Chapter 23

If I was going to escape, it had to be through the door. If the knights realized I was here, they should help me. That was what I was thinking as I started running, though I never truly believed I could get away.

I tried to get out through the door, but just as expected, the servant standing in front of it caught me. The refined clothes they had forced me into when I was brought to this mansion were completely unsuited for quick movement, so the result was obvious from the start. Still, if there was even the slightest possibility in front of me, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching for it.

「Please let me out!」

「We cannot. Please do not leave this room.」

「Someone, mgh…!!」

A hand covered my mouth before I could scream, dragging me away from the door. A cloth was immediately forced between my teeth to stop me from speaking, and my arms were tied behind my back. If someone found me calling for help, there would be no excuse they could make. They probably intended to hide me somewhere and keep me restrained until the knights left.

「Should we just shove her into a closet or something…?」

「Isn’t that a bit cruel? This young lady was brought here against her will, wasn’t she? And now you’re tying her up like this…」

「But the master ordered that she absolutely must not be found. We don’t have a choice.」

Thanks to the female servant who sympathized with me, the man holding me lost focus for a moment, and the grip around my arms loosened slightly. It was enough for me to twist my body a little.

I truly did feel sorry about this, but desperate times called for desperate measures. I swung my leg backward with all my strength.

「Aggh!?」

「Eh!?」

Even dressed in a frilly one-piece dress, I wasn’t some noble young lady. I thought any ordinary town girl would know to aim for a man’s groin if she needed to escape. Maybe it was an outrageous thing to do among the wealthy, where such behavior was probably unheard of.

Taking advantage of the servants freezing in shock and the man collapsing in pain, I rushed for the door again. My arms were bound and useless, so I slammed myself against the door to force it open and tumbled out into the hallway.

「Whoa!?」

I burst out with so much force that, unable to use my arms, I nearly lost my balance and fell, only to have someone catch me.

The moment I saw a knight’s uniform, I snapped my head up. It wasn’t Hector, but it was a face I vaguely recognized from somewhere.

(Who was this person again…?)

I couldn’t remember. I didn’t bother memorizing the names or faces of people I had no intention of getting close to. Still, I was certain I had seen him before. Since he was a knight, it was probably when I had gone into town or visited the garrison.

「So the young lady really was being held captive. What a terrible thing, tying up such a cute girl.」

The servants remained frozen in the room, unable to come out after seeing the knight’s uniform. During that time, he untied the rope binding my arms and removed the cloth from my mouth, finally letting me speak again.

His way of speaking made me remember. He was the knight who had guided me when I brought medicine to the knights before. The one who had angered Hector. His name was… I still couldn’t remember it. Well, whatever.

「More importantly, it’s a good thing Hector wasn’t the one who saw this first. When that guy loses his temper, he’s terrifying…」

Apparently remembering something unpleasant, he rubbed his arm while a dark purple line of fear stretched overhead. I had never actually seen Hector angry enough to frighten people, so it was hard to imagine. He seemed like the type who would smile even while furious. …Though then again, he was the sort who let things fester internally, so if it involved me, maybe he really would do something extreme.

「Anyway, can you come with me? I think seeing your face will help calm him down.」

「Hector-san came too?」

「Well, of course… Securing your safety is the Second Knight Order’s top priority right now.」

The Second Knight Order was the name of the knight order stationed in our town. The fact they had all come searching for me probably meant this was being treated as an extremely important matter.

…This was definitely being treated as a royal family issue.

I tightly gripped the ring hanging against my chest.

「What about the people in this mansion…?」

「That’s not something you need to worry about. Come on, let’s go.」

After glancing once toward the servants beyond the doorway, he started to place a hand against my back, then froze for a second before casually walking ahead as though nothing had happened. Tilting my head at the lingering color of fear above him, I followed after him.

「If Hector starts blaming me later, make sure you tell him catching you when you almost fell and undoing your restraints were unavoidable.」

「What is that supposed to mean?」

I didn’t understand what he meant, but he sounded completely serious. When someone looked at you with a dead serious face and said, 「Please」 there wasn’t much you could do except nod.

Guided by him, I walked through the enormous mansion, though strangely enough, none of the mansion’s residents appeared anywhere. Instead, we encountered several knights apparently searching room after room, and each time they saw me, they smiled in relief and said they were glad I was safe.

「Where’s Hector?」

「Over there. In the dining hall. You should hurry.」

「Got it.」

Exchanging only brief words as he confirmed Hector’s location, we continued through the mansion. When we reached the large doors where the smell of delicious food drifted out, a loud crash of dishes shattering suddenly rang out from beyond them, startling me so badly my shoulders jumped. At the same time, the color of fear above the knight walking ahead of me grew longer too.

「…Hector! We found the young lady!」

After taking one deep breath, he flung the doors open and shouted loudly as though steeling himself. The first thing I saw beyond the doors was luxurious food scattered all over the floor, a servant in a tailcoat collapsed nearby, and Hector holding a merchant by the collar with enough force to lift him off the ground.

The sheer intensity of the scene froze me in place. Then Hector slowly turned his face toward me, and the moment his eyes landed on me, they widened greatly.

「Cyril-san!」

「U-gwah!」

The instant our eyes met, Hector threw the merchant aside, shoved past the knight who had brought me here, and rushed straight toward me before pulling me into an incredibly tight embrace. To be honest, it was actually painful, I could barely breathe. There was a heavy thud somewhere behind him as something hit the floor. I hoped the merchant who had apparently been dropped was alright.

But just before I lost sight of him, I had seen Hector’s emotions, fear, pain, anger, regret, all so intense that I couldn’t bring myself to blame him. Right now my entire view was filled with a knight’s uniform, but through the arms wrapped around me, I could painfully feel how worried he had been for my safety.

「Hector-san… I can’t breathe…」

「Ah, right, sorry. Are you hurt? Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?」

The moment he released me from his arms, both his hands cupped my face as he leaned down to look at me from above. His honey-colored eyes were trembling unusually badly, making it obvious just how worried he was. And this position… it resembled the time I had worried over his injuries before. Our faces were incredibly close. …I understood now how he must have felt back then. This is terrible for the heart.

「I’m fine, so… um, please calm down.」

「Yeah… But I’m really glad you’re safe…」

He hugged me again. This time his grip was gentler, not painful. Maybe he had embraced me twice because he needed to reassure himself I was really here. …Meanwhile, my heart already felt like it was going to give out from how close he’d been this whole time.

「Eerm… Quite a scene you are making, but can you do this somewhere else…?」

「See, Hector-san? Even your fellow knight says so, so please let go.」

「…Ah, Sazen was here too? Sorry for suddenly hugging you, Cyril-san. I just… couldn’t hold myself back.」

Judging from the prediction lines above him still shifting restlessly with all kinds of emotions, I could understand why he had acted that way and simply nodded. I had worried him that much.

And besides, he had come to save me. Ever since seeing him, all my anxiety had vanished completely. If it helped Hector feel relieved, I could overlook a little bit of this.

「We’re enough to handle the cleanup here, so shouldn’t you escort the young lady back first?」

「Yeah, I will. Cyril-san, let’s go.」

「Ah, yes. Sazen-san, thank you very much.」

After bowing to the knight whose name I had finally learned thanks to Hector, I followed Hector out of the mansion. It hadn’t felt especially cold inside, but once we stepped outdoors, the night wind was freezing enough to make me shiver.

「Ah, you’re cold, right? Here, wear this if you’d like.」

「…Thank you very much.」

What he handed me was a knight’s cloak. It was far too large, but simply draping it around myself made me feel wonderfully warm. Still, wouldn’t Hector be cold without it?

「The inn nearby is rented by the order, but Cyril-san… do you know how to ride a horse?」

「No, I don’t.」

「Right. And with those clothes, you probably can’t ride side-saddle either. …It’ll probably be cold until we reach the inn, but… can you walk?」

「Yes. I’m alright.」

Today was the Star-Moon Festival. The night when the stars and moon shone brightest all year, so bright that even without lamps you wouldn’t lose your way. Once your eyes adjusted, you could see even better. And so, beneath that night sky, the two of us started walking side by side. Hector walked just one step ahead, guiding the way.

「Thank you for coming to save me. Even though it was the Star-Moon Festival and your day off, the knights all came too.」

「That’s only natural. You might not realize it yourself, but everyone… has been helped by your medicine. And the townspeople like you too, so a lot of them cooperated. Plus, we had proper justification for it.」

I had a contract to come into the service of the royal family, which apparently meant I was effectively considered royal property. If Ky, the one who had made the contract with me, chose to abandon me, then that would be the end of it. But if he ordered my protection, then my safety became something that had to be prioritized above all else.

Apparently, once Ky learned I had gone missing, everything moved very quickly. Even before that, information gathering had already been underway, but once the royal family became involved, the amount of information they could obtain was on an entirely different level.

「We’re on the far side of the forest, so we won’t head back to town until after sunrise, but… everyone in town was really worried too. I think they’ll feel relieved once they see your face. For example…」

Hector began listing all sorts of names, but aside from Jean and his family, none of them meant anything to me. Even though I didn’t know these people at all, apparently they had all helped search for me. Such a strange feeling.

「…Wait, Cyril-san. Do you not know who those people are?」

「You figured that out? …I never intended to get close to anyone, so…」

「That really does sound like you, though.」

This time, instead of names, he mentioned the medicines they usually bought or the stores I frequently visited. Only then did I finally understand who had tried to help me. The faces instantly connected with the medicines they used. Regular customers, shop owners I gave advice to, their wives… apparently many of them had helped.

「Now I understand. I need to thank them properly.」

「So you recognize them that way. I see… Somehow it feels a little special knowing you actually remember my name.」

「Well, as for Hector-san… I’d heard your name hundreds of times already, so eventually I had no choice.」

It had been six years since Hector arrived as a knight. No, maybe nearly seven by now. The women of the town had talked about him constantly, and I had constantly listened to their consultations about him too. After hearing his name that many times, naturally his face and name became linked in my mind. When I explained that, a faint trace of sadness stretched above his head. As I watched, regret followed after it, and his footsteps came to a halt. I naturally stopped as well.

「…I’m sorry it took me so long to come save you. You must have been terrified all alone, right?」

The honey-colored eyes looking down at me trembled. Now that I thought about it, it felt like he had been exposing his emotions all day long. This whole incident must have shaken him deeply.

Ever since I was abducted, I truly had felt lonely. Frightened. Miserable. And during all that time, the face that had constantly come to mind was Hector’s. …Because somewhere inside, I believed he would come save me.

「…Hector-san, thank you for keeping your promise today.」

「A promise?」

「Yes. We promised we’d spend the Star-Moon night together, didn’t we? This is exactly that.」

Just the two of us beneath a sky overflowing with stars and a bright moon. We hadn’t been able to eat a grand feast together, but we were still spending this night together just as promised.

「I believed you would definitely come save me. Because… you always keep your promises, don’t you?」

He hid his emotions and wore false expressions. But he had never once broken a promise.

I probably trusted Hector from the bottom of my heart. I truly believed this person would absolutely protect me. And after everything that happened, I understood that clearly.

「My father used to say it often. That a witch must only love someone she can truly trust.」

The reason I remembered those words now was probably… Well, it meant exactly what it sounded like. The moment I decided to put my feelings into words, I saw a long translucent orange color stretch above Hector’s head. Knowing before I even spoke that he would be overwhelmingly happy somehow made me feel both happy and embarrassed.

「I trust you, Hector-san. …Would it be alright… if I loved you?」

Hector listened silently to everything I said, offering no words of reply. But before his embrace hid him from view again, the prediction lines told me clearly what he felt.

Laughing softly at the single extraordinarily long pink line, I wrapped my arms around his back and let myself relax into his warmth. It was warm, and incredibly comforting.