After what had happened in the garden, Eden made a habit of interfering whenever Siobhan and I tried to spend even a moment together.

That very morning as well.

“Eloa, did you have a pleasant night?”

“Yes, did you as well, Sir Sio…”

“Loa, come here for a moment.”

“I will be on my way then.”

And just a little while ago as well.

“Sir Sio…”

Every time I tried to call out to Siobhan, Eden would cut off my words time and again.

“Siobhan.”

“Yes, my lord. Your orders.”

“Go and get some more training in.”

“Pardon? Yes, understood.”

Wherever he disappeared to, he was nowhere to be seen when I was talking with other people, yet the moment I tried to talk with Siobhan, he appeared immediately.

At this point, was he not doing it on purpose?

“Eden.”

“……”

“You are doing it on purpose.”

“Doing what?”

“Do not pretend not to know when you clearly do.”

“Well, I genuinely have no idea what you mean.”

“Every time I try to talk with Sir Siobhan, you interfere.”

“Siobhan is my knight. It is only natural that he follows my orders.”

“Even so, surely a simple greeting is permissible.”

“No.”

A blunt answer came from his lips. He was someone who would talk in circles, playing with people as though toying with them, until he got the answer he wanted from the other person, but this time was different. Knowing that about him, I could not help but be startled by Eden’s answer just now.

“What did you just say?”

“……”

“Did you not just say no?”

“No, I did not.”

“Come now, you just said no.”

She pressed her face close to Eden’s and pursued him relentlessly.

Is it not said that from a distance it looks like a comedy, but up close it is a tragedy?

The sight of her pressing him persistently and Eden evading her questions looked, from a distance, for all the world like an affectionate married couple.

***

Having finally managed to get away from Loa, Eden entered his office and removed his gloves in a stifled manner. Whether managed to get away was even the right way to put it was debatable, but what was certain was that just now he had been completely swept up by her.

The sofa had always been something he only ever sat at his desk and never lay down on, but this time was different. He sprawled carelessly across it, his long legs dangling off the edge.

He had never understood why his father used to lie here in the past, but now he felt he understood a little.

Eloa. It seemed he had become thoroughly entangled with her.

Eden recalled the first time he had met her in the forest.

The morning of the day they had met in the forest.

A stranger dressed in imperial knighthood attire had come to visit him and held out a single letter. Before he could even open his mouth to ask who the person was, the stranger spoke first.

“This was sent by Knight Siobhan Akane.”

“Siobhan?”

“Yes, he asked me to deliver it to the Duke at precisely this time.”

Siobhan should be visiting the imperial palace, having received an invitation to join the imperial knighthood…

“Then I shall take my leave.”

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“You have not identified yourself or your affiliation.”

“I am Luca, of the Imperial Second Knighthood.”

“I see, Luca. Siobhan would have visited the imperial palace for the first time today. How did he come to entrust this letter to you?”

“Knight Siobhan Akane came to me first and made the request. He appeared quite urgent, so I came to the Duke immediately without asking any questions.”

“He appeared urgent?”

“Yes. I myself only knew that Knight Siobhan Akane was visiting today. I had not expected him to make such a request of me.”

Looking at the letter, it did indeed bear the wax seal Siobhan used and was written in his handwriting.

“If this is a fabrication, you will be staking your life on it.”

“As if I would dare play such a shallow trick on Duke Hylus.”

After the stranger left, he opened the letter to find it written in unmistakably Siobhan’s handwriting.

My lord. Please come to Mangila Forest by the first hour of the *evening watch today. It is a matter of great urgency.

(*Evening watch: 16:30 – 17:30)

Upon reading the letter, an inexplicable sense of unease came over him.

It was unmistakably Siobhan’s handwriting and seal, so why this feeling of unease?

He checked whether any magic had been used on the letter, but there was none. It was undeniably something Siobhan had written.

The current time was noon. There were approximately five hours remaining until the time Siobhan had asked to meet.

Before preparing to go out, he called for Alb first.

“Alb.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Assign someone to Siobhan.”

“Yes… yes?!”

“You heard me correctly.”

“Might I ask why you are doing so?”

“Assign two people, ones capable of protecting Siobhan.”

From Alb’s perspective, he could not understand him.

He had been told to assign someone, yet told to assign not someone to harm but someone to protect, and he could not understand what kind of contradictory instruction that was.

“And… look into a man named Luca of the Imperial Second Knighthood.”

“Yes, understood.”

Upon arriving at Mangila Forest, there was no sign of Siobhan, nor any sense of his presence.

“Just as I thought…”

That letter had not been written by Siobhan.

At that very moment.

Whoosh!

“Fire!”

Mangila Forest was a forest with many tall trees. Mercenaries who had concealed themselves in the tall trees began firing arrows at him all at once.

“W-wait!”

“What are you doing, he is getting away!”

“His face is hidden by a hood so we cannot see it, but Hylus’s hair color is silver. This person’s hair is black!”

“He is the only one who would come here!”

“I-is that so?”

“You idiots! Shoot again, quickly!”

They shouted to fire again, but while the foolish mercenaries were quarreling among themselves, Eden had already swiftly vacated the spot. And then a physical confrontation began with the mercenaries who came chasing after him.

Clang!

The spine-chilling sound of sharp metal striking metal rang out.

It was because a mercenary who had appeared out of nowhere in the direction he was heading came charging with a sword, intent on killing. Before the blade could reach him, he drew the sword from within his coat and quickly blocked it.

The numbers were not too many for him to handle alone, but it had become a nuisance.

Judging by the mercenaries’ unremarkable skill, it was clear this was not Siobhan’s betrayal. If Siobhan had been taken down by these incompetents, he would certainly have to be punished, Eden thought, as he dealt with the mercenaries one by one.

“I will give you the chance to live. Whose orders are you following?”

“I cannot tell you…”

The life of the mercenary who refused to answer was taken without mercy.

“If you have any sense, you would not want to die.”

“Ugh… aaargh! Please spare me. He’s, he’s a monster!”

He picked up whatever sword happened to be stuck in the ground and hurled it hard at the fleeing mercenary. As he eliminated them one by one, before long only a single mercenary remained. But even that one was already caught in his grip.

“I do not have much patience. Who sent you?”

“…A, Marchioness Aibel Shaga.”

“Go and tell the marchioness. That the Duke did not appear in the forest.”

The moment Eden released the mercenary after learning who was behind it all.

“Ugh.”

The mercenary drove a hidden sword hard into his shoulder.

“Even the great Duke Hylus cannot withstand this!”

As he staggered briefly from the pain of the sword driven deep into him, the mercenary quickly disappeared from his sight. And then a sound that should not have been heard reached his ears.

Grrr.

The hair-raising breath of a beast. And movements as though searching for prey.

It was a black four-legged hawk, a creature not found in this forest, nor in this country.

Ordinarily it was a beast with good eyesight only in the dark, typically locating its prey by scent, but Mangila Forest was darker than other places due to its tall trees.

And above all, blood was continuing to flow from Eden’s shoulder, making him the perfect prey for the hungry-looking beast.

After putting as much distance as quietly as possible between himself and the beast, he removed the robe he had been wearing. Then he pulled out the sword driven deep into his shoulder. It was a pain that made him want to scream.

Blood flowed freely from where the sword had been removed. Ordinarily he would not have pulled it out, but that was when there was no black four-legged hawk present, and right now pulling it out and moving was the right call.

Moving while bleeding would be the same as revealing his location to the beast, so he tore the robe he had removed with his sword and bound his shoulder tightly. His arm became immovable, but the bleeding gradually began to slow.

Gripping his immovable arm, he wandered through the forest. And then he stopped before a large tree.

I can conceal myself behind this tree.

Come to think of it, Siobhan had said he would stay in the capital for a while after his visit to the imperial palace before returning. He had made a significant error in not being suspicious when a message had come asking to meet from that very Siobhan.

The bleeding had lessened compared to before, but it had not stopped entirely. Just around the time when he could no longer feel the sensation of warm blood flowing down one arm.

Whoosh!

The sound of an arrow came again.

Just as he was about to conceal himself, thinking it might be the mercenary from before. The person who appeared before him was neither a mercenary nor one of his own, but a woman. The look in her eyes as she gazed at him was filled with genuine concern.

“Excuse me, are you alright?”