A quiet atmosphere settled in the room, so still that I could hear the rustling of leaves in the breeze.
I leaned comfortably against the back of the sofa and quietly gazed at the scenery outside the window.
I lowered my hand and slowly stroked his hair; the texture was soft.
This was the most peaceful moment of my day, which had been painfully noisy.
Enjoying that tranquility, I closed my eyes.
And when I woke up, the day had already broken, and sunlight was pouring into the room.
I, who had clearly fallen asleep sitting on the sofa, was comfortably lying in bed, wrapped in something cozy.
Did he move me to the bed while I was asleep?
I lifted my gaze, and the soft face I had last seen was right before my eyes.
Since waking up in his arms was an everyday occurrence, I wasn’t flustered.
I reached out and gently traced his cheek, almost touching it, and his eyelids slowly lifted.
“Are you awake?”
“I have no duties today, so I can take it easy.”
He took the hand I had placed on his cheek and slowly intertwined our fingers.
“Then…”
As he said yesterday, Klen seemed to be free enough to enjoy his laziness for a while.
That was fortunate timing.
I met his eyes and smiled brightly.
“Then, I will call Brother right now.”
“…”
However, Klen’s face subtly shifted in the opposite direction.
Brother Marcus, invited into the room, slowly looked around and sipped his tea.
It wasn’t unusual for the son of a Count’s family to see such a lavishly decorated room.
His gaze rested on the large potted tree in front of the balcony and the Levatein sword displayed on the wall.
There were no pranks like yesterday, and his posture, leaning against the sofa, looked comfortable.
“…”
“…”
However, there was no friendly conversation between us.
Of course, this wasn’t because Brother Marcus and I were awkward with each other.
[Hoo-oh~ This is good too. Hmm-hmm~]
It seemed to be because Klen, who was stuck right next to me, was breaking off pieces of a cookie and feeding them to Aren one by one.
Aren’s small eyes, shining with expectation, moved as the cookie passed back and forth in front of them, and its little feet restlessly tapped.
That cute appearance captured even Brother’s gaze.
His eyes, which had been scanning the room, were now fixed on Aren.
His eyes briefly moved to the cookie, as if he was jealous of how Klen tamed the creature with food.
But he soon gave up and looked at me.
He seemed to realize intuitively that he couldn’t win Aren’s favor even if he tried to lure it with a cookie.
“Hmm… But why did you call me here?”
“Since Brother has come all this way, how about looking around the area before you leave?”
And when I gave him a bright smile, Brother’s eyes trembled slightly.
Did he think I was going to tell him to go home now that he had a good night’s rest?
It was understandable that he would think that, as he had suddenly appeared, been met with caution from many people, and even attacked Aren.
But that would have been too cold an action, and for me, the longing and joy of seeing my family after a long time were greater.
“That sounds fine.”
In the end, Brother readily agreed.
Snap, the cookie in Klen’s hand was cleanly broken in half and offered to Aren.
[Will you be taking cookies too~?]
“Please have Klen take care of the cookies.”
Klen gave a small nod, seeming to understand that this was Aren’s request.
The first thing I grabbed when I stood up was the Levatein.
The words I heard from Brother yesterday were on my mind, and my heart felt more at ease when I had a sword with me when going outside.
“Oh!”
Brother Marcus, who already had a deep interest in Levatein, had approached and was looking closely at my hand.
His eyes sparkled like a child’s.
I held the sword up straight so he could see it well.
“How is it?”
Chalang—
The sound of drawing the sword from the scabbard still rang out purely like music, and the blue-glowing blade, catching the sunlight, emphasized its sharpness.
It was magnificent enough to entice even someone who didn’t know much about swords.
So, to Brother’s eyes, it must look more valuable than a huge diamond.
“Wow… This is a master sword.”
“Isn’t it?”
I deliberately didn’t hand him the sword, but slowly rotated the blade in front of him.
His gaze, watching intently, did not leave the sword.
A knight should not boast about their own sword.
But since this was satisfying his curiosity and not boasting, wasn’t it alright?
“Where did you buy it? Or did you custom order it? Are the blacksmiths here this skilled?”
“Hmm. Who was it? A blacksmith named Ivan from the West…”
“What! It’s an item from that fastidious person?!”
I didn’t know the details of which blacksmith was skilled, but Brother’s eyes changed as soon as he heard the name.
He might faint if he heard that the blade was made of a special mineral.
“It was a prize for winning the hunting competition.”
“You won?”
[You won?!]
Having finished the cookie, Aren flew to me and landed on my head.
And it boldly cut into our conversation.
Two voices full of expectation overlapped.
A little strength was put into my shoulders.
And my head unconsciously rose up, as if my nose bridge had gotten higher.
“Of course I won.”
“Hah. As expected. That’s our Adrian.”
[As expected of my Master! I thought it was a very good sword for some reason~]
Brother put his arm around my shoulder, speaking as if it was a natural result, and strongly patted me, showing his pride.
Aren fluttered its wings and shouted happily.
That reaction was oddly embarrassing, and a laugh escaped me.
“…”
Klen, who stood a few steps away, made eye contact with me and let out a small laugh, as if he was sharing my feelings.
Lightly carrying only the sword and cookies, we headed for the stables.
Although looks of concern clung to our backs, no one tried to stop me thanks to the two people with me.
The familiar stable keeper soon brought the right horses for Klen and me, and Brother Marcus held the reins of the horse he rode from Caldrich.
The horse, with its glossy, even, dark-brown coat, was one he prized, being fast and intelligent.
We rode our horses out of the city.
Since Klen’s face was practically a free pass, all the gates opened wide before we even reached them.
After that, our first focus was to get as far away as possible to avoid being monitored by the sentries.
“Klen, is there a good place around here to go with Brother?”
This was the reason I called Brother immediately after hearing he could take it easy today.
I hadn’t traveled around this area much, so I didn’t know which places were good.
Of course, the main place I had in mind was near the entrance to the forest where Divine Beasts and spirits lived, which could not be seen anywhere else.
But before that, I wanted to show him some other scenery of the Valuncio territory.
[If it were inside the forest, I could guide you. What a pity.]
‘That’s… what I think too.’
If I could freely enter and leave, I would have explored the inside with him.
But I cannot force my way in.
Of course, even if I tried, the defense that was once unbelievably breached wouldn’t crumble so easily again.
The knights guarding the entrance are not that naive.
It was practically giving me permission when I went into the forest.
It is not a path one can pass merely under the pretense of sightseeing.
“In that case, please follow me.”
