I had fun with Coco.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t thinking too deeply about anything.

I ate the feast Coco said she had prepared for me and listened to her chatter endlessly.

“So where exactly is Kirky hiding?”

With a dumbfounded face, Coco immediately realized Kirky was secretly hiding somewhere. But she quickly gave up trying to find him and instead kept recommending all kinds of things she claimed were good for my body. In the end, unable to endure it any longer, Kirky jumped out yelling, “Lady Gannion, you’re too much!”

Had about an hour passed? After finishing the meal, we quietly drank tea. Kirky kept talking and brightening the atmosphere, while Coco somehow looked as though she had something she wanted to say to me. But I pretended not to notice the way her lips kept twitching. Somehow, I was afraid of what she might say. Still, this would probably be the last time we saw each other, so I told myself again and again that I should listen to her. Just as I was about to ask—

“Lady Gannion, someone has arrived from the royal palace.”

What was supposed to come had finally come.

“From the royal palace? Why? Don’t tell me they came to take Ren back?”

“Yes. They said they must escort Lord Temar’s younger brother...”

Coco’s face twisted fiercely.

It was early. We had only just arrived at Coco’s estate.

“You stay here. I’ll go meet them first. What kind of nonsense is this, trying to take you away so quickly?”

“My lady!”

She abruptly shot to her feet. The chair scraped violently backward with an unpleasant sound.

“Honestly. Lady Coco’s temper is far too impatient! You should ask Lord Ren what he thinks first!”

A smooth gaze turned toward me. Kirky was smiling gently, but somehow his eyes looked as though they knew something.

“There’s no need to ask—”

Coco, who had been about to snap angrily, suddenly stopped and swallowed her words.

“Really? You’re going back to the royal palace?”

“Lady Coco’s face is terrifying!”

“I’m not in the mood for jokes. Be quiet.”

Coco’s expression became frightening. The atmosphere froze over. When I didn’t answer, Coco’s shoulders began to tremble. Looking furious, she breathed heavily through clenched teeth.

“Coco. If they came to fetch me personally, it must be something urgent.”

“......”

I couldn’t think of a convincing lie.

I felt like Coco was getting strangely angrier, but I never imagined she had guessed I was leaving. But contrary to what I thought, had Coco already known? The sweet pudding I had eaten earlier now only left a dull taste in my mouth.

“Um, I should go.”

Awkwardly standing up, I watched Coco carefully. She looked anxious. Instead of forcing a smile, I tried hard to restrain my hesitating body and turn away naturally.

“Come again.”

“Huh?”

At those sudden words, I blankly asked back.

“Come again.”

Why was it that something as ordinary as a farewell greeting made my mouth refuse to move? I could just say okay. As I struggled to nod and opened my mouth, only the sound of wind came out.

“You know you’re acting weird, right?”

Coco suddenly shouted. Shaking off the hands trying to stop her while calling, “My lady!” she grabbed my collar tightly.

“It’s just a greeting! You can just say okay!”

“It is time for you to leave,” the knight from the royal palace repeated uselessly.

“You shut—”

“Sir. I ask that you wait a moment. I would appreciate it even more if you stepped aside.”

Seton blocked Coco before she could yell. The expressionless knight followed Seton away while failing to hide a faint irritation.

“You. You’re acting strange. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Is this what they call a woman’s intuition?

I had wanted us to meet and part like usual, but maybe that had only been my selfish wish. Maybe it would have been better not to say a final goodbye at all.

Coco’s face began to crumple.

“Say something!”

Coco’s mouth kept opening and closing repeatedly, as though she had countless things she wanted to say but could barely choose even one. What should I do? Maybe I’d done something pointless.

Just when regret came rushing in like a tide and I no longer understood what I even wanted, Kirky suddenly slipped between us.

Carefully, he peeled Coco’s hand away from my collar.

“Lord Ren.”

Kirky called me softly, almost like a whisper.

“Greetings are extremely important. They are like spells carrying peace and wishes upon the wind. Greetings exchanged every day can sometimes hold greater power than any prayer, you know?”

Inside his smiling eyes was understanding, as though he knew everything. But I couldn’t understand his words. What was he talking about?

“So please say farewell properly to our lady. Tell her you’ll meet again.”

Kirky winked and quietly added, You haven’t forgotten what I said before, have you? Lord Ren, you will recover completely. There are merely a few trials you have yet to walk through.

Was it really okay to make a promise with no certainty?

I hadn’t even written Coco a letter because it felt too cruel toward someone who cried for me and searched everywhere for ways to heal me. But was even that merely my own selfishness?

Coco was now glaring at me with her lips tightly pressed shut. There probably wasn’t much time left. If I followed the knight Giselle sent now, I could hide myself before my brother found out. Wrinkles gathered at Coco’s chin.

If I apologized, would she get angry?

After hesitating for a long time, I unexpectedly managed to say goodbye brightly.

“Bye. Let’s meet again later.”

Though that later would be very, very, very far away. I didn’t want it to be soon. In just a few months, I would probably already be buried underground.

But if it was after Coco lived a long, healthy life and became an old grandmother, then... I thought that would be nice.

Imagining Coco as a cheerful old grandmother, I unknowingly smiled faintly, and Coco abruptly turned her body away.

“You really must leave now!”

Voices rose loudly in the hallway.

“Coco, I’ll get going.”

There was probably no need for more farewells. Repeating them would only leave more regret behind.

“Honestly, Lady Gannion! You should say goodbye properly!”

Footsteps approached me. Coco, who had stood motionless with her back turned, looked back at me again just before I turned away.

Moist purple eyes, sharp and delicate, filled completely with me.

“You said it yourself. We’ll meet again.”

“......”

“Keep your promise.”

I only nodded, but then my eyes met Kirky’s, and with no other choice I opened my mouth once more.

“Goodbye.”

May you be at peace. And may we meet again someday.

***

“Giselle! Giselle!”

Ragniel’s room was filled with a chill colder than winter wind. Ragniel sat collapsed on the floor, staring into a mirror. Giselle was not surprised.

“Your Majesty. You called for me?”

Standing behind him, Giselle bowed politely before lifting his head. Their gazes met within the mirror, sharp as shattered glass.

“Giselle, Giselle. You are still my knight, aren’t you?”

Ragniel called to him pitifully. Giselle approached, knelt before him, and cupped the cheek of the desperately calling Ragniel. The soft flesh trembled in his hand.

The trembling golden eyes could not focus and wandered aimlessly.

“From the moment I was born until after my death, I will forever remain Your Majesty’s knight.”

Only then, reassured by Giselle’s calm answer, did Ragniel let out a breath. His thin, sunken shoulders revealed how many meals he had skipped. The room itself was neat, but the furniture was gradually disappearing. The vast room was becoming emptier and emptier, as though the winter that had already passed still lingered there.

“You’ll do as I wish, won’t you? If it’s you, surely you will?”

Ragniel asked desperately. A weak man who could hardly be called the king of a nation sat collapsed on the floor asking such things of his knight. None of the dignity he had shown during the military campaign remained, but Giselle soothed him with practiced ease. Giselle’s gaze toward him was gentle, yet impossible to read.

“...Erase it.”

Ragniel muttered as he grabbed Giselle’s sleeve.

“Erase the sound...”

“Your Majesty.”

“...The voices inside my head... erase them...”

“Your Majesty Ragniel.”

Just as Giselle reached out to calm Ragniel’s thin shoulder, Ragniel abruptly lifted his head. Golden hair fluttered wildly with the sudden movement. Holding Giselle’s gaze captive, he silently moved his lips.

“Lord Giselle, His Majesty...”

One of Ragniel’s close maids standing outside the room asked anxiously.

“He will be fine. Please go inside and prepare his bed.”

“Yes, thank you very much!”

Even after the maid entered the room with a visibly brighter face, Giselle did not move.

He was replaying the words Ragniel had spoken earlier.

Erase it.

Erase what?

“Lord Giselle.”

An attendant called out from behind him. When Giselle glanced over, the attendant quickly spoke after checking their surroundings.

“They say Lord Temar’s younger brother has been secured.”