Ajean felt liberated, and Kaiden felt the weight of his shoulders as Crown Prince once more.

After riding for a long while, the two finally dismounted.

“It seems we’ve come too far. Why didn’t you stop me……”

Ajean said, looking around. The sunset had already begun to slowly dye the fields in shades of orange.

“A fierce horse with a fierce woman riding it. There was nothing to be done.”

Why is he so intent on getting under my skin today? Ajean shot him a sharp glare.

Winter was being pushed aside by the warm breath of spring.

Wild grasses had already begun to push up green leaves, and there were impatient trees that had bloomed before their leaves. The delicate sunset shared its light generously with every tender living thing in Decan.

The two horses grazed at ease.

The rapture was so overwhelming it bordered on helplessness. She savored the freedom and chattered away.

“I am so glad I learned to ride. It feels like I’m a bird freed from a cage. This beautiful sunset will soon be swallowed by darkness too, won’t it? What a shame.”

Ajean hurried to fill her eyes with the scenery, and her gaze shone brilliantly beneath the sunset.

“It is beautiful, but don’t let it overwhelm you. You can come out whenever you wish.”

Why did those words sound like a confession to Ajean’s ears just then?

It was a misstep.

He was harsh, discourteous, and cruel. And above all, someone who made her unbearably expect something.

Ajean was afraid her pounding heartbeat might be heard.

If this were discovered, she felt as though she would become a hostage who might have to surrender even her life. She pressed one hand lightly against her chest and spoke carefully.

“The day I first met Your Highness, the day I crossed the border of Aisha. Even then, I watched the sunset from atop Pegasus’s saddle.”

“You saw the same sunset then. Why? Does it look different today?”

“It was right after the auction, so I had no room to appreciate the sunset. I could not see even a step ahead, and I had no choice but to stake my fate on Your Highness.”

Stake one’s fate. An expression of unreadable meaning settled at the corner of Kaiden’s mouth.

“It seems life has become a little more bearable now, if the beauty of the sunset is catching your eye.”

“So it seems. Right now it is breathtakingly beautiful. Is this what Your Highness wished to protect?”

At the unexpected question, Kaiden lowered his gaze and met her eyes.

“I heard the nobles whispering. That Your Highness stained the frontier with the blood of invaders. That corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowed like rivers.”

Ajean wanted to comfort him with a heart more radiant than the sunset itself. It felt like something she had to do.

“…… Thanks to that, the plains of Decan are being colored by sunset rather than blood.”

Ajean understood it well.

The loneliness of one who plays the villain in a turbulent age, and the cowardice of one who plays the hero.

Kaiden weighed their future.

Could he perhaps desire it and take it.

He had devoted himself to Decan, he could say with a clear conscience that he had sacrificed himself. So if he were to desire Ajean……

Even if he followed in his father’s footsteps of a marriage by conquest, perhaps he could be forgiven just a little.

His gaze sank into the setting sun. An unreadable expression was swallowed by shadow.

Even so…… when one desires what cannot be had, it is a demon, not a god, that whispers.

Just because Ajean’s light was breathtaking did not mean he could invade her world.

They were fates flowing in different directions.

“Let us return before it grows any later.”

Long shadows stretched out behind the two of them.

The distance between the two shadows, drawing neither closer nor farther apart, spread slowly like mist over water.

❀❀❀

“Sir Bistel, spring is spreading. If you go up the mountain around now, there should be an herb called ‘Penner’ there. As you can see, I cannot climb a mountain with my leg as it is. But our princess knows what Penner looks like, so please accompany her. It will help in making the antidote incense.”

Bistel could not pull himself free from the sound of Netty’s gentle voice ringing in his ears for quite some time. The first to notice what was in his heart was, unfortunately, Ajean.

That big bear of a man, who does he think he’s setting his sights on? Has he lost his mind? Fire blazed in Ajean’s eyes.

Netty had a graceful appearance and a kind nature. She was even modest, and had backbone to match.

Naturally, Bistel was not the first man to harbor unrequited feelings for her.

Back in Aisha, there had been several nobles who had proposed to Netty. But she had refused every proposal each time, saying she could not leave young Ajean.

To the noble men, Netty’s refusals were an insult. She had a disability and was of low birth, so Netty was supposed to be moved to tears by a proposal. At least, that was how they saw it.

“You’re a filthy bastard child, and a crippled woman on top of that. I pitied you enough to propose, and you don’t know your place.”

“Where do you think you’ll ever find love? I must have been momentarily blinded by l*st. For a lowly woman like you.”

The men who had been rejected uniformly insulted Netty with vulgar words. Each time, Netty had cried in silence.

Ajean frowned as the unpleasant memory surfaced again. The spark flew toward Bistel. Ajean shot him a merciless glare.

I didn’t think he was that kind of person, but he goes and notices she’s pretty.

What is that imperial princess doing today? She’s going to drive me mad.

Bistel averted his gaze and pretended not to notice. From his perspective, it was nothing short of torment.

Finding even the sight of him looking away unbearable, Ajean gave a firm command.

“Sir Bistel, wait here. I will go with Milla. Stay behind.”

Before her words were even finished, Zella flailed her arms and cried out.

“Your Highness, me too! Please take me along too.”

Bistel was exasperated watching Zella glance at him and plead. It was always strange, but today was stranger than usual.

In any case, he could not wait at the foot of the mountain. Even if Ajean objected, close protection was necessary.

“I came along to serve as escort. What reason is there for me not to go? The terrain is rough. Let us go together.”

“Sir Bistel, you are a Sword Master and must have accumulated considerable wealth! But you are also far too large, and completely oblivious, and well, regardless, you simply do not meet my standards!”

…… That’s the reason he can’t come along on the mountain?

Zella, who had no idea what was going on, abruptly took Ajean’s side and added her support.

“You don’t meet my standards either!”

What an absurd situation. Blinking like a bear, Bistel asked back.

“What in the world are you saying? I don’t understand at all.”

“That is exactly why I’m telling you to stay here and not follow us! Just try following us! I won’t find the Penner or anything else for you.”

The men of Aisha who had insulted Netty. That revolting image kept surfacing. Ajean had made a silent vow to herself as she watched Netty cry in silence.

For my Netty, I will protect her so that not a single man can ever hurt her again.

Having spent time with her, Bistel was surely a good person. But still, one could never be sure. No man who had not been permitted by Netty was allowed to love her.

Ajean fixed Bistel with a sharp, piercing stare. As fierce as if he had already wounded Netty.

It was truly infuriating and petty.

She had seemed to lack only dignity, but she was also stubborn and entirely self-willed. Bistel was more convinced than ever that Netty was far more refined than the imperial princess.

There was nothing he could do about an imperial princess who even her own lord could not rein in. Bistel stepped back on the condition that he would stand guard at the foot of the mountain. The entire mountain was covered with troops anyway, so if anything happened to the imperial princess, he would find out in time.

So Ajean ascended to the middle of the mountain accompanied only by Milla and Zella.