Her face was getting very close—so close that even Irene was starting to feel her heart stir.
“H-Here? Right now?” she asked, a little flustered.
Leila nodded, those frosty blue eyes swirling with grievance and longing.
“Can’t I?” she murmured, a hint of sulk in her voice.
The young lady belongs to me.
No way was she handing her over to those detestable teammates!
Did Irene have any idea how torturous it was—always trailing behind the party, forced to silently watch from a distance while the young lady giggled and cozied up to those women?
But now… now the lady had left the party.
No way she was letting them reconcile—ever.
Not after what they’d done to her!
Leila’s face moved closer still, their lips just about to touch when——
“Lady Irene! Lady Irene, look what I found while chasing off the bandits!!”
Ansel’s overly excited voice shattered the deliciously orange-tinted mood.
Leila tch’d in irritation, pulling her hands off Irene’s shoulders with visible reluctance.
She quickly smoothed out the young lady’s clothes, stood up, and swung the carriage door open with an expression like she’d just bitten into a lemon.
Outside, Ansel was dragging over a cage with great excitement—but the moment he saw Leila’s look, his smile nearly cracked off his face.
Leila gave him a cold side-eye and said, voice dripping with sarcasm:
“Well well, Captain Ansel actually remembers to come back? What if those bandits had another ambush? You’d be leaving Lady Irene to the wolves!”
A bead of sweat rolled down Ansel’s forehead. He hastily bowed and explained:
“I—uh—I didn’t sense any other presences nearby, I swear! Besides, these bandits needed to be dealt with. Didn’t Lady Irene say we should ‘eliminate evil down to the roots’…?”
Looking back, even he realized he might’ve gone a bit overboard. But he couldn’t help it!
He didn’t know why, but the whole pursuit felt incredible.
His sword felt light as a feather, every strike clean and precise.
His antique saber was basically doing critical hits with every swing!
Normally his crit rate was 15%, and yet just now…
Every slash landed perfectly. It was glorious.
It had been years since Ansel felt so in the zone, and in his euphoria, he may have gotten carried away.
Leila gave a cold snort but didn’t say anything more.
He had name-dropped Lady Irene’s own words—what could she even say to that?
Still, she was fuming.
They’d been this close to sealing the deal!
Stupid Ansel and his stupid timing!
Ansel scratched his head sheepishly.
He was, after all, from a military background—and being made the guard captain for Lady Irene, a so-called “useless noble girl,” had left him grumbling at first…
At this point, Irene’s attention was already wholly fixed on the girl in the cage—she couldn’t tear her eyes away even if she wanted to.
The girl was unconscious, around fifteen or sixteen years old—just two or three years younger than Irene herself.
The afternoon sunlight poured gently across her porcelain skin, casting a pearlescent glow.
Her round cheeks still carried the faint trace of baby fat, and her long lashes cast delicate shadows like butterfly wings across her lids.
Her lips were soft and rosy, slightly pouted like a rosebud still beaded with morning dew.
Golden-blond curls spilled around her pillow-like bedding, like a fairy-tale princess caught in a magical slumber—even her breathing smelled faintly of honey cookies.
So… so cute!!!
Irene’s pupils practically morphed into heart shapes on the spot.
Were it not for the watching eyes around her, she might have already lunged forward like a starved beast.
Barely holding herself together, she forced a calm expression to maintain the dignity of a noblewoman.
Only Laila, standing nearby, noticed the subtle change in Irene’s demeanor.
Her gaze shifted toward the sleeping girl, and her brow faintly furrowed.
Irene cleared her throat with exaggerated composure and barked out:
“Ansel! What are you just standing there for? A knight’s dignity and manners, where are they? Do you seriously intend to let a girl stay locked in a cage like this?!”
Ansel instantly drew his sword.
With a brilliant flash of steel—clang!—the chains on the cage fell away.
Laila silently hopped down from the carriage, scooping the girl into her arms.
The jostling stirred her awake, and she slowly opened her eyes—and in that moment, Irene felt as if the entire world had burst into light.
Those eyes—like flawless emeralds—glistened as they locked onto hers.
The shimmer within them twinkled like starlight crashing into her heart,
striking the softest corner of her soul without warning.
And—strangely—there was even a faint sense of familiarity.
Their gazes met, focus slowly returning to the girl’s pupils.
She looked like she was finally coming to, and just as Irene was about to say something gentle and reassuring—
“N-No! Please, I beg you… let me go! I don’t want to be given to some perverted lesbian noble as a toy!”
Tftc!