Sarah suddenly noticed something: the look in his eyes seemed strangely sad.

And with that, a memory surfaced.

When the rubble collapsed on her, there had been a moment when he had cried.

Tears had fallen from his eyes as he looked at her.

The expression he wore now was almost exactly the same.

Even now, she couldn’t understand it.

Why had he cried while looking at her?

Without warning, she was reminded of something she had seen in a dream after subjugating the northern rebels.

In that dream, he had also held her and wept.

At the time, she had found the scene so ridiculous that she had dismissed it entirely. But after everything that had happened, she wondered whether that dream had been real.

As she quietly held Kay’s gaze, Sarah slowly realized that they had been staring at each other for far too long.

Quickly, she turned her head, cleared her throat and shifted the conversation away.

“Um… is the wound on your head alright?”

When they were buried under the rubble, blood had flowed heavily from the back of his head.

To her question, Kay lowered his gaze and replied.

“It was shallow.”

With the monstrous regenerative abilities forced into him through countless experiments, a wound like that had healed long before now.

“Head injuries can leave aftereffects, so you need to watch for anything unusual.”

Yet there she was, sitting with her arm freshly bandaged.

Who was worrying about whom?

Sarah hadn’t changed at all, either since childhood or since now.

Even when her leg was crushed under the rubble, she tried to comfort him, insisting that she would be fine.

She was the child who offered warmth and kindness to the others in the basement, no matter how dire things were.

Now she was a woman forged through grit and defiance, but the core of her remained exactly the same: the part that cared for, comforted and reached out to others.

And that was what hurt him.

She had become the person she was today in many ways because of him.

A sudden thought struck him: did she truly not remember her childhood?

Of course, the boy he had been was small and thin, nothing like the man standing before her now.

But surely she would recognize something in his face, even if only a little?

Gathering his courage, Kay glanced at her and asked carefully.

“Have you ever visited the imperial palace when you were young?”

His unexpected question made Sarah blink in confusion. She looked up at the ceiling, thinking.

“Well… honestly, I don’t remember much before I turned seven.”

She shrugged, completely unbothered.

“Most people don’t remember their very early years. I figured I was the same. But why do you ask?”

Kay hesitated for a brief moment.

If he told her you and I met in the palace when we were children, would she remember him?

Perhaps those memories weren’t important to her.

Perhaps she had no reason to hold onto them.

In a low voice, he finally replied.

“It’s nothing…”

Perhaps they were memories she wanted to forget.

During the explosion, the palace was a living hell, filled with flames, the stench of burning flesh, and screams.

She had nearly died in the chaos and her father had lost an arm trying to save them.

If she had chosen to forget that pain, he had no right to force her to remember it.

He would bear the weight of those memories alone.

It was enough for him to simply know that the girl from his past was Sarah.

For the first time, the fog he had wandered through for so long began to lift.

It was no exaggeration to say that he had lived for that girl in his memories.

Because of her, he had taken care of El, Jay and the others, even after the Emperor planted a bomb in his head.

Although regaining his memories hadn’t lessened his affection for them, it had revealed one irrefutable fact: he only had to protect one person.

Sarah.

He would protect her, even if it meant risking his wretched life, his every breath and everything he possessed.

Even if the person standing in his way was the Emperor himself.

Kay looked at her with a gaze that seemed to pierce straight through her. Sarah broke the awkward silence.

“Um… I think the bandage is fine now…”

Only then did Kay realize he had wrapped far too many layers around her arm.

Flustered, his face reddened.

“Ah, my apologies.”

He quickly began removing the excessive layers of clothing, and Sarah watched him, puzzled.

The coldness she had once sensed from him had disappeared. The man who had once seemed distant and intimidating now looked almost cute when embarrassed.

She must have lost her mind. It was probably because they had endured so much together.

Sarah dismissed the thought.

** ❋❋❋ ❋❋❋**

After spending two days resting in Elbaren, the knights set out for the capital.

The city guard provided them with fresh horses to ensure a smooth return journey.

Two weeks after leaving, the members of the Order arrived back at the imperial palace, where they went to their separate quarters to rest.

However, unlike the others, Kay headed straight to his office.

He knew what awaited him: delayed reports and piles of paperwork that had accumulated in his absence.

The moment he stepped inside, El spoke up as if he had been waiting just for him.

“Did things at Skadia Fortress end well? I heard it was quite a mess.”

The process had been rough, but in the end the rebels had been subdued. Kay replied evenly.

“There were some losses, but the suppression is complete.”

It had been the operation with the highest number of casualties of all the rebel hunts so far — a result that had taken even him by surprise and affected him deeply.

Perhaps it affected him so much because he had always been unusually close to his comrades and subordinates.

And that was also because of Sarah.

Now that he thought about it, the Luel and Joanna in his memories were undoubtedly El and Jay.

Having had his memories wiped clean, it felt almost surreal that he was still spending his days with the same people he had played with as a child.

Had his body and mind also been drawn to the hidden bonds within the erased memories, just as he had instinctively been drawn to Sarah during their missions?

Kay continued to stare at El with a strange, unreadable expression, causing El to frown in bewilderment.

“Wh-why are you staring at me like that?”

Thinking something must be on his face, El rubbed at his cheek. Kay answered plainly.

“It’s just… good to see you again.”

El’s eyes widened.

It was far too sentimental for the usually indifferent Kay.

“W-what are you saying all of a sudden…? It’s not like we were gone for years…”

Scratching his head in embarrassment, El quickly changed the subject.

“Ah—Jet and Vi returned today too.”

At those words, Kay—who had been heading to his desk—stiffened.

“Where are Jet and Vi now?”

Per the rules, they were supposed to report their mission results to Kay first after returning.

“The emperor asked to see them first.”

At El’s reply, Kay returned to his seat without protest. Orders from the emperor were absolute for hounds such as them.

Still… it was unusual.

The emperor rarely summoned them without going through him first.

Kay’s eyes darkened as he sank into thought.

** ❋❋❋ ❋❋❋**

Sarah was on her way to the audience chamber.

A court attendant had summoned her because the emperor wanted to praise her for her part in the recent mission.

If that were all, the recognition could have been given to Isaac, the division captain, instead.

It was unusual for the emperor to request her presence specifically.

However, as a low-ranking knight, she had no authority to refuse.

So Sarah made her way dutifully to the audience chamber.

When she pushed open the ornate doors and stepped inside, the Emperor smiled at her as though he had been waiting for this moment, seated upon the throne.

“You’re here! The hero of Elbaren!”

Flustered by his exaggerated praise, Sarah bowed her head.

“It was an achievement made by the Third Order as a whole.”

“Keh keh, I already heard you were the one who struck down the enemy commander.”

“I am honored.”

The emperor smiled in satisfaction at the report of their military success, then suddenly gave her a strange look.

“By the way… I heard you used a rather unusual power during the battle.”

Sarah froze.

The fight had happened in an instant, deep inside enemy territory.

She had assumed that only Captain Isaac had witnessed it.

Had he reported it to the Emperor?

Without realizing it, she tightened her grip on her hands.

Seeing her stiffen, the Emperor continued in an indulgent tone.

“Have you ever heard the term ‘Irregular’?”

Sarah’s clenched fist began to tremble.

Watching her, the emperor’s lips twisted.

“I have quite a distaste for that breed.”

Without a sound, two figures stepped up behind Sarah—Jet and Vi.

The emperor’s smile vanished entirely as he gave his order.

“Dispose of her.”

Jet raised his sword without hesitation.

In the instant death approached, Sarah dropped to one knee.

“Your Majesty! I have something to say!”

Begging for her life?

The emperor, feeling magnanimous, replied generously.

“What is it?”

With her head deeply bowed, Sarah spoke clearly.

“Please accept me as one of your hounds.”