don’t like seeing you in that green either, but it wouldn’t do if you caught a cold. I’ll have to bear with it for now.” He heaved a sigh.

“But, uh... I already flashed a bunch of people my legs during the battle.”

The white gown I was wearing as pajamas only reached my calves. I’d been carried under someone’s arm at one point, which meant my legs had been on full public display. I was trying to tell him that it wasn’t worth worrying about, but if I’m being totally honest here, that was a big mistake on my part.

“I think you’d do best not to remind me of that. It makes me want to erase the memories of all my knights.”

“Um, yes, sir.”

Reggie’s eyes were like ice. It was enough to even scare me.

Still, after declaring that he was going to tell me everything, it seemed that Reggie had gotten a little better about saying what he was really thinking. It was kind of nice when I thought about it, but that didn’t make the look on his face any less terrifying.

In the meantime, someone finally came to pick us up.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Your Grace.”

The man who showed up spearheading a group of twenty or so men was Dior, a knight of the royal guard. Reggie left me to sit by myself and wandered a short distance away to greet them. The team had brought along a spare horse, and seeing as he’d made it out of the battle unscathed, Reggie opted to ride it back to the fort.

Before mounting it, he asked Dior, “Did you bring a blanket of some kind, by chance?”

“We did bring the canvas for a stretcher in case someone got hurt.”

“Perfect. I’ll be using that.”

As soon as the cloth was in his hands, Reggie went to work bundling me up. He wrapped it snugly around my body, covering me from the top of my head to the very tips of my toes. By the time he was done, I couldn’t move a muscle. I felt like a gift all packed up and ready to be shipped.

Reggie carried me all the way back to the fort in luggage mode.

After taking one look at us when we arrived, Alan steeled himself and asked in a truly pained tone, “Reggie... was Kiara too badly mauled to even look at?”

“Why, from the way she was casting her magic, I’d assumed she must be hale and hearty,” Emmeline lamented.

Their misunderstanding threw me into a tizzy. I’m alive, guys!

“What nonsense are you two spouting? She’s clearly alive and kicking,” Master Horace cut in.

Oh, good, Master Horace got home safe! Looks like someone managed to salvage him. I’ll have to thank them later.

One man among the crowd was more composed than the rest. “I’d wager His Highness just doesn’t want anyone to see her. I heard she was dressed a touch inappropriately.”

“That’s quite enough out of you, Wentworth,” Reggie responded, his voice dropping a pitch. “Who told you that? Groul? Could someone go summon him for me?”

Meanwhile, I was preoccupied with more pressing matters. “Sir Cain? Sir Cain, is that you?!”

I wanted to see his face. I’d heard that he was all in one piece, and I could hear his voice loud and clear, but I couldn’t truly relax until I saw him alive and well with my own two eyes. After all, he’d been on death’s door the last time I’d seen him, unconscious and smeared in blood.

Had his wounds healed? Had he suffered any lasting damage? I was so desperate to know that I tried to wriggle free, but the blanket was wrapped so tightly around me that I couldn’t move my arms. To make matters worse, Reggie wasn’t lifting a finger to help me. As if there was anything shameful about showing my face!

Out of options, I started banging my head furiously, eliciting cries of concern.

“Kiara?!”

“Is she possessed?”

“You look like a giant caterpillar, kid. Talk about creepy.”

Finally, my face finally popped out of its bindings.

“Are you alright, Sir Cain?!”

Now that night had fallen, bonfires had been lit around the fort. Illuminated by the strong, crimson light, there stood Cain—right alongside Alan, who was staring at me incredulously.

“I’m doing just fine,” he answered, gazing up at me where I sat upon Reggie’s horse. I couldn’t spot a scratch on him. “And I have you to thank for that. I’m glad to finally have the chance to express my gratitude.”

“Even then, it was only just yesterday that he managed to get out of bed. Go get some rest, my good man; you nearly died!” said Alan, who was holding Master Horace. Cain smiled ruefully, as if the remark had hit a sore spot. “Lady Emmeline, would you mind helping Kiara out? Do you have any clothes she could borrow, perchance?”

Emmeline, who was standing on Alan’s other side, nodded. “We didn’t lose all that much of our cargo in the last battle, so I should have a spare outfit on hand. Let’s move her inside. Someone call a soldier to—”

The moment I heard that last bit, I curled in on myself, terrified by the thought of a stranger carrying me anywhere. I knew I was among friendly forces now, but after everything I’d been through, the idea of someone touching me while I was rendered immobile filled me with dread.

Reggie held me out for Cain to take, still swaddled like a bagworm. “She was dressed minimally to keep her from escaping. No shoes, either.”

“Oh, so that’s why she came back looking like this. I understand perfectly now.” Cain took me off Reggie’s hands, satisfied with the explanation for my cocoon.

“I mean, I did have shoes; I just took them off because they’d get in the way of casting my magic.” I instinctively rushed to make excuses, only for Reggie to flick me on the forehead.

“I realize it was an emergency, but it was a rather risqué look, Kiara.”

“Risqué?!”

“It was quite infuriating to witness other men staring at the tips of your toes, I’ll have you know,” Reggie added, in what could only be described as kicking me while I was down; however, he quickly laughed it off with a wave of his hand. “Well then, I leave you two to handle the rest. Alan, I’d like a post-battle report.”

Reggie dismounted his horse, then strode off alongside Alan. I felt the tiniest pang of loneliness at his unceremonious departure. He’d absconded with Master Horace, too. More pressing, however, was the matter of thanking Cain and Emmeline now that we’d finally been reunited.

“Thank you for lending us your terramice, Miss Emmeline. I’m sorry we lost a few of them in the process.”

“Come now, you needn’t worry about that,” Emmeline replied with a breezy laugh, looking dignified in her military uniform. “At the end of the day, they’re monsters; I told His Highness as much when he tried to apologize, too. Besides, I’m sure the ones I left at home will swell their ranks in no time. Feed them too much and they can double their numbers in just three months.”

Sounds like they multiply like rabbits... or, well, like mice.

“For a start, let’s get you a change of clothes. Excuse me, you there! Summon the mercenary named Gina to my room, would you? Tell her the spellcaster has returned,” Emmeline ordered a nearby Delphion soldier before leading us away.

Cain declined to free me from my cocoon, so he had to carry me all the way there. My head was the one part of me sticking out, which drew hushed commentary from the soldiers we passed inside the fort.

“Is that the spellcaster?!”

“They managed to rescue her, then?” A beat. “They’re not keeping her restrained, are they?”

“Do you think she changed jobs to ‘bagworm’?”

Emmeline and Cain giggled as they overheard the conversation. Despite my mixed feelings on the matter, a smile broke out across my face at the sight of it. For a while there, I’d been afraid we would never share a laugh over something so silly ever again.

Perhaps that was why I found tears welling up in my eyes. Reuniting with Reggie had turned me into a real crybaby, it seemed.

Cain adjusted his hold on me, moving his hand from my shoulder to wipe my eyes dry. “You’re alright now. Everyone is here with you. Why, even Felix was raring to head into battle, to the point that he refused to listen to orders. He was so insistent that Sir Groul had to tie him down.”

Groul was a “brute force” sort of fellow, apparently.

“Sir Felix hasn’t fully recovered yet?”

“Medicine did the trick for me, seeing as the worst of my injuries were gashes. Felix suffered burns, so he hasn’t been quite as lucky.”

“I should go check on him later.”

“I imagine you must be exhausted, so I suggest you leave that for another day. If you push yourself too hard, you’re going to pass out.”

It had been so long since I’d last been scolded by Cain that even his nagging brought me joy.

Before long, Emmeline had brought us to an unoccupied room. This being a fort and all, there was nothing inside but a simple bed, a rustic chair, and a table. Frankly, the fact that there was anything in it at all probably put it ahead of the pack. Judging by the bedding that had been laid out, she had readied it for me in hopes that today’s rescue mission would be successful.

“Wow! Thank you so much, Miss Emmeline!”

My first instinct was to wrap her up in a hug, but unfortunately, I was still a human bagworm. I asked Cain to set me down on the floor. Just as I was about to fling myself at Emmeline, she left to go get my change of clothes ready, so I was instead stuck waiting there with my knight.

There had been no telling if and when I would be coming back, after all. My feet were a dirty mess, so she probably had to go fetch us some water, too. I felt bad making her go out of her way for me, but given that I was still too jumpy to wander around myself, I took her up on her kindness.

The longer I stood still, the more difficult it became to stay on my feet while swathed in a blanket. I tried unraveling it so I could regain my balance, but Reggie must have wrapped it pretty darn tight since I was struggling to get it off on my own.

“Hey, Sir Cain? Could you get this blanket off for me? It’s starting to get pretty uncomfortable.”

“Oh, this is why you aren’t having any luck. He tied it off in a knot.”

“But why?!”

Evidently, the difficulty I was having in getting it off was intentional; Reggie had tied off the ends of the cloth in a knot.

Why, was he worried I’d try to struggle loose? That’s just silly, though!

Despite the question marks floating around in my head, I finally escaped the coils of blanket—though I kept it draped around my shoulders. It was soon revealed that Reggie had tied off the cape underneath, too. If we unraveled that, I’d be left in nothing but a nightgown, so I let it be. Cain, meanwhile, burst out laughing at the sight.

“Stop laughing, Sir Cain! I know it looks funny, but I shouldn’t take the rest of it off!”

“No, no, it has nothing to do with the delightful way you’re dressed. It’s simply that His Highness is so transparent,” he explained, pulling the blanket around me to shield the sight from view, tying the ends into a knot under my neck.

“Transparent? How so?”

“More than ‘risqué,’ I’d wager you looked a bit alluring.”

“I looked WHAT?!”

That was the first time in my life I’d ever heard that word associated with me. Did he have me confused for someone else?

Of course, that called to mind how Cain had admitted his love for me. He’d implored me not to fall for anyone else—or else he might lose his place as my “older sibling.” Once he realized I was in love with Reggie, would he stop being my brother? It was a little unnerving to think about how Cain might react, and I found myself suddenly tensing up.

It was in that moment that he brushed his fingers over my cheek, which only served to give me a start. He promptly withdrew his hand, peering into my face.

“Back outside the fort, you went pale when you thought a soldier might have to touch you.”

Wait, did I really?

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked.

“Uh, no, it’s not like that...”

Too many things had come flooding back to me, that was all. Cain may have confessed his feelings for me, and he made a habit of touching me out of the blue, but I knew he would never force himself on me. After everything I’d been through, I was just more skittish than usual.

Cain said, “Would you mind if I hugged you? I’d like to prove to myself one more time that you’re really here, safe and sound.”

He, too, must have spent my time as a captive worried sick for me. I didn’t think it would be right to turn him down, and I hadn’t minded him carrying me all this way anyway, so I went ahead and nodded.

Cain folded me up in the blanket, gently holding me in his arms. He went on to stroke my hair as though I were a child, so my moment’s worth of tension melted away in no time. It couldn’t have lasted longer than ten seconds. When Cain pulled back, he sounded like the pieces of a puzzle had fallen into place for him. “I can more or less guess what happened.”

“Hm?” I gave a quizzical tilt of my head.

That was when Emmeline showed up with Gina in tow. In their arms were bedsheets, a tub full of hot water, a washcloth, and a change of clothes, among other things.

Wow, I didn’t expect her to go out of her way to get hot water. She must have known I’d be covered in dirt from running all over the battlefield.

“Even on a good day, wielding earth magic usually leaves me nice and dusty,” I mumbled to myself.

The look on Gina’s face was a touch menacing. “You’re focusing on the wrong thing, Kiara! There was a good chance you wouldn’t make it out of there in one piece! Nobody did anything to you, did they? You don’t have to pretend like everything’s fine. I don’t want you holding anything in,” she said, reaching out to hug me from over my cloak of blanket.

There was an inherent femininity to her physique and her scent that no amount of training could erase, and something about it made me feel at ease. Almost as if a switch inside me had flipped, tears started spilling from my eyes.

“Hey, what happened?!” As soon as she saw I was crying, she cradled my head in her arms and told Cain, “Thanks for all your help. I’ll come fill you in later, so would you mind stepping out for now?”

“Very well.” With a terse farewell, Cain left the room.

Shoot, I might have given Cain the wrong idea. I had a hairy encounter, sure, but nothing actually happened to me. I don’t want him thinking this is all his fault.

I rushed to set the story straight. “Nothing that bad happened in the end, Gina. Miss Ada made sure of that.”

I told Gina and Emmeline about how Lord Credias had tried to take advantage of me while I was Salekhard’s prisoner, only for Ada to show up and save me. Both girls visibly relaxed, relieved by the news.

“Good. I didn’t know what I’d do if you came home a wreck in both mind and body. I even made arrangements for your convalescence in Delphion, in case it came to that.”

“You were in enemy territory and all. It may have been Salekhard that captured you, but given what a vulnerable position the country is in, I figured they wouldn’t have grounds to refuse if Llewyne demanded they hand you over. I was seriously worried something awful had happened to you! I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks for worrying about me. I was formally in the king of Salekhard’s custody, but the viscount was just too obsessed with me to care.”

I gave the pair a rough overview of the past few days as I unequipped my barrier of blankets and changed into my new clothes.

Well... most of it, anyway. There were a few parts I didn’t want to mention—like how Isaac had bitten down on my neck to give the viscount the slip. I glossed over that bit. Still, the full story of what Credias had done to me came out later. The girls urged me to have dinner if I had the strength to eat, then drew the details out of me as we sat around a small table eating soup and bread.

“Miss Ada did that? Perhaps it was because she saw so much of you and Sir Felix. I heard that she ran away the moment she laid eyes on you in Liadna, too,” Emmeline reflected.

Gina looked conflicted. “But she killed Lord Azure, remember? If we’re talking personal relationships, he and his men went to a lot of trouble for her.” She furrowed her brow, trying to puzzle out what had made the difference.

Emmeline murmured, “When it came to Miss Kiara, I assume she felt some degree of empathy as a fellow spellcaster. As for Sir Felix... perhaps it was love?”

“Love?” I parroted.

“But didn’t she have a thing for His Highness?” Gina countered.

“This is just my own speculation,” Emmeline replied, “but despite her initial infatuation with His Highness, once she realized he had zero interest in her, perhaps she turned her affections to the man who had actually shown her consideration.”

In other words, it was because—as the one tasked with handling her in Reggie’s stead—Felix had spent the most time with her.

“But if things stay the way they are... we’re going to have to fight against Miss Ada eventually.”

Enemy or not, she was the one who had come to my rescue. Hearing me sympathize with her struggles after Reggie’s rejection had left her speechless; thus, I was pretty sure she wasn’t on Llewyne’s side of her own free will. If you added in the fact that she was Lord Credias’ wife, there was a good chance that she’d been turned into a spellcaster and forced to obey him.

“One wrong step and I could’ve ended up just like her.”

“What do you mean?” Gina asked, cocking her head to one side.

I went ahead and explained myself. I didn’t mention the reincarnation bit, of course, but I told her that I’d fled from my engagement to Lord Credias, and that Ada had become his wife in my stead.

Emmeline’s expression grew darker the longer my story went on. I finished by telling her, “I think Miss Ada was forced to do what she did.”

“Still... considering she killed Lord Azure, do you think His Highness would grant her clemency? Antagonizing the Azurans within our army would only hinder our fight against Llewyne.”

“You have a point there.”

The House of Azure was full of ardent loyalists of the royal family; hence they had provided pivotal support to Reggie. If he came to the defense of the woman who had killed their marquis, it would only weaken his standing with them.

“In any case, you ought to get some rest for now, Miss Kiara. I’ll leave the water at your bedside.”

“We’ll be back to check on you tomorrow, ’kay?”

After a long stretch of silence, the two ladies quickly tidied up the room, then made to take their leave.

“Hold on, Gina! I don’t want to leave Sir Cain with the wrong idea, so could you tell him, um... that it wasn’t as much of a catastrophe as it could have been?” I was so flustered that I landed on an awfully strange way of phrasing it, but Gina just laughed.

“Alright, I’ll make sure he knows. I’ll give His Highness an idea of what happened, too, so don’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

I watched them go, stopping to breathe once they’d shut the door. Now that the lively pair had taken their leave, silence fell over the room once more.

Soon, I felt a knot of loneliness in my stomach. I’d been rescued. Everyone else was alive and well, too. So why didn’t any of it feel real yet? Not only was I nice and full, but I’d just had a good, long chat with Emmeline and Gina, so I ought to have been feeling more relaxed by now.

No... that wasn’t enough. I didn’t want them to go just yet. I may be home now, but I still have so much leftover anxiety. I needed them here just a little longer—to remind me that all the scary things that happened are in the past now.

I couldn’t expect them to baby me like that, though. Considering we were on the heels of a battle, they each had their own jobs to do. They couldn’t spend all their time taking care of me.

Hoping to take my mind off the solitude, I decided to hit the hay early. I rolled into bed, burrowing under the covers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite seem to fall asleep.

Come to think of it, Master Horace hasn’t come back yet. Is he planning to stay with Alan for a while?

Just as I was thinking that, I heard a knock on the door. I opened up, fully expecting to see Gina or Emmeline standing there.

“Master Horace!”

Instead, I found Reggie holding Master Horace in his arms.

“So you’ve rejoined the ranks of humanity after that stint as an uncanny bagworm, eh? Woohoo!”

“I’m so glad to see you! You aren’t broken this time, are you?” I rushed right up to Reggie, plucking Master Horace out of his hands and hugging him against my chest.

“C’mon, I wouldn’t fall apart that easily.”

“My, you’re even happier to see him than me,” Reggie remarked. “I’m almost jealous.”

I rushed to make excuses. “Wait, it’s not like that! I knew Master Horace was alright and all, but there was no time to talk to him earlier, so I just got a little excited!”

“Yes, I suppose you and I had a rather involved conversation already. That wasn’t quite enough to sate me, however.” Reggie reached for my face—to brush his hand over my cheek, I assumed, only for him to plant a quick kiss on it instead.

“Wha...?”

A gust of wind gushed out of Master Horace.

“Mmheehee! That tickles, that tickles!”

“Oh no! Sorry, Master Horace!”

Reggie laughed in the face of my fluster, then took his leave with a single word of farewell. Only Master Horace and I remained behind.

“Uhh, err...” After what Reggie had just pulled right in front of him, I found myself grappling to come up with an excuse.

“Mmheehee! No need to explain yourself. I’ve known you have the hots for that prince for ages now.” Master Horace threw up his hands as if to say, Kids these days!

“What?” My eyes went wide as saucers. “Since when?”

“From the very start, more or less. He came on pretty strong, and you never once shot him down. It wasn’t hard to guess.” He must have been thinking of the whole foot-kissing incident in Évrard.

“Was it that obvious to everyone else, too?”

“Hard to say. Unless you’ve got business that needs taking care of, you don’t hang around him all that much. Still, whoever knew really knew. You never sought help no matter how hard the prince flirted with you, but the second that knight started teasing you, you picked up new guardians to hide behind. I’ll bet you anything that’s when the mercenaries figured it out, too.”

“‘Picked up’...? Well, I guess you’re right. I did get Gina and Girsch to bail me out.”

When Cain started broadcasting his feelings for me by touching me more and more casually, I had gotten so worked up about it that I’d run to the mercenaries for advice, and ultimately, Girsch had to ask him to back off for me. By contrast, I hadn’t gone to anyone for help when Reggie was putting his hands on my bare feet.

Thinking back on it, touching my shoulder was a heck of a lot more reasonable than my naked toes—and yet that was all it had taken to send me into a panic. I realized now that if it had been Reggie who had done that... I probably wouldn’t have been so desperate to put a stop to it.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t realize it myself until earlier today.”

“Mmheehee! I figured you were subconsciously trying to push it out of your mind.”

Everything came down to a fear of Reggie leaving my side. Perhaps that was the reason I was hesitant to respond to his feelings even now.

“But y’know, I never did imagine that I’d be turned into a doll and forced to watch a young couple flirt right in front of my face! He’s pretty bold about it, too,” he grumbled under his breath.

I was so embarrassed I wanted to fall right through the floor. In a way, it sort of was like flirting right in front of my own dad.

“You know, I really do think of you like a father.”

“Well, magic is thicker than blood. If you think of it that way, then sure, I might as well be your old man.”

“Thanks, Master Horace. I’ll treasure you always.”

“That sounded almost like a proposal! Except you’re the one who’s going to go off and get married, and I’m the one who’s going to stick around and sponge off of you for the rest of your life.”

“M-Married?!”

The first person to pop into my head was Reggie. Unable to pinpoint why a sense of apprehension accompanied the thought, I bit down on my lip.