Having gone into the water and come back out, her hair would only curl tighter and puff up endlessly as it dried. Embarrassed at how disheveled it would soon look, she pressed both hands firmly against the sides of her head.

“It suits you.”

A laugh followed.

Why does he smile so much?

“For now, let us go to the Twin Castle. I will send someone to bring a change of clothes.”

Pamona could not think of any other option either. Taking the western path, where fewer people were about, meant a lower chance of running into anyone.

And so Pamona walked alongside Terion Iligen toward the Twin Castle. He had taken off his wet shoes and carried them in his hand, walking barefoot. She considered doing the same, then decided it would look ridiculous, and trudged after him with her soaked shoes still on.

With every step, water squelched out and soaked her feet all over again. The discomfort was beyond words. What had she been thinking, doing something she could not handle the aftermath of. A deep sigh escaped her.

The wet expanse of Terion Iligen’s back ahead of her kept drawing her eyes. Whether he was simply built large and long by nature, he did not look like someone who had worked to broaden himself, yet the width and thickness of his frame were unmistakable. With each step, the movement of his solidly built contours seemed to catch a faint glow from the sunlight filtering through the clouds.

No, is it really acceptable to observe another person’s body in this much detail. Have I lost my mind……

She was already suffering because her eyes refused to peel themselves away from his back, when Terion Iligen suddenly stopped walking. Pamona stopped after him, and out of fear that he might have sensed her staring, she held her breath and went completely still.

He turned around and looked at her, then extended his palm flat in front of her face. Pamona stared blankly at the large hand suddenly spread wide before her eyes.

“…… Yes?”

“Does anything smell strange?”

At those unexpected words, before she knew what she was doing, she pressed her face into his palm and drew in a deep breath through her nose. What smell was he talking about? No matter how many times she sniffed, there was nothing. Only the warmth of his palm against the cold tip of her nose.

She looked up at Terion Iligen’s face with an expression that said she could not tell, and he was smiling that bright, open smile again. It was almost as though a warm breeze blew only around this guest. She thought she could feel a gentle wind stirring from somewhere.

“Well?”

“…… Nothing.”

“Then why are you walking so far behind?”

“……”

Am I supposed to walk closer……?

“What about you, Pamona? Shall I check?”

Before she could answer, he brought his face close to her shoulder and sniffed. Tension arrived in an instant. The brush of his nose against her shoulder tickled, and her body gave an involuntary twitch. After sniffing her shoulder to his satisfaction, he moved to her hair and sniffed that too, then lifted his head, apparently having gotten enough.

“That is strange.”

For a moment, Pamona felt a flush of embarrassment and her eyes went wide. She raised her arm and buried her nose in the wet sleeve to smell it herself.

“It smells good. In dirty water, no less.”

Terion Iligen gently pushed her arm back down with a playful smile and walked ahead again. She gripped the spot where his hand had touched and then left. With every step she took, water still squelched out from under her feet.

As her body dried, a chill began to set in little by little. She was cold and shivering, and the only thing she had to rely on was Terion Iligen’s outer robe. She glanced up at him, walking slowly beside her now, wondering whether he was all right, and he showed no sign of being cold at all.

“Having spent a few days here, Pamona.”

“Yes.”

“I have found that Ilion and Masion differ in many ways.”

“Is that so?”

“There was much I could not understand. Even though I have been studying quite a bit from books…… it is not enough. I suppose books and real life are different after all. I cannot seem to adjust.”

“What has been difficult? I will help.”

“Really?”

The eyes that turned back to her sparkled with what looked like delight. The face so full of vitality and energy was so unlike her own that she found it remarkable. Looking at him now, she thought that perhaps he did not only have blue hair and blue eyes, but a blue soul as well. Was that why, that night, he had radiated such a blue light?

No, get a hold of yourself……

“Yes, really.”

“Ah. What a relief. I was feeling a bit lost.”

He pressed a hand to his chest and made a light sweeping gesture, as though in relief. Then a glint of mischief crept into the eyes looking back at her, and she realized only then that it had been a deliberate, playful exaggeration.

“No taking it back, Pamona.”

The eyes narrowing slightly were mischievous, as expected. He has more of a playful side than he looks. Pamona felt herself relax a little compared to a moment before.

“No, I will not take it back.”

Perhaps, just a little. She felt like she might smile.

“Are you cold?”

“A little.”

He heard her answer and his eyes widened slightly, as though surprised.

“That is normal?”

“Pardon?”

“From that night, I thought you might run very hot.”

“Ah.”

He clearly knew that the person he had encountered on the footbridge that night had been Pamona. Every time she thought of that night, the image of herself in that shabby nightgown, and the sight of her own back as she sprinted away with what must have looked like her backside on fire, made her face burn red.

Please, I hope he does not bring that up……

Come to think of it, she must look absolutely dreadful right now too. At least at the luncheon, the first time they had properly met, she had been reasonably put together. Today she wore a simple, light dress and had done nothing to her hair or face.

Then again, what would it have mattered if she had. She had just been plunged headfirst into a filthy lake…… Even now, water still dripped from her hair as it curled against her chest, and it nagged at her.

Ah. What had she been thinking, jumping into that lake.

“I have nothing left to offer you, I am afraid. If I took this off as well, I think we would both find ourselves in an awkward situation.”

“…… That is all right.”

He was gesturing at the single layer of clothing left on his body, and the image of him actually pulling it off and holding it out to her flashed through her mind, prompting a small cough. Her reaction had apparently been too immediate to be funny, because Terion Iligen let out a short laugh, and his bright laughter rang out through the quiet western air.

“I am sorry. I am sorry, Pamona.”

Terion Iligen repeated his apologies while laughing under his breath.

“That was a joke.”

“Yes, yes. I am sorry.”

The light smile still resting at the corners of his mouth somehow made the air feel lighter. As though the air had always had weight to it before.

“Is it that funny?”

He laughed on and on, too clearly and too freely to stop.

“It is not that. It is just, the way Pamona gets flustered.”

“I do not find it very funny.”

Has she ever heard laughter like this? Someone other than herself and Heil laughing this loudly, this sincerely. Sionel would sometimes smile at Pamona, but it was less a clear laugh like this and more of a hollow chuckle or a quiet lift of one corner of his mouth. Reynard laughed out loud often, but it was always directed at someone as mockery, and hearing it only made her angrier.

There had been no one who laughed this freely for her. Was that why this felt so good, why she wanted to keep hearing it?

“You must be a bit of an odd person, Terion.”

At Pamona’s words, he burst out laughing again, and they could not move forward at all. They would take one step and he would laugh, start walking again and he would laugh once more. She liked it, and she found herself wanting to keep saying things to him that sounded like jokes.