The two, who had barely managed a few words each, fell silent.

Jens was busy collecting himself after the confusion he had just felt, while Aira was trying to process this unexpected sudden reunion.

How much time had passed?

Once their eyes had adjusted to the dim firelight and they could sense the moonlight filtering in, words suddenly spilled out.

“First…”

“This place…”

Having spoken simultaneously with an awkward pause between them, they looked at each other with uncomfortable expressions.

Jens didn’t know how to handle this reunion.

He had thought he would never see her again. Should he express happiness? Or scold her for putting herself in danger again?

The sixteen-year-old girl he had known was now a woman after four years.

She seemed to have grown slightly taller, though not dramatically. Her short philtrum above her small lips, her tiny chin, the soft arch of her eyebrows, and her long, pale eyelashes—nothing seemed particularly different.

Her aura remained the same. Seemingly fragile yet intense. A face that looked like she had let go of everything, yet simultaneously suggesting she would never release what she held in her hands—that same duality.

The strange feeling he had experienced four years ago remained intact.

No, it was slightly different.

The girl who had looked exhausted and lonely beyond her years had now grown into an adult, her face maturing into one where sadness and solitude seemed natural.

In another year or two, that expression would be perfectly settled on her face.

Suddenly, distinct from the blood flowing through his heart to keep him alive, he felt a separate torrent of blood rushing through him.

Was this what people called heartache, or a painful feeling?

He had sent her to school hoping she would find age-appropriate experiences while he escaped to the icy seas, but his efforts proved futile—her face remained unchanged from before.

As he stared at her silently, Aira gave him a vague smile and nodded slightly, suggesting he should speak first.

But Jens’s attention was drawn to her ivory-colored hair, pressed and disheveled from lying down.

Ah, she still keeps it short.

Though he had only briefly seen her with very long hair when she was younger, he thought medium-length hair would suit her too.

If she grew it long enough to braid, or adorned it with decorative pins, it would look pretty. With her light hair color, any shade except overly bright primary colors would complement her well…

“Um…”

Perhaps tired of waiting for him to speak, Aira cautiously opened her mouth.

Jens, startled as he realized what he had been thinking about, adjusted his posture and looked at her.

But his eyes caught the wall hanging next to the bed—a vibrant, crudely made piece by the room’s owner.

Despite its bright red color, it suited the woman sitting faintly beside it so well that it seemed even primary colors would complement her…

“Was it you who rescued me, Major? With the flower cart?”

“Ah.”

Why am I having such trouble focusing? Am I still sleep-deprived?

Jens shook his head, then suddenly felt a surge of emotion and said to her:

“What were you thinking, drawing the investigators’ attention? Don’t you know the trouble you’d be in if you had been caught?”

But she seemed to find the current situation troublesome enough and rolled her eyes to avoid his gaze.

As she turned her head, her pressed hair rose slightly then gradually settled, revealing her snow-white, thin neck with prominent bones…

Damn it.

“First, eat something. Didn’t you say the Conifer dormitory cafeteria was the most delicious in your entire naval experience? Wait, was it your ‘roommate’ who said that?”

He distinctly remembered that she hadn’t praised the food herself, but had only relayed her roommate’s enthusiasm in her letters.

When he glared at her accusingly, Aira mumbled defensively, “To think you memorized even those insignificant letters… what an impressive memory you have…”

Jens, uncertain how to proceed, stared at her hands fidgeting with the blanket before placing the small pot of soup the granddaughter had prepared onto the fireplace.

Aira, startled, quickly swung her feet out of bed.

Discovering her white feet and ankles—so fragile they looked ready to snap—that had been hidden beneath her removed boots, Jens inwardly cursed again.

He awkwardly averted his eyes, then turned back to Aira with sudden realization.

“How many days have you gone without proper food?”

“Ah, well…”

“This is ridiculous…”

Jens crouched before the fireplace with an exasperated expression, stirring the slightly congealed soup.

Aira quickly approached, raising her hand to stop him.

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

“It’s fine… Ah, don’t move so suddenly!”

As Aira rushed toward him and swayed dizzily, Jens quickly grabbed her wrist.

Just as he thought. Feeling her wrist slip in his palm, Jens clenched his teeth and sat her down beside him.

“Then at least sit down. Do you have any awareness that you’re a patient?”

“A patient…?”

“What do you think you’ve been doing until now? Did you think we were playing hospital while you lay in that bed?”

“Well…”

“Let’s eat first, then talk.”

Jens turned his attention to the fireplace.

But the fireplace, lit weakly for the spring night, lacked sufficient heat, and the soup showed no signs of boiling.

Stirring the stubbornly unboiling soup, Jens glanced sideways.

Aira, seemingly having given up on protesting, sat beside him with her knees together, staring vacantly at the red light spreading from the fireplace.

What could she be thinking?

As her tilted hair tickled her cheek, the princess raised her hand to brush her ivory-colored hair behind her ear.

“…?”

Jens noticed something unusual and reached out. His fingertips touched Aira’s thin earlobe.

Perhaps due to their proximity to the fireplace, her warm earlobe heated his fingers as well.

Examining her ear from different angles, he asked, “What’s this scar?”

“…Pardon?”

Aira, her face flushed either from the fireplace or embarrassment, turned to him with a surprised expression. Jens tilted his head and asked again.

“How did you get this injury? It looks like a gunshot wound.”

She stared at him wordlessly, her mouth slightly open. Then, stumbling over her words, she finally managed to speak.

“Lieu-Lieutenant Schaefer… back then.”

“Schaefer did this to Your Highness?”

“Y-Your Highness? Major, why are you using honorifics…?”

The voice and figure of the woman, who spoke softly while shrinking her neck, wavered and distorted. Jens frowned.

“Ah, that’s right.”

Schaefer had shot at the princess without authorization when she was freely revealing his weaknesses, and he had…

Had he blocked it?

Yes, he had. She nearly died then.

“Does it hurt?”

“…It’s a wound that healed long ago, so it’s fine. But…”

“Hmm?”

Unable to understand her meaning, Jens tilted his head, then noticed Aira’s face had reddened all the way to her neck. Following her facial contour with his gaze, he discovered his hand still caressing her ear.

“Sorry!”

Jens apologized hastily and withdrew his hand in alarm. Turning as red as she was, he quickly looked back at the soup on the fireplace.

Fortunately, the soup was now bubbling and boiling.

As Jens hurriedly removed the soup from the fireplace and ladled it into a bowl, Aira watched him with a still-flushed face but somewhat suspicious eyes.

* * *

Though dawn approached, it remained dark as night with the sun yet to rise.

Politely declining the old man’s invitation to stay and sleep, Aira managed a few spoonfuls of soup before staggering to her feet.

“I can go alone.”

“The sun hasn’t even risen. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not a child anymore, I’ll be fine.”

Learning that the old man’s house wasn’t far from her lodgings, Jens frowned as Aira continued to protest.

Pressing money into the reluctant old man’s hand, Jens set out with Aira.

“It’s not a safe hour for a woman to be wandering alone.”

“I’ve completed military training. I’m officially in the navy.”

“Good heavens.”

Logically, that made sense. She had entered the naval academy, and four years had passed.

But Jens couldn’t believe this woman, who looked fragile enough to dissolve into the dawn air, was a soldier.

“So you actually graduated.”

“…You don’t know yet?”

“Know what?”

Jens tilted his head at her incredulous gaze.

“Well, your news would have been splashed across the newspapers… but sorry, I’ve been too busy since my ship docked in Oculer. Come to think of it, you don’t seem surprised that I’m here either.”

Aira’s eyes now shifted to a somewhat pitying look.

Jens pouted at the disrespectful gaze from someone who would have just become an ensign.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’ve completely lost the desire to tell you. Find out for yourself.”

“What’s this? Despite appearances, I outrank you! You’re just a fledgling ensign showing incredible disrespect to a major who’s as high above you as the sky.”

“Yes, yes. I’m sorry.”

Jens let out an exasperated groan, but Aira continued walking silently.

Then she stopped somewhere.

“We’ve arrived.”

“What? It really is close—”

Jens lost his words as he saw the house Aira was pointing to.

While the old man’s house wasn’t in great condition, the place she indicated was worse.

Deeper in the slums, it was a building with bricks falling out everywhere, exposing the tattered interior materials.

The stairs and pipes attached to the exterior were damaged in various places, looking ready to collapse if it was nudged.

“An entry-level salary isn’t that meager—”

About to question why she had taken such lodgings, Jens stopped mid-sentence with sudden realization.

“You can’t mean…”

“Please don’t worry about it. I consider it natural.”

“There’s nothing natural about this! It’s unfair! From the moment I received your status renunciation documents, you became a citizen of the Republic.”

“Emotional issues can’t be helped.”

Despite being as ill-fitting as the scar on her ear, she spoke with complete confidence that this place was appropriate for her, her tone completely nonchalant.

“Then you should have at least asked Kle for help! You shouldn’t be in a place like this.”

Aira gazed at him steadily.

From that look, Jens realized that after his departure, Aira had never once asked Kle for help, nor had she any intention of relying on him.

“…Then why did you want a guardian?”