When I regained consciousness, it was morning. I found myself lying quietly alone on Leopold’s bed. I had intended to help him sleep well, but instead, I had fallen asleep myself, which was a bit embarrassing.

After tidying up my clothes, I stepped outside to find that preparations for departure were already in full swing. I craned my neck to look around. A knight, busy pulling up stakes near the tent, greeted me warmly when he saw me.

“You’re awake.”

“You’re busy this morning. You’re working hard. Where is Leopold?”

“The Duke is at the rear tent. The prince of the principality has arrived.”

“Raphael is here?”

Surprised by the unexpected news, I asked again, and the knight answered politely.

“Yes, he is probably in the midst of a conversation with our lord.”

“Oh my, thank you for letting me know.”

I sprinted toward the place the knight had mentioned. Just then, the two of them were coming out of the tent.

“Raphael!”

When I called his name loudly, he looked at me with a moment of surprise, then soon smiled brightly.

“Hazel!”

His expression was always clear and cheerful, no matter when I saw him. It finally hit me that everything had ended.

“You’re safe!”

Unable to hide my joy, I spoke in an excited voice, and Raphael seemed equally thrilled.

“Thanks to you, Hazel. I’ve received so much kindness, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay it.”

“Anyone would have done the same as I did. It’s so good to meet again with both of us alive and well.”

“Me too.”

As we exchanged smiles, eyes crinkling with joy, Leopold spoke up from the side with a dissatisfied look.

“Am I invisible to you?”

“Oh, Leopold. I was just so glad to see Raphael. Did you sleep well last night? I’m sorry for falling asleep first. I guess I was too tired from taking care of the patients.”

“I know.”

Even though I offered an explanation that wasn’t quite an excuse, his expression didn’t soften easily. Although they had been cooperating for a while, it seemed that Raphael still didn’t sit well with him.

I was just pondering how nice it would be if they became more amicable when suddenly, Raphael teasingly spoke up.

“Hmm, it seems the Duke is jealous?”

It wasn’t the kind of word I expected in this situation, so I frowned, and he added an explanation.

“I think he’s jealous because Hazel and I are so friendly.”

I had no idea where to start correcting him. Setting aside my bewilderment, I gently tried to reason with him, who was still as carefree as ever.

“Jealousy? Leopold isn’t like that—”

“That’s right.”

The one who cut off my words was Leopold. I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, but he remained completely composed.

“Your face might wear out. Your Highness, perhaps you should take your leave? I understand the situation.”

“May I take Hazel with me? The palace would be a better place for her to stay than here.”

“Duchess Lawrence.”

“…May I escort Duchess Lawrence?”

“Hazel, what do you want to do? It’s up to you.”

“Uh, well…”

Distracted by the thoughts swirling in my head, I barely registered the conversation between the two men.

Isn’t jealousy a feeling that arises when you have affection for someone? Leopold’s words made it sound as if he liked me.

Showing affectionate actions and expressing the emotions behind them in words are entirely separate matters. In other words, this was an event that completely left me at a loss, like a natural disaster.

“Hazel?”

Leopold called my name again. Barely regaining my composure, I finally managed to speak.

“I’ll go with Raphael.”

“Are you serious?”

His hurt expression was so unsettling that I wanted to avoid it for a moment.

“I’ll check on the injured one more time.”

“…Alright.”

Reluctantly, Leopold nodded. His furrowed brow, tinged with annoyance, was unfamiliar in a different way. It wasn’t directed at me. Whatever it was, I didn’t want to provoke him further, so I asked cautiously.

“You’re coming to the palace after you finish up here, right?”

“Yes. Now that everything’s settled, I need to report to His Majesty.”

His discomfort was evident, showing that he wasn’t pleased about me traveling with Raphael. But we each had our roles and responsibilities to fulfill.

Despite the word stuck in my mind making my heart race, I spoke as if everything was normal.

“Got it. Um, Raphael, could you wait in the tent for a moment?”

“No, I’ll follow Hazel. I want to help in any way I can.”

He beamed as if everything was great, even though he had created this strange situation himself. Of course, it wasn’t entirely his fault, so I swallowed the sigh rising within me.

“Just assist quietly from the side, okay?”

“Yes!”

“Then, Leopold, I’ll see you at the palace.”

Without waiting for a response, I hurriedly said goodbye and turned away. I wanted to calm my racing heart.

Since last night, everything happening here felt more surreal than the time I had gone back. If it were a dream, I hoped to wake up soon so I wouldn’t be swayed by foolish emotions.

“Hazel! You’ll get hurt at this rate.”

Lost in thought, I tripped over a large rock. Fortunately, Raphael’s quick reflexes allowed him to catch me, helping me regain my balance.

“Oh, sorry.”

“No need to apologize to me.”

“Right, of course…”

I had already drifted into my thoughts in front of him several times, feeling embarrassed, I tossed out a question.

“Is the palace alright? There was smoke, after all. I heard it was fake, though.”

Raphael rolled his eyes as if recalling the memory and explained.

“Yes. It was a ruse to lure the Marquis, so there wasn’t an actual fire. We scrambled to prepare it, but Alendia was a big help even then. She also confirmed the authenticity of the note you sent.”

“Speaking of which, how did you discover the note I sent? Tell me in detail. It was the first time I succeeded in a non-healing spell.”

I had planned to ask Raphael about the note first thing, but Leopold had distracted me.

“That was kind of cute.”

“…What did you say?”

Thinking he was teasing me again, I frowned slightly, but he replied with a serious expression.

“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I meant the note.”

Suddenly embarrassed, my face flushed. I really needed to stop jumping to conclusions. Raphael had already told me he had moved on.

“What misunderstanding would I have…? So, what happened next?”

I muttered as I lifted the tent flap to the patients’ ward, as if making excuses.

“Hmm.”

He made a dubious sound behind me, as if he wanted to tease me. My face was still warm, so I busied myself checking on the patients, avoiding looking back at him.

“Well, alright. Anyway, Hazel, you folded the note into a bird shape and sent it, right? When I found it, I was in a lesson on tea etiquette, and there was this constant tapping sound from the window. Tap, tap.”

I paused in unwrapping a bandage, intrigued by his story. Raphael continued.

“At some point, it was so distracting that I went to the window and found a folded piece of paper stuck in the frame. When I tried to take it out, the part that looked like a head started moving on its own!”

“Oh my.”

I exclaimed in surprise as I turned to him, and he was also wide-eyed with wonder.

“I was so startled that I screamed! The etiquette teacher was there, and I think she was more shocked than I was by my sudden outburst. Now that I think about it, I never apologized.”

Raphael scratched his head and continued talking. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, eagerly waiting for the rest of the story.

“Anyway, the paper bird kept hitting its head against the window, so I quickly took it out. Then Alendia confirmed that it was indeed from you.”

“The paper bird did a great job… Poor thing.”

“Exactly! I wanted to keep it, but the Duke took it as soon as he saw it. Hmph.”

He pouted as he complained. It seemed he genuinely liked the paper bird.

“He probably needed it to convince me. Still, I’m really glad the spell worked.”

I spoke soothingly and returned to tending to the patients. Meanwhile, some of the injured who had woken up were checking their fully healed bodies.

“Yes. We were aware that Marquis Aaron’s movements were suspicious, but we didn’t expect things to escalate so quickly until we received your note.”

“It was a matter of life and death for you, Raphael. His Majesty needed to act swiftly.”

“That’s true. And it was fortunate that the Duke led his troops here, which made things go smoothly.”

As I moved to the next patient, I had to turn back to Raphael.

“Leopold led his troops here?”

All I had seen in Fojetta were knights from the Lawrence family. It was such a small village that I would have known if there were more people. I looked at him, puzzled, and Raphael asked back, as if he couldn’t understand my reaction.

“You didn’t know?”

“Not at all. I thought he was commanding the kingdom’s forces with just the Lawrence family’s knights… No wonder there were so many soldiers with the empire’s emblem.”

He tilted his head as if pondering something, then helped hold up a patient’s arm as I rewrapped the bandage.

“Hazel, are you sure you were on a secret mission alone?”

“…Yes.”

Startled, I couldn’t answer immediately. It was a lie I had completely forgotten about.