“Ren, you have to come with us too.”

“Me too?”

Ren asked back, startled.

“Think of it as similar to the original schedule. You were heading to the capital with us, remember?”

If Ren firmly said he wanted to go anywhere that was not the capital, Luman would have no choice but to listen. That was why he could not even bring himself to offer the empty question of where Ren wanted to go.

Ren seemed to think for a moment at Luman’s words, then opened his mouth.

“What about you, Luman?”

“Hm?”

“Are you going too?”

Luman paused, as if surprised by the question, then broke into a bright smile.

“Are you curious?”

“No. Never mind, I’m.......”

I shouldn’t have asked!

Seeing that excited, smiling face made Ren embarrassed.

“I’m going too. With you, Ren.”

“Right.”

“Then you’re coming to the capital with us too.”

Golden eyes looked at Ren.

“O-Okay! Move your face away!”

Ren pushed away the face that had come far too close. Even so, Luman grinned as if he could not possibly be happier.

“Is everyone leaving today, then?”

“We’ll leave in the afternoon. Say goodbye to your friends beforehand. If they want to write to you, tell them to send it to Luman at the royal castle. Then I’ll deliver every single letter to you without missing one.”

Luman winked. The sight overlapped with Peruan, and Ren flinched.

“Ah, and I have a present for you, so you can look forward to that.”

“A present? What present?”

Ren asked, blinking. Looking at him as he drew close with sparkling eyes, Luman thought again that perhaps Ren was still a child after all.

“It wouldn’t be fun if you knew. You’ll find out later, so rest for now.”

“What kind of thing is that! If you said it, you should show me right away! Now I’m curious.”

“Hehe.”

“Don’t laugh your way out of it.”

Ren stuck out his lip and grumbled. Luman tousled his hair into a mess and left the tent.

“What do you mean, a present! I’m dying of curiosity!”

Uaaah.

After wriggling around with a groan, Ren sighed and straightened himself.

“So I’m going to the capital after all. Whether I like it or not, maybe I had to go.”

Muttering to himself, Ren rose.

Parting from the people he had met through the slave traders was the natural next step. When he thought about actually telling them goodbye and to live well, it felt a little lonely, though.

“I should do it in advance.”

Still, being able to say goodbye at all was something, wasn’t it?

Ren bravely stepped out of the tent.

Where would Cedric be? Practicing swordsmanship nearby?

The weather was not good today. A cold wind pushed through his collar like a blade. Ren pulled his thick coat closed and looked around.

The soldiers were lighting fires and taking down the tents from one end of the camp.

‘We really are leaving.’

His breath puffed white. Ren was blankly watching the breath scatter when he turned his head and met someone’s eyes.

“Ah, aah, uugh.......”

“......?”

The man suddenly made a groaning sound the moment his eyes met Ren’s.

Ren looked at him strangely, then bowed his head.

The one who had groaned was Charles.

He had been chattering to Geloman about this and that, only to see Ren and flinch so hard he started stammering.

“Uh? C-Captain, where are you going.......”

Charles spoke in a voice smaller than an ant. Geloman picked up Charles, who had gone still as if his legs had been nailed to the ground.

“Uuugh. P-Please put me down!”

“Stay still. You’ll fall.”

“C-Captain!!”

Charles struggled, but when the soldiers began looking at him, his face reddened and he bowed his head deeply.

“Ren.”

“Hello.”

A huge shadow approached close enough to trap Ren.

That house-sized build was still astonishing no matter how many times he saw it. Seeing Ren greet him without any sign of fear, Geloman looked briefly pleased, then set Charles down.

“The injuries from before seem to have healed.”

“Yes. Doctor Jepeto treated them.”

“Good.”

Geloman’s eyes looked over Ren’s body. Not that he could see much, since Ren was covered by a thick coat.

“Charles.”

“Yes, sir!”

Charles snapped tense and straight. Geloman tapped him on the back. It was called a tap, but when a palm the size of a cauldron lid struck his back, Charles staggered. Charles barely caught his balance and looked at Geloman with resentment.

“Don’t you have something to say to Ren?”

Ren was confused, because there was nothing for him to hear.

That was right. This was Charles’s problem alone.

He had failed to properly carry out the order to protect Ren in Tempesto Village, and he was currently feeling sorry all by himself, shocked by the fact that he had fallen for the Hero’s much younger brother.

Looking at Charles standing stiffly in front of the boy {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} with his face bright red, Geloman smiled as if telling him to do his best. Of course, the change was so faint that only Charles, who stuck by his side, could recognize it as a smile.

Geloman had been walking away with heavy steps when he suddenly turned back.

“You should have your nails treated too.”

“Ah.......”

“Y-You injured your nails!?”

Charles, who had been swallowing nervously over and over, startled and tried to take Ren’s hand. But Ren slipped his hand behind his back, so Charles’s hand merely flailed through empty air.

Looking at his awkward smile, Ren’s heart pounded.

‘Treat my nails!’

Ren was so embarrassed he could die.

Had the man in front of him noticed too?

Ren watched Charles’s face. He seemed concerned about Ren’s hand, but he did not stubbornly try to see it. For Ren, that was a relief.

‘Even Doctor Jepeto didn’t know about my nails. Luman didn’t either.’

Ren’s nails were completely damaged. Every time he had an attack, he had endured the pain by scraping at the floor. More than once or twice, they had broken, cracked, worn down, and bled. Recently, he had fewer attacks than when he had been in the village, so his nails had been in relatively good condition.

The wounds from the day he had an attack at the inn were so familiar that he had forgotten them instead.

‘Treat them? He knows about my illness...... Of course he doesn’t.’

I need to be careful.

Ren calmed his pounding heart.

Charles also struggled to calm his own heart, which was beating like mad.

I’m apologizing, not confessing!

Charles shouted it at his own chest again and again, but unfortunately, his heart did not listen.

In truth, he had come with Jepeto, but he had kept hiding.

Even when reporting to Geloman, he avoided wherever Ren was. He would steal glances at Ren from up in trees, behind them, or mixed among the soldiers.

He wanted to apologize, but he could not gather the courage and had avoided him. Yet simply looking from afar had satisfied his heart more than expected, and somehow the days had stretched out.

He should have done it himself before Geloman noticed!

Geloman was a good superior, but he was also someone who managed the tasks he assigned with extreme strictness.

If Charles ran away without apologizing to Ren today, something even more terrifying would be waiting next!

The shame of being picked up and carried was enough for one day.

Looking at Ren, who seemed lost in thought, Charles swallowed again and again. Why was there so much damn spit!

Anyway, even seeing him again...... he really is beautiful.

Charles stared at Ren, blankly thinking that.

Bwooo.

“Huh?”

For some reason, the ground’s rumble was not ordinary. He looked puzzled, then grabbed Ren’s wrist.

“What are you doing all of a sudden!?”

Ren flailed and shook off the hand that had caught him. Charles took emotional damage, but he stepped in front of him.

“I hear hoofbeats. Quite a lot of them too. Stand behind me!”

Charles shouted, then drew the sword at his waist.

His ears had been right.

In the distance, hazy dust began to rise. It seemed they had no intention of hiding their approach! To dare invade this place!

Charles’s eyes sharpened.

Unfortunately, the approaching people were not ones Charles needed to point his sword at.

Because he had been nervous about speaking to Ren, Charles had failed to look around.

The soldiers, the knights, Luman, and Temar were all calm. They were even reassuring the people startled into a stir, telling them the arrivals were reinforcements.

The only person who had drawn a sword in a state of tension was Charles!

Geloman saw it too, but merely laughed quietly, and Luman chuckled as well. As if they were watching something amusing for the first time in ages!

Ren glanced at them and made a sour face.

Did they really want to tease people that badly?

With a deep sigh, Ren was about to reach for Charles’s other hand, the one not holding a sword, when he froze with his hand outstretched.

‘Huh? That symbol looks familiar. What was it?’

He could see flags fluttering here and there among the people riding toward them in silver armor.

In the middle of the procession, there was a ridiculously ornate jeweled carriage racing along, a window flung open, and a face poking out.

Purple hair spilled long and fluttered, just as it had once before.