Cervel spoke quietly beside her.

His voice was soft and low.

Amel sat next to him in front of the campfire, her head gradually drooping as she fought off sleep.

Her stomach was full and she was beginning to feel drowsy.

It was a pleasantly satisfying fullness.

Once the sun had set, everyone gathered around the campfire.

The group became lively, chatting and laughing.

Yet the atmosphere was far from unpleasant.

In fact, the campsite was brimming with energy.

Amel felt as though she were dreaming amidst it all.

Before she knew it, she had actually fallen asleep, as though slipping into a dream.

She woke up sometime later without realizing when she had fallen asleep and found herself lying on a blanket spread out on the ground.

“Oh.”

Amel’s eyes suddenly flew wide open.

Amel looked up at the sky.

The stars seemed ready to spill down from the heavens at any moment.

‘When did I fall asleep?’

She thought she had only dozed off for a moment, but she had actually fallen into a deep sleep.

Somehow, Lilline had come over and fallen asleep beside her as well.

She had wrapped herself tightly in her robe and was using it as a blanket.

When Amel sat up, the garment fell to the ground with a soft thud.

It was the coat Cervel had been wearing.

‘But why was I covered with this?’

Amel fiddled with the coat for a moment before looking around.

Everyone was asleep.

One person was still awake.

Amel was about to go back to sleep when she suddenly decided to carefully get up and take the coat over to the campfire.

“You’re awake?”

Cervel had been sitting in front of the campfire and looked up at her.

“What were you doing?”

“Standing watch.”

“You, Your Grace?”

“I woke up and saw the knight who was supposed to be standing watch dozing off, so I told him to go rest and took over for him.”

Cervel quietly gazed into the flames.

“Go back to sleep. There’s still a long way to go before sunrise.”

“What time is it?”

“Four-thirty in the morning.”

“When did I fall asleep?”

“Not long after dinner. You slept for about seven hours.”

“I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep.”

“You must have been tired.”

Cervel pushed another log into the campfire.

“You were dozing off, so I laid out a spot for you and put you down.”

Amel held out the coat she had brought back to him.

“Um, here. I’ll give your coat back.”

Cervel took the coat back and put it on.

As he spread his arms, the loose hem of his shirt fluttered in the breeze.

His navel was visible for a moment before it disappeared beneath the fabric again.

For some reason, Amel’s ear began to itch, so she scratched it.

When she sat down beside him, he glanced at her.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“The ground is too hard.”

“You’re a princess.”

He meant that she was being fussy.

“Miss Amel.”

When Amel scratched her cheek, Cervel tapped his own cheek with a finger.

“Yes?”

“Here.”

Amel rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand without knowing what he meant.

‘Is there something on my face?’

She looked down at her hand a moment later.

Her hand was black with soot.

“……Is there something on my face?”

“Yes.”

Amel wiped her cheek with her arm, and Cervel gave a small shake of his head.

“That’ll only spread it.”

“Is it really that bad?”

“A black cat might ask to be your friend.”

“Is it really that bad?”

Amel awkwardly covered her cheek, and Cervel said,

“Don’t touch your face. You’ll only make it dirtier.”

“Um, is there somewhere I can wash?”

“You must be feeling better now. Even while sleeping rough, you’re worried about keeping yourself presentable.”

Amel awkwardly glanced at him, gauging his reaction.

Cervel stood up.

“Are you going to sit there all night? You said you wanted to wash.”

Amel placed a hand on her knee and looked up at him.

“Come with me. There’s a stream a little way from the campsite. Let’s go there.”

“You’re going to take me there?”

“It’s dangerous to walk around alone at night.”

Cervel led the way at an easy pace.

Amel glanced back at her sleeping companions for a moment before following him.

The water in the stream was freezing cold.

It felt as though someone had poured ice into it.

However, she couldn’t manage without washing, so Amel carefully dipped her hands in first.

Her fingertips stung at first, but it soon became bearable.

The stream was so clear that she could see straight to the bottom.

Amel washed her face, then stood up once she had finished.

Cervel had already finished and was sitting on a broad, flat rock waiting for her.

“Finished?”

“Yes. I’m all clean.”

“Dry yourself off so you don’t catch a cold.”

Cervel took a pristine white checkered handkerchief from his trouser pocket and held it out to her.

“Thank you.”

Amel took the handkerchief and dabbed around her eyes.

But just as when she had washed her face, her eyes kept stinging.

Cervel seemed to notice and asked,

“Is something bothering you? Why do you keep squinting?”

“Ah. I think something got into my eye while I was washing my face.”

She blinked repeatedly, trying to get it out, but it wouldn’t budge.

Cervel remained seated and crooked a finger.

“Come here.”

He had Amel stand between his knees and looked down at her, taking hold of her chin.

“Lift your head. Which eye?”

“My left.”

When Amel carefully lifted her head, Cervel’s face came close.

Without thinking, she leaned her head back at the sudden loss of distance between them.

Cervel spoke in a low voice.

“Stay still.”

His low voice sounded right in front of her.

Still seated, Cervel gently lifted Amel’s chin and used his other hand to pull down her eyelid.

Then he wiped the corner of her eye with his thumb.

“Your Grace?”

Cervel’s thumb swept across the corner of her eye.

“Ah!”

“Don’t be such a baby.”

Cervel showed her the eyelash caught on his fingertip.

“There. Is it all right now?”

Amel blinked a few times and nodded.

She awkwardly touched around her eye before stealing a glance at Cervel.

He was looking down at her with his usual calm expression.

“Shall we get up now?”

Cervel held out his hand as if to indicate that it was time to leave.

Amel stared at it for a moment before carefully placing her hand in his.

Perhaps because of the cold stream water, or perhaps because of how close they had just been, her fingertips felt slightly stiff and awkward.

Cervel, however, looked as though nothing had happened; his expression was no different to usual.

When the two returned to the campsite, the sky was still dim.

The night-time darkness had not yet completely faded and the companions who had been sleeping rough were beginning to wake up one by one.

“You awake, Lilline?”

Lilline had just woken up and rubbed her eyes with a groggy expression.

“Yes. Ow, my back. Doesn’t your back hurt, my lady?”

Lilline got up while rubbing her lower back.

“Why? Did you sleep badly?”

“Yes. My back hurt, so I kept tossing and turning…… What about you?”

“I don’t know. I slept well.”

“My lady. I guess all that talk about you being picky about where you sleep is a thing of the past. You’re actually adapting better than I am now.”

Satisfied that at least one of them had slept well, Lilline stretched and got to her feet.

“My lady, are you awake?”

Soon, the soldiers came over to ask.

They were carrying robes filled with chestnuts.

“Aren’t you hungry? How about some roasted chestnuts for breakfast?”

“Do we still have chestnuts?”

“Not on the trees. We raided a squirrel’s burrow.”

Lilline overheard them and whispered in horror.

“My goodness. Of all the things you could steal, you raided a squirrel’s burrow……”

“We left some acorns in exchange, so it was a fair trade.”

“Lilline. You need to eat if you’re going to move around. Come here.”

The chestnuts were roasting deliciously over the campfire.

As Amel sat down, she felt the warmth of the fire reach her, accompanied by the unique, nutty aroma of the roasting chestnuts.

Meanwhile, the darkness slowly gave way to dawn.

A faint light spread across the mountainside, and one by one, everyone at the campsite began preparing for the morning.

***

Camping had turned into a minor incident, and so had sleeping rough.

‘This sunlight is just…….’

It was two in the afternoon.

Amel raised a hand to shade her eyes and looked up at the sky.

The sunlight beat down mercilessly.

They had finally reached a village.

“My lady. We’ll go rent a carriage.”

The soldiers went off to rent a carriage, while Amel took a short walk around the village.

The sunlight was blazing overhead.

“The sun is brutal.”

When Amel muttered softly, Lilline looked around.

“Let’s buy you a hat.”

As luck would have it, there was a hat seller along the way.

“Ladies! Hats! I’ve got hats here! Come have a look!”

The hat merchant greeted them enthusiastically.

Amel slowly approached the merchant.

“I’ll take this one. Give me one.”

Amel ordered a wide-brimmed prairie bonnet.

“Three copper coins!”

……Wait.

Come to think of it……

“Lillie.”

“Yes, my lady?”

“Do you happen to have any money?”

“Of course I have…… Oh!”

Lilline patted at her waist, then cried out when she found nothing.

“I must have left it in the carriage when we arrived!”

Amel carefully set her bonnet down and was about to apologize to the merchant when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Suddenly, the person beside her silently held out a silver coin.

Amel turned her head over her shoulder.

A long arm had reached out from behind her.

The familiar veins standing out across the back of the hand made it obvious who it was.

Amel tilted her head back.

Cervel was holding the bonnet.