Luman could not answer Kenilla Loroe’s question.

“That is why it cannot be.”

“Would this not be better than most other contract marriages?”

“You may marry me for money. You may marry me out of vanity for territory or a title, and I would be fine with that. In fact, I welcome such things. They are transparent, clear, and honest. But you must not come to me as a way to avoid love.”

“My lady. I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I mean I don’t want you using me as a refuge from a deep love. I cannot give you that place.”

For a moment, Luman looked startled. Then he laughed low.

“Is that so. Did it look as though I was running away?”

Seeing that shadowed, handsome face made her want to comfort him. Kenilla let out a very deep, long sigh and shook her head. Her hair, tied high, swayed with the motion.

“Desperately so. Looking away, pretending not to know. You are a Hero, yet you lack courage?”

Luman gave a quiet snort of laughter and picked up a piece of the fruit Kenilla had eaten. The crisp bite and the bob of his throat as he swallowed caught Kenilla’s gaze.

“I thought I was a little better than most contract marriages. I am confident in my respect. Even if it was not burning love, I thought such feelings would arise as family. May I ask the reason for your refusal?”

If they spent time together, affection would surely grow, either like lovers or like friends. Luman had intended to take his time and slowly make that effort.

He truly was a good partner. Finding someone who matched one’s conditions exactly was difficult indeed. Even with one or two flaws, the arrangement would still have been worth pursuing. And since this was a “contract” marriage, surely this much feeling, buried inside him, could have been allowed. He was purely curious why Kenilla was declining.

Meeting his questioning eyes, Kenilla opened her mouth, her face faintly flushed.

“Because if I make even the slightest mistake, I think I will fall for you. So let us keep a good connection, but pretend the marriage never happened. If there is anything you need, tell me and I will help. Ah, Luman, I hope you find your love quickly. That way, I think I can give up on my own feelings quickly and stop at fondness.”

“M-my lady! What are you saying? You’re throwing ash over a meal already cooked...! You’ll never find anyone as handsome as—”

“Rosaline. How can you be so immature?”

Kenilla clicked her tongue, though she looked amused.

In the end, Luman burst into laughter as well.

So it was a feeling that could neither be hidden nor given up.

Luman looked back on his own heart.

It was not as if he had dug deeply into it, nor had he tried to forget. He had simply... kept it precious.

He did not want to force any feeling on Ren, and he did not want to cast anything resembling the shadow of a “Hero” over a boy who hated that position. He had stopped being one, yes, but perhaps someday he would be summoned away like Temar. That was why he had not dared to think of expressing it, or of remaining by Ren’s side and loving him.

Would it be all right just to stay?

Would it be all right to pass by him sometimes?

Questions he had never allowed himself to consider came rushing toward him.

Among them, one feeling seized Luman more fiercely than all the rest.

He wanted to see Ren.

He was a foolish Hero who could not keep his resolve, who could not honor his promise.

But just once, in the name of love, could he ask forgiveness?

“My lady, I have one request.”

Hearing that rich voice, Kenilla nodded. Her cheeks were still red.

The curve of Luman’s eyes remained deeply engraved in her chest.

“May I borrow the fastest horse you have?”

Kenilla Loroe answered as if she had been waiting.

“As many as you need.”

***

He thought he would be able to meet Ren right away.

But that was Luman’s miscalculation.

“Temar. I think I heard you wrong. Say that again.”

The first time anti-Hero weapons had been developed and appeared before them, the terror had been immense.

Heroes who braved death, Heroes who dominated the battlefield and were not bound by life, Heroes who had feared nothing—death had been placed before them for the first time.

The fear of death was not something that could be explained in words.

An indescribable emotion.

Luman felt as though he now stood before that same emotion again.

—...Ren disappeared.

“What does that mean? Disappeared? Ah, you left first, so you must have missed each other. I did think he might not have reached the capital yet. So where is Ren now? No. I’ll contact him.”

Luman cut the call.

Calmly, he contacted Ren’s crystal orb.

But there was no signal.

“......”

The same thing happened.

No matter how many times he tried, there was no signal at all.

It was a crystal orb of a grade that could be used even in the middle of war.

There was no reason it would not work.

“Temar.”

Luman activated the crystal orb again.

—I’m looking for him.

“Where are you?”

—Delfona.

“I’ll go too.”

Luman cut the call and stood still.

Some unknown emotion seemed to rise from the tips of his feet, as though it would swallow him whole.

“Lord Luman, Lady Kenilla is waiting for you.”

Luman had decided to stay a few more days, partly to show Kenilla proper courtesy and partly to buy a gift for Ren. He had meant to make this meeting end romantically, by persistently courting her and then being rejected.

“I must go.”

“Yes! Please come down quickly! Why are you packing your things...?”

Luman did not answer the servant’s question.

He took only the bare minimum of luggage and went downstairs.

Kenilla, dressed in a bright gown, was waiting for him calmly while trying to hide her excitement.

It was a woman’s virtue to wait for a man, but coming out early like this and waiting for an appointment did not look proper. If her brother saw, he would tease her mercilessly. But Kenilla Loroe did not care about such things. She had been bracing the corners of her mouth when she heard him coming down, but when she saw the luggage in Luman’s hand, she had to swallow a bitter smile.

It was not entirely unexpected.

“You are leaving now?”

“Then are you going on the date now?!” the oblivious maid whispered with a laugh, asking Kenilla whether she was nervous.

“May I hear about the rumors circulating recently?”

She {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} had thought he might suddenly leave.

Luman did not apologize, nor did he make an apologetic face. He had no room for that. The maid and servant looked at him in disbelief and opened their mouths. Kenilla stopped them and gestured for Luman to come with her, then headed toward the garden.

She ordered the servant to buy a bouquet.

“I hope you will give me even a clumsy ending. I will also give you every kindness I can.”

“I will.”

“The rumors circulating at this time of year are always similar. The capital’s social circles, or talk about the borderlands.”

Kenilla trailed off, then looked at Luman and said,

“Or things about the oracle.”

“Is that all?”

There was no emotion in those cold eyes. But Kenilla was not the kind of woman to be frightened by such a thing.

She merely observed how the expression of a man who had someone he loved changed.

That was probably why he was trying to leave in such a hurry.

“The slave caravans are still rampant. Is that what you are worried about?”

“Tempesto Village and the port city of Delfona have good security.”

Luman denied it.

There was no way Ren would be taken by them.

But God did not always grant human wishes.

Kenilla Loroe’s expression turned rather dark.

“...They say an unusual number of ships have been coming in and out of Delfona.”

“......”

“If his trail has gone cold, it would be best to look into it. I will send knights with you.”

“There is no need for you to do that, my lady.”

“Accept the kindness. I loathe such people as well.”

Kenilla added one more thing.

“If I send only you, it seems you will kill someone. Even if you are granted immunity, murder can become a chain around your neck at any time. Please act wisely, my friend.”

She assembled a party to go to the port city of Delfona.

When Kenilla said she would send five knights, the maid nearly foamed at the mouth in protest, but her fondness for Luman already seemed to have deepened. There was no one who could stop the stubborn lady.

Just before Luman departed, Melano, the servant who had grown grudgingly attached to him while serving him, recommended the woman they had met on the first day they arrived in Loroe Territory.

Mrs. Delfona. As her name suggested, Delfona was her hometown, and they said there was no one in that region who did not know her. Thinking she would be useful for the search, Luman gladly accepted the help.

After packing his things, Luman stood before Kenilla Loroe with the bouquet the servant had bought, knelt before her, and courted her.

But Kenilla Loroe rejected him with an arrogant face, and Luman left the castle gate looking heartbroken.

“I will be going.”

“I suppose I should stop playing capital lady now.”

It was a very short farewell.

The rumor that the handsome knight had been rejected spread in an instant.

“I hope the next time we meet, it will be with a smile.”

Watching Luman turn away without hesitation, Kenilla Loroe murmured that to herself.

***

Mrs. Delfona did not recognize Luman.

The kind young man who had worn such a gentle, soft smile when they first met was gone. Only someone with a cold impression remained. She did not dare speak to him and quietly joined the group.

They minimized eating and drinking, rode day and night, and arrived in Delfona in three days. Without even resting from the journey, they began asking questions, centering their search around Mrs. Delfona.

They did not meet Temar.

After his message that he was searching Delfona, no further contact reached him. The people of the port city said they had never seen Temar. It seemed he was in another part of the city, not here. Luman left a message for Geloman as well, but there was no reply.

There was no way Ren had been taken by people like that.

The timing must simply be bad.

Two of the knights Kenilla had sent with him were dispatched to Tempesto Village. They were to trace Ren’s movements.

But no particular news came back.

“Really? You haven’t seen him at all? Hmm. What does he look like? Flashy blond hair and green eyes, of course.”

Mrs. Delfona clicked her tongue. No one had seen him. A beauty of that degree was the sort one remembered after seeing him once, and found harder to forget.

Mrs. Delfona withdrew after coming up empty-handed. But tenacious Mrs. Delfona was not someone who gave up easily. After going house to house with money at the end of her hand, they were able to hear one meaningful account.

It was their second day after arriving in Delfona.