“it’s you.”
Raymund’s eyes lit up.
The fact that Seiana had broken off their engagement was truly outrageous—and it bothered him.
Now that he knew her name, all that was left was to meet her and teach her a lesson.
“Ray?”
Seiana, who was in his arms, suddenly called out his nickname.
She seemed unaware of who he was, so how did she know his nickname?
Startled, he looked at her—and saw that she had already returned to the eleven-year-old version he had known.
The location, too, was no longer the fairy realm.
“Ray! You’re hurt…!”
Seiana blinked at him, then recoiled in shock at his injuries and gasped when she saw the flower field completely upturned.
Ah, it’s Seiana.
The long-held tension in Raymund’s body finally released.
At the same time, his strength gave out, and he collapsed backward.
“Ray!”
Seiana’s desperate voice echoed, growing fainter.
But Raymund felt the urgency in her hands grasping him—and this time, he could fall asleep in peace.
***
After the sudden kidnapping by the fairy and a string of incomprehensible conversations, she returned only to find the flower field in chaos—and Ray covered in blood.
Her mind was reeling.
“What happened? Why is Ray…”
“Well…”
Flustered, she asked, and her brother gave a rough explanation.
After a strong wind, a sudden earthquake had turned the flower field into this mess.
And Ray got injured trying to save her.
She couldn’t believe that a mere earthquake had left Ray so bloodied.
When she asked if that was really all, her brother glanced briefly at Ari.
Only then did she notice Ari.
Her brother was covered in dust as if he’d rolled on the ground, and so was Ari—maybe even more so.
She actually looked worse.
She was the only one here who had come out unscathed.
“Why…”
Guilt toward Ray was mixed with anger at her brother.
He was a knight—so what had he been doing while Ray ended up like this?
Even though she knew her anger was unreasonable, her mouth lashed out at him anyway.
“What were you doing while he ended up like this? Ray isn’t even a knight—why was he the one saving me?”
Her brother didn’t make any excuses.
That wasn’t his nature to begin with, so he simply stood there silently taking the blame.
“Lovey, don’t blame Sir Halo. He couldn’t protect both of you because he was saving me.”
“I did? …Ow!”
Ari stepped in to defend her brother.
When the brother himself looked utterly confused, Ari jabbed him in the side with her fist.
Only then did he nod, as if remembering. Watching him, she realized how unreasonable her anger had been.
‘Right. It’s not like he has more than one body. He couldn’t have saved both Ari and Ray and me all at once.’
In fact, she should be grateful that he’d saved Ari.
Her anger faded and guilt surged up in its place.
“Sir Halo did his best. If you want to blame someone, blame the useless fools who didn’t do anything.”
Then Ari swept her cold eyes over the imperial guards.
Perhaps feeling ashamed, they avoided her gaze and bowed their heads.
She bowed her head too and apologized to her brother.
“I’m sorry, brother. I went too far.”
Her brother looked flustered but eventually accepted her apology.
Though most things had been destroyed in the earthquake, thankfully the healing medicine had survived.
As soon as they found it, they used it on Ray.
‘He lost a lot of blood… will he be okay?’
She was worried, but her brother said he would be fine.
“It’s mostly surface scratches. The wounds aren’t as deep as they look.”
It was hard to believe that so much blood could come from shallow cuts, but since her brother was a knight, she decided to trust him.
Still, they couldn’t leave an injured person in a place so chaotic, so they hurried toward the nearest town.
Normally, the country road would have been clear, but now it was packed with carriages rushing in urgency.
‘Well, the lakeside isn’t far.’
If the earthquake had been strong enough to upend the land and destroy objects, of course the people by the lake would’ve felt it too—and it made sense that they were fleeing before aftershocks hit.
They joined the stream of people fleeing and headed for the city.
She thought they’d get to rest once they arrived—but then…
“We have to go to the capital?”
What greeted them in the city were none other than mages from the imperial palace.
There were more than twenty of them—far more than an ordinary person might meet in a lifetime.
Their purpose in coming to this remote town?
To take Raymund to the capital.
“But there’s no teleportation gate here.”
“That’s why those people came.”
To create a temporary teleportation gate.
A luxury only royalty could afford.
Teleportation gates required extremely advanced magic and were outrageously expensive to open.
That’s why they were usually fixed in place for repeated use.
Yet these people had come to open one just for Raymund.
It was like melting gold every second and pouring it into the ground—but if the person involved was royalty, such extravagance was possible.
The mages bustled about, and in just a few dozen minutes, they were ready.
It looked simple, but it was effectively done by overworking the mages.
She wanted to go with Ray because she was worried—but she couldn’t.
The more people crossed, the more burden on the mages—and the higher the cost.
It was like melting a body-sized piece of gold every second.
“Even the mages who opened the teleport gate have to return on foot.”
Hearing that even the mages couldn’t use the gate they created, she had no choice but to give up.
Only Ray, the palanquin he would ride, and two knights to carry it could pass through.
“It’s okay. He’s tough, so you don’t need to worry.”
Ari grabbed her hand and comforted her.
Since Ari lived in the capital, she wondered why Ari wasn’t using the gate either—but Ari just smiled softly.
“It’s fine for me. I get to have Lovey all to myself.”
Then she leaned in playfully, and her fluttering heart settled a little.
Even as they moved Ray into the palanquin, he didn’t wake.
Maybe because it was hastily prepared, it was cramped like a coffin, but they managed to get him in.
As soon as the palanquin was ready, the mages opened the gate, and the knights quickly carried it through.
In the blink of an eye, the gate closed behind them.
It had all happened so fast she was left speechless.
She thought maybe they should help the collapsed mages return, but they said they would rest more before going and told them to go on ahead.
So now, with one less person, they began retracing the path they came on.
The journey was over.
***
After spending as much time as it took to come, they finally returned to the count’s estate, and Ari also left for the imperial palace.
She wanted to go too, but since the palace was Ari’s home and not hers, she couldn’t insist on following.
I had sent letters to Ray and Ari, but only one reply came back—it was from Ari.
“He still hasn’t woken up?”
Including the time it took us to return, it had already been a week since he collapsed, so I couldn’t help but worry.
I wanted to check on Ray’s condition, but…
“Sorry. I’m not allowed in either.
I have no idea what’s going on.”
That was the only response I got from Ari.
Just as I was about to put the letter down in disappointment—
“There might be a way.
I’ll try to find out.
Please wait.”
As she said, after waiting a bit, I received an invitation.
Ari had invited me to the palace where she was staying.
Though I was heading to the imperial palace, this time it was at a friend’s invitation, so unlike when I was summoned by Her Majesty the Empress, I didn’t have to follow all sorts of formalities.
I just dressed presentably enough not to embarrass myself and got on the carriage with my older brother, who was on his way to the knights’ order.
Usually, my second brother commuted on horseback, but today, because of me, he chose the carriage.
“Should I not go to work today?”
“Are you crazy?”
He didn’t mean he wanted to rest at home—he meant he was worried about me going to the imperial palace and wanted to stay by my side.
Still unwilling to give up, he kept mumbling until I glared at him, and only then did he shut up.
“Then I’ll patrol around the area. If anything happens, just shout my name, okay?”
As if anything would happen at the imperial palace.
There’s no place safer than that.
“Ugh, seriously.
Is there any place safer?”
Of course, it was possible an assassin could appear, but what kind of lunatic assassin would go after someone like me, who wasn’t even royalty?
Bickering like that with my brother, we arrived at the palace before I knew it.
As I got off at Ari’s palace, we parted ways, but even as we said goodbye, he told me again to call for him if anything happened before disappearing.
“Aside from when he’s wielding a sword, he’s such a fool.”
Whoever ends up marrying him—I felt really sorry for her.
Imagine living with such a blockhead…
“Lovey!”
While I was clicking my tongue at the departing carriage, Ari had come out to greet me in front of the palace.
She welcomed me and personally led me inside.
‘Hm?’
But the palace was oddly quiet. Last time, when I visited the Empress’s palace, I saw palace workers along the way, but here, not a single person was in sight.
“Here, this is my room.”
Ari turned to me, looking thrilled.
She opened the door herself and brought me inside.
Inside, tea and refreshments were already prepared.
Still, not a single person was around.
“Sit here. I prepared the tea I usually drink. I hope you like it.”
She offered me a seat and poured the tea herself.
Since we were friends, it wasn’t exactly strange, but still…