A little later.

After hearing everything I had to say, Dad rubbed his chin and muttered, “So the King of Casalia is a traitor.”

“Yeah. But the Princess says she’s on my side. She says she told me because she wants to help me.”

“Hmm.”

Dad fell silent for a moment. Sitting beside him, I snatched up a chocolate-chip cookie from the table and popped it into my mouth.

“So what do we do? If we’re going to trust what the Princess said, I think we should keep an eye on her for a while, but Khalid says he’s busy.”

“Really? He shouldn’t have anything to be busy with... Anyway, leave that to Dad.”

“And His Majesty the Emperor? Are you going to tell him?”

“I should at least give him a heads-up.”

Dad stole the cookie right out of my hand. Then he held out a vegetable juice I had no idea when he’d prepared.

“If... word gets out that the King of Casalia really was colluding with the Magic Kingdom, what happens?”

“He’ll have to answer for it. And the Round Table is in spring, so...”

Dad twisted his lips into a smile.

“We’ll have an endless number of things to discuss.”

“Yikes.”

Casalia was a country heavily dependent on magic.

Obviously, the Magic Kingdom seems to have used that weakness to threaten him.

Even so, that still didn’t excuse what he’d done.

Either way, the King might turn out to be a clue that lets us track down the Magic Kingdom while it’s hiding itself away.

I didn’t bother saying that part out loud.

I drained my juice and rubbed my eyes. Maybe because I’d been running around all day, my body felt a little tired.

It’s not going to be another nosebleed, is it?

The thought made me self-conscious, and I brushed a hand under my nose before speaking again.

“Then what about the Princess?”

“Who knows...”

Dad glanced at me and rubbed his chin as he answered.

“That depends on what she’s after. Still, she did give us information from this side of the line, so there’s room to take that into consideration.”

I nodded and finished off the rest of the juice.

“Come to think of it, how was the stele formula Khalid gave you?”

Dad changed the subject lightly.

“Oh, that. Some parts were missing, actually. I was going to ask about it...”

I leaned slightly forward and peered past Dad’s enormous frame.

That was right.

Amazingly enough, Khalid was in this room too.

He was sitting there quietly, studying the desserts on the table with the eyes of a hawk. What was he staring at so intently? I didn’t think he’d eaten any chocolate cookies...

Mutter mutter. Where are these from... mutter mutter.

He seemed to have been mumbling for a while, but Dad was blocking him like a wall, so I couldn’t hear very well.

“Khalid, the stele formula...”

I stretched myself out as far as I could and asked,

“Was that really all there was?”

“Yeah.”

I knew it.

Once we got home, I’d probably have to do what I’d done before and fill in the missing parts until the formula ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ was complete. Still—

“I think it really is some kind of magic for releasing something. The problem is, the formula is missing what exactly it’s supposed to release. Khalid, are you absolutely sure there weren’t any other steles nearby that might have been a clue—”

As I stretched toward Khalid again, annoyance suddenly surged up in me.

“Excuse me, Daaad.”

“What.”

“Why have you been sitting between me and Khalid this whole time? You were sitting across from us before. This is so inconvenient. Move.”

Dad, who had been calmly drinking tea, blinked slowly.

Then he looked down at himself and muttered,

“What is this? Lately my body keeps moving on its own.”

My brow furrowed all by itself.

Oh no. My poor dad.

All right. The second we got home, I was booking Borbel’s deluxe filial-checkup package.

Dad started to get up so he could go back to his original seat, but then, as if something had just occurred to him, he asked,

“By the way, when did you two even meet for you to get back this late?”

“We met during the day!”

“You met during the day... and came back at night?”

“It’s not night. Dinner only just passed.”

“What were you doing?”

“Umm. We met in an alley, then went to a garden café, watched a play, and wandered around the festival street sharing food. It was fun!”

Dad’s body drove itself right back into place like a stake hammered into the ground.

Then he turned a deeply benevolent smile on Khalid and clapped a hand down on his shoulder.

“You little brat. Khalid, you little brat.”

“Excuse me, that hurts.”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t greeted you properly yet. You’ve worked your damned self ragged all this time.”

Squeeze.

Khalid blinked slowly, looking confused.

“If you’re praising me... why am I being punished?”

“I am praising you. Praise is supposed to hurt a little. Makes you feel all the pressure and everything.”

“I don’t really... understand what that means.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“...?”

Well.

Borbel’s deluxe package.

Maybe I should book it immediately.

*****

Late that night.

Khalid walked carefully down the corridor.

When he opened the bedroom assigned to him, someone was already there.

...Teleportation?

Hadn’t he just seen him in the drawing room?

“You really don’t have any baggage, do you? Is a sword all you need?”

“Well...”

Khalid closed the door and answered,

“Do I need anything else?”

“I can’t decide whether to say you’ve grown up well or what.”

Leviathan gave a short laugh and crooked his fingers.

He was sitting on the bed in comfortable clothes. He’d spent the entire day dealing with the King, and even after all the petty work that followed, he didn’t look tired in the slightest.

“Lower yourself.”

“...Pardon?”

“Your head.”

At the curt command, Khalid clasped his hands behind his back and lowered his head. The Commander was still the Commander, after all.

A moment later—

“...?”

At the feeling of a hand brushing through his hair, Khalid looked bewildered.

“Do I have something in it?”

“Idiot, I’m praising you. I couldn’t do it earlier because I was being petty.”

“......”

Ah.

So he was patting his head.

Like when he was little.

Guess he still sees me as a kid.

Thinking that with mild indifference, Khalid obediently accepted the praise.

“You’ve done well. Two years in that hellhole, all for Ruby.”

“I got stronger because of it, so it’s fine.”

“When are you going to become less insolent?”

“I’m being polite right now.”

“It’s depressing. Now that you’ve grown up, I can’t even nag you properly anymore.”

Leviathan grumbled.

Truthfully, Khalid felt a little pleased. Other than Rubian, if there was one person whose acknowledgement he had wanted, it was obviously Leviathan.

“When we get back, rest for a while.”

“I’m fi—”

“When I say something, listen for once.”

Thunk. A large hand smacked down onto his head.

“Well... yes, sir.”

Even after that, Leviathan kept meddling in one thing after another before finally rising to his feet.

“Oh, and.”

Leviathan opened the door, then hesitated in a way that was rare for him, choosing his words carefully.

“Yes.”

“Ruby...”

The instant he heard the familiar name, Khalid’s whole body went taut.

“Talk to Ruby a lot.”

What did that mean?

“She acts like nothing’s wrong, but lately she looks like she’s having a hard time. I think it probably started when Delmon died.”

His low voice slipped out like a sigh.

“She only ever tells me she’s fine.”

By the time he’d heard that much, Khalid was already moving.

At the same time, Leviathan’s huge frame blocked the doorway with a solid thud.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Violet eyes flashed with something close to killing intent.

“Tomorrow. In daylight, you little brat.”

“...Ah.”

It was deep, deep in the middle of the night.

Staring resentfully at the darkness outside the window, Khalid had no choice but to step back.

Only as far as Leviathan could see, of course.

Knock, knock.

He tapped carefully on the door, and movement came from inside.

“Who is it?”

“Me.”

Khalid stood waiting quietly, the squirrel perched on his shoulder.

After hearing that from Leviathan, he had no reason to hesitate.

I should cheer her up.

Listen to her too.

Anyway, he had often gone to Rubian’s room to hang around before, so it wasn’t as if there were anything especially awkward about it.

But the moment Rubian opened the door, Khalid froze solid.

“Khalid! Oh, squirrel! It’s been forever.”

“...You.”

What... was she wearing right now?

A thin chemise...?

Where had those strawberry pajamas gone—the ones that used to keep her properly covered from all four directions?

No, more importantly, she had thrown something over herself, but the squirrel had climbed up and made it all slip down, so first her white forearm, then her smooth shoulder, then the clean line of her neck came into view one after another—

“What?”

Rubian frowned at the giant jacket being dumped over her.

Maybe she had just come out of the bath. Even her slightly damp hair was shocking.

“Hey. I’m hot. The fireplace in here is blazing.”

“Put it on. Please...”

Hoping his flushed face would look like nothing more than firelight, Khalid carefully wrapped the jacket around Rubian.

And in that instant, he knew.

This late-night visit had gone very, very wrong.