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“Hmm?”

The atmosphere in the room seemed quite serious. Could it be that he dislikes being called cute?

The prolonged silence was broken by Jafflin’s laughter.

“Cute… haha. Hahaha.”

“What did he just say?”

The boy, called ‘Samuel’, asked with an expression that couldn’t be more serious. As expected, he doesn’t like being called cute.

“Hehe, haha.”

Jafflin was now laughing as if he couldn’t breathe. He might actually fall over at this rate.

“Well, Sage Samuel. The Duchess doesn’t know anything yet…”

“The Duchess?”

“Of the House of Bannister.”

“Duchess. This is Sage Samuel. He is, of course, older than me.”

“What?”

If I had a younger brother, he would be about this age. Older than Joshua? Joshua seemed a bit older than me.

“Then, how old…?”

“He’s about your grandfather’s age.”

“I’m sorry.”

I apologized immediately. How could I, who has lived with a sense of courtesy, make such a mistake?

“It’s fine. So, you are the Duke’s wife?”

“Do you know Roan?”

“He stopped by here a while ago.”

“Roan was here?”

The Duchess widened her eyes.

“Yes. Not recently, though.”

“Why did he come here?”

“For love advice, we are not in that kind of relationship.”

Samuel’s eyes narrowed. His long years of experience told him that the ‘she’ the Duke of Bannister mentioned was this Duchess standing before him.

“Hmm. There’s that. But what brings you here?”

“She wants to learn magic.”

Jafflin answered Samuel’s question on my behalf.

“So, I was thinking, how about I become the Duchess’s teacher?”

“What?”

“I heard she is determined, but Samuel is too busy, and other mages don’t seem capable of consistently teaching her. So, I think I’m the best fit.”

“Well, that might be true. But why you? You who are always wandering outside.”

“I just think it would be fun.”

“Crazy.”

Samuel coldly rebuked. Jafflin naturally brushed off his words and asked me.

“What do you think, Duchess?”

His cheerful smile somehow didn’t inspire much confidence.

“Are you really that skilled?”

“Of course. I guarantee you won’t find a teacher like me.”

Jafflin said with a very serious face.

“Despite his appearance, he is indeed skilled.”

Samuel agreed, and Joshua nodded slightly in agreement beside him. If they vouch for him, he must be skilled. I began to lean toward accepting.

“Alright. I’ll think about it a bit more.”

When I showed my agreement, Jafflin smiled broadly.

“Please do.”

***

“You’re getting a teacher?”

Roan was making his usual disgruntled expression, which appeared whenever he was displeased.

“And that teacher is ‘Jafflin Alain Astrid.'”

“Yes, yes. That’s right.”

Roan pronounced the name of the 2nd Prince Jafflin perfectly. Isn’t that a bit dangerous? Regardless of my concerns, Roan seemed indifferent to the possibility of disrespecting the royal family.

“What do you think?”

“Must you really do this?” Roan almost said, but he didn’t want to ruin Delis’s first genuine attempt at something with his selfishness.

Seeing her face fall when he stayed silent, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Finally, he forced out the words.

“…Go ahead.”

“Really?”

“If it’s magic, he will be helpful.”

Delis’s face brightened. Was it such a happy thing for a prince to become her teacher? Roan furrowed his brows, feeling an emotion he hadn’t experienced before.

He recalled Jafflin’s magic from the last time in the forest. Compared to the royal court mages, Jafflin was definitely among the strongest.

Seeing Delis so happy made Roan think that perhaps he should have learned magic himself, a thought he had never considered before.

“By the way, Roan. Did you catch the culprit from yesterday?”

His eyes suddenly took on a cold glint.

“They left no evidence, thoroughly.”

It wasn’t particularly surprising; it was what he had expected.

Those rats were only good at such things, Roan thought with a crooked smile.

After discovering evidence of the temporary alliance between the Kingdom of Carlin and the barbarians, he also found indications that ‘they’ were involved. There were clues but no concrete proof, as all the physical evidence had been erased.

To think they would go as far as committing acts tantamount to treason. It was a clear act of rebellion.

They didn’t realize that without the country, they too would become mere puppets. They were shortsighted, only looking at what was right in front of them.

If it weren’t for her, the Empire surely would not have been spared from the damage.

Roan’s eyes narrowed. At times like this, she seemed like a completely different person from her past self. But now, it doesn’t matter anymore. He was certain of one thing: he would never let her go.

Roan stared at her with deeply set eyes, as if he were a shepherd watching over a naive lamb.

“But don’t worry too much.”

“Yes, but still, be careful just in case.”

Roan looked at Delis, who was gazing at him with a worried expression.

Pure, genuine concern. It was something he had never experienced before.

Roan was sure no one had ever ‘worried’ about him. It was the same whether the person was friendly or hostile. He had never been in a position to make anyone worry about him. If anything, it was the opposite.

However, experiencing such concern for the first time didn’t feel bad.

Incredibly so.

Roan realized that his gaze toward her was becoming heavier.

The feeling was so overwhelming that he couldn’t take his eyes off her, making him feel like he was going mad.

The strangest part was that he wanted to leave it as it was.

‘If I lose her like this…’

He would never be able to accept it as casually as before.

He still had many enemies, though they remained hidden.

The Duke, known as the Iron-Blooded, suddenly felt his heart shake violently at the mere thought of losing someone other than himself.

Nothing had ever frightened him, not even the thought of imminent death, which he had always been ready to embrace.

Who said she could leave? Roan’s eyes blazed as if to say that he wouldn’t let go even if it meant the end. He hugged her tightly, holding her in his arms.

“Ro… Ron…”

He must have unintentionally used too much force. Seeing Delis struggling to breathe, Roan immediately relaxed his grip.

Now, it was more like he was simply draping his arms around her. She looked up at him with a piercing gaze.

***

“You can hold me a bit tighter.”

Although she had indeed struggled to breathe just a moment ago, when Roan let go, she felt somewhat disappointed. Sigh.

“…?”

Roan’s grip became featherlight, as if he couldn’t muster the strength from earlier.

“Roan, it’s alright like this.”

I pulled him into a firm hug. Roan’s body stiffened before he eventually spoke with a serious expression.

“…I don’t know how much strength to use.”

I almost burst out laughing. He really didn’t know any middle ground.

“If I’m not careful, I might break you.”

His serious words finally made me laugh. Unable to gauge his own strength, he refrained from hugging. How cute!

“I’m not joking. I’m serious.”

“I don’t think I’ll break just because you hug me a bit tighter.”

Fine. If you can’t hug me, I’ll hug you. I pulled his solid frame closer.

Roan seemed startled again, but then his arms wrapped around me warmly instead of pushing me away.

In that warmth, I felt that today was a perfectly peaceful day.

And I hoped, vaguely, that tomorrow would be the same.

But it seemed that hope would remain just a hope.

The next day, I had a strong premonition that today would not be a peaceful day.

“Good morning…?”

Standing in front of me now was Roan’s adoptive mother, Alexandra, staring at me with cold eyes that somehow resembled Roan’s.

TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up on the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories