She pondered until her head hurt. However, only vague outlines formed, and no definite strategy emerged.

“Sigh……”

After agonizing until evening, Leah finally had trouble sleeping and woke up in the middle of the night. She wrapped a thick shawl around herself and went out to the balcony.

‘Since I can’t sleep anyway, I might as well get some fresh air.’

The night breeze felt cool and refreshing, but her mind remained complicated.

‘By the way, who will handle the defense at the trial? It’s not something Dad should handle… Maybe big brother?’

Young Duke Rikeil Piert was a recognized talent known for his cold judgment, extensive information network, and swift action based on these qualities. He also had a talent for business, having greatly expanded the Piert merchant guild.

However, people considered him lacking in charisma compared to Ruyan.

‘Big brother excels at everything, but he’s somewhat weak when it comes to public opinion.’

He was a young duke, smart, tall, strikingly handsome, and competent at his work.

Moreover, with his noble demeanor befitting the ducal heir and surprisingly caring nature, he had been Peiren’s most eligible bachelor for several years.

If Rikeil Piert, who seemed to have everything, lacked anything, it was presence.

Living as the brother of Ruyan, who naturally exuded energy, he inevitably appeared relatively dim in comparison.

‘If it were just about information warfare, I’d leave it to big brother, but not for public opinion.’

In her opinion, public opinion proved crucial for this trial.

“Ugh.”

Leah groaned as she rested her arms on the cold marble balustrade of the balcony.

‘Those Count Trow bastards might be annoying, but they’re smart… How can we turn this in our favor?’

Just as she was about to lay down on the railing out of frustration.

“Ugh.”

The night wind carried someone’s groan.

“Ugh.”

It sounded close to sleep-talking.

‘Helix?’

Leah perked up her ears at the familiar voice.

“Must protect……”

She blinked. Though it seemed like sleep-talking, the voice sounded very distressed.

‘Should I wake him up? Would he hear me if I call from here?’

While she wavered, the sound suddenly stopped.

‘I guess he fell back into proper sleep.’

Just as she felt relieved, humming began to drift over.

It was a gentle, clear, yet somewhat sorrowful melody. Leah found herself unconsciously listening.

A song Helix had started to comfort himself after waking from a nightmare.

However, it brought comfort to her as well. Leah pressed her cheek against the marble railing and looked toward where the song came from.

She could see Helix standing on the adjacent balcony, bathed in moonlight.

“……”

The song drifted on the night breeze, and the moonlight scattered across Helix’s silver hair.

“…What song is that?”

Helix answered without showing any surprise.

“It’s an elven song.”

He looked up at the distant sky.

“When they sing it, it sounds even clearer than the wind.”

“I like what I just heard better.”

Helix smiled slightly.

“You haven’t even heard elves sing it.”

“Still.”

Silence flowed between them on the night breeze for a moment. Helix started humming softly again.

The elven song scattered into the night sky. As she listened to the song, Leah quietly gazed at Helix’s profile, which looked more like an Elf King than a human.

“……”

She remembered how he had stood frozen in the center of the lair when she first saw him.

He spoke familiarly of legendary beings like dragons and elves.

He would occasionally express bewilderment at how the world had changed, and said his identity was that of a guardian, a title she had never heard before.

‘Helix must find this era strange.’

But the same applied to her.

Time and space.

No matter which becomes distorted, one’s unfamiliarity with where they don’t belong eventually shows.

‘Maybe that’s why I felt close to Helix.’

Even though she had lived as Leah Piert for over ten years, even though her mom, dad, and brothers were now her family and so precious to her.

Sometimes. Very rarely.

There were times when this place felt unfamiliar, making her wonder where she was. At those times, she felt desolate and lonely, seemingly dropped into this world alone.

“Helix.”

She called out to him as the song ended.

“Hold my hand.”

“…It’s dangerous.”

“You don’t have to transfer mana. You can jump this distance, right?”

Helix let out a weak sigh.

“A young lady shouldn’t ask a man to come to her room in the middle of the night.”

“Wow.”

Leah’s eyes grew round.

“Helix, you just sounded like an ancestor.”

“…An ancestor?”

“Yeah, there are those. Called Confucian men.”

“What’s that now?”

Leah laughed softly and said.

“Helix, let’s eat something sweet tomorrow. Something really delicious.”

Helix, who had been staring intently at her, climbed onto his balcony railing and leaped over. Before she could express surprise, he stood in front of Leah.

“…Wasn’t it not okay to come to someone’s room at night?”

“Come to think of it, this is a balcony, not a room.”

“What kind of logic is that?”

Helix looked down at Leah, who softly chuckled, and patted her head.

“Leah, your mind works quickly in crisis situations.”

“Wow, it’s been a while since I got such a sincere compliment.”

“And after using your brain like that, you always want to eat something sweet.”

She blinked.

“How did you know?”

***

Helix smiled faintly.

“How could I not know when I’ve been watching you by your side?”

Though an ordinary statement, it somehow made her chest feel warm and reassured.

As she stared at Helix, he moved his hand from patting her head to lightly touching her shoulder. Under his firm hand, her tense shoulders naturally relaxed.

‘I guess I was tense.’

To notice a state she hadn’t even realized herself. Leah looked up at Helix with sparkling eyes.

“Whose contractor is this thoughtful?”

He flinched and slowly removed his hand from her shoulder.

“…Don’t be too tense. You’ve always done well.”

The tips of Helix’s fingers trembled with tension as he said this. She slightly complained.

“Why are you taking your hand away? You can keep going.”

“Leah, you really have no sense of caution.”

“Who do I need to be cautious of here?”

Leah pretended to look around and counted on her fingers.

“Helix whom I like? Helix who’s on my side? Helix who’s my one and only contractor?”

“……”

She smiled softly.

“Oh my, there’s no one.”

Helix looked down at Leah while gritting his teeth. He wanted to bite this cute contractor in front of him.

‘What crazy thoughts am I having in the moonlight.’

He deliberately spoke more stiffly and strictly.

“You are a mage and I am a guardian, so caution is appropriate. The mages whose mana I took…”

I shouldn’t have said that. Helix regretted it and closed his mouth. Leah carefully asked.

“Is that why? Because of the mana?”

“……”

“Is that why you acted that way to me at the secret club too? Because you’re afraid you might ruin me?”

Helix snapped his head up.

“No, that’s…!”

He couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. That the Master sometimes brings up the Dragon’s Holy Maiden. That he says Leah might be the Dragon’s Holy Maiden.

Though he believed she wasn’t, sometimes he felt terrifyingly afraid. He clenched his fist and forced himself to say something else.

“…It’s because of trauma.”

“Trauma?”

“…Long ago, when I was sealed in Azura’s lair, I also ruined a plan.”

Helix spoke briefly.

About how long ago a star of destruction fell (probably a meteorite impact). How dragons, mages, and guardians gathered to create a magic barrier to stop it.

On the day of the final battle. The Archmage and mages waited with Helix, but the dragons didn’t come. When Helix went to persuade Dragonlord Azura, he said something unexpected.

“…The dragons said they would withdraw from the plan because the magic barrier was imperfect. They said they would move separately, that they would self-destruct along with the star of destruction. They said that would guarantee 100% safety for their dragon eggs.”

“……”

“They had already prepared a barrier. It was a barrier made to protect their eggs from the impact of the tremendous explosion. And me… they sealed me there to supply mana to maintain the barrier.”

She hadn’t expected the dragons to backstab them so deeply. Leah, shocked, finally managed to say.

“Dragons… really… were such bastards? They only thought about their own eggs?”

“They’re inherently self-centered creatures. It happens because they’re so powerful.”

Helix’s face darkened with guilt.

“The explosion of the star of destruction back then must have devastated the northern Hel Mountains. That’s why that place became known as the Land of Corruption, why it became a land teeming with monsters. It used to be peaceful like other parts of the continent…”

It became like a nuclear bombing site, huh. Leah looked up at him with a pitiful feeling.

Helix spoke heavily.

“If I had maintained better balance and properly persuaded both sides, that wouldn’t have happened.”

What nonsense.

The pitiful and sympathetic feeling vanished instantly. She opened her eyes wide and pressed firmly on his chest.

“Who told you to blame yourself in front of me again? The dragons were wrong, not Helix.”

“But.”

“Hey! Helix, listen well. If I were to say in front of you now, ‘Sob sob, if I had behaved better, such rumors wouldn’t have spread and there wouldn’t be a trial, I guess it’s all my fault,’ what would you say?”

“How could that be your fault, Leah!”

Helix got angry.

“Isn’t it the fault of those vile Count Trow people who made up malicious rumors!”

“See, there you have it.”

Leah blinked.

“It’s the same thing? Our handsome, protector of the weak, merciless to villains, wonderful Helix isn’t at fault at all? It’s all the dragons’ fault?”

Her tone sounded proud, stating an obvious truth. Her blue eyes looked up at him sparkling, believing this was only natural.

“Our Helix, you’ve been through so much, why are you still troubled when you’re with me? Come on, look at pretty me.”

Leah made an unusually cute pose and blinked at Helix.

“Aren’t I pretty? Don’t you feel better just looking at me? Don’t you like me that much?”

“……”