‘Sleepy……’

The southern region ruled by the Duke of Adrian had virtually no travelers compared to other territories due to the presence of the Black Forest. With no demand, there was no chance of proper accommodations nearby.

Estelle’s body felt stiff from staying in hard, old lodgings for a while. Drinking water had been scarce everywhere they went, so she couldn’t afford the luxury of bathing and even had the illusion that a musty smell was coming from her own body.

‘Even so, I suppose it’s remarkable that the people in the territory haven’t rebelled.’

The Duke of Adrian clearly seemed to have abandoned all his duties due to the shock of losing his fiancée.

She swung her legs and turned her gaze to Jeff, who was engaged in a fierce battle. In fact, that battle was closer to a one-sided massacre.

“Kyaaaaaa!”

Each time Jeff swung his sword with flashing eyes, beasts with red manes fell, oozing yellowish, sticky fluid. The monsters, which looked hideously deformed as if under a terrible curse, appeared like disasters created by human greed. That wasn’t wrong. They were indeed monsters created by a previous ability user.

They were beings that should have disappeared into history. But the remaining monsters had learned how to survive in the Black Forest on their own and continued their existence by evolving in their own way.

Estelle suddenly had an idle thought. Would the beings called humans, as viewed by the Goddess, be any different from these monsters?

“Kiiiiing—!”

In that moment, a monster deflected by Jeff’s blade flew in a straight line through the air and crashed into the carriage wheel.

Crack!

As one side of the carriage tilted greatly, the horses connected to it were startled and raised their front legs. The coachman frantically calmed the horses snorting in confusion.

Once things seemed somewhat settled, Estelle put her feet back into the shoes she had taken off. If she had known this would happen, she would have worn riding clothes from the start.

Jeff, breathing heavily, wiped the sticky liquid on his blade by rubbing it against a tree trunk and walked toward Estelle.

“Why are you out here where it’s dangerous?”

Estelle pointed at the carriage with a prim expression.

“Because that’s unusable now.”

Jeff’s gaze followed her finger. The wheel was already in pieces and seemed beyond repair.

“…So it is.”

“Jeff, I’m curious about something.”

“Yes.”

“I know your swordsmanship is excellent, but you use your special ability. Why face each one individually? I’m here to purify the unstable energy, and that would be much more reasonable.”

“Well……”

Jeff vaguely trailed off.

‘…Because I wanted to show you my impressive side.’

His efforts to somehow salvage his honor, which had hit rock bottom, seemed to have had no effect on her.

“In your past life, you also made the carriage unusable. This time too, you insisted on fighting and smashed the carriage. Even though I tried to stop you.”

“Before… I did that too?”

“Yes. Back then, it was my first time too, so I didn’t stop you.”

“……”

Jeff expressed regret toward his past self who had desperately tried to impress her.

“Did you want to relieve stress? If that’s the case, I’d understand, but you should have held back.”

Estelle looked at him with eyes that couldn’t understand why he would create trouble unnecessarily.

“It’s raining too.”

As she pouted and grumbled, Jeff made a bitter expression. His actions meant to score points with Estelle had backfired.

“I’m sorry. You’ll catch a cold.”

Jeff took off his cloak and wrapped it around her body. His hand hesitated while fastening the cloak’s string because of the monster blood stained in places, but he thought it was better than nothing as she would get soaked in her dress otherwise.

Estelle seemed to like the warmth too, as she tightly gripped the inside of the cloak and spoke.

“I think we’ll have to abandon the carriage. It’s not far anyway. We should reach the Duke’s residence before dark.”

Knowing that this was a distance Jeff could cover in a day alone but was being dragged out in consideration of her, she didn’t want to blame him anymore.

“Yes… let’s do that.”

Jeff removed the harness connected to the carriage. Fortunately, the thin raindrops didn’t grow any heavier. He loaded some important luggage onto the coachman’s horse and sent him back the way they had come. Since they had cleared out the monsters on the way, the coachman wouldn’t encounter any monsters if he didn’t dawdle.

Jeff lifted Estelle onto the horse and mounted behind her, extending his arms protectively to hold the reins.

“I’m planning to go fast, is that okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry about me.”

Jeff increased speed by lightly kicking the horse’s side and regretted it as he looked at the small back of her head in front of him. It felt like he was just making her suffer. He should have at least brought attendants so she could travel comfortably. Why had he rushed so much…… Jeff even found himself resenting Caesar.

‘If only I had a different ability, that would have been better. Then… I could at least block the rain.’

Jeff’s helplessness was now beginning to dig into the ground and go underground. As he was floundering in the sea of gloom, Estelle, who had been squeezing her eyes shut against the wind and rain, spoke.

“Jeff.”

Though her small voice should have been buried in the howling noise, Jeff somehow understood and slowed the horse.

“…Yes? Sorry, was it too fast?”

“That’s not it……”

When Estelle suddenly turned her head, her lips almost brushed against Jeff’s lips as he was leaning forward.

“Gasp!”

Startled, Jeff pulled the reins tightly, nearly causing them to fall off the horse.

“Jeff!”

“Aack! Sorry, sorry! Estelle!”

“Haa, you scared me! Where is your mind wandering?”

“I’m sorry…… I really… must be an idiot.”

Estelle was rather flustered by Jeff’s voice, which sounded like he was about to cry. Was he that discouraged just because she got angry once?

“No… I forgot to tell you not to go toward the hill…… Jeff, stop for a moment.”

Estelle half-turned her body to look at him. His downcast eyes and gloomy face were filled with sadness.

“Are you like this because of what I said?”

“No, it’s just… I look so pathetic…… Don’t I seem foolish……? I don’t know why I keep showing this side of myself only in front of you……”

‘My goodness… he has this side to him.’

Estelle’s lips twitched at the sight of him looking like a puppy in the drizzle. The man who was much larger than her looked too adorable at this moment.

Perhaps thinking she was mocking him, Jeff’s eyebrows drooped even lower.

“…Jeff, I don’t think that way.”

Estelle stroked his cold cheek with one hand. She wondered if she was treating him too much like a dog, but since he didn’t seem to mind, she let out a small laugh.

“Do you know how much I rely on you?”

“……”

The water droplets clinging to his long eyelashes fell, and his green eyes glistened with moisture.

“This is your first time in this life… I know you’re trying to accommodate me despite feeling awkward about our relationship. I’m grateful for that.”

“N-no. Estelle, I’m not forcing myself……”

“I pretended not to notice that you were uncomfortable. It’s just… because I like how things are now. So you don’t need to apologize to the selfish me over nothing.”

Estelle playfully pinched Jeff’s cheek.

“Got it? Let’s go now. At this rate, we’ll both end up trapped with monsters while soaking wet.”

Jeff nodded as he gazed, mesmerized, at her prettily folded eyes.

“Yes……”

Heat rose from his cheek where her hand had touched. That warmth instantly spread throughout his body, reaching his heart.

Jeff drove the horse while feeling his heart beating violently. Though he knew it was impossible, he feared that this heartbeat might be transmitted to her through her back pressed against him.

His body was too hot.

Was it because of the rain?

He felt like he was suffering from a fever.

* * *

In a mansion said to be avoided even by ghosts, unexpected visitors were unlikely…… The old butler, who had hurried down to the first floor, was shocked by the disheveled appearance of the guests.

“Oh my……! Your Highness Alexis!”

“Whew, somehow we’ve ended up visiting without prior notice.”

Jeff’s appearance was thoroughly soaked, as if he had just been pulled from the sea. His clothes were drenched with rainwater, clinging tightly to his well-toned muscular body. Even in that brief moment, a small puddle continuously formed on the floor from the hem of Jeff’s pants.

This was because they had encountered troublesome monsters twice just before leaving the Black Forest, and by the time they approached the mansion, the drizzle had turned into a downpour.

“Oh dear! If you had given us some notice, we would have sent someone to meet you……!”

The old butler instructed a servant to prepare warm bath water.

“But… who is this person beside you……?”