No, but seriously. Whatever else, what was that about “some random mutt’s bone” for Khalid’s future girlfriend?

“Anyway, no. Your dad is... absolutely against it.”

Not strongly for. Strongly against. What was that supposed to mean?

“Khalid has to become the finest knight in the world. And to do that, romance? Absolutely forbidden.”

“You’re a great knight too, Dad, and you dated and got married.”

“I’m me.”

“What kind of logic is that...?”

“It’s fine if I do it, but not him. Ruby. No. Got it? Absolutely not. Not yet.”

“Why are you telling me? Go argue with him!”

Dad covered his mouth with a carsick-looking expression and turned his head away. He was muttering something, but the wind was too loud for me to hear any of it.

Hmm. So Dad gets upset at the thought of Kal getting a girlfriend too.

Upset enough to break down like that.

Well, the bond you built by spending years together wasn’t something you could ignore.

So I wasn’t weird for not wanting to cheer it on either.

Grinning, I tightened my grip on the reins. With a light flick, my sleek white horse surged a little faster.

“Yeah, romance my ass!”

I’d forgotten for a minute, but this original story was a war novel with no dreams and no hope!

“Take Dad’s advice and train harder until you become the strongest in the world!”

I’m really sorry for being this kind of childhood friend!

*****

Mm.

Watching his daughter’s back as she rode ahead, Leviathan smiled softly.

Before he knew it, he was already riding after her—and really, he’d been right to come.

A truly great knight was someone who detected danger swiftly and responded before it struck.

Good. I’ll just keep that bastard Khalid tucked under one arm at all times.

And Ruby under the other.

If he did that, the two of them would be blocked forever by a wall neither could ever break through, condemned never to face each other and only to run on in parallel lines for the rest of their lives—

“Y-Your Grace. Your presence is a little intense. Did something happen...?”

At his adjutant’s words, Leviathan lifted tired eyes.

After a brief silence, a long sigh finally escaped him.

“...No. I just imagined something that made me hate myself for a second.”

“Pardon?”

He let out a low groan and raked a rough hand through the back of his hair.

He knew she wasn’t a ten-year-old child anymore. He knew that letting her go from his arms at the proper time was part of being a parent too.

But even the thought of “letting her go” somewhere made his heart drop like a stone.

“Any signs of magical beasts on this road?”

He changed the subject.

“None. If anything had happened, the advance party would have sent word, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Good.”

“Even so, this really wasn’t something that required Your Grace personally accompanying us. The support procession has enough men as it is, and if Sir Leon was coming along, that would have been more than enough to guard the young lady.”

“Ah.”

Leviathan considered that for a moment, then looked ahead. He could see Rubian’s profile as she scanned her surroundings with sparkling eyes.

To disguise herself as a knight, she had twisted her long hair up tightly, and from a distance she looked almost like a mischievous young boy knight.

“She’s holding something in right now.”

“Pardon?”

“She doesn’t even realize she’s overdoing it, so someone has to keep her in check.”

Leviathan was worried about Rubian in every way after seeing her collapse with a nosebleed.

It felt as though something was clogging up her heart and driving her to wear herself down, but since she wouldn’t confide in him or Rosetta, he had no choice but to find another way.

Wanting to see the stele formula quickly is obviously just an excuse... She’s been chattering to Kal about all kinds of things since she was little. Is it because of him?

Being childish was one thing.

But if it was something Rubian needed, then even if it left a bitter taste in his mouth, so be it.

Just then, Rubian—riding ahead—whipped around and waved her hand energetically.

“There! A signpost at the fork!”

“Oh, that’s our youngest.”

The nearby knights snorted with laughter and spurred ahead, calling, “We’ll go check it first!”

Leviathan moved to increase his speed too, but then suddenly—

He paused.

A faint, familiar sense of déjà vu brushed over him.

A pale face revealed beneath a ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ deeply drawn hood.

...The hood on that priest’s robe was like that too.

Pulled low over her face. The woman in the dream.

A nightmare where he was killed by some unknown woman. Every so often, Leviathan was tormented by that nameless dream again.

The problem was that the woman in the dream was gradually...

Ruby...

Starting to resemble Rubian.

No, that’s not it.

Was Rubian growing into the woman from the dream?

“...”

Leviathan shook his head roughly, then lightly pressed his heel to his horse’s flank. Clatter, clatter. Feeling the pace pick up, he thought with complete calm,

Then it isn’t a nightmare.

It wasn’t a dream of losing his daughter.

And a dream of being killed by a woman who looked like his daughter could hardly count as a nightmare to him.

*****

“Wow, it’s a festival!”

My eyes went round.

The border village wasn’t large, but that only made it feel even more charming. The little decorations hanging all over the place made the festive mood bloom everywhere.

The moment we arrived, Dad went off to meet the King, who was staying at a nearby noble estate.

Of course, I hadn’t come here as the princess.

Which meant free time!

Where’s Kal?

From what I’d heard, he’d gone out to look around the village with the Princess leading the way...

I hitched up my decorative bow and walked slowly down the street. It had taken absurd effort to stop the older knights from following me as my escort.

I’m not a child anymore. And I’ve hidden my identity well.

I could certainly handle looking around a village festival by myself.

The village isn’t that big, so if I wander around like this, I feel like I’ll run into them...

And I’d heard the Princess was a striking beauty, which meant she ought to be even easier to spot.

“Hey there, wandering knight! Take home a jar of delicious jam!”

“Oh...”

A wandering knight, huh. So I looked kind of lonely, apparently.

I was just about to pick out a few jars of jam to give the family as souvenirs when—

“...Huh?”

A group of people caught my eye.

Far off, near the end of the festival street.

That’s the Princess.

Instinctively, I ducked behind a large decorative structure.

A stunning beauty, impossible to miss at a glance, was smiling as she looked over handicrafts at a stall. Around her stood two escort knights.

I recognized the embroidery along the edges of the knights’ capes right away.

It was one of the supplies that had been issued to this suppression force.

Which means Khalid is over there!

“Damn it, I can’t see properly.”

The stall decorations were blocking them in just the right way, and all I could see was their backs. On top of that, every one of them had their hoods pulled low...

Then it happened.

The Princess picked up one of the handicrafts and held it out to someone standing nearby.

“...!”

My eyes widened slightly.

The man leaning toward the Princess let a sliver of dark blue hair slip into view beneath his hood.

Kal!

Was it him? Wasn’t it?

“Dad said he was about this tall, so...”

What do I do? I think it really is him!

Because that knight had just been about the same height as the Princess!

The Princess seemed fairly tall for a woman, but still, that really had to be—

Khalid...

For some reason, the tip of my nose stung.

It had been two whole years.

Huh? But compared to two years ago, he somehow feels a little shorter... And... maybe because he’s been through so much, he looks a bit smaller too.

I shook my head hard.

No. Come to think of it, the people around me are all just absurdly tall. That’s normal. Anyway, I’m so, so, so happy to see him. He looks so different now, I don’t even have time to feel awkward about it.

I sniffled a little, getting sentimental.

When I focused, I could even feel Khalid’s magic clearly from around the Princess’s group.

“Aww. It’s been so long since I felt this magic—no, but!”

I narrowed my eyes and kept peeking over, when suddenly irritation flared up inside me.

Why does that man keep blocking my Kal?

I can’t see him!

For a while now, one escort knight with a ridiculously huge build had been standing in the middle of the street like a stone wall, blocking Khalid over and over again!

He looked threatening even from the back alone.

Even with the cape draped over him, his solid physique was so obvious it felt like just bringing him along would overwhelm everyone nearby.

With visuals like that, he could probably do the work of a hundred ordinary guards all by himself—

Huh? What am I even saying?

Why did my eyes suddenly drift over there?

No, no.

Mm. So when do I act like I know him?

Actually, I’d planned to watch from a distance and then step in naturally at the right moment, like it was a coincidence.

But I was so happy to see him that suddenly all of that felt pointless. So I decided to scrap the whole idea and just go say hello right away—

“Uh...”

My body went rigid.