“Wow, Lady Marshal! This is delicious?! When was the last time we ever ate something this expensive—Reminit? Hahaha!”

“Rio! Bring me another bowl too!”

“What, you don’t have hands?! Go get it yourself!”

For the first time in a long while, the dining hall was filled with the noise of squad members.

“......Hoo.”

A quiet sigh suddenly slipped out.

As if the noise from moments ago had never existed, the hall fell silent in an instant.

Even Ribia, who had just scooped up a large spoonful of Lady Marshal’s signature pudding, froze and lowered her gaze.

Beside her—

Tie sat with puffed cheeks, swinging her legs.

“My lady, are you alright?”

Ribia asked, and Tie lifted her downcast face.

The girl puffed her cheeks even more and shook her head.

“No. Not at all.”

Ribia set her spoon down.

Still hurriedly chewing the pudding stuffed in her mouth, she jumped off her chair.

“Why not?! Who upset you again?! Tell me right now! I’ll go and rip their insides—! Mmph.”

Out of nowhere, Allerik appeared and covered Ribia’s mouth.

“Can’t you watch your words in front of my lady, Ribia?”

“Buh. What did I even—”

“What do you mean ‘insides’? You’re saying that in front of my lady? Maybe before you didn’t know, but now you do. So act like it.”

“But—!”

At that moment, Victor stood up.

He gestured to those eating pudding, and everyone gathered in the dining hall began to rise.

“Alright, alright. Let’s take this outside and eat.”

“Yeah, Auntie, I’ll take another bowl—”

As the squad members filed out in a group, the dining hall emptied.

Only the leaders, Lady Marshal, and Tie remained.

“Damn it, what did I even do...”

Ribia muttered as she plopped down into a chair.

She awkwardly glanced at the now-empty seats.

In Agavert, Tie’s status wasn’t completely secret.

But when it came to matters like this, Victor or Basto would usually clear people out.

“We also need to mind my lady’s upbringing. Though she’s already exceptional as she is.”

Allerik said, looking at Tie with eyes full of affection.

“Ah, whatever! Fine!”

Ribia deliberately raised her voice and looked back at Tie.

Tie still sat there, dejected, swinging her legs.

“My lady. Is it because of that old man?”

Ribia asked carefully, and Tie lifted her head.

The girl pressed her lips tightly together and answered:

“......He’s not an old man. He’s Grandpa Nordix.”

“Ah, I’m going to lose my mind! Kid, that old man betrayed us!”

At that moment, Bale stepped in between Tie and Ribia.

“Didn’t you see? Back at the clock tower, when we were about to die, he just ran away!”

“No!”

Bale froze and took a step back.

Tie jumped down from her chair and, tears welling in her eyes, shouted:

“Grandpa Nordix didn’t run away! Before, when Tie almost got hurt by a magic tyrannosaurus, he saved me!”

Her clenched little fists trembled.

“And all this time, Tie has been... hic! been...!”

Unable to finish, the girl sobbed and collapsed onto the floor with a wail.

“Bale. I told you... Ah, forget it.”

Basto, who had approached, picked Tie up and shot Bale a look.

Bale faltered and fell silent.

But his expression remained hard.

After a stretch of silence, he spoke again, his voice lowered.

“You think I like this?”

Basto looked at him.

In his arms, Tie was still quietly sobbing.

“Just seeing that old man makes my insides boil! What if he knew everything?! That we’d be summoned to the central continent, that those church bastards would take an interest in the kid! Maybe that’s why he ran, huh?!”

Basto let out a sigh.

But even he couldn’t immediately refute Bale’s words.

“He was unpleasant from the start. Always acting like he was the only sensible one—so what, just because he’s old he’s automatically right?”

With irritation, Bale tossed a handkerchief onto the table.

“If he was going to leave anyway, he shouldn’t have been so nice to the kid! This idiot doesn’t know anything and just keeps waiting! You tell her, huh?! Tell her he’s a traitor—and she won’t even listen!”

“Waaah!”

Tie burst into louder tears.

“That’s it, I’m done too! If she wants to sulk, let her sulk!”

The dining hall door slammed open and shut with a bang.

Basto sighed, and Ribia clicked her tongue.

“Seriously... the more I look at him, the worse it gets. How can his personality be that awful? Even a stray blitzer has a softer temperament.”

Basto lifted his gaze.

“He’s hurt too.”

Ribia blinked in surprise—she hadn’t expected Basto to defend him.

“He called him an old man and kept complaining. But Bale cared about Grandpa Nordix.”

“Well... I guess.”

In truth, she knew it too.

That Nordix had been one of Agavert’s founders, and someone very dear to Tie.

“My lady. It’s alright. In life, people come and go.”

Ribia stepped forward and took Tie from Basto.

Tie looked up at her with tear-filled eyes.

“That’s just how life is. You have to learn to let go, so you can meet someone new later.”

“But...!”

“It’s alright, it’s alright. Shh.”

Ribia gently wiped the tears from Tie’s eyes.

Then, trying to lift her mood, she smiled brightly and asked:

“Then shall we finish the pudding?”

Tie puffed her cheeks and nodded.

But as she climbed down from Ribia’s arms, the girl suddenly froze.

Through the open dining hall door, a familiar face appeared.

“Papaaaa!”

Beaming, the girl ran toward the entrance.

Tesetan, who had just stepped inside, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ easily lifted Tie into his arms.

“My princess, were you having a snack?”

He said, showering her cheek with kisses, and Tie burst into bright laughter.

“Yeah! Auntie Marshal made pudding, and we all ate together with the squad!”

“Good girl.”

“Mhm!”

“Well then, since you’ve eaten...”

Giggling, Tie followed Tesetan’s gaze—and her eyes widened.

“Huh?”

That’s right.

Papa was still holding the dining hall door open with one hand.

And behind it stood four more people.

Tie’s eyes slowly widened.

“......Lord Valentis?”

Valentis Luminel—and the three princes of the Luminel family.

“Uh, um...”

Tesetan set Tie down.

But the girl didn’t dare approach Valentis and stood there, fidgeting with her fingers.

Her eyes kept darting back to Papa behind her.

“P-Papa.”

Tie called hesitantly.

“Did you tell Lord Valentis?”

But Tesetan didn’t answer.

He only looked at her with a faint smile.

Growing nervous, Tie tugged at his clothes.

Then she covered her mouth and whispered into his ear:

“Papa, did you tell Lord Valentis that Tie is his granddaughter?”

At that moment, her thoughts spun wildly.

‘If Papa told him, does that mean Lord Valentis came to see Tie?’

They had been close before.

Now that he knew she was his granddaughter, would he be even kinder?

‘No... maybe it’s awkward for him to suddenly have a granddaughter, and he wants to run away.’

Lost in serious contemplation, Tie finally turned toward Valentis.

“......From the very first moment.”

Suddenly, strong, large arms wrapped around her.

Tie blinked, staring at Valentis, who had approached without her noticing and embraced her.

“It’s strange... I felt like I wanted to hold you so badly.”

Valentis gently stroked her head and back again and again.

“For some reason, you felt familiar... for some reason, you overlapped with that image...”

Tie turned her head—something warm touched her shoulder.

Tears were streaming down the cheeks of Valentis, a man known for his expressionless face.

His voice trembled, fading:

“I’m glad you came. I’m so glad you came...”

“......”

“My child.”