“The Casalian procession turned toward a village near the border? Not the gate?”

In the middle of hurriedly packing, I jerked my head up.

“Yes. Apparently the princess suddenly said she wanted to see the village festival.”

I shoved the bag aside and sat in front of the mirror. Hazel began winding my hair up neatly as she spoke.

“A festival?”

“You know, the little winter festival they hold near the Babilon border villages.”

“Ah....”

The maid’s expression in the mirror sharpened a little.

“She must be awfully capricious. No matter how relaxed the schedule is, isn’t that a little too self-indulgent?”

Instead of answering, I just blinked slowly.

So that was her type of character.

More importantly...

“A festival, and a young man and woman...”

What was this?

Wasn’t this that kind of event—the kind that supposedly makes feelings bloom even where there were none before?

“My lady, what did you say?”

“...Nothing!”

I shook my head hard and finished getting dressed.

When I turned back to the mirror, I found myself staring into the eyes of a sullen-faced girl.

Hm.

This functional outfit really had been a while.

“My cute little knight!”

“Gah.”

Hazel wrapped me up in a tight hug.

Honestly, I was beginning to think that in this house, I would never escape being treated like a child.

“Please just say the last word.”

“Cute?”

“I said the last word!”

I struggled until I finally got free. Hazel only laughed softly.

“There, there. Keep the hood up properly. And make sure no one realizes you’re the princess, all right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

That was right.

I was disguised as a low-ranking knight of thoroughly ambiguous sex and identity.

That had been Dad’s condition for allowing me out.

After hearing Allen talk, I’d gone straight to Dad in the grip of a bizarre sense of crisis and told him I wanted to join the support party heading out to reinforce the escort for Casalia.

In any case, the support force was already being assembled from our own knights, and at most it only had to leave the capital and go as far as the Babilon border, so it was not exactly dangerous.

“I’ll allow it, but don’t reveal who you are. If you move around as the princess, attention will naturally gather and it’ll become a nuisance. Instead of meeting Khalid, you’ll probably end up being summoned to an audience with the king first.”

“Ugh, no thanks.”

Hiding my identity?

That was practically my specialty.

“But why do you need to confirm the stele formula that quickly? Is something bothering you? Enough that you can’t even wait a few days?”

“Well, there is... kind of... something like that.”

“.......”

For some reason, I couldn’t quite bring myself to say it was because of the princess and Khalid...

Of course, because of my condition, I still had to spend one more full day resting.

But anyway, as of today—

with my hair completely pinned up and hidden, and decorative arrows slung across my back for effect, I strode briskly forward.

The moment I stepped outside the estate and saw the procession being prepared in the distance, I couldn’t help feeling a little excited.

I’m going to see Khal!

After two whole years, finally!

Will he be surprised?

I tried to picture the last face of Khalid I’d seen.

“.......”

What was this?

His younger face was vivid, but I could not remember clearly what he looked like now...

Come to think of it, by the time he left to search for the stele, he had been so busy that I’d barely seen him at all.

Ah, right. That’s why I was furious.

He had vanished leaving behind nothing but a single note!

Good. When I see him again, I’ll start by kicking him in the shin.

Chuckling under my breath, I ran toward the sleek ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ figure of my beautiful steed in the distance—my white horse companion, whom I had adopted a year ago.

“There you are, Arherkalberrominia the Third!”

The elegant horse snorted proudly, blinking long lashes with lofty dignity.

“I keep telling you, shorten that name. It embarrasses your father sometimes.”

“Gasp.”

Dad, who had come out to see me off, started scolding me.

“And why does a horse with no bloodline get ‘the Third’ attached to its name?”

“Because it sounds cool.”

Dad made a dubious face and patted my white horse.

“Arherkalber... what?”

Sadly, no one had ever managed to memorize the name of my lovely horse in a single try.

Would Khalid be able to?

*****

The procession moved quickly.

Hm, the performance on these new acceleration magic tools is pretty good!

Thanks to the magic tools embedded in the horseshoes, the scenery around us was changing in a blur.

I, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm in the saddle.

Out of habit, I reached into my coat and checked the sheet of paper glowing with blue magic.

Why hasn’t the second been answering me?

The Mage King’s second—the one whose body had been seized by the Mage King at the Academy and who had barely survived.

Up until a few years ago, we had exchanged occasional messages through this magic tool, but lately no matter how many messages I sent, nothing ever came back.

And once the magic built into the paper is gone, that’s the end of it, so I can’t use it carelessly either.

A short sigh slipped out.

Well, there could be all kinds of reasons she can’t answer.

I shook my head and tucked the paper away again.

Before long, the procession had left the capital of Babilon and entered the gorge that led toward the border village.

Still...

The instant the cold wind of the gorge hit my face, a sudden awkwardness rose inside me.

...Was chasing after him like this a bit much?

A rapid onset of reality.

Khalid was not about to marry the princess that instant or anything.

Maybe I had acted too impulsively.

No, more importantly, is Khalid even interested in things like dating or marriage?

The only things he had ever seemed interested in were swords and squirrels.

But he really was popular at the Academy.

Khalid had transferred into a year above mine, so we had not actually attended the Academy together for that long.

Even so, I had seen him get confessed to more times than I could count.

“Khalid, I’ve liked you for a very long time!”

“Who are you?”

“...Lina. We were in the same class for two years.”

“......?”

See?

That was just the first one that came to mind.

“K-Khal, could you meet me behind the residence hall later?”

“I don’t duel on campus.”

“.......”

Seriously.

More times than I could count.

After watching girls stop Khalid practically every other day, I had once gotten curious enough to ask him.

“Hey. Do you like anyone?”

“.......”

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Ruby.”

“Hm?”

“Is that cookie good? Let me have a bite.”

“Here... ah, why are you taking it with your mouth!”

“It’s good.”

He always dodged the question like that, so I never really knew what he was thinking.

If he ever did end up liking someone...

I glanced up at the blue sky as the thought crossed my mind.

...I should support him, right?

We were best friends who had shared life and death since we were kids.

And yet, strangely enough, the instant I thought that, the strength suddenly slipped out of both my hands on the reins.

Support him...

Support him?

Me?

Why would I...?

...I really don’t want to.

At that moment, a familiar stream of nagging floated over from the rider keeping pace beside me.

“Ruby, I told you to hold your reins properly. Where exactly did you learn to ride like that?”

Slowly, I turned my head to look beside me.

“...? Riding? Obviously with my body.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“But I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier...”

“What?”

“Why exactly did you come along, Dad? Weren’t you going to let only me go?”

And wasn’t he the one who had said it would become a nuisance if we went openly under our real identities?

At that, the Duke—mounted on a black warhorse with the Zebbert crest stamped boldly on it—straightened in the saddle and quietly looked away.

“Because I want to see Khalid too.”

“You saw him at the front last time.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“...It hasn’t even been a few months.”

Dad kept staring straight ahead, stubborn as ever, then let out a low, hollow laugh.

“Ruby. Are a few months short to you? If I don’t see you for months, should I not miss you?”

“Of course not!”

“Exactly.”

Wait, were the two of them really that attached?

Attached enough that he would come running after him the moment there was a chance to meet him?

I looked around at the senior knights riding nearby for some confirmation, but all they did was shrug. Not one of them offered a word.

Dad rode closer and pulled the hood of my cloak down deeper over my head.

Maybe it’s just because he raised him.

That would make sense too.

Dad had been the one teaching Khalid since he was little.

Then, suddenly, another thought struck me.

“Dad... I have a question.”

“Mm?”

“How would you feel if Khalid got a girlfriend?”

For a beat, Dad—who had been calmly checking over what I’d said—answered a little too late.

“...What?”

“Dad, you’re the one who needs to hold your reins properly.”

“He’s... supposed to get a girlfriend? Who...?”

“Well, I don’t know that part.”

And since it was still his private life, it felt a little wrong to say too much.

Besides, nothing was certain.

So I decided to give him only the bits I’d heard from Allen.

“Just... someone around my age, maybe.”

“.......”

“And pretty? Probably pretty.”

“.......”

“And someone Khalid is always staying close to and guarding.”

I only meant that he was escorting her right now.

That was all I had said.

And yet I heard Dad’s molars grind.

“...Then I’ll have to kill—”

“What?”

“No, no, no. Stop it. I’ll have to stop it.”

Hadn’t he just said kill?

“That dog-boned little— no, that flea-bitten bone-headed— no, that’s not it, this damned little— ...what?”

“Dad, are you all right?”

This was bad.

Dad had broken.