Chapter 13.5

While Kaiden went to steal the birdcage, Brienne and Herace found a cave and made a fire.  

They finished their conversation with Zen, Lusell, and Diashi, promising to contact them again after they found the birdcage.  

Brienne, clutching the jacket Herace had draped over her, stared into the campfire and asked,  

“Do mages need matches too?”  

At her quiet question, Herace, who was putting wood on the fire, looked back at her. The red flames of the campfire flickered behind him.  

“You’re a mage, Herace, but you carry matches. I was just surprised.”  

As Brienne added awkwardly, Herace smiled.  

“Magic makes daily life convenient, but it can’t replace everything. I try not to overuse it. Sometimes I even like things magic can’t create.”  

“For example?”  

Herace paused, put down the firewood, and sat beside Brienne.  

“Well, for instance, guns……”  

As Herace looked down at his hands, memories of childhood flickered in his eyes.  

“When I was young, my father exported military supplies through the merchant group. There were always various guns in his study. After fencing practice, I’d immediately pick up a gun.”  

Brienne recalled the Belif Dukedom’s merchant group, owned by Herace’s family. Realizing that group was the largest in Rontiano, facts she’d forgotten for a while spread through her mind.  

“……That’s right.”  

Herace was certainly the Young Master of the Belif family. At some point, Brienne had thought of him only as a mage or academy assistant.  

How could she have forgotten so much about his family?  

As Brienne smiled faintly at that thought, Herace tilted his head.  

And then—  

“Brienne. When we go back, will you be engaged to me?”  

“……What?”  

With a voice utterly devoid of mischief, he made a rather sudden confession.  

Brienne was caught off guard. But Herace soon smiled a little bitterly.  

“I won’t make the obvious promise to make you happy. Instead.”  

“……”  

“Whether it’s the merchant group, the family, or wealth—I promise to give you everything I have.”  

Herace’s gaze turned to Brienne’s face. His dark gray eyes, colored by the crimson campfire, were more sincere than ever.  

Brienne was a little surprised, but she could vaguely guess why he suddenly brought up engagement.  

It must be because of Kaiden again.  

“……Herace.”  

If Arthur and Riela’s fate had continued until now, it was understandable for Herace to feel impatient.  

But Brienne was not Riela.  

The love of a previous life was just something of the past.  

She wanted to move forward.  

For that, she could easily let go of a lover she couldn’t even remember.  

Brienne placed her hand on Herace’s shoulder. His dark gray eyes, which had been watching her, paused as they followed her hand.  

“As for me.”  

Brienne smiled gently and then carefully kissed Herace. Herace, looking a bit surprised, didn’t move until her lips parted from his.  

After the soft kiss, Brienne smiled.  

“I’m not choosing Kaiden. Just as Kaiden isn’t Arthur now, I’m Brienne Ford, not Riela.”  

“……”  

“So yes, about that engagement.”  

Looking at Herace, Brienne smiled softly.  

When they returned—  

Just that thought made her heart start to pound.  

After a brief silence, Herace, with a joyful smile, gently pulled Brienne into his arms.  

“Herace……?”  

In his embrace, Brienne looked up at him, startled.  

Their gazes met in the air, and his large hand cupped her cheek. With a gentle touch, Herace softly caressed the lips he had just kissed.  

“Brienne.”  

His tender, low voice echoed in the cave.  

Just like her, Herace gently leaned in and bit Brienne’s lips lightly. At the sudden sensation, Brienne stiffened in surprise.  

“You won’t regret choosing me.”  

The shallow kiss that began with Herace’s words soon deepened. There was no time to push him away; her lips, swallowed by his, grew hot.  

The tingling that spread across her lips tickled her whole body.  

Brienne, face flushed, gasped as she searched for a place to escape.  

She couldn’t handle Herace’s movements as he pressed into the corner of her mouth. The heartbeat she felt in his arms made her head spin.  

Her whole body tingled and burned. As the sound of crackling firewood faded, she felt as if she were sinking into the depths of the sea.  

When the endless sensation pushed her to the edge, Herace slowly pulled his lips away.  

Herace let out a heavy sigh and laughed softly in his throat.  

“……When we return.”  

His low, husky voice resonated through Brienne’s heat-flushed body.  

“I won’t stop here.”  

The flickering campfire’s warm light colored Herace’s face. With a dazzling smile that she could not help but love,  

“Go ahead.”  

Brienne placed her hand on his cheek and nodded with a gentle smile.  

“When that time comes, I’ll accept you as much as you want.”  

At those words, Herace chuckled and pulled Brienne’s face to rest on his shoulder.  

“I hope you keep that promise.”  

His usual gentle hand stroked Brienne’s hair.  

The way his hand gently patted her shoulder was just like Herace’s heartbeat, so Brienne listened to that sound and closed her eyes.  

After nights of heavy rain, the sun that seemed it would never rise finally appeared.  

Brienne’s day was now filled with Herace.  

At that obvious fact, she couldn’t help but smile as she breathed unevenly.  

When they returned—  

She thought of that dreamlike moment.

* * *

The heavy sound of footsteps trampling the thick grass echoed through the forest. Kaiden was climbing the mountain path, birdcage in hand.  

It was getting dark.  

The sun that had illuminated him had completely disappeared.  

As Kaiden looked up at the now-dark sky, memories of his time spent here flashed through his mind.  

The day he first saw Riela.  

The day she smiled at him.  

<I’m sorry.>  

Even knowing she wasn’t Brienne, Kaiden repeated apologies to her, words he could never say to Brienne.  

<About what?>  

<……Just everything.>  

Then Riela would tilt her head and smile.  

<It’s all right.>  

She would pull Kaiden, head bowed, into her arms.  

<Whatever it is, I’m fine.>  

With a gentle touch, she’d quietly pat his back. She’d just say it was fine, whisper, and forgive him. She gave him warmth.  

But.  

<It’s all right, Arthur.>  

……Arthur.  

Even as he smiled at her words, his heart would break at being called by a name that wasn’t his own.  

Did Brienne hurt like this too?  

Kaiden hoped she hadn’t. That would be too cruel. That would be too harsh.  

With those thoughts, Kaiden arrived at the cave where Brienne and Herace were.  

Soon, Herace appeared at the sound of his footsteps.  

“I’m back, Herace.”  

Kaiden tried to hand over the birdcage in his hand. Now, he just needed to give it to Brienne and return.  

But—  

He had no idea he was being followed.  

“They went that way!”  

A loud voice called from behind the bushes. Many footsteps followed. Herace immediately scowled.  

“……We should split up.”  

Without hesitation, Herace ran into the cave and brought Brienne out.  

“H-Herace, what’s going on?”  

“We’re being followed.”  

With a cold face, Herace pointed down the path Kaiden had come.  

“Go, Kaiden. They’re after you. Are you going to put Brienne in danger again?”  

At those words, Kaiden’s eyes wavered.  

To put Brienne in danger.  

He had chosen this path precisely to avoid that.  

Kaiden, clenching his fists, stepped away from Brienne.  

But they had already been discovered.  

“We found Sir Arthur! Oh, and the witch too! I knew Sir Arthur must be under the witch’s spell!”  

Voices murmured as people carrying torches approached.  

They must have been patrolling the village looking for Brienne all this time.  

“Target the witch!”  

One of them immediately drew a bow.  

The swiftly flying arrow struck the ground at Brienne’s feet.  

“……Brienne! We must run!”

Then Herace, pulling Brienne back, took her hand and turned away from the people. Kaiden, who had already become one of them, was with them as well.  

The three had no time to stop; they desperately ran up the mountain.

However.  

There was only a dead-end cliff where they arrived.

“W-what do we do?”  

Brienne, out of breath, looked down over the edge of the cliff. The endlessly deep-looking sea crashed in waves against the rocks below.  

A cold wind, as if to say everything was over, swept chillingly between them.  

‘……I didn’t think of this.’  

That the other woman said to have run away with Arthur might actually be her.  

Brienne bit her lip with a face full of despair.

One of the people who had quickly caught up to them spoke.  

“Kill everyone except Sir Arthur.”  

“Everyone, draw your bows!”  

It was at that moment.

“Herace……!”  

Strong arms pulled Brienne into a tight embrace without hesitation. Countless arrows flew at Herace’s back as he shielded her.  

Brienne blinked in a daze.  

‘What… what is this…?’  

“…Herace?”  

She could not not know what was stuck in his back. But she couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to know. If she could, she wanted to deny it.  

Herace’s eyes, which had paused in midair, trembled.  

“Even now… I’m sorry, Brienne.”  

With a bitter smile, he held Brienne in his arms and threw himself off the cliff into the sea.