Chapter 183

A few days later.

Iren was busy preparing for an extended outing.

‘Now that I think about it, we did decide to split the occupying forces and dispatch them to various parts of the continent.’

Even Iren, as the deputy commander, was no exception. As soon as the training duties were roughly wrapped up, she prepared to leave in earnest.

We wouldn’t see each other’s faces for a while, would we?

Iren first greeted the head maid, whose face had now become quite familiar.

“Well then, I’ll be back. Please take care of the manor.”

“Don’t worry, my lord.”

“Iren. It would be nice if you could relax even without me around.”

“Safe travels…!! I’ll be waiting for you. When you return, I’ll make you a whole bunch of delicious things…”

“And…”

Noticing her strangely hesitating posture, I realized it was my turn and approached her.

Looking up at me, Iren’s eyes were oddly trembling.

“Swoen. I’ll be back safe… so you have to stay healthy.”

“…”

The subtle sensation in her tone of voice.

I hope I’m not wasting my time thinking this, but…

I stepped closer to her.

“…!!!!”

Spreading my arms wide, I hugged her. She flinched slightly, surprised, but eventually leaned her head against my chest without resisting.

“Travel safely, Miss Iren. I’ll miss you a lot, but I’ll wait for you.”

“Yeah… Swoen, I’ll do well. I… I’ll miss you too…”

“Take care of yourself and don’t overdo it. If anything seems dangerous, you must step back. Understand?”

“I won’t overdo it. Anything Swoen tells me not to do, I won’t do…”

It’s just patrol anyway, but it feels like I’m overreacting…

But when she was with the Aishias Army, she was serious enough to risk her life for me. Without this kind of reassurance, I’d definitely be anxious and unable to breathe.

I slowly stroked her red hair with my hand.

She always showed a strong face and was actually incredibly steadfast, but seeing her like this, I realized Miss Iren wasn’t as unbreakable as steel all the time.

After seeing Iren off,

“…?”

“A-ah, umm, t-that is…!!!”

Turning to Reika, who was blushing furiously and sweating nervously upon seeing me, I softened my expression and spoke.

“Do you have anything to do today?”

“Huh? No, I mean… there isn’t… any…”

Her fidgety fingers made her look inexplicably cute.

“Then, how about we meditate together after such a long time?”

“Huh…?”

“Don’t you want to?”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to… it’s… I do! I do…!!”

Though reading books together in the library might also be nice, she seemed happiest when meditating with me.

Today, spending some light time with her wouldn’t be bad.

Thus, Reika and I immediately headed outside the mansion.

* * *

Thump thump.

Despite coming out to meditate with Swoen, Reika’s heart couldn’t calm down at all.

“It was really amazing…”

Miss Iren saying goodbye and Swoen hugging her tightly—such a perfectly matching couple, like a picture drawn by someone.

For some reason, a ticklish feeling arose deep within her heart.

Although their relationship looked extremely solid at a glance—

What was surprising was the fact that they still weren’t officially involved with each other romantically.

And Reika felt a strange sense of relief from the fact that “they weren’t involved.”

“If someday I have to leave far away… Would Master Swoen hug me like that too?”

Miss Iren and herself started from similar positions.

Moreover, considering that marriage talks had already come up, she might even be ahead in some ways.

So, maybe there was no need to feel disheartened, right? Just as she thought that…

“…Huh?”

A sudden realization struck Reika like lightning.

Wait a minute.

Did I just… think that I’m “ahead”?

“…What?”

Ahead of what?

In terms of marriage?

If I’m ahead in terms of marriage, what does that even mean? What am I ahead in?

As one thought led to another, she finally reached a conclusion.

So, maybe…

“Could it be… that I like Master Swoen…?????”

“Just a moment, just a moment, just a moment.”

Her mind filled with swirling thoughts as her face turned crimson.

“To be honest, I didn’t particularly want to get married, but… even so, the idea of becoming Master Swoen’s wife… didn’t seem bad. From the start, it wasn’t unpleasant. It was because Father wanted it, but traditionally, that’s how women’s marriages work… But somewhere along the way… something, something…!”

It would be a lie to say she didn’t get excited when Master Swoen introduced her as “my wife” in the library.

“But… Master Swoen said that if I didn’t want to marry, if I wanted to live freely, I could choose that path. That was very kind of him, but… the subtle distance I felt from that… kept existing somehow…”

“Miss Reika?”

“Thinking about it now… that distance… maybe I wanted to hear something else…??”

“Excuse me? Miss Reika?”

“Rather, if Master Swoen had firmly asked me to become his wife instead of giving me a choice…!!!”

“Reika!”

“Kyaaah…!”

Startled, Reika finally turned her head to look at Swoen.

“S-S-Sir Swoen…?”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, n-no, it’s nothing…!!”

“It doesn’t seem like nothing. You look like something’s definitely bothering you.”

“Why…?”

“You’ve been alternating between red and pale since a while ago and can’t seem to settle down. Normally during meditation, you close your eyes and remain very peaceful. But not today…”

“Did… I really do that?”

“Yes. Like this.”

Seeing Swoen lightly mimicking her own behavior, Reika despaired and bowed her head deeply.

“I apologize… I shouldn’t continue living. I will end this life right here…”

“No, no! Why would you… that’s too extreme!”

“But I acted so disgracefully…”

“It’s fine. Rather, is there something troubling you?”

“Troubling…”

Reika looked into Swoen’s gray eyes.

When she first met him, she thought, “He’s handsome but seems cold,” and those sharp gray eyes left a big impression.

However, for some reason, they now looked incredibly warm.

They felt like they were wrapping her heart in kindness and compassion.

“Troubling…”

Maybe, marrying Sir Swoen…

Marriage where we welcome Miss Iren and live peacefully together might be better than living untethered and free…

That was her trouble—but unfortunately, she lacked the courage to say it.

“It’s nothing…”

Upon hearing Reika’s words, Swoen fell silent for a moment before nodding and responding.

“Alright? Understood. I won’t pry further. But if you ever want to talk, feel free to anytime. Got it?”

“Yes, yes…!”

His words that she could talk whenever made her heart warm again.

―My wavering heart is definitely because Sir Swoen is such a kind person.

Thinking about it, being paired with Sir Swoen through an unexpected marriage proposal was perhaps incredibly lucky for Reika herself.

“Shall we continue?”

“Yes…!”

Reika finally shook off her distractions and felt the mana flowing in the air.

This place was quite rich in mana.

It wasn’t overflowing like a forest full of trees, but compared to the central continent, much more mana floated in the air here.

“With this amount of mana… maybe the new spell I failed last time could succeed!”

Reka recalled the dying rabbit she found in the garden of Falaharte Castle during her past days.

Back then, the lack of ambient mana caused her failure, but perhaps now it could succeed.

This was how she acquired new magic.

An image would come to mind, which she would formalize and actualize.

Even though no one had taught her, creating spells felt as natural as breathing to Reika.

Especially in recent days, her growth was noticeable even to herself, making handling mana incredibly enjoyable. Problems that seemed complex and difficult to others felt solvable with just a bit of time to her, and indeed they were.

Unaware that this was simply due to her innate genius,

“Since meeting Sir Swoen… I’ve understood it better…! Someday, I must repay the favor he has shown me…!”

She believed it was all thanks to Swoen teaching her various methods and nurtured an ever-growing admiration for him.

Thus, she spent the day meditating with Swoen.

To Reika, this time was invaluable.

* * *

It had been a few days since Iren left.

When the head maid urgently called for me, I quickly dressed and hurried to where she was waiting.

As soon as she saw me, she bowed her head and formally greeted me.

“Ah, Sir Swoen. Have you arrived? I should greet you with a good morning, but…”

“That’s fine. Is there something going on?”

“People have come from the royal palace. Lady Serpina requests that you come here immediately…”

“Did you happen to hear why?”

Even as I asked, I had a pretty good idea.

The head maid’s unusually somber expression.

The urgent message calling for me.

And the situation where only one possible event could arise…

“That… I don’t know the details, but it seems there’s been an uprising by the rebel forces on the continent.”

Of course.

Just as expected, news of the rebellion.

Which meant…

“Lady Serpina’s prediction was correct.”

There will be a rebellion. The sole basis for this claim was my ‘advice’.

How could she so confidently predict a rebellion would occur?

Well, whatever happens, I should meet the Lord and discuss it.

“I’ll depart immediately.”

“Yes. Please return safely…”

After exchanging pleasantries with the head maid, I quickly put on my uniform and headed straight for the royal palace.