Even as morning approached, the risen stars were each twinkling with brilliant light.

As if they didn’t want to disappear.

“Leon calls you his younger brother, and Percy, Gerard, and Derek call you nephew, while Sam calls you his older brother.”

“……”

“Shall I tell you about more people who came to me asking not to drive you away?”

Luke’s head drooped low.

“I don’t know the sorrow of losing family because I don’t have one.”

Hector had known from the moment Luke slipped out of the tent.

But because he didn’t know what family was, he couldn’t offer even a word of comfort to the sobbing Luke.

“I’m not telling you to forget, nor to forgive.”

Perhaps the being Luke hates more than anyone is not the Wilkins Knight Order, but himself who survived alone.

“However, if losing family is such a sorrowful thing…”

Hector slowly lowered his gaze and looked at Luke.

“I hope you don’t leave the same pain for your family.”

“……”

At that moment, it felt as if Luke’s heart had dropped to his toes.

[Don’t you want to go see the snow?]

After coming to the Hunt family,

Percy was the first to bring a smile to Luke, who was crying missing his family.

Although he ended up sick with a severe cold for a few days.

[Didn’t you say you were going to hunt ogres?]

Gerard ensured sound sleep through harsh training.

[Who bullied my little brother!]

Leon would roll up his sleeves and flare up in anger even at small injuries.

Tanner, glaring with piercing eyes, also took care of Luke.

[This is this month’s allowance from His Grace.]

The allowance, enough to tire one out from spending, was not inferior to that of most young nobles.

And that’s not all, during his days at the academy, Luke received greetings from the chairman because Hector was his sponsor.

[This kid, when did he grow up so much.]

[I bought a cactus instead of flowers.]

[Who’s the bastard that injured you when we were sparring last time?]

At the graduation ceremony, so many knights came that there was no time to feel the absence of his parents.

As days passed like this, he had become an adult before he knew it.

Now he was the vice commander of the Hunt Knight Order, for whom ogres were no match.

“Don’t you have many family members now?”

Hector patted Luke’s shoulder and turned around.

How far had he walked?

“I think…”

Suddenly, Hector’s steps came to a halt.

“It’s fortunate that you’re alive.”

“……!”

Luke’s eyes widened.

Hector started walking again.

“If family is something that’s painful to lose, then you must be my family too.”

Watching Hector walk away, Luke smiled, a mixture of joy and sorrow.

[Take it. I’ll help you find your family.]

* * *

Warm sunlight shone down on the encampment.

Under the shade of the Hunt faction’s canopy.

Charlie and Kieran’s tea time continued today as well.

‘This is strange…’

Charlie looked down at the teacup in her hand with a troubled expression.

According to what she had found out over the past few days, Luke and Kieran had no connection.

No, it was impossible to have this little connection.

She even suspected that Kieran’s parents might have been part of the Wilkins Knight Order at that time.

[It doesn’t seem to be inherited from my parents. Both of them are far from swords. My father is a professor affiliated with the Wilkins Foundation, and my mother loves flowers.]

So, the ‘child of the enemy who killed my parents’ theory was ruled out.

They weren’t blood relatives either.

[Both my father and mother are only children.]

After that, she considered several plausible reasons, but none of them applied.

‘This is too much of a lack of connection.’

Moreover, even Luke’s attitude towards Kieran had changed.

[H-hello…]

It seemed like a barely passable greeting, but compared to the old Luke, it was a huge improvement.

Kieran also seemed taken aback and hesitated. But soon she responded with a bright smile.

[Yes, hello to you too, Sir Luke.]

‘No matter how I think about it, it’s strange.’

It’s unlikely he wouldn’t kill her just because they had some tea time and became acquainted.

‘If it was just that level of emotion, he wouldn’t have tried to kill her in the first place.’

Moreover, the Luke that Charlie had observed respected Hector more than anyone else.

He wouldn’t have been unaware of the ripple effects his actions would cause.

If so, it must be anger and hatred strong enough to overcome even the gratitude for sparing his life…

‘There must be a f*cking starting point somewhere.’

As if forgetting that she was in the middle of tea time with Kieran.

Charlie sat in a matriarch’s posture, biting her nails.

“……”

“……”

Kieran was also lost in deep thought.

At first, she was curious about the purpose of this sudden tea time.

[I’m sorry… I caused you trouble yesterday, didn’t I?]

But the next day. The appearance of Charlie fidgeting with her fingertips with an apologetic face was indeed the original Charlie she had thought of.

Whatever the reason, Kieran found it much easier now that Noel was working because of the tea time.

Maintaining a friendly relationship with the Hunt family was also what she had hoped for.

Therefore, Charlie wasn’t Kieran’s problem.

[I was going to… As you know, the Hunt Knight Order really hates us. So I couldn’t even speak to them properly.]

Kieran had instructed Josh to convey her thanks for dealing with the troll.

She didn’t do it on the spot because she was concerned about the Imperial Army and Cedric.

Clearly, both families would be on guard.

So it was an individual instruction given after arriving at the encampment.

But Josh didn’t convey it.

No, she was doubtful whether he even tried to convey it.

[It’s a family heirloom given by Emperor Constanti, he said.]

Since when had it been?

[Did something happen at the Hunt camp? Did that Luke bastard humiliate you? Surely, Hector didn’t torture you?!]

When did Josh start reporting about her to Noel?

[That Luke guy is going as an escort, so you can’t go alone, Kieran.]

And because of this, Josh also joined the tea time with Charlie.

‘Did Josh have a grudge against the Hunt family?’

Kieran turned only her eyes to observe Josh who was standing behind her.

Unlike Luke, who was enjoying himself next to Charlie, Josh looked on edge.

More precisely, he seemed somewhat anxious.

“Sigh…”

“Hmm…”

How long had this silent tea time continued?

“Did you have a pleasant time?”

Leon’s voice, walking from afar, broke the silence.

On one hand, he was holding rabbit meat to give to Kieran.

Only then did Charlie and Kieran emerge from their thoughts.

“Oh my, an hour has already passed. We were so caught up in chatting that we didn’t realize how time flew.”

Charlie hurriedly corrected her relaxed posture and smiled brightly.

The fragrant black tea had cooled completely.

“It seems so.”

Kieran responded to Charlie’s words with a gentle smile.

The strong coffee, too, hardly diminished from its original state.

“……”

Luke, looking back and forth between the two, tilted his head.

The conversation they had today was just a few words about the weather at best.

“Then let’s have another pleasant chat tomorrow.”

“Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“……”

* * *

Inside Hector’s tent.

Charlie, who had just finished washing, was still staring blankly into space.

She didn’t even notice Hector approaching her side.

Fortunately, Charlie’s eccentric behavior had disappeared since she started having tea time with Kieran.

“Charlie.”

Hector embraced her slender waist from behind and leaned his body against her.

“Did you enjoy the tea time?”

“Ah…”

Charlie, who suddenly realized, pursed her lips.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t been taking care of Hector lately because she was preoccupied with Luke.

“Thanks to you, I enjoyed it.”

“You seem to like that knight commander.”

Hector buried his face in her lush hair and took a deep breath.

The pheromones he felt were much lighter than before.

[When it comes to friends, isn’t Emma Miss Charlie’s only one?]

Friends.

Hector doesn’t know what that means.

But if Charlie wanted it and was happy, that was enough for everything.

[I suppose there are things she can’t say to us.]

Besides, Emma was closer to being someone Charlie took care of rather than a friend.

Although the fact that she was the Wilkins Knight Commander was a concern, at least she didn’t try to gain advantages or disadvantages from Charlie.

“She seems like a good person.”

“If you want, you can invite her to the mansion.”

“Really?”

Charlie quickly turned her body around.

It was just when she was wondering how to monitor Luke and Kieran after the expedition ended.

“The flowers in the greenhouse should be in full bloom by now.”

“But…”

As if knowing what she was about to say, Hector answered first.

“I don’t mind.”

Hector’s lips descended on Charlie’s cheek.

“Tomorrow is the last day of the expedition, so you can invite her in advance.”

* * *