Drip, drip, drip, dripdrip.

“Wait! Don’t you hear something?”

“Hmm? It sounds like water dripping. Is there a lake?”

Following Dion, who was tilting his head, Clementina also listened carefully and felt stiffness in her neck. Her skirt, heavy with moisture, made her tense continuously for fear of slipping.

Clementina lightly patted her neck and shoulders.

“Ah! I think I know where we are.”

As Dion quickened his pace, Clementina, whose hand he was holding, had no choice but to run along.

After walking for quite some time, Dion suddenly stopped. Clementina, who bumped her forehead against Dion’s back with a thud, frowned.

“Sorry. Was I too fast? I’m not used to walking with someone who isn’t a knight.”

“Ah.”

Indeed, her neck area had been tingling for a while. Clementina unconsciously grimaced.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Hmm. We both need a lot of practice. You seem weaker than I thought.”

“I think I’m normal.”

“You’re not normal. You’re too weak. Once we return to Drasia territory, we’ll start with physical training first. Oh! It’s slippery here. Be careful.”

From Dion’s perspective, he was moving forward slowly, almost crawling. Clementina was amazed at how Dion lightly jumped across the slippery rocks.

“Here it is.”

Clementina couldn’t see anything in front of her. Only the sound of dripping water stimulated her ears.

Dion raised his left arm to show her. In front of them was a black lake, deep enough that it seemed a demonic beast might be hiding at the bottom.

Dion jumped down under a rock, then turned around and spread his arms toward Clementina.

“This place is a bit scary.”

“It’s okay, nothing really comes out here. Come closer this way.”

Clementina extended both hands toward Dion, who stood with his arms spread. Dion placed her hands on his shoulders, then grabbed her waist and gently lowered her.

“Dragons will easily find us here.”

“How?”

“If low-level demonic beasts like Makuro can find us so well, wouldn’t dragons be able to find us even better? I think you have some kind of scent.”

“Scent? Me?!”

Clementina raised her arm and sniffed it. But she could only detect faint scents of grass, soil, and dampness.

Dion couldn’t help but smile at Clementina’s childlike behavior. He began to sniff around her clothes, following her example.

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

Clementina exclaimed in alarm, frantically shaking her clothes.

“I really thought there was a smell. Haha, we’ve already checked this place. Since I roughly know where we are, we should rest for a bit. There’s a place to sit over there.”

At the edge of the black lake, there were several wooden boxes as Dion had mentioned. Clementina tilted her head back while tapping her stiff neck. Water that had collected on the cave ceiling dripped one drop at a time, rolling down into the black lake below.

Dion opened a wooden box and took out a candle.

“Oh, Arakan! Could you light this…… Ah, he’s not here. At times like this, if a dragon were here, we could light a fire instantly.”

“You don’t only think of dragons when you need to light fires, do you?”

“That’s when I think of them most. Do you know how inconvenient it is? But even without them—”

Dion rummaged through the wooden box once more, pulled out a glowing stone, and effortlessly lit a fire.

“Isn’t this better?”

Dion placed the candle at Clementina’s feet. A sweet fragrance spread, calming her anxious feelings.

“This has less soot and smells different.”

“It’s a beeswax candle. Does Sustain still use candles made from animal fat?”

“Yes, I didn’t even know there were other kinds.”

“Really……? We have plenty at Drasia Castle, so use as many as you like. Is there anything you want to do in the future? I’ll let you do whatever you want.”

“Things I want to do? I’ve never thought about that.”

Dion took out dozens of candles from the wooden box. Used candles were mixed in, so they were all different sizes.

He lit the candles and placed them one by one around Clementina and near the black lake. It looked like stars dotting a pitch-black night sky.

“Start thinking about it now. We have plenty of time. But are you hurting somewhere? You keep massaging your neck.”

“I’m not in pain, I think I’m just very startled. It’s my first time moving around like this.”

“Alright, just a moment.”

Dion interlaced his fingers, cracking them back and forth as he moved behind Clementina’s back. His large hands touched her shoulders. Clementina jumped in surprise and tried to stand up, but Dion gently pressed her down with a soft force.

“No! I’m fine.”

“Wait. You’ll feel better soon.”

Dion’s words were no lie. After pressing down a few times with strong force, her stiff shoulders and neck quickly loosened.

“You know how to do this too?”

“Why? Did you think I was some idiot who couldn’t even do this much?”

“Idiot? You’re a Duke.”

“People who can’t do anything without someone taking care of them are called idiots.”

Clementina opened her eyes wide and tilted her head back to look up at Dion.

“There are many idiots around me.”

“I haven’t seen such idiots around you, Duke.”

“That’s because you haven’t met them yet. I’ll introduce you later.”

“I know a few myself—how about that?”

“Oh! Are we talking about the people I’ve met?”

“Haha, I’m surprised you can think that way. It feels like everything I have is nothing.”

“I’ve lived outside for a long time. When you sleep on dirt floors with knights and stand back-to-back with swords drawn, you realize you’re not that different from them. Besides, I had to take care of Leon myself.”

When Leon was mentioned, both of them suddenly became less talkative. Dion seemed to become more serious than usual whenever Leon came up in conversation.

As the cave grew quiet, Clementina suddenly became very aware of Dion’s hands pressing on her neck.

Dion’s hands were hot from the friction with Clementina’s skin. The heat spread to the area of her neck where he was rubbing, following his warm hands. His hands, which had been pressing from her shoulders up to her neck, suddenly stopped.

“Grooooowl.”

A clear roaring sound was heard from afar. Clementina, who had unconsciously been curling up her body, flinched. Dion reluctantly removed his hands from her shoulders.

The sound of footsteps approached, and Clementina glanced behind her.

Dion, who had been moving away, turned his head and smiled at her. His eyes, curved like a bow, were full of confidence.

“Look over there, they’ve already found us.”

⁕⁕⁕

The Siara Mine they had entered was an even larger cave than it appeared from the entrance. It was large enough for dragons to enter without having to lower their heads.

But belying its name as a mine, it was truly an abandoned place without even insignificant minerals, let alone jewels.

The knights and dragons they safely met near the black lake emitted a foul odor like burnt hair. No, it was an even more unpleasant smell.

“We were worried when you suddenly disappeared, Duchess.”

Berche, the vice-captain of the Gold Dragon Knight Order, handed Clementina a wooden water bottle.

“It’s tea. Though it’s not warm, they say it’s good for calming the mind. Are you hurt anywhere? Would you like some alcohol instead?”

Clementina took the bottle from Berche and looked at Dion, who was already drinking from an elegant glass liquor bottle.

“Ah, would you like some? Try a little. It will warm your body.”

Clementina took Dion’s liquor bottle and thanked Berche.

“Thank you. I’m fine except for a few scratches.”

Clementina took a sip of the liquor from the bottle. After confirming that the liquor had gone down her throat, Dion nudged Berche’s arm with a smile still on his face.

“What happened to the Makuro?”

“We roasted them all as soon as you two disappeared. We should have done that from the start.”

“We could have just mounted the dragons, hehehehe.”

Vance flared his nostrils, seemingly recalling the earlier battle.

Although they treated the battle like a game, having the Duchess attacked before their eyes was quite disconcerting.

Partly because they had never thought they could easily lose someone, but also because the behavior of these demonic beasts subtly deviated from what they knew.

Demonic beasts rushing toward Clementina, whom they themselves had only just met.

After a brief rest, they each made torches using the dragons’ fire and began walking. The once-dark cave was now filled with the sound of footsteps and the noisy chatter of men.