“…Let’s walk for a bit.”

So this was all the undefeated hero could manage to say.

Liana lowered her gaze for a moment, then nodded.

Shed started to step forward, but glanced back at her. She was dressed in a simple white slip dress, free of ornamentation. Just inside the wide neckline, the faint shape of a crescent-shaped birthmark was visible.

Liana, noticing his gaze, self-consciously adjusted her clothes. At that moment, something warm landed softly on her shoulders.

A jacket, still carrying his body heat, settled over her. Startled, Liana looked up at him.

“I’m fine.”

“I just find it distracting. Don’t misunderstand.”

His brow furrowed, as if her reaction was needlessly sensitive.

Embarrassed, she abandoned her attempt to refuse him. He turned away without another word and walked ahead. Liana clutched the lapels of the jacket on her shoulders and followed him.

The oversized jacket hung down to her hips, almost like a robe. With its broad shoulders, it felt as if she were wrapped in a giant quilt. The lingering warmth was so much that every now and then, when the fabric brushed her skin, it felt hot.

With each step, she was enveloped in his familiar scent—a pure fragrance untouched by the smell of blood. It was a scent that reminded her of forests, and at times, a cool mountain stream.

He was the one who had always brought the scent of distant places to Luise Ideana, who had spent her life cooped up in the mansion.

Liana looked at his back, the crisp white shirt stretched across his upright frame as he walked ahead. The world around him—worn and faded—was one she had missed.

She thought back to the days when they had strolled through the estate together. Even then, just like now, he walked slowly, his long legs moving at a pace that seemed almost unnatural—almost as if he were matching steps with someone who wasn’t well.

Every breath she took of Ideana’s air made her feel as if she were slowly walking back into the past with him. So slowly, so gently. Yet as deep as a marsh.

Deeper than the painful scars of the past—into memories so old, she could finally call them nostalgia.

Sunlight brushing her toes. The scent of lemon in the air. Spring’s breath grazing her cheek. The flute-like song of birds.
Everything had changed, and yet everything was the same, and the thought of it brought Liana to the verge of tears.

She had thought she’d forgotten it all. She had believed that eight years was enough to throw even the strongest longing into the swamp of oblivion and forget everything.

But time was powerless—memories touched her senses as vividly as ever.

Ideana was overwhelmed by sad and happy memories that tormented her. Even the slightest thing, such as a blade of grass, a passing breeze or a drifting cloud, could cause her pain. The pain was even worse because she was in all those memories.

“It’s a relief you made it back safely, Shed.”

Whenever the slave boy returned from distant journeys, Luise Ideana would run outside as if she’d been waiting for him.

The young girl would pretend to be interested in the trophies he’d brought back, striking up a conversation.

Then, in those eyes that resembled amethyst, a gentle light would appear, and with a soft voice, he would tell her stories of the world outside.

Looking back, they had always found each other in the space between life and death. While she battled her illness through endless nights, he survived the battlefield, dancing dangerously close to death.

Luise envied the quiet strength that allowed him to endure any trial. Shed Lupus seemed to possess a body strong enough to overcome anything.

Whenever she faced pain, she thought of him. Like the stars that illuminated countless nights, whenever she was swallowed by darkness, she thought of him.

Luise Ideana would sometimes think: ‘At the very least, I hope I die before you do.’

On those nights when pain clawed at her heart and she faced death head-on, she prayed, Just for tonight, let him live.

“My father said he won’t hire mercenary slaves anymore!”

She was so overjoyed when she heard there would be no more need for mercenary slaves. That day, she’d had a nightmare of being torn apart by monsters. But Luise had forgotten even the depths of that nightmare, skipping over to him with light footsteps.

“Shed, if you don’t mind… would you like to work for me instead?”

When she finally gathered the courage to ask, Lupus set down his sword and nodded with a smile, not the slightest hesitation in his eyes.

Luise Ideana loved that smile, the one she could no longer find on Shed Lester’s lips or cheeks.

Just then, Shed, who had been walking ahead, stopped for a moment. He’d heard the gradually quickening sound of her breathing behind him.

He listened, sensitive to every footstep.

“…Are you all right?”

Shed slowly turned to face her. He realized he was asking a question he’d grown all too used to, in the very same place as before.

“Are you feeling all right…?”

“Yes, I’m much better now.”

Whenever the boy returned from a distant battle and asked, the young lady would nod and give him a serene, gentle smile.

She always answered the same way. She was much better now.

Even when there was not a single thing getting better, her answer was always the same.

“I’m much better now, Your Grace.”

Even now, she gave that same, unwavering reply.

Shed looked at her in silence, seeing how much she was unchanged from before. Over her shadowed face, the image of her younger self began to overlay itself, becoming more vivid.

He noticed the small beads of sweat gathered on Liana’s forehead. She insisted she was fine, but it was clear she was pushing herself too hard.

“Sit for a moment.”

He led her to a small bench nearby. Liana couldn’t refuse, and let herself sink down onto it. The breath that had been caught tight under her chin gradually eased.

A gentle stillness settled over them and the world around them.

“Um… Your Grace.”

When she’d finally caught her breath, Liana lifted her head and called out to him. Shed’s eyes drifted to her with practiced indifference.

After a moment’s hesitation, Liana spoke again.

“What… what will happen to Ideana?”

Her question was careful, as if afraid she might be touching something that should not be touched.

Shed lowered his head slightly, giving no answer.

“…On the way to Faradel, I saw people.”

“People?”

“People who live in Ideana. Well, I didn’t actually see anyone, but…”

Liana fidgeted, awkwardly smoothing the hem of her skirt with her fingers.

All the villages she’d passed through between the Lester lands and Faradel Castle had been abandoned, reduced to ruins—she hadn’t seen a single sign of life. Not even the usual bands of highwaymen who preyed on large caravans.

And yet, Liana had seen ‘people.’

“The wheat fields weren’t what they used to be, but someone was still tending them. I saw traces where flocks of sheep had passed through. I even saw orange trees that looked like they’d just been harvested.”

Wheat, clumsily but steadily planted in rows; short grass, cropped by the passage of sheep; citrus fruits plucked from where hands could reach. All traces of someone working to survive.

It was the kind of scene most people would pass by without noticing, but to Liana, every sign of life she found filled her with the same joy as meeting a person face-to-face.

‘They’re probably hiding from the heretics, living in secret somewhere.’

She guessed at the reason she hadn’t seen anyone. With hunters roaming the land, killing people, no one could live openly in a village that could be targeted at any moment.

Even so, there were still people surviving in this land.

‘I have no right to reach out to them…’

Liana clenched her hands together in her lap. She was the one responsible for what had become of Ideana. And yet, she was one of the few left who remembered the beauty of this land—and more than anyone, she wanted to bring that light back.

Shed looked at Liana as she spoke about Ideana.

Come to think of it, she’d always had a deep love for this place, even as a child. Perhaps it was only natural for the lord’s daughter, but she had always loved reading books in bed and discussing them with the vassals.

“Since I can’t go out much, this is the only way I get to hear about the world.”

Unable to venture outside, she devoured books and writings with a hunger that bordered on obsessive.
For her, the written word was the only way she could travel beyond her walls, even if only indirectly.

As a result, the knowledge and wisdom she possessed as a child rivaled that of the vassals who managed the estate. Sometimes, her ideas even managed to change the face of Ideana itself.

And now, through Liana’s eyes, Shed saw Luise Ideana.

“I have no intention of abandoning my domain.”

Shed replied with his usual indifference.

At those words, her thoughtful gaze, framed by long lashes, lifted to meet his. For the first time, Shed thought he saw the faintest hint of a smile on Liana Serpens’ lips.

And in that fleeting moment, something deep inside him ignited—a hot, startling sensation that blazed through his entire body in an instant.

‘What is this…?’

Suddenly overcome by this unfamiliar feeling, Shed instinctively averted his gaze, almost as if fleeing. His heart thundered in his chest as if he’d been running full tilt. Every muscle in his body tensed, a strange, raw energy pulsing through him—a sensation far too intense to be called simple excitement. It swallowed up any softer feelings, anything like warmth or gentle anticipation.

He turned away, exhaling the fever that burned beneath his skin in a rush of hot breath. And yet, Liana’s unique scent only seemed to sharpen the heat that was consuming him. He had to escape it—escape the heat that threatened to take control.

Acting on instinct, he stood up and strode away as if to put distance between them. After only a few long strides, the sensation faded as quickly as it had come. But the vivid tingle that lingered in his fingertips and toes still refused to dissipate.

‘What is this feeling?’

He was confused.
He had never experienced anything like it before. Just then, a voice called out to him from afar.

“Your Grace.”

His body temperature slowly began to settle, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn around. For some reason, it felt like turning back would be a mistake.

“…Your Grace, is something wrong?”

Liana, a little out of breath from catching up, reached out and caught his sleeve.

For a moment, the touch startled Shed—so much so that he jerked his arm away on reflex. Her breathing sounded unusually loud to him.

“Your Grace…?”

“It’s nothing. Really.”

Shed shook his head.

“Let’s go inside.”

With that, he turned and began walking back toward the mansion.