The carriage stopped. After the coachman left, Cedric carried Arne and walked deep into the forest.

“Do you always come here on foot like this?”

“No. Usually, I use a teleportation scroll.”

“Today?”

“I was too distracted to bring one.”

It’s a lie. He just wanted to walk a little longer like this. It got colder as they climbed the mountain, and he didn’t mind her burrowing into his embrace.

As they entered the barrier, steam rose. Cedric handed a bottle of holy water to Arne. The remaining holy water was poured over the hot spring.

As one, two, three precious bottles of holy water were used, Arne’s eyes widened.

“I can’t send you back to the Duke’s house like this. It would be shocking if a lady who attended a banquet returned looking like someone had died… well, someone did die. Stay as long as you want.”

Cedric turned his body. At that moment, the howl of a hungry wild animal echoed long. It seemed to have caught the scent of humans because they had walked here directly.

Arne, who was frozen stiff, grabbed Cedric’s collar.

“Was that the sound of a wild animal? You’re staying here too, right, Cedric?”

There are wild animals, but the barrier protects them, so it’s okay. He was about to say it was definitely okay.

“You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”

“……I’ll stand guard.”

“That’s a relief. Thank you.”

Arne stopped Cedric, who nodded lightly and turned away. Seeing his face looking so exhausted, Arne deliberately spoke brightly. Sometimes just changing one’s thoughts can provide relief.

“But don’t we have something to talk about before that?”

Arne smiled softly. Her eyes sparkled. What is she thinking now?

“You said the Grand Duke wouldn’t be easy. I think he gave me a chance too.”

Her clear eyes shone.

“You weren’t speaking lightly when you asked me to think seriously back then.”

Her moving lips were lovely.

“So, shall we go to the Ipellita Garden together?”

This woman really doesn’t know.

“Although it was just a roundabout way of saying it, I like it. If I were to push a bit, I’d say it’s a reward for finding Lady Judith’s letter. How about it? Or…….”

When you stir me, I want to hold you.

Cedric slowly ran his fingers through his hair. In his tired mind, Arne’s words echoed. His grandfather never overturned a decision once made.

They say parents can’t win against their children, but he even triumphed over his own child. A man like that left room for reconsideration.

‘For Raniarne.’

Cedric’s gaze lingered on Arne’s clear eyes.

‘No matter how easily she overturned my expectations, the Grand Duke of Renigrad was not within that scope.’

How far does this woman intend to shake me?

Drip.

A drop of blood fell from Arne’s hand that was holding Cedric. At that moment, Cedric’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t her blood, but if he had been a little later, it might have been.

When the image he had pushed away resurfaced, an unbearable anger rose within him.

“Before that, I have something to ask as well. How did you know about the existence of the bomb?”

“Ah.”

“Aren’t you afraid of corpses? Didn’t you think you might die if the bomb exploded? Shouldn’t you have thought about running away first?”

Arne’s lips just quivered. It was clearly an issue that needed to be addressed. It could be seen as suspicious, but there was no choice. Everyone couldn’t die there.

“If you were an ordinary young lady, it wouldn’t be strange to sit down and cry the moment you saw the assassin, but you were not only excessively calm, but you also managed to discover the bomb.”

It’s sufficiently suspicious. Arne tried her best to think and find an excuse.

“I was scared too.”

“If so, why didn’t you run to me? If you didn’t want to die, you could have hidden behind me, right?”

“That’s…”

“Why not just run to me and cry in my arms? Why do you always seek out dangerous things?”

Arne blinked slowly. His question was a bit strange. He wasn’t asking why Arne was suspicious, but why she didn’t run away.

“You must have known that your mana core was broken and you couldn’t use magic properly. Why do you step up when you have no strength? If that’s the case, it’s better to hide and cry.”

At that moment, Arne’s eyebrows twitched.

“You say it’s better to hide and cry?”

“Yes.”

“Then would the bomb not explode?”

“It doesn’t have to be you.”

“If it wasn’t me, it wouldn’t have been discovered in time. Everyone would have been seriously injured. You asked if I’m not afraid of corpses, right?”

Arne’s eyes flickered.

“I am scared. But it’s not the first time. If I lose consciousness and turn my head, someone who was alive and moving yesterday becomes a corpse. I’m not an ordinary young lady, I was a war orphan.”

“……”

“Hide and cry? That’s a privilege for children who have someone who will come running when they hide and cry. For ordinary children who have parents desperately looking for them from the start.”

“……”

“Now I’ve become a young lady of Ronia, but nothing has really changed. No one comes to me when I cry. There’s only one reason people come to me. Because I’m useful. They need the Grand Mage, not Raniarne.”

Today, it’s the same with the Grand Duke. The letter from Lady Judith, Duke Xenon’s water rights, the ability to detect the bomb — if all of these weren’t there, would he have given Raniarne a chance?

Would he have promised another banquet?

Raniarne knows the answer. It’s a lesson her world has taught her painfully countless times.

Cedric’s tightly closed mouth slowly opened.

“What about me?”

Arne blinked, not understanding his question. A tense atmosphere surrounded Cedric’s jawline.

“I promised your safety until you recover. On the honor of Renigrad. It seems you don’t understand the weight of those words.”

Cedric’s red eyes blazed.

“Or am I an untrustworthy man? Incapable of taking responsibility for you alone?”

He took a step forward, staring at Arne. As his intense gaze poured down, Arne unconsciously stepped back.

“Or is the honor of Renigrad that light to you?”

As Cedric took another step forward, Arne retreated one more step.

“You, called the Grand Mage, are powerless. I made you that way, so I’m saying I’ll fix it and take responsibility. What’s the problem? Is it difficult to understand that since you have no strength, you should receive protection from behind me, who is stronger than you?”

Cedric took a deep breath. There was no need to push this hard.

It’s not like it’s the first time this woman has disregarded dangerous places. There’s no special reason to be angry.

Is it because of her exposure to vast demonic energy? Is that why it’s so hard for him to endure?

‘No.’

The moment he truly couldn’t control himself was when he realized that he wasn’t even in her choices.

As Cedric took another step, Arne’s retreating body tilted. Water splashed over the hot spring. As Arne floundered, having suddenly swallowed water, Cedric didn’t hesitate to take one more step forward.

Water splashed again.

Arne’s body was pulled up by Cedric’s firm arm.

“Is it true that no one really came to you?”

“……”

“Is it true that even now, nothing has changed?”

Arne couldn’t say anything. She was confused.

What on earth is he saying?

Would Cedric have been kind to her if Arne hadn’t provided clues to alleviate his sister’s illness?

Moreover, in a dire situation where life is at stake, isn’t it natural for Cedric to run away alone as well?

‘Ah, for you, it’s not a life-threatening situation.’

You can do it too. Using that overwhelming demonic power we saw today. Handling the red mana.

“Also, you’ve been invited to Renigrad’s banquet. While having the banquet inside the Grand Duke’s residence, you’re naturally under Renigrad’s protection. If you, who were enjoying the banquet, had been a little late…”

Cedric stopped speaking.

‘If I had died.’

For a moment, a vision flashed. The foolish and stubborn ill-fated knight, Ramona. Princess Ramona of the enemy country, dying from the stones thrown by the imperial people. The last image of his mother, Ramona Avino de Cresevat, whose body couldn’t even be found.

Arne continued Cedric’s unfinished words.

“If I had died, it would have been a shameful day for the Grand Duchy of Renigrad. You could have prevented it sufficiently even if I hadn’t stepped up, but I almost lowered Renigrad’s honor by stepping up. I understand.”

Arne touched the cracked part of her mana core. If it hadn’t cracked, she could have prevented it sufficiently.

But she couldn’t.

Incompetent. Maybe it was hard to accept that truth.

“I misjudged.”

She’s no longer the Grand Mage, so she’s useless.

“I’m sorry.”

Arne’s clear eyes began to lose their light.

“I won’t do it again.”

Arne’s head dropped. Cedric’s gaze didn’t leave Arne’s lowered head.

It was clearly the answer he so wanted to hear. He should be happy, but he feels awful.

By now, she should have raised her head again, brightened her clear eyes, and chattered away. But her lowered head doesn’t budge. It’s unsettling.

“My lady.”

Cedric pulled Arne into an embrace. Her body tilted as he led.

“Why don’t you raise your head?”

Cedric’s hand slowly patted Arne’s back. His gaze still didn’t leave Arne’s face, but her lowered head didn’t move an inch.

“Shall we go to the Ipellita Garden?”

“…Yes.”

Although a faint answer followed, her head still didn’t rise.