“Sir.”

Bellota’s voice calling him sounded somewhat resolute. Seiden looked at her, vowing to follow whatever she said. However, a completely unexpected question came back.

“Shall we make a bet?”

Seiden frowned at those words. A bet?

Then Bellota suddenly turned her head and met Seiden’s eyes. Contrary to Seiden’s expectation that she would be very tense, a subtle pleasure was etched on Bellota’s face. Soon a playful smile rose to her lips.

“The first person to reach the destination gets one wish granted.”

“What……”

Since he had never even dreamed such words would come from Bellota’s mouth, Seiden was taken aback and unconsciously asked again. Nevertheless, Bellota fixed her posture as if she’s really about to race, with a somewhat excited face and bright smile.

“Starting now!”

Having quickly finished speaking, Bellota pulled hard on the reins. As the horse receiving the signal leaped forward powerfully, Seiden, who had been watching in surprise, hurriedly mounted his horse and followed after her.

“Saintess!”

Unlike her well-trained white horse, the horse’s speed was unrestrained and rough. Seiden felt dizzy, worrying that Bellota might fall off, unable to handle the speed.

However, Bellota’s horsemanship was far more excellent than he had expected. Not only did she skillfully maintain balance despite the fast speed, but Bellota, who was now running far ahead of Seiden, looked back at him with what seemed like a joyful smile.

“At this rate I’m going to win! Speed up, Sir!”

A clear smile somehow tinged with a sense of liberation shattered brilliantly between the morning sunlight. When Bellota turned her head forward again, her hair fluttered dazzlingly and sparkled. While unable to take his eyes off that radiant sight, Seiden continued riding his horse, adjusting his speed to neither overtake Bellota nor let her get too far ahead.

The bet between the two that had suddenly started without Seiden’s agreement naturally ended in Bellota’s victory.

“I won.”

Bellota’s relentless gallop that hadn’t stopped even once for over an hour finally came to a halt. It was after they had arrived at the distant village where the elderly woman was said to be staying. Despite running like that, Bellota’s face showed no signs of fatigue. Rather…….

“Right?”

Rather, she had a triumphant, unburdened expression.

“Yes, I lost.”

Seiden answered while helping Bellota dismount by holding her hand. It was a clean admission.

Bellota looked at Seiden with a somewhat relieved face and smiled brightly, then frowned briefly as if thinking of something.

“But here, we shouldn’t…… call you Sir, should we?”

At Bellota’s words, Seiden, who was tying the two horses to the fence, paused and turned to look at her. Bellota was looking at Seiden with eyes seeking agreement.

Seiden understood her words immediately. If Bellota called him ‘Sir’ here, or if she called him ‘Sir Seiden’, Yevar’s perfect magic ring would become completely useless. But what else could they…

That awkward dilemma was resolved by a woman who burst out of the house where the elderly woman was staying.

“Who’s there?”

Just as Bellota and Seiden were pondering, the gate of the red brick house suddenly opened and an elderly-looking woman jumped out. The two looked at each other in surprise.

According to Yevar’s information, Pamela, who had worked as a nanny at Count Alkeria’s house, was staying at a small nursing home in the village. Unlike appearances, a very strict and curious caregiver named Mrs. Susan was there with her, and the curious caregiver was clearly the woman before them. Her suspicious and wary gaze couldn’t hide her curiosity about why these young man and woman had come to such a place.

“If you try to satisfy that woman’s curiosity, there’ll be no end to it, so just use this.”

The voice of Yevar, who had visited earlier for information gathering and became thoroughly fed up with Mrs. Susan’s curiosity, brushed past Seiden’s ear. Yevar had handed Seiden a small perfume bottle.

“If you spray this, she’ll think of you as a familiar and valuable guest who regularly visits the nursing home. Then she won’t have any more questions.”

Seiden tried to reach into his inner pocket to take out the small bottle, but a problem arose. The inner pocket where Yevar’s perfume bottle should have been was torn and empty. It must have fallen out somewhere during their frantic gallop here.

Damn it. As Seiden’s face grew troubled, Bellota noticed and rolled her eyes to look at the woman who was waiting patiently for their answer. Mrs. Susan stood with her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised, looking like she was preparing for something.

“Well, who are you? Who are you to tie horses to someone else’s fence? Can’t you see the sign? Merilson Nursing Home. Are you here for the nursing home? Who are you looking for? Hmm?”

The barrage of questions without room to breathe made the two’s heads spin. As Seiden tried to make some excuse, Bellota opened her mouth first.

“We’re here to see Mrs. Pamela.”

At that, Mrs. Susan’s eyebrow rose even more suspiciously.

“Mrs. Pamela? Hmph, I’ve never seen your faces in the 10 years Mrs. Pamela has been staying at our nursing home. What’s your relationship with Mrs. Pamela?”

The woman’s stance, standing crookedly with arms crossed, was clearly uncooperative at a glance. It seemed she might call the guards at the slightest wrong answer.

“That woman is a terrible woman. She called the guards twice. I had to erase even the guards’ memories…… Ha, so absolutely don’t give her any opening.”

Since Yevar had actually warned about this fact, without his perfume now, there seemed to be no way to get past Mrs. Susan’s wariness and into the nursing home.

Just as Seiden finally gave up and was about to make some excuse to retreat, Bellota suddenly spoke up and took a huge gamble.

“I…… I’m Mrs. Pamela’s granddaughter.”

At that tense voice, not only did Seiden’s gaze turn to Bellota, but Mrs. Susan’s eyes also grew even sharper.

“Granddaughter?”

Her sharp gaze examined Bellota’s suspicious robe-clad figure from head to toe. Though Mrs. Susan could never recognize her true appearance because Bellota was wearing Yevar’s ring, her neck stiffened as the piercing gaze somehow made her feel like she was being completely exposed.

Seiden frantically tried to remember if Mrs. Pamela had a granddaughter, but naturally couldn’t recall. He had never heard such information. Mrs. Pamela had been staying at this nursing home for 10 years already. Mrs. Susan surely knew everything about not only Mrs. Pamela’s granddaughter but her entire family inside out. So if she didn’t have a granddaughter…….

A tense silence fell for a moment in the cold yard with just the three of them. But soon, God took their side.

“Ah! Could it be…… The one born to the youngest daughter who married far away in Selento…… What was the name…… Elise? Yes, Elise!”

The woman who instantly dropped her guard clapped her hands and asked excitedly. At Mrs. Susan’s reaction, a bright smile soon bloomed on Bellota’s tense face as well.

“Yes, that’s right. Elise!”

Amidst the two women smiling brightly at each other, only Seiden stood there dumbfounded.

Bellota paid no attention to whether Seiden was standing like that or not and stepped forward. Then she took the woman’s hands very intimately and warmly.

“I am that Elise. I came to see my grandmother. I should have sent a letter ahead, I’m sorry for visiting suddenly.”

Bellota’s affinity with believers of Mrs. Susan’s age group, built up over years of interaction, was skillfully displayed like a fish in water.

“Oh my, when life is busy these things happen. Oh goodness, since contact was cut off for so many years, we thought something had happened to you and just assumed you had died like your mother…! Oh my, I’m being silly aren’t I? Forget what I just said.”

When Mrs. Susan waved her hand apologetically, Bellota bit her lip with an understanding, regretful smile. It seemed Mrs. Pamela’s daughter had already passed away, and the granddaughter had never visited here.

Living in Selento and contact being cut off…… Bellota managed her expression while trying not to make the worst assumptions.

“Anyway, you came all the way from Selento? Oh my goodness. There was that terrible incident in Selento recently! How difficult it must have been. To think I’m seeing Elise who I’d only heard about! Mrs. Pamela will be so happy.”

Mrs. Susan, who had been laughing joyfully as if meeting a close friend of many years, turned her gaze to Seiden standing awkwardly. When Seiden awkwardly avoided her gaze, the woman’s laughter stopped abruptly. Suddenly thick curiosity clouded her eyes again.

“But this person who came with you……”

When Mrs. Susan trailed off with a voice tinged with subtle wariness again, tension also ran down Bellota’s spine. As Bellota tried to make some excuse, Mrs. Susan provided the answer first this time too.

“Ah! I heard you got married recently!”

Mrs. Susan clapped her hands again excitedly and raised her voice.

“It’s your husband! Right? Ah, though it’s already been about 8 years since ‘recently’! Hoho!”