“I can’t match your pace. Strolling in these alleys makes us easy prey—no, how fast can you move?”

Raylin tried her best to quicken her steps.

“L-like this?”

She couldn’t see Aiger’s expression clearly under his deeply pulled hood but could roughly sense his emotions.

Exasperation. And a faint touch of resignation.

“How long can you maintain this pace?”

“I’m not sure.”

Raylin wanted to give a proper answer, but since she had never walked this fast before, she refused to lie just to escape the situation.

“I can stay still if you carry me in your arms or on your back. And, um, I’m light… Not as light as a feather, but still light!”

Although she had been permitted to accompany him, the anxiety that he might suddenly decide she was too much of a burden and leave her behind made Raylin raise her arms high as if surrendering.

Her bold suggestion, born from sheer desperation and embarrassment, was immediately shut down with dry finality.

“It’d be better to stroll instead.”

Aiger gently patted Raylin’s head without hurting her and added,

“I’ll match my pace to yours.”

That seemingly trivial remark made her heart flutter and her stomach churn slightly.

And now, for an entirely different reason, her heart was pounding, and her insides roiled.

‘Th-this is exhausting. Too exhausting!’

She had only walked a little, and her sides ached, and her back throbbed.

Raylin felt a deep sense of despair about her physical stamina.

She hadn’t realized it was this terrible.

Well, she had been born with a weak body.

If it had been an actual illness, she might have been able to recover fully and live healthily. But a body predetermined at the genetic level wasn’t something she could change.

Maybe she should start physical training, like horseback riding?

She knew how to ride a horse, but unlike others who rode leisurely to enjoy the breeze, she couldn’t do the same.

If exposed to the cold wind, she wouldn’t just catch a cold—she’d end up bedridden.

‘…Yeah, let’s just give up. Giving up makes things easier.’

Even modern medicine couldn’t completely cure those born with frail constitutions. In this world, where even literal magic was failing, what couldn’t be done simply couldn’t be done.

“Ahh!”

She had been focusing intently on the ground to avoid stumbling, yet something tripped her, and Raylin pitched forward.

No, she was about to fall when Aiger caught her by the waist, leaving her draped over his arm like a limp, wet blanket.

“Thank you.”

Raylin quickly expressed her gratitude and attempted to straighten her posture.

This wasn’t where she could afford to let her guard down, even while strolling.

“W-wait, what?”

Instead of finding her footing again, she realized her feet were no longer touching the ground.

Aiger had lifted her into his arms.

“It’ll only be for a moment.”

It wasn’t romantic at all…

It wasn’t like the classic scene in novels where a prince cradles a princess, nor was it the image of a large man effortlessly carrying a much smaller person in one arm.

Since he had caught her by the waist from a distance, it probably looked like he was casually draping a cloak over his arm.

With her stomach bent at a sharp angle, her already unsettled stomach outright rebelled, and nausea surged up.

Yet she didn’t ask to be put down, request a more comfortable position, or even groan. She simply clamped both hands over her mouth and endured.

The moment Aiger started moving with her in his arms, their pace increased dramatically.

As Raylin clenched her eyes shut, praying for her stomach to settle and struggling to keep her dizziness at bay, she counted sheep—twenty-eight in total—before they finally stopped.

“You did well.”

She barely had time to process his words before her feet met the ground again, squelching against the wet earth.

Aiger set her down and flexed his fingers, frowning slightly.

“You said you weren’t as light as a feather, but you barely weigh more than a quill.”

Raylin, still struggling with her nausea and spinning vision, failed to hear his muttered remark.

As she swayed unsteadily where she stood, Aiger considered picking her up correctly—until his deep blue eyes sharpened instantly.

A sluggish presence had appeared, giving a loose, half-hearted bow in his direction.

“You’re later than I expected—”

The subordinate, who had been chewing on something and was about to deliver his report, suddenly clamped his mouth shut when he belatedly noticed the woman Aiger was half-shielding from view.

Unlike Aiger, who could sense others without seeing them, the subordinate hadn’t realized someone else was present until now. His expression immediately darkened.

His once amiable face turned fierce instantly, and Raylin instinctively stiffened. But before she could react further, her view was filled with Aiger’s solid back, as immovable as a mountain.

He had blocked the subordinate’s line of sight entirely.

“Report,” Aiger commanded.

His voice was calm, yet the subordinate instinctively felt a chill run down his spine. He swallowed dryly.

Even if assassins had swarmed to obstruct his way, Aiger was the type to arrive precisely on time. And yet, he was late today…

“Are you mute? Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Uh… Is it okay to talk about this?”

The subordinate hesitated, unsure if he should discuss something so closely tied to his colleague, Kertan, in front of an unknown person.

The moment he cast a suspicious glance at the woman clinging to his superior’s back, an oppressive weight, so heavy it felt like his neck might snap, crushed his entire body.

“Are you planning to make me say it three times? You always overestimate my patience.”

Hearing his superior’s voice drop even lower, the subordinate barely managed to withstand Aiger’s murderous aura and forced his lips to move.

“As you instructed, she is the one. We cross-verified with different informants and confirmed the scar. The location is the same as before.”

Usually, he would have complained at length about how much trouble he had gone through, but now, he rattled off only the necessary information.

His survival instincts were in full alarm—if he tried to be cheeky now, he would be in for a very painful recovery period.

That instinct screamed inside his head.

‘You idiot! His Highness brought her here himself—what’s so suspicious about that? The most suspicious one here is you, you fool! No, actually, it’s me!’

The subordinate fully accepted his instinct’s argument.

‘Right. His Highness didn’t kill her or subdue her before bringing her here, did he?’

Since His Highness vouched for her, what did it matter whether he knew her identity or not?

His habit of teasing and joking had been key to his survival among colleagues who had grim pasts rivaling Aiger’s. And this time, that survival instinct served him well once again.

The suffocating, killing intent, which had made him feel as if he should throw himself flat on the ground, finally eased.

“And?”

“That clumsy knight turned out to be an outsider, as expected. We still don’t know why he monitored her periodically before leaving. And while digging into him, we found something strange—”

“Was he keeping a woman with him?”

“What? A woman? Oh! Ahhh. That makes sense! So that’s why he had such tight security around the house!”

Hearing his subordinate’s exclamation, Raylin wanted to ask if he had confirmed the woman’s identity. But instead of stepping forward and pushing Aiger aside, she held back.

The situation made it clear that this man was Aiger’s subordinate. And though the subordinate’s grimacing expression suggested that he wasn’t particularly pleased with her presence, Raylin believed Aiger wouldn’t have blocked her path without reason.

Instead, she tugged insistently at Aiger’s sleeve.

After glancing at her briefly, he let out a faint sigh and spoke.

“Did you confirm the woman?”

Raylin, who had been watching with approval at how he instinctively handled things without needing her to say a word, suddenly scrutinized his back with a suspicious expression.

‘Does he have some kind of unique ability like me? Maybe he can read people’s thoughts from a few keywords… Or hear them somehow?’

If they had been making eye contact and observing each other’s expressions and movements, that would be one thing.

But could he have grasped her exact thoughts just from a tug on his sleeve?

‘In Re.Vil.Bre, he wasn’t actually suffering from insomnia—what if he had gone mad from the side effects of being able to read or hear people’s minds?’

Sensing her doubtful gaze, Aiger didn’t even bother turning around. Instead, he simply reached back and tapped her lightly on the head.

That small gesture scattered her unnecessary thoughts, allowing Raylin to focus on the subordinate’s response.

“No. He may seem like a knight, but the moment we got even slightly too close to the house, he would rush out with a ghostly expression, eyes rolling back. So we couldn’t confirm anything inside. If necessary, we’ll have to send someone else—”

“No need.”

Aiger cut him off before he could finish, but Raylin picked up on the unspoken words.

“I’ll check for myself.”

The subordinate could have questioned this decision, but he simply nodded as if this were expected.

“We’ll start with the nearest location.”

“Yes. Uh… Never mind.”