Coco was frustrated that Ren gave no answer, but she could not rush him. His eyes had sunk deep, and he looked as if he were thinking hard about something.

In the end, Coco, who had been waiting, could not hold back any longer and opened her mouth. For Lady Coco, she had waited quite a long time.

“So what’s the reason!”

“Just.”

Ren dragged the word out as he thought, and barely managed to find a suitable answer.

“I think I’ve been bothering my brother too much. He probably needs time alone too.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Ren’s words were strange. And after saying them, Ren himself was overcome by a strange feeling.

It sounded as if Ren had bothered Temar and kept approaching him, so they had not grown distant until now, but since Temar seemed to need time alone, Ren had stopped looking for him, and naturally they had drifted apart.

They each had their circumstances, and there were things Ren did not know, but looking only at the situation, he could not help thinking that way.

Coco’s face hardened. Regret and self-reproach flickered briefly across her expression.

“He’s probably just busy handling work.”

Coco grumbled and cut the topic off. As if she did not want to talk about it anymore. At the same time, she studied Ren’s expression, but he was not easy to read. Coco felt again that Ren had changed.

The boy who used to snap and yell at everything was sitting there with an unfamiliar face. Coco clenched her fists. She hated it when anything changed.

This is not the time to think about that!

Coco barely remembered why she had brought up the question in the first place. If she only ruined Ren’s mood and gained nothing, that would be far too bad a bargain.

“Ren. Wouldn’t you like to stay at the ducal house?”

Coco asked casually, but her cheeks were flushed with expectation, and her shoulders were stiff with tension.

When Ren only stared at her without answering, Coco grew flustered and added,

“I’m not trying to bring up something you hate! It’s just, you’re going to the capital too, aren’t you? So I thought it would be nice if you stayed at the ducal house. I don’t mean for the rest of your life! Though you’d be welcome if that’s what you wanted. A-Anyway, would you consider it?”

Coco shouted, then finished with an affected little air.

“......I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t refuse. Think carefully before you...... What did you say?”

Coco blinked. She had clearly failed to hear Ren’s answer.

Ren looked at Coco and gave a small laugh.

“I said I’ll think about it, dummy.”

“Yes! Good thinking!”

Coco shouted in joy, then screwed up her face.

“What did you just call me!”

Ren stuck out his tongue and laughed. At his playful expression, Coco was getting angry, and then, in the end, she and Ren looked at each other and burst into laughter. It was a clear laugh, as if they had no worries at all, but each of them carried unspoken troubles in their hearts.

Coco was gathering famous physicians from all over to the ducal estate for Ren. She had worried that this plan might become useless, but it seemed she would at least be able to have a physician examine Ren’s condition once.

Ren was thinking about the conversation from earlier.

“I think I’ve been bothering my brother too much. He probably needs time alone too.”

The words he had just spoken felt like a dagger lodged in his chest.

He had only given a suitable answer so Coco would not feel embarrassed, but there seemed to be an answer hidden inside those words.

Until now, Ren had always been the one to look for Temar. When he woke in the morning, when he ate, whenever Temar disappeared from his sight, Ren would find him no matter what. Ren had made great efforts to possess Temar. Once they left the village, the need to make those efforts gradually decreased, but after leaving the village, Temar had become strangely cold. Even though no one was clinging to Temar, Ren had to keep fighting alone.

Had his brother ever looked for him first?

Had their relationship not grown distant at all? Had it perhaps been a relationship Ren alone was holding on to?

But...... his brother had firmly urged him to leave the village together, and he had often been gentle. In Tempesto Village, he had washed Ren’s feet and even carried him on his shoulders. In their much younger days, he had definitely been even kinder. He had been strict, but Temar’s care for him had been sincere.

But Temar had ignored Ren and left him far more often than that, and had left wounds in Ren’s heart. He had taken care of the villagers before Ren, and when Ren suffered something unfair, he had never truly listened. Even in Tempesto Village, he had left coldly without saying goodbye, and even after something terrible had happened, he had not come to Ren first and spoken to him.

Perhaps Temar found Ren annoying. Apart from loving and cherishing him....... Because every side Temar had shown him must have been Temar too.

Instead of demeaning Temar’s sincerity or speaking ill of him, Ren accepted the fact that Temar needed time alone.

And he accepted the cold reality that if he did not seek his brother out first, Temar would not seek him out either. Ren used to burst into tears the moment his brother disappeared, but now he did not cry. Still, those tears seemed to settle in his chest as a heavy stone.

Maybe Ren had already known that he was the only one who looked for Temar. Was that why he had pretended to be mature and kept his distance from Temar, using the awkwardness of meeting after so long as an excuse?

He had thought he had grown after going through something terrible, but perhaps he was still a spoiled child. He wanted to call for his brother, to shout and throw a tantrum like before. But Ren felt as if he had forgotten how to do all of that.

After Ren remained silent for a long time, Coco left with an apologetic face. It seemed her question had disturbed Ren’s heart after all. But she decided not to feel too sorry. They were brothers, weren’t they? A relationship that had grown distant could be restored quickly! But fixing a ruined body back to health was much harder. That was what Coco thought.

***

“Let’s do that, then.”

Luman nodded with a smile.

“I’m afraid we’ll be imposing on you.”

“Imposing? Not at all. We’re simply traveling together. I already know the ducal house’s knights are exceptional.”

“I cannot guarantee there won’t be an attack along the way.”

Seton was speaking of the attack they had suffered when they went toward the border region to find Ren. Luman assured him the journey to the capital would be all right. There were no fewer than ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) three Heroes with them. There was no need to worry about an attack.

But was that really true? When they had joined Coco’s party too, there had been two Heroes present.

Anti-Hero weapons.

That weighed heavily on Luman’s mind.

But since they had destroyed one in the bunker, that faction would probably hesitate for a while.

“As for what happened in the bunker.......”

Seton also seemed to understand that it was not something ordinary slave traders had done. Unable to explain the details, Luman smiled brightly and changed the subject.

“Ren, we’re leaving now.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Did you fight with the duke’s daughter?”

“.......”

“This is troubling.”

Luman, who had gone to tell Ren they were departing, sighed when he saw that Ren was not even listening properly.

“Duke’s daughter, did you fight with Ren?”

He had thought it strange that she said she would go separately, and sure enough, they seemed to have fought. Since he did not think he would get an answer from Ren, Luman went to Coco and asked. She made an ambiguous face.

“I have something I want to know too. Did Ren fight with his brother?”

Instead, Coco pulled Luman aside and questioned him about all sorts of things.

***

The signal announcing departure rang out. In the procession leaving for the capital, flags bearing the royal pattern and the ducal house’s flags mixed together and snapped powerfully in the wind. The line of the procession was extremely long.

In the middle of the front section of the procession was the carriage carrying Peruan, Ren, and Coco. Seka, Cedric, Kenta, Beta, and the other commoners who had been unable to leave first rode together in a large carriage. On both sides, royal knights and soldiers, along with the ducal house’s knights, escorted them. The enormous procession looked almost as if they were carrying out some great affair of state.

If they rode hard, they would reach the capital in twenty days. Once they arrived at a large city and secured safety, Ren’s group would travel on horseback from there. A carriage was simply slow. Luman had insisted on the carriage because of Ren’s stamina, but with the journey already delayed several times, even he could no longer insist.

That evening, after dealing with the bunker incident and setting out for the capital, Coco became acquainted with Seka and Cedric. She did not like speaking with other people, but after hearing that they had helped Ren, she treated them rather favorably. Kenta and Beta came by as well, but Ren had been lost in thought since daytime and did not see them, while Coco had no interest in the two of them. Coco and Peruan were indifferent to each other, and Jepeto was frightened of Coco, but got along wonderfully with Kirky.

“There’s an elf?”

Coco’s eyes widened. Her purple eyes filled with curiosity. Coco’s maid, Erica, seemed to have heard the story by chance while walking around with Charles. Charles pleaded that it had been a slip of the tongue and asked her to tell no one and forget it, but Erica was a diligent maid, so she reported every conversation she had with him to Coco. Curious, she searched through the carriages looking for the elf, only to be found by Seton and warned by Luman. Naturally, Charles was dragged off by Geloman and scolded harshly.

Several nights passed. Because they had pushed themselves to hurry, the schedule moved ahead. After such a long time in the carriage, anyone’s backside would have ached, but Ren made no complaint. He rarely came out of the carriage and spent his time quietly.

Coco, Peruan, Luman, and others visited him often out of worry, but Ren seemed sunk deep in thought. It was the first time Ren had ever been this quiet. But they could not disturb him, so they only made sure he ate properly.

Ren and Temar could not even see each other’s faces, let alone talk.

“Haa.”

Ren sighed and leaned his head against the carriage.

Even though several days had already passed, Temar still had not looked for Ren.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the carriage.

“Yes.”

When Ren answered, the door opened and Luman came in.

“Ren. Want a snack? The duke’s daughter brought an awful lot of delicious things.”

With a playful smile, Luman held out what he had brought in his hand.

“I’m fine.”

It was a rice cake. Ren turned his head away, meaning he did not want to talk. Luman wrapped the cake neatly again, set it on the seat, and left.

Knock knock.

“I’m not eating it.”

Ren answered while suppressing his irritation as much as possible. He wanted to be alone, but people kept coming to see him, and it was bothersome and annoying.

But the person outside did not answer. Finding that strange, Ren turned his head. If Luman had come again, he would have smiled that sly smile of his and pushed the door open.